Mergers & Acquisitions

Truist Acquires Finovate Best of Show Winner Long Game

Truist Acquires Finovate Best of Show Winner Long Game
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Long Game, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Truist has acquired mobile savings gamification app, Long Game.
  • Long Game uses strategies from the prize-linked savings and mobile gamification worlds to drive customer engagement and increase brand loyalty for banks.
  • Long Game won Best of Show in its Finovate debut last September at FinovateFall 2021 in New York.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But U.S.-based financial services company Truist announced today that it has acquired bank engagement and savings gamification app, Long Game.

“Truist’s commitment to help people build financial wellness is exactly what we are about at Long Game,” company co-founder and CEO Lindsay Holden said. “We’ve revolutionized bank engagement and are eager to apply ourselves to creating disruptive technologies that help Truist deliver a human touch in new ways.”

Long Game won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in New York last year. The company offers a bank-branded mobile app that leverages the best practices from prize-linked savings and mobile gaming to help banks acquire new customers, boost customer engagement, and promote financial literacy – with a particular focus on Millennial and Gen Z customers.

Courtesy of the acquisition, Long Game’s team of engineers, designers, and business leaders will join Truist’s innovation team. Holden will lead a San Francisco, California-based crew of engineers, product managers, and designers as they develop new client-centric solutions.

“At Truist we are laser-focused on shaping the future of finance with innovative people and products – and democratizing entrepreneurial opportunity while we do it,” Vanessa Indriolo Vreeland of Truist Ventures said. “Long Game is a female-led business with a diverse team of incredibly talented innovators creating unique solutions to help people achieve financial confidence.”

The acquisition is designed to help Truist reach a younger demographic. Truist also sees Long Game’s technology as complementary to its workplace financial wellness program, Truist Momentum, that helps employees better manage their finances based on their goals and values. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist was formed in 2019 as a result of the merger between BB&T and SunTrust Banks. Truist is a publicly traded company on the NYSE under the ticker symbol TFC. The firm has a market capitalization of $66 billion.

Learn more about Long Game! Check out our interview with company co-founder and CEO Lindsay Holden on the Finovate Podcast with Greg Palmer.

Photo by Pixabay

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Fintech Merger and Acquisition Activity Starts Strong in Q1 2022

Fintech Merger and Acquisition Activity Starts Strong in Q1 2022
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Azimo, BeSmartee, FIS, Fiserv, HooYu, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mitek, MoneyGram, Plaid, Revolut, SecureKey, Segmint, Sezzle, StreetShares, Taulia, Trulioo, Wealthfront

While 2021 was a record year for fintech merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, 2022 is off to a great start.

According to FT Partners, there were 1,485 M&A deals in the fintech space totaling $348.5 billion in 2021. As Square’s $29 billion takeover of Afterpay demonstrated, last year’s massive volume is partially thanks to multiple large deals.

This quarter, only eight of the 21 deals initiated disclosed financial details. Of those, the deal volume added up to almost $5 billion.

January

February

March

While experts predict that 2022 M&A activity will likely see momentum from 2021, there are two aspects to watch out for this year. First, we will not see as many SPACs as we saw last year. This may decrease the number of companies choosing to exit this year. Second, fintech valuations are deflating after experiencing huge rises over the course of the past two years. While the loss in value won’t directly impact the number of M&A deals, it will decrease the deal volume.

Photo by Martin Lopez

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Mitek Agrees to Acquire UK-Based KYC Technology Innovator HooYu

Mitek Agrees to Acquire UK-Based KYC Technology Innovator HooYu
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: HooYu, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mitek
  • Digital identity verification and fraud prevention innovator Mitek has agreed to acquire KYC technology company HooYu.
  • Mitek will pay $129 million (£98 million) for the U.K.-based company.
  • Both firms are Finovate alums. Mitek made its most recent appearance at FinovateFall 2017. HooYu demoed its technology on the Finovate stage most recently at FinovateEurope 2018.

