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Welcome to The Interchange! If you received this in your inbox, thank you for your subscription and vote of confidence. If you are reading this as a post on our site, please register over here So you can receive it directly in the future. Every week, I look at the hottest fintech news from the previous week. This includes everything from funding rounds to trends to niche analysis to hot takes on a specific company or event. There’s a lot of fintech news out there and it’s my job to stay on top of it – and understand it – so you can stay informed. – Mary Ann
First, I have to say that this past week was one of the busiest fintech news weeks I’ve experienced in a long time. Oops. Very. Continuing. Although I cannot cover all of them clearly, I have tried to include as much as I can in this newsletter.
Before we get into the different news from last week, let’s talk about Bank Charter.
For the uninitiated, Investopedia says: “A chartered bank is a financial institution (FI) whose primary functions are to receive and secure deposits from individuals and corporations, and to lend money.” The details of a chartered bank vary from country to country. But generally, a chartered bank in operation has obtained a government license form to do business in the financial services industry. A chartered bank is often associated with a commercial bank.
In the year In 2020, Digital Bank Varo became the first U.S. consumer bank to be nationally chartered — meaning it received approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. common sense As opposed to partnering with one, as most digital banks do.
It was a bold and risky move. So I spoke with Colin Walsh, CEO and founder of Varo, to find out if it’s worth it. His answer? 100%
To read my full interview with Walsh, about how things are going, head here.
Corporate cards just keep on coming.
Mercury It announced the launch of a new corporate credit card last week. In an email, a spokesperson told me that IO Mastercard is designed to help startups grow their business. “It’s straight 1.5% cash back on everything, there’s no personal credit check and the first step to qualify for the card is just $50,000 in your Mercury account.”
Mercury in 2010 Since “every founder needs a bank account to run their business…and [they] They are an ideal foundation for building additional financial features.” The move is admittedly an effort to carve out its own niche with the likes of Brakes and Ramps.
Meanwhile, European fintech Pihak It announced its launch in the US with a focus on enterprise customers. As part of that move, it is launching its first credit card product in the U.S. The move follows what a spokesman described as a “big year” for the company: revenue has grown over the past 12 months. More than 520%. The company achieved unicorn status after raising its Series B round to $215 million.
We’re not done yet! middleFounded by former Concur CEO and co-founder Steve Singh, the company, which launched its own corporate card and expense software offering focused on small and medium enterprises, recently tripled its customer base last year. Retaining 94% of existing customers” and doubling the size of the company. This is particularly interesting because many corporate card players often point to Concur as the primary card they are trying to replace.
These companies, join several other corporate card companies in the US, including – but not limited to – Brex, Ramp, Airbase, Mesh Payments and Rho.
Image Credits: Mercury
Weekly news
We killed On September 15, it announced that it was the first fintech to become a partner Money App (Block) Mobile payment method Cash app to provide payment to its US customers. Adyen said its businesses offer customers a way to pay using their Cash app balance or linked debit card. “As the first financial technology platform outside of the Square ecosystem to launch Cash App Payments, we look forward to seeing the benefits this partnership brings to our customers and Adyen’s businesses,” Cash App COO Owen Jennings said in a written statement. An Adyen spokesperson told me in an email: “The partnership will give Adyen’s business customers access to more than 80 million active customers, one-third of Millennial and Gen Z consumers in the US. A seamless way to pay on check that meets their unique financial needs and habits.
When he spoke BlockThe company used to (and still occasionally does) Square It announced last week that its entire ecosystem of more than 35 products and services will now be available in Spanish for sellers in the United States. This means millions of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States will have the ability to use Square in English or Spanish, “opening up financial services, including key products like Square Banking, and enabling seamless, bilingual front-end communication for Square restaurants.” and domestic workers.”
While we’re on the topic of payments, Goldman Sachs and Modern Treasury They announced that they are partnering to “accelerate embedded payments, help mutual customers add payments to products and make payments.” In an email, a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told me the partnership adds to Goldman’s “push to better serve middle-market companies that have long sought a bank with Goldman.” Eduardo Vergara, head of product and sales at Goldman Sachs Transaction Banking, said in a written statement, “The integration of payments into software products is becoming increasingly business-like, and we are creating new opportunities for our clients to be seamless by partnering with Modern Treasury. Leverage our payment capabilities on their own platforms.
