Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Q2 Now Helps Firms Navigate Real Time Payment Rails

Q2 Now Helps Firms Navigate Real Time Payment Rails
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Q2, Q2 Holdings
Q2 payment rails
  • Q2 is launching the Q2 Instant Payments Manager.
  • The new tool helps banks manage workflows for instant payment schemes, including Clearing House RTP and Federal Reserve FedNow rails.
  • The Instant Payments Manager supports multiple functions, including Request for Payment, Request for Information, Credit Transfer, and Receipt Confirmation messages.

Digital banking solutions provider Q2 Holdings unveiled its Q2 Instant Payments Manager this week. The new tool helps banks manage workflows for instant payment schemes, including Clearing House RTP and Federal Reserve FedNow rails.

The Clearing House has offered its real-time payment (RTP) rails since 2017 and the U.S. Federal Reserve is planning to launch its FedNow RTP solution this summer. The new capabilities have many U.S. firms seeking to integrate real-time payment flows into their systems to not only keep up with competing banks, but also with customer expectations. For both of these instant payment message sets, Q2’s new solution supports multiple functions, including Request for Payment, Request for Information, Credit Transfer, and Receipt Confirmation messages.

“Q2 Instant Payments Manager solves the challenges many businesses face around partial B2B payments and exchanging invoice data between billers and payers,” said Q2 SVP of Product Management Dallas Wells. “The new solution will modernize B2B payment flows and provide a competitive advantage for banks and credit unions striving for operating account deposits in a crowded commercial banking market.”

The Q2 Instant Payments Manager is a part of the company’s Q2 Catalyst, a set of commercial banking solutions. Q2 anticipates today’s offering will help banks improve their accounts receivable and payable processes by reducing the times to post and reconcile B2B payments.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Q2 offers a range of digital financial solutions for consumers, business clients, and fellow fintechs. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker QTWO, and has a market capitalization of more than $1.36 billion.

The topic of RTP among banks and fintechs has gained major headway in the U.S. this year. Earlier this week, Plaid unveiled its Instant Payouts solution. The multi-rail payout tool enables a range of financial services firms– including verticals like personal lending, marketplaces, insurance, brokerages, and digital investment platforms– to send funds instantly, 24/7 within Plaid’s Transfer product. 

Photo by Albin Berlin

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Can Apple Card’s New Savings Account Improve Americans’ Savings Habits?

Can Apple Card’s New Savings Account Improve Americans’ Savings Habits?
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Julie's Column, Thought Leadership

As someone who is passionate about personal finance, I was excited to see Apple Card unveil its Savings account today, especially during financial literacy month. The launch comes three-and-a-half years after Apple first debuted the Apple Card in partnership with Goldman Sachs in 2019.

Launching today, the new Savings account enables Apple Card users to set up and manage their funds from within their Apple Wallet. With the high-yield savings account, users will earn 4.15% APY with no minimum deposits and no minimum balance requirements.

The accounts build on Apple Card’s Daily Cash, the credit card’s cashback rewards feature. When a user sets up their Savings account in the Apple Wallet, the Daily Cash they earn on purchases is automatically deposited into their Savings account. In addition to saving their Daily Cash, users can deposit funds through a linked bank account or from their balance in Apple Cash.

“Savings helps our users get even more value out of their favorite Apple Card benefit — Daily Cash — while providing them with an easy way to save money every day,” said Apple VP of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey. “Our goal is to build tools that help users lead healthier financial lives, and building Savings into Apple Card in Wallet enables them to spend, send, and save Daily Cash directly and seamlessly — all from one place.”

Apple Card’s Savings account also comes with a dashboard to enable users to track their account balance and the interest they’ve earned over time. The account, which is powered by Goldman Sachs, does not charge fees for account origination, maintenance, or withdraws.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised rates consistently since March 2022. Despite many incumbent banks holding the rates on their savings accounts near zero, it’s nice that a handful of fintechs are passing the positive impacts of the higher rates down to consumers.

