The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Nov 29th

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 virtual cards spree

️ BNPL operator Zip is rolling out a virtual card to enable its UK shoppers to tap and pay for their purchases at the checkout, just in time for the festive season shopping. The company has already launched the service in Australia and New Zealand, and it is now expanding to meet the demand of one in ten adults to use ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ checkout options this Christmas, according to Zip’s research.
The View: “The benefit of Tap and Pay is it’s hassle-free. You don’t need a code to use Zip instore, just use our virtual card through any digital wallet. Customers can now use Zip both online and in-store as part of the modern retail mix, providing a flexible way to pay, wherever they are.” – Anthony Drury, Managing Director at Zip

UK neobank Monzo has recently joined the BNPL race too with its product Flex and is now releasing virtual cards to make contactless payments in-store. Customers of Flex can get up to £3000 of credit and payback in three or twelve instalments. Monzo has been one of the first banks to launch into the BNPL sector aiming at taking on the likes of Klarna and Clearpay. The company declared that the choice to offer virtual cards followed early customers feedback and will encourage consumers to spread purchase costs interest-free at the checkouts.
The View: “We know that money stops working for people when debt piles up and becomes a trap – so we’ve listened to customers and designed a better way for them to pay later, which puts them in control.” – Kunal Malani, Head of Borrowing at Monzo

Big Series B rounds in Europe

UK challenger Allica Bank has secured £110 million in a Series B funding round led by new investor Atalaya Capital Management and existing investor Warwick Capital Partners. The deal is expected to give the challenger a total combined lending book of over £1 billion supporting the acquisition of 2,000 SME customers and £600 million of associated lending from AIB Group. The funding will also go into continued investment in the firm’s proprietary technology and client support. The bank’s total raised to date now stands at £233 million, which makes Allica one of the UK’s top 20 FinTech by funds raised.
The View: “This £110 million funding round, alongside the acquisition from AIB, will enable us to support and scale even more of Britain’s established SMEs and growth companies, at a time when SMEs are looking for more tailored support from their bank.” – Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank

Payhawk, the Bulgarian-founded payments and expense solution, raised $112 million just three years after its inception, valuing the company at $570m. The Series B round was led by San Francisco-based investor Greenoaks, with the participation of existing investors, including QED Investors, Earlybird Digital East and Eleven Ventures. Since its Series A round, transaction volume through the platform has increased by 663% and continues to grow at 45%+ month-on-month in October.
The View: “Our strong product background and engineering team allows us to move at break-neck speed. This, in turn, will enable global enterprises and fast-growing technology companies to transform how they manage their company spending and improve efficiencies while unlocking employee time to be better spent elsewhere.” – Hristo Borisov, CEO and Founder at Payhawk

Where is the buzz

Mr Goxx, a cryptocurrency-trading hamster who shot to internet fame for his ability to often outperform big-name investors using a specially built trading cage, died on Tuesday. The rodent’s official Twitter account announced the hamster’s death to his 18,000 followers on social media.

The hamster became famous after two friends in Germany involved him in an initiative to prove the randomness of success in the digital currency industry. They would record and live stream on Twitch Mr Goxx as he would run from his wheel to a “buy” or “sell” tunnel in his cage to complete a trade. Every time he ran through a tunnel, the electronics wired to his cage would complete the trade according to Mr Goxx’s desires.

After his final day of trading, his portfolio was up 19.7% and he had made about €98 profit.