Longford County Council Launches MyCoCo Online Payments Platform for Housing Rents
Longford County Council has launched MyCoCo, a secure online payments platform that lets local authority housing tenants pay rent digitally. The service joins existing options such as standing orders, telephone payments and cash‑desk transactions, giving tenants flexibility to pay anytime, anywhere. Developed jointly by Housing, Finance and Information Systems teams, MyCoCo incorporates strong governance and data‑protection safeguards. Council leaders say the rollout is a key step in broader digitisation, with plans to extend the platform to ratepayers and other customers.
New VantageScore RiskRatio™ Digital Release Enables Mortgage Lenders, Auto Lenders and ABS Investors to Strengthen Consumer Credit Risk Benchmarking
VantageScore unveiled a digital upgrade to its RiskRatio™ analytics platform, targeting mortgage lenders, auto financiers and asset‑backed securities (ABS) investors. The new suite, which also includes CreditGauge™ and Inclusion360®, delivers interactive, open‑access credit insights across models, industries and consumer lifecycle...
Fintech Startups Globally Raise More Money In Far Fewer Deals In Q1 2026
Global venture capital poured $12 billion into fintech startups in Q1 2026, but the number of deals fell 31.5% to 751, indicating larger checks per transaction. Late‑stage and growth rounds surged to $6.9 billion, an 8% year‑over‑year rise, even as total funding slipped...
Tune Protect Malaysia Selects Akur8 to Enhance P&C Pricing
Tune Protect Malaysia, the general insurance arm of Tune Protect Group, has partnered with Akur8 to deploy its AI‑driven actuarial pricing platform across its property‑and‑casualty portfolio. The solution leverages machine‑learning models to accelerate model development, provide transparent, explainable outputs, and...
How Trump-Linked WLFI Set up a Lending Model Where Lenders Pay the Price of Failure
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) launched WLFI Markets as a branded interface that routes all lending, borrowing and liquidation functions to Dolomite’s underlying smart‑contract protocol. The model lets WLFI earn integration and marketing fees while the Trump‑linked venture claims up to...
Revolut Secures Key Regulatory Approval in Peru, Moving to Formally Incorporate as a Bank
Revolut, the fintech with over 70 million users, has secured an Organisation Authorisation from Peru’s Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP. The licence permits the company to formally incorporate as a bank and move toward a mandatory supervisory inspection for a...
HSBC and Standard Chartered-Led Group Land Hong Kong’s First Stablecoin Licenses
Hong Kong’s monetary authority granted its first two stablecoin issuer licences to HSBC and Anchorpoint Financial, a Standard Chartered‑led joint venture. The licences are the inaugural approvals under the Stablecoins Ordinance that took effect in August 2025, following an assessment...
Embedded Finance vs Banking as a Service in 2026: Key Differences Explained
Embedded finance embeds payments, lending and banking features directly within the software platforms businesses already use, while Banking as a Service (BaaS) provides the API‑driven infrastructure that connects those features to regulated banks. The article explains that the former is...
Digital Bank Revolut Introduces AI Tools to Streamline Money Management
Revolut has rolled out an AI-powered assistant called AI by Revolut (AIR) to UK customers, embedding spending insights, portfolio checks, subscription control and travel budgeting into its app. The feature, launched on April 9, 2026, uses natural‑language conversation to act as a...
Automating Financial Operations for Faster, Safer Financial Reporting
South African firms are adopting MoData’s integrated Record‑to‑Report suite—Accurate, Adra and Cadency—to automate reconciliation and accelerate the financial close. The automation cuts manual reconciliations by up to 90% and reduces month‑end close time from 10‑11 days to 5‑7 days. The...
Tornado Cash Dev Roman Storm’s Case Raises Technical and Ethical Questions
Roman Storm, a developer of the Tornado Cash privacy mixer, returned to a New York federal courtroom on April 9, 2026 to argue that his prior unlawful‑money‑transmitting conviction should be set aside. The judge, Katherine Polk Failla, focused on whether...
