Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Worldline Chief Market Officer on the Evolution of Payments

Worldline Chief Market Officer on the Evolution of Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Speaker series, Worldline

With the new year just two weeks away, it’s a good time to reflect.

We spoke with Justin Passalaqua, Chief Market Officer of North America for Worldline, on what he has seen in the payments space this year and the payments trends he anticipates taking over in 2022.

Were there any payments trends that emerged this year that you didn’t expect to see?

Justin Passalaqua: I wouldn’t say any trends caught me by surprise necessarily. However, I did not expect how quickly businesses started adopting payment methods like contactless, e-commerce, and order ahead payments.

These trends have been in the works for a while. But the accelerated growth of these payment methods due to the pandemic, I think, caught everyone off guard. Not only have we seen tremendous growth in contactless and online payment options, but the more we see these used in the market, the more enhancements are made to make payments seamless.   

How have embedded payments altered the course of fintech thus far? 

Passalaqua: Users can make payments anywhere, at the touch of a button and, as a result, the industry has seen an increase in conversions by almost 40%. The fewer steps it takes a user to make a payment, the more likely they will complete a purchase. And if they have a great experience shopping with a merchant, they are more likely to shop there again.

Loyalty has become a huge growth driver, especially in the order ahead/food industry. The rise of mobile apps makes it easy for businesses to offer more rewards for repeat customers, establishing trust between the business and consumer. When software and app providers implement the right tools that simplify the checkout process and strengthen loyalty, everyone benefits.

What payments trends do you anticipate dominating in 2022?

Passalaqua: One trend I have seen a lot of over the years that I expect will evolve in 2022 is Integrated Software Vendors (ISVs) building their own payment gateway or leveraging a Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) platform and white labelling it with their own brand. As ISVs aim to be an all-in-one solution for their customers, owning the end-to-end payments piece essentially transforms them into a payment provider.

Another trend that will continue to dominate next year is the further decline of cash and the increased adoption of cards and mobile wallets. In 2021 we saw a 12% global decline in cash payments due to COVID-19. People will continue to adopt card and mobile wallets at a faster rate, and not just for safety and sanitary reasons. With the more rapid and convenient experience offered by cards and mobile wallets, we will probably never see a backwards shift to cash again.   

What’s in the pipeline for Worldline in 2022 and beyond?

Passalaqua: Without giving away our secret recipe, we have big plans for expansion next year. First, we are investing heavily in the U.S. market. Although Bambora and Ingenico are well known in Canada and the U.S., Worldline is relatively new to North America. Our goal is to make Worldline a trusted household name for ISVs and the payments industry.

We are also focusing on growing our contactless/card-present payment solutions with new technologies to make card-present payments even more effortless. We are enhancing our bank-to-bank technologies to expand our payment types, focusing on our ACH solution, which aligns with our plans for the U.S. market.   

Photo by Mark OFlynn on Unsplash

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Scalable Capital Goes Crypto

Scalable Capital Goes Crypto
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Scalable Capital

Digital investment platform Scalable Capital launched a crypto offering this week called Scalable Crypto. The new tool, which Scalable Capital is launching in partnership with Europe’s largest digital asset investment company CoinShares, helps users invest in cryptocurrencies.

Scalable Crypto will help everyday investors participate in crypto markets by offering access to crypto investments via regulated stock exchanges in Germany. The new tool will integrate with the company’s existing wealth management and broker offerings, and will hold cryptocurrencies in secured, cold wallets at regulated custodians.

“We make trading crypto as easy as trading shares or ETFs,” said Scalable Capital Co-founder and CEO Erik Podzuweit. “Crypto currencies are well established as an asset class in a balanced portfolio. With ‘Scalable Crypto’, we are providing an affordable and intuitive offering to help even more people to enter the crypto world. The expansion is the next stage in our journey to become Europe’s leading digital investment platform.”

Scalable Capital is making it easy for crypto-novices to experiment with digital currencies. Users trade on the Xetra and gettex exchanges and do not need to open a separate wallet to do so. Instead, cryptocurrencies are held in the form of securities in the customer’s existing account. Additionally, Scalable Capital takes care of the tax details for crypto securities.

Founded in Germany in 2014, Scalable Capital was launched during the roboadvisor craze and now has more than $6.8 billion (€6 billion) under management on its platform. Today, the company offers both B2C and B2B tools. The company provides private individuals digital wealth management, a broker with a flat rate, and overnight and time deposit offers. For B2B clients, Scalable Capital develops solutions for digital investment. Some of the company’s current clients include ING, Barclays, and Santander.

