Stars Align for Passkeys but Will Adoption Follow?
Credential‑based fraud and login friction are eroding conversion for high‑value e‑commerce shoppers, prompting merchants to seek stronger, lower‑friction authentication. Passkeys, built on FIDO public‑key cryptography and unlocked via biometrics or PIN, promise to eliminate password reuse and phishing risk. PayPal and Stripe have recently rolled out passkey support for consumer accounts and developer guidance, signaling a push toward broader adoption. Yet uneven integration costs, recovery challenges, and regulatory scrutiny keep overall uptake uneven across merchants and financial institutions.
Marquis V. SonicWall Lawsuit Ups the Breach Blame Game
Fintech firm Marquis, which serves over 700 banks, filed a lawsuit against firewall vendor SonicWall after a ransomware breach exposed client data for roughly 780,000 individuals. SonicWall later disclosed that a breach of its own firewall configuration backups affected all...
Idemia PS Deal Brings Growing Number of US mDLs to Trinsic’s Digital Identity Network
Trinsic has integrated Idemia Public Security’s mobile driver’s license (mDL) solution into its Digital Identity Acceptance Network, adding support for mDLs issued in New York, Arkansas, Iowa, West Virginia and Kentucky. Idemia, the leading U.S. provider of state‑backed mDLs, also serves three...
Block Swaps 4,000 Workers for AI
Block, the fintech firm behind Cash App, Square and Afterpay, announced a 40% workforce reduction, cutting roughly 4,000 jobs and shrinking headcount from 10,000 to just over 6,000. CEO Jack Dorsey said the move is driven by rapid advances in...
Reimagining KYC
Capgemini released a whitepaper outlining perpetual KYC, a shift from periodic, manual reviews to near‑real‑time, event‑driven monitoring. Early adopters report 20‑40% fewer false positives, 40‑60% faster onboarding, and 50‑70% reduction in case backlogs. The proposed pKYC triad blends data modernization,...
Emerging Opportunities in Venture Capital Ecosystem Analyzed in New Report
PitchBook’s new VC Emerging Opportunities report analyzes over 25,000 early‑stage firms across 12 technology verticals, combining machine‑learning exit predictions with macro indicators. Deal value rose 17.5% year‑over‑year while median pre‑money valuations jumped 28.8%, though first‑time financings fell 19%. SaaS leads...
Bloomberg Extends Financial Data to $25B Tokenized Markets via Kaiko
Bloomberg is partnering with Kaiko to embed the newswire’s licensed financial data directly onto blockchain platforms, tackling the fragmented information problem in tokenized markets. The collaboration targets tokenized U.S. Treasury and repo products on the permissioned Canton Network, offering a...
DriveWealth to Integrate Kalshi’s Event Contracts Into Its Brokerage Platform
DriveWealth is integrating Kalshi’s regulated prediction‑market event contracts into its brokerage‑as‑a‑service platform, allowing fintech clients to offer these contracts alongside stocks and ETFs. Kalshi processes more than $100 billion in annualized volume and sees the partnership as a way to broaden...
All‑in‑One vs Best‑in‑Class: Satisfaction Levels Similar
There's lots of discussion about the benefits of using fewer “all-in-one” software platforms that serve multiple functions (e.g., Advyzon, Orion) versus adopting a greater number of “best-in-class” tools for each individual function. https://t.co/5JYwewMmB2 In our research, we get at this by...
More States Are Tightening Their Gift Card Regulations
In 2025, 22 U.S. states introduced legislation aimed at curbing gift‑card fraud, a sharp rise from eight states the previous year. While many bills increase criminal penalties, several also impose new duties on merchants, such as conspicuous fraud warnings and...
Augmentum Fintech Accepts £186m Cash Takeover Offer
Augmentum Fintech has agreed to a £185.7 million cash takeover by Norwegian buyout firm Verdane, representing a 27 % premium at 111 pence per share. The board unanimously recommended the offer, targeting completion in the second quarter. Augmentum’s portfolio includes 27 fintechs such...
