Tracking Payments - Issue #2
All the insights you need to succeed in data-rich payments...and none you don't.
The Open Banking Juggernaut
It turns out that VISA’s $5.3B offer to acquire Plaid falling through might have been a good thing. The latest raise values them at $13.4B, more than double VISA’s offer.
+ Techcrunch: Plaid raises $425M Series D from Altimeter as it charts a post-Visa future
+ Pitchbook: The House of Plaid looks nothing like the House of Morgan
Plaid is now positioned as the hub for a global open banking API ecosystem.
+ Plaid’s strategy to facilitate an API-based ecosystem. “An API-based ecosystem will deliver the reliability needed to meet rapid consumer adoption of fintech, and accelerate an Open Finance future.”
+ PYMNTS: Plaid Launches New Tool To Streamline Income Verification with ADP’s payroll data.
The Request-to-Pay Starting Gun just went off in the UK
+ Mastercard and pay.UK launched the UK’s first accredited Request to Pay application to “...allow partners – such as financial institutions, fintechs and aggregators to offer an end user application at a lower cost than if they developed it themselves.”
Since the UK initiative is open to both bank and non-bank organizations and The Clearing House is only available to banks, it should be interesting to watch whether the participation of fintechs drives better adoption rates.
Is JP Morgan really ‘Scared’ of Fintech?
Jamie Dimon warned in his 2020 shareholder letter that Fintech is here to stay, and is a real threat to traditional banks. CEO Letter to Shareholders
Speaking of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Walmart he said "Their strengths are extraordinary, with ubiquitous platforms and endless data."
+ American Banker: 6 takeaways from Jamie Dimon’s letter to shareholders - great overview of the letter.
+ Jamie Dimon’s statements about Fintech are always entertaining:
2017: JMPC is a Fintech
2015: Silicon Valley is Coming for banking.
+ Banking Dive: Niche banking could safeguard challengers, incumbents from big tech, retail threat
"It's also proof that the banking space is going to become verticalized. I'm quite sure about that,” reinforcing my assertion last week that VC’s are funding experiments for banks.
What’s powering the BigTech/BigRetail move into banking?
“The market is estimated to be worth $3.6T by 2030”, and “Early adopter banks that have already embraced BaaS are experiencing a 2–3x above-market return on equity.” ‘Nuff said.
+ Finextra: Banking-As-A-Service. Why It Makes Sense For Banks.
+ Bloomberg: Wall Street Won’t Intimidate Walmart This Time “The retailer’s fintech partnership — and poaching of Goldman Sachs leaders — signals it’s serious about encroaching on Wall Street’s turf.” This banking-as-a-service powered approach will likely work better than when Walmart failed to get a banking license.
Extras
+ Forbes: The Case Against Bitcoin, According to Bank of America Experts
“Central bank digital currencies are kryptonite for crypto,” Bank of America analysts say, and Europe could be debuting one as soon as this year”
+ Fintech billionaire list: Forbes listed 33 fintech billionaires. Some of the youngest on the list include John (27) and Patrick Collison (30) of Stripe , Vlad Tenev (33) of Robinhood and Revolut's Nik Storonsky (36).