Welcome to TechCrunch Fintech! This week, we’re taking a look at neobank Dave’s “deceptive advertising and marketing” based on a brand new FTC grievance, Affirm’s launch within the U.Okay. amid regulatory overhaul, and the way Equal goals to fight India’s rising cyberfraud drawback.
The massive story
The FTC comes after Dave for “deceptive advertising and marketing”
The FTC is taking motion in opposition to on-line money app and neobank Dave, which it says used “misleading marketing to deceive consumers.”
At concern is how Dave marketed $500 money advances to shoppers that it not often supplied, and the “Categorical Charge” it charged if clients wished their cash instantly. The FTC claimed Dave’s advertising and marketing implied that its money advances can be “prompt” with out disclosing the charges concerned till after the patron gave Dave entry to their checking account.
The grievance says that if the person selected to not pay the price, which ranged wherever from $3 to $25, they’d have to attend two to 3 enterprise days for the switch to undergo. The FTC additionally alleged that Dave would typically cost a shock price, which it described as a “tip.”
Evaluation of the week
Affirm has launched within the U.Okay., its first market exterior North America.
The purchase now, pay later (BNPL) big’s long-anticipated arrival comes at an fascinating level. U.Okay. lawmakers are mulling over new guidelines to deliver BNPL companies into line with different conventional client credit score companies, however such legal guidelines aren’t anticipated to return into impact till not less than 2026. That might give Affirm loads of time to construct traction and curry favor with shoppers and regulators alike.
Affirm isn’t launching within the U.Okay. with any of the big-name partnerships it has again residence, however the truth that it counts the likes of Amazon, Shopify, and Apple as clients within the U.S. implies that it wouldn’t be an enormous stretch to additionally broaden its industrial partnerships throughout the pond.
{Dollars} and cents
Brazilian fintech Tako is emerging from stealth with a $13.2 million seed spherical co-led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Tako’s worker life cycle platform automates duties like onboarding and payroll to avoid wasting corporations time and convey worker data into one place.
MoradaUno, a proptech firm that goals to make it simpler to lease flats in Mexico, simply raised a $5.6 million Series A round co-led by Flourish Ventures and Cometa. The funds will probably be used to assist with growth, co-founder and CEO Santiago Morales informed TechCrunch.
Equal has raised a Series A round of $10 million at a post-money valuation of $80 million to scale its operations. The Hyderabad-based startup goals to deal with India’s rising cyberfraud drawback with its suite of id verification and monetary data-sharing merchandise.
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