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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
The first full week of spring is bringing news of partnerships in fraud prevention, lending, and insurtech as well as new product launches in regtech and payments. Be sure to check Finovate’s Fintech Rundown all week long for the latest in updates and announcements in fintech.
Fraud prevention and identity verification
Wisconsin-based community bank IncredibleBank partners with Alloy to enhance its account opening process.
Income and employment verification technology company Trueworkannounces enhancements to its Truework Intelligence platform.
Regtech
Financial services compliance company Thistle Initiativeslaunches its integrated Risk Management as a Service (RMaaS) solution.
Vanquis Banking Group choosesFinScan to help optimize AML processes and strengthen financial crime risk management.
Encryption and tokenization technology payments company Bluefinteams up with Printec Group to bring its PCI-validated, point-to-point encryption solution to retailers in Europe.
Somalia launches its first national instant payment system powered by BPC.
Blackhawk Network and Exchange Solutions partner to offer robust data-driven consumer loyalty program capabilities.
AstroPayexpands access to multicurrency wallet across Latin America.
Splititunveils first fully embedded white-label installment solution for Shopify merchants.
Grazzy teams up with U.S. Bank’s debit card program simplifies the way tipped employees earn and receive digital tips.
Digital banking
Canada’s largest federal credit union, Coast Capital, launches its new digital commercial banking platform courtesy of its partnership with ebankIT.
Credit Union 1 selectsnCinoto power omnichannel experiences for members.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.
Ualá Raises $66 Million at $2.75 Billion Valuation
In a funding round that featured participation from Mexican media titan TelevisaUnivision, Argentina-based fintech Ualá has added $66 million in funding to its Series E round. The additional funding brings the round’s total to $366 million and gives the company a valuation of $2.75 billion.
The capital comes via an equity sale and will be used to fuel Ualá’s growth throughout Latin America—with a particular emphasis on expansion in Mexico. Ualá Founder and Chief Executive Officer Pierpaolo Barbieri praised the participation of TelevisaUnivision, which he called a “very relevant and influential outlet, across Spanish-speaking markets but especially in Mexico.” Barbieri added, “It will help us create confidence and closeness with a lot of Mexicans that still don’t know us.”
The first close of the Series E round was led by Allianz X, German insurance company Allianz SE’s venture capital arm. Also participating in the first close were Stone Ridge Holdings Group and Pershing Square Foundation. Additional investors in the extension round were not named.
Founded in 2017 in Argentina, Ualá offers financial services including payment accounts connected to an international Mastercard prepaid card, as well as savings accounts, loans, investments, business collection solutions, and more. The company has nine million users in the region, including in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico.
Ualá began the year by announcing the availability of six new mutual funds in its ecosystem, including one fund denominated in dollars. In February, the company integrated an advanced artificial intelligence platform, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, into its customer service process.
dLocal partners with Temu, Belmoney
Uruguayan fintech and cross-border payments company dLocal announced a pair of partnerships in recent days. First, dLocal launched a new collaboration with Europe-based, remittance-as-a-service (RaaS) provider Belmoney. The goal of the partnership is to facilitate cross-border payouts, leveraging the integration of more than 900 local and alternative payment methods (APMs) such as credit and debit cards, bank transfers, and instant transactions. The collaboration is also designed to boost service reliability and efficiency for those making cross-border transactions in countries including Bangladesh, Ecuador, Peru, and Pakistan.
“Our partnership with dLocal is a game-changer in the remittance space,” Belmoney CEO and Founder Bruno Pedras said. “By integrating with dLocal’s comprehensive network, we can significantly lower costs, improve transaction speeds, and provide a better cross-border payments experience for both senders and recipients.”
Second, dLocal announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Temu, the international e-commerce platform of China’s PDD Holdings. Together, the two companies seek to provide shoppers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America with new seamless and secure payment options that are suited to local preferences. Millions of customers in 15 emerging markets in these regions stand to benefit from the collaboration.
“By partnering with dLocal, we’re excited to extend these benefits to millions of customers in emerging markets, ensuring that more people can enjoy accessible, convenient shopping experiences,” a Temu spokesperson said in a statement.
Launched in 2022, Temu is an online marketplace that offers consumer goods at significantly discounted prices. Shipping goods directly from the People’s Republic of China, Temu reportedly has more than 292 million monthly active users of its app worldwide. The app was among the most popular in US app stores for both iOS and Android in 2024.
