Glint Plans Expansion To US, Tata Capital Launches Working Capital Platform

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes U.K.-based Callcredit’s upcoming name change to TransUnion. In addition, Glint is planning an expansion to the U.S. and Tata Capital has rolled out a new lending platform in India.

Callcredit, the second-largest credit referencing agency in the U.K., is changing its name following its acquisition by TransUnion, the company said in an announcement. At first, the company will be referred to as ‘TransUnion, formerly Callcredit’ and will then be known as just TransUnion later in 2018.

In other U.K. news, London-based Glint plans to launch its account and app-based capability in the U.S. in the third quarter, the company announced. Glint, which introduced physical gold as money to spend as a currency, has reportedly already signed distribution deals and a strategic partnership in the U.S.

In Italy, UBI Banca and SIA are providing a service that allows visitors at the Milan Bergamo Airport to pay for parking at two parking lots with their smartphones, according to reports. To use the service, consumers provide their license plate number on the SEA website.

In other news, India’s Tata Capital has rolled out an online working capital platform for its customers, the company said. With the system, loans up to INR 2 crores ($300,000 USD) can be approved within 24 hours. Tata Capital’s platform is developed in partnership with U.S. FinTech company Biz2Credit.

On another note, the Capital Market Authority (CMA) in Saudi Arabia has granted two experimental FinTech licenses to Scopeer and Manafa Capital, Cryptovest reported. With the licenses, the firms can offer services for crowdfunding investments in the country.

In South America, Brazil is seeing a booming tech industry: Movile, for example, raised $124 million in financing, according to reports. (The lead investor was reportedly Naspers.) Another firm, Nubank, has notched $528 million in funding and has a value of approximately $2 billion.