And the company's shares were up another 12.5% on Thursday after the company reported record software as a service (SaaS) growth, and a projection that its annual recurring revenue was expected to exceed $8 million by the end of December.

Deal flow sending shares north

The company's shares were trading at just 0.6 cents only a couple of months ago, but following announcements, including the news that it had struck a deal with major online broker Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ: HOOD) last month, the stock has skyrocketed.

On Thursday, when the company informed the ASX that its revenue growth was hitting new records, along with a surge in client numbers, the stock rose another 12.5% to 5.4 cents.

By our calculations, if you'd sunk $10,000 into Stakk shares at the start of August, you'd be sitting on about $88,000 worth of the shares now.

That share price growth has translated into a market capitalisation for the company of $118.4 million at the close of trade on Wednesday.

Dull but worthy

Stakk provides technology to its clients, which includes image capture, authentication, and transaction processing.

The company informed the ASX in its announcement on Thursday that it now had 212 active US clients, up from 29 in January, and annual recurring revenue had increased to $4.5 million, up from $1.4 million in January.

The company added:

The above metrics do not include any significant contribution from recently announced major customer wins of international brands Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) and T-Mobile USA (NASDAQ:TMUS). Momentum continues to build with a robust pipeline of imminent new customer contracts that should see growth continue.

The company said it provided "critical but boring" financial infrastructure to its clients, which had translated into exceptional results.

These results represent one of the most rapid revenue escalations achieved by any ASX listed SaaS company this year and position Stakk as a top-performing growth stock within its sector. Modern fintechs and enterprise platforms pour resources into building 'sexy' new customer-facing experiences, while the complex, compliance-heavy infrastructure underpinning them – document capture, risk evaluation, authentication, transaction orchestration, settlement, and audit – remains under-served. Stakk builds what others won't: the essential, regulator-ready infrastructure that allows innovation to scale immediately and safely.

Stakk said it was also well-capitalised, following a recent $15 million capital raise.

The post A $10,000 investment in this "boring" Aussie tech stock two months ago would be worth almost $90,000 today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Stakk shares were up more than 18% to 4.2 cents on Friday, but that followed a 500% jump from 0.6 cents to 3.6 cents on Thursday when the deal was announced, catapulting the company's market capitalisation to $74.7 million.

More than 300 million shares in the company were traded on Thursday and another 52 million on Friday morning, compared with the usual average trade volume of less than 5 million shares.

Stakk announced on Thursday it had secured a two-year master services agreement to deliver Robinhood a solution "encompassing its image capture, authentication, and transaction processing capabilities''.

Robinhood, best known for introducing a new generation of traders to the stock market, crypto and ETFs is, as part of the launch of Robinhood Baking, growing up alongside its customers, moving one step closer to becoming a full financial service company, along the likes of Fidelity, and Charles Schwab. Although the revenue Stakk will generate under this agreement is largely predicated on the success of Robinhood's new banking offering and is therefore unknown at this time, this Agreement is material to Stakk due to the size and scale of Robinhood, and their significant investment in and commitment to their new initiative.

Stakk Chief Executive Officer Andy Taylor said the company couldn't be prouder to add Robinhood as a client.

"The confidence Robinhood has placed in us, at this stage of our journey into Embedded Finance, is a tremendous vote of confidence in what we do and how we deliver," Mr Taylor said.

The agreement can be renewed by mutual consent for subsequent terms of one year.

Second contract win this month

Stakk also announced earlier this month that its agreement to provide services to New York-based Current Financial Inc had been renewed. Stakk will continue delivering a solution to Current for its image capture, authentication, and transaction processing.

Current is a fintech company founded in 2015 that offers alternative banking services through its platform, Current Core.

Stakk said Current aims to deliver services such as faster direct deposits, pay cheque advances, and cryptocurrency services, and has partnerships with firms such as Choice Financial Group and Cross River Bank.

Stakk, previously known as Douugh, said the agreement with Current was worth about $280,000 in annual recurring revenue.  

The post Which Aussie tech stock is up more than sixfold for the week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In fact, these 5 ASX BNPL companies all saw their share price more than halve over the course of last year.

Let's take a look at which BNPL stocks suffered most in 2021.

A quick note before we start: This list only contains companies with market capitalisations of more than $30 million.

The worst performing ASX BNPL stocks of 2021

Laybuy Holdings Ltd (ASX: LBY) – down 82%

Unfortunately for Laybuy Holdings investors, the company has taken out the undesirable cake. It's crowned the worst performing ASX BNPL share for 2021.

