Daily news

PayPal Gets a New CEO

PayPal Gets a New CEO
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, PayPal
  • PayPal has appointed Alex Chriss as its new CEO.
  • Chriss, who will replace current CEO Dan Schulman, will begin his role on September 27.
  • Chriss comes to PayPal after a 19-year tenure at Intuit.

Fintech pioneer PayPal is back in the headlines today. After unveiling the launch of its stablecoin last week, the California-based company announced it has appointed Alex Chriss as new CEO.

Chriss will replace Dan Schulman on September 27 of this year. This comes after, earlier this year, Schulman declared his intention to retire. “I’m at a point in my life where I want to devote more time to my passions outside the workplace,” Schulman said in February. He will remain on the company’s Board until May 2024.

After Schulman’s statement, PayPal’s Board of Directors began a six-month long search for a new CEO who could not only drive growth, but also had extensive global payments, product, and technology experience. After an “extensive engagement and evaluation,” PayPal’s Board unanimously agreed on Chriss to lead the company.

“With his depth of experience in product development, his passion for serving customers and his longstanding commitment to empowering and enabling small businesses, and his proven track record of developing and inspiring his team, Alex is the perfect leader to take PayPal forward and accelerate the company’s growth opportunities,” said Chair of the PayPal Board of Directors John Donahoe. “The Board search committee worked diligently and thoroughly to find the right candidate to take PayPal into its next stage of growth and expansion, and we are confident Alex is that person.”

Chriss will join PayPal and its Board from Intuit, where he served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group. He has been with Intuit for more than 19 years after starting out as a Group Manager of Business Development and Channel Sales of the Quickbase business unit.

During his tenure at Intuit, Chriss grew the Small Business segment’s customers at a 20% CAGR and its revenues at a 23% CAGR. In 2021, he led Intuit’s successful $12 billion acquisition of Mailchimp.

“PayPal is an extraordinary company that plays a critical role in the lives of consumers and merchants all over the world,” said Chriss. “Throughout my career, I have championed small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs, who are the backbone of every economy in the world. I am proud to take the baton from Dan and thrilled to have the opportunity to work with PayPal’s talented and committed team to build on PayPal’s remarkable history and draw on its unique capabilities to deliver outstanding products and services to businesses and consumers.”

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The SPAC is Back: Digital Lender Better.com Announces Latest Plan to Go Public

The SPAC is Back: Digital Lender Better.com Announces Latest Plan to Go Public
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • New York-based digital mortgage lender Better.com is going public.
  • The company will combine with Auora Acquisition Corporation via SPAC “on or about August 22.”
  • The transaction between Better and Aurora has been more than two years in the making. The companies first announced the deal in May 2021.

Time to party like its 2021? The week begins with news that digital mortgage lender Better.com’s proposal to combine with Aurora Acquisition Corporation via SPAC has secured shareholder approval. The new Better.com will go public “on or about August 22, 2023.”

When finalized, the transaction will provide the combined entity with a minimum of $550 million and as much as $750 million in new capital. The company will trade on the NASDAQ under the tickers “BETR” and “BETRW.”

Founded in 2014 by CEO Vishal Garg, Better has been trying to close its SPAC deal for years. The transaction had been extended three times since 2021, amid concerns over market conditions, financial losses, and regulatory controversies. Among the bad press Better.com dealt with during this stretch was the infamous Zoom meeting in December 2021 during which Garg announced a layoff of approximately 900 employees. The CEO and founder also allegedly admitted that the company has “probably pissed away $200 million.”

With regard to finances, Better.com reported a net loss of $888.8 million in 2022. In the first quarter of this year, the company acknowledged losses of $89.9 million. Better.com also reported a decline in the number of loans funded year-over-year. The firm funded 18,559 loans in Q1 of 2022. Better.com funded 2,347 loans in the first quarter of this year.

In one response to these challenges, the company has made significant changes to its real estate strategy. Better.com announced in June that it would begin partnering with outside agents as referral partners in its Better Real Estate subsidiary. This pivot away from in-house licensed real estate teams to this new model is designed to help the subsidiary lower costs. The company also indicated that the change will help it deal with the challenge of lower mortgage volumes. Better Real Estate, which receives a significant number of its leads from its parent company’s mortgage operation, provided Better.com with $23.1 million in revenue in 2022.