Designing for Complexity: Lessons From Building a Digital Wallet Integration
The integration of digital wallets like Apple Pay forced banks to abandon traditional, siloed software projects and adopt an ecosystem‑first approach. By 2025 Apple Pay alone handled roughly $9‑9.5 trillion in transactions for over 800 million users, illustrating the massive scale and...
How to Set Up Payment Links to Receive Customer Payments Quickly
Payment links turn traditional invoices into a single, clickable URL that lets customers pay instantly with their preferred method. The technology streamlines collection, provides real‑time confirmation, and feeds every transaction into a centralized dashboard for easy tracking and reconciliation. AvadaPay,...
Ethio Telecom Launches RFID ‘Non-Stop’ Expressway Toll System via Telebirr
Ethio telecom, together with the Ethiopian Toll Roads Enterprise, has rolled out an RFID‑based toll collection system on the Addis Ababa‑Adama Expressway that integrates directly with the telebirr mobile‑payment platform. The solution allows vehicles to pass toll gates without stopping, automatically...
Chinese Payment Apps Raise Questions in Japan
Japanese lawmakers and the Financial Services Agency have raised alarms that Chinese mobile‑payment platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay can settle transactions outside Japan’s banking system. They fear the practice could hide revenue from tax authorities and create avenues...
Fiserv Helps Major U.S. Grocery Retailer Expand Card-Free Checkout Experience
Ahold Delhaize USA is extending its Pay by Bank card‑free checkout pilot to include Giant Food and Stop & Shop shoppers, adding new digital channels such as mobile apps and in‑store kiosks. The expansion is powered by fintech infrastructure provider...
Cosmos Ecosystem Focused Leap Wallet to Shut Down Operations
Leap Wallet, the Cosmos ecosystem’s flagship multi‑chain wallet, announced it will shut down on May 28, 2026, giving users roughly two months to move assets. Launched in 2022, the non‑custodial solution supported over 100 blockchains and offered staking, swaps, and...
XTransfer Reinforces Commitment to Africa’s SME Trade
XTransfer, the leading B2B cross‑border payment platform, highlighted its African SME focus by participating in Rwanda’s Inclusive FinTech Forum and Johannesburg’s Solar & Storage Live Africa 2026. The company leverages its partnership with Flutterwave to offer local‑currency payment solutions for...
Almost Half of the World’s Banks Aren’t Ready for ISO20022
RedCompass Labs reports that 44% of banks worldwide are off schedule for the ISO 20022 structured‑address migration deadline in November 2026. The lag is especially pronounced among large institutions, with one in five banks holding assets over $250 billion calling the deadline unrealistic....
RBI Proposes 1-Hour Delay for UPI, IMPS Transfers Above Rs 10,000
The Reserve Bank of India has floated a discussion paper proposing a mandatory one‑hour cooling period for person‑to‑person UPI and IMPS transfers exceeding ₹10,000 (about $120). The delay targets high‑value P2P payments while merchant transactions remain instant, and a whitelisting...
Abound and NEAR AI Partner to Launch ‘Financial Autopilot’ for Non-Resident Indians
Abound, the Times of India‑backed super‑app for Indians abroad, announced a partnership with NEAR AI to launch an AI‑powered “Financial Autopilot.” The service will move beyond recommendations, automatically executing remittances, managing NRE/NRO accounts, paying bills and providing a real‑time net‑worth...
Cash Flow Underwriting Expands Economic Opportunity by Looking at Behavior in the Present, Not the Past
Cash flow underwriting replaces reliance on historical credit data with real‑time analysis of transactional accounts. By monitoring spending patterns, income streams, and debt management, lenders gain a dynamic view of a borrower’s current financial health. The approach complements traditional credit...
From Bingo to Melbourne Flower Show: Humanitix Uses Ticket Fees as ‘Engine for Good’
Humanitix, the Australian ticketing social enterprise, has scaled from charity bingo nights to handling 120,000 tickets for the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. Its revenue surged to $14 million in 2024, a more than three‑fold increase since 2021, while it...
