
Lightspark, a Bitcoin Lightning Network startup, has partnered with FDIC‑insured Cross River Bank to enable 24/7 fiat settlement of Lightning transactions via the FedNow service. The collaboration aims at B2B, cross‑border and retail payments where instant settlement can improve cash‑management efficiency. While Lightning’s transaction volume hit $1.17 billion in November 2025, its total value locked remains modest at roughly $338 million. The partnership signals a push to move Bitcoin from a store of value toward everyday payments.
The Gemini app you opened last week? Much better today. ✅ Faster homepage, invest tab, deposit/withdraw flows ✅ Polished prediction open orders, better cash-outs, sports UI refresh ✅ Predictions now supports credit card and crypto payments ✅ Major framework upgrade under the hood Update your...
Democratic senators sent two letters to Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman questioning recent supervisory changes, including a 30% staff cut in the Fed's supervision arm and the removal of bank examiners at banks' request. They also demanded answers on her...
Once you use an FP&A solution, you never want to go back. Spreadsheets always have their place, but FP&A software dramatically increases FP&A productivity. Here are the highlights from my latest tech stack report. - 37 forecasting and budgeting solutions...
For four years, BGD has played an important role in Aave V3’s technical development, and it is fair to say that Aave V3 would not be what it is today without their contributions. That Aave V3 has lasted this long...

Transaction Network Services (TNS) introduced TNSPay SmartRoute, a cloud‑based solution that lets merchants, processors and acquirers set real‑time routing rules for each transaction. The platform can route payments by geography, cost efficiency, processor performance or scheduled maintenance, and it automatically...

Earnings season revealed that digitizing supply chains has shifted from a cost‑saving exercise to a strategic imperative. Executives at FedEx, Caterpillar, Dollar General and others highlighted upstream capex on supplier integration, AI‑enabled orchestration and real‑time visibility as growth enablers. The...

Square, the POS arm of Block Inc., is set to expand its partner ecosystem beyond the roughly 1,000 collaborators it already supports. The move aims to bring more technology add‑ons, discounts and specialized services to merchants, accelerating Square’s merchant acquisition....
Most “real-world asset” tokenization is still theoretical. This one is not. Fintech lender Newity just raised $11M to bring small business loans onchain. Not art. Not T-bills. Actual SBA-style lending to Main Street. Here is why that matters. Traditional small business lending is fragmented...
AI is quietly reshaping our relationship with money. From smarter budgeting and personalized financial advice to embedded finance and real-time credit decisions, AI is changing how we spend, save and invest. As open banking and fintech accelerate, money is becoming more invisible,...

Wealthsimple was crowned the 2026 CIX Innovator of the Year by Elevate, with CEO Michael Katchen slated to speak at the CIX Summit in Toronto. The Toronto‑based fintech doubled its assets under administration to $100 billion CAD and its valuation to...
Jordan’s Central Bank issued a directive on Feb 16, 2026 that the Sanad mobile app’s digital identity credential is now legally equivalent to physical ID documents for banking transactions. The mandate applies to every bank in the kingdom, obligating them to accept...

A Brickken Q4 2025 survey shows most real‑world‑asset issuers use tokenization primarily to raise capital rather than to secure secondary‑market liquidity. 53.8% cite capital formation as the main driver, while only 15.4% prioritize liquidity, and 69.2% of respondents are already live...

Worldline is rolling out its One Commerce omnichannel retail platform beyond the United Kingdom, showcasing it at the EuroShop trade fair in Germany from Feb. 22‑26. The solution lets merchants manage in‑store and online payments, integrate new payment methods, and...

April announced a suite of fintech collaborations, pairing its free‑tax filing service with Acorns and Robinhood to let users file federal and state returns at no cost and receive refunds faster. Armanino partnered with Accrual to pilot an AI‑native accounting...
Destream, a creator‑focused monetization platform, has launched services in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), giving regional influencers access to a global payment infrastructure. The rollout includes secure payment links, multi‑currency payouts and a Mastercard‑backed debit card, plus a built‑in eSIM...
European firms are rapidly adopting embedded card programmes, bypassing traditional banks thanks to API‑driven platforms. Wallester’s recent webinar with Visa and GF Money shows launch times shrinking from a year to as little as 28 days. Regulatory clarity under PSD2 is...
MetaQuotes will roll out build 5640 of its MetaTrader 5 platform on February 20, 2026. The update refines the dark interface theme, adjusting background, tab and scrollbar colours for a more cohesive visual experience. It adds Markdown support in MetaEditor, allowing developers to document...

