How Covid Is Creating New Fintech Billionaires新冠疫情如何造就金融科技新富

杰夫·考夫林 伊麗莎·哈弗斯托克

Stay-at-home consumers and stimulus checks have been a boon1 for online installment financing， digital banks and day trading. 消費者宅在家里，手里握著經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激補(bǔ)助金，這對于在線分期付款、數(shù)字銀行和日內(nèi)交易來說可謂是一大福音。

In 2015， Nick Molnar was living with his parents in Sydney， Australia， and selling jewelry from a desktop computer in his childhood bedroom. Hocking everything from $250 Seiko watches to $10，000 engagement rings， the 25-year-old had gotten so good at online marketing that he had become Australias top seller of jewelry on eBay， shipping thousands of packages a day.

That same year， he teamed up with Anthony Eisen， a former investment banker who was 19 years his senior and lived across the street. They cofounded Afterpay， an online service that allows shoppers from the U.S.， U.K.， Australia， New Zealand and Canada to pay for small-ticket2 items like shoes and shirts in four interest-free payments over six weeks. “I was a Millennial who grew up in the 2008 crisis， and I saw this big shift away from credit to debit，” the now 30-year-old Molnar says today. Either lacking credit cards or fearful of racking up3 high-interest-rate debt on their credit cards， Molnars generation was quick to embrace this new way to buy and get merchandise now， while paying a little later.

Five years later， Molnar and Eisen， who each own roughly 7% of the company， have become billionaires—during a pandemic. After initially tanking at the start of lockdowns， shares of Afterpay are up nearly tenfold， thanks to a surge in business tied to e-commerce sales. In the second quarter of 2020， it handled $3.8 billion of transactions， an increase of 127% versus the same period a year earlier.

Buy now， pay later

They are not the only ones whose fortunes have taken off in the last few months. According to Forbes analysis， at least five fintech entrepreneurs including the two Aussies have been vaulted4 into the billionaire rankings by the pandemic. Others include Chris Britt， founder of digital bank Chime， and Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt， the co-CEOs of “free” stock trading app Robinhood5. Several other founders from such companies as Klarna have also gotten boosts and are suddenly approaching billionaire status.

For a sizable crop of consumer-facing and payments-related fintechs， the virus has delivered a gust of growth， just as it has for e-commerce behemoth Amazon and work-from-home players Zoom6， Slack7 and DocuSign8.

“Consumer fintech adoption was already strong prepandemic， especially among the 20s to early-40s age group，” says Victoria Treyger， a general partner who leads fintech investing at Felicis Ventures9. “The pandemic has become a growth rocket， fueling the rapid acceleration of adoption across all age groups， including 40- to 60-year-olds.”

Several Covid-driven developments are helping specific types of fintech players. For example， consumers shift to more online spending and delivery services is a boon to certain companies powering payments. The $2 trillion-plus CARES Act Congress passed in March， with its $1，200-per-adult stimulus checks， student loan payment holiday and （now expired） $600-a-week unemployment supplements， helped many Americans keep financially above? ? ? water—and some digital banks like Chime to prosper.

Debit it！

In the second quarter of 2020， amid Covid lockdowns and fears， consumers slashed spending on travel， restaurants and luxury items they usually put on their credit cards， but continued to spend on necessities and smaller items—the sort of things theyre more likely to pay for with debit cards. And debit cards （rather than checks or credit cards） are the spending vehicle most frequently offered by fintech neobanks like SoFi， Dave and MoneyLion.

San Francisco-based digital bank Chime， in particular， has used the stimu-lus payments to its advantage. In mid-April， about a week before the $1，200 government-stimulus checks started hitting Americans accounts， the company advanced customers that money， eventually extending over $1.5 billion. “Following the stimulus advance， we had the largest day for new enrollments in the history of the company，” CEO Britt reports.

Today， Chimes annualized revenue is running at a $600 million rate. Then theres the Robinhood phenomenon. The boredom of being stuck at home， wild stock market swings and government stimulus checks have turned some Millennials and Generation-Zers10 into day traders and options players. Robinhoods fundraising round in September gave it an $11.7 billion valuation and its cofounders a paper net worth of $1 billion each.

If theres one fintech segment that has been an unalloyed11 pandemic winner， its the business Afterpay is in： online point-of-sale installment financing. Its benefiting from both consumers shift to online buying and their reluctance， in these uncertain economic times， to take on new credit card debt.

Two of the three co-founders of Klarna， the Swedish payments group， Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Niklas Adalberth， met while flipping patties12 at a Burger King in Sweden. They pioneered the buy-now， pay-later model in fintech， calling it “try before you buy” and letting people own products for 30 days before making their first payment.

The pandemic has catapulted Klarnas business onto a steep trajectory. By the end of 2020s first half， its U.S. customer base hit 9 million， up 550% from the same period the year before. Globally， 55，000 consumers are downloading the Klarna app every day. When it raised a new round of funding in September， its valuation nearly doubled from a year ago， hitting $10.7 billion.

