Capital markets

Some startups are eschewing San Francisco and New York to set up shop in the middle of America. And for good reason.

TransferMate, a cross-border B2B payments service, has received a $25 million investment from ING Group N.V. to accelerate its global expansion.

The money flowing into alternative merchant acquiring is feeding an arms race, with each new deal adding pressure to become an automated one-stop shop for small businesses.

The California company also benefited from higher interest rates and double-digit loan growth.

Flywire has raised $100 million in new venture capital to continue expanding its B2B cross-border payments platform beyond educational institutions to more corporations.

Dan Loeb’s Third Point has taken a stake in PayPal Holdings Inc. in a vote of confidence for the payments processor as it faces increasing competition from the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Square Inc.

Merchant acquirers have moved mountains to embrace software and e-commerce over the old model of selling point of sale hardware, but there are signs that transformation is not enough to please investors.

The Birmingham, Ala., bank also saw lending decline in the quarter as strategic reductions in certain business lending lines offset gains in C&I and consumer.

The Los Angeles company, which focuses on Korean-Americans, aims to raise $50 million.

Both PayPal and Citigroup are taking a bigger role in the market for cross-border payments, a strategy that led both companies to participate in a $50 million round in PPRO Group, a U.K.-based cross border e-payment company.

As part of a capital-formation bill, House lawmakers are attempting to sprinkle in a handful of provisions to ease the industry’s burden.

With the recent focus on capital formation bills, lawmakers appear to be putting their Dodd-Frank angst aside.

While the Small Business Investment Companies program has reported disappointing results since its 2015 peak, participating funds are getting more looks from curious bankers.

Toronto-Dominion Bank agreed to acquire Greystone Capital Management in a push to become the largest Canadian money manager.

Restaurant point of sale and back-office management provider Toast has received $115 million in Series D funding that the company plans use to develop technology and expand its market.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enjoy considerable advantages because of their lower cost of capital and significant government subsidies. But with some conforming loans, the private market is finding a way to compete.

Spirit Community Bank would be the first new bank in North Carolina since 2009.

Denver-based P2Binvestor plans to use the new funds to expand its bank partnership program.

U.K. private equity firm Dunedin says it has invested "a significant stake" in a £44 million (U.S. $58 million) funding round for Global Processing Services, which provides payment processing and technology for financial institutions, digital banks, challenger banks and fintechs.

Ben Holzman helped build Bain Capital Ventures' enterprise software practice.