The company's stock started the year trading at $1.31 and hit a 52-week high of $1.50. Over the course of the year, however, it tumbled to just 23.5 cents.

Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) – down 81%

2021 was also a particularly bad year for the Splitit share price.

It gradually dropped 81% of its value over the 12-month period.

At the start of the year, Splitit's shares were trading for $1.30. However, come the final close of the year it was going for 25 cents.

Openpay Group Ltd (ASX: OPY) – down 68%

Despite starting the year out strong, the Openpay share price ended last year 68% lower than it started it.

It tumbled from its starting price of $2.37 to end the year at 72.5 cents, hitting a 52-week high of $3.57 along the way.

Douugh Ltd (ASX:DOU) – down 59%

This ASX BNPL stock started the year out as the new face on the block.

Douugh floated in October 2020. It launched its first BNPL offering shortly after.

The company's stock started 2021 trading at 17 cents and quickly surged to its 52-week high of 37.5 cents. Though, its glory didn't last.

As of Friday's close, the Douugh share price is 6.9 cents.

Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) – down 51%

Popular ASX BNPL stock, Sezzle just snuck onto this list after falling 51% over 2021.

That's despite the company trading relatively flat for the first 8 months of the year – albeit, with plenty of peaks and troughs.

The company's half year report seemed to be the cataylst for its troubles. Its share price fell nearly 15% on the day of its release and hasn't managed to regain its feet since.

After beginning 2021 trading at $6.27, the Sezzle share price finished the year at $3.02.

The post These were the 5 worst performing ASX BNPL shares of 2021 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Douugh share price is 7.1 cents, down 8.97%. It has fallen by 15% in the past week.

Share purchase plan details

ASX investors are selling Douugh shares after the company invited retail shareholders to participate in its SPP.

Following the successful $8 million placement, Douugh has extended its offer to eligible shareholders. Under the SPP, investors can apply to buy a parcel of shares at a price of 7.2 cents.

The same terms offered in the placement represent a discount of 13.2% on the closing price on 1 December (to be eligible for the SPP). This is also an 18% discount to the volume-weighted average Douugh share price over the 5 days before the company announced the SPP.

Investors can apply for a minimum application amount of $2,000 up to a maximum application amount of $30,000.

The company is seeking to raise $2.5 million through the SPP. However, Douugh may scale this back or increase it depending on the total value of the applications.

Together with the placement, Douugh aims to capitalise on the strong momentum experienced since August 2021. Douugh will use the funds to accelerate user and revenue growth by investing in research and development as well as marketing initiatives.

The closing date for the SPP is 23 December. The new Douugh shares will be issued on 4 January 2022. They will be tradeable from the following day.

Douugh share price snapshot

Over the past 12 months, the Douugh share price has plummeted in value by about 70%. Year-to-date has been just as disappointing, down by almost 60% after investor sentiment waned.

Based on today's price, Douugh commands a market capitalisation of $32.21 million with approximately 453.71 million shares on issue.

The post The Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is sinking 9% on Friday. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

During mid-morning trade, Douugh shares are down 10.84% to 7.4 cents. This means that the tech company's shares have fallen more than 20% in the past week alone.

What's dragging Douugh shares lower?

Investors are scrambling to sell Douugh shares as the company prepares to dilute existing shareholder value.

According to its release, Douugh advised it has received firm commitments to raise $5.5 million through a share placement.

The company presented the offer to institutional and sophisticated investors at an issue price of 7.2 cents per share. This equates to roughly 76.4 million new ordinary shares being added to the company's registry.

In addition, Douugh launched a share purchase plan (SPP) for retail investors under the same terms as the placement.

Seeking to raise a further $2.5 million, the SPP will be available to apply for starting tomorrow (7 December).

Together, Douugh expects the capital raising efforts to generate $8 million to accelerate user and revenue growth. This includes investment in research and development as well as marketing initiatives.

Douugh founder and CEO Andy Taylor commented:

We are delighted to have received this support from investors to be able to kick-off the AU integration with Railsbank and continue to build on the strong momentum we are showing in the US. In October, we increased our US customer base by 42% and revenue by 53% month-on-month, with November proving to be just as solid.

With the launch of our new Douugh Rewards offering this week in time for Christmas spending, the Crypto investing feature under development as well as a couple of major enhancements to the core product, we are well positioned in the coming months to further improve our activation rate to increase our revenue profile.

About the Douugh share price

Over the past 12 months, the Douugh share price has plummeted by more than 70%. The company's shares reached a 52-week low of 5.9 cents in October, before moving in circles since.

