Lloyds Stops Opening some Bank Accounts for Customers in Branches
Lloyds Banking Group announced it will no longer open joint, premium or student accounts in its branches, and staff will not switch customers from other providers. Customers seeking new accounts will be directed to the bank’s app or website, though staff will still walk them through the process if requested. The move follows the closure of 136 Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branches slated for this year and reflects a broader UK trend of shrinking physical bank networks.
Marqeta Flags Cash App Hit
Marqeta warned that Block’s revised Cash App pricing will compress its 2026 earnings, projecting a modest $10 million net income – the first profit since 2024. Block now represents about 45% of Marqeta’s revenue after falling from 68% in 2023, and the...
ICYMI Fintech Funding Round-Up: Confido, WafR, Burst, and More
Fintech investors continued to pour capital into niche infrastructure this week, with Confido securing $9 million to expand its legal‑tech payment platform, and Morocco‑based WafR raising $4 million to grow a digital network for corner stores. In the U.S., health‑spending paytech Burst...
MetaMask Is Now Also Available in Card Form via Mastercard Partnership
MetaMask, the leading Ethereum wallet, has introduced a co‑branded payment card in partnership with Mastercard. The MetaMask Card is now available in 49 U.S. states, marking its first rollout in New York. The card allows users to spend crypto holdings...
February 2026: Top Five Fintech M&A Stories of the Month
In February 2026, fintech M&A activity highlighted five marquee deals reshaping banking, asset management, digital payments, and wealth services. Santander agreed to acquire Webster Bank for $12.2 billion, positioning itself among the top‑ten U.S. retail banks. Nuveen’s £9.9 billion purchase of Schroders will...
Banks Need to Choose Carefully Between Public and Private Blockchains
Stellar’s CEO warns banks that choosing between private and public blockchain infrastructures will create lasting path dependencies. With the tokenized real‑world‑asset market valued around $33 billion, banks are already piloting blockchain‑based settlement and fund tokenization. The article outlines three critical questions—who...
Covr Appoints Ryan Bivins as Head of Sales
Covr Financial Technologies has appointed Ryan Bivins as head of sales to accelerate its national distribution platform. Bivins brings over a decade of experience selling hybrid long‑term care (LTC) products at Lincoln, Pacific Life and John Hancock. He will oversee...
Fintech Firms Are Losing Out on Media Coverage by Overcomplicating Press Releases
Fintech companies in the UK have raised £2.6 billion, yet many are sabotaging their own growth with overly technical press releases. JournoLink’s analysis shows 74 percent of founders use AI for internal efficiency, but external communications remain cluttered with jargon. This complexity...
The Truth About AI False Positive Reduction
AI-driven supervision is now entrenched in financial services, with 94% of firms using or planning AI detection tools. Vendors tout dramatic false‑positive reductions, but Theta Lake warns these claims often rely on misleading accuracy metrics. The underlying base‑rate problem means...
Willis and Belfry Partner to Simplify Security Insurance
Willis, a WTW unit, has teamed with security SaaS provider Belfry and InsurTech specialist Kayna to launch a digital insurance programme for physical security firms. The collaboration embeds a Willis‑brokered insurance portal directly into Belfry’s platform, using Kayna’s real‑time data...
Rethinking the Financial Crime Stack in the Age of AI
AI is moving from a bolt‑on feature to the core architecture of financial‑crime compliance, as Flagright CTO Madhu Nadig explains. An AI‑native stack requires a standardized data layer, a decision engine that can act within policy controls, and built‑in governance...
South Asian Wealth Giant Taps IntellectAI for AI Platform
A leading South Asian financial services group partnered with IntellectAI to build an AI‑led, platform‑first wealth management solution using a first‑principles, architecture‑first methodology. The composable, API‑first platform spans onboarding, portfolio management, advisory and operations, embedding automated rebalancing, CRM workflows and...
Jack Dorsey's Block Lays Off Nearly Half Of Workforce Due To AI
Jack Dorsey's Block announced a 40% workforce reduction, cutting staff from over 10,000 to just under 6,000. Dorsey cited rapid AI advances as the primary driver, saying a decisive cut now is preferable to a slower attrition. The layoffs include...