Another fintech winner in the installment-payment business is Silicon Valley-based Affirm， the creation of serial entrepreneur Max Levchin， a founder of PayPal. It has enjoyed a special Covid kicker13 from pricey home fitness gear. Since 2015， it has powered financing for Peloton， whose sales have surged as affluent young consumers， missing the motivation of group exercise classes， have flocked to buy the $2，000-plus stationary bikes with their streaming workout classes. Affirm also now finances purchases of Mirror14， the hot $1，495 in-home fitness coaching device.

Of course， the fintech companies current lofty valuations depend on consumer spending staying strong and consumers retaining some of the online shopping habits theyve developed over the past year. With the future course of Covid-19 unknown， there are no guarantees. But for now， these fintechs are riding high.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ■

2015年，尼克·莫爾納和父母一起住在澳大利亞悉尼。他在兒時的臥室里，用臺式電腦銷售珠寶首飾，從250美元的精工手表到1萬美元的訂婚戒指，各種飾品應(yīng)有盡有。當(dāng)年25歲的莫爾納非常擅長網(wǎng)絡(luò)營銷，他那時已經(jīng)成為易貝網(wǎng)上澳大利亞最大的珠寶賣家，一天能發(fā)出幾千個包裹。

同年，莫爾納開始與前投資銀行家安東尼·艾森合作。艾森比他年長19歲，住在街對面。他們共同創(chuàng)建了Afterpay支付平臺。通過這種在線服務(wù)，美國、英國、澳大利亞、新西蘭和加拿大的消費者可以享受六周內(nèi)零利息分四期付款，購買鞋子、襯衫等小額商品?，F(xiàn)年30歲的莫爾納說：“我是在2008年金融危機(jī)中成長起來的千禧一代，目睹了從信貸到借貸的巨大轉(zhuǎn)變?！蹦獱柤{這一代人要么沒有信用卡，要么擔(dān)心累積起信用卡的高息欠款，他們很快就欣然接受了這種先買后付的新型支付方式。

五年后，各自擁有公司約7%股份的莫爾納和艾森，疫情期間成了億萬富豪。疫情防控初期，Afterpay的股價大幅下跌。之后，由于電子商務(wù)銷售量劇增，公司股價猛漲至近10倍。2020年第二季度，Afterpay處理了38億美元的交易，比上年同期增長127%。

先買后付

在過去的幾個月里，不僅僅是莫爾納和艾森實現(xiàn)了財富飆升。據(jù)《福布斯》報告，包括這兩個澳大利亞人在內(nèi)，至少有五位金融科技企業(yè)家因疫情而財富激增，榮登億萬富豪排行榜。另外三位是數(shù)字銀行Chime的創(chuàng)始人克里斯·布里特，以及“免費”股票交易應(yīng)用程序Robinhood聯(lián)合首席執(zhí)行官弗拉德·特涅夫和拜珠·巴特。Klarna等幾家公司的創(chuàng)始人也身家大漲，陡近億萬。

對于一大批面向消費者的支付類金融科技公司而言，新冠疫情帶來了強(qiáng)勢發(fā)展機(jī)遇，正如電子商務(wù)巨頭亞馬遜與提供居家辦公軟件服務(wù)的公司Zoom、Slack和DocuSign因疫情而得到迅猛發(fā)展一樣。

“在新冠疫情暴發(fā)之前，消費者對金融科技的接受度就已經(jīng)很高，尤其是20多歲至40歲出頭的人群?！狈ɡ紕?chuàng)投負(fù)責(zé)金融科技投資的普通合伙人維多利亞·特雷格表示，“疫情就像催化劑，讓所有年齡段的用戶更快接受了金融科技，其中包括40至60歲的人群?！?/p>

新冠疫情帶來的某些影響，正在助推特定類型的金融科技公司發(fā)展。例如，消費者更加青睞于線上消費和快遞服務(wù)，這對某些支付公司而言是利好消息。2020年3月，美國國會通過了撥款總額超過2萬億美元的《冠狀病毒援助、救濟(jì)和經(jīng)濟(jì)安全法》，為每個符合條件的成年人提供1200美元的刺激補(bǔ)助金，允許學(xué)生暫停償還助學(xué)貸款，還有向失業(yè)人員發(fā)放每周600美元的補(bǔ)貼（現(xiàn)已到期）。這幫助許多美國人維持基本生活——也促進(jìn)了Chime等數(shù)字銀行企業(yè)蓬勃發(fā)展。

借貸

2020年第二季度，疫情防控形勢嚴(yán)峻，人們恐慌不安，大大削減了外出旅游、餐館就餐和購買奢侈品的支出，這些消費通常用信用卡支付。但是，他們?nèi)詴徺I生活必需品和小件商品，這些東西則更可能用借記卡支付。借記卡（而非支票或信用卡）是SoFi、Dave和MoneyLion等金融科技新生代銀行最常提供的消費工具。

