Hello Fintech Friends,

We are republishing yesterday's newsletter because our publisher has been having some formatting issues, which scrambled much of the original Sunday newsletter:

The world has also changed since we scheduled our newsletter and LP emails last week.

One of the reasons I love fintech is because it is not just an industry, it is a global community – and that community does not exist in isolation. There are times when larger events merit our thoughts and attention.

Our team at TWIF is lucky to have hosted two community events this year in Tel Aviv, the first one of which I was fortunate to attend. Last year, we convened our three-day fintech trek in Dubai & Abu Dhabi, which included not just our gracious hosts from the Gulf fintech ecosystem but also our colleagues from Tel Aviv. What struck me on both trips is what has always struck me when traveling: that people are remarkably similar everywhere. Whether in Tel Aviv, Dubai, New York, or San Francisco – people in the fintech community are hardworking, intelligent, thoughtful, and eager to collaborate with and learn from each other.

That is why it is incumbent on all of us to stand with each other against extremism and hate anywhere that it exists.

Let's take the opportunity to stand with our Israeli colleagues in this difficult moment. I hope that our children grow up in a world better than the one we live in today, but that won't happen without our concerted efforts.

– Nik

📖 Read of the Week

A brief guide to building your first lending product

For building financial products, you need to be clear on a lot of details before you start. I’ll share how to think of lending a product flow and the key factors for each of them.

Rohit’s NewsletterRohit Mittal

I loved Rohit's writeup this week (with a great graphic) on the nuances of building different lending products, the processes required, and the vendors that will support you based on the loan product you're building. My experience building Petal (consumer credit card product with a bank partner) was very different than that of early Funding Circle (borrower-dependant small business loan notes).

"Credit products, unlike many others, can’t be launched without figuring out many details at the outset. Even though the fintech landscape is exploding, it remains difficult for founders to launch quickly. Depending on your product - credit card, personal loan, mortgage, auto loan, etc. - your compliance regulations, risk models, operations, processes, and funding models are going to be different and super complex. There are unique nuances to each of these products and you’d need to learn those prior to launch."

Airlines Are Just Banks Now

They make more money from mileage programs than from flying planes—and it shows.

The AtlanticGanesh Sitaraman

Fintech 100: The most promising fintech startups of 2023 - CB Insights Research

The Fintech 100 is CB Insights’ annual list of the 100 most promising private fintech companies in the world. This year’s winners are working on A2A payments, spend management automation, embedded finance, and more.

CB InsightsCB Insights

☯️ Exits

🤝 M&A - Fintech

• Publicly-listed identity verification provider Clear (which you've probably encountered in airports) acquired reusable KYC provider Sora ID to expand into financial identit
• The "Robinhood for Nigeria," Chaka, was acquired by pan-African investment management platform Rise* to build borderless investing.
• AI debt collection provider Colektia acquired a portfolio of non-performing loans for $72 million.
• Redwood, a British neobank for small businesses, is looking to raise fresh capital through its reverse takeover of London-listed R8 Capital Investments, taking it public.
• Vista Equity bought a majority stake in subscription management software provider TRG Screen for $250 million.
• Private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners announced its acquisition of Avenu, a provider of administrative and payment software and solutions to state and local governments.
• Financial wellbeing app Wagestream acquired challenger credit card startup Keebo to help more workers access credit.
• American Express is seeking a buyer for Accertify, more than a dozen years after buying the fintech, according to three banking and venture capital executives. 
• British digital banking software provider ieDigital acquired its American counterpart Connect FSS .
• Private equity firm General Atlantic is looking into selling off payments software vendor EngageSmart, which has a market value of $3.3 billion. 

🏦 M&A - Bank and FinServ

• PNC Bank acquired a portfolio of $16.6 billion in capital commitments from Signature Bridge Bank.
• ABN Amro sold its 49% stake in EMS, a Netherlands-based payment processing joint venture, to Fiserv.
• Premji Invest, a multi-family office, and stock broking giant Zerodha are engaging with Bank of Baroda to acquire a stake in the lender’s subsidiary Nainital.

🌎 Fintech Around the World

Northern Nigeria Tech Ecosystem Report

Islamic fintechs ‘gaining foothold after slow start’

📚 Deeper Reads & Features

‘Talk to everyone you can’: Plaid’s Zach Perret on navigating a failed sale and Covid upheaval

Fintech actually has a value system: Here’s how we can reclaim it

The Great Zelle Pool Scam

With Banks Offering 5% Returns, Financial Advisers Fight Irrelevance

How can Financial Market Infrastructures advance the adoption of DLT?

Making America’s payment system work for a digital century

Supreme Court justices appear skeptical of challenge to CFPB's funding structure

Introducing the a16z Global Payments Hub

QED: Reimagining the Future of Finance

Can AI Beat the Market? Wall Street Is Desperate to Try

Emotional support alligator Wally barred from entering Phillies’ stadium, but owner still hopes to bring playoff luck

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