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From Affirm to Visa: The Latest from the Buy Now Pay Later Beat

From Affirm to Visa: The Latest from the Buy Now Pay Later Beat
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Klarna, List series, Marqeta, MasterCard, PayPal, VISA

The Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) revolution shows no signs of abating any time soon. A combination of newcomers, Buy Now Pay Later pioneers, and even credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard are figuring out new ways to integrate themselves into the biggest consumer commerce phenomenon since shopping by smartphone.

According to CNBC, which bases its analysis on data from FIS Worldpay, the Buy Now Pay Later market has an estimated value of $60 billion globally as of 2019 – though there are even higher estimates. Excluding China, this sum represents 2.6% of all e-commerce. And while BNPL represents less than 2% of sales in North America, the overall BNPL market, CNBC believes, could reach $166 billion by 2023.

Here is just a smattering of this week’s headlines from the Buy Now Pay Later beat that only underscores the velocity of the flight from credit cards and traditional consumer financing.

Stripe teams up with Klarna as BNPL competition from Square, PayPal intensifies

Klarna, a company with a long pedigree in providing consumers with alternative payment options, announced this week that it was partnering with ecommerce innovator and payments platform Stripe. The deal will enable Stripe customers in 20 countries to offer Klarna as a payment option to their customers. As part of the partnership, Klarna will use Stripe to accept payments from consumers in both the U.S. and Canada.

“Over the past years, Klarna and Stripe redefined the e-commerce experience for millions of consumers and global retailers,” Klarna Chief Technology Officer Koen Köppen said. “Together with Stripe, we will be a true growth partner for retailers of all sizes, allowing them to maximize their entrepreneurial success through our joint services. By offering convenience, flexibility, and control to even more shoppers, we create a win-win situation for both retailers and consumers alike.”

The partnership is widely seen as a way for Stripe to compete with payments rivals PayPal and Square, which have deepened their commitment to BNPL in recent months. Square agreed to acquire Australia’s Afterpay for $29 million in August. A month later, PayPal announced its $2.7 billion acquisition of Japanese Buy Now Pay Later company Paidy.

Affirm partners with American Airlines to ease cost of holiday travel

In a move well-timed to take advantage of end-of-year travel trends, American Airlines has announced a partnership with Buy Now Pay Later innovator Affirm. The collaboration will enable eligible travelers to pay for the costs of airfare over time on an installment basis, providing them with “flexibility, transparency, and control,” according to Affirm Chief Commercial Officer Silvija Martincevic. Using Affirm, travelers can pay for flights costing at least $50 with monthly installments without having to pay late fees or worry about hidden charges.

“While consumers are as eager as ever to get away,” Martincevic said, “they remain conscious of fitting travel into their budget.” Martincevic cited a survey conducted by the company that indicated that 74% of Americans queried said they would spend more on holiday travel this year “than ever before,” but that 60% were worried that they would not be able to “afford to travel as they would like to.”

The offering is currently available only to select customers, but will be expanded to include more U.S. consumers in the weeks to come. The collaboration marks the first time that American Airlines has integrated BNPL options into its website.

Marqeta and Amount announce collaboration to help banks offer BNPL

The partnership announced this week between card issuing platform Marqeta and bank technology provider Amount will make it easier for financial institutions to get into the Buy Now Pay Later business. Marqeta and Amount have forged a virtual card and loan origination partnership that will enable banks to go to market with their own BNPL/virtual card offering in months. This will help them boost revenues, grow market share, and promote loyalty.

Echoing the challenge that banks and other financial institutions face from Big Tech and fintech alike, Amount CEO Adam Hughes pointed to the partnership with Marqeta as a way for banks to close the consumer expectations gap between themselves and more tech-savvy, tech-native enterprises entering the financial services space. “Banks must compete or continue to lose market share to digital challengers who offer a more flexible way for their customers to pay,” Hughes said.

