CORE BANKING
Rev, Searchlight Capital and Netspend | August 08, 2022
Rêv Worldwide, Inc., an international fintech company, and Global Payments, a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions, announced that Rêv, in partnership with funds advised by Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Netspend consumer business from Global Payments in an all cash transaction valued at $1 billion. The acquisition brings back Netspend’s founders, Roy and Bertrand Sosa, who also founded Rêv. The Sosa brothers look to leverage the strategic assets of the two entities to build a global, high growth company that delivers on a mission of financial empowerment and product innovation.
For Searchlight, this transaction represents another exciting partnership with dynamic fintech entrepreneurs while also being able to support growth and innovation for consumer financial services to underserved markets. With this sale, Global Payments delivers on its commitment to divest itself from Netspend’s consumer business, allowing the company to focus on its core B2B operations and growth opportunities with Rêv as a partner.
Since the Sosas founded Netspend in 1999, the company’s consumer business has developed into a clear industry leader in the prepaid and debit card space serving millions of customers nationwide, processing hundreds of billions of dollars of cardholder purchases, and established the largest retail partner network with over 130,000 locations nationwide where consumers can load their prepaid and debit card products. Netspend’s consumer products are also available online via direct-to-consumer mobile and web channels.
“We’ve gone full circle, launching programs with partners around the globe in our journey to provide innovative financial services to underserved mass markets. We are very excited by the opportunity to partner with the Netspend consumer team and Searchlight as we deliver new products, expand into new markets and add more value to customers across the world,”
- Roy Sosa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rêv
Christopher Cruz, Partner, Searchlight, added “The characteristics of this investment are rare to find. Combining an industry leading operation in Netspend’s consumer business with modern platform technology and digitally native solutions from Rêv unlocks great growth potential by meeting the needs of a significant and sizable market. We look forward to partnering with Roy, Bertrand, and the Rêv team as they continue their mission to financially empower underserved consumers through fintech innovation.”
According to a recent industry report, the global market for Prepaid Cards, estimated at US$1.6 Trillion in the year 2020, is projected to reach US$2.7 Trillion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.6% over the analysis period.
Leveraging its proprietary multi-currency payments and loyalty product platform, Rêv provides mobile-first payment solutions and offers banking-as-a-service capabilities for partners around the world, such as Etihad Airways, Itaú Private Bank, LATAM Airlines; as well as direct-to-consumer branded products owned and managed by Rêv, such as the recently launched X World Wallet currently available in the U.S.
For Bertrand Sosa, President of Rêv, “The market opportunity for Netspend’s consumer business has always been massive, as evidenced by the history of growth the company has experienced. Now we have a chance to expand upon it globally by leveraging unique synergies we bring along with our entrepreneurial spirit.”
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023 subject to relevant regulatory approvals, and customary closing conditions.
Jefferies LLC is serving as lead financial advisor, and Nomura Securities International, Inc. is serving as financial advisor to Rêv. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is representing Searchlight, Gunderson Dettmer is advising Rêv.
Evercore is serving as financial advisor to Global Payments, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is representing Global Payments in the transaction.
About Rêv
Rêv is a fintech company, founded by prepaid debit industry pioneers Roy and Bertrand Sosa, dedicated to delivering innovative payment experiences to consumers worldwide. Its solutions are powered by the company’s proprietary multi-currency and multi-language payments processing platform. With vast experience pioneering a number of payment industry firsts, Rêv is focused on the international banking & travel sectors. Rêv has partnered with companies across the globe to launch products in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
About Searchlight
Searchlight is a global private investment firm with over $10 billion in assets under management and offices in New York, London and Toronto. Searchlight seeks to invest in businesses where its long-term capital and strategic support accelerate value creation for all stakeholders.
About Netspend
Netspend is a leading provider of payments and financial solutions for consumers and businesses. From prepaid and debit card solutions to digital account and money movement services, Netspend has a broad suite of products and technologies that deliver exceptional experiences for its customers and business partners.