Founded in 2016, dLocal is headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay. The country’s first unicorn, dLocal offers an all-in-one payment platform that enables companies to accept and disburse a wide range of local payment methods and currencies. In 2024, the company processed more than $25 billion worth of payments. dLocal works with 700+ merchants, supports 900 payment methods, and operates in more than 40 countries. A publicly traded company on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker DLO, dLocal has a market capitalization of $2.7 billion. Sebastián Kanovich is CEO.
Ant International’s Bettr brings embedded finances services to ecommerce merchants in Brazil
Speaking of partnerships between businesses in Asia and Latin America, we learned this week that Bettr, Ant International’s AI-driven lending business, has gone live in Brazil. Bettr will help expand lending opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by working with local partners such as AliExpress. Through this partnership, Bettr will introduce a new financing solution, Bettr Working Capital, for local merchants working on AliExpress’s platform.
“This collaboration reinforces our commitment to helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive by providing accessible and efficient financial tools that can take their operations to the next level,” LatAm director of AliExpress Briza Bueno said. “In this way, we are not only supporting the individual growth of these entrepreneurs but also contributing to the advancement of e-commerce in the country.”
Bettr Working Capital will be introduced gradually; the first round of disbursements began this week. The technology analyzes merchant sales records and other unstructured business data from AliExpress to make smarter, tailored, more affordable loan solutions. This will help small and medium-sized businesses better manage cash flow and expand into new markets.
Headquartered in Singapore, Ant International is an international digital payments and financial technology provider. Bettr is the company’s digital lending business, which specializes in serving micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The firm combines emerging technologies like AI and data-driven credit modeling to offer secure financial solutions that better fit borrower needs.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Argentina-based fintech Uala raised $66 million at a valuation of $2.75 billion in an extended Series E round.
Remittance company Pomelo integrated with Visa clearing house in Mexico.
Asia-Pacific
Indonesian ride-hailing service InDrive teamed up with Singapore’s Fingular and Indonesia’s Sharia-compliant P2P lending platform Ammana to launch its new inDrive.Money app.
Malaysian wealth management platform Versa raised $6.8 million in Series A funding.
Japan’s international payment brand JCB partnered with integrated payment provider First Cash Solution, expanding JCB Card acceptance in Germany.
Sub-Saharan Africa
African payments technology giant Flutterwave integrated with Pay With Bank Transfer to support businesses in Ghana.
Mastercardextended its collaboration with London-based Paymentology to boost financial inclusion in South Africa.
Compliance and fraud prevention platform Sumsubannounced a partnership with the Association of Fintechs in Kenya.
Central and Eastern Europe
Lithuanian identity verification provider iDenfy announced a collaboration with mobility provider Evemo.
Estonian fintech Hoovi raised €8 million in funding via a structured bond issue from Finland’s Multitude International Bank.
Moldova-based digital wallet and electronic money institution (EMI) Paynet partnered with open banking services provider Salt Edge.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Israeli fintech FINQ became the first Israeli company to secure a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Registered Investor Advisor (RIA) license without relocating to the US.
Egyptian fintech Fawry inked a strategic agreement with Contact Financial Holding to expand access to Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services.
This week’s edition of Streamly Snapshot features Swift Managing Director and Head of Innovation Nick Kerigan in a conversation titled, “Digital Assets in Financial Services: Are You Ready?”
In this interview, Kerigan talks with Finovate Senior Research analyst Julie Muhn about the rise of the digital asset market and its potential impact on banking and financial services. Kerigan explains why financial institutions should act now in order to take advantage of the opportunities in digital assets. He also discusses Swift’s collaboration with organizations throughout the industry as part of its live digital asset trials this year.
“We’ve seen a real resurgence in interest in digital assets. There are many institutional changes that are happening, (including) developments in the US with the executive order, in the European Union, Hong Kong, Singapore, with new regimes coming into place. We’re seeing that institutional framework being developed and, as a result, we’re also seeing quite a lot of real-world issuance of digital assets.”
The world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, Swift is an international, member-owned cooperative founded in 1973 and headquartered in Belgium. Swift’s messaging platform, products, and services connect 11,000+ banking and securities organizations, market infrastructures, and corporate customers in 200+ countries and territories.