Part of what makes the Marqeta/Amount partnership interesting is how it takes advantage of research that suggests that a significant number of consumers who have used BNPL would prefer it if the service came from their bank or credit card provider. Amount’s modular approach to BNPL is configurable, easy to deploy, and integrates readily with banks’ legacy platforms, giving FIs the ability to introduce BNPL offerings over a variety of different channels and payment methods.

Berlin-based Billie banks $100 million in funding

The latest reminder of the international growth of Buy Now Pay Later comes from the $100 million investment secured by Berlin, Germany-based, B2B Buy Now Pay Later startup, Billie. The Series C round was led by U.K.-based Dawn Capital and featured participation from Tencent and, interestingly enough, Klarna. In fact, Klarna’s investment comes in the wake of a strategic partnership with Billie in which the two companies will integrate their service to better leverage their core competencies, with Billie serving business customers and Klarna handling retail consumers.

“BNPL for B2B is still in its infancy phase,” Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski explained, “even though the demand has never been higher. We are here to solve problems and by being able to offer this service to our merchant partners together with Billie, we are doing just that.”

The Series C round gives Billie a valuation of $640 million, and is believed to be the largest B2B Buy Now Pay Later funding round to-date. Co-founder and co-CEO of Billie, Dr. Matthias Knecht noted that those companies buying from larger businesses and individual retailers are increasingly embracing a “digital-first” approach that includes not just “modern user interfaces, high limits for shopping carts, as well as real-time decisions for B2B” but options like BNPL, as well. “There is nearly no provider of a BNPL product (for these companies) like what Klarna offers for B2C,” Knecht said. “We aim to close this gap.”

Visa expands BNPL offerings in Canada via partnership with Moneris

International card company and financial services provider Visa has been making inroads of its own into the Buy Now Pay Later market. This week, the company made headlines in the Canadian fintech news space via a new collaboration with unified commerce company Moneris.

“We’re happy to be working with a trusted brand like Visa Canada on providing a buy now pay later option to Canadians,” Moneris Chief Product and Partnership Officer Patrick Diab said. “Bringing flexible payment methods like buy now pay later to our merchants helps them offer their customers more options when it comes time to pay.”

Courtesy of the new collaboration, merchants partnered with Moneris will be able to leverage Visa’s BNPL solution – Visa Installments – to give eligible Canadian credit cardholders access to installment payments on qualifying purchases. Cardholders can use the existing credit on their cards to pay for purchases in smaller, equal payments over a defined time period, with no additional, new service sign ups or requirement to apply for a new line of credit.

Moneris is set to begin offering Visa Installments to its customers by the spring of 2022.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

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A Preview of FinovateEurope’s All Star Speaker Lineup

A Preview of FinovateEurope’s All Star Speaker Lineup
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2022

We are still 143 days away from FinovateEurope— the show is taking place in London on March 22 through 23, 2022– but we’ve been getting ready for Finovate’s first in-person show in Europe since 2020.

Our favorite part of these preparations involves the people. Since Finovate’s first show in 2007, we’ve been building up our relationships in the industry and many of the folks we’ve met have become part of our fintech family. As the industry has grown, so has our network. And while we expect to have stellar thought leaders both on stage and in the audience, we’ve already started curating our speaker lineup for next year.

So far, we’ve secured a list featuring some of the greatest minds in fintech. Here’s a very small taste of the speakers you can expect to see at next year’s event:

Our FinovateEurope 2022 speakers are coming from a variety of companies across the banking and fintech sector. Some of the companies represented on panels and in discussion sessions include Nasdaq, Morgan Stanley, Forrester, Monzo, Lloyds Banking Group, Aite Group, HSBC, Blackrock, ING, and more.

Photo by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash

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OurCrowd Raises $25 Million to Democratize Access to VC Funds

OurCrowd Raises $25 Million to Democratize Access to VC Funds
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, OurCrowd

Venture investing platform OurCrowd announced today it landed $25 million in funding. The convertible equity investment comes from SoftBank Vision Fund 2, a subsidiary of Softbank Group that specializes in growth capital and social impact investments.

