Silvergate Bank leds the news this week as the California bank focused on crypto appears to be on the brink of collapse. Also making news were Klarna with a huge annual loss, Goldman Sachs looking to seel parts of its consumer finance unit, Marqeta reported solid 2022 results and LendingTree partners with Upgrade to launch a new credit card. Here are what I consider to be the top ten fintech news stories of the past week.
Crypto industry distances itself from Silvergate as bank collapses from Yahoo News – It was a very difficult week for Silvergate Bank. They announced that their annual report would be delayed and there were doubts that the bank could continue as an ongoing concern. The crypto industry leaders all came out to say they are not involved in Silvergate anymore and then yesterday we learned that the company has suspended its crypto payments network.
Klarna’s annual loss widens to $1bn but chief’s pay jumps 35% from The Financial Times – The world’s largest BNPL provider released its annual results this week and it wasn’t pretty. The company lost around $1 billion in 2022 even as revenue increased and delinquencies fell. The CEO’s pay increased by 35% in 2022 to around $1.3 million.
David Solomon’s New Goldman Sachs Isn’t New Enough from Bloomberg – Goldman Sachs had their second investor day this week and it didn’t really go that well. There were no new initiatives to impress analysts but we did learn they are considering a sale of GreenSky and potentially other parts of their consumer finance business.
Marqeta sets sights on embedded finance in 2023 from Fintech Nexus – Marqeta reported earnings this week and 2022 was a solid year for the payment tech leader. In Q4 revenue was up 31% to $204 million and the net loss dropped by 28%. But analysts did not like the softer forecast for Q1 and so their share price plummeted.
LendingTree launches credit card with installment payment model from American Banker – LendingTree is launching a new credit card which in and of itself is not really newsworthy. But for this card, they have partnered with Upgrade on their installment payment technology. It is the first third-party credit card offering for Upgrade, which invented this type of card back in 2019.
Better Offers Vested Equity as Homebuying Collateral for Amazon Employees from Fintech Nexus – Better announced this week the launch of their Equity Unlocker with Amazon as their launch partner. What it means is that Amazon employees who have vested stock will be able to use this stock as collateral for a down payment on a home.
Visa, Mastercard pause crypto push in wake of industry meltdown from Reuters – Both the major card networks have paused some of their crypro initiatives amid the industry meltdown but clearly both companies are not abandoning crypto, this is just a pause. Amex has shown far less interest in crypto from the getgo.
As Black-Owned Banks Steadily Fade Away, Investors Step In to Form One from The Wall Street Journal – A group of investors led by Ashley Bell, a former Trump administration advisor, as well as a daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. are looking to buy a Utah community bank to create a new black-owned bank.
Former UK Fintech Darling Railsbank Close to Sale as Problems Pile Up from Bloomberg – Once prominent UK fintech Railsbank, led by Nigel Verdon, is in deep trouble and looking to sell itself though a “pre-pack administration”, a form of bankruptcy where a buyer is lined up in advance.
Crypto Companies Must Stop Poking The Regulators In The Eye With A Stick from Forbes – I have included a lot of articles in this roundup over the last several months that are critical of regulators when it comes to crypto, so wanted to include a counterpoint from an industry participant.
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