Revolut aims to shake up the POS market with the Revolut Terminal launch 😳💳; Growth of stablecoins 🪙📈; Klarna's £30B boost: BNPL giant teams up with Elliott to fuel global growth 🤝💰
You're missing out big time... Weekly Recap 🔁
👋 Hey, Linas here! Welcome back to a 🔓 weekly free edition 🔓 of my daily newsletter. Each day I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it’s the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech.
If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this week:
The Startup Growth Toolkit: Top 5 Resources to Scale Your Business to New Heights 🚀 [unlock the secrets to startup success with these essential resources]
Top resources for building and scaling billion-dollar startups 🦄 [600+ pages of knowledge and advice to launch & scale your next unicorn in 2024]
Apple Pay embraces Klarna 🤝💳 [why it matters & what’s next + lots of bonus deep dives into Apple Finance, Apple Intelligence & Klarna]
American Express continues charging ahead in the battle for high-end cardholders 😤💳 [unpacking the most important numbers, what they mean, what’s next & whether AmEx is worth your time and money in 2024 & beyond]
Morgan Stanley's resilience shines amidst market volatility 👏📈 [breaking down the latest Q3 2024 financials, what they tell us & what’s next + bonus deep dives into other financials behemoths inside]
Goldman Sachs firing on all cylinders as investment banking prowess shines 😤💸 [unpacking the most important numbers, what they mean, and whether Goldman is worth your time & money in 2024 + more bonus reads & deep dives inside]
Citi's transformation: high-risk, high-reward bet on banking turnaround 🏦 [unpacking Citibank’s most important Q3 2024 numbers, what they mean & whether Citi is worth your time and money in 2024 + bonus deep dives into other financials giants]
Discover Financial: undervalued gem or value trap in a weakening credit cycle? 🤔💎 [breaking down their latest Q3 2024 financials, what they mean & what investors should be paying close attention to]
Bank of America’s 3Q24: a resilient giant poised for growth 📈 [breaking down the most important numbers, what they mean & what’s next for BoA]
State Street’s Q3 2024: a custody titan navigating choppy waters with alpha-bet on technology 🏦💰 [breaking down their Q3 2024 financials, what they mean & what can we expect next]
Wells Fargo’s Q3 2024: weathering the storm, but clearer skies ahead? 🌤️🏦 [a closer look at their Q3 2024 numbers, what they mean & what’s next + bonus deep dives into two other finance behemoths]
As for today, here are the 3 remarkable FinTech stories that were transforming the world of financial technology as we know it. This was one of the wildest and most interesting weeks in 2024 so far, so make sure to check all the above stories.
Revolut aims to shake up the POS market with the Revolut Terminal launch 😳💳
The news 🗞️ FinTech giant Revolut is making waves in the point-of-sale (POS) market by launching its new Revolut Terminal in the UK and Ireland.
This latest offering from the FinTeh heavyweight, designed for speed and reliability, aims to meet the growing demand for efficient payment solutions, particularly as businesses gear up for the busy holiday shopping season.
Let’s take a quick look at this, see what it’s all about, and why it matters.
More on this 👉 The Revolut Terminal boasts features like integrated WiFi and SIM connections, all-day battery life, and a promised 99.9% platform uptime. This robust performance is crucial for merchants looking to avoid costly downtime during peak sales periods like Black Friday.
Unsurprisingly, the device seamlessly integrates with Revolut Business accounts, providing quick access to funds and advanced analytics tools. This is a win.
A standout yet not too surprising feature is the integration of Revolut Pay, allowing customers to make payments directly from their Revolut app.
This not only streamlines the payment process (real-time & account-to-account) but also offers customers the chance to earn and redeem loyalty points (RevPoints) while providing merchants with lower transaction fees of 0.5% plus £0.02 per transaction. This could be a strong argument when trying to get merchants from Adyen or Square 👀
Zoom out 🔎 The launch of Revolut Terminal comes at a strategic time for the company, which now boasts over 45 million global users and 10 million UK retail customers.
