Consolidation continues apace in the fintech world, FIS the fintech giant that manages a wide range of payment, banking and investment services, has acquired Bond a startup that specializes in integrated finance, multiple sources confirmed today.
Fintech Business Weekly's Jason Mikula broke the news last week that the deal was in progress. Our sources confirm that the deal has closed, as of today.
FIS does not share how much it paid Bond a BaaS (Banking as a Service) startup based in San Francisco, but as a point of reference, pitchbook notes that Bond was valued at $182 million the last time it got a fundraising round, in 2020. Since 2019, Bond has raised a total of $42 million in funding, according to Crunchbase.
It has an impressive list of sponsors: Coatue Management led the company's last round, $32 million in a Series A in 2020, which also saw participation from Mastercard, Goldman Sachs, Canaan Partners, B Capital Group, and former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack.
BaaS companies, sometimes called integrated finance, help brands (sometimes those outside of finance) integrate financial services like credit cards and bank accounts to, in turn, sell those services to Your clients.
Touting “an AI-powered infrastructure,” Bond works to help digital brands, including other fintechs like Pocketbook and Everest, deliver “compliant, personalized banking products.”
With approximately 30 employees, Bond's focus has been develop APIs and software that enable solutions commercial and consumer credit cards, as well as debit cards and accounts.
According to an internal FIS memo, the FIS and Bond leadership teams "will determine how the two companies will work together," including how FIS will incorporate Bond capabilities into existing FIS relationships.
FIS SVP of Platforms Himal Makwana, in association with the company's integration management office, will lead post-purchase planning activities, the memo added.
It's unclear why Bond chose to be acquired by a third party, but the deal comes amid a very shaky period in the world of technology, venture finance and financial services. Funding activity has largely ground to a halt in the world of startups compared to previous years, contributing in part to the collapse of two major tech-focused banks.
It's unclear what Bond's financial status was, but it's notable that he hadn't raised capital since 2020, and amid a decline in funding for fintech companies in particular, M&A may have become an interesting option for this startup.
On the other side of the equation, the biggest incumbents like FIS, as well as the biggest fintechs, have been making a series of moves to buy up companies in the sector to augment in-house talent and technology in a race to upgrade their own products. and services in the midst of competition.
Earlier this year, Marqeta acquired financial infrastructure startup Power Finance in a $275 million deal. JP Morgan closed its aumni Acquisition, and Brazilian fintech infrastructure company Pismo is said to be at the center of Visa and Mastercard talks in a reported $1 billion transaction.
Not all mergers and acquisitions agreements they work well, of course, and the biggest ones are usually the hardest to digest. FIS made one of the largest acquisitions in the payments world when it acquired WorldPay for approximately $43 billion in 2019. However, that deal was never beneficial. In February of this year, FIS confirmed that it would be splitting WorldPay from its catalogue.
