Make it rain: Money pours into UK fintech

While the U.S. financial sector took a breather on President's Day, UK fintech was off and running. Two UK financial technology firms alone raised over £200m between them.

1. GoCardless: The payments firm allows merchants to accept direct debit recurrent payments. Certain segments of consumers and business prefer direct debits to bank accounts, skirting expensive credit and debit cards. GoCardless has raised $75 million from new investors Google Venture and Salesforce Ventures and plans to bring its payment platform to Asia and the U.S.
2. iwoca: The business lender raised around £150 million in equity and debt. The round was led by Augmentum Fintech with participation from Dutch bank NIBC. Insiders commented that the money would be used to expand staff and customer base in Germany.

Also receiving investment: German core banking software provider Mambu also announced a fundraising round of EUR30 million. European fintech has been on a tear of late, particularly in terms of large venture rounds. European challenger banks N26, Revolut, Monese, and Starling have all closed significant new capital in recent months. Much of this money will go to fund international expansion in the post-Brexit era.