Mitek’s agreement to acquire KYC technology specialist HooYu will help businesses verify their customer’s identity via a combination of biometric verification and real-time bureau and sanction database checks. Enabling institutions to leverage biometrics, ID document validation, geolocation, and identity confidence scoring with bureau checks and sanction list reviews will help them secure a more complete picture of their consumers.

HooYu’s ability to coordinate these features will not only enhance the identity verification process for Mitek’s customers, the technology will also enable them to optimize workflows and empower companies to deploy identity solutions across channels faster.

“Having a single platform that easily orchestrates and configures a KYC journey to manage identities and identify bad actors is becoming a prerequisite for any business transacting digitally,” HooYu CEO Keith Marsden said. “Bringing together Mitek’s lead in identity, liveness, and biometrics, with our orchestration, configuration, and journey services simplifies identity management for financial institutions.”

Mitek’s acquisition of HooYu comes in the context of a global digital identity solutions market that is expected to grow from $23.3 billion in 2021 to $49.5 billion by 2026, a compound annual growth rate of 16.2%. MarketsandMarkets, whose digital identity solutions report was cited by Mitek in this week’s acquisition announcement, credited the rise in both identity-related fraud and data breaches, as well as the need to keep pace with new regulations, for the growth in this market.

Additionally, the rise of the cryptocurrency and NFT (non-fungible token) markets – and the new regulatory regime that will accompany them – puts a further strain on the compliance requirements of businesses. For all the legitimate activity in crypto and NFTs, there is no doubt that these growing markets also represent new opportunities for illicit and criminal behavior.

“Our current geopolitical, commercial, and technological environment represents a perfect storm for bad actors,” Mitek CEO Max Carnecchia said. “Mitek is leading the fight against fraud by providing the technology that businesses need to stamp out digital money launderers and sanctioned individuals.”

In 2018, HooYu demoed its verification technology at FinovateEurope in London. The year before, Mitek demoed its Mobile Verify technology at FinovateFall in New York.

Photo by Ann H

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Goldman Sachs to Acquire NextCapital

Goldman Sachs to Acquire NextCapital
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Goldman Sachs Asset Management is buying retirement planning and digital advice company NextCapital.
  • Goldman Sachs will integrate NextCapital’s platform into its Multi-Asset Solutions business, a group that offers custom, multi-asset portfolios.
  • Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the latter half of this year, were not disclosed.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has agreed to acquire retirement planning and digital advice company NextCapital in a transaction that is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Terms of the deal, which ranks among the top five asset management deals Goldman Sachs has ever done, were not disclosed.

Chicago-based NextCapital offers automated, digital retirement advice to help banks deliver personalized, customizable retirement planning and managed accounts through their clients’ workplace retirement plans and IRAs. Goldman Sachs, which already leverages NextCapital’s managed account platform to power its retirement program for SMBs, anticipates the purchase will expand its services by adding personalized, managed accounts, and digital advice.

By combining the two companies, Goldman Sachs will be able to provide services to large retirement plans while working with platform clients. As Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon explained, “This acquisition furthers our strategic objective of building compelling client solutions in asset management and accelerating our investment in technology to serve the growing defined contribution market.”

After the deal closes, Goldman Sachs will integrate NextCapital’s platform into its Multi-Asset Solutions business, a group with approximately $220 billion in assets under supervision that offers custom, multi-asset portfolios. The NextCapital team will continue to operate from offices in Chicago.

Founded in 2014, NextCapital has raised $82 million. “Our vision for the future of the retirement savings market is aligned with the team at Goldman Sachs: technology that can create a differentiated experience combined with a strong culture and focus on clients forms a powerful offering for our clients and the individuals they serve,” said NextCapital CEO John Patterson. “We can leverage the resources of a global financial services firm to continue to scale our platform and offer it to new third party institutional clients and Goldman Sachs’ broader wealth management organization.”

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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HR and Payroll Company Papaya Global Buys Azimo

HR and Payroll Company Papaya Global Buys Azimo
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Azimo, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • HR and payroll platform Papaya Global has acquired global money transfer company Azimo.
  • The deal will allow Papaya Global to offer payments in hours instead of days.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Global money transfer company Azimo has agreed to be acquired by HR and payroll platform Papaya Global. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TechCrunch is reporting a purchase price of somewhere between $150 million and $200 million.