Aria CEO Warns Against ‘Black Box’ AI in High-Stakes B2B Credit Decisions
Aria CEO Clément Carrier warns that opaque, black‑box AI models are unsuitable for high‑stakes B2B credit decisions, where a single error can erase profits. He notes that B2B lending differs from consumer credit because of larger ticket sizes, infrequent purchases,...
Why Legal AI Tools Need Human Feedback to Succeed
The RegTech market is flooded with legal AI tools that rely heavily on static statutes and generic language models. Zeidler Group warns that these solutions miss the nuanced, practice‑based knowledge that regulators and firms apply daily. By treating its AI...
MiFinity Launches MiRewards – A Premium Loyalty Programme for eWallet Customers Worldwide
MiFinity has launched MiRewards, a premium loyalty program embedded in its eWallet, allowing customers to earn MiPoints on everyday transactions. The free‑to‑join scheme features four tiers—Classic, Exclusive, Signature and Elite—with higher tiers delivering accelerated earn rates and VIP support. Built...
Botim Money Adds Digital Silver to Its Fractional Investing Suite From AED 10
Botim Money, the fintech arm of UAE messaging platform botim, has launched a digital silver investing option within its in‑app “Invest” feature. Eligible users can buy, sell and hold fractional silver starting at AED 10, extending the company’s precious‑metal suite that...
Things Worth Reading: 27th February 2026
Block announced a 40% workforce reduction, cutting 4,000 jobs and citing AI‑driven efficiency gains. Klarna reported US$1 bn in revenue, positioning itself for further global expansion. The UK introduced stricter buy‑now‑pay‑later regulations, aiming to curb predatory lending, while Lloyds halted new...
Souhoola Gains Approval for New Prepaid Card in Partnership with Banque Misr, Visa, and Modupay
Egyptian fintech Souhoola has secured initial regulatory approval to launch a reloadable prepaid card in collaboration with Banque Misr, Visa, and payment‑technology firm Modupay. The card will be instantly activatable via an app, allowing real‑time balance tracking, cash withdrawals and...
PayU’s inFINity 3.0 And The Push To Make Early Stage Fintechs Scale-Ready
PayU has launched the third edition of its inFINity accelerator, targeting 30 early‑stage fintech founders with a four‑week sprint that blends mentorship, direct capital pathways, and integration into PayU’s extensive merchant network. Building on two prior cohorts that supported over...
Figure Doubles Consumer Loan Volume and Adds Auto Lending
Figure Technology Solutions reported a 131% year‑over‑year surge in its Consumer Loan Marketplace, reaching $2.7 billion in Q4 2025. More than half of that volume, $1.5 billion, flowed through its newly launched Figure Connect platform, marking a rapid shift toward a capital‑light...
How to Accept Crypto Payments in Your Business (2026 Guide)
Crypto adoption has exploded to about 741 million users, making digital‑asset payments a mainstream expectation. Modern crypto payment gateways now provide plug‑and‑play solutions that remove the need for in‑house wallet management. Businesses across ecommerce, SaaS, and retail can integrate crypto checkout...
OCC May Give Senators Warren and Scott Access to Trump Bank Application
The OCC’s comptroller, Jonathan Gould, indicated he will consider providing Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tim Scott with the unredacted bank charter application of World Liberty Financial, a Trump‑family‑linked DeFi firm. The application, submitted in January, seeks a national trust bank...
Vietnam: Building a Regulated Digital Asset Market: Vietnam
Vietnam is set to launch its first pilot crypto‑asset exchange before 28 February 2026, following the government’s five‑year pilot programme and new licensing rules issued in January 2026. The Ministry of Finance’s detailed procedures codify market entry criteria, capital thresholds, and supervisory safeguards,...
Rocket Announces Partnership with Compass Alongside Strong Q4 Financial Report
Rocket announced a three‑year strategic alliance with Compass, linking Rocket Pro brokers to Compass’s nationwide real‑estate agents and offering an 80‑basis‑point purchase credit. The partnership promises to feed more than 500,000 new listings into Redfin, expanding the searchable inventory for homebuyers....
