Know What's Happening in FinTech
Know What's Happening in FinTech
FinTech Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
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EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
The episode explores how the payment facilitator (PayFac) model is becoming a key growth engine for independent software vendors (ISVs) amid the rise of SaaS, AI, and embedded finance. It highlights the superior merchant experience PayFacs deliver—simplified onboarding, ongoing risk management, and compliance—while enabling ISVs to embed finance features, access transaction data, and offer funding solutions that reduce costs and churn. The discussion also underscores the strategic advantage of partnering with a robust provider like U.S. Bank/Elavon to scale these capabilities.
Businesses face escalating cyber threats, making comprehensive technology security essential. The article outlines a layered strategy that starts with regular risk assessments to pinpoint vulnerabilities and allocate defenses. It emphasizes strong password policies, multi‑factor authentication, and automated software patching as...
Q2 Holdings released its 2026 Retail Banking Trends and Priorities report, revealing a decisive shift from external disruption to internal execution, data, and modernization. The study shows advanced technology adoption rising to 49% of banks’ priorities, while fewer than 10%...
ClearBank has teamed up with real‑time payments platform Volt to launch GBP and EUR merchant accounts powered by ClearBank’s cloud‑native infrastructure. The new accounts provide virtual IBANs, named accounts and full lifecycle features such as automated reconciliation, fund attribution and...
MomentProof, Inc. has deployed its patented MomentProof Enterprise platform for AXA, enabling cryptographically sealed, AI‑resilient digital assets in the insurer's claims process. The technology certifies images, video, audio and metadata at capture, providing deterministic authenticity verification. AXA reports eliminated probabilistic...
Drainer‑as‑a‑Service (DaaS) platforms are industrializing crypto theft, letting low‑skill actors launch high‑value heists at scale. Traditional bank compliance, reliant on static blacklists, cannot keep pace with the real‑time, multi‑domain attacks these services enable. The author urges banks to shift from...
Financial infrastructure firm Noah has teamed up with identity‑verification specialist Sumsub to embed a reusable KYC framework across its platform. The integration enables users verified by any of Sumsub’s 4,000+ partner institutions to onboard on Noah‑powered wallets, exchanges and payment...
Outset PR’s Q4 2025 analysis shows U.S. crypto‑media traffic collapsed while a tiny elite captured almost all attention. Visits fell from roughly 148 million to 106 million, yet the 53 tier‑1 publishers (over 400 k monthly visits) generated more than 95 % of the remaining...
Kreios and the German fund association BVI have formed a strategic cooperation to embed regulatory expertise into operational compliance using AI and rules‑based automation. Kreios will supply its REGMATIX platform, which automates document checks and applies digital validation rules, while...
The BTC profit‑vs‑loss supply metric compares the amount of Bitcoin held at a cost basis above the current price with the amount held below it. Glassnode reports 11.1 million BTC in profit and 8.9 million in loss, indicating a narrowing gap. Historically,...
Community bankers report that credit unions are now their primary rival for deposits, with 66% noting heightened competition. The survey also reveals that 82% anticipate at least 11 more credit‑union acquisitions of banks this year, continuing a trend of 16...
According to a PayPal and National Cryptocurrency Association survey, 39% of U.S. merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout, and 84% anticipate it becoming commonplace within five years. Customer demand is a primary driver, with 88% of merchants reporting inquiries about...
Jayavardhan Reddy is a Site Reliability and DevOps engineer specializing in modernising large‑scale, transaction‑critical systems for banking and global payments. He has led reliability, automation, and observability initiatives, migrating legacy workloads to containerised platforms and building CI/CD pipelines that boost...
Chase has introduced Chase Protect, its first insurance offering, bundling worldwide travel, mobile phone, and AA breakdown cover for a fixed £12.50 monthly fee. The product is embedded in the Chase mobile app, allowing customers to purchase, manage policies, and...
Payoneer CFO Bea Ordonez says the company is navigating a volatile, stop‑start global trade environment by doubling down on its highly local, globally‑scaled network. The fintech firm, which operates across 7,000 trade routes and holds eight regulatory licenses, is investing...
UK insurers face a softening rate environment in 2026, prompting a shift toward data‑driven decision making. nCino predicts that embedding real‑time intelligence into underwriting and broker workflows will become a key competitive edge. Firms are urged to differentiate on service...
