Chime IPO Tests Market Appetite for FinTech Investment
Weekly news up to Monday, 19th of May 2025
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Chime's initial public offering, filed this week, is likely to test the waters for other fintechs considering going public within the next year.
"We are excited to see Chime tap the public markets at a pivotal moment after weathering the capital markets deep freeze that has paralyzed fintech IPOs," Pitchbook senior analyst Rudy Yang said. "The timing is undoubtedly bold, but it is a strategic play that balances opportunity with calculated risk. A strong reception may help catalyze a long-awaited revival in fintech liquidity."
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Chime’s Approach to Payday Lending Is Costly.
⭐️ Iceland's Arion Bank upgrades payments infrastructure with Volante.
⭐️ Revolut adds travel cover for Premium, Metal users.
⭐️ Wizink will start taking deposits in Portugal.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
UK 🇬🇧
Zopa raises £80 million in AT1 capital with LSE bond listing. The funds will be used to strengthen Zopa’s balance sheet without diluting shareholders, as the company prepares to enter everyday banking with the imminent launch of its flagship bank account.
Monzo launches new bank app feature that lets customers undo payments. The feature will help to reverse a payment if there was a mistake with the amount sent, the recipient, or the decision to send the payment in the first place. By default, users are given 15 seconds to undo a payment, but this can be adjusted to 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 60 seconds.
Bank of London investigated by UK regulator as auditor warns of ‘material uncertainty’. Auditor EY said the FinTech had experienced “several adverse events requiring significant attention” after a torrid year that has put its governance and finances under heavy scrutiny.
Allica Bank connects customers with QuickBooks. The integration builds on Allica’s mission to transform business banking for established SMEs, a sector often overlooked by high street banks. It will also enable businesses and their accountants to reduce admin, increase accuracy, and make quicker decisions.
Starling Bank aims to achieve “greater collaboration” as staff resign over the office work move. Staff have resigned from the UK digital bank after its new Chief Executive demanded thousands of workers attend its offices more frequently despite the lack of space to host them.
StanChart-Backed Algbra to help Gatehouse with UK accounts. The partnership will allow for faster onboarding, seamless verification, and a smoother property purchase journey for international homebuyers and will provide access to Islamic finance products.
TransferGo teams up with Griffin for GBP wallets and savings as it launches multi-currency business accounts. This partnership allows TransferGo to leverage Griffin’s safeguarding infrastructure for its GBP wallets and offer savings accounts with competitive interest rates to UK businesses.
Revolut opens a branch in Greece and will offer a Greek IBAN. Greek IBAN will allow it to provide more services, such as payroll accounts and broader credit provision. This move comes as a result of the high penetration that Revolut already has in the Greek market. Meanwhile, Revolut adds travel cover for Premium and Metal users. The service will be available to new and existing Premium and Metal customers. They will gain access to travel insurance benefits.
Lloyds Banking Group selects Moneyhub as data enrichment partner. This will support customers to understand what they spend their money on, and improve their personalised digital banking experiences. Moneyhub’s technology will categorise all of the bank’s transactions for both income and expenditure.
EUROPE 🇪🇺
Swedish regulators fine Swedbank for security shortcomings. Swedbank has been fined SEK 12.5 million for violations of the protective security regulation. The decision concerns documentation shortcomings in the bank’s protective security analyses.
Irish people are global frontrunners for digital bank adoption. A strong majority of 62% have remained with their main bank for at least seven years, but 81% now engage with multiple banking providers, one of the highest proportions in Europe.
CaixaBank and BBVA process the first requests to pay between banks in Europe. BBVA and CaixaBank claim it will transform how citizens and companies manage their payments in Europe, providing a safe and efficient digital alternative for B2B invoicing, such as paying taxes and public sector charges.
USA 🇺🇸
Chime Enterprise launches PayTV™, providing a purpose-built, real-time employee pay visibility solution for payroll. PayTV offers users visibility and predictive insights into their employees' payment status, eliminating the black box that's traditionally kept payroll teams in the dark and helping prevent potentially costly payroll errors.
Greenlight introduces Family Shield Plan. This first-of-its-kind product streamlines financial account monitoring and alerts, provides protections against fraud, identity theft, and money management errors, and offers remote features to help ensure senior safety.
Brex receives bond rating upgrade to AAA from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, achieving the highest possible rating. The AAA rating unlocks substantial benefits for Brex, including optimizing its cost financing and improving the liquidity of its securitization shelf, ensuring greater financial flexibility and stability.
PayPal Crypto Head says banks are needed to unlock full stablecoin potential. Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Digital Currencies, remarks came amid efforts to bring regulatory clarity for digital assets in the U.S., with lawmakers inching closer to passing stablecoin legislation that could redefine the market and allow banks to enter the space.
Step launches modern mobile plans to empower Gen Z’s independence and financial growth starting at $15 a month. Step Mobile customers will enjoy a premium experience and the fastest speeds available, providing a network equipped for Gen Z data usage on a budget they can afford.
LATAM
PagBank increases quarterly profit and announces first dividend distribution. The bank reported a record net income of R$631 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, marking a 21% year-over-year increase and surpassing analysts' expectations.
Nu Holdings Ltd. reports first quarter 2025 financial results. Nubank reached 118.6 million customers, adding over 4 million in a single quarter. This growth is driven by deepening customer engagement: 98.7 million monthly active users and an activity rate exceeding 83%.
Klar will now enter the SME segment. Klar's founder comments that from the beginning of operations, they always believed that regulation was key and part of the secret recipe for continued growth, and that's why, now as a significant company as a Sofipo, they decided to seek a banking license.
ASIA
Silverlake and Huawei Cloud to develop AI-driven core banking platform. The partnership aims to streamline banking operations, strengthen cybersecurity, and support digital transformation efforts across the financial sector. It will serve as an enterprise software partner, offering customised solutions powered by Huawei’s technology stack.
Crypto platform FalconX partners with Standard Chartered. FalconX will leverage Standard Chartered's banking and foreign exchange services, including its access to a wide range of currencies, to support its institutional clients.
Swiss Online Bank Alpian deep in the red. Despite strong growth, the operating result remained negative: the loss increased to CHF 29,2 million, up from CHF 23,0 million a year earlier. Continue reading
Wio Bank PJSC announces H.E. Mansour AlMulla as new Chairman and Board appointments. These appointments will help to further accelerate Wio Bank’s growth trajectory, whilst ensuring the bank continues to drive long-term value for its stakeholders, and contribute meaningfully to the UAE’s digital economy.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Adrian McPhee named CTO at Backbase amid AI platform rollout. McPhee, a technology and data executive with experience in scaling global technology organisations, joins as the company seeks to accelerate its strategy focused on AI in banking, following the recent launch of its AI-powered banking platform.