Kerigan has served as Swift’s Managing Director and Head of Innovation since 2020. In his role at Swift, Kerigan is responsible for executing Swift’s innovation strategy, managing the organization’s portfolio of innovation sprints, and leading Swift’s response to emerging trends such as CBDCs and tokenized assets.
Earlier this week, we highlighted some of the women who will be introducing their companies to Finovate audiences via the demo stage at FinovateSpring 2025 in San Diego, May 7 through 9.
Today, as part of our continued Women’s History Month commemoration, we feature the “content” side of Finovate conferences by showcasing the women who will be discussing and interpreting many of the trends and technologies that are shaping fintech today.
Ipsita Basu
Product Management Leader, Shopify
Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Shopify is an international commerce company that provides tools to enable entrepreneurs to start, grow, manage, and market a retail business of any size. The company powers millions of businesses in more than 175 countries.
Behavioral scientist and Managing Director, Irrational Labs
Irrational Labs leverages behavioral science to make people happier, healthier, and wealthier. The company applies behavioral economics findings to product, marketing, and organizational design problems. Through environment design and thoughtful interventions, Irrational Labs improves decision-making for both companies and their customers.
SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Valley Strong Credit Union
With more than 350,000 members, Bakersfield, California-based Valley Strong Credit Union offers checking and savings accounts, credit cards, personal and auto loans, mortgage and home loans, investing and retirement services, and more.
Headquartered in London, Wise provides currency management and exchange solutions that enable individuals and businesses to hold more than 40 currencies, move money between countries, and spend money abroad. Launched in 2011 as “TransferWise,” the company serves 16 million people and businesses around the world.
Culture Fluid is a monthly newsletter, published on LinkedIn, that offers “a new way to think in a post-AI world.” Recent newsletter topics include “What is Creativity in an AI Age?” “DeepSeek: Searching for Answers in the Depth of the US-China AI War,” and “The Agentic Future and How it Will Change Work.”
Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) provides independent perspectives, interactive data, and research across a variety of industries and international markets. The BI team features 400 research professionals who help clients make more informed decisions in an ever-shifting investment landscape.
A paid subscription service of Amazon, Amazon Prime gives users access to a range of additional services including one- or two-day goods delivery; streaming music, video, e-books, gaming, grocery shopping services, and more. The company has more than 200 million subscribers around the world.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, TTV Capital invests in fintechs that serve the diverse needs of businesses in financial services as well as the consumers of financial products. With more than 100 years of venture capital and relevant industry operating expertise, TTV creates value for entrepreneurs and investors, helping them grow and succeed.
Chief Research and Digital Experience Officer, MSU Federal Credit Union
MSU Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) was founded in 1937 in order to help its members secure financial success and stability during challenging economic times. MSUFCU has 23 locations including five in Oakland County, one in downtown Detroit, two in Grand Rapids, and two in Traverse City.
Built by community bankers to help community banks innovate, evolve, and thrive, BankTech Ventures is a strategic investment founded in 2021. Based in Costa Mesa, California, BankTech Ventures seeks to generate both strategic value and financial returns for their investors. The fund sources, vets, invests in, and introduces bank-enabling technology solutions to boost the competitive positions of its community bank partners.
Innovator, Technologist, and Connector, Unconventional Ventures
Unconventional Ventures provides boutique consulting services to drive innovation that enhances financial wellness. The firm connects founders to funders, provides mentorship to entrepreneurs, advises a broad range of corporates, and helps broaden opportunities for diversity with financial services. Unconventional Ventures works with banking clients, fintech startups, and technology firms alike
Managing Director, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI)
Based in San Francisco, California and founded in 2022, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) works with payment and technology companies from around the world to help them make strategic decisions in emerging markets through research, data analysis, and innovative thinking. PCMI is a subsidiary of Latin America-based market intelligence company Americas Market Intelligence (AMI).
Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869. A leading global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs offers a range of financial services including investment banking, securities trading, asset management, and wealth management to corporates, governments, financial institutions, and individuals.
A digital bank serving small businesses, startups, and investors in the innovation economy, Grasshopper Bank offers digital solutions for small businesses, venture-backed firms, fintech-based Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and commercial API banking platforms, as well as both SBA and commercial real estate lending. Founded in 2019, Grasshopper Bank is based in New York.
