UK Fintech Permutable AI Expands Into Asia Pacific
Permutable AI, a specialist in AI‑driven macro and commodities intelligence, announced its expansion into the Asia‑Pacific region. The move responds to rising demand from institutional investors for real‑time, granular insight into regional economic and commodity developments. By establishing a local presence, the firm aims to deliver faster data feeds and tailored analytics for APAC markets. The expansion positions Permutable AI to capture a growing slice of the global institutional research spend.
BMLL Names Karen King as Head of Sales in Apac
BMLL, the leading independent provider of harmonised historical Level 3 data and analytics, announced Karen King as its new Head of Sales for the Asia‑Pacific region. The appointment aims to accelerate BMLL’s market penetration across China, Japan, Singapore and Australia. King...
Smart Payment Technologies Partners with Castles Technology to Strengthen Global Payments
Smart Payment Technologies (SPT) has announced a partnership with Castles Technology to upgrade its G8 payment gateway. The collaboration will embed Castles' cutting‑edge hardware platforms into SPT's existing software stack, creating a unified payment ecosystem. By merging hardware and software...
SmartSearch Boosts Digital Compliance Business Through Credas Acquisition
SmartSearch, a UK‑based digital compliance and anti‑money‑laundering specialist, has acquired identity verification firm Credas Technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition integrates Credas’ KYC and identity‑check capabilities into SmartSearch’s platform, creating a more comprehensive compliance offering. It bolsters SmartSearch’s...
Crypto Invoicing Is Reshaping Global E-Commerce Payments in 2026
Crypto invoicing, powered by stablecoins, is moving from niche to mainstream as e‑commerce grapples with shrinking margins and costly cross‑border payments. Merchants can issue fiat‑priced invoices and receive USDT or USDC, cutting settlement times from days to minutes and eliminating...
Commercial Banking in Transition: What Are the Key Opportunities in 2026?
The article outlines how shifting client expectations, fintech and neobank competition, and the rise of digital‑based currencies are reshaping commercial banking in 2026. Clients now prioritize cost‑efficiency, seamless integration, and faster payments, forcing banks to modernize legacy platforms. Partnerships with...
PREDICT: Asia’s Fintech Stack: Engineering Impact Amid Rising Financial Crime Risks
Asia’s fintech sector is evolving into a high‑velocity innovation hub, yet it faces a surge in sophisticated financial crime such as pig‑butchering and coercive fraud schemes. Providers are deploying AI‑driven risk engines, blockchain‑based identity frameworks, and secure API layers to...
Boost Security without Breaking UX: Smarter Authentication Against AI Threats
Financial institutions are confronting a surge of AI‑generated fraud—deepfakes, synthetic identities, and generative‑AI social engineering—that now infiltrates authentication and account‑change journeys. To protect high‑risk moments without sacrificing conversion, banks are modernising authentication with biometric and NFC‑enabled “smart friction” and real‑time...
Beyond the Hype: Practical AI for Smarter Payment Exception Handling
Global payment volumes are projected to climb from $195 trillion in 2024 to $320 trillion by 2032, putting pressure on banks to streamline exception handling. Leading financial institutions are adopting design‑time intelligence that can pre‑emptively resolve up to 90% of payment exceptions,...
PREDICT 2026: Finextra’s US Regulation Pulse Check 2026
How are institutions navigating the evolving US regulatory landscape?
Banking on Stablecoins: Accelerating Cross-Border Payments in the US, UK and Europe
Regulatory frameworks for stablecoins are diverging in the US, UK and Europe, with the US GENIUS Act, the UK FCA’s evolving guidance, and the EU’s MiCA regulation shaping the rules banks must follow. Banks are testing stablecoins to accelerate cross‑border...
Payments Modernisation: How PSPs and Acquirers Are Accelerating Global Merchant Growth
Payment service providers, acquirers and fintechs are positioning themselves as growth engines for global merchants by delivering more than basic transaction processing. They are building connected ecosystems that combine local, global and alternative payment methods—including stablecoins—with plug‑ins to major e‑commerce...
From Obligation to Opportunity: Making Payments Modernisation Work
Banks face a perfect storm as legacy payments infrastructure collides with relentless regulatory and technological change. RedCompass Labs research shows 83% of modernization programs exceed budget and 87% run past schedule, sometimes causing outages. The article outlines four core challenges—continuous...
PREDICT 2026: New Financial Fabric - Digital Assets, Smart Infrastructure, Global Resilience
The PREDICT 2026 webinar highlighted how banks are integrating blockchain, AI and quantum computing to modernise transaction banking and bridge traditional finance with decentralized platforms. Central banks are piloting CBDCs and tokenised assets, seeking policy frameworks that preserve monetary stability while...