Since it launched in 2013, OurCrowd’s platform has helped 140,000 accredited investors from more than 195 countries invest in over 280 companies and 30 funds. OurCrowd will use today’s round to build its investor base and more quickly identify high-potential, tech-enabled private companies.

“We are excited to be working with SoftBank Investment Advisers, one of the world’s largest technology-focused investors,” said CEO Jon Medved. “As a strategic investor with a global reach and a network of market-leading technology companies, they will be a pivotal partner in helping OurCrowd realize our vision of democratizing access to venture capital.”

Today’s deal also involves a strategic partnership between OurCrowd and SoftBank Investment Advisers (SBIA). Softbank will consider investment opportunities via OurCrowd’s VC platform and the two will work together to evaluate market trends.

“Softbank has been investing ahead of major technology trends for over 40 years and we believe there is huge, embedded potential in the private markets ecosystem,” said Head of SBIA Operations in Israel Yossi Cohen. “In OurCrowd, we have an investment partner with the networks and pedigree to help promising Israeli startups to potentially emerge as international tech champions.”

2021 has been a good year of growth for OurCrowd. The Israel-based company saw new registered subscribers increase from 25,000 last year to 75,000 so far this year– a 300% boost. This uplift is fueled by OurCrowd’s ability to curate a diverse portfolio of startups that are poised for both growth and success. More than 50 companies in OurCrowd’s portfolio have made profitable exits, including Lemonade, Beyond Meat, Kenna, Argus, and Wave.

Photo by Maryna Bohucharska on Unsplash

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Mastercard Launches Touch Card to Support Visually Impaired Consumers

Mastercard Launches Touch Card to Support Visually Impaired Consumers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Diversity in Fintech, MasterCard

Mastercard introduced its latest innovation to help ensure that visually impaired and partially sighted consumers can use its spending and credit solutions as readily as any other cardholder. The company’s Touch Card, announced this week, enables the visually impaired to easily determine whether the Mastercard they are holding is a credit, debit, or prepaid card thanks to a few simple design elements to the physical card itself.

At a time when payment cards are becoming sleeker, eschewing the boldly embossed letters and numbers that have distinguished these cards for decades, the new Touch Card features a new design that, while not bucking the trend toward flatter, thiner cards, provides the kind of tactile cues that visually impaired consumers can use to select and use the right card. With a series of notches on the side of the card – a round notch for credit cards; a broad, square-shaped notch for debit cards; and a triangular notch for prepaid cards – Mastercard’s new Touch Card is another example of what Mastercard Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Raja Rajamannar called innovation “driven by the impulse to include.”

“The Touch Card will provide a greater sense of security, inclusivity, and independence to the 2.2 billion people around the world with visual impairments,” Rajamannar said. “For the visually impaired, identifying their payment cards is a real struggle. This tactile solution allows consumers to correctly orient the card and know which payment card they are using.”

The new cards have been endorsed by The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) in the U.K. and by VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in the U.S. Co-designed by augmented identity specialist IDEMIA, Mastercard’s Touch Card works with bot point-of-scale terminals and ATMs, meaning that the new solution can be readily deployed at scale.

“With one in seven people experiencing some form of disability,” Rajamannar said, “designing these products with accessibility in mind gives them equal opportunity to benefit from the ease and security of a digital world. No one should be left behind.”

It is worth mentioning that the Touch Card is only one of Mastercard’s initiatives to empower those with visual impairments. The company includes its signature melody, which signifies that card transactions have been completed successfully at the checkout counter, among these efforts.

Photo by Marina Leonova from Pexels

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Fundica Teams Up with Digital Commerce Bank to Help Businesses Find Funding

Fundica Teams Up with Digital Commerce Bank to Help Businesses Find Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Fundica

One month after making its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in New York, AI-powered funding search engine Fundica has partnered with Digital Commerce Bank. The Bank will host Fundica’s online funding search solution on its website for free, making it easier for businesses to search for and secure information on a wide variety of funding sources, including grants, tax credits, government loans, loan guarantees, and accelerators and incubators.

