FX Hedging Platform Bound Raises $24.5 Million
London‑based Bound, an automated foreign‑exchange hedging platform, closed a $24.5 million Series A round. The capital will fund product development and a push for regulatory authorisation across the European Union. Bound aims to streamline corporate treasury risk management through AI‑driven hedging tools. The financing positions the fintech to compete with legacy banks and emerging rivals in the FX space.
ClearBank Hires Visa's Neil Drennan as CTO
ClearBank has appointed Neil Drennan, former Visa chief technology officer for Cross Border Solutions, as its new chief technology officer. Drennan, who created Visa’s Cloud Centre of Excellence and previously held senior roles at Amazon and 10x Future Technologies, brings...
BIS Project Tests the Limits of Micoservice-Based Settlement Engines
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released findings from Project FuSSE, a proof‑of‑concept that uses a modular microservices architecture for settlement engines. The test demonstrated that the design could handle 10,000 transactions per second without a linear increase in computing...
Figure Partners Moomoo and Keplr to Expand Access to On-Chain Public Equity Network
Figure’s On‑Chain Public Equity Network (OPEN) has added two new partners: moomoo, the first retail brokerage to trade OPEN‑registered equities, and Keplr, the first self‑custodied wallet to hold them. The integrations let investors buy U.S. public stocks on a blockchain,...
From Quantum to Stablecoins: Regulation Predictions for 2026
Finextra’s Predict 2026 special edition examined how regulatory timelines will shape payments and digital assets in 2026, from the final phases of ISO 20022 migration to emerging quantum legislation and the US‑driven stable‑coin push. Dominique Diggs noted that the coexistence period between MT...
BNP Paribas to Power Apple Flexible Finance Account in UK Stores
BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK will underwrite Apple’s new Flexible Finance Account for UK customers, making it available in Apple Stores, online, and via the Apple Store app. The product offers adjustable repayment terms for Apple devices, extending Apple’s existing...
Corpay Sells PayByPhone to Lightyear Capital
Lightyear Capital, a New York‑based private‑equity firm with over $7 billion AUM, has agreed to acquire PayByPhone from Corpay. PayByPhone, a global leader in mobile parking payments, serves more than 1,300 clients and will operate as a stand‑alone business under Lightyear. The...
Core Banking: Why 2026 Will See Progressive Modernisation Soar
The FinextraTV interview with Will Moroney, Temenos’ chief revenue officer, spotlights core‑banking transformation as the defining agenda for 2026. Moroney frames the conversation around three enduring pillars—reliability, adoptability and customer‑centricity—and argues that banks must modernise the underlying core platforms to...
Noah Taps Sumsub for Reusable KYC
Financial infrastructure firm Noah has teamed up with identity‑verification specialist Sumsub to embed a reusable KYC framework across its platform. The integration enables users verified by any of Sumsub’s 4,000+ partner institutions to onboard on Noah‑powered wallets, exchanges and payment...
Vault Selects Thredd as Issuing Processor
Vault Payment Solutions, a leading Australian card‑payments provider, has selected Thredd as its issuing processor to support expansion into new regions on Mastercard’s global network. The partnership will enable Vault to launch prepaid, debit and private‑label card programmes in Australia...
Starling Launches Cash ISA; Revamps Easy Saver
Starling Bank has introduced a Cash ISA that delivers a 2.5% AER and allows unlimited, penalty‑free withdrawals throughout the tax year. The product is available instantly to personal current‑account holders via the Starling app and sits under the Spaces section...
OneDome Raises $25M Pre-Series C
OneDome, a UK‑based housing and fintech platform, announced a $25 million Pre‑Series C round, bringing its total capital raised to $40 million. The financing was led by a mix of existing backers and new strategic investors. OneDome plans to use the funds to...
How Generative AI Is Transforming Fraud Detection in Digital Banking
Generative AI has become central to digital‑banking fraud defenses as AI‑powered scams now account for over half of global fraud incidents. Traditional rule‑based systems struggle with adaptive threats, prompting banks to adopt deep generative models that analyze transaction graphs and...
IG Turns to AI to Transform Marketing Compliance
IG Group has partnered with fintech compliance platform Adclear to embed AI‑driven checks across its UK and Ireland marketing and product content. The technology automatically scans promotions for finprom rule breaches, flagging required edits and accelerating approvals. In the first...
LemFi Goes Live in Asutralia
LemFi, the fintech platform for underserved migrants, has secured AUSTRAC approval to operate as an independent remittance dealer in Australia. The clearance enables the company to launch its fast, low‑cost money‑transfer service to a market where outbound remittances reached $38.2 bn...
I-Exceed Collaborates with Broadcom
i‑exceed Technology Solutions announced a strategic collaboration with Broadcom to run its Appzillon Digital Banking Platform on Broadcom's VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF). The integration leverages VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service to deliver low‑code, microservices‑based banking applications with enhanced agility, scalability, and...
