Revolut’s UK Banking Licence Put Mortgages and Its IPO Back in Play
Revolut has secured a full UK banking licence, paving the way for regulated deposit accounts and consumer lending. The fintech is now pursuing licences in France and the United States, with the French approval expected to unlock mortgages and local savings products such as the Livret A. Analysts link these regulatory moves to a potential IPO valuation of $150 billion to $200 billion, far above last year’s $75 billion implied value. The strategy aims to transform Revolut from a high‑growth app into a full‑stack bank with durable customer relationships.
Goldman Sachs Backs BLP Digital with $50m Investment
Goldman Sachs Alternatives has injected $50 million into Zurich‑based BLP Digital, a startup that uses agentic AI to automate enterprise resource planning (ERP) finance workflows. The funding will accelerate BLP’s push to replace manual accounts‑payable processes with a unified AI execution...
Kalshi Is Suspending 3 Congressional Candidates for Betting on Their Own Elections
Prediction‑market platform Kalshi has suspended three congressional candidates – Minnesota Democrat Matt Klein, Texas Republican Ezekiel Enriquez and Virginia independent Mark Moran – for betting on their own races. The candidates were fined a combined $7,553, with penalties ranging from...
The CLARITY Act Pushed Back to May: Report
U.S. Senate lawmakers have pushed the CLARITY Act, which would clarify stablecoin regulation, back to a May vote after stalling in the chamber. The delay stems largely from legacy banks’ opposition to allowing stablecoin holders to earn interest, a provision...
WhatsApp Adds Prepaid Phone Recharges in India as Its Payments Usage Still Lags
WhatsApp is rolling out prepaid mobile recharges in India through a partnership with fintech firm PayU, making top‑ups for Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea available within the chat app. The feature will launch to all Indian users within two weeks,...
ACI Connetic Adds Networks and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 4/23/26
ACI Worldwide expanded its Connetic platform to connect with Fedwire, CHIPS, SWIFT, The Clearing House RTP, Zelle and FedNow, with ACH integration slated for next year and support for stablecoins and tokenized deposits. FreedomPay introduced a BigCommerce app that lets...
Modernizing KYC with AWS Serverless Solutions and Agentic AI for Financial Services
Financial institutions are turning to AWS serverless services and agentic AI to overhaul legacy Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. By leveraging Amazon MSK for real‑time event streaming, Amazon Bedrock for AI‑driven document analysis, and AWS Lambda for on‑demand compute, the...
Pound Sterling. Coinbase Offers Pound Based Stablecoin in the UK
Coinbase has launched tGBP, a pound‑denominated stablecoin backed by fiat, and made it available immediately. The issuance is partnered with BCP Technologies and operates under UK Financial Conduct Authority regulation. Announced at UK Fintech Week, the product is positioned to...
TMX Group to Acquire Cboe Australia and Canada in $300 Million Deal
TMX Group Limited agreed to purchase Cboe Australia and Cboe Canada from Cboe Global Markets for $300 million USD, a move that expands TMX’s global footprint and promises cost reductions for Canadian market participants. The deal, pending regulatory clearance, is set...
Goosehead Q1 2026 Earnings Spotlight COO Mark Jones Jr.'s Sales Strategy and Expansion
Goosehead (GSHD) posted Q1 2026 revenue of $93.1 million, a 23% year‑over‑year rise, and highlighted President and COO Mark Jones Jr.'s roadmap to grow franchise producers, diversify beyond Texas and scale its Digital Agent platform. The earnings beat and aggressive expansion...
Goldman Sachs Alternatives Invests $50 Million in AI Finance Firm BLP Digital
Goldman Sachs' Alternatives arm has taken a $50 million stake in Swiss AI fintech BLP Digital, signaling a surge in institutional backing for AI-powered finance tools. The deal, made through a purchase of existing shares, arrives as demand for AI in...
MoonPay Leads $76 Million Investment in Korean Fintech Finger to Launch Won Stablecoin
MoonPay, together with Sungho Electronics and Pantos Holdings, is investing roughly KRW 110 billion ($76 million) in Korean fintech Finger. The deal aims to combine MoonPay’s stablecoin infrastructure with Finger’s banking software to create a Korean won stablecoin from issuance to real‑world use.
