Payment Stocks Experience a Rough 2H, Look to Rebound
Payment stocks were the darling of global public equity markets during the height of the pandemic in 2020. Payment companies, particularly those oriented to digital commerce, proved resilient, even during a pandemic. This wave of momentum in public equity valuations peaked earlier this year, however. Since then, most (not all) payments stocks have declined materially […]
A Practical Vision for Payments Platform Rationalization
This article was originally published by The Paypers.
Infographic: Open Banking Tech Platform Valuations at All Time High as Investors Eye Future Opportunities
General Observations Open banking technology platforms exhibit double and triple-digit revenue growth (figure 1) These platforms showcase triple-digit revenue multiples: Truelayer, Railsbank and Tink have valuations of more than 100x revenue (figure 2) High M&A and funding activity drives growth and valuation, and the cards schemes are also in the game (figure 2) Data aggregation […]
Regulatory Interventions Open Apple’s App Store, Sparking a Payments Gold Rush
For the first time since its launch in 2008, Apple’s control over its App Store and its lucrative payment volumes, ~$72 billion in 2020, are under threat from regulatory interventions. Recent rulings have set the stage for developers to accept payments directly from users via “out-of-app” flows circumventing the 30% “Apple tax”. The App Store […]
Brazil: Defining Fintech in LatAm
Brazil has evolved from a cash-centric society to one of the most dynamic digital payments markets in the world and a clear bellwether for fintech in the Latin American region. Digitization of Brazilian commerce, payments, and banking accelerated during the pandemic coupled with the government’s efforts to drive financial inclusion. The magnitude of the Brazilian […]
The Rise of Alternative Payment Methods in Europe
Europe saw a proliferation of new alternative payment methods (“APMs”) during the past decade which accelerated during COVID. APMs including mobile wallets, account-to-account payments, “Buy Now, Pay Later” schemes, and other forms are thriving across Europe. The European Payments Initiative (EPI), is an ambitious initiative to create a Pan-European payment scheme to compete with Visa/Mastercard. […]
PayPal’s + Pinterest a High Profile Example of Payments & Commerce Convergence
Almost 20 years ago, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion. PayPal was subsequently spun-off from eBay while growing into the leading global e-commerce payment service provider (“PSP”), worth more than $300 billion. On Wednesday, October 20th, PayPal signaled a potential acquisition of Pinterest, a $40 billion digital marketplace and visual discovery engine. Where eBay and […]
Payoneer’s Recent IPO Highlights the Importance of Global Disbursements
The growth of e-commerce and the gig-economy transformed businesses and gave rise to marketplaces and aggregators like Amazon, AirBnB, Upwork, and more. Global payout providers support marketplaces and aggregators, enabling merchant payment disbursements and cross-border money transfers to pay sellers, employees, agents, and/or consumers (‘payees’). These global payout providers are bridging the gap between traditional […]
Serrala & Tink Partnership: Genesis of Open Banking in B2B Payments
As we explored previously in this article, the integration of software and payment services in European B2B/corporate payments is relatively immature compared to the US. There is, however, great potential for this trend given Europe’s robust bank payments infrastructure and shift towards open banking. Most of the early adoption of open banking has focused on […]
EU Banks are Missing the Boat on BNPL
Buy now, pay later (“BNPL”) is experiencing huge growth in awareness, uptake, and press coverage. Klarna is the largest and most visible standard-bearer, showcasing a 33% revenue growth rate and a $46 billion valuation in its last funding round in June 2021 implying a 30x revenue multiple. Fintech incumbents have issued a slew of BNPL […]