Published:
Nov 02, 2024
Author:
Sarah Parsons Wolter
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On October 20, 2014, Apple Pay launched for US consumers and this week, it turned 10 years old. While digital payments came about far before that, contactless payments gained mass consumer adoption over the past decade, and Apple Pay showcases what a partnership between mobile phone providers and payments technology could look like. Today, Apple Pay is live in 76 countries globally, supports 11,000 banks and 20 payment networks, according to Forbes.
The continued evolution of digital payment technology is not only important for fintech companies, but perhaps even more so for large financial institutions. Having the mobile phone as a secure digital transaction device means that banks can offer additional services and products through this channel. On the B2B side, virtual card adoption - whereby employers can give employees a business card with control on spending parameters - is picking back up, according to an Axios report. In 2024, total transaction value on virtual credit cards is expected to reach ~$400b.
But Apple Pay isn’t the only birthday this week. 40 years ago, Microsoft founder Bill Gates worked on an exciting project - Excel - which would be officially launched in 1985. Today, ~1.1b people across the world use the software, and it is considered a key job requirement for many office workers. What started as software for accountants has become a generalist application grounding key decisions for large enterprises and consumers alike. Happy birthday - what a long way we’ve come!
Portfolio News
Octane and RideNow partner to launch RideNow Finance - RideNow Powersports customers can now purchase over 18,000 new and pre-owned vehicles from a large selection of manufacturers using RideNow Finance. The new private label partnership allows RideNow Powersports dealerships to leverage Octane's digital tools and fast, easy, full-spectrum financing experience under its own name. Customers will benefit from broad credit coverage and a seamless, end-to-end financing experience that make it faster and easier to get outdoors on their dream vehicle. Read more
Ocrolus introduces Inspect for automated mortgage data validation - Inspect helps expedite loan processing and reduce origination errors by automatically identifying and resolving data discrepancies between borrower-submitted documents and application data. This builds on Ocrolus' existing validation features for for income and employment data, with new capabilities including verification of asset, residence and liability data. Read more
How SMEs are driving a fintech revolution across the MENA region - In an excellent op-ed, Ziina co-founder and CEO Faisal Toukan writes that in just a little over a decade, fintech has advanced so rapidly that our current digital payment landscape would have been almost unimaginable not too long ago. And the UAE has positioned itself at the heart of this evolution – defying a global downturn in fundraising to achieve an impressive 92% rise in fintech investment last year. Read more
Birthday Month
Apple Pay is 10 years old. Apple ID is just beginning - Apple Pay is now live in 76 markets and support 20 payment networks around the world, and they continue to evolve. In terms of what's next, Apple Pay executives say that they are going to go ”beyond payments” to replace the physical wallet with a secure, private and convenient digital wallet to manage everything from event tickets and keys to government IDs and transit passes. Read more
Our 40-year love affair with Microsoft Excel - When Bill Gates set his coders to work on Microsoft Excel 40 years ago, his ambition was to woo the world’s accountants. Almost four decades since he launched it at the Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York, the spreadsheet program is now being used by singles to organize their dates on Tinder, couples to plan weddings, parents to decide the best primary schools and the elderly to plan the perfect funeral. Read more
The resurrection of virtual credit cards - Virtual credit cards are now back — but instead of mostly being issued by consumer-facing banks like Citi or Amex, the biggest issuers are B2B companies like Stripe and Marqeta. The idea is to generate card numbers to be given out to employees for corporate expenses while giving the employer fine-grained control over spending limits, which vendors are permissioned, and the like. Read more
Industry News
JPMorgan begins suing customers who allegedly stole thousands of dollars in ‘infinite money glitch’ - The bank on Monday filed lawsuits in at least three federal courts, taking aim at some of the people who withdrew the highest amounts in the so-called infinite money glitch that went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms in late August. Read more