The Israeli payroll company will leverage Azimo’s payment platform to offer clients a payroll solution that makes immediate payouts across the globe. “We will build an innovative new payments and finance offering for clients in cash advance and credit-related products, and in cryptocurrency,” the company said in a blog post. The purchase will also enable Papaya Global to add remittance services to its lineup.

Founded by Michael Kent in 2012, Azimo offers a low-priced way for individuals and businesses to send money across the globe. The U.K.-based company charges a fee as low as $0.77 (£0.59) and boasts a more favorable exchange rate, as well. Azimo counts more than two million customers of its digital money transfer platform, which allows users to send money from 25 countries to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

In addition to its payment network, Azimo has something Papaya Global may consider quite valuable– payment licenses in the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong. “Azimo’s global digital payment network, multiple payment licenses, and deep fintech expertise strengthens our ability to help companies manage and pay their remote teams,” said Papaya Global CEO Eynat Guez.

Azimo has raised $88.1 million in combined debt and equity. Financial terms of the deal, which will bring all of Azimo’s employees over to the Papaya Global team, were undisclosed.

Photo by Kaboompics .com

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Alkami Agrees to Acquire Financial Data Analytics Company Segmint

Alkami Agrees to Acquire Financial Data Analytics Company Segmint
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Segmint
  • Alkami has entered a definitive agreement to acquire financial analytics company Segmint for $135.5 million in cash.
  • The acquisition will combine Segmint’s data insights with Alkami’s digital account opening and digital banking technology.
  • Both companies are Finovate alums. Alkami made its Finovate debut as iThryv in 2009. Segmint made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall in 2012.

Another day, another big acquisition in the fintech space. Today we learned that cloud-based digital banking solutions provider Alkami Technology has agreed to acquire Segmint, a financial data analytics and transaction cleansing specialist. Alkami will pay $135.5 million in cash for the Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio-based company, and expects its total addressable market to grow by $1 billion courtesy of the acquisition.

“Our customers want to deepen their customer relationships and grow revenue,” Allkami CEO Alex Shootman said. “To do so, they must transform raw account and transaction data into insights that lead to highly personalized communications. Segmint applies machine learning to transaction data to help FIs better understand their account holders and automates messaging with incredible precision and personalization across multiple channels.”

The acquisition will enable financial institutions partnered with Alkami to benefit from the combination of data sets from both Alkami and Segmint. In addition to providing a more comprehensive view of account holders, the combination also will bring greater precision and additional use cases to Segmint’s data models. Further, financial institutions will be able to use this data to leverage digital banking to better target, engage, and build customer relationships.

Approved by the boards of directors of both companies, as well as Segmint stockholders, the acquisition is expected to close in Q2 of this year – assuming regulatory approvals and customer closing conditions are met.

As we noted, the Alkami/Segmint acquisition is the second big fintech acquisition involving a Finovate alum this week. We reported yesterday that Canadian identity verification company – and Finovate Best of Show winner – SecureKey – agreed to be acquired by digital security and privacy company Avast.

Photo by Anthony

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Avast to Acquire Identity and Authentication Expert SecureKey Technologies

Avast to Acquire Identity and Authentication Expert SecureKey Technologies
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, SecureKey
  • Avast will acquire SecureKey Technologies in a deal expected to close next month.
  • Czech Republic-based Avast will leverage SecureKey’s North American presence to expand internationally.
  • Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SecureKey Technologies will soon begin its next chapter. The Canada-based digital identity and authentication company recently agreed to be acquired by NortonLifeLock’s Avast, a digital security and privacy firm. Financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Avast CEO Ondrej Vlcek said that he envisions leveraging SecureKey to create a global and reusable identity framework. “It’s clear that digital identity is the critical enabler for many digital services and SecureKey’s success reflects the growing demand for this from consumers,” said Vlcek. “SecureKey is highly complementary to Avast’s prior work in Identity and together we will take our offer to the next level, accelerating innovation and working to establish a user-focused, global approach that aligns user, business, and government propositions. We are committed to developing offerings that will be fully inclusive for everyone, regardless of their own circumstances.”

