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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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BioCatch gets acquired at a $1.3 billion valuation (TWIF 5/5)

BioCatch gets acquired at a $1.3 billion valuation (TWIF 5/5)
p/c Victor Cheng

Hello Fintech Friends,

No time to read? Check out our weekly podcast briefing.

It was great to see an announcement at thisweekinfintech.com/community this week that two fintech founders who met in the community agreed to join forces by merging their companies. You can read the full story here. Hoping to see more of this!

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


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📖 Reads of the Week
The new fintech stack is... open source?
Why open source is a powerful strategy — how to determine where open source is most and least effective — where open source is best suited in fintech
April 2024: Receipts API as a Service
Note: This is something I think should exist and I’m writing about it to flesh out what the problems might be and why no one’s built it. If you’re either a) working on it or b) are deeply knowledgeable about it and know something I’m wrong about, please hit reply or leave a comment.
Stripe: Always Forward
A closer look at Stripe’s new Forward API reveals more about the company’s current vulnerabilities than a bold new vision of the future.
It’s Time Local Went Global — Activant
Real-time Payments

☯️ Exits

This week, American Express CEO Stephen Squeri told journalists that the company – valued at $167 billion – doesn't have much appetite for mega-acquisitions, following questions about Capital One and Discover's $35 billion merger. This comes as the company sold off Accertify, the credit card anti-fraud technology provider it acquired in 2010 for around $150 million, to private equity firm Accel-KKR for a reported $800 million to $1 billion.

🤝 M&A - Fintech
  • Global private equity firm Permira will acquire Israeli fraud detection startup BioCatch for $1.3 billion. BioCatch reported over $100 million ARR in 2023, profitability, and 49% ARR growth. The company was founded in 2011.
  • FEMSA, the conglomerate behind Mexican megaretailer Oxxo, agreed with payment processing provider Conekta to purchase the assets used for operating its white-label payment solution, Oxxo Pay.
  • Business decision software Anaplan will acquire Fluence, a platform for financial close, consolidation, disclosure management and reporting.
  • Kredit Academy, a financial ed-tech platform that provides businesses with insight into new customer credit behavior, will acquire OctoCredit, a consumer credit improvement app.
  • Nayax, a commerce enablement, payments, and loyalty platform, acquired VMtecnologia, a technology provider for automated self-service in Brazil.
  • EMERAM, an investment firm specialising in medium-sized companies within German-speaking regions, will acquire CoCoNet, a provider of digital corporate banking software, particularly in payment transactions and cash management.
  • Mortgage Automator, a platform and ecosystem that serves asset-based lending from CRM, origination, execution, and servicing through reporting, legal, compliance, and accounting, announced a majority recapitalization by Bessemer's BVP Forge.
  • Epos Now, a British firm which provides retailers and hospitality businesses with payment processing tools and software, is exploring strategic options including a minority sale.
🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ
  • Spanish bank BBVA submitted a merger proposal to its smaller rival Banco Sabadell, valuing it at about €12 billion. The combined bank would have over €1 trillion in assets.
  • Bahrain-based alternative investment fund Investcorp will acquire the digital technology services business of India's National Stock Exchange for $120 million.
  • A little over a year after the bank's initial sale, SVB Financial Group announced that a newly created entity from Pinegrove Capital Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, and Sequoia Heritage will acquire the company's venture investment arm, SVB Capital, for a combination of cash and other economic consideration.
  • As disclosed on Friday, GM is considering moving its $2 billion credit card business from Goldman Sachs to UK bank and issuer Barclays.
  • US regional bank UMB Financial is in talks to acquire its rival Heartland Financial, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in what would be the biggest US regional bank merger this year.
  • Rosemont, an investor in employee-owned asset and wealth management firms, made a minority investment in Northside Capital , an outsourced investment manager for ultra-high net worth families.

🌎 Fintech Around the World

How does Brazil’s FinTech revolution signify a new era of sustainability for a greener future?

How US Banks Can Get Ready For Open Banking

📚 Deeper Reads & Features

Ramp vs. Brex risks becoming fintech’s Uber vs. Lyft, some VCs warn

Exclusive: The Inside Story Of Chime, America’s Biggest Digital Bank

PayPal CEO nods to ‘compelling’ stablecoin potential as total Q1 payments rise 14%

Why Banks These Days Are So Excited About Being Boring

Consumer debt, financial stress reach record highs for many Americans

Is ‘Headless Banking’ the Next Evolution of BaaS?

How to Prepare for Fedwire’s Big Payments Update

How fintech innovation is driving digital transformation for communities across the globe

BlackRock Sees Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pensions Coming to Bitcoin ETFs

Why digital wallets are at the heart of payments innovation

Banks pay savers more as ‘higher-for-longer’ rates hit interest income

3 key benefits of AI for enhanced customer experiences in fintech

Banks moving into the cloud prompt forecasts of security risk

Kittens dropped off at humane society turn out to be foxes


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