On valuation grounds, Douugh commands a market capitalisation of around $33.57 million, with roughly 453.7 million shares on issue.

The post Why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is sinking 10% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At Wednesday's closing bell, the financial wellness app provider's shares finished the day up 42.8% to 11 cents apiece. This means that in the past week alone, the Dough share price has accelerated more than 50% higher.

Record growth in October

In the hours before yesterday's market open, Douugh released a positive trading update to the ASX.

The company highlighted record growth across its key platform metrics for the month of October. This was underpinned by targeted marketing activities and the launch of its in-app member-get-member-service (MGM).

As a result, the United States customer base increased by 42% month-on-month, with US revenue up 53% month-on-month. The introduction of the company's new monthly subscription fee for new users helped boost revenue. Douugh said it was focused on continuing new app improvements to achieve higher activation rates and expand the share of wallet feature.

Total customers on the Douugh platform jumped to 63,162 users, which represents a lift of 26% on the prior month.

In addition, accumulated customer deposits rose to $15.5 million, up 25% month-on-month.

Total debit card spend on the platform leaped to $6.6 million, a 26% jump on September's figures.

Douugh founder and CEO, Andy Taylor commented:

Our focus continues to be on improving activation rates and the winning of salary deposits to dramatically increase ARPU.

The paycheck is the catalyst of our flywheel and maximising the revenue opportunity in front of us. Therefore, investing in the brand and building trust with the user base is essential.

About the Douugh share price

Despite today's gains, the Douugh share price has fallen by more than 60% over the past 12 months. Year-to-date, its shares are hovering around 35% below the January 1 level.

Based on the current share price, Douugh commands a market capitalisation of roughly $47.64 million.

The post Dough (ASX:DOU) share price surges another 43% on Wednesday. Here's why appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Over the course of last month, the money management-focused fintech company saw the number of United States-based people using its platform, increase by 42% month-on-month.

The amount of revenue its platform received from its United States users also increased 53% compared to that of September.

The news has seemingly seen the ASX rejoice. At the time of writing, the Douugh share price is 7.9 cents, 16.18% higher than its previous close.

Let's take a closer look at how Douugh's platform performed over the month just been.

Douugh share price up on October performance

October was seemingly a strong month for Douugh, and its share price is reaping the rewards today.

Douugh's total number of customers surged 26% to reach 63,162 over the course of last month.

Its accumulated customer deposits reached $15.5 million – representing a 25% monthly increase.

Finally, the total debit spend on its platform came to $6.6 million, up 26% on that of September.

According to Douugh, the growth can be put down to its increased marketing activities and the launch of its member-get-member feature.

The new feature gives $20 to any user who refers a friend. It also rewards the new member with $20 when they begin to use the platform.

The company's founder and CEO Andy Taylor also noted that the introduction of a monthly fee has increased the platform's revenue and that Douugh is still testing the waters of its pricing model.

Taylor predicts Douugh's revenue will improve further when it launches its crypto service early next year. He also said:

Our focus continues to be on improving activation rates and winning of salary deposits to dramatically increase [average revenue per user]. The paycheck is the catalyst of our flywheel and maximising the revenue opportunity in front of us…

We are now well positioned for the next phase of growth as we prepare for international expansion and the roll-out of the US product to customers in key markets around the world, starting in Australia.

Today's gains included, the Douugh share price is currently 53% lower than it was at the start of 2021.

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At the time of writing, the Douugh share price is up 16.4% to 7.8 cents.

Douugh app to feature crypto wallet and trading features

Douugh has partnered with leading crypto-as-a-service provider Zero Hash, in the United States to integrate a cryptocurrency wallet and trading capabilities into its core Douugh app.

The partnership will initially allow US customers to buy, hold and sell crypto directly through the Douugh app's Crypto Jar feature.

The Crypto Jar offering will allow consumers to directly participate in digital asset investing, commission-free. As well as spend with the cryptocurrency of their choice through the Douugh Mastercard debit card.

The partnership with Zero Hash commences immediately, for an initial 3-year term.

The launch of Douugh's crypto service is subject to approval from the company's banking partner on the flow of funds.

Douugh said that it intends to launch the Crypto Jar offering and functionality in Q322.

About Zero Hash

Zero Hash is a digital asset settlement and custody platform that is registered in the United States with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The company can operate in 51 US jurisdictions as a money service business, money transmitter or virtual currency business.

