This week we have M&A, a negative ruling in Washington, big fundraising rounds (of course), digital currency news and more. Here are what I consider to be the top 10 most important fintech news stories of the past week.
Visa to buy Swedish fintech Tink for $2.1 billion after abandoning Plaid takeover from CNBC – They couldn’t get the deal done with Plaid so Visa went to Europe to acquire the leader in open banking there. Tink connects with 3,400 banks that reach 250 million customers across Europe.
House passes bill to repeal OCC ‘true lender’ rule from The Hill – It was inevitable, after passing the Senate last month, but it was still sad to see a commonsense rule that helps consumers, get lumped in with payday lending and defeated in the House this week.
Dutch payments startup Mollie raises another $800M at a $6.5B valuation from TechCrunch – The biggest fintech round of the week goes to Dutch payments startup Mollie that raised €665 million ($800 million) in equity at a €5.4 billion ($6.5 billion) valuation, led by Blackstone Growth.
Fintech Unicorn Upgrade Eyes New Funding at $3 Billion Valuation from Bloomberg – Renaud Laplanche’s Upgrade is looking to raise a fresh round of financing that will see its valuation triple to $3 billion (significantly more than the current valuation of the first fintech company he founded, LendingClub).
Central bank digital currencies get full BIS backing from Reuters – The Bank of International Settlements is going all-in on digital currencies saying the train has left the station. It says that central banks need to embrace digital currencies before big tech dominates digital money.
How neobank Dave hit 10 million users in four years from American Banker – With Dave in the process of going public in a merger with Victory Park’s SPAC, Penny Crosman takes a deep dive into the neobank that is quietly become a force in digital banking.
Blend Labs Cofounder Nima Ghamsari Given Potential $10.9 Billion Incentive Pay Package from Forbes – It looks like fintech could have its own Elon Musk with a massive incentive package on the table for Blend CEO Nima Ghamsari revealed in their S-1 filing.
Latam Fintech Nubank Said to be Planning an IPO in the US from Crowdfund Insider – The leading fintech company in Latin America, fresh off their $750 million equity round, is apparently in talks with investment banks to go public in the US late this year or early 2022.
German fintech rivals Deposit Solutions and Raisin merge to form Raisin DS – a European champion with global ambitions from EU-Startups – Two of the leading German fintechs are merging, creating a savings giant that already has a foothold in the US and markets across Europe.
Pioneering Data Analytics Firm PeerIQ Acquired by Cross River from LendIt Fintech News – PeerIQ broke new ground when it came to risk and analytics tools for the online lending space, expanding to offer similar services to community banks. Now, it will become part of the Cross River family after the announcement of the acquisition this past week.
