EMEA Daily: Citi Could Sign €100M Dublin Office Deal After Selling Old Address

Today in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the U.K. health and beauty retailer Boots has announced the launch of a new online marketplace and buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Tabby has expanded to Egypt.

Crypto Lender Credix Raises $11.3M in Series A

Cryptocurrency credit startup Credix has raised $11.25 million in a Series A funding round, the Belgian company announced today.

In a blog post announcing the fundraise, the company’s Founder and CEO Thomas Bohner said that the total DeFi market cap has fallen by 63% while Credix grew 20-fold and originated more than $23 million in active loans in six months. He added that the company is live in Brazil and will expand soon into other emerging markets.

Citi Could Sign €100M Dublin Office Deal After Selling Old Address

Citigroup is close to purchasing new real estate in Dublin which will serve as the group’s European headquarters following its old waterfront office address being put on the market in March.

The bank’s €100 million ($99.1 million) deal to buy a new office site in the heart of Dublin aligns with Citi’s move to enhance its presence across the European Union following Brexit, the Financial Times (FT) reported today.

Citi said it was planning to hire 300 people in Ireland to fill roles in risk, audit, finance, technology and operations. Unnamed sources with insider information told the FT the company is in the midst of finalizing a deal to close on 300,000 square feet of office space in the Dublin Docklands, which is also home to Google, Amazon and Meta, among other tech companies.

As much as €200 million could be needed to buy the new land and real estate, the sources said, and the deal could close this month. The report noted that the new site is nearly one-third bigger than Citi’s current Dublin site, which measures 230,000 square feet.

Boots Launching Online Marketplace as Part of Digital Transformation

Boots is set to debut an online marketplace next year that will let third-party brands sell their wares through the Walgreens-owned U.K. health and beauty retailer as it undergoes a “digital transformation.”

According to a statement released today, Boots Marketplace is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2023. The offering will allow brands to list their products on the company website, giving them access to millions of visitors each month.

Boots also noted its marketplace products will be integrated with the existing product range on its website, giving customers access to hundreds of new brands from both established names and newer sellers.

The marketplace is powered by the Software-as-a-Service platform Mirakl, and customers can still access shop-specific benefits like Boots Advantage Card points. Brands, meanwhile, can benefit from Boots’ reputation and the possibility of future store listings, the company said.

Open Banking Powers European Merchants With SlimPay, Tink Partnership

Payment service provider SlimPay and open banking FinTech Tink are partnering to enable account-to-account payments across Europe.

SlimPay works to offer merchants in Europe seamless subscription payment experiences and has done business with Deezer, EDF, Nespresso and Vattenfall, among others. Through its collaboration with Tink, SlimPay can provide open banking payments as an alternative way to set up payments.

The partnership combines payment initiation services (PIS) and direct debit in one solution. By teaming with Tink as an open banking partner to further simplify subscription payments for merchants across Europe, SlimPay offers a payment solution across the entire SEPA zone. Their merchants can now do business in more than European markets without having to handle complex local payment methods.

Open Banking Europe and Open Banking Exchange Merge to create One Global OBE

Open Banking Europe, announced yesterday that it has merged with its international division, Open Banking Exchange, to form a single global organization, OBE.

OBE is a multi-party group that works with regulatory authorities, banks, third-party payment service providers and other ecosystem stakeholders to foster innovation, competition, efficiency and enhanced security for online payments in the EU.

BNPL Provider Tabby Expands to Egypt to Serve Growing eCommerce Market

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) payments and shopping app Tabby has launched in Egypt, saying its buy now, pay later (BNPL) option will serve the growing number of consumers in the country who are using eCommerce.

Tabby works with many brands and offers consumers a “Split in 4” product that they can use both online and in-store and allows them to choose to pay in four installments, without paying interest, the company said in a press release today.

Monavate Provides Pre-paid Card Scheme for Maps.me

The U.K.-based FinTech Monavate today announced a new prepaid Mastercard card product in collaboration with the travel app developer Maps.me, which according to a press release means that all 60 million users of Maps.me could be able to make payments wherever Mastercard is accepted.

Maps.me is part of the Oxygen.org ecosystem, a financial system that allows people and institutions to transact directly with each other, rather than via a large financial institution. Beyond making payments, the release states that the Maps.me wallet will enable users to earn yields of up to 8% as well to transfer money instantly to friends and family globally.

In addition to prepaid cards, registered Maps.me wallet iPhone users are able to pay for goods and services globally through Apple Pay, a functionality was made available on the iOS version of Maps.me last month.

For all PYMNTS EMEA coverage, subscribe to the daily EMEA Newsletter.