Management commentary

Douugh founder and CEO Andy Taylor commented on the upcoming features, saying:

Cryptocurrency is now at the maturity point that it has become a favored investment for millennials and gen-z who are hungry for yield and access to liquidity. The key for us is facilitating this activity responsibly.

For the next generation of investors, cryptocurrency is becoming an essential component of one's overall diversified investment portfolio, and we are excited to partner with one of the largest and most regulated exchanges in the digital asset space to provide our customers with the ability to grow their cryptocurrency savings over the long term.

Douugh share price has a long way to go

Despite Douugh's exciting growth story, its share price is down 54% year-to-date.

This comes off the back of an explosive initial public offering last year, where it surged to all-time highs of almost 50 cents from a listing price of just 3 cents.

The Doough share price has a mountain to climb to breakeven for the year, let alone re-test its previous record highs.

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Douugh shares are trading at 7.5 cents each, up an extraordinary 18.46% so far this Monday. It was an even better story shortly after open too, with the ASX fintech company rocketing as high as 7.9 cents per share. That was up roughly 21% on Friday's closing share price.

So what's going on with Douugh shares here? Why is this embattled company exciting investors so much today?

Well, it's almost certainly the result of an ASX announcement the company made this morning before market open.

Making dough: ASX fintech announces strong US market growth

Kicking the week off in style, Douugh released an update on customer takeup this morning, and it certainly makes for some interesting reading.

Douugh reported that it doubled its US customer base over the first quarter of the 2022 financial year (1Q22). Its total customer number now stands at 55,321. That's up 53% from the end of the previous quarter (4Q21).

Douugh also reported that its customer deposits rose to $11.6 million, up 76% from the previous quarter, with collective debit card spending rising by 94%. The company also revealed that its funds under management have grown to over $5.5 million, up 11% from the previous quarter.

Here's some of what Douugh founder and CEO Andy Taylor had to say on these numbers:

We are seeing strong month-on-month momentum building now, which has accelerated following the launch of the integrated robo-advisory service and with the dialling up of growth marketing initiatives. As expected, we are demonstrating exponential growth on all key metrics, suggesting strong product market fit…

We see a window of opportunity to become the responsible financial super app for a large sector of underserved customers in the emerging gen-z segment, which we are well positioned to capture.

About the Douugh share price

Douugh shares have only been on the ASX for a little over a year, having IPOed back on 9 October 2020.

It's been a difficult journey for the company since then. The Douugh share price is now down around 85% from its 52-week high of 49 cents a share that it hit a few weeks after IPO back in November. Douugh is also down by close to 58% year to date in 2021 so far.

At the current Douugh share price, this company has a market capitalisation of $30.6 million.

The post Here's why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is rocketing 18% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Under APRA's new rules, new authorised deposit-taking institutions (banks) will have to jump through additional hoops before gaining the regulator's favour.

This could see the ASX 200 banks with less competition on their block in the future, particularly from neobanks.  

Neobanks are banks that purely exist online. Think, Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU) and the recently collapsed Xinja.

Let's take a look at the new rules.

ASX 200 banks in focus on higher hurdles for new kids

ASX 200 bank shares may be in the spotlight today while their potential competitors feel the blues.

Following Xinja's failure, APRA now requires new banks on the block to provide both deposit and income-generating products.

Of course, Xinja famously offered deposit only options to its customers, negating to launch any real income-generating products. Xinja's banking licence barely made it past its first birthday before the former bank threw in the towel.

Not much has changed for established banks, like those on the ASX 200. However, APRA now calls on all banks to have response plans in place to navigate tough times. Banks are also required to plan for how they'd exit the banking business if they flopped.

New banks will also have to keep a generous capital conservation buffer – a certain amount tucked away in case of a rainy day. As well as a limit on how much cash they can mind for their customers.

From now on, APRA will provide 3 types of banking licences:

• The first is a 2-year restricted licence, allowing a new bank to get on its feet while planning how it would pay back its customers if it all goes wrong.
  
  Restricted banks have a $2 million deposit limit and must have $3 million of ongoing capital and $1 million in a resolution reserve.  
  
  If a new bank has a good amount of cash in its coffers and a history of running a successful banking-related business, it can skip this licence.

• The next is a new licence. Banks that hold a new licence have higher capital requirements they must meet.

• And finally, existing banks like those on the ASX 200 can pretty much continue working as normal. Though, that doesn't mean APRA won't be looking over their shoulder!

The post ASX 200 bank shares rejoice. Life just got tougher for new neobanks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

So why are Douugh shares bucking this trend? Well, it might have something to do with the ASX announcement the company made to the markets this morning.

