Deal Confirmed: Monzo Hits $5 Billion Valuation Following $430M Funding Round

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

As I'm about to hop on my flight back to Amsterdam, after some crazy days in Vegas, I just couldn't take off without dropping the latest FinTech news in your inbox – and wow, do we have some juicy bits today!

Kicking things off with Monzo, the London FinTech heavyweight, which just bagged $430 million (￡340 million) in its latest funding round. This hefty cash influx, hinted at by the Financial Times earlier, skyrockets their value to a whopping $5 billion (￡4 billion) post-money. Not too shabby, right?

Then, jetting over to Colombia, we've got Yuno making headlines. They've just secured a sweet $25 million from a who's who of investors, including DST Global Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Kaszek Ventures, and Monashees. Founded by the tech-savvy duo, Juan Pablo Ortega and Julián Nú?ez, Yuno's on a mission to shake up how payments work across retail, e-commerce, travel, mobility, and more.

I'm telling you, you're gonna want to scroll down and soak up all the details from today's FinTech fireworks. Days like this don't come around often. In a good way ??

Enjoy, and I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow! After some well deserved sleep...

Cheers,

Marcel

BREAKING NEWS?

Chipper Cash — most recently valued at $2.2 billion — told customers in the U.S. that it was suspending international money transfer services from the country. Customers should “urgently” withdraw their funds , the company said , according to messages reviewed by The Information. The service’s suspension followed a wave of layoffs and the departure of numerous senior executives at the company.

FINTECH NEWS

???? Innovate Finance, the independent industry body for UK FinTech, launches the first Unicorn Council for UK FinTech (UCFT), a coalition of UK-based FinTech unicorn founders to accelerate and unlock promised growth in the UK FinTech sector. The Council will be co-chaired by Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, and a steering committee of FinTech leaders including Philip Belamant, CEO of Zilch (Founding Co-Chair) and Charles McManus, CEO of Clearbank.

???? Synctera launched 'SyncteraPay', which allows its customers to work with any payment provider and have all transaction information centralized and seamlessly integrated into the Synctera Ledger. Payments and banking are fertile areas for innovation, and Synctera has built first-party APIs for all the common money flows.?

???? Bloom launches first-of-Its-kind home equity prepaid Mastercard. Bloom Finance Company Ltd. is excited to introduce an innovative payment card designed for Canadian homeowners aged 55 and above , enabling them to access their home equity in micro-sized, responsible increments each month.?

???? Ebury explores ￡2bn London listing. Ebury has been meeting banks as it prepares for a listing next year, says Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The company's co-founder, Juan Lobato, said in November that it was exploring an IPO. More here

???? Viva.com announced the launch of Merchant Advance. A new credit solution that will solve critical cashflow issues for thousands of businesses across Europe , helping them invest in growth and offering transparent capital to businesses, based on merchant acquiring data.?

????Payhawk releases its Spring ‘24 edition. This updated product suite now includes Visa credit cards in Euros for new customers throughout the European Economic Area (EEA), providing a single platform for enterprises to easily issue and manage both credit and debit cards throughout the UK, US, and the EEA.

PAYMENTS NEWS

???? J.P. Morgan Payments is set to become a principal member of France’s leading payments network with the intention to offer European merchant clients access to the payments system by the end of 2024 . This move positions J.P. Morgan as the first and only U.S. bank to achieve principal membership, reaffirming its commitment to the European payments market.

???? Zelle volume heads towards $1 trillion, as banks’ Cash App spreads to small business payments. Bank customers used Zelle to transfer $806 billion in 2.9 billion payments last year , up 28% in both dollar value and transaction volume from 2022, as use of the payment app by small businesses spread.

Uqudo and Tamara join forces to revolutionize identity verification in BNPL transactions. This strategic partnership represents a significant milestone in the financial landscape of the GCC, poised to elevate digital transactions within the BNPL sector. Keep reading

???? Stripe enables businesses in the UK to accept Tap to Pay on iPhone. From farmers selling at markets, to plumbers doing home repairs, and beauticians in salons, businesses on Stripe can now seamlessly and securely accept in-person payments with Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone technology—no extra hardware required.

???? Mastercard collaborates with Central Bank of Jordan on payment ecosystem blueprint. The collaboration supports the Central Bank of Jordan’s broader efforts to unlock economic growth through promoting acceptance of digital payments, increasing financial inclusion, and combatting high cash usage.

