Klarna Eyes $13B IPO Valuation
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Sweden’s Klarna is back on the IPO track. This time it's targeting a $12.6B to $13.4B pre-money valuation, with shares expected to price between $34 to $36. Reports suggest the BNPL giant could hit the New York Stock Exchange as early as September.
The company first filed in March, aiming to raise at least a $1B at a $15B+ valuation, but shelved plans after Trump’s tariff turmoil in April rattled markets. Now, Klarna is positioning itself not just as a BNPL leader but as a consumer neobank.
Full scoop below on Klarna's IPO plans plus more of today’s big FinTech moves 👇
See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
🌍 How unified platforms can power MENA’s FinTech leap. The unification ‘platform moment’ unlocks new ecosystem possibilities: banks, FinTechs, and even non-financial partners can launch new digital products in previously unthinkable timeframes. Financial infrastructure here is a set of pluggable components.
FINTECH NEWS
🇺🇸 Revolut has transit fares covered for thousands of new customers across New York City. Revolut is launching an initiative to help thousands of New Yorkers explore the city with ease this summer. New customers will receive 100% cashback on up to five single tap-to-pay local MTA rides paid for with their Revolut card.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇺🇸 Global credit card security protection to end loss? AI unicorn PayX, a subsidiary of World TradeX, claims it can make losses vanish. PayX says it has cracked what banks and credit card giants have spent decades and billions trying to solve: credit fraud.
🇺🇸 Zil Money adds AI-powered virtual card features. These features are designed to provide businesses with real-time insights and complete control over their expenses. Businesses can now automatically track spending, with detailed breakdowns by category, merchant, and more, offering unparalleled visibility into financial transactions.
🇨🇦 Payments Canada prepares PSPs for Real-Time Rail participation with a new guide. The guide outlines the process for becoming a Payments Canada member and RTR participant, along with the technical, operational, and business requirements to participate. With real-time settlement, PSPs can eliminate credit risk between participants, freeing liquidity and strengthening financial stability.
REGTECH NEWS
🇳🇱 Dutch online bank Bunq fined for failures in money laundering controls. DNB said Bunq was fined in May for "serious shortcomings" in four cases between January 2021 and May 2022, in which it had failed to properly investigate and report signs of possible financial crimes.
🇺🇸 Verisk unveils new claimsearch tools to detect digital commerce and locate assets in insurance investigations in alliance with Legentic. Digital Commerce Detector can help insurers automate the identification of suspicious activity on online marketplaces tied to stolen or total loss assets.
🇺🇸 Regtech market size to reach USD 70.8 billion by 2033 with a 18.0% CAGR. The RegTech market is experiencing rapid growth, driven by increasing regulatory complexities and compliance costs, rising incidence of financial crime and fraud, and government support and industry collaborations.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank warns customers of imminent online banking access restrictions. The move comes as part of Deutsche Bank’s ongoing digital transformation, aiming to replace outdated and vulnerable methods with modern, more secure solutions. For customers who still rely on the traditional mobile TAN procedure, time is running out.
🇲🇾 Ryt Bank debuts as Malaysia’s first AI-powered digital bank. It can carry out tasks such as bill payments, fund transfers, and spending insights through natural conversation in Bahasa Malaysia, English, and Manglish. Mandarin support is expected to be added by September, but that is only for the app and not Ryt AI.
🇷🇴 Addiko Bank ventures into Romania’s digital banking sector. Addiko Bank aims to stand out by providing a completely digital service that addresses the financial needs of customers. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Diebold Nixdorf unveils branch automation suite. The new Branch Automation Solutions portfolio is an expanded services suite, designed to help financial institutions (FIs) improve efficiency in their physical channels, while delivering a seamless, omnichannel consumer experience.
🇺🇸 Wells Fargo adds alternative investments to Unified Managed Account program with InvestCloud. This move demonstrates WIM’s market leadership to make this option available at scale and provides both advisors and clients with greater choice and convenience by allowing more investment types in a single account.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 Ripple CTO teases big XRP community update for next week. This update follows days of consistent testing, indicating that a key infrastructure milestone could be reached soon. Its goal is to improve the connectivity of key XRPL nodes, ensuring more reliable performance across the network.
🌎 OKX launches $100 million ecosystem fund to accelerate X layer development. The X Layer is designed to support developers, builders, and innovators building on its X Layer blockchain. The initiative will provide financial backing to a wide range of projects, with particular focus on decentralized applications, infrastructure tools, and Web3 services that can expand the utility of X Layer.
