REPORT
Download the Fintech Spotlight 2023 to learn:
‣ Four approaches for a better bottom line.
‣ How to rebuild crypto services through trust and profitability.
‣ Three ways to use data to solve lending challenges.
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👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Under this agreement, Visa will partner with Uplinq by introducing them to key financial institutions to deliver Uplinq’s breakthrough API technology, that can help lenders mitigate risk while expanding access to fair credit to small business owners throughout the U.S. and Canada.
💡INSIGHTS
The company reported gross merchandise volume, or GMV, of $5.5 billion, an increase of 25% year over year, and higher than the $5.3 billion expected by analysts, according to StreetAccount. GMV is a closely watched industry metric used to measure the total value of transactions over a certain period.
New research says that Apple Pay is only the fifth most popular payment platform in the US, despite previous claims that it was beating MasterCard.
In 2022, researchers claimed that Apple Pay had surpassed MasterCard in the annual dollar value of transactions, and by a long way.
Now according to comparison service Merchant Machine, Apple Pay is significantly less popular than MasterCard.
Square generated gross profit of $888 million, up 18% year over year, and Cash App generated gross profit of $968 million, up 37% year over year.
Klarna has shown time and again that its approach to underwriting short-term lending to responsible consumers with a customer-centric, merchant-funded approach works. Credit loss performance has improved -41% YoY, bringing the global credit loss rate to 0.39% for the first half of the year. This has been achieved while growing the top line, with GMV continuing to outpace e-commerce, growing at 14% YoY in Q223 while global e-commerce remained flat at 0%.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Fed warned Goldman Sachs over risk and compliance oversight at fintech unit.
⭐️ Sendwave targets Kenyans in US with new banking product.
⭐️ Mucker Capital backs ScribeUp’s ‘fully-automated’ approach to managing subscriptions.
⭐️ Bank of America is bringing its Global Digital Disbursements technology to Canada via the country's popular Interac e-Transfer system.
⭐️ Fintech rings in phone plan product to bundle with bank account.
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PAYMENTS
Starbucks is testing a new way for customers to pay for their favorite beverages without even having to pull out their phone.
VizyPay and Clear Lake Bank & Trust level-up small businesses with collaborative partnership. The payment processing fintech teams up with the community bank to support Northern Iowa-based businesses in their payments needs.
Venmo is partnering with greeting card manufacturer Hallmark to let you send a physical gift card loaded with money.
Weave introduces Scan to Pay to Payment Suite, in a bid to make the payment process more efficient.
Mastercard and Visa are preparing to raise credit card fees in a move that could cost merchants an extra half a billion dollars a year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
US Bank and Elavon have launched a new point-of-sale (POS) solution to help small business owners avoid making a “large upfront investment” when purchasing a new payments system.
CRYPTO
Treasury aims to snag tax cheats with crypto broker proposal. Exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken would have to report detailed information on their clients’ transactions to the IRS starting in 2026 under a new Treasury proposal.
Grayscale’s court win over SEC lifts hopes for bitcoin ETF approval. Bitcoin-related assets surge on setback to efforts at regulating crypto markets.
Robinhood is no longer doing crypto business with market maker Jump Trading, according to the publication CoinDesk.
INVESTMENT
Airwallex announced its partnership with Public to minimise conversion costs for UK investors when purchasing U.S.-based equities on the Public app.
DONE DEAL
LemFi has raised $33 million in Series A funding to simplify remittance payments for immigrants globally.
Momnt raises $15M to expand lending platform.
M&As
Aquila transforms the LATAM fintech ecosystem through flagship acquisition of iuvity.
Rho acquires fundraising and banking platform Capital in undisclosed deal. The transaction is set to help and attract start-up customers to Rho’s platform.
FRAUD PREVENTION
Astra extended its partnership with Plaid to provide a unified solution for securely embedding instant transfers into fintech products.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
Marketplace and Greenlight to launch nationwide financial literacy tour for middle schools.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Marqeta appointed Heather Gantt-Evans as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). She will be responsible for overseeing their global corporate and product security strategies.
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