Fintech Highlights - 9/13/2022
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Pinned to the Top
E-commerce giant Shopify is taking on the even bigger e-commerce giant Amazon in a row over checkout buttons.
Shopify doesn’t want to see the new ‘Buy with Prime’ option emblazoned across its sellers’ stores. Merchants are being threatened that integrating Amazon’s payment option is a violation of Shopify’s terms of service. It’s all very messy.
It’s certainly an interesting development in the previously civil relationship between the two companies. As recently as May, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke was “happy” to integrate the payments feature. But Buy with Prime has coincided with Shopify’s acquisition of Deliverr, bringing the two heavyweights into closer competition.
What feels a little tone-deaf is the timing. With the cost-of-living crisis biting hard and sellers dependent on merchants like Shopify for their welfare, two titans at loggerheads over a checkout button just smells wrong.
Regardless, the payments options debate is going nowhere anytime soon. Convenient payment options are the second most important factor consumers consider when choosing a local business (41%), next to customer service (60%). But surely at some point we’ll reach a tipping point. Surely?!
And it’ll be fascinating to see where the disagreement goes next. But I think we can all agree taking on Amazon won’t be easy.
More here ->
The BFD
Tnsion between banks and fintechs has long been an issue, despite increased partnerships and mergers among the two groups. Now, the pairing has bank regulators concerned.
On September 7, Reuters reported that “the rise of fintech services and digital banking could spur financial risks and potentially a crisis over the long term,” citing Michael Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, a major U.S. bank regulator.
Why it's the BFD: Hsu warned that the “encroachment of fintech companies into the traditional financial sector, including via partnerships with banks, was creating more complexity and ‘de-integration’ across the banking sector.”
Details: Reuters described Hsu’s concerns that “banks and tech firms, in an effort to provide a seamless customer experience, are teaming up in ways that make it more difficult for regulators to distinguish between where the bank stops and where the tech firm starts…
The bottom line: With fintech valuations falling as financing costs rise, bank partnerships with fintechs are increasing.”
Can’t we all just get along?
M&A
JPMorgan Chase is in talks to invest in Yapily, a London-based open banking firm that recently agreed to buy Germany’s finAPI, per Bloomberg. More here ->
Tyro, an Australian payments firm, rejected an A$685m takeover bid led by private equity firm Potentia. More here ->
AIG (NYSE: AIG) said it will proceed with a $1.9b IPO for llife and retirement unit Corebridge. More here ->
Social investment platform eToro has announced it’s intention to acquire fintech startup Gatsby, which will allow it to broaden the range of its U.S. product, which today is focused on stocks and crypto. More here ->
Fintechs
Mesh Payments closes on $60M as demand for its corporate spend offering surges — techcrunch.com Financial management startup Mesh Payments has landed $60 million in new funding, 10 months after its last raise. Founded in Israel and now with headquarters in New York, Mesh Payments is one of a growing group of startups focused on helping companies manage their spend through automation. It’s a hot and crowded space that includes […]
Boopos adds to its small business M&A lending pot with new investment — techcrunch.com
The Miami-based business lending platform raised $58m in Series A and debt funding. The company underwrites online businesses in less than 48 hours and provides facilities for funding up to 80% of an acquisition.
Chargezoom Raises $10M in Series A Funding — www.finsmes.com
Chargezoom provides businesses with payment tools by integrating with the accounting applications that they use on a daily basis. The company has integrations with the most common accounting platforms including QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online, FreshDesk, and Xero.
Supply chain finance startup CashFlo raises $8.7 million — economictimes.indiatimes.com Founded in 2018, CashFlo helps corporates and businesses automate their core finance processes and manage their cash flows better.
London-based financial infrastructure startup Fidel API, announced it is officially establishing a presence in Silicon Valley — techcrunch.com
With the appointment of Salman Syed as COO, the company will be opening of office in San Francisco. “Syed — most recently the SVP and General Manager at Marquetta — will lead Fidel API’s go-to-market and operational activities to scale the business globally. He brings a wealth of experience in the payments industry, including also at Mastercard.”
DeFi Platform Credix Raises $11.25M to Connect Institutional Lenders With Emerging Market Fintechs — www.coindesk.com The decentralized credit marketplace will use the capital to expand beyond Brazil.
Billogram Raises $13.9M to Expand Invoicing Platform in Europe — www.pymnts.com Swedish invoicing platform Billogram has raised $13.9 million to accelerate its growth in the DACH region and the rest of Europe.
London-based regtech SteelEye nabs $21M — techcrunch.com SteelEye works with banks, hedge funds, brokers and more to help them comply with regulatory procedures and requirements in their respective industries.
Google leads fresh investment in embedded lending fintech R2 — fintechmagazine.com R2, an embedded lending fintech from Latin America, has received US$15mn of Series A investment led by the AI-focused venture fund of search giant Google.
African fintech NowNow pulls in $13M seed round — www.axios.com
The Nigerian payments startup targets thousands of SMEs, 200k consumers.
SkorLife gives control of credit data back to Indonesian consumers — techcrunch.com Indonesia’s credit bureaus currently have about 92 million credit records, but the founders of SkorLife say many people have trouble accessing their own data. That’s why they built the app, which not only lets people see their credit histories for free but also gives personalized advice on how to improve data. The Jakarta-based startup announced […]
Crypto
Stack banks $2.7M to teach teens, parents about crypto — techcrunch.com The app was designed with Gen Z in mind, a generation that will grow up with the blockchain and most likely own some kind of digital assets.
Web3 Infrastructure Startup Mysten Labs Hits $2B Valuation — news.crunchbase.com Mysten Labs, developer of the Sui Layer 1 blockchain which Web3 applications can be built upon, closed a $300M Series B at a more than $2B valuation.
Credix Finance raises $11.25M for blockchain financing platform — www.axios.com The startup puts loan financing on the blockchain.
21Shares' parent gets a $2 billion valuation — www.axios.com The company has raised $35 million in its lifetime.
Proptech
Real estate investment startup Arrived Homes adds vacation rental properties to platform — www.geekwire.com Arrived Homes, a Seattle-based startup that allows investors to buy shares of single-family homes, is adding short-term vacation rental properties to its investing platform. “We’re thrilled to announce Vacation Rentals launching… Read More
From the Stash
Understand a company’s sustainability with eToro’s user-friendly ESG scoring — www.etoro.com
eToro announces the introduction of ESG scores for over 2,700 stocks on its platform
Flutterwave gets switching license from Nigeria's central bank — qz.com
The switch and processing license comes ahead of a planned Nasdaq IPO. This license is (per the company) “widely regarded as CBN’s most valuable payments processing license.”
Reports / Webinars
Bank Automation Summit | New year. New focus. Same great experience. — bankautomationsummit.com Bank Automation Summit Fall, taking place September 18-20 at the Hyatt Olive 8 in Seattle, is the event to discover the tools to enhance your financial institution’s strategy for successful automation and digital advancement.