Last week, Today Feb 8: News in Payments and Fintech

Our bi-weekly news roundup collects some of the headlines in payments and fintech to watch, giving leaders across industries (or fintech enthusiasts) a quick glance at some of the news in the space. In Flywire’s 10+ years in delivering the most complex, high value payments, we’ve had a unique opportunity to work with many different organizations in the fintech and payments ecosystem. We’ve seen changes in how clients get paid, how their customers want to pay and how central the payments experience has become not just across the industries we focus on, but every industry.

Buy Now Pay Later marches on, Brazil’s Nubank is bullish on growth and Bitcoin miners in Texas take a pause for the weather. Here are some of the fintech and payments headlines from Jan. 24 through Feb. 6.

Headlines

Buy Now, Pay Later firm Klarna launches physical card in the UK
Klarna says some 400,000 consumers have signed up for the waitlist for a physical card powered by the Visa network that will extend the BNPL payment method to purchases made physically.

Mastercard strikes NFT payments deal with Coinbase
Aiming to “reduce friction in the NFT buying process,” Coinbase customers will be able to use Mastercard credit and debit cards to buy NFTs.

Nubank sees Brazil downturn as a chance to grow faster – CEO
Nubank is bullish on growth, and thinks rising interest rates may be good for its long-term plans, according to its CEO.

Forrester: The Next Decade of Payments Belongs to Businesses, Not Consumers
Forrester suggests that payments will become an operating system as tech firms build autonomous payments into connected devices and platforms, or weave programmable payments into accessible, frictionless customer experiences.

SAP acquires Taulia
The German enterprise software giant acquired a majority stake in working capital management Taulia, a 10+ year old fintech company that provides early payment on invoices through supply chain finance, dynamic discounting and accounts receivable finance.

JPMorgan sees 2022 as year of connectivity, predicts rise of ‘Anything as a Service’
To bring treasury management professionals and client firms “more fully into the digital age,” here’s what’s on the firm’s radar in 2022.

ACH network sees 29.1 billion payments in 2021
Among the sectors experiencing growth in ACH payments is B2B payments. There were 5.3 billion B2B payments in 2021—valued at $50 trillion— a 20.4% increase from 2020. ACH B2B payments are up 33.2% over the past two years.

TD Bank targets 2,000 tech hires in 2022
Add TD Bank to the list of banks aggressively hiring tech talent in AI, cloud and cybersecurity– and its CIO said he’s spending more than 30% of his time focused on it.

Bitcoin miners are helping the Texas grid brace for winter storm impact
Civic-minded crypto miners moderated or cut their power consumption entirely to free up space on the Texas power grid to help it weather an ice storm.

From Flywire

Is there a link between finance digitalization strategy and retention?
Retention is high on the list of priorities for accounting and finance teams, and CFOs are formalizing programs that work to keep and develop people in finance roles to that end. One retention strategy that has come up a lot recently is making sure your finance team is aware of and educated about your department’s strategy for digitalization. Flywire’s EVP & GM of B2B Ryan Frere explores the topic.

Industry focus: Higher ed students in Spain eager for more flexible payment options
In education payment trends, flexibility in payment is in high demand for international students from Spain. They’re eager for on-campus experiences, and a majority want payment plan options to make that more affordable.

Partner news: Flywire partners with Ascensus to digitize 529 college savings plan payments
Through the partnership, families saving in a 529 plan on the Ascensus platform can leverage Flywire to disburse funds to pay tuition-related expenses directly to the school from their 529 account.

Research report pick of the week

Financial Technology Partners released its 2021 Fintech Almanac, a treasure trove of numbers on fintech financing, M&A and IPOs.

Stat of the week

92% of organizations still receive checks for B2B payments. 73% are in the process of transitioning from paper checks to electronic payments.
2022 AFP Payments Cost Benchmarking Survey

Conversation starter

Rotterdam to Dismantle Part of Bridge for Jeff Bezos’ Superyacht
Part of a 95-year-old bridge will be temporarily dismantled so the super yacht of Jeff Bezos (a record-setting 417 foot sailboat) can cruise the river that flows through Rotterdam.