The Hidden Cost of Every Card Swipe – Understanding Interchange Fees
Interchange fees are the charges that a merchant’s bank pays to the card‑issuing bank for each card transaction, typically ranging from 0.2% to 2% of the purchase amount. In the European Economic Area, regulation caps these fees at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards, creating a more predictable cost environment. Merchants absorb these fees, which can erode profit margins, especially for small retailers that lack bargaining power. Emerging payment technologies such as real‑time rails, open banking and crypto are poised to reshape the fee landscape.
Progcap Extends ₹10,000 Crore Credit to Women Entrepreneurs
Progcap’s new ProgShakti program has disbursed over ₹10,000 crore in unsecured working‑capital loans to women‑led MSMEs across India. Credit limits for women borrowers have risen 105 percent, and repeat financing now exceeds 90 percent, indicating strong trust in the platform. Women entrepreneurs constitute...
GFA Exchange Hits 10,000 UK Business Milestone to Plug Private Credit Data Gap Ahead of AIFMD 2
GFA Exchange, a UK fintech portfolio intelligence platform, now hosts live data on 10,000 lower‑mid‑market businesses, covering the top 1,000 firms across all Industrial Strategy sectors plus Real Estate and Retail. The rollout arrives as the UK prepares for AIFMD 2,...
FutureVault Launches Embedded AI Advisor Insights Engine, Turning Client Documents Into Real-Time Intelligence and Automated Advisor Actions
FutureVault announced its AI Advisor Insights Engine, an embedded private‑LLM solution that converts client documents stored in its digital vaults into real‑time intelligence. The engine extracts, structures, and links data across tax, estate, insurance, and portfolio files, generating actionable insights...
Wizard Partners With Stripe on ACP to Enable Agentic Commerce for Leading Retailers
Wizard announced a partnership with Stripe to accelerate the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard that links AI shopping agents with ecommerce platforms. The collaboration will streamline merchant onboarding, enable secure checkout via Shared Payment Tokens, and let retailers...
PayPal’s New CEO Faces a Digital Payments Reckoning
PayPal announced Enrique Lores, the former HP chief who has overseen major supply‑chain and split‑up initiatives, as its new CEO and president. The appointment comes as the company’s branded checkout growth slumped to 1% year‑over‑year in Q4, far below the...
Meta Revamps Ad Payment Policy
Meta Platforms announced that, starting April 1, a subset of advertisers will no longer be able to pay with credit cards and must switch to monthly invoicing or direct bank debits. The company did not disclose the spending thresholds or the...
TradeStation Securities Announces New Integration with Global Financial AI’s Financial AI Platform
TradeStation Securities announced an integration with Global Financial AI’s Financial AI Platform, linking AI‑driven strategy design to TradeStation’s brokerage execution. The partnership lets traders use natural‑language prompts to create, test, benchmark, and optimize multi‑asset strategies across equities and options. The...
Is RegTech Consolidation Creating New Platform Risks?
RegTech vendors are merging their offerings into larger, unified platforms that cover surveillance, reporting, identity and risk functions. Proponents argue that consolidation reduces operational fragmentation, delivers economies of scale, and strengthens security through enterprise‑grade infrastructure. Critics counter that platform concentration...
KBC Selects Taurus as Custodian for Crypto Trading Offering
KBC, Belgium’s largest insurance‑banking group, has appointed Geneva‑based fintech Taurus as its custody partner for a newly launched regulated crypto trading service. The offering, introduced in February, lets self‑directed investors buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether on an execution‑only basis....
Kazuo Ueda: The New Financial Ecosystem and the Role of Central Banks
At FIN/SUM 2026, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda outlined how AI and blockchain are reshaping the financial ecosystem and reaffirmed central banks' role as the anchor of trust. He highlighted the programmability of DeFi, the potential of AI‑driven analytics, and the...
Bloomberg BFIX to Integrate Euronext FX Spot and Precious Metals Transaction Data
Bloomberg Index Services announced that its Bloomberg FX Fixings (BFIX) benchmark will incorporate transaction data from Euronext FX’s spot foreign‑exchange and precious‑metals markets. The addition expands BFIX’s data pool, aiming to enhance the benchmark’s robustness, transparency, and representativeness across global currency...