Klarna just posted its first $1B revenue quarter, successfully doubling its banking users to 15.8 million. The pivot from a pure BNPL provider to a global digital bank is underway. But Wall Street just handed them a massive 27% stock drop....

FinTech Futures highlighted five notable developments this week. Vestwell secured a $385 million Series E round, doubling its valuation to roughly $2 billion and earmarking funds for platform expansion and payroll integrations. The UK regulator fined Bank of Ireland UK £3.78 million for a 14‑month...
Lunar, the Nordic challenger bank, has signed a strategic partnership with delivery platform Wolt across Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The deal embeds Wolt+ unlimited delivery into Lunar’s top‑tier Unlimited (personal) and Limitless (business) subscription plans, while lower‑tier customers can redeem...
Agentic AI Gating Layer: Policy-as-Code = gating layer for agentic AI Controls AI actions by: Separating free-form reasoning (AI decides) from allowed execution (policy permits) Improving auditability (clear what AI can/can't do) Preventing compliance violations before they happen Guardrails, not post-incident cleanup. 📰 Intelligent compliance for...
Wow. Now stablecoin yield advocates are saying that government should provide loans to local communities rather than local banks. What could be wrong with that?
Australian fintech platform youX confirmed an unauthorized intrusion that exposed personal data of approximately 440,000 Australians. The stolen information includes loan applications, driver’s licence details and other identifying data. The breach was disclosed following the company’s internal investigation and reported...
Demo Friday: realtime @claudeai assisted 🇺🇸 USD → 🇧🇷 BRL in seconds using @Lightspark Grid. Magic money movement available to everyone and in 60+ countries. We recorded this in one shot. So easy. https://t.co/6tOqsVxo9R
Challenger brands do not win by spending more. They win by making clear choices about who they serve and what they stand for. We explore Rival’s study with @EFulwiler in this episode. Watch the full video: https://t.co/Y31f7tnfQ6 https://t.co/M2cWuLR3zt

PayPal disclosed a data breach affecting its Working Capital loan application, where personal information—including Social Security numbers—was exposed from July 1 to December 13, 2025. The company identified the issue on December 12, 2025, rolled back the faulty code, and halted unauthorized access within a...

Venmo falls further behind Zelle https://t.co/qIyIwXmCFq "This is a useful tale to counteract some of the doomsaying about banks and innovation. When they try collective action, banks often win, but cooperation doesn’t come naturally." Word. Now do ID. https://t.co/ahiMlNMmux
Robot takes assets in treasury to buy its own token to get paid a small percent back in trading fees No perpetual money machines exist, others will just sell into the buyback Need economic, not just financial, engine

Badge, a digital‑wallet platform founded in 2023, raised $17.1 million in a Series A round—$13.8 million led by TTV Capital and a $3.3 million seed from QED Investors and Infinity Ventures. The company builds interactive elements for Apple Pay and Google Pay, letting brands embed loyalty,...

What Happens After All Bitcoins Are Mined by @freedx The critical question post-2140: can transaction fees alone sustain network security? Bitcoin's design bet: as adoption grows, fee revenue naturally replaces block rewards. High congestion periods and their fee spikes are a live...
Local deposit ➡️ Local loan ➡️ Local growth A $1,000 local bank deposit can support up to $30,000 in #smallbiz lending over 5 yrs. The same $1,000 in stablecoin backs government debt. Local deposits build communities. Stablecoin reserves fund Washington. #banklocal

Nexi Group has launched Nexi Ready, a fully managed digital‑issuing platform that lets banks, corporates and fintechs outsource technology, scheme compliance and day‑to‑day operations while keeping their brand and customer data. The service is positioned as a new “plug‑and‑play” issuing...
Most consumers don’t understand how their credit score is calculated, and stigma keeps them from getting help. Financial institutions must rethink risk. We explore this with Steve Min, Chief Credit Officer at @CreditOneBank. Watch the full episode now: https://t.co/wUIHckaAy4 https://t.co/dX96wDMpfj

