FinTech
Digital payments alone could become a $100 trillion industry, according to PwC. And that’s just one component of the global Fintech industry. This channel tackles the lenders and buyers, the obstacles and achievements, and the trends and trend makers leading the ongoing technological evolution in global finance.
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Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has launched its Crypto app in the European Union (EU), allowing eligible customers to engage in crypto trading with the added incentive of earning Bitcoin rewards. Customers stand to receive up to 1 BTC as a reward when signing up and can earn an additional 1 BTC for each successful referral. The platform claims to be the sole custodial crypto platform in the EU offering customers a percentage of their trading volume back every month, paid in Bitcoin.
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FinTech: LatAm BNPL Provider Kueski Nabs $202M Series C Round
Kueski is one of the largest buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) and digital lenders in Latin America. It announced December 2 its close of a $202 million Series C debt and equity round. The equity round was led by StepStone Group and the debt financing was led by Victory Park Capital.
FinTech: Square Inc, The Company, Renames Itself Block
Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) announced Wednesday its change of name to Block. The renaming applies to the corporate holding entity, distinguishing it from its different businesses (“building blocks”), who will all continue to maintain their respective brands. There will also be no organizational change.
FinTech: BNPL Was “One Of The Stars” Of The Holiday Season For PayPal
PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) enjoyed solid volumes for its buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) offering on Black Friday, continuing a trend the giant payments fintech observed all through November. In that month, for the first time, the company achieved the high water mark of $1 billion in BNPL transactions.
FinTech: London-Listed, Global Fintech Wise To Expand Its North America Business
Wise (LON: WISE), the global payments processor previously known as TransferWise, announced a 2022 expansion plan for its operations in North America given its solid growth in the half year concluded on September 30, 2021.
FinTech: New Players In BNPL, And Down Under, Stocks Are Hammered
Afterpay enters subscriptions market, Monzo’s Pay Later, Suncorp hops onto the BNPL bandwagon, and BNPL stocks get clobbered in Australia
FinTech: Klarna Launches “Pay Now” In The US, Klarna Card Soon To Follow
Klarna, the Stockholm-headquartered fintech powerhouse last valued at $45.6 billion, has brought a “Pay Now” offering to consumers at retailers wherever Klarna is accepted. The company also announced a Klarna Card to “very soon” hit the US market and which would be loaded with the company’s highly popular Pay in 4 product for interest-free instalment payments.
FinTech: Take Heart From Tesla – PayTM CEO After Damp Squib IPO
So said PayTM founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma at a company town hall after the Indian fintech’s $2.5 billion IPO made a disastrous debut on Thursday. That’s some erosion of wealth. Shares issued at Rs 2,150 in Indian fintech PayTM’s (NSE: PAYTM) record-breaking $2.5 billion IPO, listed at Rs 1,955 on November 18, and…
Venture Capital: MoonPay’s $555M Series ‘A’ Is The Largest For A Bootstrapped Crypto Company Globally
MoonPay, which refers to itself as the PayPal for crypto, announced its massive Series A of $555 million led by Tiger Global Management and Coatue with participation from Blossom Capital, Thrive Capital, Paradigm, and NEA. The hitherto bootstrapped startup, which is already profitable, secured a valuation of $3.4 billion in the round. The company sets up the interfaces between fiat channels of finance and crypto entities – a so-called “fiat to crypto on-ramp.”
FinTech: German Fintech And NeoBank N26 Calls It Quits In The US
A month after successfully closing a monster $900 million round that valued it at more than $9 billion, German fintech and challenger bank N26 has announced it is shuttering the US business that it launched in July 2019. It is the latest setback for the company, which has had long-standing issues with German regulator BaFin, and exited its UK operations last year after that country pulled out from the EU.
Alternative Investments/AI: Global X Launches Seven New “Paradigm Shift” ETFs In Europe
ETF provider Global X ETFs announced today its launch of seven new UCITS ETFs in Europe that would trade on the London Stock Exchange and Xetra. The seven new ETFs complement Global X’s existing five thematic UCITS ETFs launched after Global X entered Europe in December 2020. The new ETFs center around disruptive, digital transformation around the world.
FinTech: There’s A Bubble In Fintech, Says Billionaire J C Flowers
Is there a bubble forming in fintech? Billionaire investor and CEO of investment firm J C Flowers & Co seems to think so, pointing to soaring valuations of financial technology companies. “I think there are a lot of indicators that there is a bubble” in fintech, Flowers told CNBC’s Annette Weisbach in an interview.