SecureKey was founded in 2008 with a mission to simplify consumer access to secure online services and applications using secure, digital versions of the credentials they already have. The company’s digital identity solutions enable over 200 million secure digital ID transactions per year globally.

SecureKey’s flagship tool, Verified.Me, is a digital identity verification network that helps users verify their digital identity and places them in control of what they want to share with whom. Verified.Me, which also comes with a Government sign-in feature, is provided by Interac, which acquired the rights to SecureKey’s digital ID services for Canada last October.

Avast was founded in 1988 and offers tools to help individuals and businesses protect the privacy of their digital lives. Headquartered in the Czech Republic, the company anticipates the acquisition will position it for international expansion. “As the European community is investing in public-private sector digital identity infrastructure in 2022 and beyond, we see Avast well positioned as a collaborative provider of digital trust services for people, digital businesses and government,” said Avast General Manager and SVP of Identity Charles Walton. “Success for us is where digital identity becomes simple, user-centric and portable, and can enable a more trustworthy digital experience and deeper online engagement benefiting both people and business.”

The deal is expected to close early next month. Avast plans to make SecureKey’s products available in the second quarter of this year.

Photo by Thirdman

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MeridianLink Acquires Small Business Lending Startup StreetShares

MeridianLink Acquires Small Business Lending Startup StreetShares
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, StreetShares
  • Cloud-based software solutions provider MeridianLink acquired digital lending technology provider StreetShares.
  • MeridianLink will leverage StreetShares’ Atlas Platform, an embeddable digital lending environment for banks.
  • Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cloud-based software solutions firm MeridanLink acquired small business lending technology provider StreetShares this week. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

StreetShares was founded in 2014 to serve as an alternative lending option for military veteran-owned small businesses. In 2019, the Virginia-based company pivoted, launching digital small business lending technology for banks and credit unions after piloting the offering with USAA in 2018.

The new tool, the Atlas Platform, enables banks to embed a digital business lending environment in 45 days or less. The platform enables community lenders to leverage their data to deliver a digital banking product experience to their small business customers. StreetShares built the platform specifically to serve the unique needs of small businesses and assist lenders with challenges such as underwriting.

“StreetShares’ commitment to providing lenders across the U.S. with state-of-the-art business lending capabilities, including business loans, automated decisioning, and business lines of credit, aligns with our focus on empowering more banks and credit unions to better serve consumers and communities,” said MeridianLink CEO Nicolaas Vlok. “Adding the StreetShares team, technology, and strong partnerships with organizations like Fiserv to the MeridianLink family will accelerate our small business lending capabilities and further strengthen our MeridianLink One platform.”

MeridianLink, which is owned by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, was founded in 1998 and offers cloud-based technology to its 1,900 financial institution clients. Nicolaas Vlock is CEO of the firm, which is listed publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker MLNK and has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion.

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PayTech Company Shift4 Makes Two Acquisitions

PayTech Company Shift4 Makes Two Acquisitions
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Shift4 acquired Finaro and The Giving Block.
  • The company will leverage the two purchases to fuel global expansion and to deepen its cryptocurrency roots.
  • Shift4 expects the acquisitions will contribute $15 billion in payment volume in 2023.

Payments processing technology company Shift4 made two key acquisitions this week. The Pennsylvania-based firm snapped up cross-border ecommerce expert Finaro and cryptocurrency fundraising startup The Giving Block. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Shift4 said the move will position it to pursue growth in eCommerce, gaming, stadiums, restaurants, hospitality, specialty retail, charitable giving, and a new frontier– cryptocurrency enablement. The company expects the acquisitions will contribute $15 billion in payment volume in 2023.

“These two acquisitions… underscore our aggressive efforts to deliver a unified commerce experience across the world,” said Shift4 CEO Jared Isaacman. He also noted that the move gives the company “a real right-to-win additional customers across the nonprofit vertical. It also represents an exciting and responsible step towards further embracing cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.”  

