Agility in the Face of Compliance and Risk
In an interview, Mohan Paranthaman and Karthik Iyengar of We Build Products argue that compliance agility, not sheer technology scale, is the true differentiator for banks and fintechs. They cite their experience at Citi, Shopify and other institutions to show how small, senior‑focused teams can deliver rapid MVP‑style RegTech solutions that cut AML false positives and lower vendor dependence. The duo stresses a data‑first, audit‑ready architecture that treats regulatory data as a strategic asset. Looking ahead, they predict regulation will become a configurable layer, enabling faster product launches amid tightening EU rules.
Digital Payments Rivalry: Paytm Leans on Merchant Edge as PhonePe Scales Volume, Say Brokerages
PhonePe dominates UPI transaction volume with a 51% market share, while Paytm commands only 6% but leads merchant‑payment monetisation. Paytm’s merchant device network and loan services generate higher margins—about 9 basis points versus PhonePe’s 4—resulting in ₹38.6 billion revenue and ₹2.8 billion...
ClearBank Appoints Ex-Uber Exec to Oversee European Expansion
ClearBank has appointed former Uber payments chief Tristan Kirchner as its European CEO to accelerate the bank’s cross‑border growth. The fintech already holds an EU banking licence and serves more than 30 clients across multiple markets. Kirchner will oversee the...
From Convenience to Crime: How Payment Apps Stand to Reshape Business Fraud
Businesses of all sizes are embracing peer‑to‑peer payment apps such as Venmo, Zelle and Cash App to streamline vendor payments and employee reimbursements. The convenience has sparked a surge in fraud, with New York regulators reporting more than $390 million in losses...
DBS Pilots System that Lets AI Agents Make Payments for Customers
DBS Bank, in partnership with Visa, has launched a pilot that enables AI agents to complete payments on behalf of customers using tokenised card credentials. The trial, dubbed Visa Intelligent Commerce, has already processed real‑world transactions such as food and...
How Do You Fund Your Own LLC?
Launching an LLC begins with a clear picture of how much capital is required, often starting with personal savings or bootstrapping. Entrepreneurs then evaluate external sources such as SBA‑backed loans, grants, and alternative platforms like crowdfunding or credit cards. Adding...
Bank of Ireland UK Fined for Late Security System Implementation
The UK arm of Bank of Ireland was fined £3.78 million by the Payments Systems Regulator for a 14‑month delay in deploying the Confirmation of Payee (CoP) system. The lapse left 1.14 million new payees and roughly £7 million in payments without fraud‑prevention...
ISDA’s Amy Hong: ‘North Star’ Is Safe and Efficient Markets
ISDA’s new board chair Amy Hong reaffirmed the association’s 40‑year mission to keep derivatives markets safe and efficient, while charting a 2026 agenda focused on technology and regulatory alignment. She highlighted the continued push to finalize Basel III trading‑book rules and...
Paytently Strengthens Regulatory Compliance and Fraud Defence with SEON Partnership
Paytently, a Malta‑licensed payment institution, announced a partnership with fraud‑prevention specialist SEON to embed the latter’s command‑centre technology into its orchestration platform. The integration brings real‑time AML screening, risk scoring, device intelligence and centralized case management to the core of...
Shahbandr and Tabby Partner to Bring BNPL to 20,000 Online Stores
Shahbandr, a Saudi e‑commerce enablement platform, has teamed up with fintech app Tabby to embed its Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later solution across the network. The integration will cover more than 20,000 online stores in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, allowing shoppers to split purchases...
Sport, Trade and Visa
Visa Consulting & Analytics reports that the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan boosted overseas Visa cardholder visits by more than 60%, with U.S. travelers up 160% year‑on‑year. European visitors, especially from Germany, also surged, driving average spends of €297, €267...
LenDenClub Campaign Targets Younger Investors with Relatable Money Moments
LenDenClub, the Indian peer‑to‑peer lending platform, launched the "Bring Swag to Your Portfolio" campaign featuring four short digital films starring actor Suchit Vikram Singh as "Mr. Swag." The humor‑driven videos showcase disciplined lending and steady earnings as a way to...
