FinTech IPO Index Flat as Billtrust Surges
Tech stocks have had a showdown in recent days – a rally proved short-lived, a blip.
But the FinTech IPO index managed to see at least some gains over the past five sessions. Small gains, to be sure – the group was up less than 1%.
Regardless of how the general markets perform on Friday (Sept. 30), the broader S&P 500 stock index is headed for its third straight quarter of losses. It is a feat that has not been seen for more than 10 years. Year-to-date performance of FinTech IPO names has been similarly under pressure to say the least. The index is down over 44 percent.
And yet, there were still some double-digit gains, measured cumulatively over the past few days.
Chief among them: Billtrust. A rally of around 49% had continued persistence throughout the week.
Billtrust has been sold to the investment organization EQT in a cash transaction that values Billtrust’s equity at approximately USD 1.7 billion. The go-private agreement comes after the company was listed last year through a SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) agreement.
Triterras was up more than 16%, although no company-specific news appeared to be driving the uptrend.
Blend rose about 3%, following news that PNC Bank said it would digitize more of its mortgage application process through a strategic partnership with FinTech. Customers will now be able to apply digitally for mortgages and import bank or salary information by providing the correct identification. The effect will be to cut down on the time it takes to find documents.
Robinhood was up around 2%, after announcing this week that Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC), has partnered with Robinhood to make it easier for customers to learn about and use USDC . With the partnership, customers of Robinhood Crypto and the new Robinhood Wallet can now buy, sell and receive USDC
In addition, the companies will develop educational modules in the app covering the basics of USDC and stablecoins. Customers who complete the free courses will be eligible to earn rewards paid in USDC.
Those gains were tempered by losses in the likes of 9F, which fell 14.6%, followed by NerdWallet, down 13.6%.
Huize fell around 8% during the week. The company reported results for the second quarter which showed that gross premium income increased by 30.5%. Renewal premiums arranged across the platform increased by 59.9%.
New PYMNTS study: How consumers use digital banks
A PYMNTS survey of 2,124 US consumers shows that while two-thirds of consumers have used FinTechs for some aspect of banking, only 9.3% call them their primary bank.
