Amplify Mobile Payments ETF

Amplify Mobile Payments ETF (IPAY) is an index fund. It tracks the Nasdaq CTA Global Digital Payments Index, which holds about 40 card networks, payment processors and payment-software companies, including American Express, Capital One, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal. Its 0.75% expense ratio is the highest among five similar fintech funds, whose average is 0.57%. It is also a narrow, non-diversified bet on one corner of financial services, and its price swings have been large.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, IPAY returned -16.5%, 2nd of 5 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was -5.8% and its 10-year +7.2%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 42.9% and regained its old high 5.1 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-32.4%); its best was 2019 (+41.9%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 51.7% (Apr 28, 2021 to Oct 27, 2023), not yet recovered.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 40 securities; the ten largest made up 54.63% of assets. It also reported 4.91% in a money-market fund, most likely cash collateral from lending out shares rather than uninvested money.

By sector

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors withdrew a net $22.2M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +10.46%, -1.39%, -0.65%.

IPAY is passively managed. It tries to match the Nasdaq CTA Global Digital Payments Index, not beat it. (The prospectus calls the fund the Amplify Digital Payments ETF.) The Consumer Technology Association, a US industry trade group, decides which companies count as payment businesses. It sorts them into four groups: card networks, infrastructure and software, processors, and solutions such as mobile wallets and buy now, pay later. A new company needs a market value of at least $500 million to join, and an existing member needs $300 million to stay. As of September 30, 2025, the index had 41 members.

Weights start with each company's free-float market value, meaning the value of its shares that are available to trade. That figure is then scaled by how involved the trade group judges the company to be in digital payments. No stock may go above 6%, only five may sit above 4.5%, and none may fall below 0.3%. Nasdaq reviews and rebalances the index every March and September. The fund follows along and generally holds every index stock in about the same proportions.

The fund is non-diversified, and its holdings are concentrated in financial services. It may lend up to one-third of its assets to brokers to earn extra income. The 4.9% cash it reported on June 30, 2026 is likely collateral from those loans. It held no derivatives.

• IPAY charges 0.75% a year, versus an average of 0.57% for the similar funds below (5th of 5, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $77 in the first year and $930 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

IPAY is a concentrated, non-diversified bet on payment companies with deep past losses, so it fits better as a small side position than a foundation.

IPAY can add focused exposure to payment companies, but it has fallen hard and stayed down for long periods. The fund launched in 2015, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. It dropped 42.9% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about five months. In the 2022 bear market it fell 36.7% and took about 25 months to get back, finally recovering in November 2024. Its worst calendar year was 2022, at -32.2%. Its deepest drop was 51.7%, from April 2021 to October 2023, and it had not been made up as of October 27, 2026. Anyone who had to sell during a stretch like that would lock in losses.

IPAY pays little income: its trailing yield was 0.85% as of October 27, 2026, paid once a year. Costs are high at 0.75%, or $930 over 10 years in the SEC's standard $10,000 example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.