Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we look at the drama around TabaPay’s decision not to buy Synapse’s assets, as well as the decline in shares of a few fintechs, Monzo raising even more funds, and more!
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The big story
He said a lot of things, she said, pointing the finger at the fintech world last week. Instant payments company TabaPay has confirmed to TechCrunch that it has abandoned plans to buy the assets of troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse. Synapse said the problem was with its banking partner Evolve Bank & Trust. And Evolve said it was not involved and was not responsible. Meanwhile, another player in the saga, Mercury, says Synapse’s allegations have “no basis.” What really happened? Maybe one day we’ll know. But for now, we know for sure that the $9.7 million deal is off.
Analysis of the week
Despite not-too-bad earnings reports, a few fintechs saw their stocks fall last week. Digital bank Dave said it had “improved its credit performance over the past year through the use of artificial intelligence (AI),” but its stock was down more than 7.5%. on May 10. Buy now, pay later giant Affirm reported a lower-than-expected loss and its guidance beat expectations last week, but its stock fell — some say in sympathy with Shopify. Shares were trading on May 10 at $31.59, down 9.25% that day. At the same time, Nubank announced that it had officially reached the 100 million customer mark, which it said made it the first digital banking platform to achieve this milestone outside of Asia.
Dollars and cents
Monzo has raised another $190 million, as the challenger bank looks to expand its presence internationally, particularly in the United States. The new round comes just two months after Monzo raised $430 million, meaning the London-based company has now raised more than $620 million in 2024, and $1.5 billion since its inception there is nine years old.
Ben Lambert founded an AI-powered workflow tools startup, Check first, which enables remote inspections and allows companies to schedule inspectors based on geographic location and qualifications. The company has now raised a $1.5 million pre-seed round led by Lisbon-based early-stage venture capital firm Olisipo Way and solo firm GP Hiero VC. Notion Capital and angel investors from companies like Source Point, Busuu, Swogo and FaceIT also participated.
What else do we write
Digital banking startup Mercury is becoming a SaaS company, now adding software to its bank accounts. This will give its business customers the ability to pay their bills, invoice their customers and reimburse their employees, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The added features put the company in even more direct competition with Brex and Ramp, two rival fintechs that have been fighting for years for market share in an increasingly crowded space. Mercury says more than 200,000 customers send $4 billion in outbound payments each month through its platform. You can listen to the Equity team discuss it here:
Very interesting titles
Fintech Farm raises $32 million to expand its ‘neobank in a box’ model in India
As banks cut out risky fintechs, a small lender steps in
Former top executive withdraws lawsuit against Better.com and its founder. TechCrunch initially covered the trial in 2022 here.
FIS unveils Atelio integrated financial platform
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