The market was not kind to Bakkt on Thursday (February 17), taking about 1.5% of its shares after an earnings presentation that, while complex after going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC ), has shown reasonable success in developing his business. with renowned partnerships.
Although it was primarily seen as a cryptocurrency exchange, Bakkt is evolving into something potentially more interesting, a payment company that aims to make it easier to pay with anything – crypto, program points loyalty cards, airline miles, gift cards, cash and even in-game currencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This means that consumers spend at the point of sale (POS), but also the companies that pay for these various digital assets, which is why Bakkt calls itself a “B2B2C” company as it seeks to own the entirety of the payer.
That’s the field, and Bakkt has star clients at Starbucks, Apple, and more recently Wyndham.
However, in addition to its presentation of financials before and after, the company has also discouraged investors, according to reports, because it has moved from measuring “active users” – that is, people who have downloaded the application – to “transaction accounts”, which count customers. actively use their accounts.
But more specifically, it “really captures activity across the entire Bakkt platform,” said Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael. “It’s more of a metric of users related to active revenue activities versus users signing up for an app.”
On the B2B side of its business, a good number of new partners are using its payment, trading and loyalty points distribution services through their own interface, he said.
At least in crypto, it’s a reasonable distinction, as many crypto-curious newcomers will sign up more for an exchange account to see what the fuss is about. Or they will try a variety of vendors before settling on one. The same is true in the loyalty industry, where point abandonment is a huge problem – and not just in programs aimed at cart abandonment.
The little guy too
One interesting thing that has come up repeatedly in the vein of crypto payments is Bakkt’s focus on small independent players as well as large corporate clients.
“We connect crypto experiences to trusted banks and credit unions, truly bringing crypto to the mainstream,” Michael said.
Stating that his research has shown that half of all consumers are at least interested in paying out rewards in crypto, Michael added that “Crypto adoption is already here. Consumers and Crypto We connect crypto rewards to everyday consumer spending and enable brands to redeem or earn in crypto.
The same applies to payments, where he said the company is focused on growing its business with enterprise customers “bringing crypto to the gig economy and the payout universe more broadly, from crypto rewards for customers to the ability for workers, creators, and sellers to choose for portions of their payment to be received in crypto.
——————————
NEW PYMNTS DATA: ACCOUNT OPENING AND LOAN SERVICE IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT
On: Forty-two percent of US consumers are more likely to open accounts with financial institutions that facilitate automatic sharing of their bank details upon sign-up. The PYMNTS study Account opening and loan management in the digital environmentsurveyed 2,300 consumers to explore how FIs can leverage open banking to engage customers and create a better account opening experience.
Comments are closed.