you welcome in exchange! If you received this in your inbox, thank you for signing up and for your vote of confidence. If you are reading this as a post on our site, sign up here So you can pick it up directly in the future. Each week, I’ll take a look at the top fintech news of the past week. This will include everything from funding rounds to trends to analysis of a specific space to hot deals on a particular company or phenomenon. There’s a lot of fintech news out there, and it’s my job to keep you informed – and understand it – so you can stay informed. – Mary Ann
Last week, my good friend and very talented journalist (and Equity podcast host) Natasha Mascarenhas And I reported it Amazon Make a deal with the beleaguered mortgage lender on-line Better.com To provide a new benefit to employees. Specifically, Better.com announced that it’s launching Equity Unlocker, a program that allows employees to use their vested shares as collateral for a down payment when trying to buy homes. Amazon employees in Florida, New York and Washington will be the first to try the tool. Unique to the program, according to Better.com, is that employees will have the ability to finance their home without actually selling their stock, and will only need to pledge the equity acquired.
And quite frankly, the news came as a shock to those of us who have been keeping up on the goings-on on Better.com. For the unfamiliar, fintech has had its fair share of struggles that have cast doubt on its future. Last May, TechCrunch reported on a filing that revealed Better.com had swung to a loss of more than $300 million in 2021 after a rapid downturn in business caused largely by a slowdown in the housing market and an increase in mortgage interest rates. Then in the first quarter of 2022 alone, Better.com posted a staggering net loss of $327.7 million, according to an SEC filing.
The company’s reputation has also taken a huge hit due to the way it has conducted numerous rounds of mass layoffs, which has also resulted in an exodus of executives. Better.com also made headlines last July when it appeared to still be moving forward with a SPAC filing despite a lackluster performance of first-time blank check batches.
Why would Amazon want to associate its employees with a company that seems far from growing and has a less-than-stellar reputation? Well, we just asked Amazon (not with those exact words, of course). And a company spokesperson told me a lot of things about how the company wanted to offer all kinds of health benefits to its employees and that fits with that thesis. But he didn’t specifically answer, “Why Better.com?” The fintech company itself indicated that it has been a customer of Amazon Web Services since 2015 and that its loan origination system is fully powered by the software. A very quick Google search by TC’s chief correspondent, Rebecca Szkutak, turned up at least two other online mortgage lenders who are also AWS customers, so the retail giant certainly had other options.
Furthermore, the idea of giving employees the option to use the acquired shares to buy a home doesn’t… sounds very appealing. What if the stock value drops? How does it even work? Who has enough vested shares to use as collateral? What’s more, Better.com says it will charge 0.25% to 2.5% higher interest rates for employees who choose to buy a home this way. Mortgage interest rates are already high enough these days – hovering around 6%. Dealing with another 2.5% pushes someone into the 8% range. Needless to say, we’re all very curious to see how the transition ends up and I plan to check back on it in a few months.
Meanwhile, speaking of Better.com’s SPAC filing, HousingWire reported last week that the “blank inspection company” Aurora Acquisition Corp. It extended the deadline to complete its merger with troubled digital mortgage lender Better.com for a third time. The deadline for integration is now September. The decision was made during Aurora’s shareholder meeting held on February 24, filings filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show.”
It’s very hard to believe that Better.com, which has suffered so many setbacks and so much negative publicity, could go public in an environment where even companies that are growing are reluctant to share positive financial metrics. I, for one, am very curious about how the company will stay afloat.
To hear the Equity team’s thoughts on the Amazon/Better.com partnership (and so much more!), listen to the podcast here. And while you’re at it, listen to my one-on-one conversation with Index Ventures FinTech Partner and Lead Mark Goldberg. We had a blast discussing all things fintech and Mark didn’t hold back! Oh, and with ICYMI, I also spoke with Hans Tung, Managing Partner of GGV a few weeks ago. You can catch this great talk here.
The weekly news
Romain Delette reports: “An all-in-one fintech app revolution It released its annual report for 2021. While 2021 ended more than a year ago, this report includes some important numbers as the company nearly tripled its revenue between 2020 and 2021. Because of this explosive growth trajectory, the UK digital bank achieved profitability for the first time. Revolut’s financial success starts at the top of the funnel. At the end of 2021, Revolut had more than 16 million customers, which is a 46% increase compared to 2020.”
Last week we wrote about Clarna Momentum in the US This week, the Swedish payments giant revealed that despite a large operating loss ($1 billion) in 2022, it expects to return to profitability this year. In this article, Alex Wilhelm asks, “How much progress is Klarna making towards profitability?” He wrote: “The former startup has had public difficulty in a few quarters. From seeing its valuation drop sharply to layoffs, news about Klarna has been negative for some time. Now that we have the company’s financials, we can take a more detailed look at how it performed.” In the midst of all this noise.”