FinTech: BNPL News From Japan, UK, Mexico And The US
Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) is fast spreading its wings across the world. Here are some new developments.
FinTech: Upgrade Valued At $6.28B In $280M Series F Round
Fintech Upgrade announced its $280 million Series F round led by Coatue Management and DST Global. Dragoneer Investment Group and existing investors including Gopher Asset Management, G-Squared, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Old Well Partners, Ribbit Capital, Sands Capital, Ventura Capital and Vy Capital also participated in the round.
FinTech: Indian Agtech Arya.ag Launches BNPL For Agri-Produce Buyers
Arya.ag is an Indian agtech that provides post-harvest services across the agricultural value chain, including warehousing, warehouse receipt financing, rural storage discovery, collateral management and market linkages. The firm has launched a BNPL service for its commodity buyers.
Alternative Investments/Digital: New ETF From Tuttle Capital Bets Against Cathie Wood And Ark
The Tuttle Capital Short Innovation ETF (NASDAQ: SARK), which started for trading Tuesday, takes a contrarian view on famed stock picker and fund manager Cathie Wood’s flagship fund – the ARK Innovation ETF (NYSEARCA: ARKK). The new ETF, a type of fund also known as a “short” or “inverse” ETF, is actively managed and is structured to achieve the inverse of the return of the ARK ETF in a single day.
FinTech: MFS Africa Raises $100M To Make Payments As Easy As Calls
MFS Africa announced today its $ 100 million Series C fundraising for a massive expansion across Africa. The funding, a mix of $70 million in equity and $30 million in debt, was co-led by private equity fund and new investor AfricInvest along with existing investors Goodwell Investments and LUN Partners Group.
Alternative Investments/FinTech: Grayscale Files To Launch “Future Of Finance” Equity ETF
Grayscale Investments LLC filed Friday with the SEC for the Future of Finance ETF (GFOF), an ETF product focused on companies involved in the advancement of the digital economy. The new ETF would be sub-advised by Vident Investment Advisory, and US Bank would function as custodian.
FinTech: Starling Bank Adds Multi-Currency Accounts To Its Xero Integration
By connecting their Starling multi-currency account to Xero, transactions made from that account in euros or dollars will automatically feed through to Xero in real time says a Starling Bank announcement addressed to UK businesses that regularly send, receive or hold euros or dollars.
FinTech: Eco-Friendly Debit Card From London-based ekko
London-based, sustainability focused fintech ekko has launched a debit card, an app, and ecosystem that enable users to make a contribution every time they use the products. While using everyday services such as shopping and banking, they can get comfort from the fact that the company will take climate-friendly actions on their behalf.
FinTech: Klarna Acquires PriceRunner To Boost Shoppers’ Searches
Klarna, the BNPL that is valued as a quadradecacorn, announced today its acquisition of price comparison site PriceRunner to enhance the Klarna app via new features including product reviews, rich product discovery and price comparisons.
FinTech: Buffett-Backed Brazilian Fintech Nubank Aiming For $50B Valuation In U.S. IPO
Sao Paulo-based Nubank, a fintech and challenger bank backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), is hoping to raise $3 billion at a valuation of $50 billion in its upcoming U.S. IPO.
FinTech: In South Africa, Nasdaq-Listed Net1 Acquires Connect Group For $242M
Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: UEPS) has agreed to acquire all of South African fintech Connect Group for US$242 million in a bid to expand its market and acquire scale as the biggest fintech platform in the country.
Fintech: Pawn Store Operator FirstCash Acquires BNPL And POS Fintech American First Finance For $1.17B
FirstCash, Inc (NASDAQ: FCFS) operates more than 2,800 retail pawn stores in the U.S. and Latin America and is a retailer and provider of financial services to underserved customers. It announced Thursday its $1.17 billion acquisition of American First Finance (AFF), a financial technology firm, in a bid to enter the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) business.
FinTech: Visa Under The DoJ’s Anti-Trust Lens (WSJ)
The US Department of Justice is conducting an anti-trust inquiry of Visa, the largest card network in the US. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US Department of Justice is probing the allegedly cosy relationships Visa (NYSE: V) had with certain large fintechs as part of its anti-trust investigation against the card giant. (FINANCE…