New Zealand’s Regulators Expand Open Banking Efforts
New Zealand’s financial regulators are extending their open‑banking agenda beyond the December rules, mandating standardized APIs that let approved fintechs access customer data with consent. The reforms aim to tighten security, curb screen‑scraping, and create a level playing field that drives competition among banks. By promoting pay‑by‑bank options, the government hopes to lower transaction fees for merchants and consumers alike. However, merchants must invest in new integration, and consumer uptake will depend on clear value versus entrenched card rewards.
GCash Enters International Money Transfer Market
Globe Telecom’s e‑wallet GCash introduced GCash International Transfers, enabling users to remit funds to bank and e‑wallet accounts in at least 16 countries. The service promises same‑day credit in most destinations and next‑day delivery to the United States, with a...
Umba
Umba, a Kenya‑based digital bank targeting underserved African consumers, has raised $5 million to expand its vehicle and SME lending operations in Kenya. The platform already offers free checking accounts, instant peer‑to‑peer transfers, and credit products through a mobile‑first experience. By...
Merchants Sound Alarm as Swipe Fees Hit $198B
Swipe fees in the United States surged to a record $198.25 billion in 2025, a 5.9% increase over 2024 and an 80% jump since the pandemic began. Credit‑card fees dominate, with Visa and Mastercard alone accounting for $118.8 billion, while total credit‑card...
Condor Software Raises $24M for Life Sciences Finance Platform
Condor Software announced a $24 million Series A round, led by Insight Partners, bringing its total funding to $36 million. The capital will accelerate development of its AI‑driven financial intelligence platform that unifies clinical, operational, and accounting data for life‑science firms. Early adopters—including...
Agent-Driven Micro‑payments Will Unlock New Digital Revenue Models
Agents will outnumber human users on the web by orders of magnitude. Just like people, they will need a way to pay for services they use. They may run into propriety health or finance data they need to pay for...
Ethereum Foundation Deposits Another $7.5M in ETH From Its Treasury Into Morpho
The Ethereum Foundation announced a fresh deposit of 3,400 ETH—about $7.5 million—into DeFi lending protocol Morpho, bringing its total commitment to the platform to just under $19 million. The allocation follows the foundation’s June 2025 “Defipunk” treasury policy, which prioritizes permissionless, open‑source projects over...
Robot Money Will Redefine All Financial Services
The Marchine Payments Protocol @mpp shows you again, and again, where the world is going Everyone, from @stripe to @coinbase to @Shopify to @Mastercard and @Visa and @ethereum wants to be robot money Assume we arrive there. What do financial services look...
Global Fintech Thunes Launches Stablecoin Payouts for Banks via Swift Connectivity
Thunes announced that its Pay‑to‑Stablecoin‑Wallets service now reaches roughly 11,500 banks through existing SWIFT connections, allowing instant payouts to stablecoin wallets without new technical integration. The offering supports major stablecoins such as USDC and USDT across more than 140 countries...
Klarna Hits 1 Million Merchants: BNPL Giant Signals Continued Global Expansion
Swedish buy‑now‑pay‑later provider Klarna announced it has surpassed one million merchants worldwide, a 47% increase from the previous year. The growth includes roughly 285,000 new merchants in 2025, with 115,000 added in the fourth quarter alone, and a 91% surge...
PayPal Introduces Stablecoin PYUSD to Users Across 70 Markets
PayPal has launched its dollar‑backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), in 70 international markets, allowing users to buy, hold, send and receive the token directly within their PayPal accounts. The stablecoin is issued by Paxos Trust Company and fully collateralized with U.S....
ECB Approves Tokenized Assets as Central Bank Collateral
YES BUT: ECB paves way for acceptance of DLT-based assets as eligible Eurosystem collateral 1. The Collateral Conundrum: "Eligibility vs. Scale" The ECB Move (Demand): By accepting DLT-based assets as collateral for credit operations, the ECB has given tokenized assets the...
