• Shift4 is acquiring gift card and loyalty solutions Givex for an undisclosed amount.
• The deal will expand Shift4’s client base by 130,000+ locations across 100+ countries.
• The acquisition is expected to close in Q4 2024, and follows Shift4’s recent acquisitions of Revel Systems and Vectron Systems.

Payments processing technology company Shift4 announced plans to acquire gift card and loyalty solutions company Givex. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Givex was founded in 1999 to help businesses launch and manage gift card and e-gift solutions, loyalty programs, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and more. The company’s clients include Nike, Marriott, 7/11, Wendy’s, Best Western, Texas Roadhouse, and others.

Founded in 1994, Shift4 offers a range of in-person and online payments solutions, including physical point-of-sale, mobile ordering, and contactless payment solutions. The Pennsylvania-based company also offers fraud prevention and business intelligence tools, as well as a gift card platform to help clients manage, sell, and redeem gift cards. “By combining Shift4’s end-to-end payment solution with our value-added engagement services, we can deliver an unparalleled package to both of our customer bases,” said Givex CEO Don Gray.

Once it is finalized, today’s deal will offer Shift4 an additional 130,000+ client locations across more than 100 countries where Givex’s solutions are implemented.

“Givex has a considerable footprint around the world which will dramatically increase Shift4’s overall customer base,” said Shift4 President Taylor Lauber. “At the same time, their gift card and loyalty solutions are second to none and will add significant value for our current customers, creating stickier relationships and enhancing our overall value proposition. Similar to other deals we have recently completed, this acquisition aligns perfectly with how we like to deploy capital – adding blue-chip merchants at a low customer acquisition cost while delivering additional benefits to our customer base.”

As the -as-a-service economy in fintech picks up, companies have been increasingly integrating digital gift cards into their existing apps apps, making them more accessible and easier to manage. The rise of e-gift cards has also been fueled by the post-2020 increase in online shopping, with consumers opting for digital solutions that can be easily redeemed at a wide range of retailers, both online and in-store. Financial services platforms also leverage gift cards to promote customer engagement with personalized rewards and loyalty programs that drive consumer spending.

Moving forward, as firms continue to leverage consumer data we will likely see further data-driven marketing and personalization efforts that will allow companies to tailor gift card offerings to consumer preferences and enhance the user experience.

The deal, which is subject to closing conditions, is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.

Shift4 has made a total of 14 acquisitions, including Revel Systems and Vectron Systems earlier this summer. The company went public in 2020 under the ticker symbol FOUR on the New York Stock Exchange and has a current market capitalization of $7 billion.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood

• Stripe is acquiring merchant of record service company Lemon Squeezy.
• Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
• Lemon Squeezy will help Stripe add merchant of record capabilities, which will help it differentiate itself and may help attract a more global client base.

Financial infrastructure company Stripe is adding to its expertise this week with the acquisition of merchant of record (MoR) service company Lemon Squeezy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lemon Squeezy was founded in 2020 to help companies selling digital products globally with its subscription billing plans, payments tools, online storefront builder, checkout overlays, and more. The fintech, which has been processing payments on Stripe since it was founded, serves as an MoR. This means that it takes on responsibilities pertaining to processing cross-border customer transactions. MoR responsibilities can include payment processing, risk management, legal and financial responsibility, tax compliance, customer service and support, and fraud prevention.

Today’s buy marks Stripe’s 16th acquisition since it was founded in 2010. Stripe’s payment products serve companies of varying sizes in a range of industries. The San Francisco-based company’s offerings include online and in-person payment acceptance tools, embedded payments tools such as virtual card issuance, and revenue and finance automation tools such as billing, invoicing, and tax automation.

“It’s no secret that we (like many) have always admired Stripe,” said Lemon Squeezy CEO and Co-founder JR Farr. “When we began discussions about a potential acquisition, it was immediately apparent that our values and mission were perfectly aligned. Lemon Squeezy and Stripe share a deep love for our customers and a commitment to making selling effortless. Now imagine combining everything you love about Lemon Squeezy and Stripe — we believe it’s a match made in heaven.”

Looking ahead, Lemon Squeezy will continue to serve its customer base with its existing MoR services. The only difference is that, going forward, it will do so having the backing of Stripe.

For Stripe, adding MoR services will help it provide a more comprehensive suite of financial solutions. This may attract businesses looking for an all-in-one platform to handle not just payment processing, but also compliance, tax, and customer support. The addition may also help Stripe differentiate it in the crowded market of payment processors, including Square, Adyen, and PayPal. That’s because the MoR capabilities will help businesses seeking global expansion overcome regulatory and tax hurdles by managing complexities including local tax collection and remittance, currency conversion, and regulatory compliance.

Photo by Gustavo Fring

• Chime plans to acquire Salt Labs, an employee savings and rewards program to help companies motivate their workforces.
• Along with the acquisition, Chime is launching Chime Enterprise, a new business unit that will help Chime grow users via the employer channel.
• Salt Labs Founder and CEO Jason Lee will lead Chime Enterprise.

