After Talking to 300 Fintech CxO’s, Here’s What We Missed
A recent Finextra survey of 300 fintech leaders shows AI has moved from experimental pilots to core operations, with 85% of institutions now using it and the AI‑in‑fintech market projected at $30 billion by 2025. Predictive analytics are evolving into an execution layer, while API‑driven payment platforms have slashed infrastructure costs by up to 99%. Transparency and explainability are emerging as competitive differentiators, and embedded finance is set to reach $85.8 billion in 2025, reshaping SaaS and e‑commerce models.
Cash App Adds Payment Links so You Can Get Paid in a DM
Cash App, the Block‑owned peer‑to‑peer platform, rolled out a new payment‑link feature that lets users generate a URL to request money. The link can be pasted into texts, emails, or direct messages, pre‑loading the requested amount for the recipient. Cash...
UK to Regulate BNPL in Transparency Push
The episode examines the UK’s new regulatory framework for buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) services, which places providers under FCA oversight and mandates clear disclosure of terms, affordability checks, hardship support, and a route to the Financial Ombudsman. It highlights concerns about “phantom...
The Battle Between Apple and App Developers Reaches Japan
The episode examines how Apple’s new payment rules in Japan, introduced to comply with the Mobile Software Competition Act, are still imposing 15‑20% commissions even on external payment methods, prompting a coalition of over 600 companies to claim the fees...
Lloyds Banking Group to Close Another 95 Branches
Lloyds Banking Group announced it will shut 95 more branches – 53 Lloyds, 31 Halifax and 11 Bank of Scotland locations – between May 2024 and March 2027. The closures will leave the group with about 610 branches after the...
Best Trade Finance Bank In North America: BNY
BNY was named the Best Trade Finance Bank in North America, reflecting its robust portfolio and eight global trade centers. The bank leverages high credit ratings, competitive pricing, and a suite of digital tools to streamline trade processing, risk mitigation,...
A Banner 2025 for Zelle With 20% Year-over-Year Growth
Zelle processed over $1.2 trillion in U.S. peer‑to‑peer payments in 2025, marking a 20% year‑over‑year increase and surpassing the $1 trillion milestone reached in 2024. Transaction volume rose to 4.2 billion, a 16% jump, with daily averages of $3.4 billion moving through the network....
Judge Backs Illinois Law on Card Fees
A federal judge upheld Illinois' Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, which bans card‑swipe interchange fees on sales tax and gratuities, finding that the National Bank Act does not preempt the state law. The ruling, issued by Judge Virginia Kendall, also struck...
Pathward’s Anthony Sharett on Why Sponsor Banking’s Future Is About Evolution, Not Revolution
Sponsor banking, the bridge between fintechs and regulated banks, is under intense regulatory scrutiny but remains a vital conduit for expanding financial access. Anthony Sharett, President of Pathward, argues that the model’s future lies in gradual evolution rather than radical...
UK to Regulate BNPL Platforms From 15 July
The UK Financial Conduct Authority will begin regulating buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) providers from 15 July 2026 under a temporary permission regime (TPR). Firms active on 15 July 2025 must apply for TPR and confirm registration intent by early May, while those opting out must halt...
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CMWAY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Commonwealth Bank of Australia reported a solid second‑half 2025 performance, with cash net profit climbing 6% and earnings per share increasing $0.19. The bank highlighted disciplined growth across its core retail and business segments despite cost‑of‑living pressures and global uncertainty....
The High Cost of Going Cashless: Why Payment Choice Is Essential for Economic Equity
The push toward a cashless economy is accelerating, but the hidden fees and infrastructure demands are creating a financial burden for low‑income and unbanked consumers. As merchants adopt digital terminals and fintech platforms expand, cash‑only transactions become increasingly costly or...
ECB Appoints Thomas Broeng Jorgensen as Director General Specialised Institutions and Less Significant Institutions
The European Central Bank appointed Thomas Broeng Jorgensen as Director General for Specialised Institutions and Less Significant Institutions, effective 1 March 2026. In this role he will directly supervise specialised banks and coordinate the oversight of less‑significant banks through national supervisors. Jorgensen succeeds Patrick Amis,...
