Fintech Highlights - 6/15/2021

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Here’s what’s worth watching this week….. 👇

Pinned to the Top

Marqeta, the card-issuing platform that powers a lot of neobanks and fintechs, raised $1.23 billion in its IPO this week.

It priced at $27 per share, above its $20-$24 range, for a $14.3 billion market cap. The company will list on the Nasdaq (MQ) and had raised $525 million in VC funding, most recently at a $4.3 billion valuation.

The company is fascinating, in that they enable physical card issuing, but also run the back-end payment enabling that power companies like Affirm, Square, and others.

This is a fintech that has enabled many tech companies to move quickly in the payments and financial services space and is truly one to watch as payment volume via credit products skyrockets.

The BFD

This week BMO Harris Bank announced that it has selected FIS to modernize its banking platform, with the aim of giving U.S. customers access to a range of mobile-first deposit and checking accounts.

The multi-year rollout will transform $157 billion BMO Harris’s core banking systems to support the bank’s growth plans in the U.S.over three months.

The announcement shows that the current core banking players have a stranglehold on big FI's, but it also shows how these banks are also looking forward in their journey to modernize their infrastructure.

Fintechs

European fintech giant Klarna is announcing today that it has raised another $639 million at a staggering post-money valuation of $45.6 billion. More here ->

Kefane, a New York-based buy now pay later startup focused on subprime consumers, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Kafene is focused on helping consumers with credit scores below 650 purchase retail items such as furniture, appliances and electronics with its buy now, pay later (BNPL) model. Consider it an “Affirm for the subprime. More here ->

Nesto, a Montreal-based home mortgage startup, raised $76 million in Series B funding. nesto allows Canadians to secure the best suited mortgage for them based on their exclusive online solution while still getting unbiased advice from one of their mortgage advisors. More here ->

Monterrey, Mexico-based Kredi raised $3.1 million in seed funding to enable Mexicans — and eventually people all over Latin America — who want to be homeowners, to access the best mortgage rate and terms. More here ->

Open, an Indian neobank, is in talks to raise around $100 million. Open operates as a neobank that offers nearly all the features of a bank, with additional tools to serve the needs of businesses. The startup offers its clients services such as automated accounts, payment gateway, credit cards, automated bookkeeping, cash flow management and tax and compliance management solutions. More here ->

Clip, a Mexican digital payments and commerce platform, raised $250 million. Clip has pioneered simple and easy access to digital payments and the democratization of financial services in Mexico. More here ->

Flyhomes, a Seattle-based homebuying platform, raised $150 million. Flyhomes helps clients through the entire homebuying process. It offers products including home lending and the option for buyers to make cash offers by helping them get pre-approval for underwriting for a short-term loan. More here ->

Insuretechs

Branch Insurance, a Columbus, Ohio-based home and auto insurance startup, raised $50 million. Branch claims that it is unique in that it is able to provide customers with “an instant insurance offer” for bundled home and auto insurance “within seconds” using just a few pieces of information. More here ->

From the Stash

Stripe goes beyond payments with Stripe Identity to provide AI-based ID verification for transactions and much more — techcrunch.com

A number of startups have fashioned themselves as the “Stripe for identity verification”, providing an easy way for developers to integrate ID authentication into a platform. Today, Stripe is stepping in to fill that need itself: the company is launching a new product called Stripe Identity

How contrarian hires and a pitch deck started Nubank’s $30 billion fintech empire — techcrunch.com For most startups, the hardest early challenge is identifying a market and a product to serve it. That wasn’t the case for Nubank CEO David Velez, who knew the potential for success in Brazil.

Taking cue from fintechs, banks warm to early direct deposit | American Banker — www.americanbanker.com Capital One and a few others are emulating upstarts like Chime and Varo, which let customers access their paychecks two days before payday. But loss of overdraft income and potential liability for errors dissuade many banks from changing their ways.

BofA's plan to sustain digital momentum after the pandemic | American Banker — www.americanbanker.com Online and mobile banking traffic at Bank of America soared in the last year, including a 60% spike in the use of its virtual assistant Erica. David Tyrie, the company's head of digital, wants to keep driving adoption by pitching financial planning tools to millennials and Gen Z.

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