Private Payrolls Shrink; Wealthfront Prices IPO; Nevis Raises Series A

Private payrolls shrink. Black Friday spend is up. Former CFPB director lands new gig. Nevis raises Series A. Wealthfront prices IPO. PayJoy inks new debt deal. Rain, Stripe make acquisitions.

Cross River and Aeropay introduced Request for Payment (RfP), giving businesses like Splash Inc. a way to accept instant pay-ins through the RTP network, bringing instant consumer pay-ins to businesses and setting a new standard for gaming payments. Learn more about this partnership here.

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Private Sector Payroll Drops by 32,000

Private sector employment dropped by about 32,000 jobs last month, a new ADP report shows. The median estimate from forecasters was for a gain of 10,000 jobs in November. The unexpected drop makes for net job losses in four out of the past six months, adding to growing concerns about the health of the U.S. labor market. The report could add pressure to the Fed to lower rates at its next meeting, particularly as the government’s own Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report for November is delayed due to the trailing impacts of the recent government shutdown. The ADP report had somewhat better news about workers’ wages, showing that those who changed jobs saw a 6.3% boost in income, while those who remained in the same role saw an increase of 4.4%.

Softness in the employment market isn’t slowing down overall holiday spending. U.S. consumers spent a record-setting $11.8B online on Black Friday, a 9.1% increase vs. last year, according to a report from Adobe Analytics. Spending on home appliances, electronics, and gaming consoles all notched material increases compared to 2024. Foot traffic in bricks and mortar retailers, however, shrank by 3.6% year over year, per initial data from RetailNext. And Gen Z consumers, facing student debt, high cost of living, and a shaky employment outlook are tightening their pursestrings. A Deloitte survey of more than 4,200 younger consumers found they planned to cut holiday spending by more than third, and a separate PricewaterhouseCoopers report showed Gen Z shoppers plan to spend less on the holidays, dining out, travel, and apparel.

Former CFPB Director Lands New Gig

The former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a new gig. The Democratic Attorneys General Association has tapped Rohit Chopra, who led the CFPB during the Biden administration, to lead the organization’s Consumer Protection and Affordability Working Group. In the new role, Chopra will oversee a team of researchers and policymakers charged with proposing how state attorneys general can address abusive practices from financial institutions and other firms in their states.

With the pullback from federal regulators, some blue state officials are taking a more active approach. Chopra acknowledged this in remarks to Bloomberg, saying, “We would normally count on federal regulators to be able to serve as a check on some predatory practice or criminal activity, and now it’s really falling on state attorneys general to serve as a line of defense,” and adding that “state attorneys general are functionally now the key regulators in America.”

Nevis Raises $35MM Series A

Nevis, founded by former execs from Revolut, announced it has raised a $35MM Series A to continue developing its AI-powered platform for wealth and investment advisors. The round included investments from Ribbit Capital, ICONIQ, and Sequoia, which previously led the company’s $5MM seed round. As part of the round, which values the company at some $200MM, Sequoia partner Luciana Lixandru will join the board. Nevis is designed to automate back office operational tasks that include customer onboarding, client management, meeting prep, and compliance-related workflows. Nevis says it will use the funding to continue developing its product suite, including plans to roll out a custody account offering early next year.

Wealthfront Prices IPO

Roboadvisor startup Wealthfront and its investors are looking to raise as much as $485MM in an IPO. According to the company’s SEC filing last week, it plans to offer 21.47MM shares at a target price range of between $12 and $14. Existing Wealthfront investors plan to offer 13.15MM shares at the same price, according to the company’s filings. The top end of that price range would value Wealthfront at just over $2B. In addition to its roboadvisory service, Wealthfront offers cash management accounts and debit cards through relationships with partner banks. The company is profitable, posting net income of $60.7MM on revenue of $175.6MM for the first six months of 2025.

PayJoy Lands $140MM Debt Facility

PayJoy, which enables consumers in developing markets to finance the purchase of smartphones, announced it has finalized a $140MM debt facility. The company is working with the specialty finance unit of Neuberger Berman, an asset manager with $558B AUM. In addition to installment financing for phone purchases in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, the company rolled out its PayJoy card in Mexico last May, enabling users to make online and in-store purchases. The new debt facility will enable PayJoy to continue its product and geographic expansion.

Rain Acquires Fern

Fern, which describes itself as a “one-stop shop” for financial infrastructure, is being acquired by Rain. Fern helps developers and businesses orchestrate money movement across fiat, stablecoins, crypto, and bank rails. The acquisition grows out of an existing partnership between the two companies. Rain, which operates a “stablecoin-native” infrastructure platform, provided card issuing capabilities to Fern. A statement on Fern’s website said, “Joining Rain enables us to accelerate our roadmap and bring even more capability and coverage to the market.”

Stripe Buys Usage-Based Billing Platform

Stripe is buying usage-billing platform Metronome. Founded in 2020, Metronome simplifies adding billing to companies’ existing product experiences, enabling real-time insights into customer usage and revenue. Metronome has raised $78MM to date, though terms of Stripe’s acquisition were not disclosed. Stripe cofounder and CEO Patrick Collison commented on the deal, saying, “Metered pricing is the native business model for the AI era. As far as we can tell, the associated shift in how businesses generate revenue will be as big as the advent of SaaS.”