Top PayTech Startup News | September 2 - September 9, 2024

Using RivalSense, we have discovered last week's most important developments and news on companies like Stripe, Adyen, Klarna, RazorPay, ZEPZ, Brex, Stax, Helcim, Elavon, Square, Clover, and other trending PayTech companies. 

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RivalSense tracks the most important product launches, fundraising news, partnerships, hiring activities, pricing changes, tech news, vendors, corporate filings, media mentions, and other developments of companies you're following 💡

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🚀 New Product Offerings

• Razorpay launched Razorpay Konnect, a full-stack WhatsApp engagement suite.
• Pine Labs announced the launch of their Gift Card Marketplace at the Global Fintech Fest 2024, offering brands and banks a platform to create and manage online gift card stores.
• Brex now allows users to submit expense memos directly in Slack with their new app.
• Stripe is launching a new product called UPiT soon.
• Stripe announced new Revenue and Finance Automation tools including a Meters API for usage-based billing, app store connectors, stackable discounts, and tax overrides.
• Brainvire's Main Court Pickleball Player App integrates Stripe payment processing for secure transactions.
• Stripe unveiled AI-powered tools for payments, pricing, and fraud prevention during Stripe Tour Singapore, including an Optimised Checkout Suite, no-code A/B testing, Adaptive Pricing, and Radar Assistant.
• Stripe has begun to integrate crypto products like USDC into their offerings.
• Stripe integration allows Power Pages site admins to add no-code payment options using the design studio's Setup workspace.
• Stripe marked its 10th anniversary in Australia by launching new solutions like PayTo and Instant Payouts to support business growth.
• Stripe launched Workbench to help developers debug, monitor, and grow integrations with tools like a command-line shell and API object inspector.
• Pine Labs introduced the e-RUPI Voucher in collaboration with NPCI and ICICI Bank at Global Fintech Fest 2024.
• Stripe's async-stripe library for Rust is undergoing a major rewrite to improve efficiency and ease of use, with significant reductions in build times and binary sizes.
• Stripe marked its 10th anniversary in Australia by announcing that businesses have processed over A$200 billion on its platform and introduced new solutions including support for PayTo and Instant Payouts.

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🤝🏻 New Partnerships and Vendors

• Checkout.com partnered with Tawuniya to enhance payment processes through a new payment gateway initiative.
• Cathay Pacific has partnered with Klarna to offer a payment option that allows customers to spread the cost of their flights.
• AMC+ partnered with Stripe to reduce churn, decrease failed payments, and create a recurring billing solution for its streaming services.
• Pine Labs has partnered with UNIQLO India to power their self-checkout kiosks, enhancing the shopping experience with fintech solutions.
• Rapyd has partnered with DisputeHelp to offer automated refunds for Visa and Mastercard transactions, aiming to reduce chargebacks and safeguard risk ratios efficiently.
• Adyen signed a global payment partnership with IKEA to enhance both in-store and online customer experiences.
• Adyen has expanded its partnership with BMW Group to integrate seamless payment solutions at BMW Welt and BMW Museum in Munich, supporting BMW in 36 countries with local payment methods like iDeal, TWINT, and Swish.
• Satispay announced a strategic partnership with Stripe to enhance payment solutions for businesses and consumers in Italy.
• Brex partnered with Cartwheel to launch a text-to-animation billboard in Times Square.
• PayPal is partnering with Adyen to offer its new payment checkout experience, Fastlane, to users in the US.
• Stripe and EasyStore partnered to help over 1,200 SMEs expand into global markets, as showcased at the Stripe Tour Singapore on August 28th.
• Pine Labs and Visa have partnered to launch Pine Labs Mini, a soundbox-enabled device for QR, NFC, and card payments, aimed at boosting digital payments among small and medium-sized merchants in India.
• West Community Credit Union partners with Clover to offer a range of POS systems including Clover Go, Flex, Mini, Station, Virtual Terminal, and StationPro.
• Juan Castano announced EukaPay and Clover partnership.
• Stripe partnered with buy now, pay later company Zip to offer BNPL options to online retailers using Stripe's payment processing platform.
• CSFloat launches seamless transactions on Polygon PoS via Stripe.
• Automattic's WooCommerce platform integrates services from Stripe to help businesses run and grow their online stores.
• SumUp achieved 50% call containment and 23% cost savings by partnering with Five9 for multilingual voice and Intelligent Virtual Agent solutions.
• Brex uses Veryfi's AI-driven data extraction technology to automatically process receipts and invoices, providing clients with enhanced spend control and financial visibility.
• Adyen is helping Prada Group innovate in-store payment experiences and implement an omnichannel strategy.