Tickblaze Announces CME Futures Market Data Distribution Partnership
Tickblaze announced a partnership to embed CME Group futures market data into its trading platform, delivering both Level 1 top‑of‑book pricing and Level 2 depth‑of‑market information. The integration supplies real‑time, exchange‑sourced data directly to traders while Tickblaze manages entitlement, reporting and compliance...
Most Small Businesses Can’t Afford a Full-Time Finance Chief. So Mastercard Is Debuting a ‘Virtual CFO’ Built with AI
Mastercard is introducing a virtual CFO built on generative AI as the first offering of its “Virtual C‑suite” for small and medium‑sized enterprises. The service will be delivered through banks, accounting platforms and software partners and will provide cash‑flow risk...
Africa Leads the World in Stablecoin Adoption
According to BVNK and YouGov’s Stablecoin Utility Report, 79% of African crypto holders own or have recently held stablecoins—the highest rate globally and well above the 54% average. The survey of 4,658 respondents across 15 African countries shows 95% would...
Nigeria’s Prembly Launches Open-Source Database to Fight African Fraud
Prembly, a Nigerian digital‑security firm, has unveiled FraudLens, an open‑source fraud‑intelligence bank built on millions of identity‑verification checks. The platform aggregates fraud events from banks, fintechs and other partners, offering a publicly accessible repository that starts with Nigeria and aims...
Divest Expands Into Remittances with Money Xchange, Unifying Crypto Conversion and Cross-Border Transfers in a Single App
Divest, the Nigerian fintech known for crypto‑to‑cash conversion, has introduced Money Xchange, a cross‑border remittance service embedded within its existing app. The product currently supports transfers from Nigeria to Kenya, Ghana and South Africa with upfront rate locking and no...
Jollof Boss Launches WhatsApp-Paystack Pilot Testing Chat Commerce for African SMEs
Adlore Business Enterprise launched a live pilot of Jollof Boss, a conversational commerce platform that merges the WhatsApp Cloud API with Paystack payments to let Nigerian SMEs browse products, place orders and pay within chat. The test processed ten real orders,...
EBay and Liberis Launch Flexible Growth Financing for UK Small Businesses
eBay UK has teamed with finance provider Liberis to launch Flexible Growth Financing, a new product under the Seller Capital programme that will be available to eligible UK sellers from 6 April 2026. The offering provides data‑driven, on‑demand working capital with limits...
SumUp Expands Into the Accounting Market With a Free Making Tax Digital Tool
SumUp has launched a free, in‑platform accounting solution for UK merchants, powered by Sage, to help them meet the Making Tax Digital (MTD) income‑tax requirements that take effect in April 2026. The tool automates income‑tax calculations and filing, embedding compliance...
FinScan Teams with Nexus AML for Data-First AML Compliance
FinScan has partnered with Nexus AML to deliver a data‑first AML solution that blends real‑time data cleansing with AI‑driven operational services. The alliance targets the chronic data‑quality problem that 59% of compliance professionals say consumes most of their time. By...
New Briefing Note – Preparing for the FCA’s New Safeguarding Rules: A Countdown to 7 May 2026
The Financial Conduct Authority has issued final rules and guidance under Policy Statement 25/21 that overhaul the safeguarding regime for payments and e‑money firms. The new requirements take effect on 7 May 2026, compelling firms to redesign client‑asset segregation, capital buffers, and governance...
Wickes Adds Buy Now, Pay Later Option for Customers
Wickes has introduced a buy‑now, pay‑later (BNPL) service for its TradePro customers through a partnership with Berlin‑based fintech Billie. The new option lets tradespeople purchase materials online or via the TradePro app and defer payment for 30 or 60 days,...
Hawk and Commerzbank Team up to Fight Financial Crime
Commerzbank has partnered with AI‑fraud specialist Hawk to boost its anti‑money‑laundering capabilities. The collaboration deploys Hawk’s “AML AI Extended Risk Model,” which layers explainable AI on top of the bank’s existing rule‑based compliance framework. Connected via a dedicated integration layer,...