U.S. Bank is the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The firm offers a diversified mix of businesses, including commercial and institutional banking, business banking, payments, wealth management, and consumer banking. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Finovate conferences showcase cutting-edge banking and financial technology through a unique combination of live, short-form technology demonstrations and mainstage presentations from thought leaders and analysts in fintech and financial services.
Head of Embedded Payments, SVB, a Division of First Citizens Bank
SVB, a Division of First Citizens Bank, is known for its role in supporting innovative companies, entrepreneurs, and investors. More than 70% of cyber companies featured on the Fortune Cyber 60 list are SVB clients as are 50% of all US VC-backed technology companies with 2024 IPOs.
Curinos was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in New York. The firm leverages AI-based decisioning tools, predictive analytics, and science-based platforms to enable clients to spot emerging opportunities that lead to better decision-making and enduring performance gains.
Head of Credit / Trade Finance, Crescendo Asset Management
Crescendo Asset Management offers a trade finance strategy focused on supply chain finance, embedded finance, accounts receivable purchasing, structured trade and other trade finance structured products that support the SME (small and mid-sized enterprise) market in the US as well as around the world.
SVP, Chief Retail Officer, Valley Strong Credit Union
Headquartered in Bakersfield, California and founded in 1938, Valley Strong Credit Union serves its community with extensive loan programs—including home and auto—as well as the latest in digital technology, retirement and wealth management services.
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Symphonic Capital is a pre-seed venture capital fund. Led by veteran pre-seed investors and operators, the fund bets on founders at their earliest stages and matches them with the tools, guidance, and capital they need in order to succeed.
Founded in 2011 and known as “TransferWise” when it made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013 in London, Wise today facilitates the movement of $37 billion (£30 billion) across borders each quarter. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker WISE, and has a market capitalization of $11.5 billion.
Core banking provider Tuum and verification platform Sumsub announced a partnership this week.
The collaboration will help banks, fintechs, and financial institutions enhance fraud prevention without compromising the user experience.
Tuum won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024 in London. Sumsub made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin.
A newly announced partnership between core banking provider Tuum and full-cycle verification platform Sumsub will give banks, fintechs, and financial institutions the ability to streamline customer onboarding and enhance fraud prevention without adding friction to the user experience.
The integration of Sumsub’s compliance solutions will help financial institutions deal with the growing threat of fraud and financial crime. This includes a global, fourfold increase in AI-driven deepfake scams. Adding to this challenge is the proliferation of new regulations that are tightening compliance requirements and mandating greater security and operational resilience.
“Regulatory compliance and fraud prevention are no longer just obligations—they are critical to long-term success in financial services,” Tuum Partnerships Director Peter DeSouza said. “With new frameworks like PSD3 and DORA shaping the industry, banks and fintechs must embed resilience, security, and real-time fraud detection into their core operations.”
Through the partnership, banks and fintechs working with Tuum will benefit from automated identity verification and AI-powered fraud detection and transaction monitoring. This will enable them to onboard customers faster and comply with international KYC/AML regulations. Tuum-powered institutions will also benefit from the ability to securely scale and operate in multiple markets thanks to real-time decisioning and continuous risk monitoring.
“As financial institutions navigate increasingly complex regulatory landscapes, seamless compliance and fraud prevention are more critical than ever,” Sumsub Business Development Director for EU/UK Julia Bonda said. “Over three-quarters of fraud now occurs beyond the onboarding stage, with identity fraud in Europe surging by 150% year-over-year in 2024.”
Making its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2020 in Berlin, Sumsub offers a full-cycle verification platform including customizable solutions for KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring, and fraud prevention. Founded in 2015, the company has more than 4,000 clients in industries such as fintech, trading, e-commerce, crypto, transportation, education, and more. Sumsub’s customers include Bitpanda, Bybit, Wirex, and TransferGo. Andrew Sever is the company’s Founder and CEO.
Of late, Sumsub has forged partnerships with the Association of Fintechs in Kenya (AFIK), workforce payroll and payments platform Papaya Global, and Latin America-based corporate expense management company Clara. Most recently, the company announced a partnership with Duolingo to bolster security for the language-learning app’s English language proficiency test, the DET.
Headquartered in the UK and Estonia, Tuum won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024. At the conference, the company demonstrated how its modular, cloud-native, API-first banking platform leverages a microservices architecture to provide high scalability and flexibility along with lower maintenance costs. In the year since then, Tuum has secured partnerships with numerous fintechs including TransactionLink, CREALOGIX, DDCAP ETHOS, Ozone API, Flexys, ComplyAdvantage, and audax. The company was founded in 2019. Myles Bertrand is CEO.