Scalable Capital, which demoed its technology at FinovateEurope 2016, has 330 employees across its offices in Munich, Berlin, and London. Earlier this year, the company landed $180 million in new funding, bringing its total to more than $317 million. Scalable Capital has an estimated valuation of $1.4 billion.

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4 Conversations Banks Must Have in 2022

4 Conversations Banks Must Have in 2022
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series

In many ways, my predictions of what to expect in fintech in 2021 still stand in 2022. Indeed, the trends I anticipated– embedded banking, open banking, automation, and banking-as-a-service– are still hot-button issues that banks and fintechs need to address.

Last year we were recovering from the deluge of the digital transformation agenda and it was difficult to see what was beyond pandemic-related trends. This year, however, there has been an obvious shift. The conversation around decentralized finance is transitioning from a quiet murmur to a louder and more pervasive discussion.

What are some important topics banks need to address in 2022? Below are four conversations banks and fintechs must have next year:

Digital identity

Now that the pandemic has driven so many services to the digital channel, the topic of digital identity must be addressed. This issue ties directly into the security of not only money movement, but also the security of users’ data. Without an efficient way to authenticate users, banks and fintechs expose both themselves and their customers to risk.

Decentralized finance

Decentralized finance (DeFi) is taking off across the globe. According to DeFi Pulse, there is currently $96 billion locked in DeFi, up from $25 billion a year ago. If banks want to be part of the conversation, it is no longer a topic they can ignore. While some experts believe that DeFi will eventually kill off banks, others see banks as an integral part of the future of DeFi.

CBDCs

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is a topic that dovetails from DeFi, but is even more relevant for banks. That’s because CBDCs will be government-issued, and because the government doesn’t have the infrastructure to distribute and manage digital currencies, traditional banks will be key in the issuance of CBDCs. If you haven’t already, it’s time to think about the role your bank can play in this space.

Open finance

The U.S. is overdue for regulation on open banking. In fact, we are so late to the game that the topic has already evolved from open banking to open finance. Though there have been murmurs of open banking discussions in the U.S., nothing formal has taken hold. Consumers are ready, however. Not only have their online presences expanded, they are also becoming increasingly aware of their own data privacy and data usage.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

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Klarna Taps GoCardless to Offer Bank Debit Payments

Klarna Taps GoCardless to Offer Bank Debit Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Klarna

Consumer payment services company Klarna has selected account-to-account (A2A) payments company GoCardless to offer debit bank payments to its U.S. clients.

Specifically, Klarna will use GoCardless’ technology to transfer funds via ACH for its Pay in 4 offering that enables customers to split any purchase into four interest-free payments both online and in-store.

GoCardless CEO and Co-Founder Hiroki Takeuchi said that he anticipates alternative payment methods to experience rapid growth as leveraging debt falls out of favor. “Over the next few years we expect account-to-account payments to challenge the dominance of cards as they tap into changing consumer demand and provide merchants significant benefits in terms of cost, conversion and churn,” Takeuchi said.

Klarna CTO Koen Köppen noted that the U.S. is a key market for Klarna. The company doubled its customer base in the last year, and now has more than 21 million U.S. customers. “To continue along that trajectory,” Köppen noted, “we need partners that not only provide our consumers and retailers more choice and control but also offer us cutting-edge technology and best-in-class service. We’re excited to work with GoCardless and leverage its expertise in account-to-account payments as we expand in the U.S.”

GoCardless, which won Best Enterprise Payments Solution at the Finovate Awards earlier this year, was founded in 2011. The U.K.-based company’s technology helps merchants collect recurring and one-off payments from customers via ACH transfers. Businesses can integrate GoCardless’ API to automate payment collection and reconciliation billing for subscription and invoice payments. Among GoCardless’ clients are DocuSign, Survey Monkey, and Box.com.

Today’s news about Klarna’s new ACH payment capabilities for U.S. customers is the latest in the company’s recent push into the North American region. Last month, Klarna announced it is adding its Pay Now option to its U.S. payment services. The company also unveiled plans to launch its physical debit card in the U.S. market.

GoCardless entered the U.S. market in 2019 and has since opened two offices in New York City and one in San Francisco. By the end of next year, GoCardless plans to grow its U.S. team by another 125%.

Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash

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The Battle Among Banks, Fintechs, and Super Apps

The Battle Among Banks, Fintechs, and Super Apps
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Speaker series

As the name implies, super apps are super in nature. They differentiate themselves from traditional apps by offering a much wider variety of services than fintechs typically offer, acting as platforms that fulfill more than just a singular purpose.

We recently spoke with Marcell King, Chief Innovation Officer of Payveris, for his view on the battle among banks, fintechs, and super apps, as well as his outlook on the future of super apps both in the U.S. and abroad.

What’s your definition of a super app?

Marcell King: A super app is a single place for users to go to for all of their financial, communication, money movement, entertainment, and shopping needs. It’s designed to provide consumers with the utmost convenience and frictionless access to a variety of services they use on a day-to-day basis. A super app earns a piece of the spend on everything the consumer purchases and can leverage this data to deliver personalized experiences and cross-sell products or services. The consumer gets ultimate convenience and the owner of the Super App increases the size of its revenue pool.   

How do Super apps threaten FIs and fintechs? 

King: The possibility of one dominant super app emerging in the US poses the biggest threat to smaller-asset financial institutions in particular because they often can’t match the resources Big Tech and Big Finance bring to the table. This answer grows more complicated depending on how you define what constitutes a true “fintech” company these days. Many fintechs have developed micro-niche applications, which a super app could likely consider to be a “feature” in the app. In that case, it would be easier for a consumer to access the feature in the super app versus opening up another app for the same purpose.

What opportunities do super apps have for Fis and fintechs?

King: I believe this could go one of two ways, or both. Use case number one is that the super app partners with specific types of financial institutions and fintechs for specific white label services. For instance, PayPal could partner with a large bank to support added new financial management features, offering consumers checking and savings accounts from the partner bank or credit union. The other is that multiple financial institutions link their branded services to the super app brand, enabling the super app to be a consolidator of services, similar to a brick and mortar mall. In both cases, the super app uses its brand power to consolidate services, making it easier for the consumer to get the benefit of convenience. The super app generates revenue and receives data that can be leveraged to cross-sell relevant products and services to that individual consumer. 

Why haven’t super apps been successful in North America and Europe?

King: There are a few reasons for this. First, with intense competition between tech giants, the market is more fragmented with popular services such as Facebook’s WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage. There isn’t one player dominating a specific part of the market, which makes it more challenging to create a super app experience. 

Another reason is super apps rely on a plethora of user data to be successful, which is a challenge in the U.S. and Europe, where there are more laws in place to govern consumer data and privacy. Both countries have a record of limiting the growth of companies that become powerful to protect consumer rights. Most recently, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued orders for info to tech giants, including Google and Amazon, on their use of consumer data. This will make it more challenging for one company to become a dominant super app. 

What will it take for super apps to gain popularity in geographies outside of Asia?

King: We’re beginning to see the super app model emerge in places like Latin America. Due to regulation, it’s clear that North America and Europe will need government support in order for super apps to gain popularity. For instance, China’s WeChat and AliPay have benefited from strong government support and its regulation to block WhatsApp, Signal, and Facebook, which has removed the risk of competition. 

A super app will need to gain popularity and trust in one market in which it can then expand into other services to succeed. Uber, for example, started out as a rideshare app disrupting a legacy industry when ridesharing was an untapped market. Even with competition emerging since its inception, Uber commands a majority of the market share. Due to its early success, Uber has been able to expand and establish itself as a top meal delivery service.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

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Chime Allows Users to Make Cash Deposits at Walgreens for Free

Chime Allows Users to Make Cash Deposits at Walgreens for Free
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Walgreens is in the fintech headlines again. Today, the drugstore chain and challenger bank Chime have partnered to allow Chime customers to deposit cash at Walgreens’ brick-and-mortar locations.

Customers can deposit their cash for free at 8,500+ Walgreens locations. In its announcement, Chime makes the comparison between Walgreens locations and bank branches, mentioning that the new partnership offers more walk-in locations than users have with any bank in the U.S. Also worth noting is the fact that 78% of Americans live within five miles of a Walgreens store.

“We know having access to a physical location for cash deposits is important to our members, and until recently, the options have been limited,” said Chime Co-founder and CEO Chris Britt.