Tandem Bank Names Finance Veteran as New Chair
Tandem Bank has named Stephen Jones, a veteran of UK banking, as its new chair. Jones currently serves as executive chair of investment banking at Panmure Liberum and previously held senior roles at Santander, Barclays, and UK Finance. He succeeds Paul Pester, who...
Clinton Alum Eugene Ludwig Courts Banks for Stablecoin Alternative
Eugene Ludwig, former Clinton cabinet official, founded Cari to create a bank‑centric network for tokenized deposits that are FDIC‑insured and faster than traditional transfers. The startup has secured five regional banks—KeyCorp, Huntington, Old National, First Horizon and M&T—as design partners...
Uzbekistan’s Uzum Hits $2.3B Valuation as Fintech Drives Growth
Uzbek fintech platform Uzum secured a $131.5 million investment led by Oman’s sovereign wealth funds, lifting its valuation 53% to $2.3 billion. The round combines $81.5 million in equity and $50 million in convertible notes as the company eyes a $250‑300 million pre‑IPO raise in...
Aspire Adopts AI FNOL System with Liberate
Aspire General Insurance has partnered with AI platform Liberate to launch an AI‑powered First Notice of Loss (FNOL) system, integrated with its existing Snapsheet claims management tool. Policyholders can report incidents via the AI voice agent Nicole or a web...
Money Moves: How Credit Karma Uses AI to Power Smarter Financial Decisions
Credit Karma is leveraging AI and its massive consumer‑financial dataset to evolve from a credit‑score provider into a personalized financial assistant. With 140 million members and over 80,000 data points per user, the platform now offers automated tax filing, next‑best‑action recommendations,...
Robinhood Bids to Become Super App for Family Finance
Robinhood announced a family‑focused suite of products designed to become a financial superapp for households. The upcoming Family Hub will let users group accounts by family member, customize views, and assign granular permissions, while custodial accounts let parents invest for...
Do You Need to Register as a Money Services Business?
The article outlines when a Canadian business must register as a Money Services Business (MSB) with FINTRAC, detailing the specific activities—foreign exchange, fund remittance, virtual‑currency dealing, and crowdfunding—that trigger regulatory oversight. It distinguishes domestic MSBs from foreign MSBs (FMSBs) and...
TransUnion and Google Cloud Power AI‑Driven Credit Intelligence with New Analytics Agent
TransUnion has teamed with Google Cloud to launch an AI‑driven analytics agent that fuses TransUnion's credit data with Google’s Vertex AI and BigQuery services. The new solution delivers real‑time credit intelligence, cutting underwriting decision times by roughly half while boosting...
Dhan Crosses 1 Mn Users Mark in Feb; Groww Continues to Lead Stockbroking Space
India's retail broking sector saw active users rise to 45.4 million in February, a 350 k increase from January. Groww maintained its lead, adding 2.65 lakh new clients and reaching a 28.03% market share with 12.75 million users. Emerging platform Dhan crossed the 1 million‑user...
How Can Machine Learning Unlock Credit in South Africa
Access to credit remains elusive for most South African small businesses, with over 85% of firms earning under R1 million facing high rejection rates. A Forrester‑Experian study shows that 70% of senior lenders believe machine learning can improve risk accuracy and...
Weaver Fintech’s Retail Roots Fade as Fintech Engine Roars
Weaver Fintech, the former Homechoice International, posted a 23% revenue increase to R5.5 billion for FY 2025, propelling its shares above 9% higher. The fintech arm delivered R3.43 billion in revenue, a 36% jump, and accounted for 93% of the group’s trading profit,...
Are We Ready for a World without Cash?
The article examines India’s shift toward a cash‑light economy driven by UPI’s explosive growth. In December 2025 UPI recorded 21.6 billion transactions worth Rs 28 lakh crore, and in FY25 it accounted for over 83% of payment volume, pushing digital retail payments to...
Open Banking Presents £43bn Opportunity for UK Economy if Warnings Are Heeded
Open banking is projected to generate £43 bn a year for the UK economy when fully mature. Research commissioned by Open Banking Limited and conducted by EY shows the sector has already delivered £8.2 bn in benefits, with an expected £7.4 bn annual...