Better has also introduced new solutions along its main line of business. The company began the year with the launch of One Day Mortgage. The new offering f gives borrowers a mortgage commitment letter within 24 hours of applying for a loan.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood

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Sila Ships New Tool to Offer Access to ACH Debits in Real Time

Sila Ships New Tool to Offer Access to ACH Debits in Real Time
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Sila launched Instant Settlement this week.
  • The new tool offers customers real-time access to ACH debits made on the Sila platform.
  • Instant Settlement works with all ACH transactions on the Sila platform and doesn’t require banks to adopt a particular payment rail.

Banking and payment infrastructure-as-a-service company Sila is launching a new product called Instant Settlement this week. The solution offers customers real-time access to ACH debits made with the Sila platform.

As its name suggests, Sila’s new tool offers companies access to funds instantly, without needing to wait the traditional two-to-five day time period of the ACH settlement to clear. Without the need to wait for funds to clear, companies no longer need to pre-fund transactions or rely on their own capital.

With Instant Settlement, Sila pre-funds the consumer’s digital wallet within a matter of seconds. The company’s approach works with all ACH transactions on the Sila platform because it doesn’t rely on any particular payment rail.

“With Instant Settlement, we are revolutionizing the way businesses and individuals access and manage their funds,” said Sila Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer Shamir Karkal. “We understand the importance of transaction speed in today’s fast-paced business landscape, and by offering Instant Settlement, we are providing our customers with a competitive advantage that sets them apart in their respective industries.”

Sila notes that Instant Settlement works best in situations such as payroll processing, back-office money movements, B2B transactions, and physical cash transactions where ACH is preferred, but return risks are low. That’s because it requires customers to maintain sufficient funds in a reserve wallet to cover potential return risks.

The timing of today’s release is notable as it comes shortly after the launch of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s launch of FedNow real-time payments system. Sila differentiates itself from FedNow and other real-time payments companies such as RTP because it doesn’t require banks to adopt a specific rail. “While everyone is rushing to RTP (65% coverage) and FedNow both of those instant payment systems are limited by the number of banks that adopt a particular instant payment rail while Sila’s Instant Settlement doesn’t rely on banks to adopt anything and instead, it is applicable to 100% of ACH transactions on its platform,” the company explained.

Sila was founded in 2018 by Karkal, who was one of the entrepreneurs who co-founded challenger bank Simple in 2009. The Oregon-based company has gone on to raise $20.7 million.

Photo by Ivan Samkov

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Alkami Has a New AI Model that Helps Banks Retain Customers

Alkami Has a New AI Model that Helps Banks Retain Customers
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News, Daily news
  • Alkami launched a new Engagement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Predictive Model.
  • The new model helps financial institutions identify accountholders whose behaviors are indicative of retention and account growth.
  • The Engagement AI Model leverages Alkami’s Key Lifestyle Indicators (KLIs) as well as its AI Predictive Modeling technology.

Everyone knows that it is easier (and less expensive) to maintain an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. So Alkami, which launched a new AI model to help banks retain customers, is likely to garner a lot of attention.

The cloud-based digital banking solutions provider unveiled its Engagement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Predictive Model this week to tackle customer attrition. The solution not only identifies accountholders whose behaviors are indicative of retention and account growth, but it also flags customers who may be at risk of leaving.

The new predictive model leverages Alkami’s Key Lifestyle Indicators (KLIs) as well as its AI Predictive Modeling solution that uses data to identify accountholders’ shifts in spend categories and recognize their financial patterns.

“When we looked at the full spectrum of attrition scoring,” explained Alkami Director of Product Management Mark Leher, “our research showed that attrition is significantly lower among highly engaged account holders, so we developed a model that not only identifies these highly engaged account holders but also layers in Alkami’s KLIs—labels describing the type of transaction or behavior a customer or member engages in—to best predict which behaviors drive incremental engagement.”

The company recently conducted research that found that accountholders who score the highest risk for attrition are, on average, 15 times more likely to leave a financial institution than those who score as highly engaged.

When financial institutions use Alkami’s Engagement AI Model to identify the users that exhibit growth behavior, they can understand where to prioritize spend and what areas they should focus on to grow the customers’ engagement.

“Not only does this save on account acquisition costs, but it also empowers the financial institution to engage with those who are more likely to take action on a targeted campaign,” added Leher.

Alkami was founded in 2009 and went public in 2021. A year later, the company acquired competitor Segmint— and its KLI technology– for $135.5 million. Alkami is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALKT with a market capitalization of $1.43 billion.