Douugh rising

This announcement revealed that Douugh is launching its finance app for US residents who use the Android platform. The company tells us that this move will expand its market footprint to "an additional 46% of mobile users". That's based on research Douugh included that found Android now accounts for 45.99% of all mobile operating systems in the USA.

It has also been revealed that Douugh's app has undergone "an extensive refresh and simplification of the architecture and user interface to improve overall usability and increase customer engagement".

Further, Douugh also tells us that it "is now weeks away" from the launch of its robo-advisor wealth management product. This will reportedly be launched alongside the recently-announced MoneyPass ATM network. This will be "monetised" through a monthly "financial fitness membership fee". Douugh tells us that "this will be the point in which [Douugh]  accelerates its customer acquisition run rate".

Here's some of what Douugh founder and CEO Andy Taylor had to say on all of these developments:

Following extensive market testing with our foundational user base, we are delighted to announce the launch of our Android app. We are now in a position to retarget the mass market and optimise our media channels to increase acquisition, and further reduce our CAC [Customer Acquisition Cost]…

We remain on track to aggressively turn up customer acquisition once this occurs… This has meant we have been able to significantly reduce the cash burn rate in the short term.

The Douugh Wealth offering will allow us to fully to deliver on our brand promise… and validate the revenue opportunity with the introduction of a monthly financial fitness membership fee which will underpin our international expansion.

About the Douugh share price

The Douugh share price has been an interesting one to watch since its IPO last year.

The company has had a shaky 2021 so far, and remains down more than 41% year to date, even after today's move. It's also down around 80% from its 52-week high of 49 cents a share. However, it is also still up almost 43% since its ASX debut back in October 2020.

On the current share price, Douugh has a market capitalisation of $34.87 million.

The post Why is the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price up 5% on Monday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Let's see why this investing app is boosting the Douugh share price following its launch in Australia.

Douugh launches free investing app in Australia

The software company is looking to leverage the record number of millennials entering the share market.

Douugh acquired the wealth management app Goodments for $1.5 million in February.

Goodments operates in Australia with more than 13,000 customers in its database. The company's wealth management app includes features that allow customers to invest in custom-built portfolios and fractionalised single shares.

Goodments by Douugh will retain the same features, providing Australian investors with brokerage-free trading in US shares and exchange-traded funds with as little as one dollar.

Douugh says that today's launch is a precursor to its flagship banking app launching in Australia early next year. The company says that there are currently more than 10,000 Australians now signed up to its waitlist.

The company's banking app has already launched in the United States, with strong momentum building for the platform. Douugh reported its first full quarter performance in the US, revealing a 259% increase in customers from 3,033 in December to 10,877 by the end of March.

What did management say?

Douugh Founder and CEO Andy Taylor commented on the recent millennial investing trend:

Young people realise buying property is becoming increasingly difficult, so they are turning to shares to make their money work harder and save to secure their futures.

Cryptocurrencies have also created interest in the younger generation, who want to invest with a long term strategy.

It's driving demand for wealth creation platforms like Goodments to simplify buying and selling shares, making it easy to get involved, easy to use and low cost. All the while being able to get exposure to the biggest global disruptive brands they know and love that are changing the world.

Douugh share price in 2021

The Douugh share price is down about 26% year to date. The company's shares are still trying to stabilise after surging as much as ~1,600% last year from a listing price of 3 cents to as high as 49 cents.

The post Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price surges 9% after app launch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Today's gain takes the financial wellbeing centric company's shares to an increase of 38% in under two weeks.

If you've missed the recent developments driving the move, here's your refresher.

Finserv partnership boosts Douugh share price

After somewhat of a drought in big moving announcements, Douugh delivered a sprinkle of excitement on Thursday last week.

The Douugh share price rallied after announcing a partnership with US-based financial technology company Fiserv Inc (NASDAQ: FISV)

According to the announcement, the partnership allows Douugh customers to withdraw cash from more than 37,000 ATMs across the US without incurring a transaction fee.

Making it all possible is Fiserv's MoneyPass platform, which is recognised as one of the largest surcharge-free networks in the US.

The catalyst broke the Douugh share price out of a downward trending channel, which had been in action for the last 3 months. Over that time, shareholders were shaken down and left with a 68% fall in value.

Another one

One good day after a few months of red doesn't do much to soothe the soul. While two… well it's still not great – but it's 100% better than one.

The second positive catalyst filtered through yesterday, with Douugh announcing a strategic alliance with foreign exchange services provider OFX Group Limited (ASX: OFX).