Users of the search engine can personalize results quickly and choose from among 35+ different search criteria. The solution is updated in real time, helping ensure that companies and business owners have access to the most up-to-date, accurate information on funding opportunities that are relevant to them.

“Digital Commerce Bank is proud to offer Fundica’s funding search technology as part of our commitment to support and promote business in Canada,” Digital Commerce Bank President and CEO Jeffrey Smith said. A privately held, Schedule 1 Canadian chartered bank headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Digital Commerce Bank offers payment and banking experiences, as well as card services, digital wallets, and loan origination and management tools.

The institution is regulated by OSFI (the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions of Canada), is a member of Payments Canada, and is a principle member of Interac, Visa, and Mastercard. Digital Commerce Bank changed its name from DirectCash Bank in November of last year in a move Smith said would allow the institution to “unify (its) branding, technology, and offering. The firm reported total assets of $94 million (C$117 million) this summer.

“We are delighted to partner with an innovative group like DCBank who shares our mutual commitment to make finding and applying for funding easier for entrepreneurs across Canada,” Fundica President and co-founder Mike Lee said.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Fundica leverages machine learning, crowdsourcing, web crawlers, and its own data science team to offer business owners and entrepreneurs dynamic, relevant funding data. In addition to Fundica’s funding search engine for businesses, the company’s white label and API-based solutions enhance the ability of its partners to help its customers better navigate the funding landscape. Companies have successfully leveraged Fundica’s technology to drive traffic to their websites and capture leads in search of funding, better engage customers with a “one-stop-shop” for current and relevant funding information, as well as generate data-driven insights.

In addition to its online white label service, Fundica also offers two other licensed services: AdvisorPro and Automated Funding Alerts. AdvisorPro is designed for financial advisors to use the Fundica database directly to better serve their clients. Automated Funding Alerts service sends funding opportunities to a mailing list of businesses provided by the subscribing firm. For its role in playing “matchmaker” between businesses and funding entities, Fundica has earned the nickname “the eHarmony of the funding world.”

“Fundica is the most useful tool entrepreneurs can use when it comes to funding,” former, eight-year Intuit Canada President and CEO Jeff Cates said. “Having their white-label solution on our website increased signups to Intuit’s products tremendously.”

An award-winning innovator that has earned recognition from the Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation, Startup Canada, and CFO Canada, Fundica also organizes and runs the Fundica Roadshow. The annual event is held in cities across both Canada and the U.S., and is geared toward helping business owners understand the range of funding opportunities available to them, as well as help make connections between entrepreneurs seeking funding and the funding sources themselves.

Photo by Andre Furtado from Pexels

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Marqeta Partners with Amount to Help Banks Enter the BNPL Space

Marqeta Partners with Amount to Help Banks Enter the BNPL Space
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Marqueta

Payment processor Marqeta teamed up with buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Amount this week. The two are working together to help banks compete in the BNPL arena. The partnership will integrate Amount’s BNPL solution and Marqeta’s instant virtual card issuance tools to help banks launch their own BNPL offering and virtual card.

“With escalating consumer expectations for simple, digital experiences at every step, banks must compete or continue to lose market share to digital challengers who offer a more flexible way for their customers to pay,” said Amount CEO Adam Hughes. “We continue to develop and expand our platform to give banks the agility and tools they need to create high-value interactions at the point of sale. As a leader in modern payments and innovation, Marqeta shares our vision and is the ideal partner to bring best-in-class solutions to banks.”

Banks have traditionally been left out of BNPL spending, since they lack the tools to provide such offerings to their customers. However, Amount takes a modular approach to BNPL that integrates with legacy platforms. The configurable nature of Amount’s tools gives banks flexibility to provide customers split pay or installment payments across multiple channels and payment vehicles.

