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A Fintech Platform for Recent Immigrants

A Fintech Platform for Recent Immigrants

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Reporter Rachel Uranga looks at Welcome Technologies, a company built for recent immigrants that just raised $8 million to help grow its suite of financial services tools. Freelancer William D'Urso looks at Jam City's attempts to vastly expand professional gaming. And the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is reportedly working on testing kits to help detect COV1D-19 in the Seattle area.

With $8 million in Series A funding, Welcome Technologies is set to build out a full suite of financial services intended for an audience that is often ignored by large scale banking institutions and prey for payday loans: recent immigrants.

According to recent data, about 8.4 million households don't use banks. Those rates are highest among black, Latino and low-income households.The financial industry has often tacked on higher prices and fees toward those who are unbanked or have no credit history. "It's used as an excuse to charge this consumer more," Welcome's cofounder Amir Hemmat says. "Our job is to bring this consumer out of the shadow and give them a voice at the table." Read more >>

Forget the streaming wars, mobile gaming already controls $70 billion — or more than half — of the video game industry. Now, the focus is on getting into competitive gaming as rival outlets Jam City, Scopely and Activision Blizzard vie for audiences and hit games. "World War Doh" is the latest contender from Jam City, borrowing elements from vastly more complex real-time strategy games like eSports blockbuster "Starcraft."

The game has been simplified for mobile devices, allowing it to be played at bus stops, coffee shop lines or subway rides. There are leader boards, leagues, and potentially even cash prizes of up to $25,000. Read more >>

A report says the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is preparing to fund at-home testing kits for the novel coronavirus in Seattle. Though the Gates Foundation cautions that the plans aren't final, it also says the kits could be available in the "coming weeks," and are intended to quickly identify hot spots where the disease is spreading. Read more >>