Bluprynt Secures $4.25M Seed, Bridges Compliance to On‑Chain
Truly big news today: I’m delighted to share that my startup @blupryntco has completed its oversubscribed $4.25m seed raise. Thanks to an all star roster of investors including @valorcapgroup @CultivationCap @RobinhoodApp @cbventures @QuonaCapital @FlourishVC @SelahVentures and Kazea for joining...
Kananga Launches Tokenized MMF. CIMB Partners Ant for Tokenized Deposits
Kenanga Investment Bank has unveiled its Myrra tokenization platform, issuing two tokenized money‑market funds on the Stellar blockchain – a first for Malaysia. At the same time, CIMB, the country’s second‑largest bank, announced a partnership with Ant International to explore...
Digital Transformation at Santander: How Platform Engineering Is Revolutionizing Cloud Infrastructure
Santander launched Catalyst, a platform‑engineering solution built with AWS, to overhaul its cloud infrastructure. The initiative replaces a 90‑day manual provisioning process with an automated, Kubernetes‑based control plane that leverages Crossplane, ArgoCD, and OPA. By consolidating over 100 pipelines, Catalyst...
UPI Payments in India Can Now Use Biometric Authentication for Transactions Up to ₹5,000
India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now supports biometric authentication for transactions up to ₹5,000, allowing users to approve payments via fingerprint or facial recognition. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the change, positioning biometrics as an alternative to the...
Coinbase Employees Reportedly Face Wise “Payment Blocks” Amid UK Banking Crackdown
A LinkedIn post alleges that Wise has blocked payroll payments from Coinbase to UK‑based employees, disrupting their finances. Coinbase acknowledged the post but offered no further comment, while Wise has not responded. Wise’s Acceptable Use Policy prohibits direct crypto transactions...
Circle Reveals Plans for Native Arc Token
Circle’s chief executive Jeremy Allaire announced on the Q4 2025 earnings call that the firm is actively exploring a native token for its Arc blockchain. The Arc network, launched on a public testnet in October 2025, is tailored for stablecoin issuance with...
Ziosk Partners with Gringo’s Tex-Mex and Jimmy Changas; Qu POS Lands Roy Rogers Restaurants
Ziosk is deploying its Drop & Pay handheld payment tablets at Gringo’s Tex-Mex and Jimmy Changas, covering 21 Texas locations and delivering a 96% pay‑at‑table rate, a 23% lift in loyalty participation, and 45% higher guest‑survey engagement. The platform also...
Shift4 Shifts Its Focus to International Deals
Shift4 Payments reported record Q4 results and announced a strategic pivot toward international growth. The company closed a $2.5 billion acquisition of Swiss tax‑free shopping platform Global Blue and added Australia‑based Smartpay to its portfolio. To capitalize on these assets, Shift4 is...
Debit Card Fraud Losses Rise
A Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank analysis shows debit card fraud loss rates rose between 2021 and 2023, driven primarily by card‑not‑present transactions. While online fraud increased, in‑person fraud declined on dual‑message networks but grew on single‑message networks. The report...
Fiserv Appoints New Executives
Fiserv announced three senior hires this month: Lia Cao as chief revenue officer for enterprise and platforms, Robert Clarkson as chief revenue officer for small‑business and Clover POS, and Adit Gadgil as global head of business development. All three are...
Triple-A and Mastercard Move Join Forces to Speed Up Global Remittances for Banks and Fintechs
Triple‑A has integrated Mastercard Move’s cross‑border money‑movement network into its remittance‑as‑a‑service platform, enabling near real‑time payouts for European banks, fintechs, and telecom operators. The partnership lets institutions launch branded global remittance services without building costly infrastructure, while also opening a...
The CBN Has a Plan to Make Regulation Work for Fintechs. Here Is What It Looks Like.
On Feb 2 2026 the Central Bank of Nigeria published its Fintech Policy Insight Report, outlining a new regulatory playbook aimed at turning oversight into a partnership engine for the sector. The blueprint introduces a quarterly Fintech Engagement Forum, a Single Regulatory...
