Platforms Continue Winning Streak as FinTech IPOs Outperform

Bit by bit, inch by inch, the FinTech IPO Index claws its way back. Thanks to the platforms.

Yes, the group is down a bit more than 35% year to date, but in a five day stretch of positive momentum, the Index gained 5.2%.

And in continuation of a trend, it has been the firms that bring buyers and sellers together, that allow price discovery — or the easier extension of credit — that have garnered investor favor in recent days.

Perhaps that’s due to the fact that, no matter the volatility of the stocks, themselves, the pivot toward more connectivity, across all avenues of commerce, continues unabated.

In a rare bit of relative outperformance, that weekly return was better that the broader S&P Index and the Dow Jones Index (though it lagged, slightly, the tech heavy Nasdaq).

There are a few outperformers of note through the end of and into the first trading day of June, where double digit gains accompanied various earnings and product announcements.

Upstart rebounded the most visibly among the group of more than 45 names, surging 23% on the week, on the heels of news reported toward the end of the month that it will not keep loans on its balance sheet that financial institutions have no interest in purchasing.

Katapult was up about 21% on the week, followed by Affirm, which said this week that it is partnering with Stripe to drive growth, making Affirm’s Adaptive Checkout™ available to Stripe users in the U.S.

Businesses using Stripe can quickly integrate Affirm’s technology and eligible shoppers can split the cost of purchases ranging from $50 to $30,000, with a maximum credit limit of $17,500. Affirm commits to never charging late fees or hidden charges.

Read here: Affirm, Stripe Team to Bring Adaptive Checkout to US

Digital Banking Licenses

MoneyLion gathered 16% as the company said in recent days that it’s gotten a digital banking license from the Ministry of Finance of Malaysia in a consortium with the Japanese financial group AEON Financial Services and its Malaysian subsidiary AEON Credit Service.

MoneyLion has also been busy bringing its SaaS offering to market, in a bid to bring data analytics and embedded finance to the consortium. And it comes on the heels of  MoneyLion’s announcement of its plan to buy B2B FinTech Even Financial, for a deal that was worth $360 million to $440 million.

Separately, Marqeta gained 12%, having said it is partnering with buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Klarna to launch a physical Visa card.

That card, as reported, can be used by  consumers can use to pay for purchases interest-free over four installments, either in-store or online.  The Klarna Card is available in the U.S., which is Klarna’s fastest-growing market by volume.

Marqeta and Klarna recently expanded their partnership into 13 new European markets. Klarna also uses Marqeta’s Just-in-Time Funding feature, which offers control over the full transaction flow. Klarna also has use of Marqeta’s suite of more than 300 open application programming interfaces (APIs).