SplitIt

Splitit Goes Private, Motive Partners Acquires Controling Stake

Splitit Goes Private, Motive Partners Acquires Controling Stake
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, SplitIt
  • Buy now, pay later company Splitit has officially delisted from the Australian Stock Exchange.
  • Accompanying the move, Splitit will receive a $50 million growth investment from Motive Partners.
  • Splitit has already received the first $25 million and will receive the next $25 million after achieving 2023 financial performance milestones.

Four months after announcing its plans to delist from the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), Splitit revealed today that it has officially taken the company private.

The buy now, pay later (BNPL) company delisted from the ASX after closing on half of a $50 million growth round. The new round is comprised of two $25 million installments from funds advised by Motive Partners in exchange for the issuance of new preference shares. Motive Partners will issue the second $25 million tranche after Splitit achieves 2023 financial performance milestones. Splitit said it is currently exceeding these milestones.

“Attracting a strategic investor of this caliber is a testament to the quality of our team and our unique, innovative offering,” said Splitit Managing Director and CEO Nandan Sheth. “Motive’s investment significantly strengthens our balance sheet and brings additional global payments expertise, allowing the team to accelerate our white-label product strategy, product innovation, and our Tier One global distribution partnerships.”

Once the round fully closed, the $50 million will bring Splitit’s total funding to $350 million. The company will use today’s funds to accelerate its growth and support its “strategic plan.” The investment gives Motive Partners a controlling stake in Splitit.

Splitit’s decision to delist from the ASX follows the approval granted by its shareholders last month. The approval encompassed both the voluntary delisting from the ASX and relocating the company’s headquarters from Israel to the Cayman Islands.

According to the company’s announcement from earlier this year, Splitit agreed to delist from the ASX for five primary reasons:

  1. The funds offer growth capital in the midst of a difficult fundraising environment.
  2. The partnership with Motive Partners was especially attractive, given the firm’s resources, network, and talent.
  3. The ASX undervalues Splitit’s business and doesn’t appreciate the company’s “differentiated value proposition and prospects.”
  4. The move to become a private, Cayman Islands-based company will offer Splitit more flexibility and less administrative costs.
  5. The move from the ASX will offer existing shareholders the option to choose to retain ownership in Splitit as a private company or to decrease their ownership in the run-up to the delisting.

Splitit was founded in 2012 under the name PayItSimple. The company’s Installments-as-a-Service offering allows merchants and payment processing firms to embed a white-labeled BNPL option into their checkout flow. Splitit holds partnerships with Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems, Stripe, Shopify, and Alipay to act as an Installments-as-a-Service option for their merchant clients.

Photo by Tim Mossholder

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Splitit Lands $50 Million, Plans to Delist from the Australian Stock Exchange

Splitit Lands $50 Million, Plans to Delist from the Australian Stock Exchange
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Funding, SplitIt
  • Splitit is set to receive $50 million from Motive Partners.
  • The funding will be issued in two $25 million installments.
  • Motive Partners stipulates that Splitit must delist from the Australian Stock Exchange and meet certain performance milestones in order to receive the funds.

There is something poetic about a BNPL company receiving private equity funding in installments. One of the first BNPL players in the market, Splitit, has landed a $50 million investment from private equity firm Motive Partners. The funds, which will boost Splitit’s total funding to $325 million, will be paid out in two tranches.

For Splitit, which is a publicly traded company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) under the ticker SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under tickers SPTTY and STTTF, today’s investment isn’t a straightforward transaction.

Splitit will receive the funds in two $25 million installments in exchange for the issuance of new preference shares. According to the release, Splitit will receive the first installment after two conditions have been met– first, when shareholders approve the company delisting from the ASX and second, after the company moves its incorporation site from Israel to the Cayman Islands. Splitit will receive the second $25 million after achieving certain performance milestones.

Splitit’s board opted to agree to Motive Partners’ transaction terms for five reasons:

  1. The funds offer growth capital in the midst of a difficult fundraising environment.
  2. The partnership with Motive Partners was especially attractive, given the firm’s resources, network, and talent.
  3. The ASX undervalues Splitit’s business and doesn’t appreciate the company’s “differentiated value proposition and prospects.”
  4. The move to become a private, Cayman Islands-based company will offer Splitit more flexibility and less administrative costs.
  5. The move from the ASX will offer existing shareholders the option to choose to retain ownership in Splitit as a private company or to decrease their ownership in the run-up to the delisting.

