Today In Payments: Walmart Poaches Goldman’s Marcus Team; Red-Hot IPO Market Draws Payments Firms, FinTechs

In today’s top news, Walmart poaches two execs from the Goldman’s Marcus team as it builds out its super app, and the IPO market is drawing in FinTechs. Plus, Robinhood could file a confidential IPO this month.

Walmart, Super Apps, And The Rise Of The New ‘Retail’ Bank

Walmart is adding two Goldman execs to its ranks to help roll out a new FinTech startup as the retail giant gets into banking. Here’s why the age of the super app — with finance as a core building block — is upon us.

Red-Hot IPO Market Draws Payments Firms, FinTechs

An exclusive PYMNTS research project shows that FinTechs are increasingly top of mind for initial public offerings (IPOs) and so-called “blank check” companies (SPACs). Just two months into the year, planned IPOs announced by segment show 11 firms within the payments sector, and eight within banking. Here’s why.

Robinhood Could File Confidential IPO Within Weeks

Stock trading platform Robinhood may soon trade as a stock itself, and could confidentially file for an initial public offering (IPO) as early as this month. Robinhood’s valuation is reportedly in excess of $10 billion.

McDonald’s Weighs Partial Sale Of Dynamic Yield

McDonald’s is considering selling part of Dynamic Yield, a company that it acquired for $300 million to boost digital ordering. The fast-food chain is reportedly finding that the technology isn’t working as well as originally expected.

Report: Brazilian Consumers Think Digital — And Want Merchants To Do the Same

The pandemic-driven digital shift is reverberating around the world — including in developing economies like Brazil’s, where consumers’ preference for digital commerce has grown 33 percent within the last year. In the Global Digital Shopping Index: Brazil Edition, PYMNTS reveals the five key trends transforming retail in Latin America’s largest country, and what retailers must know to leverage them.

Citi’s Kohli: Corporates And Banks Experiment To Drive Digital Business Models

In 2020, treasurers demanded digital solutions from their banks to promote business continuity through a disruptive market. This year, they have a different motive in mind. Citi Global Head of Payments and Receivables Manish Kohli told Karen Webster that what today’s treasurers want from their banks are the tools that can elevate the value of digital-first business models.

Balance Sheets Ballooning With Bitcoin — A Harbinger Of DeFi to Come?

MicroStrategy is but one of the firms adding bitcoin to its balance sheets, along with Square and Tesla. Hedging cash and other assets with digital holdings may open the door to decentralized finance.

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