Douugh intends to start by offering brokerage-free US single stock and ETF trading via its recently acquired Goodments app. After which, it may extend its alliance to offer international money services as an integrated feature in the Douugh banking app, providing access to over 50 global currencies.

The release explains that Douugh's customers will pay OFX a foreign exchange fee so they can then buy US securities. OFX will then pay a portion of the fee to Douugh in the form of a revenue share.

The post Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price lifts nearly 40% in 10 days appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In morning trade, the financial wellness app company's shares are up 9% to 12 cents.

However, despite this gain, the Douugh share price is still down almost 30% in 2021.

Why is the Douugh share price jumping?

The Douugh share price was given a boost this morning by the release of an announcement.

According to the release, the company has formed a three-year strategic alliance with OFX Group Ltd (ASX: OFX) to offer its customers bank-beating foreign exchange services.

Douugh intends to start by offering brokerage-free US single stock and ETF trading via its recently acquired Goodments app. After which, it may extend its alliance to offer international money services as an integrated feature in the Douugh banking app, providing access to over 50 global currencies.

The release explains that the Douugh's customers will pay OFX a foreign exchange fee so they can then buy US securities. OFX will then pay a portion of the fee to Douugh in the form of a revenue share.

Douugh's CEO, Andy Taylor, commented: "We are delighted to announce this exciting partnership with OFX. They have invested a lot in building a robust platform to support fintechs to build and integrate new customer offerings. FX will become a key component of our platform over time as we look to facilitate investing in US securities, not to mention helping customers move money around the world."

While the financial impact of the new partnership is indeterminable at this stage, management believes it is material given that it creates a new revenue line for the company. It also believes commission-free brokerage for single stock and ETF trading is of significant interest to its target market. As a result, it is expecting a strong uptake once its Goodments app is relaunched with the features.

The post Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price jumps on OFX (ASX:OFX) deal appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, Douugh shares are exchanging hands for 11 cents, up 15.79%.

What's driving the Douugh share price higher?

Investors are keen to get hold of Douugh shares as the company expands its reach into the United States.

In a statement to the ASX, Douugh advised it has teamed up with NASDAQ-listed Fiserv Inc (NASDAQ: FISV) for access to its MoneyPass platform.

This will allow Douugh customers to withdraw cash from more than 37,000 ATMs across the US without being charged a transaction fee.

Founded in 1984, Fiserv is a leading global provider of financial technology and services. The company enables money movement for thousands of financial institutions and millions of people and businesses.

Fiserv has 1.4 billion accounts on file, with 100 million digital banking users. More than 12,000 financial transactions per second are made using Fiserv's services.

Douugh said in today's release that MoneyPass was recognised as one of the largest surcharge-free networks in the US.

According to a Mercator Advisory group survey released in 2018, 77% of consumers in the US said they would avoid ATM fees where possible.

Under the agreement, Douugh will pay a tiered transaction fee for its customers to use MoneyPass ATMs. The cost of the usage will be offset by the subscription fee Douugh customers pay.

The partnership will run for an initial period of 5 years, starting immediately.

What did management say?

Douugh founder and CEO Andy Taylor welcomed the collaboration, saying:

We are delighted to be partnering with Fiserv to offer this service to Douugh customers. We are constantly looking at ways to improve the overall value of the Douugh banking service and customer experience, as we seek to convince customers to make Douugh their primary checking account.

Fiserv senior vice president of networks, card services, Carol Specogna, added:

ATMs remain a critical customer touch-point and the customer demand for surcharge-free access to their cash is strong and growing. Douugh is providing its account holders with the ability to conduct surcharge-free transactions wherever they travel, while saving them money at the ATM.

The Douugh share price has accelerated by more than 600% since listing on the ASX boards in October last year.

The post Why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is soaring 16% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Let's take a look at how the company has been performing.

Douugh quarterly highlights 

The Douugh share price is in the green today after the company reported momentum is building for its platform since the US launch in mid-November 2020. The company's app has experienced a 259% increase in customers from 3,033 in December to 10,877 by the end of March. Douugh's customers had deposited more than $3 million into their Douugh bank accounts with more than $1.1 million spent through their Douugh cards. 

The company was anticipating more customer growth but this was slowed due to COVID-19-enforced delays on the delivery of new debit cards. According to Douugh, it plans to make up for lost ground in the fourth quarter. 

Despite supply-side challenges, the company is pleased with how customers are interacting with the platform and the value provided by its money management tools. Douugh observes that customers are using their Douugh cards to pay their bills, such as those from Uber and Netflix, and are starting to deposit their salaries directly into their Douugh bank accounts. The company is eyeing new initiatives to further encourage this behaviour. 