But with the rising cost of living, many consumers may not take advantage of such high rates. Credit Karma issued the results of a survey today that details the impact of Americans’ poor savings habits and inadequate financial literacy. The survey targeted Americans’ knowledge (or lack thereof) of their own net worth, and took a look into their retirement savings. Here’s an overview of some of the survey results:

  • 51% of Americans don’t know how to calculate their net worth
  • 31% of Americans have a net worth of $0 or less
  • 21% of respondents aged 59+ report they have a net worth of $0 or less
  • 30% of Gen Z care more about celebrities’ net worth than their own 
  • 27% of respondents (including 25% of Gen X and 27% aged 59+) say they don’t have any money saved for retirement right now.
  • 67% of Americans say they don’t currently track their net worth
  • 22% of Americans believe the term “net worth” only applies to wealthy people

For me, these statistics are eye-opening, and the lack of savings are disheartening. Can fintech fix this? My guess is that, even with enticingly high rates, Americans’ poor savings habits will die hard. And the American Dream may die harder.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

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GoDaddy Teams with Apple to Offer Contactless Payments

GoDaddy Teams with Apple to Offer Contactless Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • GoDaddy has added a contactless payments option for its merchant clients.
  • By leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone, GoDaddy enables entrepreneurs to accept in-person, contactless payments without a card reader.
  • The transaction capabilities are powered by GoDaddy Payments, which the company launched in 2021 after acquiring Poynt.

Internet domain registrar and online business facilitator GoDaddy unveiled its latest small business tool today. The Arizona-based company is leveraging Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone to enable entrepreneurs accept in-person, contactless payments without a card reader.

Apple launched Tap to Pay in February 2022 to allow merchants to use their iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless payment cards, and other digital wallets by tapping it to their iPhone. “As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” Apple Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey said at the launch.

With the integration of Apple’s Tap to Pay technology into the GoDaddy mobile app, GoDaddy said that it takes merchants just “a couple of minutes” to accept contactless payments on their phone. After downloading the GoDaddy Mobile App on their iPhone, they log in, and choose Tap to Pay on iPhone. Customers can pay using contactless debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, or other digital wallets.

“Based on our data, more than half of all in-store purchases are now contactless, making it a favorite way for consumers to make payments in-store,” said GoDaddy Commerce President Osama Bedier. “Many of our U.S. customers already have an iPhone. By adding Tap to Pay on iPhone to the GoDaddy Mobile App, we will enable millions of small businesses to accept in-person payments without having to purchase additional hardware. That matters in this climate. It’s part of GoDaddy’s mission to put merchants first by making user-friendly, connected commerce tools accessible to all businesses, no matter their size.”

The contactless transactions are powered by GoDaddy Payments, which launched in 2021 after the company acquired payment terminal operating system Poynt for $320 million. Prior to the acquisition, Poynt handled more than $16 billion in gross merchandise volume each year for its 100,000+ merchant clients.

Founded in 1997, GoDaddy is best known for its domain name registration service and website building tools. The company has slowly been expanding its expertise to better serve its small business clients, having added email and marketing tools, as well as online marketplace tools and sales dashboards. GoDaddy is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $11.8 billion. Aman Bhutani is CEO.

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Affirm Launches Adaptive Checkout for Canadian Stripe Users

Affirm Launches Adaptive Checkout for Canadian Stripe Users
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • BNPL company Affirm and payments infrastructure company Stripe are expanding their relationship.
  • The move will make Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout tool available to businesses using Stripe in Canada.
  • The two began working together in May of 2022, when the payments company added the Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout tool as an option for U.S. businesses.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant Affirm announced it is doubling down on its relationship with payments infrastructure company Stripe this week.

Under the agreement, Affirm is making its Adaptive Checkout tool available to eligible Canadian Stripe users. Launched in 2021, Adaptive Checkout offers more personalized payment options in the checkout flow. The checkout tool offers shoppers BNPL options, including four interest-free biweekly payments, monthly payments, or both.

Stripe Product Lead for Payment Methods Sophie Sakellariadis said that the addition of the tool will help Canadian businesses “continue to scale and adapt with changing consumer preferences.”

Stripe began working with Affirm in May of 2022. The payments company added the BNPL provider’s Adaptive Checkout tool as an option for U.S. business customers to add into their checkout flows. After the partnership, Stripe saw users increase their average order value by 41% when leveraging Affirm’s flexible payment plans

“Since launching in the U.S. with Stripe, we’ve helped many businesses better serve their customers and drive growth by providing transparent and flexible payment options,” said Affirm Chief Revenue Officer Wayne Pommen. “We are excited to expand our partnership and strengthen our position as one of the leading providers in Canada. By providing consumers with greater choice to select the custom payment plan that is right for them, Adaptive Checkout has been proven to increase sales and conversion, and is now available to Stripe’s Canadian users.”

