What Visa and Mastercard’s New Fraud Mandates Mean for Your Fintech Team
Visa’s new Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) consolidates fraud and chargeback monitoring for card‑not‑present (CNP) transactions, replacing separate reporting streams. Mastercard is simultaneously pushing broader adoption of 3DS2 authentication and its Compelling Evidence 3.0 dispute‑documentation framework. Both initiatives, effective from April 2025, aim to curb rising CNP fraud by tightening data collection and verification standards. Fintechs must adjust their payment stacks, risk models, and compliance processes to meet the unified requirements.
Hawk Launches Agentic AI Tool to Overhaul Costly AML Investigations
Hawk has launched the AML Investigative Agent, an agentic AI platform that automates the most labor‑intensive steps of anti‑money‑laundering investigations. The solution overlays existing case‑management systems, offering deep AML typology expertise, extensive data coverage, and regulator‑grade explainability. Built with human‑in‑the‑loop...
The Hidden Costs of Manual B2B Payments—And How to Avoid Them
Mid‑size companies that still rely on paper checks, manual reconciliation and siloed workflows are paying up to $24 per invoice, which can exceed $1 million a year in processing overhead. Labor accounts for 60‑75% of these costs, and the lack of...
Low Customer Trust Is Quietly Undermining Utility Digital Payment Programs
Utilities have long offered online bill payment, yet consumer adoption lags due to trust deficits. Surveys show 80% distrust outdated interfaces and over half abandon unclear transactions, pushing customers back to costly manual channels. Unbranded email reminders and hidden security...
How Order.co Is Modernizing Procurement and Spend Management at Scale
Order.co, a procurement platform for distributed teams, tackled two scaling hurdles: enforcing spend controls and automating high‑volume payments. By integrating Lithic’s payment infrastructure and Mastercard network, Order.co now issues single‑use and multi‑use virtual cards at scale while applying granular, real‑time...
Gig Workers Want Real-Time Pay for Real-Time Work
The gig economy is forcing platforms to provide real‑time payouts as workers need immediate cash to cover on‑the‑spot costs such as fuel and vehicle maintenance. Galileo’s product leader Ankush Singhal explains that delayed payments can halt a worker’s ability to...
42% of CFOs Express Interest in Stablecoins as Payments Use Cases Grow
A new PYMNTS Intelligence study shows 42% of middle‑market CFOs have discussed, tested or used stablecoins, compared with 30% for cryptocurrencies, while only 13% report actual stablecoin usage. The data highlights that stablecoins are being viewed primarily as a payments...
Royal Bank of Canada Makes Travel the New Test for Card Loyalty
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is redefining card loyalty by moving beyond point‑based rewards toward a travel‑centric, data‑driven experience. Executive Vice President Vinita Savani says rewards are now table stakes, and banks must embed loyalty into everyday customer journeys. RBC’s...
Fast Billing Boosts Revenue and Customer Satisfaction
In my experience, billing speed directly impacts customer satisfaction and daily revenue. With Affino Retail, I ensure every transaction is fast, accurate, and hassle-free. It helps serve more customers, reduce errors, and keep operations smooth with complete real-time control. #AffinoRetail #BillingSoftware #RetailBilling...
Adyen Boosts Model Training 195× with NVIDIA
@Adyen — 195x speedup in model training with NVIDIA accelerated computing. Real-time routing & conversion optimisation at $1T+ in payment volume. https://t.co/HxmnbS6Y8V
MTN Completes MoMo Separation in Ghana
MTN Ghana finalized the spin‑off of its mobile‑money platform on 31 March 2026, merging MobileMoney Ltd with the newly formed MobileMoney Fintech Ltd. The restructuring satisfies Ghana’s Payment Systems and Services Act, which mandates financial services be housed in separate entities. The...
Simple KYC Rules Can Shift Fraud Burden to Platforms
We may not be able to force social media companies to pay their share for the fraud that they facilitate, but a few simple rules around KYC can help to tilt the scales back in our favour: https://t.co/35VgzwI9OI https://t.co/BNQRr49aHQ
Coinbase Integrates Chainlink Data
Coinbase announced that it will publish its premium exchange data on‑chain through Chainlink’s DataLink service. The integration makes billions of dollars of institutional trading information available via Chainlink’s oracle standard for the first time. By leveraging Chainlink’s battle‑tested infrastructure, developers...