Core10 is partnering with PayNearMe to integrate loan repayment options, allowing its bank clients to offer payments via PayPal, Venmo, Cash App Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH, and even cash at 62,000 retail locations.
The integration with Core10’s Mesh middleware simplifies adoption, enabling real-time core banking connections for faster payment posting, balance updates, and improved transaction accuracy.
The partnership aims to enhance borrower payment experiences by reducing agent-assisted transactions, decreasing delinquency rates, and lowering operational costs for financial institutions.
Middleware provider Core10announced today that it has selected payments innovator PayNearMe to enhance loan repayment capabilities for its bank clients.
Core10 will integrate PayNearMe’s platform within its Mesh middleware to enable financial institutions to seamlessly connect PayNearMe’s solution to their core banking system. PayNearMe will allow firms to offer borrowers a full suite of modern payment options, including PayPal, Venmo, Cash App Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, cards, and ACH. Uniquely, thanks to PayNearMe’s merchant partnerships, banks can also allow customers to pay their loan balances using cash at more than 62,000 retail locations. By offering a wide range of payment options, Core10 will enable borrowers to pay using their preferred methods, which ultimately increases on-time payments and self-service transactions while reducing reliance on customer support.
“Partnering with Core10 is a key step in expanding our reach in the banking and credit union market,” said PayNearMe CRO Michael Kaplan. “Core10’s Mesh platform, with its pre-built connections to major core systems, makes deploying PayNearMe fast and simple. With PayNearMe, banks and credit unions can provide borrowers with a frictionless, mobile-first payment experience—reducing agent-assisted payment interactions by up to 40%. By improving the payment experience, financial institutions can decrease delinquency, reduce call center volume, and lower their cost of acceptance.”
PayNearMe was founded in 2009 to enable unbanked individuals to transact online by paying with cash at brick-and-mortar retailers. Today, the California-based company offers payments processing, exception management, and diverse payment options for banks, toll companies, mortgage servicing companies, online gaming, auto lenders, and buy here pay here payment collectors.
With its connections to major core banking providers including Jack Henry, Fiserv, CSI, Core10 will help its bank clients quickly implement PayNearMe with minimal IT effort. The real-time core integration will enable immediate payment posting and balance updates that will help improve the efficiency and accuracy of organizations’ transaction processing.
“Core10 is dedicated to helping financial institutions innovate faster,” said Core10 CEO Jeff Hanson. “Our Mesh middleware makes it easy for financial institutions to connect new fintech solutions into their ecosystems, and PayNearMe is an ideal payments partner. Together, we’re helping banks and credit unions deliver exceptional payment experiences that drive down costs through streamlined operations and improved payment success rates.”
Savings and purchase fulfillment platform SaveAway has introduced a suite of new features.
The new functionality includes Custom Plans and Friends & Family Comments and Voting, which move beyond traditional anonymous reviews and blind gift-giving.
SaveAway made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2016 in New York. Om Kundu is Founder and CEO.
Goal-based savings and purchase fulfillment platform SaveAway introduced a range of new features. The new capabilities expand the platform’s core functionality to fulfill purchases without relying on credit or debt.
For years, SaveAway customers have been able to use the platform to establish a savings and purchase goal, set up autopay via their FDIC-insured SaveAway wallet, and then receive their item after the savings goal is met. With this announcement, SaveAway now enables users to purchase any product—not just those available via the SaveAway web app—simply by providing product details. This Custom Plans functionality expands access to a broader range of products and a wider network of retail partners and brands. It also makes it easier for users to set purchase goals that are better aligned with their personal preferences.
The company also announced Friends & Family Comments and Voting capabilities. This functionality lets users invite friends, family, and other members of their own “trusted circle” to comment, advise, and vote on a user’s potential purchases. Not only can they provide feedback on prospective purchases, but friends and family also can contribute financially toward the purchase. This functionality takes e-commerce beyond traditional anonymous reviews and blind gift-giving by integrating both the opinions and support of those who know and care about the consumer and their personal finances.
“SaveAway triages these first-of-its-kind capabilities to make the path to purchase more memorable and responsible, rather than one that relinquishes agency to the slippery slope of credit/debt/regret,” company Founder and CEO Om Kundu said in a statement. “Buyers and sellers can thus join the community of those who SaveAway to realize their purchase goals, while retailers recapture lost sales previously perceived as abandoned carts, affordably and sustainably.”