A BNPL pioneer, Affirm was founded in 2012. The company now enables 240,000 merchants and platforms to offer flexible payment options. Affirm’s other Canadian partnerships include Apple, Hudson’s Bay, Browns Shoes, and Samsung. 

Founded in 2010, Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars each year and offers a range of products– including a suite of global payments solutions, banking-as-a-service offerings, and revenue and financial management tools. Last month, the company landed $6.5 billion in Series I funding to provide liquidity to employees and address employee equity awards withholding tax obligations. Stripe is currently valued at $50 billion, which is less than half of the company’s peak valuation of $95 billion in March of 2021.

Photo by Andre Furtado

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FinovateEurope Talks: Payments

FinovateEurope Talks: Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2023, Marketing

It’s impossible for anyone to avoid payments. And it’s impossible for banks to avoid payments technology. That’s why our team spent time at FinovateEurope last month interviewing industry experts on the topic of payments.

In the six-minute video below, Starling Bank CEO Sam Everington shared his view on why banks are in the technology business. Other panelists share payments sector trends– including embedded finance and super apps– pain points, and what to expect in the future. The video also addresses CBDCs and the role of crypto and digital assets and explores the role of banks.

Photo by Kampus Production

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Twitter Taps eToro for Real-Time Stock Prices

Twitter Taps eToro for Real-Time Stock Prices
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, eToro
  • Twitter has selected eToro to provide real-time pricing data for its $Cashtags feature.
  • The $Cashtag will not only show real-time pricing data, it will also enable users to navigate to the eToro platform to view more information and make a trade.
  • The news comes about a month after Twitter CEO Elon Musk said he thinks it is possible Twitter could become “the biggest financial institution in the world.”

Social trading and investment network eToro unveiled it has partnered with Twitter. The tie-up will enable the social media platform’s $Cashtags feature to show users real-time prices for a range of stocks, crypto, and other assets.

Twitter first added pricing data on $Cashtags leveraging TradingView data late last year. However, the live pricing information was only available for select financial assets. With today’s partnership, eToro is expanding the list of assets to include more stocks, ETFs, crypto, and commodities. Moreover, Twitter users will be able to click the $Cashtag to navigate to the eToro platform, which will not only offer more information on the asset, but will also have the option to invest.

“Financial content on social media has provided education to many who have felt excluded by more traditional channels,” said eToro CEO Yoni Assia. “Twitter has become a crucial part of the retail investing community – it’s where millions of ordinary investors go every day to access financial news, share knowledge and converse. As the social investing network, eToro was built on these very principles – community, knowledge-sharing and better access to financial markets. There is power in shared knowledge and by transforming investing into a group endeavour, we can yield better results and become more successful, together.”

In piloting the launch of $Cashtag pricing data late last year, Twitter has seen widespread adoption among its users– even with the limited data. There have been more than 420 million searches for $Cashtags since the start of this year, with an average 4.7 million $Cashtag searches a day. Among the most commonly used $Cashtags are $TSLA, $SPY, and $BTC.

Today’s news comes about six months after Twitter CEO Elon Musk acquired the social media platform and declared plans to turn it into an “everything app.” At a Morgan Stanley Tech conference earlier this year, Musk specified that this vision revolved around payments. “I think it’s possible to create a very powerful finance experience,” said Musk. “Basically, I think it’s possible to become the biggest financial institution in the world, just by providing people with convenient payment options.”

Twitter’s partnership with eToro serves as the company’s first step towards becoming the “biggest financial institution in the world.” It also offers a hint into Twitter’s initial strategy when it comes to achieving that goal– as many U.S. banks have found, when it comes to rising to the top, partnerships are key.

Photo by Edgar on Unsplash

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10 Topics We Can’t Wait to Discuss at FinovateSpring

10 Topics We Can’t Wait to Discuss at FinovateSpring
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2023, List series

FinovateSpring is just over a month away, on May 23 through May 25, and we’re already excited to watch the stage fill with fresh fintech demos and discussions about the hottest industry topics.

