TRACE ASI Launches Advanced Market Analysis Platform Powered by Artificial Intelligence
TRACE ASI unveiled an artificial‑intelligence‑powered market analysis platform that processes real‑time data to generate structured insights for investors. The system targets large‑cap, highly liquid equities traded on regulated exchanges, using machine‑learning models to interpret price trends, trading patterns, and sector developments. A redesigned dashboard centralizes analytics, offering a streamlined interface aimed at reducing information asymmetry. The launch aligns with growing demand for data‑driven tools among institutional and retail investors seeking to navigate increasingly complex market environments.
Enhancing Payments Security Training and Intelligence to Combat Emerging Payments Fraud
Payments fraud surged 89% year‑over‑year, propelled by a 3.6‑fold rise in AI‑driven attacks such as deepfakes and impersonation. Criminals are exploiting executives' personal digital lives, using cloned voices and videos to bypass traditional controls. The report from Veriff stresses that...
The Slow Death of Interchange as a Standalone Growth Engine
Interchange fees have long been the backbone of fintech revenue, offering a low‑friction, volume‑driven income stream that scales with every card transaction. Recent filings from Block, PayPal and Shopify reveal a strategic pivot: interchange is now treated as baseline infrastructure...
Stablecoin Volume Is 7% of Advertised $62 T Hype
Stablecoins are a great way to pay, and don't need fake numbers to generate FOMO The real, hype-free, stablecoin volume in 2025 is just $4.2 trillion — only 7% of the $62 trillion headline number once you strip out trading noise,...
Why AI Is Becoming Essential for Financial Services Call Centres
Financial institutions are deploying AI‑powered tools to augment call‑center agents, delivering real‑time information, response suggestions, and automation of routine tasks. This technology addresses the sector’s regulatory complexity and product personalization demands, enabling faster, more accurate, and tailored customer interactions. While...
EU Accelerates Digital Euro as Euro‑Stablecoins Surge to Trillions
The EU is desperate to preserve monetary sovereignty, which is under attack by US stablecoins. That’s why S&P’s analysis is good news for the EU and ECB, which is in damage control mode, speeding digital euro launch. S&P Global...
Open Banking Is Growing in South Africa – but Not for Everyone
South Africa’s open‑banking ecosystem is expanding, driven by a market‑led approach that has enabled fintechs such as Yoco, Lulalend and MTN MoMo to reach new customers. A Reserve Bank working paper warns that this model favours middle‑aged, educated users and leaves...
Discovery Bank Drives Super App Ambition with AI, Integration
Discovery Bank is transforming its mobile platform into a "super app" that merges banking with health, insurance, investment and lifestyle services across the Discovery Group. AI underpins the experience, delivering a virtual financial assistant, real‑time fraud alerts and personalised nudges...
The UK Stablecoin Is Already Here – Scottish Banknotes
The UK government is eager to regulate stablecoins, but Scotland already operates a stable‑coin regime through its own banknotes. Issued by three commercial banks, Scottish notes circulate as legal currency backed by assets, and the Banking Act 2009’s definition allows them...
Zocks Targets Life Insurers with AI Workflow Automation
Zocks, an AI assistant originally built for financial advisors, is extending its workflow automation platform into the life‑insurance sector. The tool captures data during discovery meetings, auto‑generates notes, applications and fact‑finds, and processes PDFs, scans and photos in under a...
Chinese Consumers Can Now Use the Qwen App to Hail Rides and Pay with Alipay AI Pay
Alibaba’s Qwen app now lets Chinese users hail rides and pay through Alipay AI Pay, creating a single‑conversation commerce flow. The integration ties Qwen to ride‑hailing, food delivery and travel services, allowing price comparison, booking and payment without leaving the...
Santander’s Getnet Expands to Colombia, Strengthening Its Latin American Payments Network
Santander’s payments arm Getnet has launched its digital payments platform in Colombia, extending its pan‑Latin American network. The service offers a unified API‑based Single Entry Point that lets merchants connect once and operate across multiple markets, while also providing banking,...
