This week was all about new funding rounds and fintechs hitting the public markets as the flood of money into fintech continues unabated. Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.
Marqeta stock jumps out of the IPO gate, finishes with valuation just over $16 billion from MarketWatch – Marqeta went public on Wednesday, pricing at $27, above the $20-$24 range, and closed the day with a solid bump to $30.52. It ended the week up even higher at $31.50.
Fintech giant Klarna raises $639M at a $45.6B valuation amid ‘massive momentum’ in the US from TechCrunch – The BNPL sector shows no signs of slowing down as Klarna closes another mega-round with a valuation up 47% from just three months ago.
Fintech all-star Nubank raises a $750M mega round from TechCrunch – To win the largest fintech round of the week competition you needed to raise $750m which is what Brazilian digital bank Nubank did.
SoftBank, Viking Invest $250 Million in Latam Fintech Unicorn from Bloomberg – Another Latin American fintech has raised a big round with Clip, the “Square of Mexico”, closing on $250 million at a $2 billion valuation.
Mark Cuban-backed banking app Dave to go public in $4 bln SPAC merger from Reuters – Don’t forget about SPACs. Digital neobank Dave is merging with a Victory Park SPAC valuing the company at $4 billion.
Basel suggests strictest risk weighting for crypto from Banking Dive – The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision recommended that a 1,250% risk weight, the highest risk rating, be applied to a bank’s exposure to bitcoin.
It’s Time To End Overdraft Fees (And Chase Bank Is Just The Bank To Do It) from Forbes – Ron Shevlin took on overdraft fees this week calling on Chase to end the practice. Until the big money center banks eradicate the practice, he argues, overdrafts are here to stay.
Robinhood Markets Is Said to Now Target July for IPO from Bloomberg – After initially saying it would go out in late June Robinhood is now saying it will push their public markets debut to after July 4.
Remitly files initial IPO paperwork as Seattle fintech company prepares to go public from Geekwire – Mobile remittance company, Remitly, has filed confidentially with the SEC to go public at a reported $5 billion valuation.
Walmart partners with PayNearMe, Green Dot to launch faster cash bill-pay in August from Banking Dive – Walmart customers will soon to be able to pay their bills in cash at its stores with a simple scan of a biller code.