Just as fintech is a constantly changing industry, so are the conversations, advice, and relevant themes. So when we hit the networking floor next month in San Francisco, here are the top 10 topics we can’t wait to talk about with everyone:

  1. Metaverse
    When it comes to the metaverse and Web 3, it seems like you’re either in or you’re out. While a handful of banks have already jumped in with two feet by purchasing real estate in the metaverse, others are dismissing it as a passing fad.
  2. ESG
    ESG discussions are happening around the globe, and formal ESG reporting strategies are on the verge of becoming more than just nice to have. With proposed regulation in the U.S. and beyond, now is the time to begin paying attention to this space.
  3. Generative AI
    The topic of generative AI transcends Open AI’s ChatGPT. While organizations are leveraging the technology to save costs, it still bears risk if used improperly. If you’re not a first-mover in this space, however, you certainly don’t want to be the last.
  4. Partnerships
    Regardless of whether you call them bank-fintech partnerships or fintech-bank partnerships, these tie-ups matter, and they are trickier than they seem. In many cases, keeping good partners can be just as difficult as finding good partners in the first place.
  5. Digital acceleration
    We may be three years past the golden age of digitization, but we’re not going back. Whether you’re a bank or a fintech, if you haven’t digitized your offerings and back-end processes, you may be left behind.
  6. Economic outlook
    Last year we were worried about a pending recession. This year, we’re sweating about the impact of bank failures. Does anyone know what we’re in for next?
  7. Decentralized finance
    The concept of decentralized finance (DeFi) was tarnished last year after the FTX scandal took place, and U.S. regulators have been on high alert ever since. There is more to DeFi than cryptocurrency, however, and much of the industry has yet to embrace– or even explore– the possibilities.
  8. VC investing and fintech valuations
    Venture capitalists are being much more careful with their dollars these days, and many are focusing their investments on early-stage companies. But how can mid-to-late stage startups get much-needed liquidity? Many have advised focusing on unit economics, saying that companies should focus on customer lifetime value and customer acquisition cost.
  9. Embedded finance
    Non-fintech and banking companies such as retailers and service providers are looking to make it as easy as possible to make a sale, and embedded finance may be the answer. Fintechs can not only help remove the friction from the checkout flow, they can remove the “checkout” all together by moving the processes into the background.
  10. Customer experience
    We’ve been talking about ways to win when it comes to the customer experience for almost a decade now, so the topic can seem a bit hackneyed. There’s a reason for that, however. Customers have a broad range of needs, and because their preferences are always changing, it can be difficult for banks and fintechs to keep up with their expectations.

Don’t want to miss out on any of these discussions? Be sure to register before April 21 to save $300 on your ticket.

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

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ID.me Raises $132 Million

ID.me Raises $132 Million
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ID.me
  • ID.me announced a $132 million funding round, bringing its total raised to $240 million.
  • The company has brought on Samantha Greenberg as CFO.
  • Today’s news comes a week after the company reached a major milestone– reaching 100 million registered wallets on its platform.

Digital identity network ID.me announced it closed a $132 million funding round this week. The investment boosts the Virginia-based company’s total funding to $240 million.

Viking Global Investors led the round, which also saw participation from CapitalG, Morgan Stanley Counterpoint, FTV Capital, PSP Growth, Auctus Investment Group, Moonshots Capital, and Scout Ventures. ID.me has not specified what the funds will be used for.

Along with today’s funding announcement, ID.me also revealed it has appointed Samantha Greenberg as Chief Financial Officer. Greenberg is replacing Rachael Brinker, who was temporarily filling the CFO role after the company’s former CFO Rajat Bahri vacated the position last summer.

Greenberg brings more than 20 years of experience leading financial operations, analyzing private and public technology and consumer companies, and scaling high-growth businesses. Most recently, she served as CFO of Mint House and has also held positions at Citadel, Goldman Sachs, Paulson & Co. Greenberg, and Margate Capital Management LP– which she founded.

“We are fortunate to have Samantha join our senior leadership team, given her excellent track record in growing companies to serve their customers and business partners,” said ID.me Co-founder and CEO Blake Hall. “Her expertise will support our mission to provide our more than 100 million members with a safe and secure digital identity credential facilitating access across services, benefits, healthcare and commerce without selling their personal data. Samantha is joining our team at the right time, after we closed our Series D funding and surpassed 100 million members. These are big milestones toward our vision to streamline access to benefits and services while ensuring no identity is left behind.”