Chime users can make deposits by handing the Walgreens cashier their cash and their Chime debit card. Once the cashier loads the funds into the user’s account, the money is available immediately. Customers are limited to three $1,000 cash deposits each day and $10,000 each month.

Chime’s Walgreens partnership adds to the company’s existing cash deposit capabilities. Customers can also deposit cash at 75,000+ other retail locations including Walmart, CVS, and 7-Eleven, though these stores charge a loading fee of anywhere from $3 to $5. Partnerships with pervasive retailers such as these are key for Chime, since many of the challenger bank’s users receive earnings and tips in cash.

Today’s news comes as Walgreens itself is entering the alternative banking arena. The company announced earlier this year it is partnering with InComm and Mastercard to launch a new bank account offering with a debit card that will pair with a mobile banking app and in-person service at Walgreens locations.

Chime was founded in 2013 and has since risen to the top of challenger banks in the U.S. The company has 20 million customers and boasts a valuation of $25 billion (though the accuracy of that number has been disputed).

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Facebook Messenger Tests Bill Split Features

Facebook Messenger Tests Bill Split Features
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Facebook

Facebook Messenger unveiled today that it will pilot a feature that will allow users to split payments in the Messenger app. Facebook will begin testing the “free and fast way to share the cost of bills and expenses” next week for users in the U.S.

In a group chat or payments hub within Messenger, users select “get started” and can split a bill evenly or modify each person’s contribution amount. After the amounts are determined, users enter a personalized message, verify their Facebook Pay details, and send their request in a group chat in Messenger.

The launch of Facebook Messenger’s Split Pay feature comes as “Request to Pay” is heating up in the fintech world. Venmo has used QR codes to facilitate person-to-person payments since 2017, and Messenger began using similar functionality in June of this year.

Outside of the P2P realm, Request to Pay is becoming a popular way to replace payment methods such as cards, invoices, and direct debits in B2C and B2B transactions. Essentially, customers can pay for everyday purchases within a messaging framework. Shoppers can, for example, pay for their lunch by opening a push notification on their phone and accepting the payment, thereby finalizing the transaction.

Photo by fauxels from Pexels

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Square Gains More Depth in Rebranding to Block

Square Gains More Depth in Rebranding to Block
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Merchant services aggregator and mobile payment company Square is rebranding to Block on December 10 and can be found at block.xyz. The new name will refer to the company as a corporate entity, which is the parent company to multiple subsidiary businesses.

Since it was founded in 2009, Block has built a sizable seller business that offers commerce solutions, business software, and banking services for merchants. This branch of the company will retain the brand name Square. The California-based company also offers Cash App, a challenger bank; TIDAL, a subscription-based music streaming service; and TBD54566975, a decentralized Bitcoin exchange. In addition to creating clarity around these brands, the company also notes that the rebrand “creates room for further growth.”

“We built the Square brand for our Seller business, which is where it belongs,” said Block Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey. “Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”

In addition to renaming the corporate brand, Block is also changing the name of Square Crypto, a company initiative to advance Bitcoin, to Spiral. Square, Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD54566975 will each maintain their brand names.

Being a three dimensional representation of a Square, the name Block gives more depth to the company’s image. The company said that the new name represents “building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome.”

Block went public as Square in 2015 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company’s ticker symbol, “SQ,” will remain the same.

This news comes after Block CEO and Co-founder Jack Dorsey announced his departure from Twitter earlier this week. Dorsey had been CEO of Twitter since he co-founded it in 2006. Interestingly, Dorsey said he left Twitter because he considers founder-led organizations to be “severely limiting and a single point of failure.”

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Signals in Small Business Lending: An Interview with ForwardAI CEO Nick Chandi

Signals in Small Business Lending: An Interview with ForwardAI CEO Nick Chandi
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CEO Interview, ForwardAI, Speaker series

Last year, while the pandemic was heating up, banks’ attitudes toward small business lending turned cold. With lockdown measures in place, underwriting became difficult and risk increased across commercial lending.

We tapped ForwardAI CEO and Co-Founder Nick Chandi to discuss what the current lending environment looks like, how data can help, and what we can expect to see in 2022.

A serial entrepreneur, Chandi co-founded ForwardAI, a fintech that helps banks, lenders, and businesses access and analyze small business data. The company launched earlier this year to help fill the gap in small business-focused technology available to companies that serve small businesses.

What are some unseen advantages in leveraging financial data when underwriting small business loans?

