👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Apple doesn't want or need to be a bank to squeeze profit from the booming buy now, pay later trend. Its new payment moves could simply be to strengthen its hold on the vast iPhone user base.
When the likes of Amazon, Apple, and Google do anything in the financial space, it’s a common reaction to think that the big techs are engaging in banking. Yes, they are doing banking things, but the purpose is frequently different than simply competing with legacy players.
The latest case in point is the report, broken first by Bloomberg, that Apple is crafting a multi-year strategy to develop its own suite of payment process technologies. Apple is said to be devising ways to deliver payment-related services so that it reduces its reliance on outside providers.
This may seem like strictly a payments play, but typical head-to-head competition is not likely what Apple intends.
👉 Read the full Financial Brand article by Steve Cocheo here.
👉 On that note, Apple is developing its own payment processing technology and infrastructure for future financial products, part of an ambitious effort that would reduce its reliance on outside partners over time, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Link here.
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📊 INFOGRAPHIC
👉 Find the Top DeFi Projects 2022 here.
📰 ARTICLE
Ghost Financial, an Austin, TX-based fintech startup, emerged from stealth with $2.5m in pre-seed funding raised.
The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.
Led by John Meyer, CEO, and founder, Ghost Financial is a comprehensive financing and business services platform to support ghost kitchen and restaurant ventures by offering financial products such as insurance, payroll, credit cards, and expansion loans for startup & growing kitchens.
👉 Read the full Finsmes article through the link here.
💡INSIGHTS
Uber is driving ahead with its plan to become a travel "superapp".
The San Francisco-headquartered firm announced Wednesday that it is adding trains, buses, planes and car rentals to its U.K. app this year.
The move is part of a pilot that could be expanded to other countries at a later date if it goes well.
While Uber won't provide these travel services itself, it will allow users to book them through its app following software integrations with platforms that sell tickets.
👉 Read the full CNBC article here.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Toronto and Atlanta-based Uplinq, which aims to revolutionise the credit lending process for SMBs, has just raised a $3.5 million in pre-seed funding. Link here.
⭐️ Remote secures $300 million Series C financing to power global employment. Link here.
⭐️ US challenger Battle Bank signs with Temenos. Link here.
⭐️ Ellevest has secured $53 million in a Series B funding round co-led by BMO and Contour Venture Partners. Link here.
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DIGITAL BANKING
NorthOne, one of America’s leading banking apps for small businesses, today announced an exclusive partnership with Profit First, a revolutionary cash management system created by New York Times bestselling author and small business expert Mike Michalowicz. Link here.
A new US banking app called Swell, which combines checking, credit, and more into one integrated account, is set to launch in June. Swell’s parent bank Central Pacific Financial, based in Hawaii, incubated the firm for more than a year before spinning it out at the beginning of 2022. Link here.
Jia Finance, a Washington, D.C.-based online residential mortgage platform for foreign investors, raised $5m in seed funding. The round was led by TTV Capital, with participation from Stanford Angels, the co-founder of SoFi as well as the founder of U.K. top investment app, Nutmeg. Link here.
Payments giant Adyen is moving into providing banking services, the company said Thursday. The white-labeled banking services—which will include multi-currency bank accounts, corporate credit cards, short-term cash advances based on pending payment transactions, and instant business loans—represent the first major strategic expansion for the Dutch payments company since it went public in 2018. Link here.
PAYMENTS
Payfare Inc., a leading fintech powering instant payout and digital banking solutions for the gig workforce, announced the expansion of its collaboration with Visa in the U.S. Link here.
Amazon has chosen to renew a deal allowing JPMorgan Chase to issue the tech giant’s flagship rewards credit card, ending months of heated negotiations. Link here.
Aavenir, a leading AI-enabled Source-to-Pay solution provider, announced that it has raised $6M million in Series A funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from ScOp Ventures. Accel also led Aavenir’s Seed round. Link here.
Archie, the company that’s building the financial infrastructure for the freelance economy, has publicly launched its first product to help businesses onboard, manage and pay independent workers. Link here.
Advantage Payment Services (APS), the leader in financial data management for top FinTech payments organizations, has received a strategic investment from MetaBank®, N.A. Link here.
Business spend management platform Medius has acquired US-based OnPay Solutions, an invoice payments provider, for an undisclosed sum. Link here.
Fast is shutting down. It’s a stunning collapse for a FinTech company that had raised $120 million in funding from backers including payments giant Stripe, Index Ventures, and Lee Fixel’s Addition. Link here.
Mastercard has completed the acquisition of Dynamic Yield, a Tel Aviv, Israel- and New York City-based provider of a personalization platform and decision engine company. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. Link here.
PayPal is revamping its co-branded PayPal Cashback Mastercard credit card, issued by Synchrony, which will now give users 3% cashback when they check out using PayPal and 2% cashback on all other Mastercard purchases. Link here.
OPEN BANKING
Finicity, a Mastercard company, and Fiserv, Inc., both leaders in open banking technology, are advancing the future of open finance through secure data sharing. Link here.
CRYPTO
Credit card giant Visa has launched an NFT creator program in an effort to bring small businesses into the digital economy. Link here.
BLOCKCHAIN / DEFI
Startup Blockchain.com said it raised new funding that values the company at about $14 billion, more than doubling its worth in a sign that cryptocurrency firms still enjoy the favor of investors in turbulent venture capital markets Link here.
Blockchain-enabled B2B payments specialist Paystand has unveiled a corporate expense card with native cryptocurrency rewards. The DeFi Corporate Card offers instant provisioning of virtual and physical cards, advanced spend controls, and real-time expense reporting. Link here.
Seven years ago, the founders of Current envisioned a challenger bank that would balance blockchain-based services with traditional banking. This was well before the term “decentralized finance” existed and when cryptocurrency was in its infancy. Link here.
INVESTMENT
Unifimoney Inc., a turnkey digital wealth management platform for Community Banks and Credit Unions, announced a $10m Seed round. Unifimoney's platform offers a comprehensive digital wealth management platform with trading of over 70 cryptocurrencies, passive and active investing in thousands of stocks and ETF's and precious metals. Link here.
REGTECH
ThetaRay, a leading provider of AI-powered transaction monitoring technology, today announced it is partnering with next-gen sanctions screening company Screena. Through the alliance, Screena's cloud-based AI-driven screening system will be fully integrated into ThetaRay's SONAR SaaS transaction monitoring solution, providing fintechs and banks with a holistic view of transactional and sanctions list risks. Link here.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Kaleidoscope, a Minneapolis, MN-based provider of a fintech platform driving education-based philanthropy, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by 3×5 Partners and Rally Ventures. Link here.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.