“This partnership creates a pathway for banks to become more agile and meet customer demand for more flexible ways to pay, including BNPL,” said Marqeta Chief Revenue Officer Darren Mowry.

The new offering comes at a good time; consumer interest in BNPL has been steadily increasing in the past two years. And according to Juniper Research, money spent using BNPL tools is expected to nearly quadruple between 2021 and 2026, amounting to a 274% increase.

Amount was founded in 2019 and has since raised $243 million. The company’s BNPL technology aims to help traditional FIs compete with the rising wave of challenger banks by helping banks go digital in a matter of months. Amount’s white-labeled products help banks with omnichannel digital account opening, fraud prevention, identity verification, loans, deposits, and credit cards. The Chicago-based company is planning to add home equity, auto, and small business loans to its retail banking suite.

Marqeta is a modern card issuing platform that offers banks and fintechs the tools to create customized payment card programs. The company was founded in 2010 and went public earlier this year in an IPO that raised $1.2 billion on the NASDAQ exchange. Marqeta trades under the ticker MQ and has a market capitalization of $16.8 billion.

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Mastercard, Fiserv Team Up with Bakkt to Bring Digital Assets to Loyalty Programs

Mastercard, Fiserv Team Up with Bakkt to Bring Digital Assets to Loyalty Programs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Fiserv, MasterCard

A partnership between cryptocurrency exchange Bakkt and Mastercard is being heralded as a major breakthrough in bringing digital assets into the mainstream.

“Mastercard is committed to offering a wide range of payment solutions that deliver more choice, value, and impact every day,” Mastercard EVP of Digital Payments Sherri Haymond. “Together with Bakkt and grounded by our principled approach to innovation, we’ll not only empower our partners to offer a dynamic mix of digital assets options, but also deliver differentiated and relevant consumer experiences.”

The collaboration will enable Mastercard partners to leverage the company’s network and Bakkt’s trusted digital asset platform to enable consumers to buy, sell, and hold digital assets using custodial wallets powered by Bakkt’s platform. Additionally, consumers will benefit from streamlined issuance of branded crypto debit and credit cards.

Mastercard will also make cryptocurrencies a bigger part of its loyalty programs. Mastercard partners will be able to offer cryptocurrency as rewards and enable consumers to transfer value between loyalty points and digital assets. This will allow users to effectively use cryptocurrencies for everyday transactions and, perhaps even more significantly, marry cryptocurrencies to their preferred purchases.

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Mastercard to bring crypto loyalty services to millions of consumers,” Bakkt EVP for Loyalty, Rewards, & Payments Nancy Gordon said. “As brands and merchants look to appeal to younger consumers and their transaction preferences, these new offerings represent a unique opportunity to satisfy increasing demand for crypto, payment, and rewards flexibility.”

In addition to its partnership with Mastercard, Bakkt also announced that it had entered a strategic relationship with Fiserv that will also help support mainstream adoption and use of cryptocurrencies. A major feature of the collaboration will be the integration of Bakkt into Fiserv’s Carat omnichannel ecosystem. This will enable businesses to offer both B2B and B2C cryptocurrency payouts, loyalty programs, and transactions. Fiserv and Bakkt also announced plans to introduce Bakkt technology that enables customers to store and transact with digital assets to Fiserv’s financial institution clients.

Founded in 2018 and based in Alpharetta, Georgia, Bakkt became a publicly traded company only a few days ago, launching on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BKKT. The listing came courtesy of a SPAC sponsored by Chicago investment firm Victory Park Capital. In the weeks leading up to the company’s debut as a public company, Bakkt had announced partnerships with other Finovate alums including Finastra, Google, and, earlier this year, Blackhawk Network.

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Why PayPal Actually Should Acquire Pinterest

Why PayPal Actually Should Acquire Pinterest
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Julie's Column, Thought Leadership

Last week the rumor mill was turning rapidly with news that PayPal was in talks to purchase visual bookmarking tool Pinterest. The purchase would have been a big one, as PayPal was said to have offered $45 billion for Pinterest.

