FinTech IPO Index Gains 1.4% as Katapult Bounces on Credit Agreement

The FinTech IPO Index gathered 1.4% over the past five sessions, as platforms led to the upside ahead of next week’s official start to earnings season.

Katapult Holdings shares leaped ahead by 28.2%. The company recently entered into a limited waiver under its Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement dated in June after it failed to maintain a required “Minimum Trailing Three-Month Originations” threshold.

The waiver temporarily excuses that specific default, extending the waiver period through next week, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Partnerships Focused on Automation

Oracle NetSuite and BILL teamed up Tuesday (Oct. 7) to embed BILL’s payment automation capabilities directly into NetSuite Intelligent Payment Automation. The partnership enables customers in the United States to activate vendor payment flows from their existing bank accounts within minutes and removes friction from accounts payable workflows.

The integration supports what the companies termed in a Tuesday press release as “quick activation” across all U.S. banks and gives NetSuite access to BILL’s network of more than 8 million businesses. It also allows NetSuite customers to manage bill capture, payment proposals, reconciliation and matching in a unified, artificial intelligence-augmented environment. BILL shares lost 5.7%.

Meanwhile, Baghdadi Capital Group said Thursday (Oct. 9) that it chose the nCino platform to consolidate and automate its global operations, including factoring, reverse factoring, trade finance, origination and client onboarding. The move enables the firm to operate on a single platform rather than multiple point solutions. As part of the deal, nCino will support Baghdadi’s expansion into the Spanish market, enforcing standardized governance, data consistency and scalability as the family office seeks to grow its footprint across Europe and beyond. nCino’s stock slipped 1.5%.

BNPL Names Are Busy

Buy now, pay later names were also active this week. Affirm is extending its collaboration with Google by becoming a supporter of Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), positioning itself within the infrastructure layer of AI-driven commerce. Affirm’s stock dipped 0.3%.

Also within the BNPL space, Sezzle announced Thursday new merchant partnerships, with names including Cato Fashions, SCHEELS, Dermstore and D&B Supply. It also said it is expanding into social commerce via Whop, gearing up for the holiday season. Sezzle’s stock declined by 1.4%.

Klarna and Google Cloud said Thursday that they formed an AI partnership in which Klarna will tap Google Cloud’s full AI stack, from infrastructure and platform to generative models. The goal is to accelerate creative marketing, personalization and in-app experience. Pilot projects already show that AI-driven digital lookbooks and hyper-personalized campaigns boosted order volume by 50% and increased time spent in the app by 15%. The collaboration also includes deploying graph neural networks for fraud detection and anti-money laundering. Klarna’s shares added 1.8%.

DeFi Development Corp.’s shares rallied 10%. The company announced Thursday that weekly options on DFDV stock are now live and available for trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). The announcement said investors with eligible brokerage accounts will be able to trade short‐term options on DFDV, adding “flexibility and hedging opportunities to access our Solana‐linked exposure.”