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 2026 seed investment, it is led by founder and CEO David Meister alongside a team of Lightspeed partners. Axiom aims to combine compliance, technology, and client‑centric service to modernize wealth‑management infrastructure.
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...
Loandepot Adds Wholesale Production 3 Years After Exit
Loandepot announced its return to the wholesale mortgage origination channel, a move it had abandoned in August 2022 after a $224 million Q2 loss. CEO Anthony Hsieh, now acting CEO, says the comeback leverages the joint‑venture shared‑services platform to drive profitable...
Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
Fintech week pivots to the TradFi‑DeFi bridge as stablecoin platform Kast announced an $80 million financing round, signaling a move from back‑office infrastructure to mainstream financial services. Irish banks launched an in‑app instant payment service, while Visa introduced an AI‑driven intelligent...
TransUnion Fires Latest Volley in Credit-Score Price War
TransUnion announced a steep reduction of its VantageScore 4.0 mortgage‑origination fee to $0.99, down from $4. The move intensifies a price war sparked by the FHFA’s push for scoring‑model competition and comes as FICO and other bureaus raise their fees. TransUnion...
EU’s Regulated Blockchain Securities Market Adds First Bank Participant
Amina, a Swiss‑regulated crypto bank, became the first fully regulated bank to join 21X, the EU’s pilot blockchain‑based securities trading and settlement venue. The partnership with Tokeny enables Amina to sponsor listings of tokenized securities on the platform, tackling interoperability...
Premium Cards Battle Escalates as Credit Balances Rise
Consumer credit expanded at a 1.9% annualized rate in January, with revolving balances rising 4.3% despite a modest slowdown. Premium‑fee cards, many charging over $600 annually, are witnessing heightened competition as fintechs like Robinhood and Revolut join incumbents. Research shows...
Global Insurance Broker Aon Tests Stablecoin Payments with Coinbase, Paxos
Aon, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, completed a proof‑of‑concept using stablecoins to settle premium payments. The firm partnered with Coinbase and Paxos to move USDC on Ethereum and PayPal USD on Solana, marking the first known stablecoin settlement...
SEBI Sets up Expert Group to Chart Tech Roadmap for Markets
India’s securities regulator SEBI has created a high‑level expert working group to draft both short‑term and long‑term technology roadmaps for the market ecosystem. The group will address growing trading volumes, digital participation, and operational complexity, while SEBI simultaneously rolls out...
Nasdaq Taps Kraken as Settlement Layer for Tokenized Stock Initiative
Nasdaq announced a partnership with Kraken’s parent Payward to build a settlement layer for its new equity‑token design. The collaboration will connect Nasdaq’s infrastructure with Kraken’s xStocks platform, enabling tokenized stocks to move between regulated, permissioned markets and permissionless DeFi...
Bison Bank Integrates Elliptic’s AI Analytics to Supercharge Digital Asset Compliance
Lisbon‑based Bison Bank has partnered with blockchain analytics leader Elliptic to embed the firm’s AI‑powered “copilot” into its digital‑asset subsidiary, Bison Digital Assets. The integration enables real‑time monitoring of more than 1,000 crypto tokens and automates data collection, fund‑flow analysis,...
Square, SumUp, Shopify: Data Streaming for Real-Time Point-of-Sale (POS)
Point‑of‑sale systems are evolving from simple cash registers into real‑time, connected platforms that handle payments, inventory, and customer insights. Mobile payment leaders Square, SumUp, and Shopify now offer SMBs enterprise‑grade POS capabilities, blurring the line between payment processors and commerce...
Coinbase CEO Highlights UK Regulatory Risks as US Stablecoin Framework Advances and Global Adoption Surges
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong warned that proposed UK stablecoin caps could erode the country’s fintech edge, while the United States has moved ahead with the GENIUS Act, establishing the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. The legislation mandates 100% reserve...
Why Mastercard Has Become the Go-To Payment Method for Online Casino Players
Mastercard has transformed into a digital‑payments leader, becoming the preferred method for online casino players. Its investments in tokenization, biometric verification, and real‑time fraud prevention deliver fast, secure transactions that meet regulatory and user expectations. Operators benefit from the card’s...
Hamachi.ai Integrates With Fynancial to Deliver AI-Driven Household Intelligence and Compliant Advisor Workflows
Hamachi.ai announced a deep integration with Fynancial, embedding its regulatory‑first AI orchestration layer into the digital client‑experience platform. The connection pulls household‑level data—relationships, goals, life events—and generates compliant, context‑aware communications and next‑best‑action recommendations. Advisor‑approved outputs flow back into the Fynancial...
Jump Expands AI Operating System for Advisors With New Products Powering Growth and Operations
Jump announced an AI Operating System for Advisors, bundling three new products—Meet, Grow and Operate—on a unified data and orchestration platform. The suite transforms meetings, emails and documents into structured, compliance‑ready intelligence and automates workflows across the client lifecycle. Over...