Photo by Trinity Kubassek

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Greenlight Launches New Solution to Help Teens Build Credit

Greenlight Launches New Solution to Help Teens Build Credit
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Youth market
  • Greenlight Financial Technology unveiled its Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard this week.
  • The Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard helps teens build credit before they reach adulthood.
  • Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Greenlight has raised more than $550 million in funding. The company has a valuation of $2.3 billion.

Greenlight Financial Technology launched its Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard this week. The new card fosters financial literacy by helping teens build their credit before they reach adulthood.

Available with all of Greenlight’s subscription plans, the Greenlight Family Cash Card enables families to earn up to 3% cash back on all purchases. Parents can add their teen children as authorized users on the card, and teens can track their credit card balances using the Greenlight app. At the same time parents can establish spending limits and receive real-time purchase alerts to help them monitor card activity. The addition of the Greenlight Family Cash Card means that Greenlight’s in-app financial literacy game, Level Up, now features instruction on the responsible use of credit, as well.

Greenlight subscription plans start at $4.99 a month. Other plans are available that add features such as identity theft, purchase, and phone protection (Greenlight Max for $10 a month), as well as family location sharing and crash detection (Greenlight Infinity for $15 a month). The Greenlight Family Cash Card is issued by First National Bank of Omaha.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Greenlight co-founder and CEO Tim Sheehan highlighted the company’s 3% cashback, Level Up financial literacy game, and parental controls as a trifecta that trumps offerings from other credit cards – including those that cater to families and youth. “Nobody has all three of these features,” Sheehan said.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Greenlight was founded in 2014. The company has raised $550 million in funding, which includes a $260 million Series D round in 2021. This investment gave the fintech a valuation of $2.3 billion. The following year, Greenlight unveiled its Greenlight for Classroooms offering, a web-based financial literacy library. The library includes more than 100 animated videos, and a bank of thousands of vocabulary words and test questions. Additional features include quizzes, ideas for individual projects, discussion activities, and a teacher’s guide. Aligned with K-12 national standards, Greenlight for Classroom is available to schools, teachers, and students across the U.S. for free.

Photo by Hannah Nelson

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ForwardLane Unveils EMERGE, a Generative AI Solution for Wealth and Asset Managers

ForwardLane Unveils EMERGE, a Generative AI Solution for Wealth and Asset Managers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ForwardLane
  • Data analytics and insights platform ForwardLane launched a new generative decision intelligence platform this week.
  • The new offering, EMERGE, will enable financial professionals to create and interact with client insights while keeping private data private.
  • ForwardLane made its Finovate debut in 2016. Nathan Stevenson is founder and CEO.

Data analytics and insights platform, ForwardLane launched a new generative decision intelligence platform called EMERGE this week. The technology will help financial services professionals deal with issues of data transparency, privacy, and security within the wealth management and insurance space.

EMERGE gives financial professionals the ability to leverage generative AI to find, create, preview, publish, and interact with new and newly-uncovered insights and data in a manner that is private, secure, and accurate. The technology combines ForwardLane’s composite AI, EMERGE-GPT, with its Visual Insight Generator (ViGOR). Visual Insight Generator is a zero-code tool that enables users to create insights from data using natural language – without requiring any technical expertise in LLM. Along with ForwardLane’s Next Best Action platform, EMERGE provides a complete cycle from insight and orchestration to last-mile delivery, usage, and feedback.

ForwardLane founder and CEO Nathan Stevenson noted that his company has been leveraging AI for several years. “EMERGE is an applied Generative AI solution for financial services that brings together the best functionalities of ForwardLane’s ViGOR and privacy-friendly EMERGE-GPT,” he said. “It gives financial services firms the ability to rapidly activate their existing data and data science investments and deliver insights to their frontline advisory and sales professionals.”

EMERGE will enable financial services professionals to:

  • Identify opportunities and risks across their client base
  • Review up-to-date client intelligence and analytcs along with recommended Next Best Actions
  • Receive Next Best Action recommendations that are integrated via API with workflow links
  • Accelerate daily workflow with 100x increases in document reading ability
  • Summarize, interact, and extract insights from PDF, DOC, and other files up to 25,000 pages

EMERGE is available on a white label basis. The technology can be deployed on cloud platforms or hosted by ForwardLane. EMERGE is currently in limited beta testing; the company expects to offer wider availability in the second half of 2023.