???? PayPal Complete Payments launches today for small and-mid-sized enterprises in Canada, UK, and over 20 European markets. The solution enables small businesses in Canada to accept a range of payments including PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit and debit cards, and more than 20 alternative payment methods from around the world .

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

???? Neobank Dave achieves Q4 profitability. Dave, one of the nation’s leading neobanks, recently reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2023. The company achieved profitability earlier than expected, showcasing its resilient business model and market demand for affordable banking services.?

???? AlexBank to grow credit card base with new digital tools from Mastercard. The partnership leverages Mastercard’s technologies to advance the bank’s payment solutions strategy and enhance the financial services landscape. Read full article

???? ChargeAfter launches white-label embedded POS lending platform for banks. The white-label platform, called The Lending Hub, offers financial institutions a suite of tools designed to streamline the development, management, and distribution of lending products at scale.

???? Chime adds cash-back feature to debit, credit cards in partnership with Upside. The new Chime Deals allows Chime members to take advantage of cash-back opportunities on everyday spending on things like gas, groceries and dining. More on that here

???? Banking Circle delivers agency banking service. Banking Circle’s latest enhancement to its Agency Banking solution provides Financial Institutions and Payment Service Providers with a faster and cheaper access point to local payment schemes to expand into further markets.

???? TymeBank has migrated its Tap-on-Phone customer base to the iKhokha Tap-on-Phone platform, a move that will enable its business banking customers to access a range of business tools and online payment acceptance solutions. Link here

???? Grasshopper and Pocketbook team up to support SMBs with embedded banking. This partnership extends each company’s commitment to providing clients with leading digital products to better support their banking capabilities , including the fundamental aspect of business payments.

BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

???? German exchange giant Deutsche B?rse Group unveiled a crypto spot platform on Tuesday in a bid to capture the growing institutional market for digital assets. Dubbed the Deutsche B?rse Digital Exchange (DBDX), the platform is set to allow the trading, settlement and custody of crypto assets while utilizing “the existing connectivity to market participants,” the company said.

DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

Last week we saw 10 official FinTech deals in Europe for a total amount of 69,7m€ raised with 5 deals in the UK, 1 in Greece, 1 in Spain, 1 in Germany, 1 in Switzerland, and 1 in France. Read the complete Blackfin Tech article here

???? Monzo Bank has confirmed a $400m (￡315m) funding round led by CapitalG – Alphabet’s independent growth fund – following media speculation. The FinTech, which has become one of the largest digital banks in the UK with more than nine million users, has been valued at ￡4bn following the injection of capital.

???? 2-year-old LatAm FinTech Yuno closed a $25 million funding round, reaching a $150M valuation. The funding will be used to solidify Yuno’s presence in Asia, Europe and Africa and also to keep investing in building its payment infrastructure orchestration platform.?

???? Israeli venture group Team8 said on Tuesday it had raised $500 million to invest in cyber, data infrastructure, FinTech digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) startups, and bringing total funds under management to well over $1 billion. Read more

?????SoFi unveiled plans for a private offering of $750 million in convertible senior notes set to mature in 2029. This unique offering is targeted towards qualified institutional buyers and consists of unsecured, unsubordinated obligations that will gather interest biannually.

M&A

???? Papara's growth continues with T-Bank acquisition. Türkiye neobank Papara acquired T-Bank for an undisclosed amount. While the acquisition awaits regulatory approval, Tech.eu understands that the decision follows an agreement with Papara's shareholders, along with T-Bank, BankMed and Arab Bank.

????? Deel is on an acquisition march. On Tuesday, the HR startup announced it is acquiring African-based payroll and HR software and services company PaySpace in a deal that marks its largest acquisition to date. Financial terms of the PaySpace acquisition were not disclosed.

???? Payments FinTech Purse completes acquisition of ID firm ReachFive. This union marks a shared commitment to enhance the customer experience. The deal merges Purse 's unrivalled expertise in payment orchestration in Europe with ReachFive 's forward-thinking vision in customer identity and access management.

???? With the digital banking landscape rapidly evolving, Tandem Bank's recent acquisition of the money-sharing app Loop, under the leadership of Chairman Paul Pester, marks a significant milestone. This move not only amplifies Tandem's digital service offerings but also reinforces the bank's commitment to fostering a consumer-centric and sustainable banking environment.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

???? Spreedly appoints Lightspeed Commerce veteran Peter Dougherty as President. In his new role, Dougherty will oversee marketing, sales, partnerships, customer success and support , and other go-to-market (GTM) functions, Spreedly said in a Tuesday (March 5) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

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