Resolv and Centrifuge Launch $100 Million Tokenized Credit Strategy on Aave
Centrifuge and Resolv are deploying up to $100 million of JAAA, a tokenized AAA‑rated credit fund, as leveraged collateral on Aave Horizon, creating the largest real‑world asset loop in DeFi to date. Resolv will lock JAAA to generate yield for its...
Top 5 Payment Processors Control 56% Market
Will anyone dislodge Stripe as the payments king? This chart is about the same as last year. Stripe lost a few points, but the same number of Do Not Accept / N/A remains the same. PayPal remained the same. Survey...
Digital Adoption Drives the Future of Financial Services
The future of financial services is digital. Whether you want to play that way or not. Consumers are opening accounts and transacting digitally more than ever before. https://t.co/mif0VDdckX
Women Regulators Network Launches Leadership Council
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), in partnership with Financial Innovation for Impact (Fii), has launched a Leadership Council for its Women Regulators Network (WRN). The council, co‑chaired by the UAE Central Bank’s Fatma Abdulla Al Jabri and Bahamas Securities...
Block Slashes 4,000 Jobs, Bets on AI Productivity
Ending the month with a bang @jack Block Block is cutting 4,000 employees, reducing its workforce by nearly half as the financial technology firm places a bet on artificial intelligence changing the future of labor productivity. cc @dailyjobcuts @MacroEdgeRes
Crypto.com's $15M Trump Donation Raises Charter Conflict
Crypto .com parent co donated a combined $15M to Trump entities. It just received conditional approval of its trust bank charter app. Even if these things AREN'T related, and I hope they're not, the appearance of a conflict of interest is...
ACI Revenue up 13% and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 2/26/26
ACI Worldwide reported fourth‑quarter revenue of $253.2 million, a 13% year‑over‑year increase, pushing full‑year 2025 revenue just above $1 billion. NCR Voyix posted a 6% Q4 revenue rise to $720 million but saw full‑year revenue dip 4.6%, while turning a $201 million loss into...
Banks to Embed Wallets Directly in Online Banking
🎯+ wait until you see what @Vantage_Bank & @custodiabank are delivering to a consortium of banks that abstracts away the complexity of wallets *INSIDE* the banking system, accessible from your online banking page. I gave an interview to @BankDirector on...
Effective Onboarding Fuels Customer Retention and Revenue
You cannot expect strong relationships with weak onboarding. A well structured digital process directly impacts retention and revenue. Download The Power of Customer Permissioned Data for free: https://t.co/0wah7wPuXN https://t.co/QvZQSHbMI8
UK’s First Online Fintech Platform Launched to Help SMEs Manage Debt and Avoid Borrowing Pitfalls
Leeds‑based fintech Debeo has launched what it calls the UK’s first purpose‑built online platform to help small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) understand and manage their debt. The service aggregates loans, overdrafts and asset‑finance agreements into a single, real‑time view, enabling...
Bunq CEO Ali Niknam Challenges EU Stablecoin Rules
🔵 The banker who sued his central bank and changed European regulation. I sat down with Ali Niknam, founder and CEO of @bunq, at Davos during the WEF 2026 🎥 "𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐪'𝐬 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐬: 𝐀𝐈, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒 𝐁𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞...
TRX Launches on Gemini with Full Trading Support
TRX by @trondao Now trading on Gemini 🎉 Deposits and withdrawals enabled ✅ Buy, sell, and store today: https://t.co/k8dbSGNRvL https://t.co/knhBTpSMmd
US Regional Banks Build Tokenised Deposit Network
A consortium of five US regional banks—First Horizon, Huntington Bancshares, KeyCorp, M&T Bank and Old National Bancorp—has announced the creation of the Cari Network, a permissioned blockchain platform for tokenised deposits. The pilot will launch in the third quarter with...