ICBA Adds Jack Henry to Preferred Program and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 3/9/26
Jack Henry & Associates’ anti‑fraud solution, Financial Crimes Defender, has been added to the Independent Community Bankers of America’s Preferred Service Provider program. Affiniti Finance secured a financing agreement with Column N.A. to accelerate its corporate‑card and banking services for...
The Tech Trying to End Construction’s 300-Year-Old Payment Problem
Construction’s chronic cash‑flow issues have spurred two new fintech solutions. Saible, launched in 2023, introduces a Digital Parallel Payment Account that holds project funds in a regulated trust, separating cash from payment authority. ProjectPay, also founded in 2023, embeds short‑term...
Nasdaq European Trading Venues to Connect to Boerse Stuttgart Group Settlement Platform
Nasdaq announced a strategic partnership with Boerse Stuttgart Group to connect its European trading venues to the Seturion tokenised settlement platform. The collaboration will enable tokenised securities to settle via a distributed‑ledger infrastructure while preserving MiFID II and the EU DLT...
Stablecoin Payments Startup Kast Raises $80M at $600M Valuation: Report
Kast, a stablecoin‑based payments platform, closed an $80 million round that lifts its valuation to $600 million. The company projects a $100 million annual revenue run‑rate by 2025 and will use the capital to broaden its footprint across North America, Latin America and...
EQB Nears Takeover of PC Financial Arm After Competition Bureau Approval
EQB Inc. received Competition Bureau clearance to acquire President’s Choice Bank and related PC Financial assets from Loblaw, moving the deal closer to completion. The transaction still requires sign‑off from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the...
Pakistan Passes Virtual Assets Act, Creates Regulator for Digital Asset Sector
Pakistan's parliament approved the Virtual Assets Act 2026, creating the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) to license and supervise cryptocurrency service providers. The authority, initially formed by a 2025 presidential ordinance, now has permanent legal standing. PVARA will enforce...
Paul Stoddart Joins Fourthline as CEO
Fourthline has appointed Paul Stoddart as its new chief executive, succeeding co‑founder Krik Gunning who will stay on as an advisor. The fintech specializes in AI‑driven digital identity verification and AML/KYC compliance for European banks and challenger lenders. Stoddart, known...
CRC Launches Upgraded Mobile App to Expand Access to Credit Data
CRC Credit Bureau launched an upgraded mobile app that streamlines access to credit data, financial services, and digital transactions for Nigerians. The new version adds biometric authentication, a built‑in wallet, and direct enrollment in CRC’s financial education programmes. The bureau...
Fixed Income Electronic Trading Platform Trumid Achieves New Average Daily Volume Milestone in February
Trumid’s electronic fixed‑income marketplace posted a record $10.2 billion average daily volume in February, a 37% year‑over‑year increase and the first time it breached the $10 billion mark. Market share rose 13% YoY, while its RFQ tool surged 148% to a $1.6 billion...
Filippo Chiricozzi on Web3, Digital ID and the Future of Finance
Filippo Chiricozzi, DLT & Digital Identity Lead at Banca Sella, is steering the bank’s push into Web3, cryptocurrencies, and the metaverse while focusing on digital identity solutions. The bank is aligning with European initiatives such as the Digital Identity Wallet...
9PSB Reinforces Commitment to Financial Inclusion with ‘Send to Ghana’
Nigeria’s first Payment Service Bank, 9PSB, has unveiled a new cross‑border feature called Send to Ghana on its Bank9ja app. The service, built on Onafriq’s technology and the Pan‑African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), is regulated by the Central Bank...
Top US Banks Weigh Suing Federal Regulator over Crypto Banking Rules
The Bank Policy Institute (BPI), representing major lenders such as JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, is weighing a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over its new national trust charter framework for crypto, payment and fintech...
Morgan Stanley Says This Undervalued Brazilian Digital Bank Can Double
Morgan Stanley launched coverage of Brazil’s digital lender Agibank, assigning an overweight rating and a $21 price target that suggests roughly 100% upside from its recent IPO price of $12. The analyst team highlighted the bank’s deep discount to peers...
Kalshi Taps Brazil’s XP to Take Prediction Markets Global
Kalshi has teamed up with Brazil's leading brokerage XP Inc. to launch regulated prediction‑market contracts outside the United States. XP will handle local distribution, client relationships, and regulatory coordination, while Kalshi supplies the trading technology, market design, and risk‑management tools....
MoneyGram, Vodafone, and eToro to Operate Privacy-Enhancing Blockchain Nodes for Midnight
The Midnight Foundation announced that MoneyGram, Vodafone’s Pairpoint unit, and eToro will each run one of the ten founding nodes for Midnight, a fourth‑generation privacy‑enhancing blockchain. The three regulated firms join existing operators such as Google Cloud, Blockdaemon, Shielded Technologies...