EximPe Gets Final PA-CB Licence to Process UPI Cross-Border Payments
EximPe, a cross‑border payment startup, has secured the Reserve Bank of India’s final Payment Aggregator Cross‑Border (PA‑CB) licence. The authorisation lets the firm enable global merchants to collect Indian consumer payments via UPI, cards, wallets and other methods, with settlements...
Spark Looks to Build Building a Safe Bridge Between Onchain Capital and TradFi
Spark introduced Spark Prime and Spark Institutional Lending, extending more than $9 billion of stablecoin liquidity to hedge funds, trading firms and fintechs operating under traditional custody rules. The offerings combine over‑collateralized loan structures with a unified risk framework that spans...
ESAs Publish Joint Guidelines on ESG Stress Testing
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA) released joint Guidelines on ESG stress testing, offering a unified framework for national banking and insurance supervisors. The document outlines how to embed environmental, social and governance risks into existing stress‑test models...
Principles for Risk-Based Supervision: A Critical Pillar for ESMA’s Simplification and Burden Reduction Efforts
ESMA has published a set of Principles for Risk‑Based Supervision to create a unified supervisory culture across the EU. The framework outlines how regulators should identify, assess, prioritize and address risks to investor protection, financial stability and market order. By...
ESMA Promotes Clarity in Communications on ESG Strategies
On 14 January 2026, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued its second thematic note addressing sustainability‑related claims, specifically ESG integration and ESG exclusions. The guidance highlights the varied interpretations of these terms and warns that ambiguous usage can...
The European Supervisory Authorities and UK Financial Regulators Sign Memorandum of Understanding on Oversight of Critical ICT Third-Party Service Providers...
The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority to coordinate oversight of critical ICT third‑party service providers under the Digital...
Fund Manager FINQ Lets AI Run US ETFs
FINQ has introduced two U.S. large‑cap equity ETFs—AIUP and AINT—where an artificial‑intelligence model exclusively selects, weights and rebalances holdings. The AI engine ranks every S&P 500 component daily using market, financial and textual data, guiding long‑only and long‑short exposures respectively. The...
How Printable Check Designs Simplify Modern Business Payments
Printable check designs are gaining traction as businesses seek to modernize traditional payment methods while retaining the benefits of paper checks. By using on‑demand templates, companies can generate professional checks directly from accounting software, eliminating bulk ordering and reducing turnaround...
US Private Credit Market Adapts to Post Rate Hike Environment : Analysis
PitchBook’s latest report shows U.S. private credit remaining resilient despite a modest year‑over‑year dip in January transaction volume. Eight mega‑deals exceeding $1 billion offset the slowdown, while mid‑market issuance stayed robust, highlighting depth in smaller opportunities. Leveraged‑buyout transactions shifted toward fewer,...
Goldman Sachs Holds Over $2 Billion in Crypto
Goldman Sachs disclosed $2.36 billion in crypto assets in its Q4 2025 13F filing, marking a modest rise from the prior year. The portfolio is split between $1.1 billion of Bitcoin, $1 billion of Ethereum, $153 million of XRP, and $108 million of Solana, representing less...
StanChart CFO Abruptly Exits for Apollo
Standard Chartered announced that group CFO Diego De Giorgi is leaving immediately to join Apollo Global Management as a partner and head of EMEA. Peter Burrill, the bank's group head of central finance, will serve as interim CFO while a permanent replacement is...
Toast Links Dining to Instacart’s Marketplace; Ingenico Launches Its 360 Platform Plus AXIUM Terminals
Toast announced a partnership with Instacart, linking its restaurant platform to the Instacart Marketplace and making Instacart Business available for same‑day grocery procurement. The integration adds SmartScan barcode optimization and catalog attribution tools, enabling restaurants to quickly add items and...