Just Taps Sapiens to Modernise Retirement Operations
UK‑based financial services group Just has chosen Sapiens to power a new end‑to‑end life and pensions platform. The deployment will use Sapiens CoreSuite, DigitalSuite and DataSuite to boost scalability, integration speed and product‑to‑market timelines. The solution targets complex retirement products...
Choosing the Right Financial Products Starts with Behavior, Not Volume
Financial institutions are shifting from adding more products to aligning offerings with customer behavior. Research by FIS shows 47% of consumers want a single platform to manage all financial services, indicating demand for cohesion over variety. Studies of Gen Z and...
53% of Scam Victims Recover Money When They Tell Their Bank
A PYMNTS Intelligence study of 15,110 U.S. consumers finds 19% have fallen victim to a financial scam in the last five years. Nearly two‑thirds of those scams result in payments within 24 hours, highlighting the power of urgency. Victims who...
M-PESA Ethiopia Expands Into Tax Collection with Amhara Region Deal
M-PESA Ethiopia has signed an MoU with the Amhara Regional State Revenue Bureau, enabling the region’s 450,000+ taxpayers to settle taxes through the mobile money platform. The partnership makes Amhara the first Ethiopian region to integrate mobile payments into its...
EU’s EUDI Wallet Offers Decentralized ID to Beat Tinder Fakes
Your ID on the Blockchain Can Fight Tinder Fakes The biggest question remains: who should issue the ID? The technology used can be debated after determining who controls the ID. Should it be a form of state-issued Digital...
Cape Town BNPL Start-Up Happy Pay Raises R86-Million in Seed Funding
Cape Town‑based BNPL startup Happy Pay closed a US$5 million (R86 million) seed round led by Partech, with participation from several local investors. The company, which counts more than 600,000 registered users, operates a merchant‑funded, ad‑subsidised payments network that places instalment options...
Razorpay Partners Sarvam to Power Voice-First Conversational Commerce
Razorpay has teamed up with Sarvam, a sovereign AI platform, to launch voice‑first conversational commerce in India. The collaboration blends Sarvam’s multilingual AI models with Razorpay’s payments infrastructure, enabling users to discover products, place orders and complete payments via natural...
Ghana Card Now Central to Fighting MoMo Fraud
Ghana announced a new policy that will block any Ghana Card linked to multiple mobile‑money (MoMo) fraud cases, effectively cutting offenders off from telecom services and public digital platforms. The move follows a surge in fraud, with the Bank of...
A Great List of Questions for a Bank’s Leadership
Chris Skinner proposes a comprehensive list of cryptocurrency questions that bank leaders should be able to answer. The list spans basics, blockchain technology, security, economics, regulation, use cases, future outlook, and critical thinking. By mastering at least one of these...
Digital Lending Marketplace Finfinity Raises $2.4 Mn in Seed Round
Finfinity, a Mumbai‑based digital lending marketplace, closed a $2.4 million seed round led by Mankind Pharma promoter’s family office, with participation from several angel investors and family offices. The capital will fund technology upgrades, new lender partnerships, distribution scaling, and brand‑building...
Money Isn’t Free. Here’s What to Know Before Downloading a Cashback App
Cashback apps promise shoppers a rebate on purchases, but the model relies on commissions from retailers and extensive data collection. ShopBack, the market leader with over 55 million users, was recently valued at A$1.4 billion, while banks such as Westpac and...
Cathay Pacific Expands Global Partnership with Adyen
Adyen announced the expansion of its direct acquiring solution for Cathay Pacific across six strategic markets—Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan and India. The partnership, which began in 2014, now serves as a core element of the airline’s...
Analysts Forecast FinTech Double-Ups, but Details Remain Unclear
Analysts have highlighted a handful of fintech and broader financial equities that could double their market value over the next five years, but the sources provide no concrete figures or company names. The lack of detail leaves investors seeking further...