“Attracting a strategic investor of this calibre is a testament to the quality of our team and our unique, innovative offering– especially given difficult market conditions for raising capital,” said Splitit Managing Director and CEO Nandan Sheth. “This level of investment significantly strengthens our balance sheet, allowing the team to focus on our white-label product strategy, innovation, and our Tier One global distribution partners.”

Splitit was founded in 2012 under the name PayItSimple. The company’s Installments-as-a-Service offering allows merchants to add a white-labeled BNPL option embedded into their checkout flow. Splitit also offers a BNPL tool that works at the physical point-of-sale by pre-qualifying consumers with available credit on their credit card for the value of that available credit.

Earlier this year, Splitit partnered with Atlantic-Pacific Processing Systems to offer BNPL services to their merchants. The company also partnered with Visa to embed a BNPL solution within merchants’ existing credit card processes. Splitit also holds partnerships with Stripe, Shopify, and Alipay to act as an Installments-as-a-Service option for their merchant clients.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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Splitit Launches SplititExpress to Enable Checkout in Under 2-Seconds

Splitit Launches SplititExpress to Enable Checkout in Under 2-Seconds
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SplitIt
  • Splitit is launching a new white-labeled payment offering called SplititExpress.
  • The new tool supports installment payments via GPay and ApplePay, and helps customers check out in under two seconds.
  • The merchant-branded checkout experience eliminates the typical visual clutter of online checkout interfaces by removing logos.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) company SplitIt is launching a new white-labeled payment offering called SplititExpress. The new tool enables companies to facilitate a checkout process that takes fewer than two seconds while also supporting installment payments via GPay and ApplePay.

SplititExpress allows for a merchant-branded experience that eliminates the visual clutter by removing multiple logos and checkout options. It also empowers businesses by giving them full ownership of their customers’ journey and first-party data.

Splitit’s Installments-as-a-Service product is a BNPL tool that leverages Checkout.com’s payment-acquiring capabilities to enable consumers to pay for a good or a service in installments, interest-free. The Installments-as-a-Servce tool differentiates itself from traditional BNPL offerings, however, because it is completely white-labeled and offers customers a merchant-branded experience. Because of this, during the checkout flow, customers are not redirected to a third party. What’s more, because Splitit relies on a consumer’s existing credit card, the company does not require additional credit checks. All of this results in less friction for the customer and better control over customer relationships for the merchant.

“Reducing technical uplift for our Merchants is always top of mind at Splitit, that’s why SplititExpress can be embedded into their checkouts by simply adding a few lines of code,” said Splitit Chief Technology Officer Ran Landau. “The result is an end-to-end process that takes less than 2-seconds for a consumer to pay with installments, compared to the average 1 to 2-minutes that even the fastest legacy BNPL’s offer.”

SplititExpress also enables merchants to add their own branding and messaging, and choose the repayment option that best suits their customers. By helping merchants customize these details of the payments experience, SplitIt anticipates it will help improve the overall user experience during the checkout process.

 Founded in 2012 as PayItSimple, Splitit is based in Atlanta with offices in London and Australia, as well as an R&D center in Israel. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under ticker code SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under tickers SPTTY and STTTF. In recent years, Splitit has partnered with Stripe, Shopify, and Alipay to act as an Installments-as-a-Service option for their merchant clients.

Photo by Monstera

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AliPay Taps SplitIt to Enable Customers to Pay After Delivery

AliPay Taps SplitIt to Enable Customers to Pay After Delivery
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SplitIt
  • Splitit partnered with Alipay to power the firm’s Pay After Delivery payment option.
  • Splitit is leveraging Checkout.com’s payment-acquiring capabilities to facilitate Alipay’s Pay After Delivery.
  • Splitit was founded in 2012 as PayItSimple. The company rebranded in 2015 under its current name.

Installments-as-a-service company Splitit announced a new tie-up with global payments platform Alipay this week. Under the partnership, Splitit will power Alibaba Group-owned AliExpress’ Pay After Delivery.

The new payment option enables shoppers to pay after delivery using their existing credit card. Pay After Delivery leverages Splitit’s Installments-as-a-Service platform that embeds a branded experience within AliExpress’ checkout flow.

Splitit, which leverages Checkout.com’s payment-acquiring capabilities to offer the new installment service, was founded in 2012 as PayItSimple. Splitit’s Installments-as-a-Service tool is similar to well-known buy now, pay later (BNPL) technologies in that it enables consumers to pay for a good or a service in installments, interest-free.