Sam Altman’s World ID Wins Major Brand Partners
Tools for Humanity, the iris‑scanning startup co‑founded by Sam Altman, is rolling out its World ID platform with high‑profile brand partners. A Gap store in San Francisco now hosts an Orb device that captures facial and eye data, while Tinder...
Addi Secures $89M From Citi
Colombian fintech Addi secured $89 million in structured financing from Citi, adding to the $71 million debt facility it raised in November 2025. The funding brings Addi's total recent debt to roughly $160 million, supporting its buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) platform that offers instant point‑of‑sale credit....
Decibel Perpetuals Exchange Launches on Aptos
Decibel, an Aptos‑incubated perpetual derivatives DEX, went live on the Aptos mainnet alongside its Amps points incentive program. The platform debuted with a central limit order book model, on‑chain risk engine, and cross‑chain support for Ethereum and Solana deposits. Testnet...
Moderate Credit Growth Expected in 2026 as Lending Normalizes : Analysis
TransUnion projects moderate credit growth for 2026, with mortgage originations rising 4.0% and unsecured personal loans expanding 11.2%. Credit‑card originations are slated for a modest 2.0% increase, while auto‑loan originations may dip 1.5%. The outlook emphasizes disciplined underwriting supported by...
Stars Align for Passkeys but Will Adoption Follow?
Credential‑based fraud and login friction are eroding conversion for high‑value e‑commerce shoppers, prompting merchants to seek stronger, lower‑friction authentication. Passkeys, built on FIDO public‑key cryptography and unlocked via biometrics or PIN, promise to eliminate password reuse and phishing risk. PayPal...
Marquis V. SonicWall Lawsuit Ups the Breach Blame Game
Fintech firm Marquis, which serves over 700 banks, filed a lawsuit against firewall vendor SonicWall after a ransomware breach exposed client data for roughly 780,000 individuals. SonicWall later disclosed that a breach of its own firewall configuration backups affected all...
Idemia PS Deal Brings Growing Number of US mDLs to Trinsic’s Digital Identity Network
Trinsic has integrated Idemia Public Security’s mobile driver’s license (mDL) solution into its Digital Identity Acceptance Network, adding support for mDLs issued in New York, Arkansas, Iowa, West Virginia and Kentucky. Idemia, the leading U.S. provider of state‑backed mDLs, also serves three...
Block Swaps 4,000 Workers for AI
Block, the fintech firm behind Cash App, Square and Afterpay, announced a 40% workforce reduction, cutting roughly 4,000 jobs and shrinking headcount from 10,000 to just over 6,000. CEO Jack Dorsey said the move is driven by rapid advances in...
Emerging Opportunities in Venture Capital Ecosystem Analyzed in New Report
PitchBook’s new VC Emerging Opportunities report analyzes over 25,000 early‑stage firms across 12 technology verticals, combining machine‑learning exit predictions with macro indicators. Deal value rose 17.5% year‑over‑year while median pre‑money valuations jumped 28.8%, though first‑time financings fell 19%. SaaS leads...
Bloomberg Extends Financial Data to $25B Tokenized Markets via Kaiko
Bloomberg is partnering with Kaiko to embed the newswire’s licensed financial data directly onto blockchain platforms, tackling the fragmented information problem in tokenized markets. The collaboration targets tokenized U.S. Treasury and repo products on the permissioned Canton Network, offering a...
DriveWealth to Integrate Kalshi’s Event Contracts Into Its Brokerage Platform
DriveWealth is integrating Kalshi’s regulated prediction‑market event contracts into its brokerage‑as‑a‑service platform, allowing fintech clients to offer these contracts alongside stocks and ETFs. Kalshi processes more than $100 billion in annualized volume and sees the partnership as a way to broaden...
More States Are Tightening Their Gift Card Regulations
In 2025, 22 U.S. states introduced legislation aimed at curbing gift‑card fraud, a sharp rise from eight states the previous year. While many bills increase criminal penalties, several also impose new duties on merchants, such as conspicuous fraud warnings and...
Augmentum Fintech Accepts £186m Cash Takeover Offer
Augmentum Fintech has agreed to a £185.7 million cash takeover by Norwegian buyout firm Verdane, representing a 27 % premium at 111 pence per share. The board unanimously recommended the offer, targeting completion in the second quarter. Augmentum’s portfolio includes 27 fintechs such...