Equiti Group has teamed up with global payments provider Checkout.com to upgrade its Equiti Pay gateway, adding card deposits, pay‑to‑card transfers and digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. The integration promises faster, more reliable cross‑border funding and...
Vault Payment Solutions, a leading Australian card‑payments provider, has selected Thredd as its issuing processor to support expansion into new regions on Mastercard’s global network. The partnership will enable Vault to launch prepaid, debit and private‑label card programmes in Australia...
Cytora and Altitude Intelligence have formed a strategic partnership to embed Altitude’s high‑fidelity geospatial and multi‑source intelligence directly into Cytora’s AI‑driven underwriting platform. The integration enables commercial insurers to enrich submissions with real‑time climate and location insights at the point...
PayPal‑backed UK fintech Modulr announced its first full‑year net profit for 2025, reversing a £11 million pre‑tax loss recorded in 2024. CEO Myles Stephenson said the profitability milestone gives the company control to invest in new products, expand globally and pursue...
Fitch Solutions has partnered with Snowflake to list its credit intelligence and loan‑level performance datasets on the Snowflake Marketplace. The initial offering includes Fitch Ratings data and dv01 benchmarks for U.S. auto, consumer unsecured, and non‑agency RMBS sectors, with more...
Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte told Fox News that there are "very strong odds" of a public stock offering for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this year, though the Trump administration is also weighing other options. The administration’s...
WomenVenture, a Minneapolis‑based Community Development Financial Institution, has provided emergency assistance to 108 small businesses as Minnesota grapples with the federal Operation Metro Surge immigration enforcement. The crackdown has slashed foot traffic, caused labor shortages, and driven sales declines as...
Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer‑2 network, experienced elevated transaction drops and delays over the weekend due to a mis‑configured transaction‑propagation setting that caused block builders to fetch unexecutable transactions as base fees rose. The network remained operational, and Base quickly rolled...
Aurora, a leading algorithmic insurance platform, announced its new Lead Algorithmic Underwriting as a Service. The managed offering lets insurers apply live, governed underwriting algorithms to complex commercial and specialty risks without altering broker trading practices. By automating risk assessment,...
Adverse media checks have become a core component of modern anti‑money‑laundering (AML) frameworks, supplementing transaction monitoring and sanctions screening. They involve scanning publicly available sources—news, legal filings, watchlists—to flag allegations, investigations or high‑risk associations before formal convictions occur. These checks...
The episode breaks down Shopify chargebacks, explaining their causes—fraud, shipping issues, inaccurate listings, and refund disputes—and why they matter financially and reputationally. It walks listeners through Shopify’s built‑in dispute workflow and highlights the platform’s fee‑refund policy when merchants win a...
Financial planning hinges on a web of legal considerations that shape investment, tax, and wealth‑preservation strategies. Planners must navigate regulatory compliance, from IRS guidelines to state‑specific tax rules, while integrating estate‑planning tools such as wills, trusts, and LLCs to protect...
Starling Bank has introduced a Cash ISA that delivers a 2.5% AER and allows unlimited, penalty‑free withdrawals throughout the tax year. The product is available instantly to personal current‑account holders via the Starling app and sits under the Spaces section...
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net $561.8 million inflow on Feb 2, ending a four‑day streak of roughly $1.5 billion in outflows. Analysts argue the inflow likely reflects mechanical ETF creations and delta‑neutral basis trades rather than genuine dip‑buying. Authorized participants can...
Smart Data Group (SDG) is urging the UK’s open‑banking ecosystem to adopt an independent, industry‑led “Future Entity” as the FCA reviews its long‑term regulatory framework. The proposal separates design and mobilisation from governance, promising a lean structure that can deliver...
Generative AI has become central to digital‑banking fraud defenses as AI‑powered scams now account for over half of global fraud incidents. Traditional rule‑based systems struggle with adaptive threats, prompting banks to adopt deep generative models that analyze transaction graphs and...
IG Group has partnered with fintech compliance platform Adclear to embed AI‑driven checks across its UK and Ireland marketing and product content. The technology automatically scans promotions for finprom rule breaches, flagging required edits and accelerating approvals. In the first...