PayPal Ends Rewards-to-Cashback Option, Tweaks Funding and Crypto Terms
PayPal announced that, effective August 1 2026, its Rewards program will no longer allow points to be redeemed for cash back into PayPal balances, linked bank accounts, or Savings accounts. Members must redeem any existing points before the deadline or use alternative...
Digital Bank OakNorth Reports YoY Increase in Gross Originations with Considerable US Activity
OakNorth reported a pre‑tax profit of £223 million for 2025 and saw new loan originations jump 33% to £2.8 billion. The United States contributed 40% of fresh lending, underscoring rapid market penetration since its 2023 entry. Credit quality remained exceptional, with cumulative...
From Attention to Intention: Building the Machine Payments Protocol
Every ad impression, every recommendation algorithm, every retargeting pixel — all of it monetizes the space where human intent is unclear. Agents collapse that space to zero. An agent arrives with a mandate. Get me X. Budget Y. Constraints Z. - No attention...
Enterprises Settling Billions On‑Chain via Polygon
CT loves pitting chain vs chain when it comes to payments. We are all building this new gen infra for global finance to come onchain. The enterprises aren't debating, they're settling billions onchain... A lot of money is moving onchain...
The Fate of Agentic Commerce Hinges on an Elusive Resource: Trust
In this episode, Rima Katz and experts from FinScan and Javelin Strategy discuss how trust in payments is shifting from post‑transaction reassurance to real‑time verification, especially as agentic AI begins to act on behalf of consumers. They explore the technical...
TransFi Secures $14M Series A From Tether’s Arm
Big congratulations to @thefintechfund portfolio co @getTransFi, who just raised their $14M Series A from @Tether's investment arm, Turing Financial. https://t.co/YnhLl63Gau
Hanover Park Raises $27M to Power $100T Infrastructure
Chris, Nick, and @hanoverpark have been on a tear the past 20 months. Have never seen a company build so much trust with customers so quickly. They just raised $27M to continue assembling the dream team to build the financial infrastructure...
Six Months After Launch at ING Germany, Wero Hits Major Adoption Milestones and Strengthens European Payment Collaboration
Six months after its launch at ING Germany, the Wero digital wallet has surpassed 500,000 activations, while the European Payments Initiative (EPI) now counts over 50 million users across its markets. Expansion plans include a Luxembourg rollout in 2026 and a...
Open, Extensible Protocol Enables Universal Streaming Payments
A few things I like about MPP (machine payments protocol) Payment-method agnostic (supports stablecoins on Tempo, Stripe, cards, Bitcoin lightning, etc) Open and extensible (without our permission) Streaming payments (via state channels) Minimal and efficient
Stripe Introduces Pay‑per‑use API Protocol for Agents
Stripe just announced a new protocol to let agents pay for API calls or MCP use.
African Freelancers Get Paid in Dollars. Hurupay Makes Sure They Keep Them.
Hurupay, a Kenya‑born, US‑incorporated fintech, offers African freelancers virtual dollar, euro and pound accounts backed by stablecoins, enabling fast cross‑border payouts. Since its 2023 launch, the company has processed over $50 million, achieving marginal profitability with roughly 40% profit margins. After...
Neobanks Fuel Hiring Surge While Entering New Markets
Neobanks expanding into new markets, Source: CB Insights, Mar 2026 Fintech hiring is happening as neobanks continue to expand with different strategies https://t.co/qKcdGMmycZ https://t.co/rO2bQPQw7W
AI Boosts Both DIY Investors and Financial Advisors
A guy emailed me: "Financial advising seems like the perfect prey for AI to take over almost immediately." Here's my take: AI will help DIY investors AI will also help financial advisors & their clients Everyone will be better off https://t.co/o1IUE0c4Fh https://t.co/Bey35HYPdu
Binance Introduces Loans to Support Bitcoin Mining Operations
Binance has revamped its loan offering with a Flexible Loan product that allows users to borrow as little as $1 worth of crypto while keeping their collateral fully active in earning rewards. The loan is over‑collateralized, fee‑free, and features interest...
