Lessons FinTechs can learn from Spotify going into audiobooks 🧠; The upcoming recession should heat up FinTech M&As🔥; Amazon launches PNGL, or Pay Now, Get Later 📦

FinTech is Eating the World, 22 September

Hey Everyone,

And happy Thursday! Today’s issue is undoubted the most interesting one this week so far. We’re looking at the lessons FinTechs can learn from Spotify going into audiobooks (you will be surprised + 3 bonus reads), the upcoming recession should heat up FinTech M&As (& why the rest of the year will be entirely different); Amazon launches PNGL, or Pay Now, Get Later (why it’s brilliant & how Amazon continues to unbundle the bank). Let’s jump straight into the exciting stuff:

Lessons FinTechs can learn from Spotify going into audiobooks 🧠

The launch 🚀 Music and podcasting giant Spotify SPOT 0.00%↑ just launched an audiobook service to US users.

More on this 👉 The catalog has 300,000+ titles from independent authors and major publishers like Penguin Random House. Here’s how it works:

• Spotify users can buy audiobooks a la carte, instead of through a monthly subscription like what Audible offers.

• Inconveniently, you can't download books through the app (only on the web). This is how Spotify is avoiding the 30% "App tax."

• It teased the possibility of a freemium model, which would add free, ad-supported audiobooks to the service.

• Amateurs will be able to upload audiobooks to Spotify, too.

• Eventually, Spotify wants to curate audiobooks the same way its algorithms recommend tunes based on your listening habits.

What the FinTech? 🤔 While Spotify is an audio streaming and media company that seemingly has nothing to do with Financial Technologies, their foray into audiobooks gives 3 lessons FinTechs should be aware of. Here’s the takeaway (you will be surprised + 3 bonus reads):