Why Truist Is Testing Bill Pay with Zelle
Truist is piloting a bill‑pay service that uses Zelle’s request‑for‑payment technology, allowing customers to receive a Zelle alias for a specific bill and approve the exact amount in real time. The trial, conducted with Truist employees and a few external...
As Fraud and Agentic Risks Mount, Data Provides Continuity
In this episode of the Payments Journal, host Rima Katz and guests Dermit Thoma (Head of Fraud & Data Science at AdData), senior sales director Brand (AdData), and senior fraud analyst Jennifer Pitt (Javelin Strategy & Research) discuss how fraud...
TradeStation Securities Announces API Integration with Tradetron
TradeStation Securities has integrated Tradetron’s automated trading platform via API, linking Tradetron’s visual strategy builder and marketplace to TradeStation’s self‑clearing execution engine. The connection lets options traders design, back‑test, and forward‑test multi‑leg strategies before automating live execution through their TradeStation...
Derivative Path, Baton Systems Collaborate to Enable Regional Banks to Scale FX Services with Greater Liquidity Efficiency
Derivative Path and Baton Systems have partnered to launch an integrated FX payments and nostro management platform aimed at regional and mid‑market banks. The cloud‑native, API‑first solution combines Derivative Path’s multi‑liquidity connectivity with Baton’s real‑time risk and settlement orchestration, giving...
Top Portfolio Management Software and Fintech Providers in Canada | 5-Star Wealth Tech Providers
WealthTech Canada’s 5‑Star report highlights providers that are reshaping advisor productivity through automation, explainable AI and Canadian‑specific compliance. Harmony, a comprehensive portfolio‑management system, delivers a single source of truth by consolidating multi‑custodian data, cutting reconciliation time and scaling operations for nearly...
Lotus Taps WisdomTree Money Market Fund to Build Yield Floor Into DeFi Lending
Lotus, a pre‑launch DeFi lending protocol, announced that WisdomTree's Treasury Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX) will back its core vault token, LotusUSD. The integration gives lenders a baseline yield even when borrowing demand is nil, addressing the common DeFi problem...
How Thread Bank Is Turning a Century-Old Charter Into a Modern Distribution Engine
Thread Bank, the rebranded successor of Tennessee’s 1906‑founded Civis Bank, has transformed a modest $90 million community bank into a digital‑first, embedded‑banking platform. After a $47 million recapitalization in 2021, the institution raised Tier 1 capital above $100 million and relaunched as Thread Bank...
Rapporteur’s Report About the EU Business Wallet
The European Parliament’s ITRE committee, led by rapporteur Eero Heinäluoma, released a draft report outlining the legal framework for an EU Business Wallet. The regulation will enable trusted digital interactions—identification, e‑signatures, authentication, and data exchange—between companies, public administrations, and other...
OANDA Japan to Hike FX and CFD Margin Rates, Certain Positions to Be Transferred to MT5
OANDA Japan will raise margin rates on its Tokyo MT4 server effective June 12, 2026, moving most FX contracts to a uniform 10% margin and doubling margins on stock‑index and commodity CFDs. Accounts with a margin maintenance ratio below 200% will be...
Toast: More Than Just A POS
Toast is transforming from a pure restaurant point‑of‑sale vendor into a full‑stack fintech and hardware platform. The company reported 24% annual revenue growth, $608 million in free cash flow, and a record 30,000 net‑new locations, including its first overseas sites. Vertical...
Starling No Plans to Enter “Massively Overserved” US Retail Banking Market
Starling Bank’s CFO Declan Ferguson says the UK challenger will not launch its retail banking arm in the United States, calling the market "massively overserved." Instead, Starling will pursue a modest acquisition to secure a national banking licence and focus...
How Autonomous Treasury Fixes Slow Cash Checks
Corporate treasurers are moving from batch‑mode cash forecasts to an autonomous treasury model that combines real‑time cash positioning with AI‑driven, rule‑based fund movements. The transition hinges on three pillars: instantaneous balance visibility, just‑in‑time payments across instant and traditional rails, and...
