In brief

6 January 2022

Australian digital payments and lending firm Latitude has announced its intention to buy Humm’s consumer business, consisting of buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), instalments, and cards, for $241.8m (A$335m).

The proposed deal amount comprises 150 million Latitude shares and $35m cash.

The firms have signed a nonbinding heads of agreement with regard to the deal, which includes an exclusivity undertaking until 31 January 2022.

As of 30 June 2021, Humm’s consumer business had around $1.8bn of net receivables and $152m of net tangible assets.

The proposed transaction is expected to form a combined Latitude Group with more than $8bn of receivables and over five million customers and more than 70,000 merchants.

It is expected to boost Latitude’s instalments and consumer lending business in Australia and New Zealand.

Moreover, Humm’s Australia and New Zealand Instalments and Cards business is anticipated to offer additional scale to Latitude’s instalments business at minimal marginal cost.

11 January 2022

US Bank has expanded the rewards offered under its business and consumer credit cards that put electric vehicle (EV) charging transactions on par with gas station purchases.

Cardholders will now be able to earn up to 4x points or 4% cash back for their EV charging transactions.

The EV charging transaction rewards are based on the same terms and conditions that members otherwise get when using their cards for gas station purchases.

US Bank Retail Payment Solutions head Steve Mattics said: “We have expanded our card rewards to put EV charging transactions on par with gas.

“We are continuously evaluating our credit card offerings to ensure we provide meaningful rewards to our customers, and as options for fuelling vehicles expand from gas to a mix of gas and electric charging, we are making sure that our cards follow our customers’ needs and preferences.”

The US has around 45,000 public EV charging stations.

11 January 2022

Indian payment solution provider Pine Labs has reportedly filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York with the US securities and exchange commission (SEC).

The firm, which is expected to mark its stock market debut on US exchanges, is seeking to raise up to $500m through the listing.

The listing is expected to value the firm between $5.5bn and $7bn.

Pine Labs filed for confidential IPO, which doesn’t require the company to disclose their financial information and other details to competitors for a substantial period of time compared to S-1 filings in the US.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were hired by the firm to lead the listing.

The filing comes on the close heels of a $20m investment in Pine Labs by State Bank of India.

In September 2020, the firm raised $100m from the US-based Invesco Developing Markets Fund. It followed Pine Labs’ $600m fundraising round in early 2021.

12 January 2022

MoneyGram International has entered into a strategic alliance with Digital Wallet Corporation, owner of Japanese mobile money transfer service and digital wallet Smiles Mobile Remittance.

Smiles will leverage MoneyGram’s global payment rails and near real-time capabilities to enable its users to make payments to over 200 countries and territories globally.

Digital Wallet Corporation president and CEO Eiji Miyakawa said: “Digital Wallet Corporation is delighted to partner with MoneyGram in the rapidly-growing, cross-border money transfer and payments market in Japan.”

“We believe the best way to reach and help our customers is through this collaboration with the respected MoneyGram brand and global network. Digital Wallet is looking forward to a successful strategic partnership with MoneyGram.”

The latest partnership follows MoneyGram’s recent cross-border payments partnerships with a number of fintech firms.

For example, in December 2021, MoneyGram signed a partnership with digital wallet urpay to facilitate cross-border money transfers from Saudi Arabia.

13 January 2022

UK-based payments firm Checkout.com has raised $1bn through a Series D funding round, taking its valuation to $40bn.

Dragoneer, GIC, Franklin Templeton, Altimeter, the Qatar Investment Authority, Insight Partners, the Oxford Endowment Fund, Tiger Global, and an undisclosed west coast mutual fund manager were the primary investors in the funding round.

The round also saw participation from some of the company’s existing investors including DST Global, Coatue Management and Blossom Capital.

Checkout.com’s online platform is designed to streamline payments processes for large global enterprise merchants.

The company said that the proceeds from the funding round will boost its balance sheet and support its growth strategy in the US.

The fresh capital will also accelerate the further development of Checkout.com’s proprietary technology platform and solutions as well as its initiatives Web3.