Douugh also reported delivering on its development milestones for the third quarter. This included the successful rollout of its proprietary self-driving money management feature, Autopilot. This feature utilises machine learning models to manage a customer's money, improving over time as it gets to know the user through their financial data. 

The second development was the rollout of the company's instant virtual card push provisioning in partnership with Mastercard. This allows a customer to seamlessly add their Douugh Mastercard debit card to a digital wallet from within the Douugh app, eliminating the need to input card information manually. 

Douugh share price snapshot 

Despite the company's achievements over the quarter, including an instant bank account funding feature in partnership with Stripe, the acquisition of social investing app Goodments and a licence to offer wealth management services in the US, there hasn't been a whole lot going on for the Douugh share price.

Prior to today's gains, Douugh shares have drifted lower to the 15 cent level, close to a 7-month low. But taking into consideration its listing price of just 3 cents back in October, it might take an extraordinary announcement to drive further upside in the near term. 

The post Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price rises after first full quarter in the US appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Credit Clear share price is down 3%, trading at 66 cents after spending the entire morning in the red.

Credit Clear operates in the receivables management industry, defined by the ACCC as when "creditors and collectors seek to secure payment from consumers of businesses who are legally bound to pay or repay money they owe".

The company aims to disrupt the industry's current operating model by applying its technology to improve a clients' collection experience and financial outcomes. 

Why is the Credit Clear share price lower today?

The Credit Clear share price has struggled to find headway on seemingly positive financial and operational results in the third quarter. The company reported that overall revenue was up by 35% over the previous quarter to $2.8 million, driven by a 76% increase in digital revenue.

Growth in digital revenue is accelerating and now accounts for 37% of total revenue compared to the 28% reported in the second quarter. The company is pleased with the accelerating growth in digital streams as it confirms the continuing acceptance and adoption of Credit Clear's SaaS debt recovery platform over traditional debt collection methods. 

The company is pushing growth on all fronts with meaningful contract wins and discussions with large insurance, education, automotive finance and utilities clients.

During the quarter, the company secured Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) as its first major insurance sector client. The signing will have an initial contract term of two years with the company receiving an $800,000 advancement payment. 

Credit Clear is riding the tailwinds of its flagship Suncorp deal, and is currently engaged with four additional major insurers about implementing its digital platform. 

Despite the quarterly result ticking all boxes with solid revenue growth, key contract wins and a strong pipeline of potential clients, the Credit Clear share price remains slumped at 66 cents. 

Why the Credit Clear share price is struggling this year

The Credit Clear share price has slipped 11% year-to-date despite positive announcements from the business. 

Could the lack of recent upside to the Credit Clear share price have something to do with its initial public offering back in October 2020? The company had a listing price of 35 cents but ran as high as $1.20 within four days of going public.

Credit Clear made its ASX debut during a period where IPOs were running hot. Notable listings late last year include Douugh Ltd (ASX: DOU), MyDeal.com.au Ltd (ASX: MYD) and Adore Beauty Group Ltd (ASX: ABY).

These shares have experienced a similar share price performance where all-time highs were recorded during the first few days of listing, followed by a sharp selloff and grinding back and forth ever since. 

The post The Credit Clear (ASX:CCR) share price lower on third quarter update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At yesterday's market close, the Douugh shares ended the day at 16.5 cents.

Let's take a closer look at what the company announced.

Douugh enhances app offering

Douugh shares will be on the radar today after the company launched another feature to reduce customer wait times.

According to its release, Douugh advised it has rolled out an 'instant bank account' funding feature in partnership with Stripe.

Founded in 2010, Stripe is an Irish-American financial service and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company. The group specialises in online payment processing platforms, allowing businesses to send and receive payments online.

The new feature enables customers to connect their pre-existing bank Mastercard and Visa debit cards to the Douugh platform. In turn, customers can access and top up their Douugh bank account instantly. This is opposed to waiting for 3 days for the funds to settle. To access this feature, however, Douugh is charging a 3% fee to customers for the convivence.

It's no secret the company is making strides to encourage customers to pay their salary into their Douugh bank account. It believes by making continuous improvements to its app, customers will make the switch, unlocking the full benefits.

Management commentary

Stripe head of Americas, revenue and growth, Jeanne DeWitt Grosser commented:

We are delighted to be partnering with Douugh, helping them fulfill their mission to foster financial wellness. This partnership allows Douugh customers to more quickly begin their journey of better managing and growing their finances by cutting unnecessary wait times.