MyTU and Intrepid Fox Team to Bring AI Agents to Business Banking Onboarding
Lithuanian digital bank myTU has partnered with London‑based Intrepid Fox to embed AI‑driven Know Your Business (KYB) agents into its business‑banking onboarding flow across the EEA. The integration replaces manual document checks with automated verification, ownership analysis and risk assessment,...
Innovative Systems Names Ben Sher as Chief Revenue Officer
Innovative Systems has appointed Ben Sher as its new chief revenue officer, based in London. Sher brings over 20 years of fintech and enterprise SaaS experience, most recently leading EMEA sales at SimCorp. He will oversee global revenue strategy, including...
Revolut Business Launches Full-Suite Merchant Acquiring Product in Australia
Revolut Business has introduced a full‑suite merchant acquiring platform in Australia, allowing companies to run payments end‑to‑end on a single system. The service offers 24‑hour settlement, including weekends, and supports fund holding in more than 30 currencies. Merchants can use...
Fintech Founder Charged with Fraud
Kalder’s founder and CEO was indicted by U.S. authorities for allegedly defrauding seed‑round investors of approximately $7 million. The charges allege that the entrepreneur misrepresented the fintech’s financial health and future prospects to secure the capital. Kalder, which offers an embedded...
Bolt Expands App with Embedded Investing Through Atomic
Bolt announced a multi‑year partnership with Atomic to embed investing features within its Bolt SuperApp. The collaboration adds brokerage services, allowing users to open accounts and trade directly from the checkout experience. By integrating investing, Bolt expands its fintech suite...
One Inc Unveils Model Context Protocol to Accelerate Insurance Payments Integration
One Inc, the premier digital payments network for insurers, launched its Model Context Protocol, an AI‑driven framework that streamlines carrier integration. The protocol standardizes payment data structures, enabling faster onboarding and secure, real‑time analytics. By automating data validation and risk...
Visa Acceptance Platform Adds Tap to Pay on iPhone Support
Visa has launched a new software development kit for its Acceptance Platform that enables merchants to offer Tap to Pay contactless payments on iPhone devices. The SDK integrates with Apple’s NFC stack, allowing payments without additional card readers. Visa positions...
AI Fraud Prevention Platform Darwinium Appoints Leadership Team
Darwinium, an AI‑driven cyber‑fraud prevention platform, announced the appointment of a new executive leadership team to accelerate its go‑to‑market strategy. The hires include a CEO with extensive banking‑fraud experience, a CTO specializing in machine‑learning, and two former regulators joining the...
Sumsub Achieves Travel Rule Compliance for Digital Assets with Fireblocks
Sumsub, the global compliance and fraud‑prevention platform, announced a partnership with Fireblocks, a leading digital‑asset infrastructure provider, to deliver end‑to‑end Travel Rule compliance. The integration leverages Fireblocks’ secure custody and transaction network to automatically collect, encrypt, and transmit required originator...
Taurus Selects Capco as Implementation Partner in Europe
Taurus SA, a leading provider of enterprise‑grade digital‑asset infrastructure, announced a strategic partnership with Capco, the global management and technology consultancy owned by Wipro. The alliance designates Capco as Taurus’s implementation partner for its European expansion, leveraging Capco’s consulting depth...
Basware Appoints Chief Marketing Officer
Basware announced the appointment of Kira Mondrus as its new Chief Marketing Officer, joining the executive team reporting to CEO Jason Kurtz. Mondrus brings over 20 years of B2B technology marketing experience, most recently scaling Tricentis from $13 million to more than $500 million in...
Shorooq and PayLater Sign MoU
Shorooq, a multi‑strategy investment firm, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PayLater, Qatar’s first QCB‑licensed Sharia‑compliant Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) provider. The MOU aims to structure a scalable, institutional‑grade credit facility that will fund PayLater’s next growth stage. By combining Shorooq’s...
Oracle Unveils Agentic Platform for Financial Services
Oracle Financial Services announced a new agentic platform that bundles AI‑infused applications, design tools, development frameworks, and pre‑built AI agents for the banking sector. The suite is positioned as an enterprise‑class solution to accelerate digital transformation across retail, corporate, and...
Klarna Backs Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol
Swedish fintech Klarna announced its participation in Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open‑source standard that connects AI agents with commerce systems across the entire shopping journey. The move allows Klarna’s payment and checkout solutions to be accessed directly by...
PayPal Appoints New CEO as Results Disappoint
PayPal announced Peter Lores, a former HP executive, as its new chief executive officer. The leadership change follows a quarterly earnings report that fell short of analysts' forecasts. Board members voiced concern that PayPal is losing ground to Big Tech...
Fingerprint Launches Ecosystem to Identify Authorised Agentic AI on the Web
Fingerprint, known for device‑intelligence fraud solutions, unveiled an AI‑agent ecosystem designed to flag and verify authorised agentic AI on the web. The platform leverages its existing fingerprinting and behavioral analytics to distinguish legitimate AI services from rogue bots. Early adopters...
Incumbents’ Trap
Despite rapid growth, UK neobanks still control a small fraction of primary banking relationships, with incumbents holding roughly 94% of primary accounts. About half of UK adults now maintain at least one neobank account, up from 16% in 2018, and...