Will Global Fintech Banks Destroy Traditional Banking?
Revolut has secured a full UK banking licence, moving beyond its payments‑only model to offer credit, mortgages and corporate services. The interview highlights a broader wave of neobanks—such as Chime, NuBank and Tyme Bank—pursuing similar licences, driven by the desire...
Kalshi Fines Three Politicians $7,552, Suspends Them Five Years for Election Insider Trading
Kalshi, the CFTC‑regulated prediction‑market exchange, fined three political candidates a total of $7,552 and barred them from trading for five years after discovering they wagered on their own elections. The enforcement action comes as lawmakers and governors push for tighter...
Sapia Agrees to Pay £19.6M to WealthTek Clients, FCA Censures Firm
The UK Financial Conduct Authority censured Sapia for failing to safeguard client money tied to its former appointed representative, WealthTek. Sapia has agreed to a voluntary payment of £19.6 million (approximately $25 million) to compensate WealthTek clients with shortfalls. The payment will...
GSR Debuts BESO, First Actively Managed Multi‑Asset Crypto ETF in the U.S.
GSR has launched the BESO (Crypto Core3) ETF on Nasdaq, the first U.S. fund that actively manages a basket of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana while delivering staking rewards. The product carries a 1.00% management fee and is advised by Framework...
FCA Gains Expanded Powers Over Open Banking, Stablecoins and AI Payments
During FinTech Week in London, the UK Financial Conduct Authority was granted broader authority to supervise open‑banking initiatives, stablecoin payments and AI‑driven transaction services. The move consolidates the Payment Systems Regulator into the FCA and adds new funding for fintech...
Markets CRM Partners with Sumsub for Native KYC and AML Verification
Markets CRM announced a technology partnership with Sumsub to embed full KYC and AML verification directly into its broker‑focused CRM platform. The integration automates document checks, liveness detection, sanctions screening and ongoing monitoring, and will be included in the next release...
HashKey Group Teams with ANAP Holdings to Launch Institutional Bitcoin Lending in Japan
HashKey Group announced a strategic partnership with Tokyo‑listed ANAP Holdings to provide institutional‑grade Bitcoin lending services in Japan. The deal, slated for formal execution by the end of April 2026, taps ANAP’s roughly 1,417 BTC treasury, positioning both firms to broaden...
Kalshi Fines Political Candidates to Demonstrate Enforcement Standards
Kalshi, a regulated U.S. prediction‑market exchange, suspended and fined three political candidates who wagered on contests they were personally involved in, including Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein and congressional hopefuls Ezekiel Enriquez and Mark Moran. Klein was hit with a...
Robinhood Gets In-Principle Approval to Launch Brokerage Services in Singapore
Robinhood Markets announced it has received in‑principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to offer brokerage services, marking a key milestone in its international expansion. The approval paves the way for Robinhood Singapore to eventually provide trading of securities,...
Uber Riders Complain They Were Charged More for Paying with Amex Cards—One Viral Video Shows a $13 Difference
Riders are alleging that Uber fares jump when they select American Express cards, Uber Cash, gift‑card balances, or Uber One memberships. A viral video from Atlanta showed a ride costing $33.05 with an Amex card versus $20.33 with a Visa, a...
NatWest Launches Venture Banking with AWS Partnership - and the Data Architecture Story Behind It
NatWest has unveiled a new Venture Banking unit aimed at high‑growth, equity‑backed firms, coinciding with a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services. The collaboration focuses on building a unified data mesh on SageMaker Studio to give the bank a single...
CCIL Chief Explains What Financial Markets Will Now Need to Keep Pace with Volatile Geopolitics
Rajeshwar Rao, chairman of the Clearing Corporation of India (CCIL), warned that future financial market infrastructure must become more agile, data‑driven and tightly integrated to keep pace with rapid technological shifts and a fragile geopolitical environment. He flagged cyber threats,...
How AI Is Rearchitecting Lending
More than 80% of financial‑services AI decision‑makers plan to boost spending on predictive and generative AI, targeting double‑digit growth. Lenders are prioritizing efficiency and risk mitigation, using graph‑based ML for identity verification, multimodal analytics for fraud and AML, and retrieval‑augmented...
