The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Nov 1st

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.

Payments giants look at crypto

Visa has made an undisclosed investment in California-based start-up Deserve to launch the “world’s first” credit card with crypto rewards in partnership with BlockFi. Deserve is a Credit-Card-as-a-Service software platform that will leverage Visa’s capability to provide a seamless digital experience, modernising the credit card stack for financial institutions, FinTechs and brands. Visa and Deserve were already collaborating since last year when the start-up was selected as a launch partner for the payments giant’s Fintech Fast Track program, which supports digital payment innovation.
The View: “Visa’s Crypto team collaborated with BlockFi and Deserve to launch a crypto rewards credit card that would appeal to crypto enthusiasts and introduce crypto to the masses. The BlockFi Bitcoin rewards credit card has been an immediate success.” – AJ Shanley, Vice President of Crypto at Visa.

Mastercard is going in the same direction, announcing a new partnership with crypto start-up Bakkt to enable its merchant, bank, and FinTech customers in the US to offer cryptocurrency solutions and services. This way, the payments company will be able to include cryptos in its reward schemes and issue branded crypto debit and credit cards. Looks like the day when customers will buy, sell, and hold digital assets through e-wallets and get rewards in cryptocurrency is getting closer and closer.
The View: “As brands and merchants look to appeal to younger consumers and their transaction preferences, these new offerings represent a unique opportunity to satisfy the increasing demand for crypto, payment, and rewards flexibility.” – Nancy Gordon, EVP Loyalty and Rewards at Bakkt.

Stripe is expanding!

The latest hot partnership involves two of the fastest-growing FinTechs in Europe: BNPL giant Klarna and Dublin-based SaaS company Stripe joined forces to provide an upgraded shopping experience to consumers. Retailers can now use Stripe to activate Klarna’ s BNPL payment option in their checkout within minutes. Klarna’s rapidly growing consumer app has over 18 million monthly users and with this partnership, Stripe will process all of the payment instalments after the initial purchase.
The View: “Together with Stripe, we will be a true growth partner for our retailers of all sizes, allowing them to maximize their entrepreneurial success through our joint services. By offering convenience, flexibility, and control to even more shoppers, we create a win-win situation for both retailers and consumers alike.” – Koen Köppen, Chief Technology Officer at Klarna.

Stripe is really onto something because the company is also looking at expansion into new geographies. Last week, the SaaS provider announced the acquisition of Bangalore-based payment reconciliation software provider Recko, its first deal in India. As part of the deal, Recko’s team will join Stripe’s remote engineering hub, to scale Stripe’s products globally. The move is in line with the company’s expansion plans beyond payment acceptance towards helping businesses automate payment reconciliations.
The View: “Joining Stripe is a perfect next chapter for Recko, and we can’t wait to help grow the GDP of the internet by removing the burden of reconciliation complexity. Internet businesses need new financial tools that can scale with their growth and automate the tasks required to produce an accurate picture of their financial health.” – Saurya Prakash Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Recko.

Where’s the buzz

This past week has been all about Money 2020 in Las Vegas. During the five-day conference, so many deals were closed and new partnerships announced. FinTechs are taking over the show becoming the true stars of the industry’s innovation shift. An important new entry this year was crypto! From a speculative asset to a megatrend, all of the biggest companies are now focusing their efforts on entering the space.