Nick Chandi: The trend I’ve seen has been a shift to leveraging direct financial data, as in connecting to banking, accounting, payments, and commerce software using APIs instead of having potential borrowers export to spreadsheet or PDF. In the past, all lenders did the latter option and that caused a huge hiccup. After all, whereas with accounting data you can see insights like client base diversification, profits and loss statements, and more, that data can be manipulated to look better than reality. With banking data, it’s the opposite; data is often context-less but it’s practically impossible to fake.

Previously, when lenders looked at financial accounting data, they would have to manually cross reference transactions. This was a tedious task often taking weeks, but one that with API technology these days can be done in seconds using machine learning and AI. This can lead to exceptional savings for banks and lenders in their loan underwriting time.

In 2021, what kind of appetite have you seen from banks when it comes to small business lending? Has the pandemic caused more hesitancy than in years past?

Chandi: For a while in 2020, many lenders completely stopped lending to small businesses. In 2021, we saw much of the industry has returned to or pretty close to business as usual.

Have you noticed a specific type of lender take on more small business loans?

Chandi: We have seen that revenue-based financing has become very popular in the last year. This can be seen from the valuation of Pipe ($2 billion in May 2021) as it provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to transform their future revenue into an asset with instant access to annual cash flows.

Previously, it cost lenders about the same amount to review a business for a $50k application as it did for a $250k application. As lenders begin to incorporate automation and process loan applications faster, that cost goes down and becomes more profitable. I have noticed lenders are incorporating more small business loans into their offerings, even if it wasn’t a market they put significant effort into previously.

What trends do you expect to see in small business lending going forward into 2022?

Chandi: The biggest trend change is going to be that direct data access I mentioned earlier. Simply put, with modern lenders using direct access to permissioned data instead of spreadsheets and PDFs, we can expect lenders to process significantly more financing applications and faster than ever before. Traditionally, SMBs have been a market that most companies haven’t focused on, but after the pandemic I think a lot of the public sentiment has shifted towards desiring and expecting more support for struggling small businesses in their community.

Going into 2022, I expect to see financial institutions and fintechs across the world upgrade their services and begin offering better products; enhanced financial management portals, expedited lending options, personalized financing offers based on predictive data, and proactive cash flow alerts may soon one day be normal. That’s part of the reason we created ForwardAI.

Watch ForwardAI’s demo from FinovateFall 2021 below:

Photo by Vaclav on Unsplash

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5 Chapters in the Life of Facebook’s Cryptocurrency

5 Chapters in the Life of Facebook’s Cryptocurrency
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series

It’s hard to read about David Marcus’ departure from Meta’s cryptocurrency project Diem (formerly Libra) and digital wallet Novi, and not wonder what’s next for the stablecoin.

Marcus announced over Twitter yesterday that he is leaving the company. In a tweet, he said, “Personal news: after a fulfilling seven years at Meta, I’ve made the difficult decision to step down and leave the company at the end of this year. While there’s still so much to do right on the heels of launching Novi — and I remain as passionate as ever about the need for change in our payments and financial systems — my entrepreneurial DNA has been nudging me for too many mornings in a row to continue ignoring it.”

While it’s easy to make assumptions based on Marcus’ tweet, there is still a lot we don’t know about the fate of Diem and Novi. With all of the uncertainty, let’s look at what we do know about Meta’s stablecoin project. Here are the five chapters in the life of Diem (so far).

  1. Launches as Libra
    Facebook announced Libra in June of 2019. The company said that its new cryptocurrency would help users transact and transfer funds with near-zero fees via the corresponding wallet, Calibra, that would be integrated into WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook. In order to decentralize control from Facebook, The Libra Association was formed to govern the new cryptocurrency and wallet. The 27 founding members included Visa, Uber, and Andreessen Horowitz.
  2. Politicians object
    Criticism of the project began building up and, months after launch, global privacy regulators, central bankers, and finance ministers all voiced their concerns about the new cryptocurrency and wallet. Specifically, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell aired his concerns of privacy, money laundering, consumer protection, and financial stability.
  3. Major founding members withdraw
    By October of 2019, just four months after Facebook unveiled Libra, some of the top founding members pulled out of the project. PayPal, eBay, Visa, Mastercard, and Stripe announced they would no longer be part of Facebook’s cryptocurrency project.
  4. Changes name to Diem and pivots to a stablecoin
    In December of last year, Facebook changed the name of its cryptocurrency from Libra to Diem. The move came after the company changed the name of its wallet from Calibra to Novi. Facebook said that the rebrand signals the project’s “growing maturity and independence.” At the same time, the company announced that Diem will be a stablecoin, which is a cryptocurrency pegged to government-issued currency.
  5. Marcus departs, former PayPal exec Stephane Kasriel steps in
    The most recent chapter in Diem’s storied history is yesterday’s news on Marcus’ departure. Starting next year, former Upwork CEO and former VP of Product for Novi Stephane Kasriel will lead Meta’s cryptocurrency unit.

