Robinhood falls short of $35bn valuation target in subdued IPO debut
Shares fell in value by as much as 12% before recovering last week.
Business-to-Consumer/B2C
Report: Self-service banking – the key to customer acquisition and retention
Fintech Futures investigates how self service banking has changed and what firms can do to keep up.
Square plans $29bn acquisition of Aussie BNPL firm Afterpay
The deal will become Australia’s largest ever acquisition.
ICYMI funding round-up: Cobee, Sila, Vincent, WhenThen, Clara & more
Another batch of funding rounds that might have flown under your radar.
Swift launches low-value payments service Swift Go
Payments network aims to make things easier for small businesses.
ICYMI funding round-up: Credit Fair, Plooto, Xclaim, Weavr & more
Another batch of funding rounds that might have flown under your radar.
Dear Luc: What’s the deal with embedded finance?
This week someone writes in to ask: how can I get on the embedded finance bandwagon?
Cardless raises $40m in Series B funding
Cardless has now raised $50 million in total funding.
Willa raises $18m in Series A funding to help freelancers get paid
The fintech claims to have 150,000 people on its waitlist.
Dear Luc: Should I prepare for a wearable payments comeback post-COVID?
This week our writer asks: are wearables set for a comeback as social distancing eases?
ICYMI funding round-up: Zeepay, Aliaswire, Daylight, Neon & more
Another batch of funding rounds that might have flown under your radar.
Housing fintech Tomo raises $70m in Seed funding
Tomo aims to “digitise the homebuying experience”.
Maroo launches in US to spread the cost of weddings
New fintech offers wedding payment plans for up to 24 months.
FINRA orders Robinhood to pay $70m penalty for “false and misleading information”
The sanction is the largest financial penalty issued by the regulator.
Architecture heads at Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan leave months into their jobs
John Smith and Gavin Leo-Rhynie depart from major banks.
ICYMI funding round-up: LOQR, MOCA Financial, Bueno Finance, Glint Pay & more
Another batch of funding rounds that could have flown under your radar.
Afterpay hires Mastercard exec Khoja to lead North American expansion
Zahir Khoja joins at a time of “rapid market expansion” for Afterpay.
Low-code development and BaaS APIs: is this embedded finance’s hockey stick moment?
Low-code development and BaaS could combine to offer all (or parts of) the banking stack as-a-service.
ICYMI funding round-up: OptioPay, Payslip, Mamo, Telda, StudentFinance, Algbra
An ‘In Case You Missed It’ (ICYMI) list of funding picks.
Stripe acquires card verification fintech Bouncer
Both Bouncer’s team and its technology will join Stripe.
Cedar co-founder: Our biggest competition is status quo and inertia
Cedar acquired San Francisco-based OODA Health for $425 million last week.
Facebook shifts crypto project Diem from Switzerland to the US
Diem says the partnership “is an important step in preparation for a Diem USD pilot”.
US challenger for freelancers Lili lands $55m and passes 200,000 users
Lili wants to be a go-to app for freelancers in the US.
US start-up EarlyBird re-thinks gifts for kids with investment platform
EarlyBird launched four months ago.
Canadian fintech Wealthsimple raises record $610m at $4bn valuation
The fintech started off as a robo-advisor back in 2014.
Digital challenger Arrow pledges to save Americans $5,000 in five years
Digital challenger pledges to save Americans $5,000 in five years.
Fintech funding deals globally 26 April – 2 May 2021
Featuring Brex, Paxos, Vena, Greenlight, and Current.
Square goes on hiring spree ahead of new banking product launches
Square is “building a suite of new financial products”.
MVB Bank snaps up majority stake in Indianapolis fintech Trabian
The value of the stake remains undisclosed.
Hospitality payment app Sunday raises record €20m seed round for Europe
The start-up claims to cut the costs for operators to 0.5% per transaction.
UK challenger Starling lands £50m investment from Goldman Sachs
Starling now claiming to hold a 6% share of the UK SME banking market.
Robinhood calls Massachusetts regulator “elitist” for trying to revoke its licence
“The complaint reflects the old way of thinking,” says Robinhood.
Video: Top fintech stories this week – 16 April 2021
To stories from across the fintech world, featuring Coinbase, Pine Labs, Ozon and more.
Better.com’s CPO accused of bullying days after $500m SoftBank investment
The CPO joined Better in 2017 from Goldman Sachs.
Coinbase IPO values hits $99.6bn valuation with shares up 52% on debut
Shares closed below $330, up a lesser 32%.
LA fintech Ensemble is helping divorced parents navigate their kids’ finances
App features range from organising one-off expenses, to saving for college tuition.
Cuba’s only telco ETECSA granted payment provider licence
The firm can now convert customers’ balances into electronic money.
Fair CMO Toni Harrison: Oppressors can’t be the underbanked’s saviours
Instead of shrinking, the racial wealth gap has only continued to swell and expand.
Top five tips as your fintech company explores European expansion
US fintech companies recognise the potential buying power of the European Union’s 550 million people.
Acorns bags second acquisition of 2021 with AI start-up Pillar
Pillar helps students manage loan debt.