Stocktwits to Offer CME Futures Data
Stocktwits announced integration of CME Group futures data, giving its 10 million users access to interactive charts, streaming prices, and dedicated cashtag pages for the full suite of CME‑regulated contracts across equities, FX, crypto, energy, agriculture, metals, and rates. The rollout...
UK Fintech Wise Expands Into Everyday Banking with Current Account Offering
Wise, the cross‑border payments fintech, has entered the UK retail banking market with a new Current Account that offers a variable 3.26% interest on GBP balances. The product is available to its more than three million UK users and combines...
Rwanda Swats Bybit’s P2P Platform Offering Franc-to-Crypto Trading
Rwanda’s central bank publicly warned that crypto payments and peer‑to‑peer trades using the Rwandan franc (FRW) are illegal after Bybit announced FRW support on its P2P platform. The bank emphasized that only the FRW is legal tender and that licensed...
Aeon Credit Seen Stronger Q4 FY26 on Lower Credit Costs, Says Affin Hwang
Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd is forecast to post a 37% quarter‑on‑quarter earnings jump in Q4 FY26, driven by lower credit costs and reduced provisions. Affin Hwang lifted its earnings estimate by 4%, targeting RM128 million (≈$28 million) PAT for the quarter,...
California Bans Government Officials From Using Insider Knowledge To Bet On Prediction Markets
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that immediately bars state officials from using non‑public government information to profit on prediction‑market bets. The move follows allegations that insiders earned roughly $1.2 million on a pre‑strike bet against Iran, nearly $1 million...
UK Ransomware Ban Threatens FinTech Firms Amid 88% Cybercrime Surge
Britain’s pending ransomware‑payment ban arrives as cybercrime incidents have surged 88% to 1.46 million, outpacing police staffing growth of 31%. The clash between tighter rules and limited enforcement threatens fintech firms that process payments and manage compliance.
How a Maryland Nonprofit Streamlined Manual Payment Processes with Dynamics 365 Business Central and PayTrace
Blind Industries & Services of Maryland (BISM), a nonprofit serving blind and visually impaired workers, replaced its fragmented legacy systems with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and PayTrace’s Trace AR integration. The new ERP unified accounting, e‑commerce, and point‑of‑sale data,...
PredictionCircle Brings Prediction Market Intelligence to General Audiences
PredictionCircle launched a free platform that aggregates live data from four major prediction‑market sites and translates raw probabilities into plain‑English intelligence. The service adds a proprietary "Crowd vs. Money" signal, showing how many participants back an outcome versus the capital...
NeSL Enabling Real-Time Access to Digital Debt & Claims Data in Insolvency Cases
National E‑Governance Services Ltd (NeSL) is now providing real‑time digital records of default (RoDs) to adjudicating authorities for insolvency cases. The 2026 IBC amendment designates RoDs as sufficient evidence, turning NeSL into a mandated gateway for all insolvency proceedings. More...
Middle East War May Push Back Maya IPO
The digital‑banking arm of PLDT, Maya, may see its IPO postponed as the ongoing Middle East war fuels market uncertainty, according to chair Manuel Pangilinan. While the Philippine Stock Exchange still targets a third‑quarter debut, rising oil prices and regional...
Fiserv (FISV) and Western Alliance Bank Announce Strategic Agent Bank Partnership
On March 17, Fiserv Inc. announced a strategic agent‑bank partnership with Western Alliance Bank, integrating the Clover point‑of‑sale ecosystem into the bank’s offerings. The deal, the largest Fiserv partnership by asset size, enables Western Alliance to deliver modern, secure payment...
Fiserv (FISV) and Western Alliance Bank Announce Strategic Agent Bank Partnership
On March 17, Fiserv Inc. and Western Alliance Bank unveiled a strategic agent‑bank partnership that will embed Fiserv’s Clover point‑of‑sale ecosystem into the bank’s service suite. The deal, the largest of its kind for Fiserv by asset size, targets merchants...
