Connecting the dots in payments | 2023 #1
Weekly news up to Thursday, 6th of April 2023
Hello Payments Enthusiast!
Welcome to this dedicated Payments newsletter by Connecting the Dots and nice meeting you! I look forward to the insights and connections we’ll get by interacting here.
📣 Weekly Takeaway:
Stripe processed transactions totaling $817 billion in 2022, but growth has definitely slowed!
👉What happened?
Stripe published its annual letter from co-founders John and Patrick Collison (CEO and president, respectively), in which it takes stock of Stripe’s business, reflects on the past year, and share their views on the trends shaping the online economy.
The payments company said transaction volume climbed 26% to $817 billion in 2022.
That compares with 60% in 2021, when Stripe and many of its rivals saw rapid growth in volumes as consumers did more shopping online during the covid-pandemic.
According to the statement the number of new Stripe-customers is up by 19% this year, averaging out of 1.000+ new businesses joining daily.
Stripe now has more than 100 firms each processing more than $1 billion a year in payments over the platform.
🤔 From a different angle..
Stripe raised $6.5 billion on a $50 billion valuation last month, a major step down from the $95 billion valuation in 2021.
Reportedly, the Collison brothers have been writing these annual user letters for years for internal purpose, but this is the second year in a row they published this note out in the open. Sometimes its more relevant to see what is not explicitly stated in this kind of letters… Although highly interesting, the letter gives no information about Stripe’s current financial position; e.g. revenue and profit or loss.
Although the growth of 26% in transactions volumes YoY is impressive in itself, the year before Stripe's growth-rate was 60%. And 1.000 new companies a day is an impressive number as well, but not as impressive as the 1.400 a day a year ago.
Perhaps even more striking; not a word about a possible public listing. Although Stripe told employees last January it will decide on an IPO within the next year, these public letter leaves a big silence on any concrete IPO moves.
Nor does the letter touch on one of the biggest themes in tech last year: layoffs. Stripe has not been immune to these itself, laying off roughly 14% of its staff in November last year.
👀 One last-minute snippet to take….
Stripe’s data show Silicon Valley may be losing its allure for startups: in the three years pre-pandemic more than 60% of the startups with rapid revenue ramps were based in San Francisco. Since 2020, only 46% have been.
👉 Read Stripe’s full annual user letter here
Also, keep in mind the following:
⭐️ Viva Wallet launched a pan-European marketplace platform
⭐️ PayPal adds Apple Pay support for small merchants using Advanced Checkout
Never a dull moment in payments,
Wouter
Onwards to the other payments news!
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
PhonePe backed by retail giant Walmart launched a hyperlocal commerce app, called Pincode, which is powered by the Open Network for Digital Commerce. Indian government initiative striving to democratize the e-commerce landscape by offering a zero-commission platform.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
Studies conducted by market research and analytics company Decision Lab, in partnership with marketing trade association MMA Vietnam, revealed that ZaloPay is now the second most popular e-wallet service in Vietnam.
Over the past three quarters, ZaloPay was used by 59% of the consumers polled during Q2 and Q3, and 54% of those surveyed during Q4 2022, according to a series of studies conducted throughout 2022.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🔦 PAYMENTS HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Checkout.com is facing an exodus from its executive team and making a series of unannounced layoffs.
⭐️ Alipay launches incentive plan to support service provider partners.
⭐️ PayPal is adding new tools for small business owners, including Apple Pay support at checkout.
⭐️ Blackcatcard launched Mastercard plastic cards with extended capabilities for individuals and businesses alike.
🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
EUROPE 🇪🇺
The Viva Wallet Marketplace Solution is launching a unique pan-European payments platform for all marketplaces, active either online or in the physical world, including shop-in-shop business models.
KAA Gent launched its own app for all Buffalo supporters to keep up to date with all the club’s latest news in real time, top up their cashless card thanks to the integration of the Bancontact “One-Click-Pay” functionality.
JCB International announced that merchants in multiple European markets will be able to accept JCB Cards, both at the physical point of sale and for e-commerce transactions.
AFRICA
Cellulant revealed ambitions to evolve business payments in Africa with the introduction of its online and offline payment solutions.
Peach Payments raised $31 million in a Series A funding round led by Apis Partners to expand across new markets in Africa and strengthen its product offering.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
European Payments Council names Giorgio Andreoli as Director General.
Checkout.com appointed Céline Dufétel as its new president.
PPRO announced the appointment of Motie Bring as Chief Commercial Officer.
Viva Wallet appointed Dimitris Mavroyiannis as its new group chief operating officer.
If you are a fintech startup and have over 100 questions send me an email, maybe I can answer a few.
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