Florida accidentally banned banks from doing business in sunshine state - Florida wanted to make it easier to invest in the state’s booming economy. For several weeks, the government accidentally made it illegal for most banks to sell investments there. Read more
Robinhood wants a piece of the prediction markets pie: Users can now bet on who will win the presidential election - That means starting Monday users can begin to trade contracts for either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump to win the election in November. Users will have to meet certain criteria in order to be eligible to make these trades, such as being a U.S. citizen and having already been approved for a Robinhood Derivatives account. Read more
Carta acquires Tactyc - Led by Anubhav Srivastava, Founder and CEO, Tactyc was a provider of a platform for portfolio modeling, management and reporting. With the acquisition, Tactyc by Carta will provide data for Carta Fund Administration customers who need to deploy capital effectively and maximize LP returns, offering fund construction, forecasting and planning, and portfolio management. Read more
New York Stock Exchange to extend after-hours trading - The NYSE announcement comes as interest in all-day trading in U.S. markets has swelled in recent years. Robinhood announced “24/5 trading,” open from 8 p.m. ET on Sundays through 8 p.m. ET on Fridays, in May 2023. Global cryptocurrency markets trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Read more
Visa Direct teams with Coinbase for real-time crypto deposits - According to the release, Coinbase already has millions of users with a debit card connected to their account. This new feature allows for real-time delivery of account funds, giving them more opportunities to take advantage of trading opportunities. Read more
Seven European countries match US in startup-friendly laws, report says - Seven European countries have changed their laws to increase employee ownership in startups to rival the U.S. in attracting talent and investment, while other countries are lagging. Germany, France, Portugal and the UK lead European countries in making changes that match or exceed those of the U.S., while Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden got lower ratings in the report. Read more
iCapital seals deal to scoop up AltExchange - iCapital, a global fintech platform specializing in alternative investments, is looking to enhance its support for financial advisors and asset managers as it plans to acquire an AI-driven data and reporting platform provider. On Wednesday, the company revealed it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AltExchange, which it says will enhance its data management capabilities, effectively streamlining post-investment processes and improving decision-making across private markets. Read more
Select Financings
Auquan - London based AI agent platform for finance teams raised $4.5m in Seed funding led by Peak XV. Read more
Billd - Austin based financial solutions provider for subcontractors raised $17.5m in new funding led by LL Funds. Read more
BondBloxx - California based bond ETF provider raised $27m in growth funding led by Macquarie Asset Management. Read more
Brightwave - Boulder based AI financial research startup raised $15m in Series A funding led by Decibel Partners. Read more
Casap - New York based dispute automation startup raised $8.5m in new funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Read more
Databento - Salt Lake City based financial data startup raised $10m in Series A funding from Belvedere Trading. Read more
Duetti - New York based catalog monetization platform for musicians raised $34m in growth funding led by Flexpoint Ford. Read more
Elevate - Denver based benefits administration platform raised $20m in new funding led by Fin Capital. Read more
Fondo - San Francisco based bookkeeping platform for startups raised $7m in Seed funding led by Money Forward. Read more
Osigu - Miami based healthcare revenue cycle and claims management platform raised $25m in Series B funding led by IDC Ventures. Read more
Reflexivity - New York based AI analytics platform for asset and wealth managers raised $30m in Series B funding led by Greycroft. Read more
Sapien - San Francisco based autonomous financial analysis startup raised $8.7m in Seed funding led by General Catalyst. Read more
Stay - São Paulo based corporate pension startup raised $3m in Seed funding led by Better Tomorrow Ventures. Read more
Tabs - New York based revenue automation platform raised $25m in Series A funding led by General Catalyst. Read more
Tilled - Boulder based embedded payments startup raised $12.5m in new funding led by Canvas Ventures. Read more
UnitPlus - Berlin based cash management startup for SMEs raised €4.7m in Seed funding led by VC Pact. Read more
Wildfire Systems - San Diego based loyalty and reward program startup raised $16m in Series B funding led by Intuit Ventures. Read more
FinTech Collective Newsletter
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