Square Excels in Q4; Grab Sets Goal for 100,000 Loans: News Roundup
PaymentFacilitator’s News Roundup is a curated mix of the past week’s news and articles from around the web, including company announcements, global payments news, and other coverage and analysis of topics relevant to payment facilitators.
PF Quarterly Earnings
Square reports strong fourth quarter. The innovative brand leader reported a total net revenue increase of 41% at $1.31 billion, followed by a gross profit increase of 39% to $527 million and a 25% uptick in gross payment volume at $28.6 billion. “In the fourth quarter of 2019, we continued to generate strong revenue growth at scale and invested in our business to drive long-term growth. These investments are intended to further our purpose of economic empowerment in serving both businesses and individuals.” From Square.
Back in Black
Paytm reveals 3-fold-path to black. Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma reveals his three-phase path to profitability in an interview with Economic Times. According to the publication, Sharma said the first three years would revolve around “finding the right product and market fit,” the next phase being “revenue and monetization” and the last phase will revolve around “profitability and free cash flows.” From ET Rise.
Fintech Forward
PayPal argues for “major opportunity” in Australian marketplace. The global brand joined a number of other fintechs touting alternative business finance as a “key part of strategy” to forward momentum in the industry. For PayPal, this boils down more specifically to consumer and small business credit. The brand favors open banking and the introduction of a national identity framework as pathways to enable fintechs to offer these competitive credit products. From The Sydney Morning Herald.
BharatPE raises $75 million in financing round. The New-Delhi-based startup plans to use the funds to scale its business across India and help offline merchants accept digital payments. The company relies on QR codes that support the government-backed UPI payments platform to enable this type of offline digital commerce. This latest funding round values the startup at $400 million. From TechCrunch.
Big Brands Doing Big Things
Grab sets goal for 100,000 driver and merchant loans in Thailand. The financial arm of the ride-hailing super app targets its own drivers and merchants for its next phase of lending initiatives. Drivers and SMEs touting good credit scores will be eligible for the company’s financial services. A prerequisite of a 3-month relationship with the company is also required. From Bangkok Post.
PayPal India initiates expansion efforts. Set to launch its UPI-based digital payments services in the coming months, PayPal will be joining the likes of Google, Paytm, WhatsApp, PhonePe and Amazon in offering a UPI service. The global payments brand is setting its sights on food tech platforms in an effort to expand its current services. From The Hindu Business line.
Industry News
Checkout.com: Checkout.com Makes Its First Acquisition, French Startup ProcessOut
Fiserv: Small Business Can Deliver Big at Checkout with Clover Station Pro
Grab: Grab Raises Over $850 Million from Japanese Investors
Blackbaud: Blackbaud Launches Innovation Partnership with Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose
QikServe and FreedomPay Join Forces on Hospitality Payments
Infibeam Avenues: Infibeam Avenues Expands its Digital Payments Business to USA
Shopify: Shopify Joins Libra Association
VersaPay: Great Hill Partners and VersaPay Corporation Announce Closing of Acquisition