Double Standards: Swiss Bank Targeted, Binance Pardoned
The hypocrisy of cutting off a Swiss Bank for facilitating payments to Iran and Russia, while the administration pardons CZ & family does business with Binance... https://t.co/p2PfBgrfDs
DeFi Lending and Crypto VC Leaders Dominate Timeline
all of ct timeline consumed with who built more of the biggest defi lending protocol who started one of the biggest crypto vcs
Finance Magnates Launches FM Academy, Supporting CySEC CPD & Training
Finance Magnates has launched FM Academy, a compliance‑focused training platform for fintech professionals and regulated firms, centered on CySEC CPD and AML education. The service offers structured online lessons, interactive assessments, and downloadable digital certificates that can be verified for...
Lightspark Aims to Lead Stablecoin Payments Within Two Years
People don’t think about @Lightspark as a stablecoin company. I’m now confident we will be the largest stablecoin payments company in the next 24 months. All on a neutral, open network that belongs to our clients as much as it...
Consumer Fintech Still Holds Massive Untapped Opportunity
There are a lot of reasons for this, but the net-net is tha this is why there's still so much opportunity for consumer fintech.
How Embedded BNPL Optimizes Cash Flow for SMBs: Inside the Intuit-Affirm Partnership
Intuit has teamed with Affirm to embed a Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) option directly into QuickBooks invoices, letting small‑business owners split customer payments while receiving the full amount upfront. The move turns QuickBooks from a bookkeeping tool into an actionable financial operating...
LLMs Fail 85% of Investment Tasks, Math Weakness Evident
LLM-driven AI tools are much better with words than with math... at what point is the time to back-check the output calculations more time-consuming than just using established software providers for key investment research and financial planning functions? "Mass market AI...
Circle Surges 30% as USDC Hits $11.9 T
Circle Pops 30% as USDC Prints an $11.9 Trillion Flex The Stock market is seeing an Agentic future in which agents choose regulated USD stablecoins. https://t.co/efPUeNxQsu
WorkWhile Names Simon Khalaf CEO as Company Enters Next Phase of Growth and Expands Into Worker Financial Services
WorkWhile announced Simon Khalaf as its new chief executive officer, while co‑founder Jarah Euston moves to president and COO. The AI‑native staffing platform now supports more than 1.2 million U.S. workers and has posted over 110% growth in the last nine...
Revolut IPO Sparks Unprecedented Fintech VC Liquidity
We are going to see previously unheard of liquidity in fintech VC following the @Revolut IPO. "The firm is targeting a valuation of at least $150 billion through any listing." https://t.co/mos6kPJDYO
Novel Banking Licence in Latvia Could Pave the Way for New Market Entrants
Latvia introduced a new specialised credit institution licence, lowering the initial capital requirement to €1 million and granting deposit‑taking rights and EU‑wide passporting. The amendment to the Credit Institutions Law took effect on 6 January 2026, creating a hybrid category that operates like...
How This GV Investor Looks For The Next Stripe And Other ‘Compounding’ Startups In Fintech And AI
Elena Sakach, partner at GV, leverages her fintech background to back growth‑stage, “compounding” startups such as Stripe, Ramp and emerging AI‑driven firms. She emphasizes that successful fintechs build trust‑based relationships, expansion economics, and core infrastructure roles, while AI is reshaping...
What’s Next for China’s Yuan Payment System? Adviser Banks on Close Trade Partners
Former ICBC chairman Chen Siqing urged China to embed its Cross‑border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) into bilateral trade frameworks, especially with Belt‑Road and RCEP partners, as geopolitical tensions heighten reliance on non‑US payment networks. He highlighted CIPS’s rapid growth, processing...
Kalshi Uses Public Enforcement to Signal Legitimacy
Fascinating to see @Kalshi taking so much action on alleged insider trading Legitimacy through very public enforcement. It's like an inverse regulation by enforcement. It's enforcement by industry to demonstrate being regulated. Kalshi accuses MrBeast editor of insider trading : NPR https://t.co/3sI6leeiBM