Founded in 2015, ForwardLane made its Finovate debut a year later at FinovateSpring. The New York-based company has raised more than $8 million in funding from investors including SixThirty and SEI Ventures. ForwardLane began the year teaming up with InterGen Data to offer predictive life-event driven insights.

Photo by Pixabay

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Chargeflow Lands $11 Million for Automated Card Dispute Technology

Chargeflow Lands $11 Million for Automated Card Dispute Technology
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Chargeflow raised $11 million to build chargeback tools that help merchants automate card disputes.
  • The funding was led by OpenView and brings Chargeflow’s total funding to $14 million.
  • Chargeflow will use the funds to accelerate product development, fuel company growth, improve on its customer experience, and ultimately put a halt to fraud and illegitimate chargebacks.

Chargeflow is on a mission to simplify and increase profitability for companies processing online payments. Today, the Israel-based company received a boost toward that goal in the form of $11 million in Seed funding.

The VC funding, which was led by OpenView, brings Chargeflow’s total funding to $14 million. The company will use the investment to accelerate product development, fuel company growth, improve on its customer experience, and ultimately put a halt to fraud and illegitimate chargebacks.

“The funding will also allow us to build new products, just as our newest announcements, Chargeflow Alerts, and our all-new Stripe App, which has already gained amazing momentum and feedback from our customers,” explained Chargeflow Co-Founder, Marketing & Product Avia Chen.

Launched in 2021, the Chargeflow Alerts tool notifies merchants as soon as a customer files a dispute on a transaction, and allows the merchant to proceed with the transaction, offer a refund, or gather evidence for representment. The free Stripe App offers businesses a fully-automated chargeback management service.

Chen, along with his cofounder Ariel Chen originally launched Chargeflow as a Shopify app in 2021. The two have since added more processors, including Klarna, Braintree, Recharge, Stripe, and others. When integrating with these players, Chargeflow establishes a two-way data connection that facilitates the flow of information between the systems. The app offers merchants an overview of all fraud and disputes and autonomously fight chargebacks, disputes, and fraud with just a few clicks.

Photo by Anete Lusina

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upSWOT and NerdWallet Launch Embedded Finance Pilot for SMEs

upSWOT and NerdWallet Launch Embedded Finance Pilot for SMEs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, UpSwot
  • Embedded finance solution provider upSWOT announced a pilot partnership with NerdWallet Small Business.
  • The partnership will combine upSWOT’s embedded finance tools with NerdWallet Smart Business’ financial guidance.
  • upSWOT most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring 2023.

White-label embedded finance innovator upSWOT has teamed up with NerdWallet Small Business. The pilot partnership combines upSWOT’s embedded finance tools with NerdWallet Smart Business’ financial guidance to support small businesses.

“As a platform that provides financial guidance to consumers and small and mid-sized businesses, we recognize the unique challenges small business owners face,” NerdWallet Small Business General Manager Brandon McDonough said. “By partnering with upSWOT through this pilot, we will integrate tools and resources that help simplify small business owners’ financial decisions and fuel their growth and success.”

upSWOT leverages data from more than 200 SaaS business applications and banking platforms to provide its clients with personalized business insights. upSWOT’s embedded finance tools work with banking, ecommerce, payroll, marketing, accounting and other subscription-based technologies typically used by small businesses. The insights derived from these sources enable business leaders to see trends and performance across their customer base. This in turn empowers them to make smart decisions to enhance engagement, build loyalty, and reduce churn.

upSWOT CEO Dmitry Norenko praised Nerdwallet Small Business for its commitment to “transform the way financial services are delivered to small businesses” – a commitment shared by upSWOT. “Together, we will provide small business customers with the tools and resources to thrive in today’s competitive business environment,” he said.

Founded in 2019, upSWOT most recently demoed its technology at FinovateSpring earlier this year. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based company announced partnerships with fellow Finovate alums Alkami and Jack Henry in May. This spring, the company announced that it was teaming up with financial data access network Akoya. The partnership with Akoya will link small businesses via secure API to accounts at large U.S. banks. These financial institutions include Bank of America, Wells Fargo, TD Bank, Fidelity Investments, Truist and more.

upSWOT has raised more than $4 million in funding. Common Ocean Ventures and First Southern National Bank are among the company’s investors.