LemFi, the fintech platform for underserved migrants, has secured AUSTRAC approval to operate as an independent remittance dealer in Australia. The clearance enables the company to launch its fast, low‑cost money‑transfer service to a market where outbound remittances reached $38.2 bn...
i‑exceed Technology Solutions announced a strategic collaboration with Broadcom to run its Appzillon Digital Banking Platform on Broadcom's VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). The integration leverages VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service to deliver low‑code, microservices‑based banking applications with enhanced agility, scalability, and...
Lithuanian digital bank myTU has partnered with London‑based Intrepid Fox to embed AI‑driven Know Your Business (KYB) agents into its business‑banking onboarding flow across the EEA. The integration replaces manual document checks with automated verification, ownership analysis and risk assessment,...
In this episode, host Michael Hammond talks with Eloise Schmitz, CEO and Co‑Founder of LoanNEX, about the rapid growth of non‑agency mortgage originations and how pricing certainty is becoming a competitive edge. Schmitz explains that non‑agency volume has doubled year‑over‑year,...
Innovative Systems has appointed Ben Sher as its new chief revenue officer, based in London. Sher brings over 20 years of fintech and enterprise SaaS experience, most recently leading EMEA sales at SimCorp. He will oversee global revenue strategy, including...
Multiverse Computing’s 2019 paper "Quantum Computing for Finance: Overview and Prospects" has now exceeded 1,000 academic citations, placing the firm alongside quantum heavyweights such as IBM and D‑Wave. The work emphasized quantum software for finance rather than hardware, establishing a...
Revolut Business has introduced a full‑suite merchant acquiring platform in Australia, allowing companies to run payments end‑to‑end on a single system. The service offers 24‑hour settlement, including weekends, and supports fund holding in more than 30 currencies. Merchants can use...
Turkish authorities shut down a centrally‑licensed payments platform accused of laundering proceeds from illegal betting and fraudulent forex trading. Police conducted coordinated raids across eight cities, arresting 38 suspects and seizing assets, while appointing a Deposit Insurance Fund administrator to...
Instant, same‑day pay is emerging as a competitive advantage in talent acquisition as workers grow intolerant of traditional payroll delays. The lag between work completion and wage access forces many to rely on high‑APR credit, effectively eroding 20‑30 % of earnings....
"𝟵𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱, 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀." This quote from liquidity expert Michael Howell stopped me in my tracks. I recently sat down with Michael for the New Era Finance podcast...
🇺🇸 CFTC Chair Selig says the market structure bill can make the U.S. the "gold standard" for crypto regulation and could reach Trump’s desk within months. Source: Fox Business https://t.co/a0QxAGWKzX
A PYMNTS Intelligence study shows 66% of U.S. consumers still live paycheck to paycheck, with 42% doing so out of necessity. Income volatility is rising as six‑in‑ten Americans now earn their primary income from hourly wages, gig platforms, or contracts,...
Paymentus CEO Dushyant Sharma argues billing is evolving from a back‑office cost to a loyalty driver. Over the past five years, tech innovations have turned billing and payments into a value‑generating function, enabling hyper‑personalized engagement and reducing service costs. Intelligent...
SME Bank, a digital‑first lender for SMEs in the Baltics, Finland and the Netherlands, has selected Flagright’s AI‑native, no‑code platform to modernise its transaction monitoring, watchlist screening and investigations. The implementation will provide real‑time, risk‑based controls and a unified workspace,...
Dubai’s crypto‑friendly banks are tightening procedures as the Crypto‑Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) rolls out, demanding extensive KYC, source‑of‑funds documentation, and transaction reporting from large crypto holders. The regulatory timeline targets CARF implementation in 2027 with automatic data exchanges beginning in...
Fintech licensing is shifting from a focus on rapid approval to detailed, activity‑based permissions. Institutions now demand clear definitions of what a license covers and independent verification through public registers. Frameworks like the Neves Financial Authority illustrate this move toward...
Financial institutions are moving beyond perimeter‑based defenses by adopting zero‑trust frameworks that continuously validate identities, devices, and services across multi‑cloud environments. The approach combines identity‑first security, micro‑segmentation, and AI‑driven risk analytics to meet stringent regulations such as PCI DSS, DORA, GDPR,...