About Global Payments
Global Payments Inc. is a leading payments technology company delivering innovative software and services to customers globally. Our technologies, services and team member expertise allow us to provide a broad range of solutions that enable our customers to operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of channels around the world.
Headquartered in Georgia with approximately 25,000 team members worldwide, Global Payments is a Fortune 500® company and a member of the S&P 500 with worldwide reach spanning over 170 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
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PAYMENTS
Huntington | May 16, 2022
Huntington National Bank, a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares, Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN) announced today it has acquired Digital Payments Torana, Inc. (Torana), a business-to-consumer payments fintech based in San Francisco. Torana's digital payments solution, which will launch as Huntington ChoicePay, will further enhance Huntington's digital capabilities and advance Huntington's enterprise payments strategy.
Torana's payment solution is a software as a service (SaaS) model built in the cloud and will enable Huntington and its clients to distribute digital payments to a variety of end users.
Torana's acquisition aligns with our enterprise payments strategy of servicing clients across businesses of all sizes and enables us to maintain a leadership position within our commercial banking segment and further develop additional scale in verticals such as healthcare, public sector, insurance and Huntington's National Settlements business, Huntington ChoicePay technology enhances our commitment to delivering differentiated, automated experiences through best-in-class digital tools, and it aligns extremely well with our digital innovation roadmap.
Scott Kleinman, co-president of Huntington Commercial Banking.
This payment solution will increase engagement with our business and commercial clients because of its ability to rapidly distribute payments to end consumers who are increasingly seeking a faster and broader range of payments options – all critical drivers of customer satisfaction.
Kleinman.
About Huntington
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN) is a $177 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1866, The Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumers, small and middle‐market businesses, corporations, municipalities, and other organizations with a comprehensive suite of banking, payments, wealth management, and risk management products and services. Huntington operates more than 1,000 branches in 11 states, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies.
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FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
BitGo | June 09, 2022
FlyCoin, Inc., a cryptocurrency-based travel rewards technology company, announces today their partnership with BitGo, the industry's gold standard for custody and security solutions. FlyCoin will hold a significant portion of the company's minted cryptocurrency token, FLY in BitGo's US Qualified Custody Solution. The announcement comes on the heels of Flycoin's $33M seed funding earlier this year.
"As we continue to grow Flycoin's ecosystem of partners and end-users, it is critical that we properly safeguard these digital assets. BitGo's reputation and credibility as a global leader in digital asset cryptocurrency are unmatched, and a key factor in our decision to partner with them in this capacity," stated Lenny Moon, Flycoin's CEO.
Custodians of crypto assets play an essential role in storing and securing digital assets, while also interacting directly with brokers and exchanges to facilitate transactions for institutional and individual stakeholders. BitGo's global reach , and other platform services in addition to providing qualified custody, align well with Flycoin's focus on scaling its rewards platform offerings globally.
"I am very pleased to work closely with the FlyCoin team and for BitGo to be a trusted partner in their journey to revolutionize the travel rewards industry through the use of blockchain technology" said Kai Kono, Managing Director, Global Head of Digital Asset Sales, BitGo.
Flycoin's partnership with BitGo will go a long way toward further enhancing their portfolio of partners. Last month, the company announced major crypto heavyweights Lisa Nestor and Rena Shah as strategic members of their advisory team. Other Flycoin partners include ThanksAgain, and Ravn Alaska Airlines.
About BitGo
BitGo is the leader in digital asset financial services, providing institutional investors with custody, liquidity, and security solutions. Active in both centralized and decentralized finance, BitGo offers market leading trading, lending, and borrowing services through its prime brokerage services and acts as the custodian for WBTC, the leading global stablecoin for Bitcoin. In 2020, BitGo launched BitGo Portfolio and Tax, providing clients with a full-stack solution for digital assets. In 2018, it launched BitGo Trust Company, the first qualified custodian purpose-built for storing digital assets. BitGo processes approximately 20% of all global Bitcoin transactions, and supports over 500 coins and tokens. BitGo's customer base includes the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and institutional investors and spans more than 50 countries. BitGo is backed by Goldman Sachs, Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, DRW, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners.