PayPal has been quick to quash the gossip, however. The company issued a release on Sunday stating, “In response to market rumors regarding a potential acquisition of Pinterest by PayPal, PayPal stated that it is not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time.”

But there are a few arguments why acquiring Pinterest would actually be good for PayPal. Let’s take a look.

Bolster online shopping

Integrating Pinterest into its own app would give PayPal the potential to be an online shopping powerhouse. The curated nature of the images on Pinterest makes the social media company, in effect, a staged showroom for potential ecommerce purchases.

This is thanks to Pinterest’s Product Pins, a tool that essentially helps users purchase items they see in a pin without leaving the Pinterest app, and Shoppable Pins, affiliate links that content creators can add to pins to receive a commission from purchases.

PayPal is already known for offering payments, loyalty programs, money transfer capabilities, and a high-yield savings account. If the company integrated Pinterest within its own app, it could serve as a shopping inspiration app. Pinterest users already spend hours browsing to get ideas for everything from clothing to gifts to vacations. If PayPal could insert these habits into its own app, it could become the app where consumers go before they even think about the transaction.

Compete with Amazon

Buying Pinterest would help PayPal compete even with the likes of Amazon and eBay, PayPal’s own former parent company. While the transaction volume wouldn’t come near that of Amazon’s, PayPal would have a small leg up on the online retail giant.

That’s because Pinterest would bring an addictive, continuous scroll interface with a built-in client base. What’s more, users can plan and purchase almost anything from Pinterest– even travel tickets and experiences. For example, users planning their trip to the Maldives can purchase their hotel stay from within the Pinterest app. In contrast, when an Amazon customer searches “Maldives,” they are directed to purchase a book or a t-shirt.

Bolster its reputation as a superapp

The new release inches PayPal closer toward becoming the first super app in the U.S. Last month, the company launched a new version of its mobile app.

However, the app lacks some elements of more traditional super apps. Even though PayPal has a wide variety of financial tools and capabilities– including a high-yield savings account, loyalty and rewards tools, billpay management tools, a direct deposit feature, gift card management, credit access, buy now, pay later services, and crypto transactions– the app lacks breadth.

As we reported earlier this year, there are 10 key elements to a super app. And even if PayPal successfully integrated Pinterest, it would be missing most of the elements, including food delivery, transportation services, travel services, health services, insurance, and government services.

What’s holding PayPal back?

Why might PayPal be hesitant to acquire Pinterest? A lot of it likely has to do with the price tag. Pinterest has a current market capitalization of around $32.7 billion. The rumored $45 billion acquisition represents about 15% of PayPal’s own market capitalization of $290 billion.

An acquisition of this size wouldn’t be out of the ordinary in the fintech industry. However, the deal would be sizable enough that PayPal would need a very clear value proposition with the integration of Pinterest.

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Denim Social Secures $5 Million to Help Regulated Industries Boost Customer Engagement

Denim Social Secures $5 Million to Help Regulated Industries Boost Customer Engagement
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding, Gremln

One of the most interesting missions in fintech has been the effort to bring the benefits of 21st century communications – from instant messaging to social media – to regulated businesses. In a world in which consumers expect to be able to leverage the familiarity and convenience of WhatsApp and Facebook in their everyday activities, the challenge of incorporating these technologies into industries like finance has been daunting.

Denim Social is one of the many companies that has dedicated itself to solving this problem for consumers and regulated businesses alike. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, the company offers a suite of built-in compliance and publishing tools to help financial, insurance, wealth management and other compliance-conscious enterprises run and scale conversion-optimized campaigns across all social media channels.

More than 250 institutions in banking, insurance, wealth management, and real estate have leveraged Denim Social’s technology. And today, the company announced that it has raised $5 million in Series B funding to help support product development and fuel expansion in its marketing and sales efforts. The investment, courtesy of FINTOP Capital and JAM FINTOP BankTech, gives the startup a valuation of $30 million.