Photo by Pixabay

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Thought Machine’s New Partnership Expands its Presence in Latin America

Thought Machine’s New Partnership Expands its Presence in Latin America
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Thought Machine
  • Thought Machine has partnered with SME lending solutions provider Cordada.
  • Cordada will use the product library of Thought Machine’s Vault Core to offer customized products to SME lenders and fintechs.
  • Today’s tie-up, along with a recent partnership with C6 Bank in Brazil, strengthens Thought Machine’s presence in Latin America.

Core banking technology provider Thought Machine announced this week it is partnering with Chile-based Cordada.

Under the partnership, Cordada will use Thought Machine’s core banking platform, Vault Core, to offer Latin American SME lenders and fintechs access to personalized financial tools. More specifically, Cordada will modify and tailor products in Thought Machine’s global product library that contains pre-built, ready-to-use smart contracts. This customization will enable Cordada to offer localized products to its customer base while supporting multi-currency assets.

“Vault Core will enable us to create highly differentiated financing products quickly and effortlessly without depending on the Thought Machine team,” said Cordada Cofounder and CEO Andrés Prats. “This, in turn, will empower the next generation of SME lenders to develop modern solutions as they tackle the great challenge of bridging the $1 trillion financing gap for SMEs in Latin America.”

Cordada, which currently has partnerships in Chile, Peru, and Mexico, will also use Vault Core to expand its services into new Latin American markets. Since it was founded in 2019, Cordada has deployed $3 billion in capital to lenders via 60 lenders and fintechs, ultimately impacting 5,500 SMEs across Latin America.

U.K.-based Thought Machine has raised $563 million in funding since it was founded in 2014. The company offers two main products: Vault Core, a tool that leverages smart contracts to help organizations design and build new financial products; and Vault Payments, a payments processing platform that enables banks to run all payment types for different payment methods, schemes, and regions across the globe. 

Among Thought Machine’s clients are Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Curve. Today’s partnership further fuels the company’s presence in the Latin American region, following a recent partnership with C6 Bank in Brazil.

Photo by Los Muertos Crew

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PayPal Launches USD-Denominated Stablecoin, PayPal USD

PayPal Launches USD-Denominated Stablecoin, PayPal USD
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Cryptocurrency, Daily news, PayPal
  • PayPal launched its new stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD) today.
  • PayPal USD is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. treasuries, and cash equivalents. The coin is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars.
  • The new offering is designed for digital payments and Web3 and will be available on Venmo “soon.”

Fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S. treasuries, and cash equivalents, PayPal’s new stablecoin, PayPal USD is now live. The stablecoin – PYUSD – is designed for digital payments, and is compatible with most digital asset exchanges, wallets, and Web3 apps. Eligible U.S. PayPal customers who buy the coin will be able to transfer it to external wallets, send it via P2P payments, and use it to fund purchases at PayPal-supported checkouts. PYUSD holders will also be able to convert their cryptocurrencies into and from PYUSD, which is redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars.

PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said that the successful adoption of crypto will need stablecoins like PYUSD. “The shift toward digital currencies requires a stable instrument that is both digitally native and easily connected to fiat currency like the U.S. dollar,” Schulman explained. Moreover, Schulman noted that PayPal – with its “commitment to responsible innovation and compliance” – and powerful brand – is in an ideal position to play this role via its PayPal USD offering. He added that PYUSD will be compatible with Web3 apps from the start and will soon be available on Venmo, as well.

PayPal USD is an ERC-20 token issued on the Ethereum blockchain. The stablecoin is managed by Paxos Trust Company. Paxos has indicated that it will publish a monthly Reserve Report for PYUSD outlining the instruments composing the coin’s reserves. The first such report is expected in September.

PayPal has been a Finovate alum since 2011. In the years since, the fintech has grown into a payments leader with more than 435 million active consumer and merchant accounts, and nearly 30,000 employees. The company has facilitated more than 22 billion payment transactions, representing a total payment volume of $1.36 trillion. Founded in 1998 (as Confinity), eBay acquired the company in 2002 for $1.5 billion. eBay spun off PayPal to its shareholders in 2015, returning the firm to its independent status.

PayPal has accelerated its embrace of digital assets and cryptocurrencies in recent years. This spring, the company enabled crypto transfers for Venmo customers. This added to the buy, hold, and sell crypto functionality PayPal introduced in 2021. PayPal also offers a Cash Back to Crypto feature for Venmo credit cardholders, which provides auto-purchase of selected cryptocurrencies.

