Friday May 8, 2020 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
Robinhood raises $280M, pushing its valuation to $8.3B
Robinhood has raised a Series F round of $280 million led by Sequoia Capital with participation from NEA and several smaller firms; Robinhood has been growing quite well this year reportedly adding 3 million accounts and generating $60 million in revenue in March.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/04/robinhood-raises-280m-pushing-its-valuation-to-8-3b/
Worldpay from FIS Enables One-Click Google Pay Integration for Merchants
Worldpay has addeed Google Pay to its Hosted Payment Page (HPP) allowing online merchants to simply “turn on” Google Pay without any technical integration; this development provides Google Pay access to Worldpay’s global merchant base and enables consumers to check out more efficiently.
Regulators give Tennessee de novo conditional approval
RockPoint Bank, a proposed de novo in Chattanooga, Tennessee, received conditional approval for a banking charter from the FDIC and the OCC; the bank will focus on small to medium sized businesses and plans to open later this year.
https://www.bankingdive.com/news/RockPoint-de-novo-conditional-approval-FDIC-Tennessee/577383/
N26 raises another $100 million, bracing for coronavirus uncertainty
N26 has raised another $100 million as an extension to its Series D investment round bringing the total raised in that round to $570 million; the company’s valuation remains unchanged at $3.5 billion despite the new capital.
Mastercard welcomes 12 new startups to virtual Start Path programme
Mastercard announced 12 new startups that will join its Start Path accelerator program; the selected startups are providing innovative new solutions in banking, savings, credit, payments, data analytics, and social impact.
Visa and Bank BRI invest in Nium
Visa and BRI Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Bank BRI of Indonesia, have invested an undisclosed amount in payments company, Nium; according to Nium, the new funding will be used to invest in product development and tuck-in acquisitions in markets like Europe, India, UK and US.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/35768/visa-and-bank-bri-invest-in-nium
Truist selects Global Payments to provide credit card processing services
Global Payments announced that it has been selected by Truist Financial Corporation to provide credit card issuer processing for the bank’s consumer, commercial, and small business credit card portfolios through the company’s TSYS issuer solutions unit; Truist is expected to begin conversion-related activities in late 2021 and start using TSYS in 2022.
Google and Gates Foundation to help spread digital payments in developing countries
A new coalition of nonprofits and tech companies including Google and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced the formation of the Mojaloop Foundation, which will develop and promote a free, open-source real-time payments platform intended for nations and central banks in developing countries; founding sponsors include the Rockefeller Foundation, Omidyar Network, and fintech startups Coil and ModusBox.
https://fortune.com/2020/05/06/google-gates-foundation-digital-payments-developing-countries/
Swiss fintech startup Alpian secures €11.5 million Series A funding
A new Swiss challenger bank, Alpian has announced the closing of a Series A funding round worth €11.5 million; the funds will enable Alpian to accelerate its growth and pursue its ambitions to receive a full banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), launching as a fully licensed digital affluent bank in 2021.
Credit-card use dives in March by most since 1989
According to the latest Fed data, total consumer credit fell $12 billion to $4.21T in March; revolving credit declined by about 31% to $1.07T while non revolving credit grew modestly to $3.14T; the contraction in overall consumer credit is the first decline since August 2011.
QuadPay partners Stripe on buy-now-pay-later offering
QuadPay has partnered with Stripe to enable buy-now-pay-later functionality both online and in-store; the QuadPay app gives consumers up to a $500 credit line on an instant issue virtual Visa card to spend either online or in-store with Apple Wallet or Google Pay.
National Coalition Formed to Protect Cash Payment Option for U.S. Consumers
A broad spectrum of consumer representatives and businesses have announced the formation of the Consumer Choice in Payment Coalition (CCPC); the purpose of the coalition is to advocate for the continued availability of cash as a payment option for consumers throughout the U.S.
Visa’s Fast Track Program Propels Growth of the Fintech Industry Worldwide
Visa provided an update to its Fast Track program that now includes over 140 companies and also announced a new roster of member companies; the new members span a diverse range of companies, including female-founded fintechs, digital currency wallets, consumer-centric, and B2B solutions providers.
The Next Innovation for Samsung Pay
Samsung is working on enhancing the Samsung Pay platform and is working with SoFi on building a mobile-first money management account and debit card; according to Samsung, the account and card will be launched in the summer.
https://news.samsung.com/us/next-evolution-samsung-pay-experience/