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💡 Other Notable News

• Joey Nalevka has joined Square as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) in the United States, previously serving as Senior Vice President, Sales and Operations at Houzz.
• Flávia Oliveira has joined Stripe as Technical Advisor to the Chief Revenue Officer, Eileen O'Mara.
• Brex Treasury agreed to pay $900,000 to settle FINRA's claims over inadequate anti-money laundering compliance software.
• SumUp announced Niall Mac an tSionnaigh as the new CEO for Ireland, where the company employs around 30 people.
• Adyen appointed Tom Adams as its new Chief Technology Officer, succeeding Alexander Matthey.
• Pine Labs' CEO Amrish Rau announced the company secured initial NCLT approvals to merge its Singapore entity with the India unit for a domicile shift.
• Stripe is planning to expand into Indonesia by integrating local payment methods, reflecting its growing presence in Asia Pacific.
• Singleton is passing the reins to deputy CTO Rahul Patil, who has been with Stripe for four years.
• Stripe introduced AI-powered payment solutions and expanded market coverage in South Korea at Stripe Tour Singapore.
• David Singleton is stepping down as CTO at Stripe after seven years to start his own venture.
• Stripe expanded its market coverage in Asia and introduced AI-powered payments to support cross-border commerce at Stripe Tour Singapore.
• Stripe increased the Terminal commission fee from MXN$120 to MXN$751.
• Luis Villarreal accused Stripe of stealing money from customers in Mexico by citing a non-existent clause in their terms of service.
• Stripe launched Adaptive Pricing for over 20 new countries, supporting more than 100 currencies.
• Stripe's latest beta launch will allow US retailers to sell directly to Nigerians, collect payments in Naira, and receive settlements in USD.
• Hilal Ahmad Lone, CISO at Razorpay, won the Cyber Chanakya award at the CXO Cywayz 2024 annual conference in Bangalore.
• Miranda Kalinowski has joined Stripe as the Head of Global Recruiting.
• Elavon is currently hiring for the position of Senior Director - FIA Enterprise Relationship Management in the United States.
• Brendan McFarlan has left Square as the Head of Customer Success - Sales and Onboarding in the United States to join Zillow as the Director, Customer Experience.
• Checkout is currently hiring for the position of Head of Finance Systems in the United Kingdom.
• Razorpay is currently hiring for the position of Associate Director Product Management in India.
• Mahmoud Labassi has left Stripe as Enterprise Sales- Platforms - EMEA in France to join Airwallex as Head of GTM & Sales France.
• Kalyani Wanikar has left Stripe as the APAC (International) People Partner in Germany to join GetYourGuide as a Senior People Partner.
• Zepz is currently seeking a Global Head of FX position in the United Kingdom (Remote).
• Lisa M. Roberts, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Stax Payments, will speak at the Women, Influence & Power In Law (WIPL) 2024 conference in Chicago later this month.
• Hussein A. Yusuf mentioned that Zepz's initiative to lower fees could increase formal FX inflows and reduce costs for senders and recipients.
• Small online purchases through payment gateways like Razorpay will now be taxed in Delhi if they exceed Rs 2,000.
• Finansinspektionen found significant deficiencies in Klarna's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing efforts, potentially leading to substantial fines.
• Square is expected to announce a reduction in processing fees in 10 days.
• Stripe will participate in the World Travel Market London event on September 3-4.
• Stripe will showcase new products and insights from top users at Stripe Tour New York on October 9.
• Square will participate in the Open Banking panel at FintechNation 24 on September 20.
• Klarna's app has been nominated for the Website of the Year 2024 award in the Apps - Financial category.
• Etgar Bonar, VP at Rapyd, announced his departure from the company on September 6.
• Elavon will participate in the Beauty Days event at Ptak Warsaw Expo.
• Frank Rengenhart has joined Rapyd as the new Head of Partnership Sales.
• A security researcher exploited a 'pwn request' vulnerability in a public Stripe repository, allowing unauthorized commits and exfiltration of the GitHub token to a researcher-controlled endpoint.
• A vulnerability in Stripe's stripe-cli tool from version 1.11.1 to 1.21.3 allows arbitrary file overwriting via malformed plugin shortnames.
• Helcim offers a Contract Buyout program with switching guides and up to $500 in waived processing fees for merchants with ETF and equipment lease payables.
• Helcim has been named the best overall merchant service by U.S. News for its transparent pricing, free tools, and scalability.
• Helcim USA Inc filed a fraud lawsuit against MJ's Discount Warehouse Inc and others in the Washington Western District Court.
• Stripe surpassed $1 trillion in total payment volume in 2023, with cross-border payment volume in Asia growing over 30% and a 28% increase in Asian businesses processing $1 million or more on the platform.
• Stax Payments introduced Darren Hale as the new VP of Engineering.

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