Black-owned wealthtech start-up Esusu hits $1bn valuation following $130m Series B
Esusu is now one of just a handful of Black-owned unicorn start-ups in the world.
North America
Anti-fraud firm ClearSale acquires US tech start-up ChargebackOps for initial $3.6m
“Chargebacks are an enormous and growing problem for e-commerce merchants,” says ClearSale EVP.
German software firm SAP to acquire capital management fintech Taulia
Taulia will continue to operate as a standalone company under its own brand.
Paystone snaps up merchant services provider Canadian Payment Services
Paystone CEO Tarique Al-Ansari says the deal will “provide additional value to CPS merchants”.
Banking Tech Awards 2021 Highly Commended: QuickFi – Best Use of IT for Lending
QuickFi eliminates loan officers and other salespeople in favour of an entirely new borrower self-service experience.
Aussie BNPL firm Zip confirms Sezzle takeover talks
The potential deal would follow a string of acquisitions by Zip over the past 18 months.
Walmart-backed Hazel snaps up fintech platforms Even and One in super app push
Walmart CEO says the app will allow users to “manage their money in one place”.
UBS agrees $1.4bn deal to acquire wealth management platform Wealthfront
Millennial and Gen Z-focused Wealthfront caters to “the next generation of investors”.
Insurance payments platform Ascend lands $30m Series A
Ascend claims to be “the first modern insurance payments platform”.
JP Morgan acquires 49% stake in European SME paytech Viva Wallet
JP Morgan says Viva Wallet is a “natural fit” for its payments business.
BNPL provider Splitit appoints new CEO, Nandan Sheth
Nandan Sheth moves from Fiserv, where he was head of global digital commerce and the firm’s Carat business.
Pinwheel raises $50m in Series B to help create “fairer financial system”
Pinwheel provides an API that allows businesses to connect payroll accounts to their applications.
Baton Systems appoints ex-Barclays exec as its first COO
David Ornstein steps into a newly-created role of chief operating officer (COO) at Baton.
Zafin acquires fellow Canadian fintech Fincad
Together, Zafin and Fincad will become “one of Canada’s largest B2B fintech companies”.
Crypto asset software and data provider Lukka lands $110m in Series E
New York-based Lukka is now valued at $1.3 billion.
Fifth Third snaps up green energy lendtech Dividend Finance
Dividend Finance offers financing solutions for renewable energy focused home improvement projects.
Crypto IRA software platform iTrustCapital secures $125m in growth equity
The growth equity investment round values the company at more than $1.3bn.
Iroquois Federal and Nymbus launch banking brand for newlyweds, Hitched
“Niche banking is the most significant innovation opportunity for financial institutions today,” Nymbus says.
Start-up Vartana launches with $57m funding with aim to become the “Affirm for B2B”
Vartana is a new provider of managed checkout and BNPL options for businesses.
SoFi realises ambition to become national bank with US regulatory approval
The firm filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in July 2020.
Open banking fintech Plaid acquires ID verification platform Cognito
The acquisition completes the customer onboarding experience, says Plaid CEO.
BitPay hires payments veteran Jim Lester as first COO
BitPay CEO says appointment of COO was necessary as more payments move to the blockchain.
Financial services customer engagement platform Personetics raises $85m in growth funding
Personetics’ technology analyses real-time financial data at customer touchpoints, learning their financial behaviours.
SaaS financial data platform Canalyst secures $70m Series C investment
Canalyst says it wants to be “the new fundamental dataset of record”.
De novo Agility Bank opts for Numerated’s loan origination platform
Numerated’s SaaS loan origination platform will support Agility’s business banking products.
FDIC chief innovation officer resigns
Sultan Meghji, FDIC’s first chief innovation officer, is leaving just one year into the job.
E-commerce one-click checkout fintech Bolt raises $355m in Series E
Bolt says it has doubled its valuation in three months.
Trulioo hires product veteran Michael Ramsbacker as its first chief product officer
Ramsbacker will be developing intelligent workflow systems designed to maximise verification rates.
USDF Consortium launches to develop and promote bank-minted stablecoin
The FDIC-insured banks want to “unlock the financial opportunities” of blockchain technology.
SaaS tech start-up financing platform Arc lands $161m investment
“We’re on a mission to help start-ups grow,” says Arc co-founder and CEO Don Muir.
BlueVine sells its founding invoice factoring business to Canadian rival FundThrough
The acquisition fast tracks the FundThrough’s expansion efforts in the US market.
Instant payments come to Curaçao and Sint Maarten
The system was developed by European paytech provider Worldline.
Digital asset fintech Zero Hash lands $105m in Series D round
The round saw participation from Bain Capital, NYCA and Point72 Ventures.
United Fintech acquires 25% stake in asset management platform Athena
The multi-stage acquisition deal is the company’s fourth acquisition in 14 months.
Accrue Savings raises $25m to offer consumers “a responsible purchasing option”
The Series A funding round was led by Tiger Global.
New chief information security officer at Blackhawk Network
Veteran information security exec Selim Aissi joins Blackhawk as CISO.
AI-focused fintech Qraft Technologies secures $146m SoftBank investment
Qraft’s US CEO says investment management is “ripe for disruption” thanks to AI.
Alternative investment platform CAIS hits unicorn status with $225m funding
CAIS describes itself as “the first truly open marketplace for alternative investments”.
Checkout.com secures bumper $1bn Series D round at $40bn valuation to boost US growth
The paytech has now raised around $1.8 billion in total funding to date.
US SME banking platform Novo raises $90m in Series B funding
Novo CEO Michael Rangel says the funds will go towards improving cash flow for small businesses.