Splitit’s tool differentiates itself from BNPL, however, because it is completely white-labeled and offers customers a merchant-branded experience. Because of this, during the checkout flow, customers are not redirected to a third party. What’s more, because Splitit relies on a consumer’s existing credit card, the company does not require additional credit checks. All of this results in less friction for the customer and better control over customer relationships for the merchant.

“Our work with Alipay is a testament to the flexibility of Splitit’s platform and the strength of our new partnership with Checkout.com. Together we are providing a valuable resource for sellers and shoppers by powering payment after delivery,” said Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth. “We are thrilled to collaborate with two exemplary companies like Alipay and Checkout.com. I look forward to building on this initial launch by expanding into other markets in the future.”

Splitit is based in Atlanta with offices in London and Australia, as well as an R&D center in Israel. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under ticker code SPT and also trades on the US OTCQX under ticker SPTTY and STTTF. Splitit has partnered with both Stripe and Shopify in recent years to act as an installments-as-a-service option for their merchant clients.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

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Strands and Credolab Bring Smart Money Management to Banks

Strands and Credolab Bring Smart Money Management to Banks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Backbase, CredoLab, FICO, Finovate Global, SplitIt, Strands, Temenos

Barcelona, Spain-based Strands and Singapore’s credolab announced a partnership this week that will give banks a new solution to help their customers make better decisions with their finances. The collaboration will embed credolab’s credit scoring technology into Strands personal finance management platform, giving banks the real-time ability to obtain relevant customer insights with embedded risk assessments.

“Strands’ expertise in developing customizable digital money management solutions for banks will add great value to our clients globally,” credolab founder and CEO Peter Barcak said. “We are confident that our embedded technology will help Strands develop solutions to promote a more delightful way of banking that empowers customers with meaningful interactions, and makes them happier, more loyal, and more profitable.”

In their joint statement, Strands and credolab noted that retail banks often face challenges when it comes to improving customer engagement and providing long-term value to their customers. They blame a lack of relevant data, as well as the inability to generate significant insights into customer behavior and preferences. The integrated solution will serve as a “one-stop shop” for banks to realize new potential revenue sources by helping their customers be smarter with their money.

“By partnering with credolab, Strands is in a stronger position to deliver state of the art financial management solutions to banks worldwide,” Strands CEO Erik Brieva said. “This collaboration will allow us to embed next generation scoring technology into our AI-driven product suite, meeting financial institutions’ increasing demand for smart, highly customizable, and scalable FinTech white-label solutions.”

Credolab demonstrated its CredoScore technology at FinovateAsia 2018. This spring, the company has announced a collaboration with regional credit risk and decision analytics company Qarar to help the UAE-based company enhance its credit risk scoring processes.

Strands made its most recent Finovate appearance last month at FinovateAsia Digital. Teaming up with Tearsheet to publish its guide to “Banking as a Service,” in May, Strands began the year with news that CEO Brieva had been named to Analytics Insight’s Top 10 Most Inspiring CEOs.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin American and the Caribbean

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Splitit Raises Millions Amid Buy Now Pay Later Fever

Splitit Raises Millions Amid Buy Now Pay Later Fever
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Innovation Series, SplitIt

If there are any lingering doubts about the power (and popularity) of the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) movement, installment payments platform Splitit has 71.5 million reasons to cast those doubts aside.

The New York-based company, which made its Finovate debut as PayItSimple in 2014, announced that it has raised $71.5 million in a private placement and share purchase plan (SPP). With institutional investors such as Woodson Capital Management, the company plans to use the capital to “accelerate sales and marketing, plus (make) further investments in product and technology” according to a statement. Splitit boasts more than 1,000 ecommerce merchants using its technology, and 300,000+ shoppers with an average order value of $893.

Splitit’s fundraising comes as the company reports record Q2 growth, including processing more than $65 million in merchant sales volume, and growth of 1.76x quarter over quarter and 2.6x year over year. In discussing the company’s success, CEO Brad Paterson credited a new willingness on the part of consumers to “maximize their existing credit to preserve cash flow” while at the same time not incurring additional new debt.

Paterson also noted that while the COVID-19 crisis has helped move digital transformation in ecommerce toward the top of the agenda, it was important for those involved in payments to make it easier for merchants to accommodate their customer’s cash management requirements.

As such, it’s hard not wonder if, once again, crisis is responsible for accelerating innovation. After all, one of the initial innovations in retail, the layaway program, emerged during the Great Depression as a way to maintain at least a minimal level of consumption of non-essential goods during a severe economic retraction. By enabling customers to pay for items in small increments over time and then receive those items once they had been fully paid for, the growing retail economy was able to survive an extended period of historically low demand.