Practical Payment Innovations Target Real‑World Impact at MPE2026
Getting the afternoon underway at #MPE2026 in Berlin with a discussion about areas where practical innovation in payments might produce decent results. https://t.co/kb8dX1tuWo
AI Revolutionizes Bank Lending, Says AFT Analytics CEO
[New Episode] AI Is Finally Fixing the Way Banks Lend Money. Interview with Wije Wijegoonaratna, CEO of @aftanalytics. Watch the latest episode now: https://t.co/xKHOgVkcA9 https://t.co/MfWWCseBft
How Business Lending Culture Lost Its Way
The piece argues that alternative business lending has drifted from fueling growth to becoming a lifeline for struggling SMEs. Over 90% of surveyed firms use loans to cover rent, payroll or existing debt rather than to expand, turning credit into...
How Currency Overlay Is Reshaping Portfolio Management in 2025
Currency volatility surged in 2025 as the U.S. dollar slipped roughly 10% against major peers, marking its steepest decline since 2017. Asset owners are responding by centralising currency‑overlay functions, integrating hedging decisions across equities and fixed income within a Total...
Designing for Global Payment Systems
In 2019 a fintech processed a $1.2 million payment 47 times, costing $50 million due to missing idempotency across regions. The post explains why global payment systems are inherently complex, juggling distributed databases, currency conversion, and over 200 regulatory regimes while handling...
Tech Disruption as a Day Job - Lloyds Banking Group CEO Charles Nunn on AI, Digital Transformation, and Why His...
Lloyds Banking Group says its digital bank has expanded by 50%, now serving 23 million digitally active retail customers who generate roughly 7 billion interactions annually. The group has hired 9,000 new engineering and tech staff and already runs 800 AI models,...
Closing the Gap: Theta Lake’s Reconciliation Tools
Regulatory frameworks across the US, Canada, Europe and the CFTC impose strict record‑retention periods, ranging from one to seven years, leaving firms little margin for missing communications. Gaps in data ingestion trigger regulator scrutiny and can signal heightened operational risk....
Inside Funding Societies’ Strategy to Help SMEs Grow Through Stronger Institutional Funding
Funding Societies is refocusing its Indonesian platform on established small‑and‑medium enterprises with clear cash‑flow histories, moving away from ultra‑micro borrowers. The fintech leverages growing partnerships with institutional investors, who now supply the bulk of its capital after retail participation waned....
PingAnGPT-Qwen3-32B Beats GPT‑4o, Leads CNFinBench
Ping An's PingAnGPT-Qwen3-32B Tops CNFinBench: Strong Reasoning, Accuracy and Wide Deployment Topped CNFinBench leaderboard (March 15, 2026), beating GPT-4o + Claude Sonnet 4 on this benchmark. Evaluated across 5 dimensions: financial expertise, business understanding, reasoning/computation, compliance/risk control, application security. Deployed in...
UWE Bristol and FinTech West Partner to Bridge the Fintech Talent Gap in the South West
University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) has entered a strategic partnership with FinTech West to close the fintech talent gap in the South West. The collaboration will see FinTech West co‑design UWE’s MSc FinTech programme, linking students to...
AI Compliance Platform Steward Secures $5m Funding
Steward, an AI‑first compliance platform managing $100bn of investor assets, closed a $5 million financing round led by Motive Partners with participation from Outward VC and prominent angels. The funds will expand product capabilities and scale the team across its New...
AI-Driven Payments Reshape Traditional Finance and European Sovereignty
Two sessions today at #MPE2026 with my @chyppings hat on: Agentic Commerce & Payments - AI-to-AI payments and what this new frontier means for 'traditional' players. Payment Acceptance: Sovereignty & Geopolitics - Resilience, regulation and Europe’s payment sovereignty agenda.
