Market Insights
Industry-specific market commentary, analysis, and research.
Apple of Payments Discord
It seems to never learn. Apple Inc. that is. Or perhaps there’s nothing to learn. Maybe the endless battles over its closed and highly controlled
Mastercard’s Metaverse Moves
Mastercard (NYSE: MA) earned itself some buzzy media coverage these past two weeks by reporting that the card network of “consumer choice” filed 15 trademark
Masters of the Universe – Investment Banking & Financial Technology Revolutionary
She’s been doing it for more than a quarter-century, starting as a summer intern at J.P. Morgan’s London office in 1987. From commodities trading to
Market Movements
Bitcoin Set to Ignite Earnings Fireworks
As the country heads toward its Independence Day celebration this week, the Q2 earnings season, which follows shortly thereafter, stands to provide a fireworks show
Visa Direct Drives On-Demand Payroll w/ RTPs
The major card networks, Visa (NYSE: V) and Mastercard (NYSE: MA), reported this past week, Visa with fiscal Q2, and Mastercard with fiscal Q1. Both
Payments Notes – A Changing Market
Having this past week attended the first in-person, national payments technology conference – TRANSACT 2022 – since before the pandemic, I came away with the
Our Top Picks
Relevent, hand-selected news you need to know.
Week's Most Interesting
Block Chokes on Bitcoin Loss – I Told You So
It wasn’t too long ago, June 26th for the record, when I wrote about the imminence of potential earnings misses for companies who parked Bitcoin on their balance sheets. In the article Bitcoin Set to Ignite Earnings Fireworks, I wrote, “the most high profile company to have taken this action is Tesla, which in 2021 purchased roughly $1.5 Billion. But, lesser in scale, and greater in relevance here, is another 2021 Q1 purchase by fintech and payments company Square, this occurring at a time when Bitcoin was trading at around $48k.” Well, guess what? Block reported second 2nd quarter results on Thursday and took
A.I.
Neobank 4G Capital Goes Live on Mambu’s Cloud Banking Platform
4G Capital, a financial literacy training provider that works with capital loans to help small businesses grow sustainably, shifted to Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform
Crypto
Decentraland To Launch The World’s First Metaverse ATM
Decentraland, one of the most popular metaverse platforms, announced its plans to launch the world’s first metaverse ATM. The metaverse ATM will make it simple
E-commerce
Shopify Makes $100 Million Investment in E-commerce Marketing Automation startup Klaviyo
Shopify, the online e-commerce giant, invested $100 million in Klaviyo, an e-commerce marketing automation platform. Klaviyo and Shopify will expand their current cooperation by
Fintech
BNPL Fintech Kontempo Closes $30M Seed Round
Kontempo, the Mexico-based, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech, recently raised over $30 million in a seed round led by Portage Ventures. It was funded with $25 million in
Fraud / Risk Management
Cybersecurity Risk Management Startup Axio Raises $25M
Axio, a startup in cybersecurity risk management, announced today that it has raised $25 million in new capital to advance its aim of enabling security
Investment / Acquisition
Plastiq to Become Publicly Traded Company Through Combination With Colonnade Acquisition Corp. II
Plastiq, the B2B payments platform helping to drive the SMB economy, and Colonnade Acquisition Corp II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced they
Open Banking
Savana Announces $45 Million Series A Funding Round Led By Georgian
Savana, a software startup for banks and fintechs, announced it has closed a $45 million Series A round led by Georgian, a growth-stage investor. Fiserv,
Payments
Fintech Startup KooPay Featured on Nasdaq Billboard in New York’s Time Square
Koopay, a fintech startup that offers B2B payment processing solutions for financial services industries, announced its business was recently highlighted on the Nasdaq billboard in
Saas
TrueLayer and WealthOS Partner To Enable Instant Bank Payments
TrueLayer, a global open banking platform, is partnering with WealthOS, the innovative SaaS platform that propels wealth managers’ use of digital adoption. Together, they are
Week's Most Interesting
Block Chokes on Bitcoin Loss – I Told You So
It wasn’t too long ago, June 26th for the record, when I wrote about the imminence of potential earnings misses for companies who parked
A.I.
Neobank 4G Capital Goes Live on Mambu’s Cloud Banking Platform
4G Capital, a financial literacy training provider that works with capital loans to help small businesses grow sustainably, shifted to Mambu’s cloud-native banking platform
Investments - M&A
Plastiq to Become Publicly Traded Company Through Combination With Colonnade Acquisition Corp. II
Plastiq, the B2B payments platform helping to drive the SMB economy, and Colonnade Acquisition Corp II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced
Fintech
BNPL Fintech Kontempo Closes $30M Seed Round
Kontempo, the Mexico-based, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) fintech, recently raised over $30 million in a seed round led by Portage Ventures. It was funded with $25 million
Payments
Fintech Startup KooPay Featured on Nasdaq Billboard in New York’s Time Square
Koopay, a fintech startup that offers B2B payment processing solutions for financial services industries, announced its business was recently highlighted on the Nasdaq billboard
Saas
TrueLayer and WealthOS Partner To Enable Instant Bank Payments
TrueLayer, a global open banking platform, is partnering with WealthOS, the innovative SaaS platform that propels wealth managers’ use of digital adoption. Together, they are
E-commerce
Shopify Makes $100 Million Investment in E-commerce Marketing Automation startup Klaviyo
Shopify, the online e-commerce giant, invested $100 million in Klaviyo, an e-commerce marketing automation platform. Klaviyo and Shopify will expand their current cooperation by making
Open Banking
Savana Announces $45 Million Series A Funding Round Led By Georgian
Savana, a software startup for banks and fintechs, announced it has closed a $45 million Series A round led by Georgian, a growth-stage investor. Fiserv,
Crypto
Decentraland To Launch The World’s First Metaverse ATM
Decentraland, one of the most popular metaverse platforms, announced its plans to launch the world’s first metaverse ATM. The metaverse ATM will make it simple for
Recent WHF Insights Newsletters
Externally Published Articles
6/8/20 – Fintech Direct Is The Fintech Acquisition Market Active? (The Answer May Surprise You)
5/28/18 – The Green Sheet I’ve Secured Growth Capital for My Payments Company – How Do I Optimize Investment Monies to Maximize Value?
3/26/18 – The Green Sheet Market Killers – The Top 5 Reasons Buyers Won’t Acquire Your ISO
2/12/18 – The Green Sheet Maximizing Portfolio Value in a Sale: Capitalizing on the Valuation Variance of Downline MLS Portfolios
Externally Published Articles
10/23/20 – Digital Transactions Why Attrition Is No Longer a Core Metric for Valuing Merchant Portfolios
5/8/20 – Fintech Direct Is The Fintech Acquisition Market Active? (The Answer May Surprise You)
5/28/18 – The Green Sheet I’ve Secured Growth Capital for My Payments Company – How Do I Optimize Investment Monies to Maximize Value?