The news this week was dominated by Nubank. The world’s largest fintech IPO was completed on the NYSE this week as the Brazilian digital bank raised $2.6 billion. We also had crypto execs testifying in Washington. the Better CEO making some negative headlines, the OCC and CFPB working on overdrafts and Visa doubling down on crypto. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Buffett-backed Nubank closes up nearly 15% in trading after blockbuster fintech IPO from CNBC – The biggest fintech IPO in history is in the books with Nubank having a strong first two days as a public company. They are now the most valuable financial institution in Latin America worth north of $53 billion. They started trading on Thursday and closed yesterday at $11.85 up 32% from their IPO price of $9.
Crypto Executives Defend Industry as Congress Considers Oversight from The Wall Street Journal – Senior executives from the crypto industry testified before the House Financial Services Committee this week in a relatively non-contentious hearing. The crypto industry wants regulation and educating lawmakers is a big part of this effort.
Better.com CEO Vishal Garg steps back as employees detail how he ‘led by fear’ from TechCrunch – It was not a good week for Vishal Garg, the CEO of Better.com. On December 1st he fired 900 people by Zoom where he criticized and ridiculed those people being fired. His tepid apology this week was not well received and by Friday we learned he was taking some time off effective immediately.
Head of OCC backs CFPB on overdraft elimination from FinLedger – In a speech Wednesday the acting head of the OCC said that his agency is working with the CFPB to reform and possibly eliminate overdraft fees. Movement is already happening due to market-driven forces with many large banks reducing their use of the punitive fees.
Visa launches crypto consulting services in push for mainstream adoption from CNBC – Visa is launching an advisory practice to help clients navigate crypto, offering advice to financial institutions, retailers and others.
LatAm 2021: Credijusto bought a bank, CEO shares experience from LendIt Fintech News – We wrapped up LendIt Fintech LatAm this week and the most popular session was the one with David Poritz, the CEO of Credijusto, on why his company became the first fintech in Mexico to buy a bank.
Zopa exits peer-to-peer lending to focus on banking from The Guardian – The original peer-to-peer lender, Zopa, announced this week it is closing down its peer-to-peer lending operation and would be handing back the money to its 60,000 UK investors. This follows LendingClub’s exit from the space in the US last year.
Amex, Nova Credit Expands Credit Partnership to More US Immigrants from PYMNTS.com – Nova Credit has expanded its partnership with American Express allowing immigrants from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Kenya and Nigeria, who have moved to the U.S.. to have their domestic credit information included when American Express makes an underwriting decision.
Monzo lands $475m round of funding as valuation soars to $4.5bn from AltFi – After a significant down round in 2020, digital bank Monzo has come roaring back with a huge round and a valuation more than double its previous high watermark.
Mambu nabs $266M at a $5.5B valuation to double down on embedded financial service and banking APIs from TechCrunch – The Europeans led the large funding rounds this week with German fintech Mambu taking on a $266M Series E.
Every Thursday the LendIt Fintech News team and a special guest discuss the news of the week live on LendIt TV, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We have now made the show available in podcast format – just click on the audio player below.