Singapore: Simplifying AI Risk Management for Financial Services
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has finished phase two of Project MindForge, releasing an AI Risk Management Toolkit for the financial sector. The toolkit features an Operationalisation Handbook and real‑world case studies, guiding banks, insurers and fintech firms through governance,...
US Sanctions Expose Risk of Single‑government Payment Systems
Trump sanctioned French judge Guillou over the Netanyahu arrest warrant → Visa and Mastercard had to cut him off because they're American companies bound by US law. A European judge, debanked in Europe, by US sanctions. Maybe we actually need payment alternatives...
![[Refunds] Bilt 2.0 Charging 0.2% Foreign Transaction Fee, Despite Advertising No Fee](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://www.doctorofcredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/bilt-deal.png)
[Refunds] Bilt 2.0 Charging 0.2% Foreign Transaction Fee, Despite Advertising No Fee
Bilt’s Cardless (Bilt 2.0) credit product, marketed with zero foreign transaction fees, is now applying a 0.2% fee on Mastercard‑processed purchases. The charge stems from Mastercard’s network surcharge, which most issuers absorb but Bilt appears to be passing on. The company...
MercadoLibre, dLocal and Nu Holdings Accelerate Growth Across Latin America
MercadoLibre, dLocal and Nu Holdings each announced rapid growth in the latest reporting period, underscoring the accelerating expansion of fintech in Latin America. While precise metrics were not disclosed, the firms cite double‑digit gains in transaction volume and user adoption,...
Tokenized Money Threatens Traditional Banking by 2030
🔺 The $2 Trillion Shift: Is Tokenized Money About to Kill Traditional Banking? 💸 By 2030, tokenized money could be a $2T market. But while the tech is moving fast, the global financial map is becoming a "fragmented mess" of rules. 💬...
Mastercard Sets Out Five Core Principles to Defend Its Position in Europe’s Payments Sovereignty Debate
Mastercard has outlined five core principles to defend its role in Europe’s payments‑sovereignty debate, emphasizing stability, standards, security, seamlessness and success. The company highlighted processing €3 trillion in cardholder activity last year and announced a €250 million investment in new French data...
Performant Isn't a Word
A forum post titled “Performant isn’t a word” critiques the branding language used by Performant Healthcare, a U.S. provider of payment‑integrity solutions. The author highlights that the term “performant” is uncommon and may confuse stakeholders. The post also links to...
Tokenization Poised for $500M Savings, Banks Lag
Tokenization at a Turning Point in 2026: NASDAQ Eyes $500M Collateral Savings, IBM Urges Banks to Act – But Interoperability Stalls Topics: ↳ IBM: Tokenization at a Turning Point Banks Can’t Afford to Miss in 2026 (But Most Likely Won’t Act) ↳...
Client Demand Forces Wealth Managers to Embrace Bitcoin
Morgan Stanley giving 15,000 advisors access to Bitcoin in their own Trust wrapper is the ultimate validator Not because they believe Because their clients demanded it And when wealth management follows client demand, the market has already spoken
'Buy Now, Pay Later' Traps More Young Malaysians in Debt Cycle
Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) services are rapidly expanding in Malaysia, with users jumping from 2.6 million in 2023 to 7.5 million in 2024. Young consumers, especially those under 30, account for roughly 40 % of BNPL transactions and many allocate over 60 % of their monthly...
Agentic Finance Offers Sovereign Superpowers, Not Just Automation
The roboadvisor thesis was democratization through automation The agentic finance thesis is sovereignty through intelligence Both remove friction. Only one gives you superpowers.
Hard‑coded Oracles Fail as Lending Conditions Constantly Evolve
In overall the hard coded oracle problem applies to all immutable parameters. Market conditions or asset conditions tend to change and nothing is really purely "static" in lending.
Wall Street Insiders Boost Stakes in Alkami Technology Amid Share Decline
Alkami Technology saw several Wall Street insiders buy additional shares, even as the company's stock slipped in recent weeks. The filings did not disclose the exact number of shares or purchase price, but the moves suggest belief in the fintech's...