Malta-based Finaro was founded in 2007 as Credorax. The company is a global cross-border payments provider with four offices across the world. Finaro serves more than 5,000 merchant clients, 98% of which leverage Finaro for ecommerce capabilities. The company has a diverse team; its 370 employees represent 24 nationalities and speak 12 different languages. Shift4 will leverage Finaro to expand its existing services, notably its next-generation SkyTab POS solution, Shift4Shop eCommerce platform, and VenueNext stadium offering. 

The Giving Block was founded in 2018 with a mission to make Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency fundraising easy for nonprofits. The company, which is part of a recent rise in charitable giving-enablement, serves as a donation platform more than 1,300 non-profits ranging from mission-driven organizations, charities, universities, and faith-based organizations. The Giving Block is not just a transaction platform; the company also helps non-profits build community, raise awareness, and create campaigns to support their cause.

Shift4 will invest in The Giving Block’s existing business while combining crypto donation capabilities with traditional card acceptance and pursuing the non-profit market. Notably, Shift4 will tap The Giving Block’s crypto talent to establish a Crypto Innovation Center and integrate crypto acceptance and settlement capabilities across its own existing verticals.

Shift4 was founded in 1994 and is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FOUR. The company’s market capitalization is $3.69 billion.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

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BNPL Consolidates: Zip to Buy Sezzle

BNPL Consolidates: Zip to Buy Sezzle
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Sezzle
  • Consolidation in the Buy now, pay later (BNPL) industry continues as Zip agrees to acquire competitor Sezzle.
  • The deal values Sezzle at $355 million.
  • After the acquisition is finalized, Sezzle will rebrand to Zip and the company’s CEO Charlie Youakim will lead Zip’s U.S. business.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) player Zip (formerly known as Quadpay) is acquiring Sezzle in a deal that values Sezzle at $355 million.

Zip CEO and co-founder Larry Diamond expects the deal will help Zip scale up its operations. “Combining with Sezzle positions us as a leading global BNPL provider and prioritizes our ability to win in the important U.S. market.”

Following the deal, Zip’s customer base will increase from 9.9 million to 13.3 million and the number of merchant partners will grow from 82,000 to 129,000. Additionally, The Financial Review estimates that Zip’s total transaction volume will rise from $8 billion to $10.4 billion, and that almost $6.5 billion of this will be from U.S. users.

After the deal closes, Sezzle will rebrand as Zip and the company’s CEO Charlie Youakim will lead Zip’s U.S. business. “I believe the transaction will position us to win in the U.S. and globally,” Youakim said.

Today’s announcement is yet another indication of consolidation in the increasingly-crowded BNPL space. Industry giant Afterpay sold to Block (formerly Square) on February 2nd. And on February 17th, digital payments firm Latitude agreed to acquire Humm’s BNPL operations.

Australia-based Zip was founded in 2013, seven years before BNPL took off as an alternative payment method. Zip is publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASK) under the ticker ZIP. The company allows users to split their purchase into four installments over the course of six weeks. With Zip’s app, shoppers use their Zip Virtual Card to pay for their purchase in installments anywhere that Visa is accepted, both online and in-store.

Similarly, Sezzle allows shoppers to use their Sezzle Virtual Card to pay for purchases in four installments over the course of six weeks. The company also offers a long-term financing tool in partnership with Ally and Sezzle Up, an alternative credit solution that helps shoppers build their credit.

Minnesota-based Sezzle was founded in 2016 and went public on the ASK in 2019 under the ticker SZL. At the time, Sezzle said it opted to list on the ASX instead of in U.S. markets because, prior to 2020, the BNPL model was more commonplace in Australia, given that Afterpay, a major player in the BNPL arena, is headquartered in Melbourne.

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash

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Revolut’s Newest Acquisition Accelerates its Move into India

Revolut’s Newest Acquisition Accelerates its Move into India
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, Revolut
  • Revolut has acquired India-based Arvog Forex. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • The purchase will help Revolut launch services in India in the latter half of this year.
  • Arvog Forex has more than 20 branches across India and served more than 15,000 customers last year.