Mastercard Brings Agentic Payments to Life in Singapore with DBS and UOB
Mastercard completed its first live, authenticated agentic payment in Singapore, partnering with DBS and UOB. An AI‑driven agent used Mastercard Agent Pay to book a hoppa ride to Changi Airport, leveraging tokenised credentials and Payment Passkey consent. The transaction moves...
Cashfree Payments Celebrates Unique Business Journeys in New Campaign via Talented
Cashfree Payments, India’s leading payments gateway, has unveiled the “One of Your Kind” brand campaign, produced by Talented and At All Odds. The film showcases the distinct growth stories of partners such as BigBasket, Third Wave Coffee and Redbus, positioning...
Mobile Banking Malware Surge and Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Examined in New Report
Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reported a 56 percent jump in Android banking trojan detections in 2025, accompanied by a 271 percent surge in unique malicious APKs, now exceeding 255,000. The report also found that supply‑chain attacks affected 31 percent of surveyed organizations, rising to...
Wage Protection System Coming Into Effect in Bahrain
Bahrain is launching a Wage Protection System (WPS) that obliges all employers to disburse salaries via licensed banks or Central Bank‑regulated payment providers, creating an electronic audit trail of wage payments. The reform replaces fragmented payment methods with a unified,...
Blend Labs Inc (BLND) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Blend Labs reported Q4 2021 revenue of $81 million, with its platform segment generating $37 million and Title365 $44 million. Despite a 35% drop in industry mortgage volumes, platform revenue rose 19% year‑over‑year and mortgage banking revenue grew 14%, while consumer‑banking revenue surged...
Intuit and Anthropic Partner to Bring Custom AI Agents and Financial Intelligence to Businesses
Intuit announced a multi‑year partnership with Anthropic to embed Claude AI agents into its ecosystem. The deal lets mid‑market firms build secure, customizable financial assistants while exposing Intuit services such as QuickBooks, TurboTax and Credit Karma within Anthropic’s products. It...
Axiom Trust
Axiom Trust is a regulated, vertically integrated trust company and technology platform that delivers precise, seamless administration for fiduciaries and private families. The firm emphasizes operational efficiency without competing for the client relationship. Backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners with a...
The U.S. Fintech Market Is Heating Up Again
U.S. fintech is entering a third evolutionary phase where profitability, robust infrastructure, and AI‑driven efficiency eclipse the previous growth‑at‑all‑costs mindset. After two years of valuation compression, deal flow is reviving, with investors favoring companies that can demonstrate margin expansion. Stripe...
EU Can Rein in AI Agents with EUDI Wallets and Business Wallets: WE BUILD
The WE BUILD consortium urges the EU to adopt a coordinated framework that embeds AI agents within the European Digital Identity (EUDI) and Business Wallet ecosystems. By leveraging verifiable credentials and cryptographic signatures, the proposal aims to secure agentic commerce—transactions...
Instant Pay Can Boost Low-Income Workers’ Savings Habits, Report Finds
A new study by KAIST and George Washington University finds that modest, consistent use of earned‑wage access (EWA) lifts low‑income workers' savings frequency by 3.7%, boosts financial‑dashboard monitoring by 12%, and raises goal‑setting by 1.3%. The research, based on transaction...
Visa Enhances Payments Orchestration Tools for Merchant Acquirers
Visa has launched its Intelligent Authorization platform for merchant acquirers across the Asia‑Pacific region. The solution offers a single‑API pathway that leverages Visa’s card‑network infrastructure, allowing banks to forego building dedicated processing stacks. Integrated AI routing selects the most cost‑effective,...
OSFI’s Fast Track Framework Is a Wake-Up Call for Canadian Banks
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has unveiled a Fast‑Track framework designed to streamline approvals for new banking and bank‑like activities in Canada. The new rules clarify capital, liquidity and supervisory expectations for deposit‑taking, credit‑card issuance, mortgages...
Modern Payments Infrastructure Is the New Battleground for Growth
Payments infrastructure has moved from a back‑office function to a strategic growth lever, as platforms relying on legacy systems face higher friction, cost, and slower revenue realization. TSG and Payforge’s new whitepaper argues that modernizing payment stacks is essential to...