About FlyCoin, Inc.
FlyCoin represents the evolution of loyalty programs. FlyCoin's revolutionary technology infrastructure provides companies in the consumer loyalty space - including travel and hospitality, insurance and benefits, financial services, and more, with a powerful, turnkey solution to incentivize users in a more customer-centric way. Users can earn FlyCoin's newly minted token, FLY, reward doesn't expire, is easily transferable, and has an abundance of redemption options.
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PAYMENTS
Wirex | May 18, 2022
The Wirex Wallet, hailed as the world's first mass-market non-custodial wallet, has expanded its next generation features and functionality. Users globally can now add NFTs to their wallet, purchase crypto directly on multiple blockchains, and pay via Apple and Google Pay. Customers in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Portugal will also benefit from new alternative payment methods.
Wirex Wallet holders can now store and hold NFTs on multiple blockchains purchased on popular marketplaces such as OpenSea within the Wallet. In addition to over 100 cryptocurrencies, this feature will allow users to hold all their blockchain-based assets in one place for the ultimate convenience. The Wallet's unique biometric-based security system removes the need for private keys, meaning Wallet users will have straightforward access to their NFTs. Similarly, multi-party computation (MPC) offers unparalleled security by ensuring only authenticated owners can access their assets.
Wirex is also releasing a suite of new features making crypto purchase on the Wallet easier than ever. Users can now directly purchase crypto on multiple blockchains in-app, saving them large amounts in gas fees. Following a partnership with uTorg, this feature will offer an unparalleled user experience by providing a direct on-ramp for purchasing tokens on the Ethereum, Fantom, Avalanche, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain blockchains.
The company has also expanded the payment methods for users to buy crypto, including Apple and Google Pay, which adds to the debit/credit option already offered globally. They've also launched multiple alternative payment methods popular across the globe in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Portugal.
The Wirex Wallet has already proven popular with hardcore crypto fans as well as mainstream users thanks to its intuitive UX and market-leading security features and technology. With NFT ownership growing at an unprecedented rate, the addition of NFTs to the Wallet will connect NFTs to the real world and give added layers of security and trust like never before to them. Flexibility and choice will be a key component, by expanding the payment methods for multiple blockchains, further widening access and appeal."
The CEO and Co-Founder of Wirex, Pavel Matveev.
The announcement comes following the launch of a strategic partnership with metaverse NFT project, Tori Zero. Having recently released the first NFT collection that utilises motion capture technologies, this will be the first NFT project integrated into the Wirex Wallet.
Last week, we launched our newest NFT collection, which is the first virtual idol project in the blockchain industry. The timing is great since Wirex Wallet users can now store these NFTs within the Wallet. Over the coming months, we have plans to collaborate further in exclusive cross-branded products and payment solutions."
James Wildbore, Co-Founder of Redlab Studio.
About Wirex
Wirex is a worldwide digital payment platform and regulated institution that has forged new rules in the digital payments space. In 2015, the firm developed the world's first crypto-enabled payment card that gives users the ability to seamlessly spend crypto and traditional currencies in real life.
Wirex was created in 2014 by CEOs and co-founders Pavel Matveev and Dmitry Lazarichev, who identified the need to open up the esoteric world of cryptocurrencies and make digital money accessible for everyone. With the core aim of making it as easy as possible to use digital assets in everyday life, Wirex provides a trusted and cost-effective service for crypto and traditional currency transactions by incorporating the next generation of payments infrastructure integrated with cryptocurrency blockchains.
Wirex is based in London, with offices in Singapore, Kyiv, Dallas, Dublin and Atlanta. With over $5bn worth of transactions processed already and rapid expansion into new territories, including the US, Wirex is uniquely placed to support and promote the mass adoption of a cashless society through creative solutions.
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