Friday July 31, 2020 –
Here are the new and noteworthy stories we have been following this week.
Dave Announces Exclusive Partnership With Mastercard and Roll-Out of Dave Banking to Its 7MM Customers
Startup financial services provider Dave has announced a partnership with Mastercard for its debit cards and is actively pushing forward with its digital bank (that it soft-launched in May); according to the company, it has signed up 100,000 new banking customers in the last two months out of the 220,000 invitees. (Separately Dave reported a data breach at one of its providers that exposed the personal information of its 7.5 million users.)
Wells Fargo Tightens Purse Strings to Ride Out Coronavirus Pandemic
Wells Fargo is slashing costs, cutting staff and tightening up on lending to ride out the coronavirus recession; the bank is looking to cut about $10 billion in expenses and rationalize its operations while ensuring prudent risk management.
Enova to Acquire OnDeck to Create a Leading FinTech Company Serving Consumers and Small Businesses
Online digital credit provider Enova is acquiring OnDeck for $90 million to increase its heft in small business; OnDeck was one of the pioneers of online digital lending that went public in 2014 and at one time had a valuation of $1.9 billion.
JPMorgan Chase partners with fintech start-up Marqeta to launch ‘virtual’ credit cards
Chase will be using Marqeta as a card issuer processor / provider for virtual real-time issue commercial cards (similar to cards used by delivery companies); according to Chase the virutal card feature will be available in early 2021.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/28/jpmorgan-partners-with-marqeta-to-launch-virtual-credit-cards.html
Intuit Introduces QuickBooks Cash, a New Business Bank Account With a 1% High-Yield Interest Rate
Intuit has announced the launch of QuickBooks Cash, a business bank account that earns high-yield interest, which, when used with the QuickBooks suite of business services simplifies financial management for small business owners; Intuit’s banking service is supported by Green Dot Bank.
Big banks back Canadian launch of Financial Data Exchange
Canada’s big five banks are among 31 organisations onboard for the launch of Financial Data Exchange (FDX); FDX is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to unifying the financial industry around a common, interoperable, and royalty-free standard for the secure access of user permissioned financial data, aptly named the FDX API,
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/36308/big-banks-back-canadian-launch-of-financial-data-exchange
Monzo gambles on new products to survive coronavirus crisis
Monzo is facing a difficult future as its debit card interchange driven business model comes under pressure; according to the company;’s latest annual report, the bank said uncertainties created by the pandemic “cast significant doubt” on its ability to continue as a going concern.
https://www.ft.com/content/2dc84111-ac47-401a-aa09-92bc65dc1f07
Atlanta tech teams up with PayPal, Venmo on touchless checkouts at CVS
Atlanta-based InComm will be supporting PayPal’s QR code checkout deal with CVS stores by enabling CVS’ POS to accept QR codes; CVS customers using the PayPal QR code will be able to pay for their products using stored debit or credit cards, bank accounts, PayPal balance or PayPal Credit.
Affirm Prepares IPO That Could Value Fintech Firm at Up to $10 Billion
POS lender Affirm is reportedly exploring an IPO and is working with Goldman Sachs; there is also the possibility that Affirm could use a ‘blank-check company’ to pursue the public markets.
Point wants to provide credit card rewards with debit cards
Point a new fintech is launching via an invite model; Point’s primary value proposition is a decoupled debit card that provides spending based rewards.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/30/point-wants-to-provide-credit-card-rewards-with-debit-cards/
Varo Money granted national bank charter
Varo Money has become the first US consumer fintech firm to be granted a national bank charter; Varo was granted the charter by the OCC and has secured regulatory approvals from the FDIC and Federal Reserve to open Varo Bank N.A.
https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/36318/varo-money-granted-national-bank-charter
Apple Buys Startup to Turn iPhones Into Payment Terminals
Apple has acquired Mobeewave, a Canadian startup with technology that could transform iPhones into mobile payment terminals for $100 million; Mobeewave’s technology lets shoppers tap their credit card or smartphone on another phone to process a payment leveraging Near Field Communications (NFC).
