Earnings season is upon us, and the deluge for the FinTech IPO Index has yet to swell and break.
No doubt there will be waves of commentary on the state of the consumer, on inflation and lending and the digitization of financial services.
But by any stretch of the imagination, the past five trading sessions have been kind to the FinTech IPO Index, where platforms led the way to power an overall 8% gain for the group.
Source: PYMNTS (Through 7/20/22)
As for the platforms that led the way, Affirm was up more than 42%, continuing a streak that saw buy now, pay later (BNPL) names propel the Index to 5% gains in the prior week.
See also: CE100 Index Surges 5% as BNPL Stocks Deliver Strong Gains
Payoneer gained nearly 25%, continuing its uptrend on the heels of an upgrade earlier this week from Goldman Sachs.
Double Digit Gains
Marqeta gathered more than 16%, as its shares gained after the news that the company was named the payment processor of choice for Opal Plus, the new transit program for Transport for NSW, in partnership with Mastercard Prepaid Managed Services.
The New South Wales government is introducing Opal Plus, a Mobility-as-a-Service app within the Opal system which “allows subscribers to plan, book and pay for a tailored commuter experience directly from their mobile devices,” according to the announcement.
Nubank also shot up more than 16%, up on the heels of reports this past week that the company is growing faster than expected in Mexico, as related by Chief Executive David Velez in an interview with Reuters. That was confirmed by data, per the report.
Nu Mexico has reached 2.1 million customers in roughly a year and a half, equivalent to 2.2% of the country’s total adult population. In Brazil, by way of comparison, Nubank reached 53.9 million clients, equivalent to 30% of the adult population, after nine years.
Meanwhile, Nuvei advanced by 15%, buoyed by last week’s announcement that the company has extended its partnership with Italy-based online betting firm GoldBet. The tie-up enables the platform to integrate new payment methods to its cashier functionality, including Apple Pay.
None of this is meant to suggest that a rising tide lifted all boats this past week. Futu Holdings, which said this past week that it has been granted a Trust Business License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, slipped 4.6%.
Beyond these announcements, there are some signs that consumer spending — which of course determines the fates and fortunes of many of these FinTech players — may be facing mounting headwinds. In just one example, AT&T may be signaling some turbulence in consumers’ cash flow.
Read more: AT&T Dials Up Latest Sign of Distress for Paycheck-to-Paycheck Economy
“There’s clearly some dynamics in the economy. We have customers that are stretching out their payments a little bit,” AT&T CEO John Stankey told CNBC. “We expect that they’re going to continue to pay their bills, but they’re taking longer to do it. That’s not atypical in an economic cycle.”
The stretching out of payments comes as a majority of the United States lives paycheck to paycheck, and already has trouble making ends meet. That points to trouble, by extension, for some of the platforms and the digital upstarts that have sought to change the ways in which we pay and conduct commerce. We’ll know more as the onslaught of earnings gathers momentum.
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