PayPal is a public company, trading under the ticker symbol PYPL on the NASDAQ exchange. The San Jose, California-based fintech has a market cap of $71 billion.

Photo by Sebastian Voortman

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Knot Raises $10 Million to Increase Account Interoperability

Knot Raises $10 Million to Increase Account Interoperability
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Knot has raised $10 million for its tool that updates consumers’ card-on-file at the company’s network of merchants.
  • The round was led by Nava Ventures and brings Knot’s total funding to $13 million.
  • Knot also offers a subscription cancelling solution and is currently working on a password updating tool.

With a mission to build an interconnected future online, Knot API has a long road ahead. Nevertheless, the New York-based company received a boost to help it make strides toward that goal with a new $10 million funding round today.

The Series A investment was led by Nava Ventures, with participation from Amex Ventures, Plaid, and more than 20 CEOs and founders. When added to the $3 million Seed round Knot received in 2021, today’s round brings the company’s total funding to $13 million.

Knot was founded in 2019 with an API to enable card issuers to update card-on-file information at Knot’s network of merchants– including Walmart, Netflix, Amazon, Starbucks, and Uber– with just a few lines of code. The company’s technology makes for an easier onboarding experience for consumers while helping the bank retain its customers.

Knot will use the $10 million to scale its services and expand its merchant support. The company’s goal is to “ultimately encompass virtually all online merchants.”

In addition to its card-on-file switching solution, Knot also offers a subscription cancelling tool that helps customers view and cancel their recurring subscriptions. The company is also working on an account creation tool that allows organizations to initiate accounts at third parties on their customers’ behalf, and a password updater that instantly updates customers’ passwords across the web.

“Securing this Series A funding signifies the immense trust our investors have in Knot’s potential to revolutionize the way card issuers manage their customers’ payment methods,” said Knot CEO Rory O’Reilly. “We’re grateful for the chance to further our mission of building a financially interconnected future, and we’re excited about the new opportunities this funding opens up for our team and our customers.”

Photo by analogicus

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Worldpay Adds More Cross-Border Payment Options with Alipay+

Worldpay Adds More Cross-Border Payment Options with Alipay+
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FIS, WorldPay
  • FIS-owned Worldpay is integrating Alipay+ to broaden the payment acceptance tools it offers merchants.
  • The rollout will begin with AlipayHK, a standalone e-wallet that is limited to Hong Kong dollars.
  • “By tapping into Worldpay’s market leading footprint, together we can help more merchants globally accelerate their growth journeys and expansion into strategic markets,” said General Manager of Ant Group in Europe and the Middle East Guoming Cheng.

Worldpay revealed its latest partnership today. The FIS-owned electronic payment and banking company announced it will integrate Alipay+ as an option among its e-commerce and POS offerings.

To initiate the rollout, Worldpay will start by enabling its merchant clients to support Alipay’s AlipayHK e-wallet. AlipayHK will be available to Worldpay’s clients in phases. Alipay launched AlipayHK as a standalone app in 2017. The AlipayHK wallet differs from Alipay because, as the name suggests, it is limited to transactions that are made and settled in local Hong Kong dollars.

“To stay competitive, merchants must understand and offer the payment methods that their customers prefer. Local wallet providers are extending their dominance in several APAC markets,” said Worldpay from FIS General Manager for Global E-commerce, APAC Phil Pomford. “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Ant Group to provide our global merchants access to the Alipay+ platform starting with the AlipayHK wallet.”

Developed by Ant Group, the wider Alipay+ brand provides global cross-border mobile payment tools that help merchants enable Alipay’s one billion active consumers to pay with apps they’re already using, including MPay, Kakao Pay, GCash, and more. Alipay+ also offers merchants digital marketing tools to better target and serve customers.

“The collaborative effort with Worldpay will empower merchants to sell globally and contribute to our mission of providing more open, digitalized, and inclusive financial services to global audiences,” said General Manager of Ant Group in Europe and the Middle East Guoming Cheng. “Alipay+’s suite of innovation solutions is connected with more than one billion consumers worldwide. By tapping into Worldpay’s market leading footprint, together we can help more merchants globally accelerate their growth journeys and expansion into strategic markets.”

Originally acquired in 1971, Worldpay now processes $130 million daily for more than one million merchants across the 146 countries. FIS acquired the company in 2019 for an estimated $34 billion. Earlier this year, FIS sold a majority stake in Worldpay to private equity firm GTCR.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

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