Negotiations between banks and crypto leaders advanced during the White House’s third closed‑door meeting, but the core dispute over stablecoin yields remains unresolved. Industry representatives described the dialogue as constructive, emphasizing a need for consumer protection and U.S. competitiveness. The...
KYCP has launched an embedded integration with Companies House, allowing users to pull official UK corporate data directly within its platform. The Corporate Source Register (CSR) lets compliance teams perform real‑time searches by company name or registration number and import...

Cross‑border payments in Africa now settle in seconds, but verifying the counterpart business can take weeks. The delay stems from fragmented, offline national registries and a lack of cross‑border data harmonisation, creating a “registry gap” that hampers the African Continental...
MyCryptoParadise released a report exposing how YouTube scam channels manipulate new crypto traders by hyping meme coins, promising unrealistic returns, and faking expertise. The analysis identifies three recurring tactics: meme‑coin hype, exaggerated profit claims, and staged authority cues. In contrast,...

Digital banking has become the cornerstone of modern finance, delivering round‑the‑clock services through mobile apps. Consumers now deposit checks, transfer funds, and invest without stepping into a branch, enjoying lower fees and personalized experiences. At the same time, providers are...
Crypto Snack unveiled a five‑pillar ecosystem that links its BEP‑20 $SNACK token to sports, real‑world asset tokenisation, iGaming, consumer rewards and a unified payments app. A Premier League club will accept $SNACK for tickets and merchandise, while the Alkemya Metacore...

The team built an event‑driven reconciliation pipeline on AWS using Step Functions, Lambda, and DynamoDB. At low volumes it performed well, but processing million‑transaction daily batches exposed two bottlenecks: Lambda’s 15‑minute timeout and hot DynamoDB partition keys. They resolved these...
The article argues that the classic build‑vs‑buy debate in pricing modernization has shifted from technical feasibility to strategic resource allocation. Cloud platforms and open‑source tools now let banks prototype pricing engines in months, but maintaining custom systems diverts scarce engineering...

APAC’s rapid digital growth is hampered by fragmented cross‑border payment ecosystems. Companies expanding from hubs like Singapore face higher merchant discount rates, FX volatility, and regulatory bottlenecks when transactions are processed through non‑local acquirers. Payment orchestration emerges as a unifying...

Fintech platforms are partnering with Southeast Asian schools to provide affordable student loans, solving the cash‑flow timing mismatch between tuition costs and post‑graduation income. By offering predictable financing, schools can invest in teachers, classrooms, and digital infrastructure without fearing enrollment...
Sound Transit announced that ORCA’s Tap to Pay system will launch on February 23, 2026, allowing riders to tap a credit or debit card—or a mobile wallet such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay—directly at fare readers. The...
FinCite, a provider of end‑to‑end investment advisory software, has achieved ISO 27001 certification, confirming its information security management system meets global standards. The certification spans the company’s entire operational backbone, including cloud infrastructure, development lifecycles, and client‑facing services such as onboarding...
TD Bank U.S. is launching a "More Human" brand refresh while pledging to keep its traditional branch‑centric ethos. New head of consumer deposit and payment products Marc Womack says the focus is on retaining customers amid fierce deposit competition and...
Shankar Raj, a veteran of Fidelity, Deloitte, LTI Mindtree and doTERRA, redefines enterprise platform reliability as a living, adaptive product rather than a finite project. His AI‑native framework treats failure signals as data, cutting incident recovery times by up to 30 %...
Banks face mounting regulatory, economic and consumer pressures as digital expectations rise, and their technology choices will dictate future competitiveness. nCino outlines six 2026 tech trends, from AI‑driven mobile banking that acts as a personal financial command centre to AI‑powered...
Global Alliance announced enhanced operational safeguards for its digital platform, including multi‑factor authentication (MFA) for logins and sensitive actions. The firm now requires verification checkpoints before adding external withdrawal destinations, tightening outbound transaction controls. Real‑time data backups and DDoS mitigation...