Fintech
Stripe Outperforms a Mixed Market
As Stripe gears up for an IPO on the horizon, it’s signaling a strong position, including lots of cash, and top-line growth. We break down its recent annual letter.
buy now pay later
Is Klarna Proving That Bots Are the Best?
Klarna the buy now pay later platform is famous for many things. It sells a lot of shoes (for merchant partners) to mostly young consumers.
Fintech
Is It Slimming Season? Fintechs Are Shedding Fat
Some of the biggest names in fintech are doing their part to make this January among the most miserable in recent memory. At least for
AI
Sam Altman-Backed Startup Slope Embodies ‘Fintech AI’
The conversation around AI is shifting from a sense of wonder over how quickly AI emerged over the past year or so to how AI
Fintech
UK’s Triver Raises $25M to Bridge SMB Funding Gap
One area where AI’s impact hasn’t been discussed enough on these pages is how it will improve/speed up small business lending decisions. Giving small businesses
Affirm
Are Subscriptions the Answer to BNPL Revenue Diversification?
The buy now pay later platform Affirm is looking for revenue diversification. And it is looking for this via a subscription model, which appears to
AI
Ep. 38 Ponders AI’s Al Dente Test and Tech’s Regulatory ‘Welcome’
“In its early stages, it’s just being thrown against several walls to see if it sticks.“ Episode 38 of Localogy’s This Week in Local podcast
buy now pay later
BNPL Is Running Out of Sharks to Jump Over
The term “Jump the Shark” seemed to be everywhere not that long ago. But it seems to have fallen out of favor. It’s one of
BNPL
Ep. 30 Unlocks Savings Culture with Accrue CEO Michael Hershfield
In Episode 30 of This Week in Local, we interview the founder of a savings-based buy now, pay later rival on why America’s payments landscape
buy now pay later
Can BNPL Affirm’s 2023 Ascent Continue?
For those who follow the buy now, pay later corner of the fintech space, Affirm is a must-follow. It remains the only U.S.-based pure-play BNPL
eCommerce
Shopify Expands Further into Fintech
Shopify continues to expand its functionality for one-stop-shop appeal, and to broaden its addressable market of SMBs. The latest move in this effort comes Shopify Bill Pay, helping SMBs manage vendor payments.
Apple
What’s New with Apple Pay Later?
Over the summer, we wrote two articles about Apple’s threatened forray into the increasingly turgid buy now, pay later space. In those articles, we implied
Fintech
Two UK Fintech Startups Taking on Payments’ Big Dogs
Two London-based fintech startups are taking on some of the biggest names in online payments. Names like Stripe, Paypal, and Klarna. And investors are putting
buy now
Are Affirm’s Results an Economic Bellwether?
Buy now, pay later platform Affirm‘s softening financial results may be a signal that the U.S. consumer is pivoting from spend, spend, spend to save,
Fintech
SMB Online Bank Qonto Wants to Rule Europe
French online small business bank Qonto wants to become the digital bank of choice for one million European SMEs and freelancers by 2025. Today it
Fintech
Who Will Benefit from the Small Business Brex-it?
The fintech platform Brex made waves recently when it decided to walk away from tens of thousands of small business customers. The company announced that
buy now pay later
Should Consumers Choose Kasheesh Over BNPL?
A San Francisco startup called Kasheesh has raised $5.5 million to launch a “new era for online payments.” The payments service, according to the company,
Fintech
Fintech Brex Is Dropping SMBs — Will Others Follow?
We’ve spent years watching one company after another attack the small business market. Only to retreat, bloodied from unsustainable acquisition costs and churn. So it’s
Fintech
Irish SMB Fintech Swooping into U.S. with New Funding
An Irish small business-focused fintech called Swoop has raised a $6.6 million Series A round designed to help the company expand into the U.S. market.
Fintech
Super App-ish HitPay Raises $15.75M
We’ve talked on and off here about the notion of a super app. That’s loosely defined as an app that helps consumers or businesses do