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

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

Fintech Wheat – Fintech Chaff
In a cycle of high-volatility, like the one we’re currently experiencing in the public markets, the concept of market risk, or the business risk that
Our Top Picks
Relevent, hand-selected news you need to know.
A.I.

Bill Pay Fintech Cushion Gets $12M Series A Financing
Cushion, a fintech company that uses A.I to make the process of paying bills quick, easy, and reliable, announced it raised $12 million in
Investments - M&A

Infinicept Lands New Funding To Expand Its Embedded-Payments Platform
Infinicept, a SaaS platform that provides payment infrastructure and advisory services needed to facilitate embedded payments, landed $23 million in a recent funding. The
Fintech

China Scrutiny Stymies JD.Com Fintech Unit’s $2 Billion Hong Kong IPO
JD Technologies, the fintech subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, has been forced to postpone its $2 billion Hong Kong IPO due to a
Payments

Brazilian Fintech Infrastructure Company Dock Closes on $110M in Funding
Dock, a platform for full-stack payments and digital banking, has raised $110 million in a funding round led by Lightrock and Silver Lake, with
Saas

Rillion Rebrands and Expands AP Automation in the US Market
Rillion, a SaaS-based accounts payable provider, announced its launch in the United States. Rillion aims to help small, medium and large businesses by reducing manual
E-commerce

Instacart Files Confidentially for an IPO That Could Happen This Year
Instacart, the leading O2O and e-commerce grocery delivery company in the United States, has filed confidentially for its IPO. The timetable for the offering isn’t
Open Banking

Token.io Raises $40M to Expand Open Banking-Based Account-To-Account Payments
Token.io, an open banking platform leading the transition away from traditional payment methods and toward faster and more frictionless account-to-account transfers, has closed $40 million
Crypto

Nubank Launches Bitcoin and Ether Trading
Nubank, the Brazilian-based digital bank backed by Warren Buffet, is adding the option for users to be able to buy and trade bitcoin and ethereum
A.I.

Bill Pay Fintech Cushion Gets $12M Series A Financing
Cushion, a fintech company that uses A.I to make the process of paying bills quick, easy, and reliable, announced it raised $12 million in
Investments - M&A

Infinicept Lands New Funding To Expand Its Embedded-Payments Platform
Infinicept, a SaaS platform that provides payment infrastructure and advisory services needed to facilitate embedded payments, landed $23 million in a recent funding. The
Fintech

China Scrutiny Stymies JD.Com Fintech Unit’s $2 Billion Hong Kong IPO
JD Technologies, the fintech subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, has been forced to postpone its $2 billion Hong Kong IPO due to a
Payments

Brazilian Fintech Infrastructure Company Dock Closes on $110M in Funding
Dock, a platform for full-stack payments and digital banking, has raised $110 million in a funding round led by Lightrock and Silver Lake, with
Saas

Rillion Rebrands and Expands AP Automation in the US Market
Rillion, a SaaS-based accounts payable provider, announced its launch in the United States. Rillion aims to help small, medium and large businesses by reducing manual
E-commerce

Instacart Files Confidentially for an IPO That Could Happen This Year
Instacart, the leading O2O and e-commerce grocery delivery company in the United States, has filed confidentially for its IPO. The timetable for the offering isn’t
Open Banking

Token.io Raises $40M to Expand Open Banking-Based Account-To-Account Payments
Token.io, an open banking platform leading the transition away from traditional payment methods and toward faster and more frictionless account-to-account transfers, has closed $40 million
Crypto

Nubank Launches Bitcoin and Ether Trading
Nubank, the Brazilian-based digital bank backed by Warren Buffet, is adding the option for users to be able to buy and trade bitcoin and ethereum
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?