Klarna Group PLC (KLAR) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Klarna Group reported a 28% jump in active consumers to 180 million and a 42% increase in merchants to 966,000 in Q4 2025. Gross merchandise volume hit $38.7 billion and revenue topped $1 billion, both surpassing guidance. Transaction margin dollars after provisions rose 17%...
Okay, So You've Got a Stablecoin…
In a recent episode of This Week in Fintech, Paxos Labs CEO Bhau Kotecha outlined the firm’s vision for stablecoins and tokenized finance. He noted that enterprises typically enter crypto by integrating stablecoins for payments or enabling crypto trading, then...
Olympics Boost Spending in Italy; UK Banks Push Visa, Mastercard Rival
U.K. banks, led by Barclays, are convening to fund a home‑grown payment network aimed at reducing reliance on Visa and Mastercard, which dominate 95% of the non‑cash market. Visa data shows the Milano‑Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics sparked a sharp surge...
TreviPay Leverages AI to Help Businesses Anticipate Buyer Behavior
TreviPay unveiled its AI‑powered Growth Center, a module inside the client portal that flags early signs of buyer dormancy and suggests targeted incentives. In a pilot with a U.S. retailer, the system identified 60 previously inactive buyers who generated $103,946...
Another Early AI Accounting Startup Just Bit the Dust
Botkeeper, an early AI accounting platform founded in 2015, announced its closure after eleven years despite achieving high‑accuracy transaction coding and a sophisticated AI suite. The company raised substantial venture capital and built an “Infinite” platform that could reconcile data...
Canadian Fintech Investment Down Nearly 75% Last Year, After Record-High 2024
Canadian fintech investment plunged 75% in 2025, falling to US$2.4 billion across 113 deals, down from a record US$9.9 billion in 2024. AI and digital‑asset firms dominated the reduced deal flow, while later‑stage platforms attracted the bulk of capital. The three biggest...
Activist Jana Builds Stake in Payments Business Fiserv
Activist investor Jana Partners has taken an undisclosed stake in payments processor Fiserv, aiming to improve its underperforming stock. Fiserv, valued at about $32 billion, saw shares plunge nearly 70% in 2023 and are down more than 11% year‑to‑date. Jana is...
Surcharges and Discounts Can’t Overcome Payment Inertia
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s new report shows that merchants’ attempts to shift consumer payment behavior with cash discounts or credit‑card surcharges have little impact because shoppers stick to their preferred method out of habit. Discounts only influence cash‑oriented...
Pakistan Super App for Gov’t Services, Document Verification Advances Toward Launch
Pakistan’s government is set to launch a mobile "Super App" that will consolidate public services, document verification, and digital payments into a single platform. The initiative builds on NADRA’s National Digital Identity system and the existing Pak ID app, leveraging...
PFM Partners up with DebtBook
PFM announced a partnership with DebtBook to embed artificial‑intelligence capabilities into public‑sector treasury operations, leveraging PFM's Synario financial‑modeling platform alongside DebtBook's debt‑management suite. The alliance aims to automate cash‑flow, leasing and investment tracking, freeing municipal finance teams to focus on...
Warren Targets Dimon for Help on Interest Rate Caps
Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon urging his public support for the Empowering States’ Rights to Protect Consumers Act, which would let states re‑impose credit‑card interest‑rate caps on national banks. The legislation seeks to restore the...
Choosing the Right Payment Processing Partner: A Checklist for Software Platforms
Integrated software vendors (ISVs) must treat payment processing as a core product component, not a peripheral add‑on. A robust checklist—covering technical integration, revenue‑share models, security compliance, onboarding experience, value‑added features, and long‑term partnership—helps avoid costly friction. Seamless APIs, white‑label experiences,...
Zip Launches a Branding Campaign Aimed at Winning Consumers’ Trust
Buy‑now‑pay‑later firm Zip Co. launched a new branding campaign centered on trust, positioning its users as responsible borrowers. The "In You We Trust" message is built on real customer stories and features social‑media strategist Destiny Modeste. The ads run on...