Since the closing of its $450m Series C funding round in January 2021, Checkout.com has expanded rapidly in its home market of EMEA.

17 January 2022

Fintech platform Airwallex has launched its payment service in Singapore following the receipt of a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The payment service has been rolled out in the country after a beta launch in November last year.

Businesses in Singapore can now leverage global payments services offered by Airwallex. These services include global account issuance, multi-currency wallets, domestic and cross-border money transfer, and online payments acceptance.

The company plans to progressively roll out its other key offerings, including multi-currency company and employee cards, spend management.

It also plans to introduce an API suite in the country for technology-first businesses that need embedded payments and financial services.

The Airwallex entry to Singapore will enable its customers around the world to receive funds locally in SGD, and make their businesses more accessible to the Singapore market.

Established in 2015, Airwallex operates across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America.

21 January 2022

Network International has launched Tap on Phone technology in a tie-up with Mastercard to expand digital payment acceptance across Middle East and Africa.

The Tap on Phone technology enables mobile phones to serve as payment terminals.

It is estimated that 500,000 new merchants across the region will stand to benefit from the ‘simple’ digital payment acceptance mode.

The Tap on Phone is powered by Mastercard Payment Gateway Services (MPGS).

It enables small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to accept payments through a smartphone.

Customers are required to tap their card or device to make the payment on the SME merchant’s phone.

Each transaction would be processed through MPGS.

In an era of omni-channel ecosystem, consumers are increasingly seeking more choices to pay the way they want to and Tap on Phone will serve as an affordable and convenient payment option, stated Mastercard.

Mastercard made a strategic investment in Network International in 2019.

24 January 2022

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted a license to DPO Group’s subsidiary One Payment Limited to provide certain types of payments services to businesses across the country.

This license allows DPO Group to operate as an independent payment solutions services company in the country.

The company provides more than 60,000 active merchants, including travel agents, airlines, and e-commerce companies, with merchant aggregation services.

It allows merchants to accept modern electronic payments in all currencies and methods, including debit or credit cards, mobile money or e-wallets.

DPO group also provides protection against fraud payments and supports merchants to manage chargebacks, refunds, etc.

DPO Group CEO Eran Feinstein said: “Nigeria represents a key market for any business with a digital focus, as one of the most innovative African countries when it comes to fintech and eCommerce.

Last year, Network International acquired 100% of DPO Group.

24 January 2022

Digital payments firm Stripe has signed an agreement to acquire terminal manufacturing partner BBPOS.

Last year, the two companies have collaborated on three new card readers that include Stripe Reader, the first Stripe-designed hardware.

Stripe plans to accelerate its card readers innovation by bringing hardware development in-house.

Stripe Terminal Business lead John Affaki said: “Bringing BBPOS’s hardware capabilities in-house means we will soon be able to innovate even faster.”

The company said that Stripe Terminal is now available in ten markets across four continents.

Now, the businesses operating in the Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, Australia, France, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, Ireland, and the US will have access to Stripe Terminal.

The businesses using the Terminal include internet first retailers such as Castlery, Glossier, Warby Parker, and Buck Mason to power the transactions across bricks-and-mortar and online storefronts in a unified tech stack.

Platforms such as Mindbody, Shopify, Lightspeed, and Wix are also using the Stripe Terminal with Stripe Connect.

27 January 2022

Payment and software company Paystone has announced the acquisition of Canadian Payment Services (CPS) for an undisclosed sum.

CPS offers merchant services such as credit card and Interac processing, gift card and loyalty programmes among others. It has served more than 10,000 merchants.

The acquisition strengthens Paystone’s position, which processes over $10bn annually in bankcard volume through its 35,000 locations across Canada and the US.

Paystone is also looking to hire over 100 new employees by the end of this year to grow in service, offering, and revenue.

CPS marks the sixth acquisition by Paystone.

Paystone CEO Tarique Al-Ansari said: “This is the largest acquisition we have made to date in relation to both new revenue and clients. Additionally, we are also excited to provide additional value to CPS merchants through Paystone’s proprietary product and service offerings.”

In January 2021, Paystone raised $69m in funding to support its growth.