FinTech IPO Index Dips 2.6% as Nubank Seeks US Bank Charter

Names across the FinTech IPO Index were broadly lower, giving up 2.6% as a group.

Katapult shares dove by more than 29%. The company announced in an SEC filing that it had entered into a limited waiver with its lenders including Midtown Madison Management for failure to maintain a minimum trailing three-month origination established in the agreement. The second limited waiver is in place until Oct. 13.

Nubank Applies for a US Charter

Nubank said this week that it applied for a U.S. national bank charter as it explores opportunities to expand its digital banking platform beyond Latin America. The firm applied with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Cristina Junqueira, co-founder, chief growth officer of Nu Holdings and CEO of the emerging U.S. business, has relocated full time to the United States, according to the company announcement. In Mexico, its subsidiary, Nu Mexico, received authorization to become a bank in April and is now awaiting final operational approval. Shares in Nu Holding slipped by 3.5%.

PYMNTS reported that Ace Hardware has launched a partnership with pay later provider Affirm. The joint efforts provides a pay-over-time option for hardware customers buying in store at Ace’s 5,200, mostly independently owned, locations.

The companies noted in their release that Ace customers can pay in-store with Affirm by scanning a QR code at checkout in participating stores and undergoing a real-time eligibility check. Approved consumers will get payment options for purchases starting at $50. Affirm shares slipped 5.8%.

nCino announced the rollout of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools for mortgage lending designed to streamline origination, improve underwriting accuracy, and enhance borrower experiences. The new capabilities include automated document classification, income calculation, and borrower communication features, aimed at reducing friction for lenders and increasing operational efficiency in the mortgage process. The stock was down 8.1%

Hanscom Federal Credit Union announced a partnership with Alkami Technology to deliver an upgraded, personalized digital banking experience to its members. The collaboration leverages Alkami’s cloud-based digital banking platform to enhance mobile features, improve user engagement, and strengthen competitive differentiation in a digital-first financial landscape. Alkami’s stock lost 4.7%.

OppFi’s stock lost nearly 12%. OppFi disclosed that it secured a $150 million revolving credit facility. The financing, provided by affiliates of Atalaya Capital Management, is intended to support OppFi’s loan originations, expand its lending capacity, and strengthen its balance sheet flexibility amid growing demand for nonprime consumer credit.

During a conference in Singapore this week, Robinhood’s CEO weighed in on the growth that lies ahead for tokenization. “Tokenization is like a freight train. It can’t be stopped, and eventually it’s going to eat the entire financial system,” Vlad Tenev said.

“I think most major markets will have some framework in the next five years,” Tenev said. The CEO added that reaching 100% could take more than a decade.

Robinhood in June began offering more than 200 tokenized U.S. stocks to customers in the European Union.

“I think it will become the default way to get exposure to U.S. stocks outside the U.S.,” Tenev said. Robinhood’s stock bucked the broadly negative trend of the names in the FinTech IPO Index and added 19.5%.

Paysafe detailed this week that it partnered with CMC Markets to help the latter firm broaden its range of payment options for traders in the European Economic Area, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other global markets. The partnership entails Paysafe’s Skrill and Neteller becoming the online trading broker’s first digital wallets and alternative payment method in these markets.

As well as funding their CMC accounts, traders can use Skrill and Neteller to make withdrawals. Once a trader moves money to either Paysafe digital wallet, they can then withdraw it to their bank account, card or another APM, or use it to fund new trading positions with CMC, the companies said. Paysafe’s stock was up 2.4%.