🎙️ Ep 19: Why Building a Global Venmo with Stablecoins Is Still Hard W/ Mike Hudack (Sling)
The Money Code episode with Sling’s Mike Hudack explains why building a global Venmo‑style app with stablecoins remains challenging. While stablecoins provide a unified ledger that eases cross‑border transfers, the real work lies in local on‑ramps, identity verification, fraud prevention,...
Global Payments Builds Salesforce
Global Payments announced a 300‑agent salesforce expansion in 2026, following its recent acquisition of Worldpay. The company will invest $1 billion this year to accelerate growth of its Genius processing brand and AI capabilities. Adjusted net revenue rose 1% to $2.32 billion...
Global Payments Looks Forward to a Post-Issuing Era
Global Payments completed a $24.25 billion acquisition of Worldpay and sold its card‑issuing unit for $12 billion, positioning the company as a pure‑play merchant acquirer. The firm highlighted strong early performance of its Genius point‑of‑sale platform, now covering restaurants, retail, drive‑throughs and...
Finpace Introduces Halcyon AI Layer to Its Core Banking Stack
Finpace unveiled Halcyon, an AI‑driven layer integrated with its core banking platform, aimed at accelerating change management for African financial institutions. The solution interprets business intent, orchestrates actions across data and workflow systems, and embeds governance to ensure compliant, auditable...
Successfully Implementing AI in Banking: Insights From Allica Bank CEO Richard Davies
Allica Bank CEO Richard Davies outlined how the UK fintech is scaling AI across its organization, emphasizing company‑wide adoption, engineering productivity, and cultural change. He highlighted that AI tools have delivered productivity improvements of two to ten times for engineers...
Stripe’s Bridge Wins OCC Conditional Approval
Stripe’s Bridge subsidiary received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter, filed in October and approved on Feb. 12. The charter would let Bridge issue stablecoins, custody digital assets, and manage...
Zodia Custody and LMAX Group Launch ‘Zodia Switch’ to Streamline Institutional Asset Swaps
Zodia Custody and LMAX Group have introduced Zodia Switch, a custody‑native trading feature that lets institutional clients swap ERC‑20 tokens directly from their secure wallets. The solution leverages LMAX’s execution venues, eliminating the need to pre‑fund external trading accounts and...
OCC Conditionally Approves Stripe Subsidiary Bridge for Trust Charter
Stripe’s subsidiary Bridge received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter. The license would allow Bridge to issue stablecoins, custody digital assets, and manage reserves under OCC oversight. The decision...
India’s Fintech Powerhouse Cashfree Payments Expands AI Ambitions with ‘Cashfree Here’ Launch
Cashfree Payments introduced Cashfree Here, an in‑chat payment solution unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, allowing users to complete transactions directly within AI chat applications. The product leverages Cashfree’s existing API banking infrastructure to embed checkout, tokenised card...
Tech-Powered Credit Reform Could Add £7bn to the UK’s GDP, Report Claims
ClearScore’s new white paper argues that modernising credit‑worthiness assessments with open‑banking data and AI could add up to £7 bn to the UK’s annual GDP. It highlights that 17 million adults face a £2 bn credit supply gap, with up to 60% of...
Digital Savings Startup Vestwell Lands $385M, Doubles Valuation
Vestwell, the New York‑based digital savings platform, closed a $385 million Series E round led by Blue Owl Capital and Sixth Street Growth, pushing its valuation to $2 billion—double its prior level. The fintech now reports annual recurring revenue above $200 million, serving more...
Milo Tops $100 Million in Crypto-Backed Mortgages, Closes Record $12 Million Deal
Milo, a U.S. crypto‑lending firm, has originated more than $100 million in crypto‑backed mortgages, highlighted by a record $12 million loan. The company operates in ten states and offers loans up to $25 million secured by Bitcoin or Ether, with interest starting at...
