Fintech Update, 8/23 - 8/29
Hi! It’s Monday, August 30, 2021.
We’ll be off next week in celebration of US Labor Day but we’ll be back on September 13! In the meantime, we hope you have a happy, healthy week ahead.
Leading Off
TikTok is getting deeper into e-commerce, building on its existing partnership with Shopify to allow merchants to tag their TikTok videos with purchase links; and Amazon and Affirm struck a new partnership that will add BNPL as a payment option at checkout for many Amazon purchases. // In other news, Visa got into the NFT game by purchasing a CryptoPunk; PayPal expanded its crypto offering to U.K. customers; Ramp raised $300M in Series C funding only months after landing its Series B, bringing its valuation to $3.9B; Facebook is planning a simultaneous launch of its Novi wallet and Diem token; and Jack Dorsey elaborated on plans for Square’s “decentralized bitcoin exchange.” // All this + more below!
Heavy Hitters
TikTok expands e-commerce presence. The social media app will build out its partnership with Shopify and simultaneously pilot “TikTok Shopping” to select Shopify merchants in the US, U.K., and Canada. Under the expanded offering, “Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account will be able to add a new ‘Shopping’ tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to create mini-storefronts on their profile.” Merchants also will be able to add product links as tags in videos so “TikTok users will be able to click the tagged product [and go to] the merchant’s storefront for checkout.”
Amazon and Affirm announce partnership. The retail behemoth and leading buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) provider will allow Amazon customers to choose to pay for purchases in installments at the point of checkout. The option will be available for any purchase of $50 or more (excluding Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, or digital purchases), and repayment will be done in monthly payments with no late or hidden fees. The new offering is currently in a trial phase, and “will become more broadly available to shoppers in the coming months.” The deal represents Amazon’s first partnership with a BNPL provider in the US. Affirm stock spiked 33% after the news broke, adding over $8 billion to its market cap.
Quick Takes
Visa buys NFT CryptoPunk. The global payments processor purchased one of the popular “CryptoPunk” digital avatars, a “cultural icon for the crypto community” authenticated by a non-fungible token (NFT), for roughly $150,000 in ethereum. “We think NFTs will play an important role in the future of . . . commerce,” noted Visa’s head of crypto, “and we need[ed] a firsthand understanding of the infrastructure requirements for a global brand to purchase, store, and leverage an NFT.”
PayPal opens crypto services to the U.K. The payments giant expanded its cryptocurrency offerings outside the US market, allowing customers based in the U.K. to hold and trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash using a PayPal-connected bank account or debit card. Initially, users will be limited to £15,000 for any single crypto purchase, and £35,000 over a 12-month period.
Ramp raises (again!) and makes its first acquisition. The spend management startup raised $300 million in a Series C funding round led by Founders Fund at a valuation of $3.9 billion, more than doubling the $1.6 billion valuation from its Series B in April. In addition, Ramp announced its acquisition of “negotiation-as-a-service” provider Buyerto help offer its customers a “customized and proactive approach” to savings on material purchases.
Nubank seeks $55B+ valuation in planned IPO. The Brazilian neobank is reportedly targeting a valuation greater than $55.4 billion in its upcoming US public offering, a value that would make it Brazil’s most valuable bank and place it among the world’s most valuable fintechs. Nubank counts over 40 million clients throughout Latin America and was valued at $30 billion after its most recent funding round.
Brex launches venture debt. Brex launched its latest product Brex Venture Debt to provide their customers with an alternative financing option. Brex raised a $150 million fund and began making its first loans to other startups earlier this month.
Facebook holds off launching Novi. The social media giant reportedly is holding up the launch of its Novi digital wallet until its Diem cryptocurrency (the token formerly known as Libra) is also ready to debut.
Paxos rebrands PAX to USDP. The crypto infrastructure firm rebranded its Paxos Standard stablecoin (PAX) to Pax Dollar, which now will be identified in crypto exchanges and wallets under the USDP ticker.
Pop Flies
The U.K. FCA and HM Treasury will increase the country’s contactless payment limit to £100 from £45 in October, spurred in part by a Covid-related “surge in tap and pay [transactions] at the expense of cash.”
Building on a Tweet he made earlier in the year, Square CEO Jack Dorsey said the company will build a decentralized bitcoin exchange to “make it easy to fund a non-custodial wallet anywhere in the world.”
Neobank Chime is purchasing text message application Charlie Finance to simplify personal finance and help users climb out of debt and manage financial health.
LexisNexis acquired financial crime and fraud platformTruNarrative to help financial services companies “orchestrate their end-to-end compliance obligations, meeting onboarding and transaction monitoring requirements with lower customer friction.”
Australian BNPL provider Afterpay launched Afterpay Ads, a suite of advertising products to “help brands reach, acquire and activate high intent, loyal shoppers.”
More Fundings!
Wealth Management
Mexican consumer trading platform Flink raised $57 million in a Series B funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Lending
Brazilian SMB lender Cora raised $116 million in a Series B funding round with participation from Tiger Global and Tencent.
Indian gold-focused digital alternative credit platform Indiagold raised $12 million in Series F funding.
Payments
African payments platform OPay raised $400 million in a new funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a $2 billion valuation.
Digital money transfer provider Zepz, formerly known as WorldRemit, raised $292 million in Series E funding at a valuation of $5 billion.
Tuna, the Latin American fintech that helps e-commerce companies optimize their payments processing, raised two seed rounds totaling $3 million.
B2B merchant and marketplace payments platform Balance raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Ribbit Capital.
Corporate
Digital ledger app for merchants Khatabok raised $100 million in a new funding round.
Zeal, the company that enables their customers to build their own payroll products, raised $13 million in Series A funding.