Kananga Launches Tokenized MMF. CIMB Partners Ant for Tokenized Deposits
Kenanga Investment Bank has unveiled its Myrra tokenization platform, issuing two tokenized money‑market funds on the Stellar blockchain – a first for Malaysia. At the same time, CIMB, the country’s second‑largest bank, announced a partnership with Ant International to explore...
Digital Transformation at Santander: How Platform Engineering Is Revolutionizing Cloud Infrastructure
Santander launched Catalyst, a platform‑engineering solution built with AWS, to overhaul its cloud infrastructure. The initiative replaces a 90‑day manual provisioning process with an automated, Kubernetes‑based control plane that leverages Crossplane, ArgoCD, and OPA. By consolidating over 100 pipelines, Catalyst...
UPI Payments in India Can Now Use Biometric Authentication for Transactions Up to ₹5,000
India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now supports biometric authentication for transactions up to ₹5,000, allowing users to approve payments via fingerprint or facial recognition. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the change, positioning biometrics as an alternative to the...
Coinbase Employees Reportedly Face Wise “Payment Blocks” Amid UK Banking Crackdown
A LinkedIn post alleges that Wise has blocked payroll payments from Coinbase to UK‑based employees, disrupting their finances. Coinbase acknowledged the post but offered no further comment, while Wise has not responded. Wise’s Acceptable Use Policy prohibits direct crypto transactions...
Circle Reveals Plans for Native Arc Token
Circle’s chief executive Jeremy Allaire announced on the Q4 2025 earnings call that the firm is actively exploring a native token for its Arc blockchain. The Arc network, launched on a public testnet in October 2025, is tailored for stablecoin issuance with...
Ziosk Partners with Gringo’s Tex-Mex and Jimmy Changas; Qu POS Lands Roy Rogers Restaurants
Ziosk is deploying its Drop & Pay handheld payment tablets at Gringo’s Tex-Mex and Jimmy Changas, covering 21 Texas locations and delivering a 96% pay‑at‑table rate, a 23% lift in loyalty participation, and 45% higher guest‑survey engagement. The platform also...
Shift4 Shifts Its Focus to International Deals
Shift4 Payments reported record Q4 results and announced a strategic pivot toward international growth. The company closed a $2.5 billion acquisition of Swiss tax‑free shopping platform Global Blue and added Australia‑based Smartpay to its portfolio. To capitalize on these assets, Shift4 is...
Debit Card Fraud Losses Rise
A Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank analysis shows debit card fraud loss rates rose between 2021 and 2023, driven primarily by card‑not‑present transactions. While online fraud increased, in‑person fraud declined on dual‑message networks but grew on single‑message networks. The report...
Fiserv Appoints New Executives
Fiserv announced three senior hires this month: Lia Cao as chief revenue officer for enterprise and platforms, Robert Clarkson as chief revenue officer for small‑business and Clover POS, and Adit Gadgil as global head of business development. All three are...
Triple-A and Mastercard Move Join Forces to Speed Up Global Remittances for Banks and Fintechs
Triple‑A has integrated Mastercard Move’s cross‑border money‑movement network into its remittance‑as‑a‑service platform, enabling near real‑time payouts for European banks, fintechs, and telecom operators. The partnership lets institutions launch branded global remittance services without building costly infrastructure, while also opening a...
The CBN Has a Plan to Make Regulation Work for Fintechs. Here Is What It Looks Like.
On Feb 2 2026 the Central Bank of Nigeria published its Fintech Policy Insight Report, outlining a new regulatory playbook aimed at turning oversight into a partnership engine for the sector. The blueprint introduces a quarterly Fintech Engagement Forum, a Single Regulatory...
Resolv and Centrifuge Launch $100 Million Tokenized Credit Strategy on Aave
Centrifuge and Resolv are deploying up to $100 million of JAAA, a tokenized AAA‑rated credit fund, as leveraged collateral on Aave Horizon, creating the largest real‑world asset loop in DeFi to date. Resolv will lock JAAA to generate yield for its...