ID.me was founded in 2010 to serve as a digital identity wallet that helps users prove and share their identities online without disclosing additional personal information. The company maintains a digital identity network that includes 14 federal agencies and 500+ retail brands, all of which use ID.me to verify customers’ identities and affiliations. ID.me’s ID wallet helps users prove they belong to certain affiliated groups, such as teacher, student, first responder, or military veteran. Last week, ID.me achieved a major milestone, reaching 100 million digital wallets registered on its platform.

Photo by Pixabay

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PayPal and Venmo Pilot P2P Payments Interoperability Tool, Visa+

PayPal and Venmo Pilot P2P Payments Interoperability Tool, Visa+
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, PayPal, VISA
  • Visa is launching Visa+, a peer-to-peer payments interoperability tool.
  • PayPal and Venmo are piloting the launch.
  • Visa partners DailyPay, i2c, TabaPay, and Western Union will also integrate Visa+ within their platforms.

Fintech has solved a lot of problems by creating a multitude of different peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps. In so doing, however, it has also created a problem– the platforms are not interoperable. Many people use different payment apps, and they don’t all work together. Visa is seeking to solve this issue with its new launch, Visa+, which helps users move money between different P2P payment apps.

Piloting the launch of Visa+ are PayPal and Venmo. After setting up a personalized payment address linked to their Venmo or PayPal account, users of either app can send and receive payments between the two platforms. Visa+ serves as the backend infrastructure behind the transfer.

PayPal and Venmo users will be able to begin using Visa+ later this year. Visa partners DailyPay, i2c, TabaPay, and Western Union will also integrate Visa+ within their platforms. The addition of new apps and platforms will not only increase the reach of Visa+, but it will also have the potential to add new use cases– such as payouts for gig workers, creators, and online marketplace sellers.

“Consumers continue to seek simple and seamless ways to digitally move money between friends and family, including the ability to send money between different payment platforms,” said Visa Global Head of New Payment Flows Chris Newkirk. “We are thrilled to partner with like-minded innovators to broaden the reach of P2P payments across platforms. Through this collaboration, Visa+ can help break down barriers for payment app users as they connect, engage and move money.”

While PayPal and Venmo are as good a starting point as any for P2P payments interoperability, there are many other players– Square Cash, Zelle, Google Wallet, and Apple Wallet– that should be added to maximize the utility of Visa+ and make it an everyday tool for U.S. users. Visa expects to launch Visa+ with select partners in late 2023. The company is planning general availability in mid-2024, so we may see additional partners in the later launch.

Photo by Brett Sayles

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Axle Raises $4 Million for Consumer Permissioned Insurance Data

Axle Raises $4 Million for Consumer Permissioned Insurance Data
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Axle raised $4 million in a Seed round led by Gradient Ventures.
  • Today’s investment brings the Atlanta, Georgia-based company’s total funding to $4.5 million.
  • Axle is bringing consumer permissioned data to the insurance vertical.

Consumer permissioned insurance data company Axle has raised $4 million this week for a tool it calls “the Plaid for insurance.” The Seed round brings the Atlanta, Georgia-based company’s total funding to $4.5 million.

Gradient Ventures led the round, which also saw contributions from existing investor Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Contrary Capital, Rebel Fund, BLH Ventures, and others.

“Axle’s innovative approach to insurance and commitment to a personalized customer experience has already demonstrated early traction and validates their potential to make a significant impact in the market,” said Gradient Ventures Partner Wen-wen Lam. “We look forward to supporting the team and their mission to democratize access to insurance data.”

Axle was founded in 2022 to offer a universal API that allows individuals to connect their insurance account to companies seeking to verify their insurance. The tool enables rental car companies, lenders, and gig services to quickly obtain proof-of-insurance, as long as they have permission from the end user.

“We plan to use the funds to grow our team, enabling us to service new and existing demand from our fast-growing list of customers, strengthen our carrier network, and expand into new markets,” the company said in a blog post.

The company’s current carrier network includes hundreds of insurance carriers and supports policy information including term, insureds, premiums, third parties, and more.