Agentic Payments In B2C Commerce: Where We Are Now
Agentic commerce remains in its infancy, with US consumer adoption of AI‑driven checkout staying under 5% and showing little momentum. The protocol arena is split between Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol and OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol, while Alibaba’s Alipay and the...
How High-Growth Companies Avoid Payment Processing Bottlenecks
High‑growth companies risk revenue loss when payment infrastructure lags behind sales momentum. Slow merchant onboarding, high decline rates, and rigid risk underwriting can stall go‑to‑market timelines and trigger account freezes lasting up to 180 days. Advanced gateways that offer smart...
Polygon, Frax and Curve Launch Onchain Forex Liquidity Pools
Polygon Labs, Frax, Curve Finance and DFB Network have deployed on‑chain foreign‑exchange liquidity pools on Polygon, using Frax’s Treasury‑backed frxUSD as the dollar anchor. The pools pair frxUSD with stablecoins pegged to the Brazilian real, Indonesian rupiah, British pound, Australian...
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Draws Coverage From “Inside the CFPB”: A First for Our Platform
The Consumer Finance Monitor podcast earned its first dedicated coverage from the industry publication Inside the CFPB, highlighting an April 2 episode on buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) regulation. The article quoted Max Dubin of the New York State Department of Financial Services,...
Experian Express Gives Small Lenders a Self-Service Onboarding Platform
Experian launched Experian Express, a self‑service platform that lets credit unions, community banks and other small lenders digitally credential, onboard and pull credit reports without complex integration. The solution taps Experian’s database of more than 245 million U.S. credit‑active consumers and...
LoanDepot Taps Figure to Launch 5-Minute Loan Product
LoanDepot announced a partnership with Figure Technology Solutions to launch the 5x5 HomeLoan, a digital mortgage product that can approve borrowers in as little as five minutes and fund loans within five to seven days. The offering integrates Figure’s credit‑underwriting...
CertifID Pulls In $47.5M Series C Financing
CertifID announced a $47.5 million Series C financing round led by Centana Growth Partners and the hiring of Josh Linn as chief product officer and Liz Conn as chief marketing officer. The funding bolsters the company’s ability to enhance its wire‑fraud protection...
Research Shows South African Travelers Book More When They Can Pay Their Flexible Way
New research by Peach Payments and PayJustNow, commissioned by Phocuswright, finds that South African travelers are significantly more likely to complete a booking when flexible payment methods such as buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL), digital wallets, or mobile‑money solutions are available. The study...
U.S. Federal Reserve Considers Taking FedNow Global
The Federal Reserve is evaluating a rule change that would let FedNow participants send funds to foreign correspondent banks, effectively extending the real‑time payments network beyond U.S. borders. FedNow has already attracted more than 1,600 financial institutions, but its use...
Bank of America’s CashPro App Records $1.2T in Payments & 20% Usage Growth, as AI and Mobile Transform BofA Treasury...
Bank of America’s CashPro platform processed roughly $1.2 trillion in corporate payments over the past year, marking a significant scale for the bank’s treasury services. Transaction volume grew 20% year‑over‑year as AI‑driven features such as automated cash forecasting and fraud detection...
EU Publishes Implementing Act for Remote EUDI Wallet Onboarding
On Tuesday, the European Commission released an Implementing Act that sets reference standards for remote onboarding of European Digital Identity (EUDI) wallets. The act mandates a high assurance level, combining electronic identification with additional procedures, and aligns with ETSI TS 119 461...
People Google You Before They Buy — Are You Ready?
Fintech buyers in 2026 treat legitimacy verification as a separate funnel stage, researching a company’s regulatory status, security protocols, and pricing before evaluating product features. Rising fraud anxiety, AI‑driven research, and stricter regulations such as EU DORA and MiCA force...
CEO Interview: Skyfire
Skyfire’s CEO Amir Sarhangi describes the company as operating at the crossroads of digital identity, agent trust, and payments, coining the term "agentic commerce market" for the infrastructure that lets AI agents act as trusted economic actors online. He argues...