“Financial institutions are rapidly accelerating their digital strategies in today’s environment and Denim Social can help them humanize their brand on social media, while staying compliant,” Denim Social CEO Douglas Wilber said. “With increasing demand for our solution, FINTOP’s and JAM FINTOP’s partnership will help us grow to meet the needs of future clients.”

Founded in 2020, Denim Social merged with Finovate alum Gremln Social later that year. Making its Finovate debut in 2013, Gremln was among those companies that, early on, recognized the value in enabling regulated companies to leverage social media to enhance customer engagement in a compliant way. “During times like today, it’s more important than ever for brands to use social media to build deeper, more meaningful relationships with consumers and their communities,” Denim Social noted in a blog post announcing the merger. “But we also recognize that compliance remains a significant barrier in many regulated industries. By merging our technology and expertise, we are providing an industry-leading, all-in-one solution.” The merger announcement was accompanied by a $4 million Series A investment led by Hermann Companies.

More recently, Denim Social launched the first-ever compliant Instagram publishing and advertising solution. In a statement, the company noted that Instagram bested other social networks in terms of both engagement and the ability to influence purchase decisions. The new platform enhancement helps marketers at regulated businesses manage and publish from multiple Instagram business accounts; schedule and publish organic content; maximize reach and lead generation with paid, targeted advertising; review and improve marketing strategies using performance analytics; and monitor all activity via a single streamlined feed. SVP of Goldwater Bank’s mortgage division, Christine Madrid Overbeck, called the new offering “a game changer.”

“A robust social media monitoring platform is a must in the mortgage and banking industry,” Overbeck said. “Denim Social has not only allowed us to remain compliant, their platform allows our sales team to successfully post, utilize a library of approved content, and monitor their engagement.”

Photo by Mica Asato from Pexels

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Envestnet Makes Strategic Investment in YieldX

Envestnet Makes Strategic Investment in YieldX
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Envestnet, Funding

Investment solutions provider Envestnet announced it has made a strategic investment in fixed income investing platform YieldX this week. Illinois-based Envestnet was the lead investor in YieldX’s most recent, Series A funding round.

The round, which totaled $18 million, brings YieldX’s total funding to $36 million. YieldX will use the money to scale its quant, engineering, and analytics teams and to expand its API suite. Specifically, YieldX aims to further personalize its offerings, add new data and integrations, expand existing ESG customization, and execute its go-to-market strategy.

Through the newly formed partnership, Envestnet will distribute YieldX’s products to its nearly 108,000 advisors and 6,000+ enterprise customers. The tie-up will help Envestnet clients offer their end consumers better fixed-income investment outcomes.

“We are fully vested in enhancing our ecosystem to intelligently connect financial lives, and we believe income and protection solutions are critical to helping make financial wellness a reality,” said Envestnet Chief Strategy Officer Rich Aneser. “Through our strategic partnership with YieldX, and investing to expand its capabilities, we are able to bring more income related solutions to market for helping advisors meet a critical client need.”

Founded in 2019, YieldX offers tools for fintechs, wealth managers, broker dealers, and asset managers. Company Cofounder and CEO Adam Green called the partnership a “powerful way to level the fixed income playing field for Envestnet’s broad network of advisors and end investors with solutions that simplify the traditional complexities of sourcing and trading fixed income assets.”

Envestnet was founded in 1999 and has since made 13 acquisitions, including its most notorious buy, Yodlee, in 2015. The company’s purchase of data aggregation firm Yodlee broadened its offerings from advisor technology and launched it into the world of open finance. Envestnet is a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ENV and has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion.

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Klarna Adds Online Trip Planning with Inspirock Acquisition

Klarna Adds Online Trip Planning with Inspirock Acquisition
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Klarna, Mergers & Acquisitions

Does COVID have you dreaming up your long-awaited vacation? Consumer payment services firm Klarna’s latest acquisition may be of help.

The Sweden-based company snapped up Inspirock, an online trip planning service, for an undisclosed amount. Klarna CEO and Co-Founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski described the addition of travel planning “a natural extension of the benefits Klarna brings to payments and shopping.”