More importantly, Revolut Business has seen impressive growth, surpassing $500 million in annualized global revenue and onboarding more than 20,000 new business customers monthly. The company has already processed payments with more than 65,000 merchants over the last year, with the volume of in-person transactions quadrupling during this period. Not too shabby!
Zooming out, Revolut's entry into the larger business POS market builds on its existing offerings for smaller businesses and freelancers, which include a card reader and iPhone tap-to-pay solutions. Yet, this specific move positions the company to compete more directly with established POS providers like Square SQ 0.00%↑ SumUp, and Dojo, as well as traditional banking services.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 Looking ahead, Revolut's expansion more aggressively into the POS market for larger businesses signals an interesting shift in the FinTech landscape. At the core of it, it’s Revolut’s ability to leverage its massive user base, which gives the FinTech giant a unique advantage. There is no acquirer or POS player in Europe that will be able to offer merchants not only POS acquiring but also the ability to market their goods or services to 45M+ people. In other words, Revolut is doing the European version of Square here 👀 Looking at the big picture, this move yet again suggests that the future of finance will increasingly blend digital and physical payment solutions, tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses of all sizes. As Revolut and other FinTechs continue to challenge traditional banking and payment processing models, we can expect to see further innovation in integrated financial services that span both online and offline transactions. Omnichannel is the way to go.
ICYMI:
Growth of stablecoins 🪙📈
Why stables? 🤔 First and foremost, the growing interest in stablecoins comes as these digital assets increasingly outpace Bitcoin as a store of value in developing countries with high inflation.
At the core, stables offer the benefits of cryptocurrency – such as fast, low-cost transfers – without the extreme price volatility associated with other digital assets.
So here comes the potential M&A. Let’s take a quick look at this.
The BIG (potential) news 🗞️ In a move that could reshape the landscape of digital payments forever, FinTech giant Stripe is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire a stablecoin-focused platform.
If the rumors are true, this could be Stripe’s biggest acquisition to date 😳
More on this 👉 We must note that Stripe's interest comes as the payments company renews its focus on stablecoins and cryptocurrency. After a six-year hiatus from processing digital tokens, Stripe launched a stablecoin/crypto on-ramp, launched stablecoin payouts, and reintroduced crypto payments for U.S. businesses, allowing transactions in Circle's USDC stablecoin across multiple blockchain networks.
The company has also partnered with major crypto platforms including Coinbase COIN 0.00%↑ to act as their acquiring partner in over 150 countries.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 First and foremost, we can once again repeat that stables are here to stay. Period. Looking ahead, this potential M&A could have far-reaching implications for the FinTech and finance industries. It may further accelerate the adoption of stablecoins in everyday transactions, potentially revolutionizing cross-border payments and remittances. In fact, it’s already happening. Based on public information, there was $17.6T of stablecoin transaction volume in H1 2025 stablecoin (source) vs. $8.7T in Visa V 0.00%↑ transaction volumes (source). Note that this volume is accelerating with $1.7T in the last 30 days.
Zero Hash also conducted a report on freelancers (note that there are over 1 billion freelancers) that showed that in regions including Argentina and UAE, these persons would prefer to be paid in stables.
ICYMI:
Disclaimer: I’m a part of Zero Hash.
Klarna's £30 billion boost: BNPL giant teams up with Elliott to fuel global growth 🤝💰
The news 🗞️ Swedish FinTech giant Klarna has entered into a strategic agreement with US hedge fund Elliott, offloading a significant portion of its UK Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) loan portfolio.
This deal is set to free up £30 billion in capital, providing Klarna with substantial resources to fuel its global expansion plans, particularly in the United States.
Let’s take a quick look at this and see why it matters.
More on this 👉 Under the agreement, Klarna will continue to underwrite loans and manage customer service, while Elliott assumes the risks and returns associated with the BNPL portfolio. The arrangement involves creating a special-purpose vehicle to purchase UK receivables, with Elliott's subsidiary as the sole equity investor.
This move comes as Klarna prepares for a highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in New York, expected as soon as 2025. The company has been actively seeking ways to maintain rapid growth while managing its capital ratios.
Klarna's focus on US expansion has led to partnerships with major players like Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ and Uber Eats UBER 0.00%↑ .