OnePay Expands Into HR With Workday Financial Wellness Deal
Walmart‑backed OnePay has partnered with Workday to embed its banking, investing and credit‑building tools within the Workday Wellness suite. The collaboration introduces Enhanced Direct Deposit Switching (EDDS), allowing employees to set up or move direct deposits to OnePay accounts directly...
What Is a Merchant Cash Advance? A Must-Read for UK Entrepreneurs
A merchant cash advance (MCA) is an alternative financing product that provides UK businesses with a lump‑sum cash injection, repaid as a fixed percentage of future card sales. Unlike traditional bank loans, MCAs require no collateral, do not affect credit...
Kalshi Says Its Edge Comes From Retail Traders but the Picture Is More Complex
Kalshi’s founders argue that its predictive edge stems from a broad base of retail traders rather than Wall Street professionals. An internal review of the platform’s top 1,000 users shows few with elite academic credentials or prior market experience, while...
Treasury Teams Shift to Mobile Platforms to Manage Real-Time Cash
Treasury departments are abandoning desktop‑only tools in favor of mobile platforms that enable real‑time cash management. Bank of America reported its CashPro app now approves an average of $38,000 in payments every second, with usage up 20% year‑over‑year. The shift...
RBI Proposes New Measures to Combat Rising Digital Payment Frauds
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled a discussion paper proposing several safeguards to curb the surge in digital payment frauds. Key measures include a one‑hour delay on account‑to‑account transfers above ₹10,000, a trusted‑person authentication for vulnerable users on...
Facing a Precarious Economy, Gen Z Turns to Credit
Gen Z is adding credit cards at a faster pace than any other generation, with more than one in four adults aged 18‑29 opening at least one new account in the past year. At the same time, their average FICO...
50% European Consumers Use BNPL
A recent Galaxus‑commissioned survey of 2,600 shoppers across Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland shows that half of European consumers use Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) services, with France leading at 55%. German users are the most frequent, with 8% employing BNPL weekly...
Revolut Rolls Out AI Assistant for Daily Financial Tasks
Revolut introduced AIR, an AI‑powered personal assistant, to its UK app on April 9, enabling users to query spending, budgeting, investments and manage card controls through conversational chat. The feature can pause recurring payments, provide live exchange rates, and freeze...
DxFeed Launches Aggregated Overnight Market Data Feed for US Equities
dxFeed has launched an Aggregated Overnight Feed that consolidates top‑of‑book data for U.S. equities during the pre‑ and post‑market session. The feed normalizes quotes, trades, and time‑and‑sales from venues such as Bruce ATS, Blue Ocean ATS, and Moon ATS, delivering...
Add Intuit as the Latest FedNow Participant
Intuit has received FedNow certification, enabling QuickBooks and other fintech services to offer real‑time payments through the Federal Reserve’s network. The integration will let customers instantly pay invoices, process payroll, and settle bill payments, cutting the lag inherent in ACH...
Behind the Idea: Lucanet
Lucanet offers a cloud‑based, ERP‑agnostic platform that consolidates finance, tax, planning and ESG reporting into a single, governed source of truth. The solution now supports over 6,000 customers in more than 50 countries, replacing fragmented spreadsheets with real‑time, audit‑ready data....
NF Innova on FinTense, AI and the Power of Personalization
NF Innova, a Noventiq subsidiary, showcased its AI‑driven FinTense platform at FinovateEurope 2026, emphasizing micro‑personalization for banks. The platform assigns a digital banking score and automates customer‑facing processes, enabling traditional institutions to tailor experiences down to UI colors and navigation...
Circle Signs Thunes for Its New Managed Payments Platform
Circle Internet Group launched its Circle Payments Network Managed Payments platform, and Singapore‑based Thunes became one of the first participants. The service enables Thunes’ clients to settle transactions in USDC without abandoning existing fiat‑based processes. Circle will generate the stablecoin,...
Lending to Nigeria’s SMEs Is Hard. Nomba Thinks There’s a Better Way
Nomba announced that its 18‑month partnership with Globus Bank generated roughly $26.6 million in loans to Nigerian SMEs, while keeping the non‑performing loan ratio below 1 %. The fintech’s underwriting relies on real‑time payment flows rather than traditional audited statements, and it...