Debt Markets Platform 9fin Expands Into Asia-Pacific
9fin, the global debt‑market intelligence platform, has launched its services across the Asia‑Pacific region, extending its footprint beyond its Hong Kong hub. The rollout provides APAC credit professionals with real‑time news, proprietary data and AI‑driven analytics covering over 1,800 issuers...
The Starter Home Is Dying. Better.com’s CEO Says AI Is the only Thing that Can Save It
The U.S. is missing nearly 4 million homes, leaving the traditional starter home scarce and pushing the median age of first‑time buyers to a record 40. Mortgage loan officers earn commissions that favor large loans, causing sub‑$300k mortgages to be underserved....
Stablecoins Dominate This Year's Merchant Payments Ecosystem
Great chatting with @IgorTomych at @FintechGarden again, stablecoins was one of the biggest topics covered at Merchant Payments Ecosystem this year, and it's easy to see why with so much going on in the space... Listen in on YouTube 👉 https://t.co/yW228At80A
What Is Square? Pricing, Features & How It Works
Square has transformed from a simple mobile card reader into an all‑in‑one cloud platform that combines payment processing, point‑of‑sale software, ecommerce tools, and basic banking services. The core POS app is free, while Square Plus ($49/month) and Premium ($149/month) add advanced...
Nigerian Banks Gain Access to Telecom Data to Stop Fraud
On April 20, 2026, Nigeria’s Central Bank and the Nigerian Communications Commission signed an agreement to share telecom data via the Telecom Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS). The platform gives banks and fintechs real‑time visibility into SIM‑history, allowing them to...
Stablecoins Are Now Core Payment Rails; Policy Lags
Stablecoins are becoming the default rails for global value movement, and the gap now is policy catching up to real usage at scale. TRON is already operating at that scale.
India's Digital Currency Push Targets Its Leaky Welfare System
India’s Reserve Bank is piloting the e‑rupee, a central bank digital currency, to streamline its $80 billion welfare system. The program, run with the World Bank and state partners, targets sectors like farm subsidies and food rationing, with an estimated 10 million...
Hard-to-Cancel Subscriptions May Violate Consumer Law
Question @RobertFreundLaw Isn't it illegal to make unsubscribing from an automatic billing service difficult like this? No way to cancel besides speaking to a chat rep - but they're never available... https://t.co/wdxnAyz21e
U.S. House Introduces PACE Act to Open Fed Payment Rails to FinTechs
The U.S. House of Representatives unveiled the Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency (PACE) Act, creating a federal registration pathway that would allow non‑bank fintech firms meeting strict criteria to connect directly to the Federal Reserve’s core payment systems. The bill...
Monk Secures $25 Million Series A to Scale AI‑Native Accounts Receivable Platform
Monk, a New York‑based AI‑native accounts receivable platform, closed a $25 million Series A round co‑led by Footwork and Acrew Capital, bringing its total funding to $29 million. The capital will fund R&D and expansion of its contract‑to‑cash automation suite, highlighting continued...
LendingClub Rebrands as Happen Bank, Targeting Mobile-First Consumers
LendingClub Corp announced it will rename LendingClub Bank as Happen Bank, a fully digital bank aimed at mobile‑first customers. The rebrand, set to roll out in summer 2026, signals a shift from a pure lending marketplace to a broader suite...
Capital One Posts $2.2B Q1 Net Income as Consumer Banking Revenue Jumps 37% YoY
Capital One posted $2.2 billion GAAP net income for Q1 2026 and a 37% year‑over‑year rise in consumer banking revenue, driven by Discover integration and auto‑loan growth. The bank also completed a $4.5 billion Brex acquisition, underscoring a push to expand its commercial‑card...
DIFC Declares Itself World’s First AI‑Native Financial Hub, Targeting $3.5 Bn Boost and 25,000 Jobs
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) announced today that it will operate as the world’s first AI‑native financial hub. The plan projects $3.5 bn in economic benefits and the creation of 25,000 jobs by embedding artificial intelligence into legal, regulatory, talent...