Fintech IPO Index drops 4.7%

In the past week, the FinTech IPO Index observed a decline of 4.7%, leading to a reduction in year-to-date gains to approximately 16%. The movement in the index was influenced by the stock performances of various FinTech companies. Among them, AMTD’s shares experienced a notable 21% decrease. AMTD announced an extension of its $50 million share repurchase program, allocating a significant portion of it for October and November. Furthermore, the company completed its acquisition of the Art Newspaper, a New York-based art publication.

Another significant development in the FinTech space was Upstart’s stock, which saw a decline of 13.2%. Cross River Bank made an announcement regarding its first broadly syndicated securitisation, supported by $250 million in personal loans originated through Upstart’s platform. Similarly, Oportun’s shares dipped by 11%, as the company entered into an agreement with Castlelake, an alternative investment firm, to secure a $200 million private structured financing solution for financing personal loan originations. This transaction followed a $400 million whole loan flow sale agreement between the two companies, with Castlelake acquiring personal loan production originated by Oportun in the coming year.

XP, a notable player in the FinTech sector, disclosed that its client assets reached 1.1 trillion reals, marking a 17% year-over-year increase. Net inflow also experienced growth, totalling 48 billion reals, a 38% year-over-year rise. Active clients showed a 10% increase during the third quarter compared to the second quarter, with a 16% year-over-year growth, reaching a total of 4.4 million clients as of September. Despite this positive performance, XP’s shares slipped by 1.9%.

Additionally, BILL, which experienced a 12% decrease in its shares, introduced technology aimed at enhancing accounts payable workflows for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and accounting firms. The technology allows SMBs and accounting customers using Intuit QuickBooks Desktop software to manage purchase orders and invoices within a unified workspace. Meanwhile, Paymentus detailed its integration with MRI Software, expanding utility billing and payment capabilities for MRI clients, with a particular focus on renters. Paymentus shares lost 2.1%.

In the FinTech arena, dLocal’s shares experienced a 4.9% decline following its partnership with ACE Money Transfer, a UK-based online international remittances service provider, to extend payout services across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions. Furthermore, Etsy announced its collaboration with Payoneer to enable more sellers to receive payments in their local currencies. Etsy’s Payments service was expanded to sellers in Thailand and Ukraine, with plans to include Japan, Chile, Argentina, Peru, and India (for export sales only) in the near future.

Finally, Riskified, a player in risk protection in the FinTech space, witnessed a 0.7% decrease in its shares. The company partnered with Plaid to enhance risk protection for ACH bank payments, focusing on fraud prevention and the reduction of the risk of insufficient funds. This collaboration leverages Plaid’s Signal offering, which provides new data attributes for assessing transaction return risk related to ACH payments.