Fiserv Caps a Sub-Par Year With a Disappointing Fourth Quarter
Fiserv reported a disappointing fourth quarter, with adjusted revenue of $19.8 billion up 4% year‑over‑year but operating margin slipping 200 basis points to 37.4%. The company’s stock has tumbled from $230 to $60 as earnings per share fell 2% to $8.64....
SquareAI Enters the U.K. and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 2/10/26
Square announced the UK launch of SquareAI, a free conversational AI tool that helps merchants interpret sales data and make faster decisions. Blue Payment Agency expanded its services to high‑risk e‑commerce merchants selling restricted items, while Duck Creek Technologies will...
The Quarterly Review: Wise’s Lauren Langbridge Expands Domestic Payment Network Capabilities and Celebrates Partnership Wins
Wise’s Commercial Director for the Americas, Lauren Langbridge, drove two domestic payment network expansions—Direct Pix in Brazil and Zengin in Japan—while laying groundwork for additional connections. She secured new partnerships with Wealthsimple and Interactive Brokers (IBKR), extending the Wise Platform’s reach into retail...
Indonesia Turns to Digital Finance to Reach Unbanked Population
Indonesia, home to one of the world’s largest unbanked populations, is accelerating digital finance to boost inclusion. The Financial Services Authority outlined three policy priorities—sector resilience, a contributive ecosystem, and sustainable finance—to guide the effort. PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI)...
Mortgage and Refinance Interest Rates Today, February 10, 2026: Rates Remain Under 6%, for Now
Mortgage rates have fallen back under six percent, with Zillow reporting a 5.91% average for a 30‑year fixed‑rate purchase and 6.02% for refinances on February 10, 2026. The 15‑year fixed sits at 5.44% and VA loans are slightly lower, while ARM products...
Commercial Lending in the U.S. Surges 30 Percent in Late 2025
U.S. commercial real‑estate lending jumped 30% in Q4 2025, driven largely by banks as interest‑rate volatility eased. Originations rose 25% sequentially, with office loans nearly doubling year‑over‑year and overall 2025 originations up 40% from 2024. Depository institutions led the surge,...
InCred Wealth Crosses Rs 1 Lakh Cr in AUM Within 6 Years of Launch
InCred Wealth, the Mumbai‑based private wealth manager, announced that its assets under management have crossed $10 billion (over Rs 1 lakh crore) within just six years of launch. The firm now operates a network of more than 700 relationship managers serving family offices,...
Volatility Laundering in Private Credit
Private credit has trailed public credit since 2022, offering lower liquidity, weaker credit quality, higher industry concentration and higher borrower costs. By avoiding daily mark‑to‑market, private credit managers can "volatility launder" returns, presenting artificially low volatility and inflated Sharpe ratios....
Figure’s CFO Supports Treating Stablecoin as Cash
Figure Technology’s CFO Macrina KgIl is urging the Financial Accounting Standards Board to reclassify stablecoins as cash or cash equivalents, rather than intangible assets. The current GAAP treatment creates ambiguity and extra compliance work for firms holding tokens like Tether....
What AI Builders Can Learn From Fraud Models that Run in 300 Milliseconds
Mastercard’s Decision Intelligence Pro (DI Pro) uses a sub‑300 ms recurrent neural network to assign risk scores to each payment transaction in real time. The platform treats fraud detection as an "inverse recommender" problem, comparing current merchant behavior to historical patterns. By...
Following Super Bowl Ad, Trump Accounts Launch a New Sign-Up Option
The Treasury announced a new enrollment pathway for Trump accounts following a Super Bowl 60 commercial. Parents can now submit IRS Form 4547 online via TrumpAccounts.gov or attach it to their 2025 tax return to claim a $1,000 seed deposit for...
North’s Merchant Management API: CRM‑Level Control for Modern Payments Partners
North introduced a Merchant Management API that gives Wholesale ISOs, Full Service Providers, and Payment Facilitators CRM‑level control over merchant portfolios. The write‑capable interface lets partners view, update, and synchronize merchant data—including pricing, risk limits, compliance, and terminal settings—in real...