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5 Companies Owned by Block
Block, formerly Square, now runs two massive fintech ecosystems—Square for merchants and Cash App for consumers—serving over 4.5 million sellers and handling $250 billion in sales while Cash App recorded $316 billion in inflows in 2024. The company has pursued a series of...
Payward Elevates Insider Robert Moore to CFO Amid Crypto Platform Expansion
Payward announced that Robert Moore, a four‑year veteran of the firm, will serve as chief financial officer. Moore brings 15 years of experience at Betterment, Workframe and Credit Suisse and led the recent NinjaTrader acquisition. The move signals Payward’s preference...
Sezzle’s BNPL Model Fuels Quiet Market‑Share Gains as Stock Remains Low
Sezzle reported a 32.2% year‑over‑year revenue jump in the fourth quarter and is expanding into mobile services and a bank charter, helping it capture more BNPL market share while its stock stays 65% below its all‑time high. The growth comes...
Wall Street Launches 24/7 Tokenized Trading for Trillions
Wall Street Braces for 24/7 Trading via Tokenization DTCC intends to tokenize entire $100 trillion asset catalog, beginning with U.S. Treasuries later this year. NYSE Digital Trading Platform (announced Jan 2026): 24/7 onchain trading + settlement of U.S. equities/ETFs, instant settlement,...
Bitcoin’s "iPhone Moment" Is Here W/ Strive Chief Officers | BFC Show Ep. 32
In this episode, Strive’s chief officers—Matt Cole, Jeff Walton, and Ben Workman—discuss how the company is pioneering Bitcoin‑backed treasury strategies and digital credit products to address the U.S. retirement crisis. They explain their model of treating Bitcoin as a perpetual...
Lebanon Leverages Digital Wallets to Aid Over One Million Displaced Amid Banking Collapse
With banks frozen and withdrawals limited, Lebanon is routing humanitarian assistance through digital wallets, reaching over a million displaced people. Platforms such as Whish Money have processed millions of dollars in peer‑to‑peer transfers, while grassroots campaigns raise tens of thousands...
Asia Leads Digital Wallets; Stablecoins Diversify Beyond USD
What Asia Knew First: Digital Wallets Now Lead Global Payments 👉Topics: ➢ What Asia Knew First: Digital Wallets Now Lead Global Payments Digital wallets are taking over payments, and the days when cards were king are behind us. Asia remains a decade...
AI Ready to Replace 500‑Year‑Old Finance System
Every company still runs its finances on a system from 1494 — when the fastest way to move information was a man on a horse. Wrote why I think AI and real financial networks are finally ready to replace it. Long read,...
Ant Group’s Blockchain Arm Unveils Platform for AI Agents to Transact on Crypto Rails
Ant Digital Technologies, the blockchain arm of Ant Group, unveiled Anvita – a platform that lets autonomous AI agents tokenise real‑world assets and settle payments in real time using USDC stablecoins. The offering comprises Anvita TaaS for asset tokenisation and...
How Agentic AI Is Reshaping Banking in South Africa
Agentic AI is moving from hype to operational reality in South Africa’s banking sector, with 79% of senior executives worldwide already deploying AI agents, according to PwC. Absa’s partnership with Salesforce introduced the Agentforce platform, testing three autonomous agents that...
BNPL Fintech Klarna Commits to $1.7B Transaction Supporting Up to $40B+ of Lending,
Klarna announced two major funding moves to boost its capital efficiency. A $2 billion forward‑flow facility with Elliott Investment Management will support up to $17 billion in U.S. loan originations over the next three years. On April 1, the fintech completed its largest...
Robinhood Warns that Overtrading Erodes Returns, Citing an 8.5% Performance Gap
Robinhood released a guide warning that frequent trading—often mistaken for disciplined management—drains investor returns. Data from DALBAR, Zacks and Morningstar show an 8.48% annual shortfall versus the S&P 500 and a 15% forfeiture of mutual‑fund gains, underscoring the cost of...