Challenger bank Chime made an acquisition today that will help it expand into the enterprise arena. The San Francisco-based digital bank announced today that it has acquired Salt Labs, an employee savings and rewards program to help companies motivate their workforces.

Salt was founded in 2022 to offer enterprises a new way to incentivize their hourly employees. The company helps mitigate turnover while engaging employees by allowing workers to earn one “Salt Asset” for each hour they work. If they stay with the company for long enough, employees can exchange accumulated Salt Assets for a special purchase, college fund distribution, or an investment.

Until now, Chime has strictly offered services directly to end consumers. With the acquisition of Salt, however, Chime will make a move to acquire new users through their employers. Salt Founder and CEO and Founder of DailyPay Jason Lee will lead Chime’s new business unit, Chime Enterprise, to help Chime grow its client base via the employer channel.

“This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for Chime to acquire an innovative employee rewards company that has key employer relationships, and a founding team that has created some of the most disruptive technology in the enterprise earned wage access space,” said Chime COO Mark Troughton. “Through this acquisition, we will aim to partner directly with employers to reach millions of consumers and introduce them to the Chime platform. We look forward to leveraging Salt Labs’ existing relationships with employers and building upon the Chime MyPay earned wage access platform to further address the needs of everyday people.”

Chime is well known in fintech for offering tools and services that cater to its low-to-middle income target market. In addition to its earned wage access tool that allows users to receive their paycheck up to two days earlier when they set up direct deposit, Chime also offers a credit-building tool and a feature that will spot users up to $200 to avoid account overdrafts.

Chime did not publicly disclose the acquisition amount. However, some sources report that the deal, which is expected to be finalized later this week, could close for as much as $173 million after Chime provides an up-front payment of $14 million.

“We’ve always believed that financial progress begins with employment and should be centered around the primary financial account,” said Lee. “We are thrilled to be part of this next stage of growth at Chime and to build Chime Enterprise alongside the incredible team at Chime.”

Photo by Jason Tuinstra on Unsplash

• Robinhood has agreed to acquire digital currency marketplace Bitstamp for $200 million in cash.
• The acquisition will help Robinhood fuel its global expansion and serve institutional clients, a new market for the company.
• The acquisition announcement comes one month after Robinhood received a Wells Notice from the SEC for violating Sections 15(a) and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act.

Hours after I published a piece mourning the lack of application of the blockchain in fintech, I get to report on some news that proves me wrong. Digital stock brokerage app Robinhood has agreed to acquire digital currency marketplace Bitstamp for $200 million in an all-cash deal.

U.K.-based Bitstamp has offices in Luxembourg, the U.K., Slovenia, Singapore, and the U.S. and holds over 50 active licenses and registrations globally. Robinhood, which made its first foray into crypto in 2018, anticipates the deal will “significantly accelerate Robinhood Crypto’s expansion worldwide.” Specifically, Robinhood said that Bitstamp will bring Robinhood customers from across the E.U., U.K., U.S., and Asia.

The move will also help Robinhood cater to its first institutional clients. Until now, Robinhood has primarily catered to individual retail investors. Bitstamp, on the other hand, already has a strong presence in the institutional market. The company offers trade execution, deep order books, API connectivity, white label solutions, institutional lending, and staking. By integrating Bitstamp’s services and established relationships into its existing operations, Robinhood can start offering services specifically designed for serving larger, more complex clients such as large financial organizations, investment firms, and professional traders.

“The acquisition of Bitstamp is a major step in growing our crypto business. Bitstamp’s highly trusted and long standing global exchange has shown resilience through market cycles. By seamlessly coupling customer experience with safety across geographies, the Bitstamp team has established one of the strongest reputations across retail and institutional crypto investors,” said Robinhood Crypto General Manager Johann Kerbrat. “Through this strategic combination, we are better positioned to expand our footprint outside of the U.S. and welcome institutional customers to Robinhood.”

Bitstamp launched its crypto exchange in 2011 and currently has more than 5 million retail and institutional customers. The company’s core spot exchange offers over 85 tradable assets, as well as products such as staking and lending,

“As the world’s longest running cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp is known as one of the most-trusted and transparent crypto platforms worldwide,” said Bitstamp CEO JB Graftieaux. “Bringing Bitstamp’s platform and expertise into Robinhood’s ecosystem will give users an enhanced trading experience with a continuing commitment to compliance, security, and customer-centricity.”

Notably, Robinhood’s announcement comes a month after the California-based company received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating Sections 15(a) and 17A of the Securities Exchange Act. “After years of good faith attempts to work with the SEC for regulatory clarity including our well-known attempt to ‘come in and register,’ we are disappointed that the agency has decided to issue a Wells Notice related to our U.S. crypto business,” said Robinhood Markets Chief Legal, Compliance, and Corporate Affairs Officer Dan Gallagher in a statement at the time. “We firmly believe that the assets listed on our platform are not securities and we look forward to engaging with the SEC to make clear just how weak any case against Robinhood Crypto would be on both the facts and the law.”

The $200 million cash amount is subject to customary purchase price adjustments, and the deal is subject to closing conditions such as regulatory approvals and is expected to be finalized in the first half of 2025.