BPAY vs IPAY

BPAYCiShares FinTech Active ETF

IPAYCAmplify Digital Payments ETF

In short

BPAY BlackRock's stock-picker take on fintech: no index, roughly 40 hand-picked names across payments, banking, insurance and software, for 0.55% net of a waiver through June 30, 2027.

IPAY The payments purist. IPAY tracks a global index of card networks, processors and wallet apps, roughly 40 names deep, while most fintech funds spread into lending, crypto and banking software.

Stated mandate

BPAY The fund seeks to maximize total return by investing in companies that provide innovative technologies across financial services, including payments, banking, insurance, and software.

IPAY IPAY seeks returns that generally track the Nasdaq CTA Global Digital Payments Index before fees and expenses. It follows a passive/indexing approach rather than trying to outperform the index or moving temporarily defensive.

Why people hold it

• BPAY Actively run with no index behind it, so the managers can add a newly listed fintech or trim a holding when they choose rather than waiting on a rebalance calendar.ishares.com
• 0.55% net of a waiver through June 30, 2027 (0.66% gross) sits near the category median and under index peers FINX at 0.68% and IPAY at 0.75%.
• Reads fintech broadly: payments, banking, insurance and software, worldwide, rather than a short list of US card networks.ishares.com
• In a fintech group of only seven funds, this one lands in the upper half of our review, with its portfolio build the clearest strength.

• IPAY Narrow by design: it follows the Nasdaq CTA Global Digital Payments Index, so the money goes to the plumbing of card swipes and app taps rather than fintech broadly.
• Global mandate, not a US-only basket. Payments is an inherently cross-border business and the index is built that way.
• Launched in 2015, making it one of the longer-running thematic payments funds, with a rules-based index approach instead of a manager's stock picks.

Worth knowing

• BPAY One of the smaller, lightly traded funds in the category, so spreads can run wider than on the headline fintech names.
• Non-diversified by design: with roughly 40 positions, one holding going wrong moves the fund more than it would a broad index.ishares.com
• The 0.55% is after a waiver; if that waiver lapses following June 30, 2027, the cost reverts toward the 0.66% gross figure.

• IPAY At 0.75% a year it sits at the top of the fintech shelf. FDFF charges 0.50% and BPAY 0.66%, though both cast a wider net than payments alone.
• About 40 stocks in a single theme. When payment volumes or fintech sentiment turn, there is nothing else in the portfolio to cushion it.
• Distributions come annually or semiannually, and it trades at moderate volume rather than penny-spread scale, so limit orders are the sane default.

Full BPAY profile⁠

Full IPAY profile⁠