Zoom out 🔎 We must note that the deal with Elliott is not Klarna's first risk transfer arrangement, as the company previously executed a similar transaction for its German loan book. And that’s exactly why Klarna has spent the past three years developing a capital offloading platform aimed at institutional investors.
At the core, this unique deal is designed to support the company's global growth ambitions by allowing more effective deployment of shareholder equity to meet the growing demand for Klarna's products and services worldwide.
✈️ THE TAKEAWAY
What’s next? 🤔 First and foremost, Klarna's deal with Elliott is all about the strategic pivot that could redefine the company's growth trajectory and have a significantly positive impact on the FinTech giant’s upcoming IPO. With increased financial flexibility it should boost the company's valuation and investor interest. In turn, that could also lead to increased competition in the US BNPL market, thus bringing consumers more innovative products and competitive pricing. Looking ahead, this deal also potentially signals the evolution of FinTech business models, with more firms likely adopting hybrid approaches that combine traditional banking practices with innovative financial engineering. That said, I’m pretty sure now that 2025 will be an interesting year of FinTech IPOs 😎
🔎 What else I’m watching
Zopa Partners with John Lewis for Personal Loans 💼🏦 Zopa Bank has partnered with high street retailer John Lewis to offer personal loans to its 23 million customers. The integration will allow customers to receive a personalized loan quote within three minutes and funds within two hours via the John Lewis Money website. Loans will range from £1,000 to £35,000 with terms from one to seven years. Zopa Bank, which serves 1.3 million customers with various financial products, has previously partnered with businesses like Simba, Emma, Swyft, and Octopus Energy. ICYMI: Another one: Worldline dives into Embedded Finance as well 👀💳 [what it’s all about, why it matters & what’s next + bonus dives into HSBC & a deep dive into Worldline’s latest financials]
Securitize Launches USDC Conversions for BlackRock's Digital Liquidity Fund 💱🔄 Securitize has introduced conversions between Circle's stablecoin USDC and U.S. dollars for BlackRock's BLK 0.00%↑ USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). This integration aims to reduce investment costs and streamline the subscription process for traditional finance players. Securitize issues BUIDL tokens on the Ethereum blockchain in collaboration with BlackRock. Zero Hash will facilitate the conversions between dollars and digital assets. The service allows digital asset companies to remain on-chain throughout the investment lifecycle, enabling near-instantaneous and transparent settlements. The offering is designed to accelerate investments into BUIDL, which is valued at around $550M and is one of the largest tokenized treasury funds. The move comes amid the growing popularity of tokenized real-world asset funds, following the SEC's approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. BUIDL allows institutional investors to earn yields on U.S. dollars by purchasing tokenized shares representing secure assets like U.S. Treasury bills. ICYMI: BlackRock’s Q3 2024: ETF titan transforms into alternatives powerhouse 😳📈 [a quick recap of BlackRock’s latest financials & what they tell us + some more bonus reads inside] Disclaimer: I’m part of Zero Hash.
Mastercard Pilots Enhanced ID Verification in Europe 🆔🔒 Mastercard MA 0.00%↑ is launching a pilot of its Identity Attribute Verification service in Europe, enabling issuers to verify detailed personal information about cardholders without the need for document uploads like photo ID or proof of residency. The service, based on new EMVCo standards, will allow verification of additional details such as age, date of birth, and address, enhancing the security and accuracy of digital transactions. The pilot aims to address the growing need for secure digital verification and will expand to more European markets within the next year. ICYMI: Mastercard doesn’t stop: acquires subscription management FinTech 😤💳 [why it matters & what’s next + bonus deep dives into Mastercard & Visa]
💸 Following the Money
Health InsurTech startup Qantev raises €30M to outperform LLMs with small AI models.
20VC closes new $400M fund to ‘make Europe great again’.
African crypto startup Yellow Card raises $33M led by Blockchain Capital to scale its B2B pivot.
👋 That’s it for today! Thank you for reading and have a relaxing Sunday! And if you enjoyed this newsletter, invite your friends and colleagues to sign up:
Brilliant read as always, but I really like the stables writeup - thank you!