Aisha Malik reports: “DoorDash Launches its first ever credit card with Chasing. The DoorDash Rewards Mastercard service will offer cardholders the opportunity to earn cash on delivery and every other purchase made with the card… The launch of the new credit card indicates that DoorDash is looking for ways to increase customer loyalty and keep its platform at the forefront of its users’ minds. This move also gives DoorDash the ability to offer users additional privileges while opening up new revenue streams.”
Carly Page reports:hatch bankIt is the first digital bank to provide the infrastructure for fintech companies that offer their own credit cards, and confirmed hackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the company’s internal file transfer software that allowed access to thousands of customers’ Social Security numbers.”
London based wiseFormerly TransferWise, has launched two new products in the US – Wise Business Cards and Send Money with a Link. She also revealed a new look for the brand, which she says “takes inspiration from her now 16 million customers worldwide.” The company also told me via email that since LSE’s public listing in July 2021, its global customer base has grown by nearly 6 million.
Payments giant in Amsterdam Convicted It claims to have become the first to include the Click to Pay experience in online payment flows globally. By email, a company spokesperson told me: “When buying online, the majority of ‘guest shoppers’ manually type in their card details to make a purchase.” According to the spokesperson, Click to Pay is “a new way to pay online that combats the risk of withdrawal at the checkout stage” with benefits such as simplifying the checkout process, making it more secure (the primary account number is not typed in at checkout and the shopper receives a one-time password) , and being universal in that it can be used across both devices and browsers. More here.
PYMNTS.com reports: “San Francisco-based financial services platform Modern Treasury It offers a product called “Global ACH” that is billed as a “new payment service” that enables lower-cost cross-border transfers compared to options such as SWIFT through the use of local payment bars. To launch Global ACH, Modern Treasury partnered with Silicon Valley Bank… Modern Treasury said Global ACH “offers a number of advantages over existing cross-border payment options” in that it is less expensive than SWIFT and other third-party options. “
After we covered Stripe’s Tap to Pay last week, PayPal Contacted to let us know that Tap to Pay will launch on Android in the UK, Netherlands and Sweden in May 2022. It has since launched in additional European markets. This is the one announcing our launch in the UK on May 5, 2022. It’s also working with Apple on Tap to Pay, which Evan Mehta reported back in November.
Did you know that there is a new bank targeting physicians? Panacea Financial It describes itself as “a bank created for doctors by doctors”. Via email, a company spokesperson told me, “A young doctor’s car accident and another hope to refinance his $300,000-plus student loans created Panacea to help other doctors with similar needs and more.”
other news
Greenlight offers new workplace financial benefits designed for families
Public.com announces that “The Highest Yield Treasury Accounts Are Now Available to Everyone”
Robinhood Wallet is now available to all iOS customers globally
Wealthfront offers stock investing
STEP launches stock investing for teens and young adults
Mexican Startup Kueski BNPL Makes 10 Million Loans Distributed To More Than 1.8 Million Consumers
ChatGPT Learn Fintech
First Fidelity Bank enters the BaaS space through its Ring Six partnership
Image credits: DoorDash
Finance and Mergers and Acquisitions
Seen on Techcrunch
Insurtech giant Equisoft invests $125 million and is eyeing acquisitions
Drone tech startup Insuretech Flock is born, raises $38M Series B to push commercial drivers toward safety
Pagos raises $34M as demand for ‘Payment Information’ increases
Spade turns the gibberish of credit card transactions into clear, actionable statements
Varo, Stripe is said to be raising new money at much lower valuations
And in other places
Highway Benefit raises $3.1 million in seed funding
SoftBank fronts the block for Chilean startup Rankmi, which has merged with Mexican payroll company Osmos
TTV Capital closes sixth fund with $250 million investment in early-stage fintech
Fintech companies that are hiring
The good news is that I’ve been inundated with direct messages and emails from people telling me their fintech company is hiring. The bad news is that there is no way I can include them all in this week’s newsletter. So if you reached out to your company and don’t see your company here, check out upcoming editions of The Interchange. I’m making my way down the list!
- Corporate Spending Management Company (and fully remote) Air force basewhich secured $150 million in debt financing from Goldman Sachs last July, is hiring for about 18 positions.
- WealthfrontInc., which last year acquired $69.7 million from UBS in a $1.4 billion deal after the collapse of a merger plan, has 17 open positions in engineering, design, marketing, finance and more.
- SmartAssetUnicorn valuation, a marketplace connecting consumers with financial advisors, raised $110M in Series D funding in June 2021, hiring across multiple remote roles.
- Alternative investment platform iCapital, which has more than $150 billion in assets under management, says it employs 100 jobs.
- Fintech focused communications agency KCD PR They are hiring and have several positions open with plans to add 3-5+ roles in 2023.
Are you thinking of coming for a holiday this year? We love being with you! But FYI, this is your last chance to get your super early bird tickets. That’s it for the week! I’ll be traveling to enjoy the 70 degree weather here in Austin while I can. Have a great weekend all of you – see you next time. xoxoxo, Mary Ann