總部位于舊金山的數(shù)字銀行Chime就利用政府的經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激計劃為自己贏得了商機(jī)。2020年4月中旬，在美國人收到1200美元政府經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激補(bǔ)助前一周左右，Chime向客戶預(yù)付了這筆錢，最終發(fā)放金額超過15億美元。首席執(zhí)行官布里特稱：“提前支付補(bǔ)助金后，我們迎來了公司歷史上新增注冊人數(shù)最多的一天?！?/p>

如今，Chime的年化營收已達(dá)6億美元。疫情催生了Robinhood 現(xiàn)象。居家的百無聊賴、股市的劇烈波動、政府的經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激補(bǔ)助，諸多條件促使千禧一代和Z世代中的一些人玩起了日內(nèi)交易的期權(quán)。在2020年9月的一輪融資中，Robinhood估值達(dá)到117億美元，兩位聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人的賬面凈資產(chǎn)各達(dá)到10億美元。

如果說在疫情期間，金融科技市場有真正的贏家，那就是Afterpay所從事的業(yè)務(wù)：線上銷售點分期付款。這主要得益于兩個方面：一方面是消費者轉(zhuǎn)向網(wǎng)上購物，另一方面是由于經(jīng)濟(jì)形勢不確定，他們不愿意承擔(dān)新的信用卡債務(wù)。

瑞典支付集團(tuán)Klarna有三位聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人，塞巴斯蒂安·謝米亞特科夫斯基和尼克拉斯·阿達(dá)爾貝特是其中兩位，他們是在瑞典一家漢堡王店做肉餅時認(rèn)識的。兩人首創(chuàng)了金融科技領(lǐng)域“現(xiàn)在購買、以后付款”的模式，稱為“先試后買”。按照這種模式，人們可以在擁有商品30天后才開始付第一筆錢。

新冠疫情使Klarna的業(yè)務(wù)量驟增。截至2020年上半年，Klarna的美國客戶量達(dá)到900萬，比上年同期增長550%。在全球范圍內(nèi)，每天有5.5萬名消費者下載Klarna應(yīng)用程序。9月份，Klarna完成新一輪融資，其估值達(dá)到107億美元，較前一年幾乎翻了一番。

總部位于硅谷的金融科技企業(yè)Affirm也是分期付款業(yè)務(wù)的一大贏家。該企業(yè)由連續(xù)創(chuàng)業(yè)者馬克斯·列夫琴創(chuàng)立，他也是貝寶的創(chuàng)始人之一。高價居家健身器材給Affirm帶來了特殊的“疫情紅利”。自2015年以來，Affirm一直為Peloton提供融資服務(wù)。有錢的年輕消費者懷念起熱火朝天的集體健身課，紛紛花2000多美元購買帶有流媒體健身課程的動感單車。由此，Peloton銷售額大幅飆升。Affirm現(xiàn)在還為購買Mirror智能健身鏡的人提供融資服務(wù)，Mirror是一款熱門的家用健身教練設(shè)備，售價1495美元。

當(dāng)然，金融科技公司目前的高估值依賴于消費者支出保持強(qiáng)勁勢頭，還要指望消費者保留過去一年形成的一些網(wǎng)購習(xí)慣。由于疫情的未來走向尚未可知，上述兩個方面都無法保證。但就目前而言，這些金融科技公司發(fā)展勢頭正猛。? □

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>

1 boon非常有用的東西;益處。? 2 ticket（貨物上標(biāo)明價目、尺碼等的）標(biāo)簽，簽條。

3 rack sth up累積。? 4 vault（用手支撐或撐桿）跳躍，躍過。

5線上股票交易平臺，讓投資者在不支付傭金或費用的情況下交易股票、期權(quán)、基金和加密貨幣。? 6一款多人云視頻會議軟件，為用戶提供兼?zhèn)涓咔逡曨l會議與移動網(wǎng)絡(luò)會議功能的云視頻通話服務(wù)。? 7企業(yè)聊天工具平臺，整合了電子郵件、短信、Google Drives、Twitter等 65 種工具和服務(wù)，可以把各種碎片化的企業(yè)溝通和協(xié)作集中到一起。? 8一家總部設(shè)在美國的電子簽名服務(wù)商，幫助用戶自動化準(zhǔn)備、簽署、執(zhí)行和管理協(xié)議等書面文件。? 9一家美國風(fēng)險投資公司，專注于對各種公司進(jìn)行從早期到成長階段的投資。

10指在1995至2009年之間出生的一代人。? 11 unalloyed純粹的。? 12 patty小餡餅。

13 kicker令人驚訝的東西。? 14一款高科技健身產(chǎn)品，看起來像一面普通的鏡子，但上面可以播放各種類別的健身課程。