The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | July 11th

By Gaia Lamperti

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

BNPL’s continued growth

️ Klarna is set to announce soon  a $800m fundraising at a valuation of almost $6b, following new funding from existing investors and new backers which could include Canada’s largest pension fund, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and the Abu Dhabi state investment fund Mubadala. The company’s valuation has tumbled in recent weeks, with various reports suggesting Klarna’s chief executive, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, was trying to secure funding at $30b, then $15b and then $10b valuations.

There is now  BNPL service for NFTs, offered by Teller and running on the Polygon blockchain, called Ape Now, Pay Later. The service works with some of the more notable NFT collections, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Adidas Originals: Into the Metaverse. It works like any other BNPL platform: when customers  see a compatible NFT they want on the OpenSea marketplace, they can use Teller’s service to pay between 25% and 50% of the NFT’s price at the outset andTeller’s platform will then try to match them with a lender who will transfer the remaining cryptocurrency needed to buy the NFT. The user will then have to pay back via instalments. Lenders can also set interest rates for the repayments.

Card payments expansion

UK FinTech firm GoHenry has acquired French start-up Pixpay for an undisclosed sum. GoHenry, which offers prepaid debit cards and a financial education app for kids aged six to 18, said the new deal will enable it to expand its user base and boost its growth in Italy and Germany. The company claims to have “more than doubled” its revenue during the pandemic to $42 million in 2021. Pixpay offers an alternative to banks for teens providing a Mastercard payment card and a mobile app that allows users to pay, get paid, save money or get discounts on brands. With claims of nearly 200,000 members, Pixpay has raised more than €11 million since April 2019.

Core banking software vendor Mambu has partnered with payments giant Visa to utilise Visa DPS, one of the largest processors of Visa debit transactions globally. The company is developing an integration with Visa DPS “that will give institutions more flexibility in offering new card products and services to their customers”. Mambu’s CPO Kevin Trilli said: “Customer demand for card services is growing rapidly. Strategic partnerships and interoperability of service providers offer the best value, choice, and flexibility for clients, whether they are embarking on digital transformation or scaling a new card programme.”

Where is the buzz

Deirdre Halligan, Head of Global Affairs at Revolut is the latest executive to stepped down from the role in the company, just weeks after CEO Nikolay Storonsky rounded on the Financial Conduct Authority for its tardiness in dishing out a UK banking licence for the firm. Her departure follows the resignation of a string of compliance executive at the firm, such as Harry Gill, Revolut’s Global Head of Regulatory Compliance.