May 23, 2019

This week, Raisin, the Berlin-based savings and investment platform, announced plans to enter the $12.7 trillion U.S. deposits market, and named industry veteran Paul Knodel CEO of the U.S. business.

The company told Mobile Payments Today that its decision to enter the U.S. market was driven in part by the nation's rising interest rates, which present an opportunity for the Raisin to help American consumers find a more attractive way to save.

"As interest rates continue to rise in the U.S., the gap between what a typical American saver earns on their savings versus what they could get has widened significantly," Raisin founder and COO Michael Stephan told Mobile Payments Today via email. "Raisin is addressing exactly this issue and our latest financing round at the beginning of this year has enabled us to now reach out of Europe to help savers in the U.S. as well."

Earlier this month, Orange Digital Partners joined the company’s Series D funding round, which was announced in February. The $114 million round was led by existing investors, Index Ventures, PayPal, Ribbit and Thrive Capital.

Stephan said that Raisin will likely work with an FDIC-insured sponsor bank with the product offering likely to continue to focus on savings, without additional lending, checking or card products.

Knodel has 20 years experience in the industry, most recently at Wealthfront, where he led the extension of the company's product lineup into cash savings, according to a press release from Raisin. He previously held senior management and executive positions at major North American financial institutions, including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and TD Ameritrade.

Topics: Mobile Banking, Region: Americas, Region: EMEA, Regulatory Issues

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May 23, 2019

Future, a fitness startup based in San Francisco, has raised $8.5 million in Series A funding led by Kleiner Perkins to expand its app-based personal training program, according to a press release.

The company uses data and smartphone connections to link customers to certified personal trainers, who help them to develop and maintain targeted fitness programs using remote mobile connections and interactive messaging. Customers do not need to go to a gym, but for $5 a day, get weekly training plans and can interact with trainers from home or while traveling.

The personal trainers, who include some former amateur and professional athletes and veterans of major athletic programs, monitor the daily progress of members and provide immediate feedback and encouragement.

The new funding will be used to expand the company's go-to-market strategy, scale trainer operations and expand the number of business partnerships, according to a company release.

"Every year, 125 million Americans try to get fit to look great, or improve their overall health and longevity, but nearly 80% quit their exercise routine within three months," Future co-founder and CEO Rishi Mandal said in the release. "We created Future to help people stay accountable for their personal health and fitness aspirations, while providing continuous support and coaching to meet those goals."

Current seed investors in the firm include Khosla Ventures, Instagram founder Mike Krieger, Caffeinated Capital, Founders Fund and NFL players Ndamukong Suh and Kelvin Beachum.

As part of the new investment, Kleiner Perkins partner Mamoon Hamid will join the Future board of directors. The company has raised a total of $11.5 million to date.

Topics: Mobile Apps, Technology Providers

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May 22, 2019

NCR Corp. shares have added several percentage points in value since Monday, when Deal Reporter, citing unidentified insiders, said that private equity firm Warburg Pincus was in talks to buy the ATM-maker. Shares closed at $31.98 Tuesday afternoon, a 5.09% increase from $30.43 at the opening bell Monday.

Speculation has swirled about the possible sale of NCR in recent weeks, however, the company has kept mum about its plans. Asked during the company's Q1 earnings call on May 7 about "strategic interest" in the company, president and CEO Mike Hayford offered an oblique reply, according to a transcript of the call published by Seeking Alpha:

I don’t think we're going to try to get our words ahead of our actions and our results. I think our board is 100% behind us on what it is going to take and how we're going to get there [i.e., value creation]. Our focus is executing on the products that can take care of our customers and executing the plan. I think our board understands that that execution will yield value to our shareholders at some point in the future and I think they are patient enough to stick with us on that.

Topics: ATMs, Mobile Banking, NFC, Technology Providers, Transaction Processing

Companies: NCR Corporation

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May 22, 2019

Nuvei Corp. has agreed to buy U.K.-based payments firm SafeCharge International Group Ltd. in a cash deal valued at $889 million (669 million British pounds), according to a regulatory filing.

SafeCharge shareholders will receive $5.55 a share in cash under the agreement. The purchase price represents a 25% premium based on the SafeCharge purchase price at the end of business yesterday.

"The price premium Nuvei is offering reflects SafeCharge's leading position in the high-growth e-commerce market, the strength of its own technology platform, its diversified and stable customer base, and the significant experience in the payments industry of SafeCharge's payments team," SafeCharge chairman Roger Withers said in the filing.

SafeCharge CEO David Avgi said the agreement positions the combined companies well in their respective markets, noting that Nuvei is a strong competitor in the U.S. and Canadian payments business. Nuvei, based in Plano, Texas, was previously known as Pivotal Payments, but changed its name in late 2018. 

Nuvei Chairman and CEO Philip Fayer said the company is very excited about the acquisition, noting the agreement would create a leading payments firm with significant scale.

"Our businesses are highly complementary from multiple perspectives, including geography, technology, key verticals and customers," he said. "We think the technology platform SafeCharge has developed is exceptional and will serve as the go--forward foundation from which we will continue to grow the combined businesses and provide best-in-class products and services to our customers and partners."

The deal is expected to be completed by the third quarter.

The SafeCharge board has agreed with the terms of the agreement and plans to recommend that shareholders approve the deal, according to the filing.

Topics: POS, Region: Americas, Region: EMEA, Regulatory Issues, Technology Providers

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