PixlPay Announces Partnership with Factor4 to Expand Gift Card Solutions for Businesses
PixlPay, an Arkansas‑based payment processor, has partnered with Factor4 to integrate its omnichannel gift‑card and loyalty platform into PixlPay’s point‑of‑sale ecosystem. The collaboration enables merchants to launch branded gift‑card programs that can be sold and redeemed in‑store, online, and via...
TaxStreem Aims to Simplify Tax Compliance for Nigerian Businesses
TaxStreem has launched a digital platform that consolidates fragmented financial data—from bank accounts, email, WhatsApp Business and invoicing tools—into a single interface for Nigerian businesses. The system automatically applies relevant tax rules, calculates liabilities in real time, and files returns...
Amadeus Links UnionPay Payments to Airline Booking Channels
Amadeus’s Outpayce unit partnered with UnionPay International to embed UnionPay cards directly into airline payment systems via the Xchange Payments Platform. Native acceptance across direct and indirect booking channels is slated for the first half of 2026, with a global...
Zoyk: Cost-Effective Payment Processing for Small Businesses in Southern Africa
Zoyk has launched an integrated payment platform aimed at small businesses across Southern Africa, unifying mobile‑money, card and online transactions into a single gateway. The solution offers real‑time dashboards, QR‑code links and Android‑based POS hardware, eliminating the need for multiple...
Themelia – Custom Crypto Indexes
In this episode, Andy Pickering talks with Jessica Allurem and Kent Grogan, co‑founders of Thamelia, about their custom crypto indexing platform that aims to simplify crypto investing. They explain why traditional static indexes fall short in a market with millions...
Exclusive NYC AI‑Finance Mixer: Limited Spots for Fintech Leaders
Hosting an exclusive AI in Finance mixer in NYC on Friday, April 3rd at one of the city's hottest social clubs. Limited spots for top minds in fintech, trading, and AI. Comment "invite” for details. https://t.co/0Bwnx8CsD6
FinTech Australia Launches New Data Horizons Summit to Spotlight Real-World Open Banking Impact
FinTech Australia announced the inaugural Data Horizons Summit, a one‑day event on 8 May 2026 in Sydney. The summit builds on its successful Consumer Data Right and Net Zero gatherings, highlighting that more than one million Australians now use open‑banking...
After Unbundling, Nigerian Fintechs Are Building Full-Stack Financial Services
Nigerian fintechs that began by unbundling single services are now rebundling into full‑stack platforms offering payments, savings, credit and business tools. Companies such as Moniepoint, Kuda, FairMoney and Paystack have expanded product suites after securing licences and capital. The shift...
Ericsson and Mastercard Partner to Accelerate Global Digital Money Movement
On March 12, 2026, Ericsson and Mastercard announced a partnership in Northampon, MA to integrate Ericsson's Fintech Platform with Mastercard Move, aiming to simplify digital money transfers for telecom providers, banks and fintechs across more than 200 countries.
Rwanda Launches National FinTech Centre to Boost Digital Finance Innovation
On March 18, 2026, Rwanda’s Minister of ICT and Innovation announced the launch of the Rwanda FinTech Centre during the Inclusive FinTech Forum in Kigali. The government‑backed hub aims to unite startups, investors, regulators and the Kigali International Financial Centre...
Wise Wins Thai Licences, Accelerates APAC Expansion
On March 18, 2026, Wise announced that the Bank of Thailand and the Ministry of Commerce granted it licences to issue foreign‑currency wallets and Wise cards to Thai citizens, businesses and foreign residents. The rollout will begin with a wait‑list...
Thunes Connects Stablecoin Payouts to 11,500 Banks via SWIFT, Merging Legacy Finance with Crypto
FinTech payments platform Thunes announced today that it will enable stablecoin payouts to more than 11,500 banks worldwide through direct SWIFT connectivity. The integration links the global SWIFT network with digital‑asset ecosystems, allowing instant crypto‑fiat transfers at scale.