SaveAway’s announcement comes as the company ramps up its outreach efforts through campaigns such as “$25 for ’25,” a referral program that rewards new users and those they refer when they sign up for SaveAway and complete a savings and purchase plan. The company also announced its program to encourage content creators, influencers, and early adopters to try and test the platform. Lastly, SaveAway has enhanced its “Monitor Your Plan” page, boosting ease of use and transparency by making the content more intuitive and informative.
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York, SaveAway made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2016. At a time when Buy Now Pay Later platforms are gaining prominence, SaveAway offers an alternative for those looking to limit or reduce their reliance on credit and debt. More than simply a better way for consumers to “save for what matters,” SaveAway enables consumers to leverage the wisdom (and, potentially, the discretionary cash) of friends and families to promote financial wellness and to build a generation of smarter savers and smarter spenders.
Block has rebranded Afterpay to Cash App Afterpay, embedding BNPL directly into Cash App. This move allows Cash App’s 57 million monthly users to access Pay Over Time products when shopping at partner merchants.
The integration strengthens Block’s vision of Cash App as an all-in-one financial platform that combines banking, payments, investing, and now BNPL to drive deeper engagement with both consumers and merchants.
The news is an indication that the BNPL space is heating up, with Cash App Afterpay now competing more directly with Klarna, which just secured an exclusive BNPL partnership with Walmart.
Block (formerly Square) announced it has rebranded Afterpay to Cash App Afterpay. The new brand will serve existing Afterpay customers while being embedded into Cash App, allowing eligible Cash App customers to access Afterpay’s Pay Over Time products when shopping online at partner merchant’s sites.
Block expects that as Afterpay becomes embedded into Cash App, merchant partners offering Afterpay’s Pay Over Time products can reach eligible customers in Cash App’s active monthly user base of 57 million people. Cash App was ranked among the top five most authentic brands to Gen Z, the brand’s target demographic, which may be the reason why Block chose to bring Cash App’s branding over to Afterpay.
“The scale of Cash App’s 57 million monthly actives means our merchant partners benefit from a larger network of customers, and eligible customers gain greater access to simple, fair, and accessible payment options outside of traditional systems,” said Global Head of Sales at Block and Co-founder of Afterpay Nick Molnar. “We believe that Cash App Afterpay will not only be an accelerant to Cash App growth, but also an accelerant in the growing preference towards BNPL options in the United States.”
Starting this week, Cash App customers shopping on the brand’s hundreds of thousands of merchant partner sites can select Afterpay at checkout to pay over time for their purchases. Customers will be able to manage their Pay Over Time transactions from merchant checkouts directly within Cash App. And while the brand name is changed, the user experience for Afterpay’s existing customers will remain the same.
Block released Cash App in 2013, five years before Zelle. At the time, Cash App most directly competed with Braintree’s Venmo, which was slow to gain traction; Braintree was acquired by PayPal that same year. Twelve years on, Cash App still has its roots in peer-to-peer payments, but it has now diversified into a more robust digital banking platform that enables users to hold funds, deposit their paychecks, spend their money using a QR code or cash, invest, manage their Bitcoin, and file their taxes.
Afterpay was acquired by Block in 2022 for $29 billion, marking one of the largest fintech acquisitions to date. The purchase indicated Block’s interest in expanding beyond payments into the broader financial services space, specifically into lending by leveraging Afterpay’s installment lending model to deepen ties with both consumers and merchants.
By fully integrating Afterpay into Cash App, Block is doubling down on its strategy to turn Cash App into a one-stop financial platform, further blending banking, payments, investing, and now, BNPL into a single ecosystem. It will also offer a boost to Cash App Afterpay, exposing the new brand to Cash App’s 57 million users. This lift will aid Cash App Afterpay in competing with the likes of brands like Klarna, which just announced it received a buoy of its own after Walmart selected it as exclusive BNPL provider.
BaaS platform Synctera secured $15 million in funding in a round co-led by Fin Capital and Diagram Ventures.
The investment takes Synctera’s total funding to date to $94 million.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California and founded in 2020, Synctera made its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall 2024.
Banking and payments platform Synctera has raised $15 million in funding. The round was co-led by Fin Capital and Diagram Ventures, and featured participation from existing investors First & Main, Evolution, and True Equity.
