📢ANNOUNCEMENT
The Financial Revolutionist (The FR), a leading destination for fintech insights, analysis, and data, has entered into a strategic partnership with Marcel van Oost — a prominent fintech social media commentator, investor, and entrepreneur — and his popular “Connecting the dots in FinTech” newsletters.
The FR and Van Oost’s “Connecting the dots in FinTech” newsletters will share select coverage across audiences — offering a wider range of news to more than 130,000 combined global subscribers spanning the globe as well as and nearly 150,000 social media followers.
Dive into the details on this exciting news
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Scaling the use of virtual cards to bring faster payments and reconciliation to healthcare providers and insurance companies
Fragmented, slow and inefficient payment processes have long been a challenge within the healthcare ecosystem. Just as a patient may be frustrated by cumbersome insurance claims, healthcare providers too experience their own set of holdups when dealing with claim approvals and payouts.
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NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Klarna CEO Siemiatkowski says the company is likely to IPO very soon.
⭐️ Nova Credit helps Ukrainians in U.S., U.K., Canada get credit.
⭐️ LA Clippers arena deal dragged into U.S. investigation of California FinTech.
⭐️ Judge Questions SEC’s Claim to Regulate Coinbase.
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FINTECH
PlugandPlay and Visa select 21 startups for accelerator programme. The program aims to foster diversity and inclusivity in the fintech sector by supporting and empowering diverse founders.
Neobank Arc looks to fill SVB gap with venture debt platform. The neobank’s new marketplace, called Arc Capital Markets, aims to connect startup firms with lenders looking to expand into the venture capital space.
Alviere expands its reach to 500M mobile wallets in Africa. This dovetails perfectly with the missions of Alviere and Onafriq to provide critical access to financial services.
Ally Financial posts strong Q4 earnings, sells unit to Synchrony. This transition occurs as the company embarks on a new chapter following the divestiture of its financing arm.
Liberis brings “4-click funding” solution to small businesses in Canada. Liberis’ platform has enabled Vagaro to launch their offering, Vagaro Capital, into three new markets within three months: US, UK, and Canada.
Visa to support Plug and Play entry to Canada. As a founding sponsor, Visa will support Plug and Play’s entrance into the Canadian fintech market and together, establish a platform to enable fintechs to flourish.
Brex burned an average of about $17 million a month in cash in the fourth quarter. Brex’s cash burn has come down, from an average of $22 million a month in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Klarna to debut $7.99 monthly plan as buy now, pay later firm seeks new revenue sources ahead of IPO. Users of the subscription plan, named Klarna Plus, will get service fees waived, earn double rewards points.
PAYMENTS
The Federal Reserve has made headway in adding banks to its new FedNow system, with a tally of 400 participating financial institutions, but some of the biggest U.S. banks are still on the sidelines six months after the instant payments service launched.
TreviPay and Mastercard partner on B2B payments. Suppliers who accept Mastercard will be able to extend net terms, or trade credit financing, and SKU-level invoicing to business buyers through TreviPay’s Universal Acceptance.
DIGITAL BANKING
Trump promises to block CBDC. The Federal Reserve has been investigating the pros and cons of a digital dollar for several years, publishing a discussion paper on the issue in January 2022.
Pinwheel Collaborates with Jack Henry to Streamline Access to the Industry’s Top Performing Direct Deposit Switching Solution.
SoFi Launches Small Business Loan Marketplace. SoFi had flirted with the idea of small business loans previously and this appears to be their solution.
CRYPTO
A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the appointment of an independent bankruptcy examiner to investigate the Nov. 2022 collapse of FTX.
Crypto Startup Figure Seeks SEC Approval to Issue Interest-Bearing Stablecoin. The company is seeking approval from US regulators to issue an interest-bearing stablecoin.
SEC says SIM swap attack behind X hack. The Securities and Exchange Commission says a "SIM swap" attack was to blame for the hack on its X account earlier this month.
DONEDEAL
Kashable closes $25.6m Series B. The investments will accelerate the development of additional financial wellness services.
Briq, a startup that uses AI to automate finances in construction, brings in $8M extension at a $150M valuation. The company built a platform designed to allow all departments of a construction company to automate financial.
DailyPay closes $75 million equity round. The additional $100 million expansion of the existing credit facility, provided by Citi, brings DailyPay's revolving secured debt facility to $660 million.
Digital Onboarding raises $58m. The firm says it helps clients engage with customers via targeted, journey-based communication and action-oriented microsites to drive account primacy.
Victory Park Capital and Zip continue partnership with new US$225 million facility. The transaction will support the growth of Zip’s US receivables. The new debt facility represents an extension of their long-standing relationship.
Tandem Raises $3.7M in Seed Funding. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach, and develop the platform with additional features and build the Android app.
ModernFi Raises $18.7M Series A to Power Deposit Growth at Community and Regional Banks. This round adds to a $4.5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing the company's total raised to over $23 million to date.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Synchrony hires Pierre Habis to lead consumer banking. Habis’ new employer, Synchrony, operates a product comparison marketplace alongside a consumer-facing product suite containing financing solutions, credit and pay later services.
American Fintech Council elects Martha O’Malley chair. An accomplished attorney with broad experience working in fast-paced and highly regulated environments, O’Malley serves as an Assistant General Counsel and senior advisor on legal issues.
US fintech DailyPay creates 293 Belfast jobs. American earned wage access fintech DailyPay is creating 293 jobs in Belfast as part of a £24 million investment in Northern Ireland.
Bread Financial names Allegra Driscoll new CTO. Ms. Driscoll joins Bread Financial from American Express, where she most recently served as SVP, Chief Information Officer of the Global Commercial Services Unit.