FinTech IPO Index Surges 11.2% as Asian Companies and Platforms Bounce Back

The rising tide of a three-day rally this week helped lift virtually all boats in the FinTech IPO Index, which was up 11.2%.

The snapback rally — maybe call it a relief rally — came as there were signs that tariffs levied against China might be walked back a bit, which boosted some of the Asian firms in our FinTech IPO Index, though headlines were non-company specific.

The broader markets got a boost too, as President Donald Trump said explicitly that he would not fire Fed chairman Jerome Powell. Speculation of rate cuts also drove lending platforms higher through the week.

OpenLending shares were up 53%, retracing some of the losses seen in the wake of earnings several weeks ago. Lufax Holding was 25% higher. Futu Holdings gathered 17%.

Company specific news through the past several days were dominated by product announcements and partnerships. 

BILL said this week that it was launching procurement capabilities and other innovations to help businesses and accountants improve their cash flow. The company said that it would harness artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline procure-to-pay workflows, reduce manual work and boost efficiency, all within a single workspace. New offerings will also enable advanced approval routing and automated invoice matching to reduce fraud risk and payment errors.

Elsewhere, BILL Multi-Entity enables businesses and accounting firms to manage payments across multiple organizations from a centralized platform, according to the company’s release. New capabilities will also give client firms the ability to pay thousands of bills at a time.

Shares of BILL were up 10.3% through the past five sessions.

Affirm shares leaped 14.5%.

PYMNTS detailed that Affirm will begin reporting all its pay-over-time loans to TransUnion, beginning with those issued May 1. Expanded credit reporting will include its Pay-in-4 and longer-term monthly installments, the companies said on Tuesday (April 22). While consumers will see details about all Affirm transactions on their TransUnion credit file, the transactions will not be visible to lenders and will not be factored into traditional credit scores. But in terms of eventualities, as new credit scoring models are developed, the information may factor into consumers’ credit scores in the future.

SoFi said last week that it has secured agreements for a $3.2 billion expansion to its Loan Platform Business, which refers prequalified borrowers to loan origination partners and originates loans on behalf of third parties. One agreement includes a $2 billion extension of an earlier agreement for personal loans with fund managed by affiliates of global investment manager Fortress Investment Group. The other agreement entails SoFi’s originating an additional $1.2 billion in loans with technology powered by a joint venture between Fortress and technology-driven investment firm Edge Focus.

SoFi shares gathered 12%.

Blend Labs’ 5.5% gains came after the firm said it had expanded its partnership with CrossCountry Mortgage, a retail mortgage lender, aimed at independent mortgage banks (IMBs).

As part of this collaboration, the two companies are introducing new solutions that enhance the Blend experience for all IMBs. The company has launched a dedicated business unit focused on delivering tailored technology and support.

As part of the enhancements, the companies’ joint efforts include Branch-Level Configurations — which allow CrossCountry to tailor workflows, branding and operational settings at the branch level. Loan officers will be able to generate Loan Estimate disclosure packages directly within Blend’s interface, streamlining workflows and reducing the need to use multiple systems or manual processes.

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