The Front Page of Fintech

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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The Front Page of Fintech

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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Choppy markets or no: Klarna will IPO 🚀 (TWIF 3/16)

Choppy markets or no: Klarna will IPO 🚀 (TWIF 3/16)
The American West

Hello Fintech Friends,

In case you missed them, here are some of our latest interviews from the week:

🎧 Live from Toronto: Adyen’s Head of Canada Sander Meijers and Notch’s CEO Jordan Huck on Building for Canadian Businesses
On March 4th, This Week in Fintech hosted their debut event in Canada, bringing together 150+ people across the tech ecosystem for an evening of networking, panels from local leaders, and even a magician working the crowd. We had nearly 500 people register, showing the enthusiasm and depth of the
🎧 Live from Toronto: Brim CEO Rasha Katabi on Scaling Credit Card Infrastructure + Adopting AI
On March 4th, This Week in Fintech had their debut event in Canada, bringing together hundreds of people across the tech ecosystem for an evening of networking, food and drinks, panels from local leaders, and even a magician working the crowd. We had nearly 500 people register when it was
🎧North’s Preet Patel: Bringing a consumer products focus to merchant payments
In my latest interview, I spent some time with North’s SVP of Product, Preet Patel, to talk about his journey from Citi to AmEx to North, what’s changed in the company since he joined (hint: they were previously known as NAB), and how he takes a consumer products mentality to

Please find another week of fintech exits and deep reads below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)


💡
Sponsored Content

Power your fintech, bank, or brand with full-service embedded banking—seamless account funding, transfers, payouts, and issuing, all backed by enterprise-grade risk management and compliance. Simplify operations, reduce costs, and launch faster. Find out more today.

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.


📖 Reads of the Week
Here’s why banks don’t want the CFPB to disappear
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its employees are in limbo after acting Director Russell Vought took over last month.
The spectacular Synapse collapse: Inside the ugliest divorce in fintech, which left $200 million in customer money frozen
Is the failure of this buzzy startup a canary in the coal mine for bigger problems in fintech?

 

☯️ Exits
💻 IPOs & SPACs
  • Klarna filed its IPO prospectus on Friday and plans to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol KLAR.
    • Revenue grew 24% last year to $2.8 billion.
    • The company’s operating loss was $121 million for the year, and adjusted operating profit was $181 million, swinging from a loss of $49 million a year earlier.
    • The company was once valued at $46 billion in a SoftBank-led funding round before dropping to $6.7 billion in its most recent venture round.
    • The company plans to raise $1 billion around a $15 billion valuation.
  • Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, confidentially filed for an initial public offering.
  • Titan Acquisition Corp, a SPAC, filed with the SEC to raise $240 million through an IPO targeting a financial services company.
🤝 M&A - Fintech
  • Rocket Companies announced plans to acquire Redfin for $1.75 billion in an all-stock transaction, aiming to combine Redfin's home search and real estate agent network with Rocket's mortgage and servicing capabilities to enhance the home-buying experience.
  • Crypto payments provider MoonPay acquired Iron, an API-driven startup specializing in stablecoin infrastructure, for around $100 million, aiming to enhance its enterprise offerings and expand its crypto payment services.
  • Bilt Rewards acquired Banyan, a company specializing in SKU item-level receipt intelligence, to improve neighborhood commerce through enhanced transaction data analytics.
  • Fortis secured a strategic majority investment to expand its embedded payments offerings.
  • Keensight Capital signed an agreement with Bregal Unternehmerkapital Funds to acquire ACTICO Group, a provider of digital solutions for the financial services industry.
  • Barclays moved closer to selling its merchant acquiring business for around £650 million.
  • Lender Founderpath acquired Boopos, a financing provider for e-commerce and SaaS businesses, in an eight-figure deal, expanding its offerings to revenue-based financing for SaaS companies.
  • Pollen Street Capital is considering options for its debt collection firms, including a potential sale, to optimize its investment portfolio and focus on core assets.
  • Clearwater Analytics entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Beacon, a leader in cross-asset class modeling and risk analytics, and Bistro, Blackstone’s proprietary portfolio visualization software platform.
  • Kaspi.kz, a publicly-listed Kazakh fintech company, is nearing a deal to acquire Rabobank's Turkey unit after previous bids failed, aiming to expand its presence in the Turkish financial market.
  • AvidXchange is considering a potential sale after receiving takeover interest, exploring options to maximize shareholder value.
  • Euna Solutions acquired AmpliFund, a grant management technology firm serving over 220 North American customers.

🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ
  • Reggeborgh, a Dutch investment fund, acquired a 3.04% stake in ABN Amro, becoming its fifth-largest investor.
  • UniCredit received approval from the European Central Bank to increase its stake in Commerzbank up to 29.9%.reuters.com
  • J. Safra Sarasin Group agreed to acquire approximately 70% of Saxo Bank, previously held by Geely Financials Denmark A/S and Mandatum Group.
  • Archer-Daniels-Midland Co considered selling its futures-clearing business as part of a strategic review.
  • Private equity firms, including Apax Partners and TA Associates, explored a potential acquisition of Italian software developer Namirial.

💡
Sponsored Content

Power your fintech, bank, or brand with full-service embedded banking—seamless account funding, transfers, payouts, and issuing, all backed by enterprise-grade risk management and compliance. Simplify operations, reduce costs, and launch faster. Find out more today.

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.


🌎 Fintech Around the World

The British fintechs hoping to crack America

Berlin fintech Bunch takes on Luxembourg

Share of UK lending to first-time buyers reaches record high

ETFs set to be high on the menu for Hong Kong pension funds

📚 Deeper Reads & Features

Visa's infinite runway: Notes from Visa Investor Day 2025

The Story Of Climate-Friendly Digital Bank Aspiration Just Got Stranger

Letter: Banks and fintechs will be outcompeted by stablecoins

Stablecoins Suck for Payments

Banks and fintechs join ‘stablecoin gold rush’

Stablecoin Supply Spikes by $20B+ in Q1 2025: Here’s What This Could Mean for Bitcoin Recovery

Big banks play catch-up with fintech start-ups in deferred payments

A hedge fund bet against $4 billion fintech Remitly after it claimed a reverse image search of customer reviews revealed stock photos of women

Bretton Woods: Unlocking Stablecoins - Exploring Opportunities and Risks

Rushing to Judgment and the Banking Crisis of 2023

How Lead Bank CEO Jackie Reses rose from ‘a pretty gritty childhood’ to Goldman Sachs, Square and top of U.S. fintech

The Trump Organization’s Shake Down of Capital One

The Wirecard fugitive, Russian intelligence and a Bulgarian spy ring

How FICO Scores Became A Profit Machine

Man Found With a Live Turtle Concealed in His Pants by TSA