Can SoFi Shares Thrive Through Maturity?
SoFi Technologies has evolved from a student‑loan refi platform into a full‑stack digital‑banking supermarket, now offering checking, savings, loans, mortgages, credit cards, trading and a proprietary stablecoin. The company posted $3.61 billion in 2025 revenue, a 35% YoY increase, with deposits...
Axis Bank Ties Up with Tesla to Offer Tailored EV Financing Solutions in India
Axis Bank has entered a strategic partnership with Tesla to become the automaker’s preferred financier in India. The collaboration offers fully digital auto‑loan products with ten‑year tenures and flexible repayment structures, aiming to simplify the purchase journey for premium electric‑vehicle...
The Finanser’s Week: 16th March – 22nd March 2026
The Finanser’s weekly roundup spotlights accelerating fintech trends, from AI‑driven digital identity tools that turn asset management into a voice‑assistant experience to the rapid rise of challenger banks in the UK. Bain & Co forecast challenger banks will own roughly...
Upvest Secures $125M to Upgrade European Banking Infrastructure
Upvest Raises US$125 Million to Modernise European Banking Infrastructure - Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News - FintechNewsCH https://t.co/OLsvn5pOuF https://t.co/WwYH1vY8PH
How Merchant Financing Helps Entrepreneurs Access Capital
Merchant financing, also called merchant cash advances, lets ecommerce and retail businesses obtain capital by selling a portion of future card sales. Lenders use factor rates, often resulting in effective APRs around 30%, considerably higher than typical 7‑8% term loans....
HSBC Asks Victim of Credit Card Theft to Pay HK$126,580 Racked up by Criminals
HSBC has demanded that a Hong Kong mother repay more than HK$126,000 in charges incurred after thieves used her stolen credit card. The card was taken on November 15 and the victim reported the loss the following day, but the...
Crypto.com and Gemini Slash Staff, Cite AI Integration as Reason
Crypto.com announced a 12% workforce reduction (about 180 jobs) and Gemini confirmed that cuts have risen to 30% of its staff since the start of the year. Both firms attribute the downsizing to enterprise‑wide AI upgrades, sparking debate over whether...
The Professional Ballerina and CEO Wonder Woman, Who Will Revolutionize Finance.
Ostium, founded by former ballerina‑turned‑CEO Kaledora Fontana Kiernan‑Linn, offers a blockchain‑based app that lets users trade stocks, commodities, currencies and crypto from a single digital wallet. The platform reports $29 million in revenue, 25 000 users and $45 billion in cumulative trading volume....
Brazil's Finance Minister Shelves Crypto Tax Policy Due to Election: Report
Brazil’s finance minister Dario Durigan has postponed the planned crypto‑tax consultation until after the October 2026 presidential election, pushing any formal rule‑making to 2027. The delay follows Brazil’s June 2025 shift to a 17.5% flat tax on cryptocurrency capital gains,...
Crypto Firm Rhino.fi Targets Stablecoin Spreads with 1:1 Conversion Product
Rhino.fi has introduced a “Stablecoin 1:1” product that guarantees a fixed one‑to‑one conversion rate for USD‑pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC across more than 25 blockchain networks. The service eliminates hidden spreads and routing inefficiencies, offering transparent fees for neobanks...
Figure Launches Figure Forge to Transform Illiquid Loans Into Tradable DeFi Collateral
Figure (NASDAQ: FIGR) launched Figure Forge, a service that converts blockchain‑native loans and other real‑world assets into uniform, infinitely divisible participation tokens. The tokens are immediately tradable on Figure’s Democratized Prime DeFi marketplace, supported by a self‑funded limit order book...
Kenya Seeks Public Comment on Draft Rules for Crypto Firms
Kenya has launched a public consultation on its draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations for 2026, aiming to operationalise the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act of 2025. The proposals require crypto firms to obtain licences, disclose ownership, meet capital and...