FDIC Layoffs; FundThrough Acquires Ampla; Affirm Begins Furnishing Pay-in-4 Data

The markets get a respite. Student borrowers struggle. FDIC to layoff 1,250. Luma raises $63Mn. FundThrough acquires Ampla. X-Flexi raises $91Mn. Ramp courts a new customer. Affirm to report pay-in-four to TransUnion.

Gaming is growing -- industry leaders recently adjusted their estimation of the US total addressable market by 2030* -- from $23B to ~$40B. Tomorrow, we're diving into the industry. Register for our webinar to hear about the market opportunities for payment processors and operators.

New here? Subscribe here to get our newsletter each Sunday. For even more updates, follow us on LinkedIn.

Markets Get a Respite, but Will it Last?

Last week, markets breathed a sigh of relief, at least temporarily, as President Trump seemed to back off the suggestion he may seek to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell. But Trump continues to criticize Powell, arguing the Fed is “making a mistake” by not lowering interest rates. The administration also hinted at softening its stance on tariffs on China, with Trump saying tariffs would “come down substantially.” Meanwhile, with federal student loan payments finally resuming, many borrowers are struggling to keep up. About 5.3Mn borrowers are currently in default, and the Department of Education said it will pursue collections, including by garnishing wages. The challenging situation has been compounded by long wait times for borrowers attempting to contact their servicers and the administration’s efforts to dramatically shrink or eliminate the Education Department.

The S&P 500 surged as Trump indicated he wouldn’t seek to fire Powell and would moderate Chinese tariffs.

FDIC Layoffs

The FDIC is planning a reduction in force, according to an internal agency email sent last week. The regulator will eliminate about 1,250 positions, with most departments seeing a reduction in headcount. The layoffs are the second phase of an initiative to reduce staff at the regulator. The FDIC plans to offer voluntary separation incentives and, if not enough employees take the offered buyouts, undertake a formal reduction in force. The email to employees read said, “The FDIC plans to reduce staffing by approximately 1,250 positions across most divisions and offices. Some of these abolished positions include those eliminated through OPM's deferred resignation program that closed in February and the discontinuation of some non-permanent positions. Of the remaining positions, some are currently vacant but many are occupied by staff and managers." The voluntary incentive program has already begun and will run through May 5th, with determinations communicated to employees by May 13th.

Luma Raises $63Mn

Luma, a software platform for researching, buying, and managing structured products and annuities, announced it has raised a $63Mn round of funding. Existing strategic investors, including Morgan Stanley, UBS, TD, and Bank of America participated in the round. Luma offers users of the platform training materials and educational resources, the ability to create and price custom-structured products, order entry, and post-trade management. Luma plans to use the new funding for its continued expansion across key markets. Luma CEO Tim Bonacci said of the news, “We’ve experienced significant growth by staying focused on delivering value to our clients, and this new capital will accelerate that trajectory by deepening our presence in key markets and continuing to innovate — all while staying true to the principles that have driven our success.”

FundThrough Acquires Ampla

FundThrough, an invoice financing platform, announced that it has raised a $25Mn Series B and that it has acquired U.S.-based small business banking and lending platform Ampla. The funding round was led by existing investor Klister Credit Corp. Terms of the deal to acquire Ampla were not disclosed. In 2021, FundThrough acquired Bluevine’s invoice factoring business, and the company says it has originated some $3Bn in factored invoices since its founding in 2020. FundThrough CEO Steven Uster commented on the acquisition of Ampla by saying, “We can scale faster, enhance our credit underwriting and monitoring processes, and help even more businesses solve their number one pain point, cash flow.”

X-Flexi Raises $91Mn

X-Flexi, which offers an AI-powered wealth management and blockchain platform, announced it has raised $91Mn in financing as part of a restructuring. The terms of the fundraise, including the investors that participated, were not disclosed. X-Flexi offers “grid strategy” investment solutions, which enable AI-powered portfolio management and decentralized asset custody. The company said it will use the funds to develop better prediction models and to enhance its real-time asset allocation capabilities. The company claims to serve about 300,000 investors currently.

Ramp Courts a New Customer: The U.S. Government

Expense management and corporate card startup Ramp, which counts Peter Thiel as a major investor, is looking to land a big new customer: the U.S. Government. Thiel is closely associated with Vice President JD Vance and spent heavily to support Vance’s successful run for the U.S. Senate in Ohio. According to reporting from ProPublica, Ramp has held at least four meetings with political appointees at the General Services Administration, a part of the federal government which oversees procurement and contracting. The GSA is considering Ramp as a vendor to support some of the $700Bn spent through the government’s existing expense card program, known as SmartPay. Per ProPublica, the Trump appointees at GSA have been moving rapidly to spin up a pilot project, which could be worth up to $25Mn. The project isn’t without controversy, however. Scott Amey, the general counsel for the bipartisan Project on Government Oversight, said, “This goes against all the normal contracting safeguards that are set up to prevent contracts from being awarded based on who you know.” Amey argued that career civil servants, not political appointees, should lead contracting processes, in order to better prevent actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

Affirm to Report All BNPL Data to TransUnion

Buy now, pay later Affirm is expanding the products on which it furnishes data to the credit bureau TransUnion, the companies announced last week. The two firms said that, beginning May 1st, repayment data on all pay-over-time products, including pay-in-four plans, will be furnished to the bureau. However, this data will not yet be incorporated into credit scores nor made available to lenders pulling applicants’ credit files. While some have touted the potential for BNPL-style loans to help consumers establish a positive credit history, how these data points will be evaluated by existing scoring models remains an area of concern.

The companies’ statement said that, “As more pay-over-time providers report account information to the credit bureaus, lenders who request TransUnion credit reports will also be able to view consumers' pay-over-time history. In the future, as new credit scoring models are developed, this information may factor into consumers’ scores, with the aim of supporting more informed lending decisions and helping consumers build their credit histories.”