Weekly Fintech Newsletter | 2021 #38
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ARTICLE
The rise of e-commerce in the early 2000’s gave rise to many non-card payment methods, including PayPal, PaySafe (various schemes), iDeal, Sofort, Trustly, and Klarna, among others.
Some of these alternatives were wallets that leveraged existing card rails (e.g., PayPal), while others were entirely new frameworks built on account-to-account (“A2A”) bank transfer rails (e.g., iDeal, Blik). The number of APMs in Europe continues to proliferate; most EU countries have at least one thriving APM (see picture).
REPORT
India, as a market for financial services, is ripe with untapped potential. With a population of over 1.3 billion, 80% of which is banked, the financial literacy rates remain low at 27%.
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that contribute 30% to the GDP of the country, represent a credit gap of USD 397 billion. These factors present opportunities for reform and more open financial services enabled by technology and digital infrastructure.
FINTECH MAPS
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S FINTECH SPACE
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
Chipper Cash, an African cross-border payments company, has raised $150 million in a Series C extension round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX.
The investment comes barely six months after Chipper Cash closed its first Series C round of $100 million, led by SVB Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of SVB Financial Group. SVB Capital reinvested in this extension round and other existing investors such as Deciens Capital, Ribbit Capital, Bezos Expeditions, One Way Ventures, and Tribe Capital.
FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
Who runs the 🇸🇪 Klarna show, besides Siemiatkowski? Sifted identified the 15 most senior people currently at Klarna. Link here.
Five Democratic senators have penned a letter to 🇺🇸 Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to shelve the company’s digital currency plans. Link here.
🇲🇾 Tranglo, a cross-border payment firm, has announced the launch of its brand new payment corridor to Mongolia. Link here.
In December 2018, just weeks before doubts about one of its most high-profile clients began to circulate widely, the auditor 🇩🇪 EY Germany decided to investigate 🇩🇪 Wirecard’s operations more closely. Link here.
Payments emerged as the most popular area for investment in Saudi FinTech companies, according to a new report by FinTech Saudi. The Fintech Saudi Annual Report 2020/21 noted that payments clinched 93% of venture capital investments in 2021 so far. Link here.
🇺🇸 Jeeves has launched its services in Canada as well as Colombia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Link here.
PAYMENTS
Fin.do announced its service is now available to Visa cardholders. Link here.
🇺🇸 PayPal Holdings, Inc. launched the Zettle by PayPal Terminal in the UK, an all-in-one point of sale (POS) solution that offers increased mobility in-store for small businesses. Link here.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced that Flutterwave, a global payments technology company, has launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on the Stellar Development Foundation network. Link here.
🇹🇭 Omise Co., Ltd. announced that it has officially launched in Malaysia as part of the company’s ongoing expansion roadmap across the region. Link here.
🇺🇸 Walmart and InComm Payments, a leading payments technology company, announced a more convenient and efficient way for millions of customers to pay their bills or fund prepaid accounts nationwide at more than 4,700 Walmart locations in the U.S. through VanillaDirect. Link here.
BNPL
Shopping and rewards platform 🇸🇬 ShopBack announced that it has received consent from shareholders of 🇸🇬 hoolah, a leading ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) platform, for a 100% acquisition of the company by ShopBack. Link here.
🇸🇪 Klarna’s “Pay Now” announcement comes as the government begins a 12-week consultation into possible Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) regulations. Link here.
By the way, 🇸🇪 Klarna's deal to offer its buy now/pay later service to Stripe merchants — a case of two of the most valuable FinTechs combining forces — is the latest in a string of deals that could make the Swedish installment lender an even bigger force in payments. Link here.
As consumer demand for 'Buy Now, Pay Later' (BNPL) solutions continues to grow, 🇺🇸 Visa announced a growing list of issuers, acquirers and fintechs that are leveraging Visa’s technology — both its network-based Visa Installments Solution and its longstanding fintech solutions — to bring ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ options to their customers. Link here.
🇺🇸 Amount, a leading technology provider for financial institutions, and global modern card issuing platform 🇺🇸 Marqeta, Inc announced the first virtual card and loan origination partnership to help banks rapidly enter the buy now, pay later (BNPL) space. Link here.
With new 🇨🇦 RBC analysis suggesting that the US buy now, pay later market is set for explosive growth, Visa says issuers, acquirers and fintechs are snapping up its installment payments technology. Link here
CRYPTO
🇷🇺 Tinkoff Investments, is the online brokerage of major Russian private bank Tinkoff Bank, is researching cryptocurrency investment services despite the Bank of Russia withholding the bank from launching such tools. Link here.
🇬🇧 ComplyAdvantage, a global data technology company transforming financial crime detection, and Elliptic, the global leader in crypto asset risk management solutions, announced a new blockchain analysis and transaction monitoring tool that will help crypto firms detect and avoid financial crime. Link here.
🇦🇺 Zip Co’s co-founder and chief executive Larry Diamond says there’s a simple reason as to why his buy now, pay later (BNPL) company is getting ready to offer “crypto” assets to Zip customers: you always give customers what they want. Link here.
INVESTMENTS
Savings and investment app 🇬🇧 Chip has struck a deal with banking-as-a-service provider 🇬🇧 ClearBank to provide users with FSCS-protected accounts and the ability to deposit and withdraw funds in real-time. Link here.
🇺🇸 DriveWealth, LLC, a pioneer in fractional investing and embedded finance, has formed a partnership with GBM Grupo Bursátil Mexicano (GBM), the investment platform and brokerage company that is streamlining the investing sector with the goal of democratizing investing in Mexico. Link here.