The fintech industry was buzzing this week on the news that Stripe might do an IPO this year. A successful public listing would be a major positive for fintech. We also had news from the big banks looking to launch a digital wallet, Custodia Bank has been rejected by the Fed, Marqeta has a new CEO and more FTX assets have been seized. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Stripe considers IPO, sparking hope in the industry from Fintech Nexus – The most valuable private fintech company of them all may soon be a public company. Stripe has hired investment bankers and is exploring going public OR doing a private transaction where employees can sell shares.
Banks Plan Payment Wallet to Compete With PayPal, Apple Pay from The Wall Street Journal – JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and four other large banks are going to launch a digital wallet that will be owned by Early Warning Services, the makers of Zelle. Not everyone thinks this will work (see Ron Shevlin here) and they will face an uphill battle competing with the likes of Apple and PayPal.
Kansas City Fed rejects Custodia’s master account application from American Banker – In a blow to the Custodia team and really all of crypto the Federal Reserve has denied Custodia Bank’s application for a Fed master account. It came on the same day that the Board of Governors also rejected their bid to become a state member bank.
Marqeta Names Ex-Yahoo Exec Simon Khalaf as CEO from PYMNTS.com – The long search for the next CEO of Marqeta is over. Founder and original CEO, Jason Gardner, is stepping down and Simon Khalaf, Marqeta’s Chief Product Officer, will be taking over the top job on January 31. Gardner will continue on as chairman.
Feds seize $150M from Farmington, Silvergate amid FTX probe from BankingDive – Federal prosecutors have seized money from FTX accounts at two banks as the search for all the missing assets continues. This is in addition to the 56 million Robinhood shares that were seized earlier this month.
Amazon to ‘Significantly Expand’ Use of Stripe from PYMNTS.com – This news actually came out before the IPO news as Amazon, likely one of Stripe’s largest clients, said that they will be expanding their relationship.
Former BofA CEO-backed fintech launches to match SMBs with lenders from BankingDive – A new fintech company came out of stealth this week, this one focused on commercial lending to SMBs. Foro is backed by former BofA CEO Hugh McColl Jr. and is focused on middle-market borrowers looking for $1 million to $25 million in funding.
Inscribe bags $25M to fight financial fraud with AI from TechCrunch – There was a time when a $25 million Series B would never make the top 10 list of news items but we are in a different era now. Financial fraud is still a major problem for all fintechs and banks and Inscribe now has a decent war chest to help it grow.
Where to Look for Value in the Fintech Wreckage from The Financial Brand – This interesting piece by Jonah Crane and Todd Baker looks at a potential fintech M&A boom as the build versus buy conundrum is largely being replaced by buy or partner. I expect several fintech companies will be snapped up by forward-thinking banks this year.
Bolt CEO Cuts Staff a Third Time as Revenue Lags from The Information – We will end with the latest in layoffs as the one-time high-flying fintech Bolt has done their third round of layoffs since May of last year.
Every Thursday afternoon, the Fintech Nexus News team and a special guest discuss the news of the week live on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We have now made the show available in podcast format – click on the audio player below.
