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The Front Page of Global Fintech

The the largest fintech community in the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest in news opinions, and all things financial technology.

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M&A dropped, but corporates have $4T of dry powder... (TWIF 2/25)

M&A dropped, but corporates have $4T of dry powder... (TWIF 2/25)
Shopify: The Future Needs More Black Businesses

Hello Fintech Friends,

As February and Black History Month in the US both come to a close, it's worth taking time to reflect on the work yet to be done when it comes to racial financial equity. According to data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, median Black wealth increased from $27,970 to $44,890 in the 3 years from 2019 to 2022 – an astonishing climb.

And yet, the wealth gap between Black and other households climbed even more – according to Brookings, in 2022, for every $100 in wealth held by White households, Black households held only $15 dollars.

Wealth is not zero-sum: If you believe in the abundance agenda, you know that research shows that making each group in the US individually more well-off has the effect of making everyone more well-off.

Reducing inequality leads to greater overall wealth, stronger institutions, better education, and lower public costs. Let's keep building a world in which everyone is better off, one in which we no longer have to measure a racial wealth gap.

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below. (👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know!)


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If you're coming to Fintech Meetup, Alex Gillette on our team is hosting drinks at TAO on March 4th:


📖 Read of the Week

As you can probably guess, most of our deeper reads this week analyse the proposed $35 billion Capital One and Discover merger. As Axios discusses, large credit card issuers tend to charge higher rates, which could lead to more scrutiny from the DOJ. Notably, the merger agreement does not include a breakup fee, which suggests that the belief of these companies is that it is unlikely to withstand regulator scrutiny. You can find more analysis of the deal in our Deeper Reads section below.

Other good reads this week:

The future of payments is a three-way battle between banks, fintechs, and crypto
Recent moves like Revolut and Wise suggest they are built for the long term.
Deep Treasury: asset & liability management powered by deep learning
Delivering the next level of balance sheet efficiency
Open Banking Walked so Open Finance Could Run
Financial APIs are driving an overdue wave of innovation

☯️ Exits
🤝 M&A - Fintech
  • Xalts, a Singaporean platform that enables financial institutions to build and manage blockchain-based apps (founded 18 months ago), acquired Contour, a digital trade platform set up by eight major banks including HSBC.
  • FairMoney, a neobank based in Lagos and headquartered in Paris, is in discussions to acquire Umba, a neobank providing payroll and financial services to customers in Nigeria and Kenya, for $20 million in an all-stock deal.
  • Crypto wallet provider RockWallet announced that it will acquire Wyre's userbase, after the crypto on-ramp service shut down last summer.
  • Private equity firms Acquiline Capital and Level Equity made a majority investment in accounting and business process automation provider DocuPhase.


🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ
  • Credit card issuer and bank Capital One announced its intent to acquire card network and proprietary issuer Discover for $35.3 billion.
  • Not to be outdone, US bank Truist agreed to sell off its insurance arm for about $15 billion to investors Stone Point and CD&R.
  • Private equity firm TPG is nearing in on a €4.5 billion bid for fund administrator Alter Domus.

📚 Deeper Reads & Features

The Fed Is Behind the Capital One/Discover Merger

Capital One buys Discover - now what? (Part 1/3)

Silicon Valley Bank president Marc Cadieux is looking to rebuild trust—and he knows it’s going to be a long process

Boosting credit risk assessments in banking with AI

IBM Turns to Blockchain To Solve Some of AI's Thorniest Problems

How (and why) to peacefully coexist with squirrels


Have a news item for us? Reach out to news@thisweekinfintech.com