Consumer permissioned data is widely used across the financial services industry– from credit scoring to payment processing and personalized marketing. Plaid— the company to which Axle is comparing itself– may be the most well-known fintechs facilitating consumer permissioned data. The California-based company uses consumer permissioned data to facilitate the data exchange between financial institutions and third-party applications.

Photo by Engin Akyurt

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Google Moves to Stop Predatory Lending Practices

Google Moves to Stop Predatory Lending Practices
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Google
  • Google is updating its Personal Loans policy for apps in the Google Play store.
  • The update prohibits lending apps from accessing borrower’s personal information and bans unlicensed lending apps from the Google Play Store.
  • The new rules go into effect May 31.

Google updated the Personal Loans policy for its Google Play store this week, adding a restriction to protect end users from predatory loan practices.

The update restricts lending apps from accessing sensitive user data– including photos, videos, call logs, precise location, and external data. The move comes as a response to recent unethical, predatory practices. According to TechCrunch, there have been reports of debt collectors associated with lending apps on the Google Play store that have inappropriately leveraged user data in an attempt to collect on borrowers in default.

Specifically, debt collectors in both India and Kenya have allegedly called a borrower’s friends and family to inform them of the user’s debt and have even manipulated images from the borrower’s camera roll in an attempt to intimidate them. TechCrunch reports that these moves have, in “a number” of cases, caused borrowers to take their own lives.

The update, which will be implemented on May 31, states, “Apps that provide personal loans, or have the primary purpose of facilitating access to personal loans (i.e., lead generators or facilitators), are prohibited from accessing sensitive data, such as photos and contacts.”

Google’s update this week also bans unlicensed lending apps from the Android app store. These illegitimate apps are likely some of the primary offenders in predatory practices towards borrowers.

Photo by Anete Lusina

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Cardstream Unveils PayFac-as-a-Service

Cardstream Unveils PayFac-as-a-Service
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Cardstream is launching PayFac-as-a-Service, a new white label service for companies seeking to become payment facilitators.
  • PayFac-as-a-Service clients will benefit from Cardstream’s regulatory position, enabling customers without a license to operate compliantly.
  • Cardstream has built a network of 400+ acquirers, alternative payment methods, shopping cart platforms, and fraud providers.

European payment service provider Cardstream announced the launch of new white label PayFac-as-a-Service.

The cloud-based service will offer acquirers access to Cardstream’s third party payment facilitator program and provides a pathway for those looking to become a payment facilitator. PayFac-as-a-Service users will also benefit from Cardstream’s regulatory position, as customers without a license will be able to operate compliantly.

“Our complete PayFac-as-a-Service is the quickest and most versatile way for companies to enter the rapidly growing billion dollar global marketplace,” said Cardstream CEO and Chairman Adam Sharpe. “Any company keen to capitalize on the rapidly growing PayFac space should put us on its shortlist, be it an Acquirer; a company applying for its own PayFac regulatory approval; or one opting to benefit by operating under our FCA regulated OBN.”

PayFac-as-a-Service offers merchants a holistic approach to the payment facilitator market. Cardstream is including workflow onboarding, underwriting, compliance due-diligence, real-time fraud screening and monitoring, dispute and chargeback management, funds management, automated fee collection, invoicing, referral commissioning, and more.

Founded in 1999, Cardstream has built a network of 400+ acquirers, alternative payment methods, shopping cart platforms, and fraud providers. The company supports all global currencies and major card schemes in more than 120 countries. Cardstream’s client portfolio includes 100+ reseller partners and their 18,000+ merchants.

In today’s announcement, Sharpe hinted at ambitions to grow Cardstream, sharing plans to round out its platform with additional services later this year. “As we move through the rest of 2023, we expect to have a series of further announcements of many new, additional Cardstream Group services,” he added.

The payment facilitator market in Europe is heavily regulated, with the introduction of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in 2018, which aims to increase security, competition, and innovation in the payments industry. The market, which is expected to reach a value of $1.72 trillion (€1.57 trillion) by 2024, includes a sizable number of players ranging from traditional financial institutions to fintech companies and digital payment providers. Among the top payment facilitators in Europe are PayPal, Adyen, Stripe, Worldpay, and Klarna.

Photo by Anna Shvets

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