The buy now pay later phenomenon is layaway in reverse, allowing customers to gain the benefits of the purchase immediately and moderating the impact of the cost by paying for that purchase over time. But the goal – to accelerate consumer activity and expand the ability of people to spend – remains the same. The only difference is that layaway tended to disappear once credit cards became ubiquitous, while buy now pay later appears to be rising at a time when we are realizing that affordable consumer financing might not be as ubiquitous as we thought.

For Finovate fans, Klarna has been the pioneer in the Buy Now Pay Later space, with fellow alums like Sezzle also earning recognition for its interest-free buy now pay later option. Founded in 2005 and 2016, respectively, both companies are reminders of how fintechs have been providing consumers with alternative financing options well before the coronavirus hit.

That said, it is clear that COVID-19 has stimulated interest in Buy Now Pay Later options. The Business of Finance reported earlier this week that BNPL had become “fashion’s go-to during the pandemic.” Also this week, American Express announced that it would extend its buy now pay later service to more of its cards. The Wall Street Journal featured Australian Buy Now Pay Later specialist Afterpay at the beginning of this month in the wake of the firm’s announcement that it had signed up more than 1.6 million U.S. users since the onset of the coronavirus in March. And Shopify announced this month that merchants on its platform would have access to BNPL financing from installment payment company Affirm. Affirm looks like it is ready to maximize the Buy Now Pay Later moment with an initial public offering, according to reporting in the Wall Street Journal.

Even the big banks are getting into the Buy Now Pay Later game. Goldman Sachs has introduced a new, installment payment feature called MarcusPay – in partnership with JetBlue Airways – as part of a bigger “build-out” of its Marcus by Goldman Sachs digital banking platform. This week, Citi partnered with Amazon to launch its own BNPL offering Citi Flex Plan.

Photo by Artem Beliaikin from Pexels

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Splitit Taps Stripe to Facilitate Merchant Onboarding for Payment Installments

Splitit Taps Stripe to Facilitate Merchant Onboarding for Payment Installments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: SplitIt

Buy now, pay later company Splitit landed a partnership today with payment platform Stripe. The agreement makes Stripe the payment facilitator for all new merchants who onboard with Splitit. This move is expected to speed up the onboarding process for Splitit’s new merchant clients.

“With Stripe, we are able to not only immensely grow our capabilities to accelerate growth, but continue to reinforce our commitment to providing the best possible merchant experience for installment payments,” Splitit CEO Brad Peterson said. “What once took weeks and the help of many team members will eventually be fully automated to take just hours and eventually minutes.”

Splitit launched under the name PayitSimple in 2013. The company allows end customers to break down large payments into interest-free installments on their existing credit card without requiring a credit check or pre-qualification.

Last fall, the New York-based company partnered with Shopify, making its buy now, pay later technology available to Shopify’s 800,000+ merchants. This came a few months after the company made its payment solution available to more than 2,000 merchants in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines via a partnership with GHL ePayments.

The company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in early 2019, raising $12 million in an IPO. The company has a current market capitalization of $206 million.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: CREALOGIX, Klarna, Mambu, Marqeta, MasterCard, Sensibill, SplitIt, Stratifyd, TransferWise

On Finovate.com

  • Finovate Alums Raise More Than Three Billion in 2019; $676 Million in Q4.
  • Sensibill Pilots SME Receipt Management Technology with Metro Bank.

Around the web

  • Mastercard partners with CleverCards and Appreciate Group for launch of digital gift card in the U.K.
  • TransferWise for Banks launches in Canada with EQ Bank as first partner.
  • CREALOGIX appoints Oliver Weber as new CEO as of January 2020.
  • Card issuing platform Marqeta and cloud banking services provider Mambu announce new collaboration.
  • Klarna to open tech hub in Berlin, Germany.
  • Splitit forges new strategic partnerships with Malaysian payment solution provider iPay88 and global payments company BlueSnap.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Finovate Alumni News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bill.com, Chetu, CustomerXPs, Klarna, Sedicii, SplitIt, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • Bill.com Begins Trading on NYSE at $22 per Share.

Around the web

  • CIO Look interviews Rob Leslie, Founder and CEO of Sedicii.
  • Clutch’s top 1000 list names Chetu among best B2B service providers in 2019.
  • CustomerXPs wins the IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Innovation Award for ‘Most Innovative Use of AI and Machine Learning.’