The investment takes Synctera’s total capital raised to date to $94 million. The firm indicated that the additional capital will help fuel its current expansion plans, including better serving its growing customer base. “This is a vote of confidence that enables us to continue to drive scalable growth and excellence for our customers and community of banks,” Synctera Co-Founder and CEO Peter Hazlehurst said.
Synctera’s banking and payments platform provides companies with the tools they need in order to build and scale a variety of innovative financial services products: from bank accounts to card programs to money movement services. The company’s technology also enables sponsor banks to better manage compliant partnerships with fintechs.
Synctera’s funding announcement comes just days after the company announced inking a deal with its largest customer to date: Bolt. A fintech that specializes in one-click online checkouts, Bolt—supported by its bank partner, Midland States Bank—will soon offer new financial services to consumers courtesy of its new relationship with Synctera.
“Bolt has always been incredibly driven to deliver the absolute best online checkout experience for consumers of some of the largest brands on the planet,” Bolt Founder and CEO Ryan Breslow said. “We’re excited to partner with Synctera to arm brands with more ways to engage with their customers.”
Additionally, Synctera recently announced a new partnership with fellow Finovate alum Hawk. The alliance will integrate Hawk’s AML and CFT technology into Synctera’s platform, strengthening Synctera’s status as a category leader in risk management and compliance.
“The reason we built Hawk was because we wanted to combine AML and fraud use cases in one platform. Native, Explained AI, and our capability to handle (the) largest volume in real-time position us well to support Synctera’s growth plans, which we love to be a part of,” Hawk Co-Founder and CEO Tobias Schweiger said.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California and founded in 2020, Synctera made its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall 2024 in New York. At the conference, the company demomstrated how its platform gives banks an end-to-end solution to start or scale a compliant Banking-as-a-Service program.
Klarna is replacing Affirm as Walmart’s exclusive BNPL provider, marking a major shift in the BNPL space.
Walmart shoppers will soon be able to use Klarna’s installment loans in-store and online, with OnePay handling the user experience and Klarna underwriting the loans.
The deal strengthens Klarna’s U.S. presence ahead of its IPO, giving it access to millions of Walmart shoppers and increasing its loan volume, brand recognition, and potential investor appeal.
Klarna has big news today, and it’s not just that the company filed its IPO prospectus with the SEC. The buy now, pay later (BNPL) company announced that it has struck an agreement with Walmart to serve as the retail giant’s exclusive partner for BNPL installment loans.
Klarna is replacing BNPL provider Affirm, which secured the BNPL provider partnership with Walmart last January. Under the agreement, Klarna will provide the BNPL loans for Walmart shoppers in-store and online.
The online BNPL loans will be extended through Walmart-owned fintech OnePay (formerly known as ONE). OnePay will handle the user experience, while Klarna will be in charge of loan underwriting. The BNPL loans through One will range from three-month to 36-month terms and will charge interest rates ranging from 10% to 36%. Leveraging Klarna’s BNPL tool will add installment loans to OnePay’s suite of existing financial tools, which include banking, credit, and payments products.
“This is a game changer,” saidSebastian Siemiatkowski, Co-founder and CEO, Klarna.“Millions of people in the U.S. shop at Walmart every day—and now they can shop smarter with OnePay installment loans powered by Klarna. OnePay choosing Klarna as their exclusive installment loans partner at Walmart in the U.S. is a huge vote of confidence as we pursue our goal of being available everywhere for everything. We look forward to helping redefine checkout at the world’s largest retailer—both online and in stores.”
This deal is a significant customer acquisition opportunity for Klarna. Walmart serves millions of shoppers daily, and Klarna’s presence at checkout will significantly increase its U.S. loan volume.
According to CNBC, Walmart will initiate the launch with Klarna in the coming months and will roll out to all Walmart channels later this year. It is likely that Klarna will serve as the only BNPL option for Walmart shoppers by the end of 2025.
Walmart launched OnePay, its fintech startup, in January 2021 through a partnership with Ribbit Capital. In January 2022, Walmart expanded One’s capabilities by acquiring two fintech platforms, Even and ONE, which helped Walmart create a more comprehensive financial services app. One launched with a checking account product for Walmart employees, as well as some select customers, in 2022.