Global financial services innovator Revolut recently acquired Arvog Forex to deepen its roots into India, a region with a population of 1.3 billion and ripe for fintech disruption.

Arvog Forex, an international money transfer and currency exchange company, is headquartered in Mumbai. With more than 20 branches across India, the company served over 15,000 people with its remittances and other forex services last year.

Revolut, which plans to invest $25 million into the Indian market in the coming years, expects the purchase will strengthen its foundation in India. The company initiated its India expansion plans last April after hiring Paroma Chatterjee, a former Flipkart executive, to lead its India operations. Under Chatterjee’s leadership, Revolut plans to launch bespoke financial products that serve the unique needs of Indian consumers.

The company is aiming to launch services in India in the latter half of this year. The Arvog Forex acquisition should streamline this, helping Revolut offer remittances and multi-currency accounts to Indian customers.

Chatterjee calls the buy a “first step” towards the company’s aspiration to usher in a “digital financial revolution” in India. “Our significant investment plans, this acquisition, and the quality of the team we are putting together reflect our intention to rapidly roll out these innovative products and services. India is a key region in our global expansion plan and this acquisition is testament to the rapid strides we want to make here. It is an incredible time to be a fintech company in India and we plan to make the best of this opportunity,” she said.

U.K.-based Revolut was founded in 2015 and has already expanded into other Asia-based countries, including Japan and Singapore, but has yet to enter into China, a market that will prove to be highly competitive. On the other side of the globe in North America, Revolut has applied for a bank charter in the U.S., but withdrew its operations in Canada last March. The fintech plans to reenter the region later this year.

Photo by Aditya Siva on Unsplash

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Madison Dearborn Buys MoneyGram in $1.8 Billion Deal

Madison Dearborn Buys MoneyGram in $1.8 Billion Deal
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, MoneyGram
  • Madison Dearborn Partners has agreed to acquire MoneyGram in a $1.8 billion deal.
  • The deal will offer shareholders $11 per share and will make MoneyGram a privately-held company.
  • MoneyGram anticipates the acquisition will help it advance digital growth and compete against smaller fintechs.

MoneyGram, an 82-year-old fintech, announced today it has agreed to be acquired by private equity investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) in a $1.8 billion deal. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.

When the deal closes, MoneyGram shareholders will receive $11 per share. In addition, MoneyGram, which is currently listed publicly on the NASDAQ under the ticker MGI, will no longer be listed on a public exchange. Logistically, MoneyGram will continue to operate under its own brand. Company CEO Alex Holmes and the existing leadership team will continue to lead MoneyGram from the company’s headquarters in Dallas, Texas to continue to serve its 150 million customers.

Holmes anticipates the deal will not only deliver value to shareholders, but will also help MoneyGram as it seeks to advance its digital growth. “MoneyGram has undergone a rapid transformation over the last several years to expand our digital capabilities and adapt to the evolving needs of our customers. By partnering with MDP and becoming a private company, we will have greater opportunities to innovate and transform MoneyGram to lead the industry in cross-border payment technology and deliver a more expansive set of digital offerings, while leveraging our global platform for new customers and use cases.”

The move will place MoneyGram in a better position to compete with the onslaught of fintechs in the cross-border payments arena. And in today’s increasingly decentralized economy, this competition goes beyond cross-border payments companies of the last decade such as Azimo, Wise, Visa’s CurrencyCloud, and Payoneer. Looking ahead, MoneyGram will need to deepen its crypto roots.

The Dallas-based company dipped its toe in the crypto waters in 2018 when it initiated a partnership with Ripple to leverage xRapid for remittance payments. And last fall, MoneyGram began collaborating with Stellar to enable consumers using Circle’s USDC stablecoin to receive cash funding and payout in local currency.

“We are looking forward to applying our substantial experience growing digital businesses and deep payments knowledge to help MoneyGram further strengthen its market-leading cross-border capabilities and enhance its digital platform,” said MDP’s Managing Director Vahe Dombalagian.

Photo by Pratikxox from Pexels

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