New Briefing Note: PSD3 and PSR: From Provisional Agreement to 2026 Readiness
The European Commission has reached a provisional agreement on the Payment Services Directive 3 (PSD3) and the accompanying Payment Services Regulation (PSR), setting a roadmap toward full implementation by 2026. The new rules broaden the definition of payment service providers, tighten...
Citi Issues Its First Digitally Native Structured Note on Euroclear’s D-FMI Platform
Citi has launched its first digitally native structured note on Euroclear’s Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D‑FMI), marking a pioneering use of distributed‑ledger technology for wealth‑management products. The note, issued under English law by Citigroup Global Markets Funding Luxembourg, demonstrates a...
Navi Technologies Swings to Red with Rs 126 Cr Loss in FY25
Navi Technologies posted an Rs 126 crore loss for FY25, a marked improvement from the Rs 358.5 crore loss a year earlier, despite an 18% jump in revenue to Rs 2,565 crore. Interest income, which makes up 85% of total revenue, rose 21% while other income...
Brex Is Now in the ChatGPT App Marketplace So You Can Ask Anything About Your Expense Data
Brex has entered the ChatGPT app marketplace, becoming one of the first fintech solutions available in OpenAI’s ecosystem. ChatGPT Enterprise users can now ask natural‑language questions about their company’s spending, balances, and expense policies directly within the chat interface. The...
Top AML and Identity Verification APIs for Compliance in 2026
Financial institutions are turning to AML and identity verification APIs to meet escalating regulatory demands and combat sophisticated fraud. In 2025, FBI reports over 5,100 account‑takeover complaints costing more than $262 million, underscoring the urgency. Providers such as AiPrise, ComplyAdvantage, Sumsub,...
PAY360 2026: Shaping the Future of Payments
PAY360 2026, the premier global payments conference, will be held on 24–25 March 2026 at ExCeL London. The event expects more than 6,000 innovators, thought leaders and industry stakeholders, with over 200 speakers covering topics such as crypto, open payments,...
Novobanco Partners Feedzai to Modernise AML and Fraud
Novobanco has entered a multi‑year partnership with Feedzai to overhaul its anti‑money‑laundering (AML) and fraud defenses using Feedzai’s AI‑native platform. The initiative consolidates fragmented compliance tools into a single, intelligence‑driven system that merges KYC, AML and fraud functions. Advanced watchlist...
LINE NEXT Launches Stablecoin Platform ‘Unifi’ Globally
LINE NEXT launched Unifi, a stablecoin wallet integrated with LINE Messenger, allowing global users to create wallets via social logins. The non‑custodial platform currently supports Tether (USD₮) and offers 4‑5% annual interest, with a launch promotion up to 8% for...
Nigeria's Rise as Africa's Unicorn Factory
Nigeria has become Africa’s premier unicorn factory, outpacing Kenya, Egypt and South Africa with the continent’s highest number of billion‑dollar startups such as Flutterwave, OPay, Interswitch, Moniepoint and Andela. A 220‑million‑strong consumer base, massive unbanked population and rapid smartphone adoption...
Airwallex Launches Yield Accounts in the U.S., Supercharging Business Payments With Interest-Earning Balances
Airwallex has introduced Yield Accounts for U.S. businesses, enabling companies to earn interest on idle balances held within its payments platform. The product is built into the existing Airwallex treasury suite, offers FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per account, and...
Robinhood Unveils $695 Platinum Credit Card Made With Real Platinum to Target Affluent Users
Robinhood announced a new premium credit card priced at $695 annually, crafted from real platinum. The card is aimed at the platform's affluent clientele and bundles higher rewards, concierge assistance, and travel protections. By introducing a tangible luxury product, Robinhood...
Broadridge’s DLR Platform Processes Average of $362bn in Daily Repo Transactions in Feb 2026
Broadridge Financial Solutions reported that its Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform processed an average of $362 billion in daily repo transactions in February 2026, amounting to $6.9 trillion for the month. This represents a 457% year‑over‑year increase, underscoring rapid institutional adoption of...
Swiggy, HDFC Bank Launch Two New Co-Branded Credit Cards with up to ₹48,000 Annual Savings
Swiggy and HDFC Bank introduced two co‑branded credit cards—the Swiggy BLCK and Swiggy Ornge—on March 7, expanding a partnership that began in 2023. The BLCK card targets premium spenders with 10% cashback on Swiggy orders and up to 5% on entertainment,...
Banc of California Makes a Payments Push
Banc of California is accelerating its payments strategy by hiring industry veteran Chris Healy to lead its merchant acquiring platform, BancEdge. The bank aims to broaden the platform across existing and new commercial clients, emphasizing real‑time, AI‑driven payment capabilities. Healy’s...