🇦🇺 ACY Securities launches instant crypto withdrawals. The new feature allows eligible accounts to send approved withdrawals directly to a crypto wallet, streamlining payouts and reducing delays. Keep reading
🇺🇸 Galaxy, Jump, and Multicoin seek $1 billion for buying Solana. The three firms aim to create a digital asset treasury company by taking over an unidentified publicly traded entity, with Cantor Fitzgerald LP as lead banker for the deal. A deal would bring together three of crypto’s biggest names, wielding a reserve more than double the size of the biggest existing one focused on Solana.
🇺🇸 OCBC establishes US$1 billion digital US commercial paper programme based on blockchain. OCBC seeks to “bolster liquidity resilience” amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty through this move, with the programme offering an alternative channel to tap the US$1.4 trillion USCP market to quickly raise USD.
🇺🇸 Webull announces return of cryptocurrency trading for its US clients. With this update, users can now manage their Webull Pay accounts directly within the Webull app, making it more streamlined to open an account and trade crypto all in one place.
PARTNERSHIPS
🌎 Bitso Business and BVNK team on faster payments across Europe and Latin America. BVNK is trusting Bitso Business's local payment infrastructure to enable its clients to make payouts in Latin America. And Bitso Business is leveraging BVNK’s platform to allow companies worldwide to make seamless international transfers, powered by stablecoins.
🇯🇵 SBI Group and Chainlink partner to accelerate institutional digital asset adoption. This strategic collaboration combines SBI’s deep market expertise with Chainlink’s secure and reliable infrastructure for data and interoperability, used by leading financial institutions and DeFi applications worldwide.
🇦🇪 UAE Central Bank launches AI initiative with HSBC and local banks. The collaboration aims to enhance operational efficiency, strengthen cybersecurity, and improve customer experience through both traditional and generative AI technologies.
🇦🇪 American Express Card payments are now accepted at Skiply. The partnership aims to provide American Express Card Members with a seamless and secure solution for managing school-related payments in over 400 educational merchants, including schools in the United Arab Emirates.
🇩🇪 ING Germany joins Wero. The initiative will allow clients to send and receive money directly from one bank account to another, through the process of leveraging just a phone number. This will take place with no need for IBANs or third-party providers, making it simple to split a bill, send a gift, or settle up.
🇺🇸 State Street launches on J.P. Morgan’s digital debt platform. The collaboration enables State Street to offer custody services for debt securities that are issued, settled, and serviced using blockchain technology. Keep reading
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇸🇦 Holo secures $22 million Series A to expand digital mortgage solutions across GCC. The new capital will accelerate Holo’s expansion in Saudi Arabia and across the GCC, scale its product and engineering teams, and strengthen partnerships to meet the region’s rising demand for digital homeownership services.
🇲🇾 Cashku’s RM10 million round signals new era in Malaysian digital financial planning. The investment will enable Cashku to enhance its unified platform, allowing Malaysians to consolidate unit trust portfolios, managed funds, and retirement plans.
🇮🇩 Pintarnya raises $16.7M to power jobs and financial services in Indonesia. The new funding will enable Pintarnya to strengthen its platform technology and broaden its financial service offerings through strategic partnerships. Continue reading
🇪🇪 Estonian Creem raises €1.8M. With the new investment, Creem intends to expand into new markets, enhance its compliance capabilities, and improve its API for developers to introduce programmable financial processes in the next year and a half.
🇮🇳 CredRight raises $10 Mn in Series B led by Abler Nordic. The new proceeds will be used to expand CredRight’s loan book, strengthen its technology platform, and deepen its reach across tier-II to tier-IV markets. Read more
🇸🇪 Klarna is seeking a $13bn pre-money valuation. The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is looking to price its shares at between $34 and $36 each in its planned IPO, according to local media Breakit. The calculations are based on Klarna’s 371 million existing shares.
🇸🇦 Blomal Capital secures pre-seed funding from Falak. By supporting Blomal, Falak aims to strengthen the Kingdom’s digital investment infrastructure and enable innovative solutions to meet the needs of regional investors and institutions. Keep reading
M&A
🇺🇿 TBC Bank Group acquires majority stake in OLX Uzbekistan. The acquisition, from OLX Group, marks one of Uzbekistan’s most significant M&A transactions in three decades. OLX Uzbekistan has 5.4 million monthly active users and 2.2 million active listings across services, goods, vehicles, and real estate, reaching more than 20% of the country’s internet users, per the announcement.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Peter De Caluwe returns as CEO of Thunes during strong growth and profitable expansion. Thunes secures operational licenses across all 50 US states, supporting ambitious expansion plans. Acquisition of Tilia strengthens Thunes’ presence in US gaming and creator economy payments.
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