FinTech IPO Index Ekes Out 0.6% Gain Led by Katapult and Nuvei

The FinTech IPO Index gains 0.6%, with only a bit of earnings in the mix — and with a spate of partnership announcements dominating the headlines.

Katapult Leads the Way

Katapult said in a preliminary announcement that its preliminary results showed that for the fourth quarter, the company expects to report gross originations of approximately $67.5 million, an increase of 13% year over year (YoY) and above the 3% to 5% growth outlook the company provided this past November.

Katapult also expects to report approximately $58 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, an increase of 18.7% YoY, which in turn is higher than the 13% to 15% growth outlook the company provided at the end of last year. The company’s slated to release results early next month.

Katapult shares added more than 8% through the week.

Canadian FinTech Nuvei has launched an enhanced omnichannel payments solution for merchants and platforms. The unified commerce offering is being made available to customers outside the U.S. for the first time. The announcement detailed that the solution aligns Nuvei’s card-present and card-not-present technology for eCommerce, mobile, and in-store transactions, allowing merchants to merge online and retail payment acceptance into a single integration.

The launch comes in the wake of news that Cash App and Nuvei teamed to give U.S. businesses the option of accepting Cash App Pay in their online checkout through their existing integration with Nuvei, letting businesses add 680 alternative payment methods to their online checkouts.

Nuvei shares added more than 5%.

Robinhood and MetaMask have integrated their platforms to make it easier for users to access Web3. This integration allows customers to purchase cryptocurrency through Robinhood’s low-cost order engine, providing a secure, user-friendly and self-custodial approach to Web3 adoption, per a joint announcement. The companies said that Consensys, a blockchain and Web3 software company, collaborated with Robinhood Markets to launch the integration of Robinhood Connect with MetaMask, Consensys’ self-custodial Web3 wallet.

Robinhood shares added 2.9%

Upstart said in an announcement that it will expand its auto retail financing capability nationwide to reach 90% of consumers in the U.S. by the end of the first quarter 2024. That would be an expansion from the 70% reach logged in the third quarter of last year. The company said in the announcement that “with interest rates at 20-year highs, consumers are struggling to find financing options that allow them to purchase a car affordably.”

The national availability of Upstart-powered auto loans will enable dealers to approve more borrowers across the full credit spectrum, with a back-end gross as much as 50% higher than the industry average. The company has said 76% of dealers reported that digital retail makes it easier to conduct and close deals. About 80% said that the digital interactions lead to increased customer satisfaction.

Unified digital desking and reporting to ensure instant visibility into deals, the company said, adding that more than 700 dealers across the U.S. are using the enhanced digital features.

Upstart’s stock gained 6.4%

Flywire Links Up in India

Flywire shares slipped 0.9%.

The company said in a release it has partnered with State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest public sector bank, to enable digital payments of education-related fees in payers’ local currencies.

The joint efforts help with compliance with the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS), which are guidelines aimed at streamlining overseas transactions and investments for residents of India.

Flywire integrates directly into SBI’s banking platform, fostering a digital checkout experience, and users can track the payment through to when the funds are delivered to their university. The institutions benefit from timely payments, Flywire said.

BILL shares lost 3.2%.

As reported this past week, FinTech platform Adyen has launched a partnership with BILL. The joint efforts will see Adyen deliver “acquiring and issuing experiences” for BILL’s accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) solutions.

In terms of mechanics, Adyen’s card issuing services have been incorporated into BILL’s virtual card offering as part of BILL’s AR and AP solutions for small to medium-sized businesses.