Affirm shares sink on Apple Pay Later news, Affirm responds: “We are well positioned to win”

Happy Monday FinTech Fanatic,

Let’s kick off the week with the news that messaging giant Line Corporation and Mizuho Financial Group have ceased plans to launch a new mobile bank in Japan.

According to sources familiar with the matter it is due to increasing competition and scrutiny towards the security of services.

Calling off the plans seems to be a major setback for Line and their ambition to become a so called ‘super app’, as they aimed to bring a smartphone bank to the Japanese market sitting within the Line app, bringing together Mizuho’s “banking know-how” and Line’s 94 million monthly active users.

On to something else: you can hardly have missed it last week, Apple’s announcement on the launch of Apple Pay Later.

However, Apple’s long-anticipated entry into the “buy now, pay later” space is pressuring shares of companies like Affirm Holdings, which focuses on financing buy now, pay later transactions.

Despite the drop in shares, Affirm seems to be convinced that Apple’s entry into the market is good, as more transparent and flexible payment options that can displace credit cards are good for consumers. They even claim to be ‘well positioned to win’.

“Affirm has offered this for a decade through personalized payment plans with term lengths ranging from six weeks to 60 months. By underwriting every single transaction, we not only empower consumers but help merchants drive growth. The prize remains massive, and Affirm is well-positioned to win”, according to an Affirm-spokesperson in a statement.

While the BNPL-market is huge and Apple’s lending platform is nascent at best, Apple is planning to offer extended credit at some point in the future.?

Do you think that even may be a bigger challenge for other BNPL providers? Feel free to share you thoughts in the comments??

I wish you a nice week ahead, and please find the other FinTech news listed below.

INSIGHTS

Navigating Asia Pacific’s identity fraud landscape. Identity theft statistics reveal that the chances of falling prey to digital fraud are much higher than one believes. A recent report found that at least one in four consumers in Asia Pacific have been victims of online fraud. Read more

“The Thesis Driving M13's Fintech Investment Strategy”. The market opportunity for the financial services sector—which includes banking, lending, payments, insurance, and investing—is larger than any other major industry. Read the full story here

History of the e-wallet market: Evolution and growth. According to Worldpay’s Global Payments Report, e-wallets accounted for 48.6% of worldwide e-commerce transaction value in 2021; this is projected to increase to 52.5% by 2025.

Why China is rejigging its financial and technology regulations. Beijing is intent on ensuring financial stability at home and achieving breakthroughs in so-called “chokepoint technologies” as it deals with an increasingly fraught relationship with the United States. Read more

1,128 Black and latino startups have raised $1M+ in VC funding ($43.7B Total). Harlem Capital released the “2022 Diverse Founder Report” in partnership with Crunchbase for the second year in a row. Read the full report, with more stats and figures here

FINTECH NEWS

Checkout.com’s new president is bullish on US expansion, says she ‘welcomes’ comparisons to Stripe. The firm is building a full-stack payments company, it acts as a gateway, an acquirer, a risk engine and a payment processor.

Alipay launches incentive plan to support service provider partners. Incentives have already been granted to 34 service providers, including NGARihealth, Miya Information Technology, and Juhui Technology, among others.

No-code ‘app store for businesses’, Primer, eyes APAC next. In the last 12 months, Primer has seen a 20% month-on-month growth in total payment volume processed in the Asia Pacific. Link here

Indonesian sharia P2P lender ALAMI in talks to raise new funding. ALAMI CEO Dima Djani said the firm has raised $80 million in total capital to date, with the latest funding coming from Paragon Beneva Investama (Beneva), an arm of beauty company ParagonCorp, in December last year.

#FINTECHREPORT

Check out Finnovating's latest report: "FinTech Global Vision 2023", and discover the FinTech sector from all over the world with the first report that offers global insights and comparison. Link here

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

Railsr sold for ￡414,000 to ‘related parties’ in pre-pack deal. A financial technology company that last year sought a valuation of nearly $1 billion was sold to connected parties including its co-founder for only ￡414,000, filings have revealed.

Neo Financial launches new hybrid Neo Money? card as a debit card alternative. The card unlocks unlimited cashback at more than 10,000 rewards partners for the first time in Canada. Money can easily be accessed using any ATM worldwide and customers can open a Neo Money account in less than 3 minutes from the comfort of their home.

Blackcatcard launches new Mastercard cards. The announcement details that the neobank’s newly issued cards have attractive physical characteristics, particular designs according to the user type, and all the benefits provided within the Blackcatcard ecosystem.?

PARTNERSHIPS?

AP Payments-as-a-Service FinTech Finexio announces partnership with Source-to-Pay software solution leader Proactis. Enabled directly by Finexio's B2B payment technology, the payments solution will be added to the Proactis suite of solutions for mid-market organizations, helping to optimize spend and supply chains to reach full potential.

Huawei and bKash strengthen partnership to deepen financial inclusion in Bangladesh, further drive financial inclusion and enable more people to participate in and benefit from the digital economy in the country.??

Nigerian FinTech startup NowNow partners with Mastercard to protect SMEs from cyber attacks. This will help tackle the cybersecurity needs of SMEs, allowing them to feel more secure and safe so they can focus on improving their business and playing their part in contributing to the prosperity of the economy.

BLOCKCHAIN

FTX’s Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty for bribery. The founder of the crypto exchange maintains his innocence in the face of new charges levied by US prosecutors. Through his lawyer, SBF plans to challenge the new charges because they were brought after he was extradited from the Bahamas, where FTX was based.

PBOC calls out US banks for crypto risks, seeks more regulation. Chinese central bank official called for stronger regulation of digital finance, citing recent banking failures linked to US lenders involved in cryptocurrency transactions.

New bill to regulate crypto: Senator Andrew Bragg. Licensing for exchanges, custody requirements and stablecoins are included in the Bill. Australia can be a digital asset hub whilst protecting digital asset consumers.?

#DONEDEAL

LI.FI raises $17.5m to help traditional finance build on DeFi. "This fundraise is vital to enabling us to execute our vision of a multi-chain future," said Philipp Zentner, CEO at LI.FI. Link here?

Filipino FinTech startup Advance raises $16m for pre-Series A. This pre-Series A funding round will enable Advance to build new financial products and offer its services to more partners in the Philippines and Vietnam.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

European Payments Council names Giorgio Andreoli Director General. Andreoli said: “It’s a tremendous honour to take over leadership of the EPC. I look forward to helping build the future of payments in Europe while addressing the opportunities and challenges facing the payment industry head on and in close coordination with all EPC members.”

DTCC announces executive leadership team appointments. These leaders will report to Frank La Salla, DTCC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and serve on the company’s Management Committee. Read more

Looking to work with me in any of the following areas?

• Sponsoring this newsletter
• M&A consulting
• Sharing FinTech Dealflow
• Fintech advising & consulting
• News tip or story suggestion

Shoot me a message on LinkedIn or send me an e-mail

Cheers,

Marcel van Oost

Connecting the dots in FinTech,?

?? Join our Slack Community!