Douugh founder and CEO, Andy Taylor went on to add:

This initiative, alongside the recent release of instant push provisioning of the virtual Douugh Mastercard debit card straight into Apple Wallet, ensures we can minimise the time it takes a customer to become setup on the platform and extract the benefits.

About the Douugh share price

Since its listing in early October, the Douugh share price has exploded to almost 900% higher. The company's shares reached a high of 49 cents in November, before falling back down after some profit-taking.

On valuation grounds, Douugh commands a market capitalisation of around $60 million, with 367 million shares on issue.

The post Why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price will be in the spotlight appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In early afternoon trade, the Douugh share price has pulled back slightly to be up by 6.06%.

What's driving the Douugh share price?

Today, the Douugh share price opened higher after the company announced that its recent Goodments acquisition will re-launch its trading platform in Australia to drive customer and revenue growth in the short-term. The company will then consolidate the Goodments investing app into the Douugh app in partnership with its banking-as-a-service partner, RAB. 

Douugh plans to leverage the heightened level of interest in the share market from millennials and Gen-Z and offer the demographic a broader wealth management offering, which will include retirement, single stocks/exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and crypto investing.

Acquiring Goodments to fast-track investing offerings 

Founded in 2017, Goodments is an emerging playing in the responsible investing space, building customer-centric products that match sustainability-minded people with investments that align with their environment, social and ethical values. 

The company is a regulated Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) holder that has strong relationships with financial institutions, brokers and key plays in the investment industry.

The Goodments acquisition has allowed Douugh to accelerate a number of development pathways to drive customer growth and revenues in both the US and Australian markets. 

In terms of the US market, the acquisition will help fast-track the launch of the Douugh Wealth offering in the US, creating a launchpad to drive revenues through the introduction of a monthly subscription. 

Commentary from management 

Douugh's Founder and CEO Andy Taylor commented on the acquisition: 

The acquisition of AFSL licensed Goodments and the recent award of our RIA licence in the US allows for the rollout of Wealth Jars. With this feature we can target customers in the investing space who are currently using platforms like Betterment, Acorns and Stash with a holistic solution for their money management, focused on growing automated long-term wealth. This should result in larger average deposit balances being received and ultimately a higher penetration of customers paying in their salaries, which is our north star metric. 

He added:

Goodments are currently offering their more than 13,000 customers access to a range of fractionalised US stocks like Tesla, Virgin Galactic, Nike, Square and Apple. As well as high performing ETFs from companies like Ark Invest, Vanguard and Blackrock. 

In the current climate, many millennials and Gen Z's are gravitating in record numbers to the sharemarket to help them grow their savings and build wealth. 

The post Why the Douugh (ASX:DOU) share price is up 6% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Zip to potentially offer stock and crypto trading 

The Zip share price might be looking at another angle to drive growth outside of its core buy now pay later (BNPL) service offering.

Zip co-founder Peter Gray said that the company was looking at offering stock and cryptocurrency trading on its existing app. The roll-out of trading services would likely occur via its US QuadPay business. This move aims at further engaging its younger users who make up a majority of its customer base.

Zip could be looking to carve its own path instead of following rival Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) in traditional banking products. Afterpay has announced its plans to launch the Afterpay Money app in Q1 FY22. The app aims to compete as a primary money management app. It also comes complete with a linked debit card and classic banking features. 

Trading is a hot space right now 

The world of stock and cryptocurrency trading is on fire right now. 

From a more traditional brokerage perspective, Australia's low-cost online trading platform, SelfWealth Ltd (ASX: SWF) has been eyeing US share trading as its next avenue for growth. In the company's recent quarterly update, its first full quarter of US trading saw 36,266 or 7% of total trades for the quarter. 

The company was able to capitalise on the GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) trading frenzy. In addition, proving itself as a reliable platform amidst platform issues and trading restrictions at competing providers. 

On the smaller end of town, Doough Ltd (ASX: DOU) has also signalled its medium-term vision. This includes wealth management features in its app. In addition, it will also have wealth management and investing features. 

Last night, Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) officially listed on the NASDAQ. Coinbase's initial public offering (IPO) price was set at US$250 per share, valuing the company at around US$65.3 billion. 

Could this affect the Zip share price?

The prospect of launching into stock and cryptocurrency trading services is speculative at this point in time. BNPL services with a focus on its core US business and international expansion will likely be at the top of the company's priority list.

The post Zip (ASX:Z1P) eyes potential stock and crypto trading services appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.