“It’s never been more important to give consumers simple and convenient ways to access fair credit at the point of sale—and that’s especially true for the millions of people who turn to Walmart every week for everything,” said OnePay CEO Omer Ismail.“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Klarna to give consumers easier and more seamless ways to shop with OnePay at Walmart.”
Notably, today’s partnership comes days after Klarna filed its F-1 prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While this is a much-anticipated move in the fintech community, the official valuation figures won’t come out until Klarna prices its shares, which may take around a month. That said, Klarna hopes to raise at least $1 billion at a $15 billion valuation.
This deal signifies two major things. First, it indicates a major shiftin the BNPL landscape. Affirm’s stock dropped by more than 10% in pre-market trading following Klarna’s announcement, which highlights just how significant a BNPL partnership with Walmart is. Additionally, Walmart’s move to switch its BNPL provider after a little over a year shows that retailers are not afraid to reevaluate their BNPL strategies, and that no single player is untouchable.
Second, Walmart’s move indicates that the retailer is positioning OnePay to compete with traditional banks and fintechs. By adding Klarna’s BNPL tools to its roster of banking services, Walmart is positioning OnePay as a more comprehensive financial platform for its customers, which tend to be financially underserved individuals.
Last week, we showcased five companies—all led by female CEOs—who demonstrated their latest innovations at FinovateEurope in London in February. Part of Finovate’s annual Women’s History Month commemoration, the post not only highlighted the achievements of women in fintech, it also helped introduce five new companies to our Finovate audience.
With that last point in mind, we’re thrilled this week to introduce you to some of the women who will be leading their companies on the Finovate stage next month at FinovateSpring in San Diego, May 7 through 9.
First, meet the two companies—Cinareo Solutions and Cratoflow—that were selected to participate at FinovateSpring as part of our Female Founder Scholarship program. Second, we introduce two additional companies—Penny Finance and Instarails—both with female CEOs, and both slated to demo their latest innovation at FinovateSpring next month.
Elliott (LinkedIn) is CEO and Co-Founder of Cinareo Solutions, a SaaS platform that provides capacity planning for agents and support staff, financial management, what-if scenario modelling, and multi-skilling simulation.
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Cinareo Solutions sets a new standard for workforce planning and decision support for multi-channel contact centers. This provides robust and pro-active resource planning and financial analysis to cost-efficiently manage front and back-office staff, as well as all support staff.
Patel (LinkedIn) is CEO of Cratoflow, a company that helps organizations to save up to 110 hours a week, reduce errors, and acclerate payments, enabling faster decision-making and driving operational efficiency and cost savings.
Based in Anaheim, California, and founded in 2021, Cratoflow offers a no-code financial workflow solution that centralizes and simplifies complex daily accounting processeas with an intuitive user interface. The platform leverages machine learning and AI to sync with third-party financial systems to systematically complete revenue, banking, and expense entries.
Sagar (LinkedIn) is founder and CEO of Instarails, a global payment network infrastructure that helps credit unions, community banks, and businesses attract and retain more clients while accelerating revenue growth,
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Instarails leverages blockchain technology to make direct, real-time, cheap, inclusive, and transparent payments. Clients connect to Instarails’ network via SaaS API and send transactions. These transactions are routed through Instarails’ network and recipients get funds instantly through their bank, e-wallet, or via cash pickup.
Cole (LinkedIn) is CEO and Founder of Penny Finance, an online financial planning engagement engine that attracts, retains, and services the digital generation of credit unions and community banks by providing tailored education, resources, rewards, and services to their members and customers at large.
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and founded in 2020, Penny Finance connects the dots between a financial institution’s products and services and member and customer needs, all while creating efficiency for their marketing organizations.
FinovateSpring 2025 kicks off May 7 through 9 in San Diego, California. Visit our FinovateSpring hub today to learn more about our emerging speaker lineup, demoing companies, and how to plan your visit to Finovate’s first conference in SoCal!
This is the week fintech has been anticipating for years. Klarna filed its F-1 prospectus document late Friday, anticipating it will raise at least $1 billion at a $15 billion valuation with its IPO. We won’t know the official valuation figures until Klarna prices shares, which may take around a month, however. While we wait, let’s dive into this week’s fintech news. We’ll continue adding news to this post throughout the week, so stay tuned!
Small Business Financial Management
Small business credit card and spend management platform Capital on Tappartners with bank payment firm GoCardless for Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs).
