This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from Spain.
Payments and liquidity solutions company Wannme raises €7M
Wannme, a Madrid-based fintech that specializes in payments and liquidity solutions, announced a €7 million strategic financing from IDC Arena Credit Ventures, a division of IDC Network, with Arena Investors also participating in the funding.
The company will use the financing to continue providing marketplace sellers with instant payment advances. This allows them to secure earnings on a daily basis instead of having to wait more than 14 days, as is typically required by marketplaces. Wannme Founder and CEO Jaime de Villa said that the credit facility will enable the company to “empower more sellers with the liquidity needed to sell more and grow.”
“This partnership marks an important milestone for Wannme as we scale our impact in the marketplace ecosystem in Europe,” de Villa added. “IDC Arena Credit Ventures understood our business model and structured a financing solution aligned with our growth strategy.”
Founded in 2017, Wannme facilitates e-commerce by automating and optimizing payment flows to help solve payments and liquidity issues for online merchants. The company provides merchants with advances of up to 90% of their net sales daily, and also offers an online payment gateway that enables them to accept a wider variety of payment methods, including recurring and automated payments. These methods also include both Apple Pay and Google Pay, which Wannme integrated into its platform in February.
Mortgage platform Wypo partners with financial app Plazo
Wypo, a Spanish mortgagetech platform that helps would-be homeowners locate and sign customized mortgages online, has struck a strategic partnership with financial wellness app Plazo. A division of Spanish fintech ID Finance, Plazo will offer Wypo users access to credit lines of up to €5,000 through its Plazo Credit solution directly from the Plazo app.
“This partnership is a great opportunity to deliver complete and accessible financial solutions to our users,” Wypo CEO Elena Ansótegui said. “At Wypo, we are committed to offering resources that meet real needs. The alliance with Plazo strengthens our focus on continuously improving the customer experience and enables us to go a step further in offering key financing options when users need them most.”
Wypo customers will benefit from digital access to both debit and credit solutions courtesy of the partnership with Plazo. Also included are the ability to participate in an extensive cashback program and access to free, online legal and medical advice through a service called MeetingPros.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Wypo and to provide added value to new homeowners, helping them cover initial expenses for refurbishments or repairs, buy furniture, appliances, home decor items, and more,” Plazo CMO Carlos Martín said. “They’ll also benefit from all the additional features offered by Plazo, designed to bring greater financial peace of mind.”
Founded in 2021, Wypo is headquartered in Torrelavega, Cantabria. The mortgagetech’s partnership news comes amid a significant increase in home purchase loans in Spain, reflecting an 11% year-over-year gain. This has been accompanied by a comparable rise average housing prices in the country. Wypo’s partnership with Plazo will help the firm provide additional services to its customers, further differentiating its offering from competitors.
CaixaBank and Salesforce team up to leverage AI to personalize CX in banking
A newly signed agreement between Spain’s CaixaBank and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution provider Salesforce will help “jointly advance artificial intelligence projects for the digital transformation of banking services.” More specifically, CaixaBank will leverage Salesforce technology to enhance its customer relationship channels to improve the customer experience.
This technology includes solutions such as AI-based Agentforce—the integrated AI assistants on the Salesforce platform—as well as Salesforce Data Cloud for data management and analysis. Agentforce enables the deployment of AI agents to offer specialized assistance to CaixaBank employees and customers alike. These agents operate proactively and continuously across apps, chatbots, physical offices, and call centers, processing large amounts of data quickly to optimize decision-making and improve the efficiency of task execution.
By implementing Salesforce Data Cloud, CaixaBank will leverage the cloud data management and analysis technology to manage the transmission of data produced by the institution to ensure it is immediately available for any query. The data will be recorded securely and will allow for real-time consultation.
Based in Valencia, CaixaBank is the leading financial group in the Spanish market. With a digital customer base of nearly 12 million, the company provides banking, insurance, and investment services. CaixaBank’s partnership with Salesforce is part of the firm’s overall digital transformation strategy, which has enabled the institution to earn recognition as the Best Bank in Western Europe and Best Bank in Spain in 2024 by Global Finance.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Munich-based, AI-powered anti-money laundering and fraud prevention firm, Hawk, raised $56 million in new funding.
- Nets, a division of European payment technology company Nexi Group, teamed up with Latvian financial institution, BluOr Bank.
- Turkish embedded finance company Sipay secured $78 million in funding at a valuation of $875 million.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Central and Southern Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
Asia-Pacific
- National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), the country’s central bank, joined the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) initiative.
- Bank payment company GoCardless forged a partnership with Australian payments API platform Optty.
- Philippines-based financial institution, Security Bank, selected Identity-as-a-Service innovator Entrust to enhance its eKYC processes.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric
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