Archive - Popular Fintech

Why Discover is no American Express

American Express stock trades at much higher multiples than Discover. Here is my attempt to understand why.

Jul 21 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

June 2024

Is Mr. Market wrong about Shift4?

Through their short history of being public companies, Shift4 has always been more profitable, but Toast has always enjoyed a higher valuation. What is…

Jun 30 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

Coinbase’s quest to stay profitable throughout cycles

When Coinbase went public, Brian Armstrong floated an idea that in 5-10 years half of the company's revenue would come from non-trading fees. The goal…

Jun 16 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

May 2024

The opportunity behind Square Banking

Why did Square pick a fight with Chase and American Express?

May 26 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

A few reasons to be bullish on PayPal

If PayPal returns to double-digit growth, the stock will take off. This level of growth might come sooner than the market expects.

May 12 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

April 2024

Are partnerships with big banks worth the effort?

Bill (NYSE: BILL) spent over a decade building partnerships with large banks, but has very little to show for it.

Apr 21 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

JPMorgan's leadership is not concerned with rising charge-off rates

JPMorgan’s credit card loan charge-offs surge to pre-pandemic highs, Visa finds growth in Europe, and Square lags competition

Apr 14 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

Why Cash App Pay is a big deal for Block

It's Cash App Pay, not lending, that will drive the next phase of Cash App's growth

Apr 7 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

March 2024

On the moat of vertically integrated software businesses

Shopify might be making most of its revenue from payments, but it's the software component of its business, the Shopify commerce platform that gives it…

Mar 3 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

February 2024

On PayPal's strategic priorities and getting back to growth

PayPal might not have shocked anyone with their Innovation Day, but everything they launched was aligned with their strategic priorities. These…

Feb 7 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

This is not the U.S. consumer who is helping Visa grow

Visa and Mastercard might be seeing the end of the secular growth trend in the U.S. But it is not the end of the world.

Feb 2 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

January 2024

On American Express's growth aspiration

American Express might need to grow Card Member loans at unprecedented rates to deliver on the 10%+ revenue growth target they promised at 2022 Investor…

Jan 25 •

Jevgenijs Kazanins

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