JustPaid Deploys Seven OpenClaw AI Agents, Claims Ten Features in One Month
JustPaid, a Silicon Valley fintech startup, says its seven autonomous OpenClaw AI agents built ten major product features in a single month. The claim has CTOs weighing the promise of scale against the risk of displacing engineers and exposing security...
Better.com and OpenAI Unveil ChatGPT App That Cuts Mortgage Underwriting to 47 Seconds
Better.com has partnered with OpenAI to launch a ChatGPT‑powered underwriting engine that reduces the typical 21‑day mortgage approval timeline to as little as 47 seconds. The tool, aimed at loan officers and brokers, combines Better’s mortgage engine with OpenAI’s large‑language...
Russia's VPN Blockade Triggers Nationwide Banking Collapse
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Russia's Friday effort to block VPNs overloaded the country's traffic filters and knocked out banking apps, leaving cash as the only payment method for hours. The incident highlights how aggressive internet controls can destabilize critical...
AtlantisChain Hits 800 Million Blocks, Claims 3.6 Million TPS Record
AtlantisChain announced that its Layer‑0 public blockchain crossed 800 million blocks on April 4, 2026, while maintaining a claimed 3.6 million transactions per second and a 0.031‑second block time. The achievement positions the network as the fastest public ledger, a development that could...
Deepcoin Teams with Polymarket to Launch Event Contract Prediction Market
Deepcoin announced a strategic partnership with Polymarket to roll out an "Event Contract" feature, making it the first centralized exchange to integrate the world’s largest prediction market. The product offers one‑click access to Polymarket’s liquidity while preserving the fast execution...
Digital Payments Provider Checkout.com Focuses on APAC Region, Enters New Partnerships to Enhance Operations
Checkout.com reported a 71% year‑over‑year rise in APAC payment volume, marking its third consecutive year of over 50% net‑revenue growth in the region. The fintech firm returned to full‑year EBITDA profitability and saw worldwide net revenue climb 30%, processing more...
With One Million Displaced, Lebanon Turns to Digital Wallets for Aid
More than one million Lebanese have been displaced by recent Israeli attacks, prompting a rapid shift toward digital wallets for humanitarian aid. With banks frozen and traditional channels strained, diaspora donors are sending funds instantly through fintech platforms such as...
Deep Dive: The Machine Payments Protocol
On March 18, 2026 the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP) launched alongside the Tempo mainnet, marking a shift from human‑centric checkout to automated, machine‑driven transactions. Co‑authored by Stripe and Tempo Labs, MPP revives the HTTP 402 “Payment Required” status as a standardized,...
Switzerland Secures Constitutional Right to Cash
Is physical money disappearing? Not if the Swiss have anything to say about it. Full video here: 👉 https://t.co/IAUzYbgXsT ➟ Connect on my LinkedIn (208,000 Followers): https://t.co/gizvhtU0kS 💬 In this video, we break down why Switzerland—one of the most technologically advanced financial hubs—just...
Agentic Commerce Fails; Invisible, Agent‑native Payments Win
Agentic commerce is dead. Despite ALL the hype from payments companies, agentic commerce isn't happening. Walmart saw a 66% drop in conversion when adding agentic commerce. We shouldn't embed checkouts in chatbots. We should make payments invisible and agent-native.
LendingClub: A Digital Bank Growing Again Like a Fintech
LendingClub reported a robust 2025 performance, with total net revenue climbing 27% to $999 million and net income more than doubling to $136 million. Fee‑based loan originations jumped 33% and Q4 originations reached $2.6 billion, while the bank side’s net interest margin expanded...
Iran Mandates Crypto Tolls for Ships in Strait of Hormuz
JUST IN: Iran is now requiring cryptocurrency payments as tolls for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Agentic Commerce Flops as ChatGPT Checkout Underperforms
Walmart's checkout inside ChatGPT converted 66% worse than their website. OpenAI just removed its Instant Checkout. Agentic commerce is failing. But maybe we've been thinking about it all wrong. 🧵 https://t.co/RXEaiA9wGK