The pandemic has helped many fintech firms prove their worth even if there has been a fair share of down rounds; fintech M&A has been a bright spot for the industry and proves the strength of fintech overall; Square acquired European peer-to-peer payments startup Verse, Mastercard acquired API provider Finicity, and Credit Sesame acquired the Canadian challenger bank Stack; banks are playing an even bigger role in fintech these days, fintech regulation has also helped them to put more money to work in the sector; there has always been rumors about bank acquisitions of fintech firms, the current crisis could help spur a number of banks to pull the trigger on deals; more recently the news about Chime and other digital banks making real headway is giving large and small banks pause, forcing them to really think about their innovation strategy. Forbes.