Christine Lagarde: European Parliament Plenary Debate on the ECB Annual Report
In a February 9, 2026 speech to the European Parliament, ECB President Christine Lagarde reaffirmed the central bank’s independence while emphasizing its accountability to elected officials. She reported that headline inflation has fallen to 1.7% in January and is expected...
Has the CFPB Reached the End of the Road?
The Consumer Reports press release warns the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on “life support” after an acting director ordered a work stoppage and halted new funding. The agency has also abandoned more than 22 enforcement actions and reversed 20...
IRRBB Management in Emerging Market and Developing Economies: The Role of Derivatives in Supporting Financial Stability and Economic Development
Interest rate risk in the banking book (IRRBB) is emerging as a top priority for banks and regulators across emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Monetary tightening and persistent macro‑volatility are making balance‑sheet exposures more fragile, exposing the limits of...
From Vision to Ambition: Evolving ESG Strategies in GCC Banking
GCC banks are shifting from ESG ambition to execution as regional regulations tighten and net‑zero targets loom. Mashreq Bank leads the field by securing end‑to‑end AA1000AS assurance for its integrated ESG report and embedding sustainability KPIs into senior management objectives....
Digital Employees, AI Bootcamps: America's Oldest Bank Is Spending Billions on Tech
BNY Mellon disclosed a $3.8 billion technology spend in 2025, representing about 19 % of its revenue – the highest share among large U.S. banks. The bank introduced 134 "digital employees" that automate repetitive tasks around the clock, while its human workforce...
Uber Deepens Adyen Ties and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 2/9/26
Uber announced it will broaden its partnership with payment processor Adyen, extending the use of Adyen’s Checkout API to additional geographies and more payment options. Honor Capital is collaborating with ePayPolicy to provide financing for insured customers making premium payments...
From Penetration to Inclusion: How CRC Credit Bureau Is Re-Engineering Nigeria’s Credit Ecosystem
Nigeria’s credit penetration has topped 40%, driven by a broader data ecosystem and advanced scoring models. CRC Credit Bureau, the nation’s largest licensed bureau, now aggregates information from banks, fintechs, utilities, telcos and digital payments, creating a unified credit view....
A New POS Terminal Emerges While Tap To Pay Figures in a New App
Clip introduced the Clip Total 3 point‑of‑sale terminal, a $899 device that adds order management, inventory catalog, a customer‑facing screen, high‑speed printer and dual cameras for Mexican merchants, especially restaurants. At the same time, Mexico‑based SeoSamba launched a Stripe‑powered POS app...
Affirm Supports Mobile Devices and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 2/6/26
Affirm announced financing for Virgin Media O2 customers, extending its buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) reach into the UK mobile‑device market. The company also broadened its partnership with Wayfair, adding installment‑payment options for shoppers in Canada and the United Kingdom alongside its existing...
Policy Paper: Joint Readout of the First UK-China Financial Working Group
The UK‑China Financial Working Group held its inaugural meeting on 31 January 2026 in Beijing, bringing together senior officials from HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the PRA, the FCA and their Chinese counterparts from the People’s Bank of China, the Ministry...
New ‘Disney Inspire’ Visa Card Revealed | List of All Benefits + How to Earn Rewards
Disney and Chase launched the Disney Inspire Visa Card on Feb 3, 2026, adding a premium offering to the existing Disney Visa lineup. The card carries a $149 annual fee and bundles a $300 statement credit after $1,000 spend in the first...
Scotiabank’s Global Head Of FICC On Staying Agile In A Volatile Market
Scotiabank’s Global Head of FICC, Stephanie Larivière, said heightened U.S. dollar strength and tariff‑driven trade uncertainty have spurred a surge in demand for structured foreign‑exchange hedges. Clients are increasingly looking beyond the dollar, favoring non‑dollar crosses such as the Mexican peso,...
HSBC Buys Out Hang Seng Bank
HSBC has finalized the buyout of Hang Seng Bank, marking Hong Kong's largest privatization and the biggest financial services acquisition in the market. The transaction delists Hang Seng, aiming to merge digital banking capabilities while preserving distinct brand identities. HSBC...