Fintech Highlights - 4/6/2021

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Pinned to the Top

I've written and provided tons of examples of hot fintech startups being funded.

And it's not slowing down.

The deals reflect the frenzied investor interest in fintech startups, companies providing technology to make it easier for people to transact, save or spend money. It’s also another instance of hedge funds and other nontraditional private tech investors taking stakes in early-stage companies in hopes of earning outsize returns.

The most recent Y Combinator cohort saw 350 companies in total - and 42 were fintech focused. So not only is funding very active - emerging startups are being launched to participate and solve many problems that face consumers and the financial services category.

The BFD

Walgreens announced this week it will launch a new bank account offering. The pharmacy chain is launching a Mastercard debit card to pair with both a mobile banking app and in-person service.

With so many ways to partner with existing card issuers and financial institutions, many brands and companies are looking to create niche-focused banking options that create new revenue opportunities. Big retail players like Walgreens, who are leveraging their footprint to become neighborhood centers (78% of Americans live within five miles of a Walgreens or Duane Reade store), are jumping on board.

Read about this new program here ->

Fintechs

Bank of America acquired Axia Technologies, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based healthcare payments company, as the financial giant continues to build out its products for helping merchants take payments. More here ->

Ramp, a two-year-old startup that offers corporate cards and software tools for managing employee expenses, is close to finalizing two rounds of funding that will value the company at $1.6 billion, lead by Stripe. Ramp also recently gained a key executive from Stripe, Colin Kennedy, who was formerly the COO at Goldman's Marcus unit. More here ->

Q2, an Austin-based digital banking platform, has acquired ClickSwitch, a Minneapolis-based company that facilitates the digital switching of bank accounts to a financial institution of one’s choosing. The acqusition is intended to strenghten Q2's ability to help FI's and fintech's solve the age old challenge of "converting their clients to become primary account holders."

in/PACT, a Charleston, SC based "social good company" (that develops cloud-based charitable giving technology) recently launched a program with Walgreens that allows myWalgreens members to donate Walgreens Cash rewards directly to local nonprofits in their community via Walgreens.com or the myWalgreens app. More here ->

Sincere, a California based fintech, has created a debit card for “pet parents." They intend to wrap the card in pet-related rewards, covering things like pet food, vet bills, and rescue shelters. More here ->

FinanZero, a Brazilian online credit marketplace, raised around of funding ($7m) to "allow people to apply for a personal loan, a car equity loan or a home equity loan for free and receive an answer in minutes." A key to FinanZero’s success is that it doesn’t offer the loans itself, but has instead partnered with about 51 banks and fintechs who back the loans. More here ->

Insuretechs

Insuretech startups like Oscar, Lemonade and Root have made incursions into personal insurance. What has been less prevalent, are startups tackling the $300 billion corporate insurance market. Enter Counterpart - a new insuretech startup that recently raised $10m to change the staid and somewhat confusing category . More here ->

Dropin, an AI platform that creates "visual evidence" for insurance claims, is changing how carriers run their calims inspeactions process - esepcially during the pandemic. More here ->

Flyreel, is another AI platform that provides "total property understanding" - guiding policy holders through "effortless self-service inspections and claims workflows. And is also being used for underwriting More here ->

From the Stash

The 12 Most Important Mobile Banking Features (And Why No Bank Can Have Them All) — www.forbes.comFor a growing number of consumers, a mobile app is the primary way they interact with their checking account. So, in essence, the mobile banking app IS the product. To keep up with evolving needs, banks need to personalize mobile banking apps and find ways to alleviate consumers' fraud concerns.

AI-Powered Savings Apps: A New Competitive Necessity For Banks — www.forbes.com Consumers don't want savings accounts--they want to save more money. New, automated savings tools are helping consumers save $1,000 more than they currently save. Banks need to start offering these tools.

Reports / Webinars

Embedded Insurance: Keeping it Simple - 11:FS — 11fs.com

Recently Google's Nigel Walsh and 11:FS's head of strategy Sarah Kocianski hosted a great panel on embedded insurance. What is it, who does it benefit and how should insurers work to stay visible for customers?

How Mid-Size Financial Institutions Can Jumpstart New Product Innovation Through Fintech Partnerships— offers.nymbus.com Nymbus has commissioned a Cornerstone report written by Ron Shevlin to equip mid-sized financial institutions with a detailed roadmap on how to start anticipating customers’ needs in order to provide the right products at the right times in their financial journey.

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