FinTech IPO Index Gains 3.3% as Pay Later Continues Its Upward March

The FinTech IPO Index continued to gain ground, coming off of double-digit gains last week, adding 3.3% through the past five days.

This time around, partnerships dominated the headlines, and earnings season has yet to make its presence felt in the space.

From a macro standpoint, the volatility of the broader markets continued as tariffs were on top of everyone’s minds. But as retail numbers came in showing that, into March and possibly beyond, consumers continued to spend, buy now, pay later companies’ stocks advanced. Sezzle shares were the standout here, as they surged 23%, Affirm’s stock was up 3.3%.

Janover’s shares added 17.6% through the week — supplementing triple-digit gains from earlier in the month after it said it had raised $42 million to bolster its efforts to acquire digital assets in the Solana ecosystem.

Platform Stocks Get a Bump

Platforms — focused on everything from digital banking to digital lending — got a boost through the past several sessions.

nCino shares gathered 2.3%. The company said this week that Zions Bancorporation selected nCino as its technology platform as they digitally transform their loan origination process. The bank will use nCino tools such as Banking Advisor, Commercial Pricing and Profitability and Analysis.

Upstart announced that it has partnered with First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union to expand access to personal loans and better serve its growing membership across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As an Upstart Referral Network lending partner since December, First Commonwealth can now provide eligible personal loan applicants on Upstart.com with tailored loan offers, according to the announcement. Through Upstart APIs, new member and loan data integrate into First Commonwealth’s core banking platform.

Upstart shares tacked on 6.2%.

PYMNTS reported that Payoneer bought China’s Easylink Payment Co. in a deal that makes Payoneer the third foreign payment platform licensed to offer online payment services in China. Shares were 1.7% higher.

Gen’s acquisition of MoneyLion closed this week, and trading into its final days saw the stock inch up by 1%. Separately, as reported this week, the New York state attorney general sued MoneyLion and another earned wage access provider, DailyPay, accusing them of illegal and deceptive conduct and abusive lending practices. The lawsuits allege that the companies’ services are payday loans and that the fees the companies charge on these short-term loans can amount to annual interest rates of as much as 750%.

Toast’s stock was 2.8% higher in a week that saw an announcement that Applebee’s, one of America’s largest casual dining restaurants, will utilize Toast technology to strengthen operational flexibility, “provide greater ease of use and responsiveness, improve labor efficiency, and enhance the overall guest experience,” the companies said.

Separately, Blend Labs, which lost a scant 0.1%, expanded its partnership with identity and fraud prevention platform provider Alloy. Through the broadened joint efforts, Blend customers can now, according to the announcement, “more seamlessly and cost-effectively” access Alloy’s advanced identity and fraud prevention capabilities into their consumer banking solutions, tied to Blend’s deposit account and consumer lending products.