As we look at the hottest fintech news of the past week, welcome back to The Interchange. A dedicated fintech stage was hosted by TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which featured a dedicated fintech stage for the first time and dozens of Battlefield 200 companies in the fintech industry. Christine even moderated a pitch session at Fintech! Mary Ann, whose family was not available due to the circumstances, couldn't make it due to a family matter - and after spending months leading the programming for the fintech stage, she was truly heartbroken. But all was a resounding success, with the room so packed for the fireside chats and panels that people had to stand in the back to catch them. There were an estimated 13,000 registered attendees at the event, up significantly from last year.
One-on-one chats with Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev, Plaid founder Zach Perret, Checkout.com president and COO CÉline Dufetel included one-on-one chats on the fintech stage. A panel of bankers was also discussing a post-Silicon Valley Bank world. SVB, in reality, is still alive and kicking.
Here are the stories that summarise the highlights of those chats and panels.
Startup maker MakersHub deciphers accounts payable information so construction companies don't have to resort to a third party to manage their accounts.
Bundl enables employees to select their own company benefits.
This week, I wrote about Truemed, a company that wants to put food in front of medicine.
Calley Means and Justin Mares established the payment integration company last year to make it easy for shoppers to pay for healthy food, exercise and supplements using their tax-free health savings accounts or flexible spending account dollars. And regulatory compliance.
To use HSA or FSA dollars on items other than procedures or medication, most patients require a letter of medical necessity to use HSA or FSA dollars. By accessing telemedicine regulations, Truemed collects certain data points and then seamlessly and asynchronously provides the letter without a doctor's visit.
About $140 billion is sitting in these accounts, mostly going unused, and the IRS has increased the amount you can contribute to health savings accounts to $4,150 for an individual and $8,300 for a family. The investment will allow people to more easily put the money into work.
Companies like CrossFit, Magic Mind, and Kos have already acquired $3 billion of gross merchandise volume through a series of transactions. The company also received $3.5 million from investors, including functional medicine pioneer Mark Hyman and founders from Thrive Market, Eight Sleep and Levels.
I separately corresponded with Kevin Robertson, executive management director and chief revenue officer at HSA Bank, a division of Webster Bank, about how HSA and FSA benefits are being used as a retention tool for tech companies.
Employers are increasingly matching pre-tax employee HSA and FSA contributions, Robertson said. There is also interest in doing more of what is called a lifestyle spending account, more popular in Canada now.
LSAs are not pre-tax dollars, but He adds that these particular accounts provide a more personalized benefit experience. An employer can designate these accounts to be used for pet care, spa treatments, and even fitness reimbursement.
Companies are enhancing their core benefit offerings in order to show themselves as an attractive place to work, Robertson said. Mercury said last week that it has converted Mercury Raise from a seasonal, cohort-based program into an always-available platform, which features new tools, programs, and networks. Mercury Raise was launched three years ago and is a program to help founders raise their seed or Series A rounds, TechCrunch said. With the latest news on Mercury, read TechCrunch's latest coverage here.
Arc has revealed a new bank account called Platinum, with its CEO telling TechCrunch over email: s the first and only operating account built on a bank partner. Over the last six months, we built this partnership in stealth, receiving feedback from thousands of founders and boards that have been forced to choose between the safety of the world's largest banks and the user experience & yield available only via B2B Fintechs. Brex introduced what it described as a proactive assistant that gives every employee their own EA. Finance teams can therefore look forward to increased productivity across the company. The stock market has been a disaster lately, with Block's stock lagging behind the curve. Does a management shakeup provide a needed jolt?
Solid faked revenue numbers, special committee appointed to investigate, reveal sources close to the truth.
Varo wants to displace Venmo, Cash App volume with new P2P feature.
Tap to Pay is being launched in Brazil as international expansion continues.
Treasury Prime announced integration with Astra to bring real-time payment capabilities to customers.
As seen elsewhere, the evidence is clear: ''Is there a conspiracy that hasn't been seen outside the United States,'' he said.
Flex secured $20 million equity and $100 million debt financing from SMBs to create a one-stop-shop financial hub for SMBs.