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AdviceRobo, AlphaPoint, HackerOne, ID R&D, Juvo, Pendo Systems, SheerID, SplitIt, Strands, Tradeshift, TransferWise, Xero

On Finovate.com

  • Financial Identity as a Service Innovator Juvo Teams Up with DOCOMO Digital
  • SheerID Lands $64 Million for Segmented Identity Verification

Around the web

  • HackerOne awards $3,500 in bounties to a pair of researchers who discovered vulnerabilities on its own platform.
  • AlphaPoint adds support for margin trading to its platform.
  • Bank of Georgia goes live with a new smart personal financial management (PFM) solution, mBank, developed by Strands.
  • Installment payment solution Splitit announces a new partnership with chiliPAD sleep system maker, Chilli.
  • Tradeshift integrates with fraud protection specialist SiS-id to reduce payments fraud.
  • Xero launches Pay with TransferWise, a new domestic bill payment solution to help U.K. customers pay and manage bills.
  • Pendo Systems teams with WSN to help customers navigate digital transformation.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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Splitit Secures Partnerships with Shopify, Divido

Splitit Secures Partnerships with Shopify, Divido
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: SplitIt

The buy-now-pay-later e-commerce specialist Splitit has picked up a pair of new partnerships in recent days.

The company announced this week that its Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution will be available across Shopify’s network of 800,000+ merchants in 20 different countries. Splitit also has teamed up with point-of-sale financing company Divido to make its BNPL offering available to the company’s 1,000 banks, merchants, and partners. The Divido integration will go live initially in the U.K., and shortly afterwards launch in the U.S.

“The feedback we consistently receive from merchants is that consumers are looking for better ways to manage their cash flows,” Splitit CEO Brad Paterson said. He highlighted the high number of credit card holders and the upwards of 70% of balances that remain untapped, and said that Splitit provided a better way for consumers to manage cash flow.

Paterson added that improving cash flow for consumers was a good deal for merchants, as well. “By making customer purchases on credit cards more affordable, merchants are also converting more sales and growing their average transaction values, delivering significant benefit to everyone involved,” he explained.

Splitit’s partnership news comes as the company, which debuted at FinovateFall 2014 as PayItSimple, announced a string of agreements with a diverse set of U.S. brands ranging from sleep technology specialists to luxury retailers to accountancy services. Paterson referred to the new agreements as part of the company’s growth strategy in North America, a strategy that also includes plans for new leadership in the region. Current CEO Paterson was previously in charge of North American operations and will relinquish those responsibilities once a replacement is in place.

Over the summer, Splitit announced a partnership with GHL ePayments that will make its installment payment offering available to 2,000+ online merchants in Southeast Asia. Also this year, the company teamed up with EFTPay to bring its buy now pay later solution to merchants in Hong Kong and Macau. Australia-based retailer Kogan announced in July that it would offer Splitit’s payment option, making it the first retailer in the country to do so.

Founded in 2013, Splitit is headquartered in New York. The company has offices in London, and an R&D center in Israel. Splitit has raised more than $43 million in funding, most recently including a post-IPO equity fundraising of $20.5 million (A$30 million) closed in May.

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Finovate Alumni News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Arkose Labs, Cinchy, Dwolla, inSpirAVE, iProov, Kinetica, nCino, OurCrowd, Ping Identity, Signicat, SplitIt, Thought Machine

On Finovate.com

  • Splitit Secures Partnerships with Shopify, Divido.
  • Thought Machine Helps Standard Chartered Launch Digital Bank in Hong Kong.
  • OurCrowd Teams Up with Toyota in Search for Tech Talent.
  • Saving for What Matters: A Q&A with INSPIRAVE Founder and CEO Om Kundu.

Around the web

  • FinovateFall Best of Show winner Cinchy earns $500,000 cash prize as one of the winners of the 2019 VentureClash competition.
  • Signicat unveils new capabilities, including a new technical interface and new third party integrations, that extend the reach of its digital identity verification technology.
  • Arkose Labs VP of Marketing and Strategy Vanita Pandey and Senior Producer Hedda Peters win Women in Cybersecurity honors at the Cyber Defense Global Awards sponsored by Cyber Defense Magazine.
  • nCino partners with Seacoast Bank ($8.6 billion in assets).
  • iProov earns a finalist spot in the 2019 Go:Tech Awards.
  • Compliance and risk management firm Middesk brings its business verification tool to the Dwolla Partner Ecosystem.
  • Kinetica opens office in Melbourne, Australia.
  • Ping Identity adds to its North European operations with a new office in Utrecht, Netherlands.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

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