Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech (formerly The Interchange)! This week, we’re looking at Robinhood’s new Gold Card, challenges in the BaaS space and how a tiny startup caught Stripe’s eye.
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The big story
Robinhood introduced its new Gold Card with exciting features like 3% cash back and the option to invest that cash back using the company’s brokerage account. Users can also deposit the cash back into Robinhood’s savings account with a 5% APY. We are eager to see how this new card will impact the company’s financials and admire how Robinhood integrated technology from its acquisition of startup X1 into this lucrative offering.
Analysis of the week
The banking-as-a-service (BaaS) industry faces challenges as startups like Synctera undergo restructurings and layoffs to conserve cash. This trend is not unique to Synctera, as other VC-backed BaaS companies such as Treasury Prime, Synapse, and Figure have faced similar situations. Additionally, the FDIC issued consent orders to Sutton Bank and Piermont Bank to enhance supervision of their fintech partners’ compliance with regulations.
Dollars and cents
PayPal Ventures made a recent investment in Qoala, an Indonesian startup offering personal insurance products. MassMutual Ventures also participated in Qoala’s $47 million funding round. Another fundraise was for New Retirement, a company developing software for retirement planning, which secured $20 million in funding. Additionally, Swedish BNPL provider Zaver closed a $10 million extension to its Series A funding round.
What else we’re writing
Learn how Supaglue, a small developer platform, caught the attention of Stripe for collaboration on real-time analytics and reporting. Meanwhile, Bolt saw a leadership change with Justin Grooms taking over as interim CEO, replacing Maju Kuruvilla.
High-interest headlines
Explore recent developments like Mercury’s challenges, RealPage and Plaid’s partnership against rental fraud, and the competitive landscape between Rippling and Deel in HR software. Delve into articles discussing Chime’s readiness for an IPO, bold claims from a fintech startup CEO, Cloverleaf’s Series A extension, and Abrigo’s acquisition of TPG Software.
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