As for what’s next for the cryptocurrency, it doesn’t appear to be fizzling out any time soon. The project still has a handful of major industry backers and, being the child of Meta, has plenty of funding to back it up. These factors, combined with an increased interest in decentralized finance, are enough to keep Diem afloat for at least another year.

Photo by Pierre Bamin on Unsplash

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Fundbox Raises $100 Million for Small Business Payment Tools

Fundbox Raises $100 Million for Small Business Payment Tools
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

Small business financial platform Fundbox closed a $100 million Series D funding round this week. With this funding, the California-based company is now a freshly-minted unicorn with a valuation of $1.1 billion.

The round, which brings the company’s total funding to $553 million, was led by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and had contributions from existing investors Allianz X, Khosla Ventures, and The Private Shares Fund. New investors Arbor Waypoint Select Fund and funds managed by Newton Investment Management North America also contributed.

Fundbox was founded in 2013 to help small businesses access working capital through credit and payments solutions. The company has invested $100 million into AI technology with an aim to gain deep insights into the small business ecosystem.

Today’s investment comes at a time of growth for Fundbox. The company has experienced new customer acquisition growth of over 200% this year, has surpassed $2.5 billion in transaction volume, and has connected with over 325,000 businesses since launch.

The new capital will also help Fundbox expand into payments. The company is launching a tool called Flex Pay that will offer small business owners additional payment options and flexibility for business expenses. In addition to repaying loans via bank account or credit card, businesses have a buy now, pay later option in the form of a Line of Credit draw.

“The addition of Flex Pay to our product offerings is critical as small business owners look to utilize buy now, pay later solutions for business,” said Fundbox CEO Prashant Fuloria. “We remain committed to leveraging our superior AI, data-native approach, and small business insights to solve working capital needs and power the resurgence of the small business economy.”

Fundbox has additional financial products in the pipeline for next year. The company is working on a subscription revenue stream, a product for entrepreneurs with multiple small businesses, and tools to help new businesses that lack financial history.

Photo by Erda Estremera on Unsplash

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Coinbase Acquires Unbound Security

Coinbase Acquires Unbound Security
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Coinbase, Mergers & Acquisitions

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase acquired Israel-based security company Unbound Security today. Terms of the deal, which Coinbase calls the next phase of its security journey, were not disclosed. Coinbase expects the deal to close in the coming months.

Unbound specializes in cryptographic security technologies, including secure multi-party computation (MPC), an emerging subfield of cryptography that allows parties to jointly compute a function over their inputs while protecting their data. Essentially, MPC enables crypto assets to be stored, transferred, and deployed more securely, easily and flexibly.

Today’s deal will give Coinbase access to cryptographic security experts, including Unbound Co-founders Guy Peer and Yehuda Lindell, who is considered a world leader in MPC. Coinbase will also gain a presence in Israel and plans to establish a tech center in the country. The company states that this global reach will “add an additional powerful prong” to its global talent acquisition strategy.

“We’ve long recognized Israel as a hot bed of strong technology and cryptography talent, and are excited to continue to grow our team with some of the best and brightest minds in these fields,” the company said in its blog post announcement. “The Unbound Security team will form the nucleus of this new research facility, which we plan to grow over time.”

The purchase of Unbound marks Coinbase’s twentieth acquisition since the company was founded in 2012. Coinbase has acquired six companies this year alone, including financial software company BRD, voice AI startup Agra, crypto wallet API provider Zabo, financial infrastructure company Skew, and blockchain security firm Bison Trails.

Coinbase, which demoed at FinovateSpring 2014, went public earlier this year and now trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker COIN. The company has a current market capitalization of $67 billion. Earlier this fall the company announced plans to launch its own NFT marketplace, Coinbase NFT, to help users mint, purchase, showcase, and discover NFTs.

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash

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