In another Goldman Sachs News, Bloomberg reports that investment banking and financial services giants are undergoing the biggest job cuts since the pandemic began. Goldman “plans to eliminate several hundred roles starting this month,” the publication said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Buy now, pay later. It made headlines several times last week. First, the Associated Press reported (unsurprisingly and sadly) that “Americans love ‘buy now, pay later’ services… The ‘pay later’ part is becoming too difficult for some borrowers.” Meanwhile, TechCrunch’s Kyle Wiggers As reported US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) On September 15, it released a report that “suggests that companies such as Klarna and Afterpay, which allow customers to pay for products and services, should be subject to stricter controls.” Meanwhile, prove it CEO Max Levchin told Bloomberg Law in an interview: “What we’ve chosen to do is a fair amount of what the report suggests. We view this as a loan activity in accordance with all lender rules and regulations.
Proptex continues to strike. Residential real estate marketplace Sunday Last week it was the second strike this year. About 28% of the team – mostly sales and support staff – were laid off. In particular, about 106 workers have been let go. I contacted the company for confirmation, and a spokesperson told me in an email that “Sundae is focused on creating a more streamlined customer experience so we can get offers to sellers faster. The market is dynamic and we see the layoffs as an opportunity to use data and technology to streamline our approach and improve our customer experience. Additionally, these decisions are a long flight.” We see it as an opportunity to build accommodation.I cover the company’s 2021 growth here.
More exciting employee news, fodder — a payment processor aimed at enabling grocers to accept SNAP EBT payments online — announced that Christina Herman is joining the company as its new chief business officer. She comes to Forage after nearly 16 years at Amazon, where she most recently built and led the company’s population as founder and CEO. Earlier this year, I wrote about how Ofek Lavyan left his role as Instacart’s head of payments to join Feed. Today, he serves as the startup’s CEO.
F.I.S Worldpay, an embedded finance solution targeted at SMBs, has launched a platform. Businesses using the offering, FIS told me in an email, “avoid the need to pay SMBs with card issuance, cash advances, or various partners that help them get quick cash flow.” Obviously, this has implications for companies like Stripe or Plaid or other products that target the small business market.
ICMI: revolution It recently announced a new online checkout feature called Revolut Pay, which “allows users to checkout online with one click.”
Featured on TechCrunch.
For Latham Pay Orchestra startups, market disruption is a boon.
Linus Foundation Announces OpenWallet Foundation to Develop Interactive Digital Wallets
YC Batch shows that founders are optimistic about fintech
Image Credits: Grazing / Kristina Herrmann, Chief Commercial Officer
Funding and M&A
Featured on TechCrunch.
Ratio bags $411M in equity, credit for flexible subscription payment models.
Kenyan insurtech Turaco raises $10 million in funding, secures 1 billion user target
Denim, a fintech platform for freight brokers, has raised $126 million in equity and debt.
The private equity fund’s placements are valued at $150m to help attract smaller investors.
Payall raises 10M in seed round led by 16z to help banks facilitate more cross-border payments
Lease-to-fintech startup Kafene raises $18M to fight BNPL
Southeast Asia’s fintech phase raises $100M Series C to serve businesses of all sizes
Nigerian financial management app Kipa bags $8.4M in new funding for traders
The fintech startup powerhouse is flexing its credit card muscle following a $316M equity, debt injection.
Indian fintech Cred is set to invest in lending partner Liquilons.
And elsewhere
Alternative asset management platform Ethical Wallets $50M
Composer pays $6m for automated investment platform
Redfin CEO, Dordash Co-Founder Invest in Far Homes, Mexico’s Real Estate Portal
German software company Candis raised $16 million to expand AP automation
Splitit drives profit-as-a-service growth with $10.5M funding
PortX was launched as a new legal entity by Modusbox and received $10M in new funding
JPMorgan Chase Acquires Fintech Renovate Payments to Help Fight Stripe and Block
Wow, that was a lot, and if this week is any indication, the fourth quarter is going to be crazy. Now I’m trying to refresh this weekend. Hope you are doing the same! See you next week! xoxoxo Mary Ann
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock and haven’t heard, TechCrunch Disrupt is coming to San Francisco from October 18–20! I would love to meet you there. Use code INTERCHANGE or simply click to get 15% off (excludes online and expo). over here.
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