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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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Two years after a $9B SPAC fell through, Circle files for IPO 🚀 (TWIF 1/14)

Two  years after a $9B SPAC fell through, Circle files for IPO 🚀 (TWIF 1/14)
Angela Davis

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📖 Reads of the Week

I love Matt Browns' writeup to start the year, Fintech from first principles. I think he does a great job summarizing the success path of some of the most robust fintechs of the last decade:

"Today’s winners started with wedges that increased accessibility:

1: Start with a wedge product that expands accessibility for new segments.

2: Improve cost over time with scale.

3: Expand to two or more adjacent products, especially if their value props can subsidize one another."

Elsewhere:

GenAI could make KYC effectively useless | TechCrunch
GenAI tools like Stable Diffusion threaten to make KYC tools effectively useless by creating synthetic IDs and selfies.
The Lackluster Pace of Innovation in FinTech
Read more about Spencer Bogart analyzes the minimal advancements in financial technology compared to other sectors, and explores the potential of crypto to drive meaningful innovation in finance.
PayPal Patent Aims to Front Your Crypto Purchases
PayPal may offer users a credit for cryptocurrency that they have to pay back later.

2024 predictions from Fintech Business Weekly’s Jason Mikula

FT Partners' CEO Monthly FinTech Market Update & Analysis (January '24)


☯️ Exits
💻 IPOs & SPACs
  • USDC stablecoin issuer Circle filed a confidential S-1 to the SEC for an IPO. USDC is the second-largest stablecoin, with a $25 billion market cap. Circle previously planned to go public via a SPC in 2021, with a February 2022 valuation reported at $9 billion, but the deal fell through.
  • MobiKwik, an Indian provider of digital payments, credit, investment and insurance products, is looking to raise about $84.2 million in an IPO. This is also the second time the company has filed; it previously sought to raise $250 million via IPO in 2021. It's BNPL product saw credit disbursals of $490 million in 2023.

🤝 M&A - Fintech
  • China's Ant Group is reportedly preparing to acquire Dutch payments firm Multisafepay for $200 million in order to expand further into Western markets.
  • Etherscan, a leading blockchain explorer for Ethereum that founded in 2015, announced its acquisition of Solscan, a similar infrastructure provider for Solana.
  • Private equity firm Great Hill Partners is looking for a buyer for One, a payments platform that’s used by insurance carriers, and has hired an advisor to run a process for the fintech. One is expected to sell for $1 billion to $2 billion. 
  • Bloomerang, a fundraising platform, acquired Qgiv, a rival.
  • Open banking solutions provider Trustly completed its acquisition of European recurring payments provider SlimPay.
  • Sovos, a compliance technology solutions and services provider, acquired Aatrix, a company which specializes in payroll tax forms.
  • Thompson Reuters put in a bid to acquire Sweden's Pagero, the developer of an e-document platform to simplify e-invoicing and digital transformation in finance, for $627 million.
  • Italian financial services specialist DoValue is in talks with Elliott Management to buy its Gardant servicing unit.

🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ
  • BlackRock announced that it will buy to buy private-equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5 billion in cash and stock.
  • Genstar Capital recapitalized Cetera Financial, a San Diego-based independent broker-dealer.


🌎 Fintech Around the World

Singapore fintech CEO on the sad reality of product 'management' jobs

Why is Brazil a hotspot for financial crime?

Currency Turmoil Returns in Zimbabwe With Local Dollar Plunging 40% on Black Market

US credit card balances hit a new record as delinquencies rise in the background

Crypto firms introduce risk assessments and finance tests in response to strict new rules in UK

📚 Deeper Reads & Features

Top Bank Regulator Takes on ‘Drive Fast, Crash’ Risk Culture

Neobanks vs Legacy Banks: Drawing the Battle Lines in 2024

Tax Credits to Intuit Better Spent to Fund a Free Alternative to TurboTax

Here’s how HSBC’s international payments app Zing compares to Wise and Revolut

Carta, a Key Silicon Valley Player for Startups, Stumbles, Prompting Customers to Consider Competitors

Arc aims to be the 'Uber Black' of venture debt

Journey From Screen Scraping to Open Banking More Marathon Than Sprint

Pioneering change: Evolving products and technology in the time of regulatory shifts within financial services

Tanvi’s Take: Fintech in 2024

Fee war takes off in US spot bitcoin ETF applications

G20 faster payments roadmap could boost financial crime

Credit card spending piles up as savings dwindle

Banks Say 2023 Was the Peak After $250 Billion Interest Haul

The Fed Launched a Bank Rescue Program Last Year. Now, Banks Are Gaming It.

Synapse claps back at Mercury

FTX creditors seek ‘in-kind’ crypto repayments instead of 2022 low prices

How fintech can help SMEs achieve green transition

5 Fraud Management platforms safeguarding banks in Europe

AI experiment involving ‘temporal validity’ could have significant implications for fintech

The BNPL Battleground: Traditional Banks Vs. Fintech Disruptors

Building a better financial future for all of us: Plaid’s 2023 snapshot

Remembering the fintech startups we lost in 2023

Dog escapes kennel, frees his friends, throws a party until the cops show up


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