Conferma and Mesh Join Forces to Eliminate Fragmented Travel Payments
Conferma, a leader in virtual payment technology for corporate travel, has formed a strategic partnership with Mesh, a recognized travel and expense management innovator. The collaboration will embed Conferma’s virtual card platform directly into Mesh’s T&E solution, creating a unified...
Block Opens European Hub in Dublin
Block Inc., the global technology firm known for its financial services platforms, announced the opening of a new European hub in Dublin. The office will be situated at One Park Place, marking the company’s first dedicated office on the continent....
FuturePay Connects with Paysafe for Latin American Market Entry
FuturePay Global Limited has entered a strategic partnership with payments platform Paysafe to launch its cross‑border payment solutions across Latin America. The alliance leverages Paysafe’s extensive regional network and regulatory expertise, while FuturePay contributes its technology and merchant onboarding capabilities....
PRA and FCA Announce First Scale-Up Unit Cohort
The Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority have unveiled the inaugural cohort of their joint Scale‑up Unit, targeting banks and building societies that serve high‑growth companies. The first group will receive dedicated regulatory liaison, faster decision‑making pathways, and...
Lydian Enables Crypto Acceptance for Fiserv Clover Merchants
Lydian has partnered with Fiserv to integrate crypto and stablecoin payments into Clover point‑of‑sale terminals. The solution will let merchants using Clover accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and major stablecoins alongside traditional card payments. Rollout begins Q3 2024, with Lydian handling compliance...
APP Reimbursement Rates Shoot up to Cover 88% of Claims
UK's Payment Systems Regulator announced that 88% of authorised push payment fraud losses, amounting to £173 million, have been reimbursed to victims. The reimbursement covers the majority of the £197 million total loss reported, signaling a significant recovery for consumers duped into...
Incard Raises £10m to Build 'Financial OS' For Digital Entrepreneurs
British fintech Incard has secured £10 million in a Series A round led by Smartfin to develop a comprehensive financial operating system for high‑growth digital companies. The platform will combine banking, payments, and accounting functionalities into a single API‑driven solution, aiming to...
Varo Raises $123.9m
US digital‑bank Varo announced a $123.9 million Series G round, with Warburg Pincus and Coliseum Capital Management as lead investors. The capital infusion is earmarked for expanding Varo’s product suite, bolstering regulatory compliance, and scaling its loan‑and‑deposit platform. The round underscores Varo’s...
Apax Spins Out Finastra Treasury and Capital Markets Business as Teciem
Apax Partners has completed the spin‑out of Finastra’s Treasury and Capital Markets (TCM) division, launching the new standalone company Teciem. The transaction, announced in May 2025, transfers Finastra’s suite of treasury, risk‑management and capital‑markets software to Apax’s portfolio. Teciem begins...
Building Operational Resilience in a Digital-First Financial Sector
Financial services are now fundamentally digital. Payments, lending, trading, onboarding, fraud d
Deep Dive: Global Payments Merchant Solutions Strategy
Global Payments is reshaping its merchant solutions unit around a three‑pronged architecture that blends integrated payment processing, real‑time data analytics, and value‑added services. The company is accelerating omnichannel capabilities, expanding SaaS‑based pricing, and leveraging AI‑driven fraud tools to capture higher‑margin...
TSB Warns of Spike in Romance Scams
TSB’s latest romance fraud report reveals a sharp rise in financial losses, with money sent to scammers jumping 37 percent over the past year. The bank also recorded a 15 percent increase in the number of reported cases during the...
UK Fintech Startup Novum Scores UK Pension Fund Backing
London‑based fintech Novum Investment Management announced an equity injection from a UK local government pension fund. The capital will be used to launch and scale Doris, the company’s patent‑pending platform that helps savers transition into investors. Doris combines automated portfolio...
From Rails to Reasoning: Stablecoins in the Next Payments Stack
The article argues that stablecoins are transitioning from niche cross‑border use cases to becoming a foundational layer in the broader payments ecosystem. It outlines how new technical standards, such as tokenized rails and on‑chain reasoning protocols, are enabling real‑time settlement...
Revolut's Storonsky Switches Residency Back to UK After Filing Mistake
Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky corrected a Companies House filing that mistakenly listed his residence in the United Arab Emirates, reverting it to the United Kingdom. The error sparked concern among UK regulators, prompting Revolut to provide assurances while the fintech...
Fico and Tech Mahindra Team on AI-Driven Decisioning and Core Banking Transformation
FICO announced a global partnership with Tech Mahindra to create a dedicated Centre of Excellence for the FICO Platform. The CoE will deliver consulting, implementation and managed services that embed AI‑driven decisioning into core banking systems. By combining FICO’s analytics...
AXA Hong Kong and Macau Introduces AI Paltform
AXA Hong Kong and Macau has launched Quest, an AI‑driven platform designed to support its financial consultants. The tool leverages generative AI to deliver clearer, more consistent, insight‑led advice on insurance and wealth products. By integrating real‑time policy data, Quest...