Businesses Move to Rein In AI in the Shift to Autonomous Finance
Enterprises are granting AI agents authority to initiate payments, approve refunds, and orchestrate cross‑functional workflows, shifting from assistance to autonomous action. Security researchers warn that more than 1.5 million deployed agents could be exposed to misuse, expanding the attack surface faster...
5 Romanian Fintech Startups to Watch, According to Investors
Independent projections show Romania’s digital payments could reach nearly $93.5 billion by 2030, expanding at just over 20% CAGR. This surge is fueling demand for fintech solutions that serve an increasingly digital SME landscape. Investors highlighted five startups—FilmChain, Finqware, Lendox, Symphopay...
FinScan Expands Real-Time AML Across Global Rails
FinScan, Innovative Systems' AML platform, has added real‑time screening for modern payment rails such as IACH and Fedwire ISO 20022, boosting its capacity to process over 100 million transactions daily. The upgrade introduces advanced conditional logic, API‑first data quality tools, and enhanced...
Gallagher Brings Woodruff Sawyer Under Brand in $1.2bn Deal
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has completed the integration of Woodruff Sawyer, fully bringing the specialist broker under the Gallagher brand after a $1.2 billion acquisition. The move adds Woodruff Sawyer’s $268 million pro‑forma revenue and $88 million EBITDAC, along with its 14...
How Invoices Work Step by Step for Freelancers and Small Businesses
Invoicing is a critical financial and branding tool for freelancers and small businesses, turning completed work into a formal payment request and record. A professional invoice includes clear business and client details, a unique number, dates, itemized services, and payment...
IMTF Strengthens ESG Standing with EcoVadis Badge
IMTF has been awarded an EcoVadis ESG badge after its latest sustainability assessment, marking a measurable upgrade in its environmental, social and governance practices. The badge, based on a four‑pillar framework, signals stronger policies, greater transparency and improved internal controls...
Matic and nCino Embed Home Insurance Into Digital Mortgages
Matic and nCino have teamed up to embed a home‑insurance marketplace directly into nCino’s digital mortgage platform. The integration lets borrowers compare and purchase policies from more than 70 carriers without leaving the loan application flow. Lenders gain earlier access...
Orb: The Revolutionary New Human Verification Technology
Tools for Humanity unveiled Orb, a spherical hardware device that scans a user’s iris to create an encrypted IrisCode, which becomes a World ID stored in the World App. The device uses a high‑resolution camera and AI anti‑spoofing to verify...
LAX Signals Infrastructure Preparation for Adaptive Risk Mitigation in Crypto Payments
Crypto payment volumes are rising, prompting LAX to launch an infrastructure preparation initiative focused on adaptive risk mitigation. The program will reinforce LAX’s internal payment architecture to dynamically assess transaction flows, adjust processing in real time, and respond to network...
Crypto Gone? 2026 Blueprint for Blockchain Recovery
The guide outlines a step‑by‑step blueprint for recovering lost or stolen crypto, distinguishing between exchange lockouts, scams, and lost seed phrases. It explains practical actions such as identity verification for exchanges, rapid blockchain tracing for theft, and systematic searches for...
Experience Economy Pushes Payments to $20B Super Bowl Test
The 2026 Super Bowl generated roughly $20.2 billion in experience‑economy spending, spanning tickets, merchandise, streaming and legal wagering. Paysafe’s CEO Bruce Lowthers highlighted the need for payment platforms that can process massive, real‑time transactions across multiple methods without friction. AI‑driven fraud...
As Tax Refunds Tackle Debt, Installment Payments Become a Budget Tool
Tax refunds rose 10.9% to an average $2,290, but tariffs on consumer goods have erased 70‑95% of their purchasing power for most households. The 2024 One Big Beautiful Bill Act expanded tax cuts, yet higher tariffs and price inflation offset...
Nearly Half of Digital Bank Customers Prefer Digital Wallets
A PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,071 U.S. bank customers finds that 44.6% of digital‑bank users prefer paying with digital wallets, outpacing other groups. When paired with discounts and clear buyer protection, 35.4% say they would shift account‑to‑account spending to pay‑by‑bank....