Founded in 2012, Inspirock leverages AI to help its customers explore a destination’s offerings and create personalized itineraries utilizing local expertise. On an annual basis, the California-based company sees 25+ million customers each year.

The integration will allow Klarna’s 90 million customers to use the Klarna app to pay for a trip in installments. In addition to the payment aspect, Klarna will also help users plan for their trip. Inspirock matches travelers’ preferences with over 230 million data points to optimize their travel itinerary and discover hidden gems.

“For customers, this makes the whole journey from inspiration to planning and preparing for a trip simpler, less stressful, and more fun, while enabling our retail partners to better reach and engage with their audiences by offering more personalized content,” said Siemiatkowski.

Combining travel planning with its existing payment capabilities inches Klarna towards becoming more like a super app. Founded in 2005 and with $3.7 billion in funding, Klarna offers buy now, pay later options to help users avoid credit cards while enjoying payment flexibility. Klarna also offers a shopping app to provide users with a holistic shopping experience– from payments to shipment tracking– and a rewards club it describes as the “vibeyest community in shopping.”

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A Look at the Fintech Unicorns of Southeast Asia

A Look at the Fintech Unicorns of Southeast Asia
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

This week’s Finovate Global List Series feature takes a look at the roster of Southeastern Asia-based technology unicorns compiled by Credit Suisse’s ASEAN research team in a recent report to see how many of these 35 billion-plus valuation companies are fintech firms.

“The number of unicorns in ASEAN has continued to increase over the last two to three years, now adding up to 35 unicorns,” the report authors noted. Scaling New Heights: ASEAN’s 35 Unicorns reveals that Singapore and Indonesia are home to the lion’s share of the region’s unicorns and that fintech represents the most common sector, followed by e-commerce.

In terms of factors fueling the growth of these firms, the report highlights the role of private equity/venture capital funding, strong demographics – particularly populations with a high number of citizens under the age of 34 – and supportive regulations. The report also underscored the role of COVID-19 in stimulating innovation: “Fintech is still relatively nascent given that 25% to 50% of the region’s adult population remains underbanked or unbanked, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital financial services.”

Read the full report here. In the meanwhile, here is our look at the fintech unicorns from Credit Suisse’s ASEAN unicorn roundup.

Indonesia

  • Akulaku: a banking and digital finance platform providing digital banking, consumer credit, digital investment, and insurance brokerage services to underserved consumers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.
  • OVO: a digital payment service, headquartered in Jakarta, that offers one of the biggest e-wallets in Indonesia.
  • Xendit: an end-to-end digital payments solution provider for small businesses and large enterprises alike.

The Philippines

  • Mynt: a fintech partnership between Globe Telecom, the Ayala Corporation, and Ant Financial focused on payments, remittances, loans, business solutions, and platforms.

Singapore

  • Advance Intelligence Group: an AI-driven technology parent company offering buy now pay later services, digital lending, and e-commerce products and services.
  • Matrixport: a digital assets and financial services platform that supports investing and trading in cryptocurrencies.
  • NIUM: an international payments platform for cross-border payments, local accounts, and card issuance.

Thailand

  • Ascend Money: a digital payments and financial services company providing wealth management, lending, and insurance products to 50 million users in six countries in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam

  • Vietnam Payment Solution (VNPAY): a Hanoi-based electronic payments solution provider offering mobile banking, phone recharge, and billpay for banks, e-commerce businesses, and telecoms.

Not included in our round-up are a handful of companies characterized by Credit Suisse ASEAN Research as “e-commerce” or “real estate tech.” These firms include Blibli and JD.ID of Indonesia, Carsome of Malaysia, and Carousell, Carro, Lazada, and Moglix of Singapore among the e-commerce unicorns. The region’s real estate technology unicorns featured include Singapore’s JustCo and PropertyGuru.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Photo by Arnie Chou from Pexels

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