CaixaBank Creates Artificial Intelligence Office
CaixaBank has launched an Artificial Intelligence Office to oversee AI initiatives. The office will ensure AI projects comply with regulations, ethical standards, and deliver business value. As part of its 2025‑2027 strategic plan, the bank assembled a multidisciplinary team of...
Encompass Forms Executive Advisory Board to Drive Innovation
Encompass Corporation has launched an Executive Advisory Board (EAB) to steer its global corporate digital identity (CDI) strategy and accelerate innovation in KYC solutions. Chaired by Doris Honold, the board brings together former senior leaders from JP Morgan, HSBC, Standard Chartered...
Rimes Names Ex-Snowflake, FactSet Exec as CRO
Rimes announced Kieran Kennedy as its new Chief Revenue Officer, bringing over three decades of leadership in financial data, cloud platforms, and institutional investment workflows. Kennedy most recently oversaw Snowflake's data cloud partnerships, generating more than $1.2 billion in annual revenue,...
Capitolis Appoints Roy Saadon as Head of Market Development, Portfolio Optimisation
Capitolis has appointed Roy Saadon as Head of Market Development for its Portfolio Optimisation unit, based in London. Saadon brings 25 years of technology and financial‑services experience, including co‑founding Access Fintech and Traiana. He will drive product adoption, expand the client network, and...
Singapore Jails Two for Falsifying Accounts Linked to Wirecard
A Singapore court sentenced two men for falsifying escrow account confirmations linked to Wirecard, involving over €1 billion. Director R Shanmugaratnam received a 10‑year term, while British national James Henry O’Sullivan was sentenced to six and a half years. Between 2016 and...
Top 5 Prediction Market Platforms To Keep An Eye On in 2026
Prediction markets have evolved into multi‑billion‑dollar ecosystems, offering real‑time insight on events from elections to interest rates. In 2026 the sector is dominated by five platforms—Polymarket, Pariflow, Kalshi, PredictIt and Manifold—each catering to distinct trader profiles. Polymarket provides unmatched liquidity,...
Yuze and Zand Join Forces to Provide SMEs with Digital Business Accounts
Yuze, an AI‑enabled digital business banking platform, has teamed up with Zand, a UAE‑based AI and blockchain‑powered digital bank, to launch digital business accounts for eligible SMEs, startups, and entrepreneurs. The joint offering provides fast onboarding, an IBAN account, and...
Pluto Launches AI-Powered Lending Platform to Unlock Liquidity in Private Markets
Pluto Financial Technologies announced an AI‑powered lending platform backed by $8.6 million in seed funding. The flagship Wealth Equity Line of Credit (WELOC) lets high‑net‑worth investors borrow against private‑equity, venture and other alternative assets without selling or paying monthly interest. Distribution...
Citi Signs with CredAble for White Label Trade Finance Verification Package
Citi has partnered with fintech CredAble to launch a white‑label trade‑finance verification platform. The solution digitises invoice validation, cross‑checking more than ten critical fields against government‑backed digital infrastructure. By automating verification, it reduces exceptions, cuts manual follow‑ups, and accelerates capital...
Cash Withdrawals Rise for Fourth Year in a Row
UK ATM cash withdrawals reached a record £4.2 billion in 2025, surpassing the 2017 peak of £4 billion. Nationwide reported 34.7 million withdrawals, a 6% rise from 2024, with the average transaction climbing to £120. The growth occurs alongside a wave of bank‑branch...
StoneX Secures MiCA Authorisation
StoneX Group announced that its digital arm, StoneX Digital, has received a Crypto‑Asset Service Provider licence under the EU’s Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA) from the Central Bank of Ireland. The CASP authorisation allows the firm to offer regulated execution...
Broadridge Completes Acquisition of Acolin
Broadridge Financial Solutions has finalized its purchase of Zurich‑based Acolin, a European specialist in cross‑border fund distribution and regulatory services. The deal gives Broadridge access to more than 3,000 distributors across 30+ countries and over 350 existing clients. By integrating...
Revolut, Wise and Bits Join the European Payment Council
The European Payments Council (EPC) announced that Revolut Bank, Wise and Bits became members on 1 January, raising the council’s total to 83 payment service providers and associations. The EPC positions itself as the key scheme manager for European account‑to‑account (A2A)...
Sagent Appoints Chris Marshall as CEO
Sagent announced that board chairman Chris Marshall will assume the role of chief executive officer on January 5, while retaining his board seat. Current CEO Geno Paluso will transition to vice‑chairman and serve as senior advisor during the handover. Marshall brings extensive mortgage‑banking...
VoPay Establishes Global Headquarters in Qatar
VoPay International Inc. announced that it will locate its global headquarters in Doha, Qatar, positioning the Gulf state as the central hub for its fintech infrastructure platform. The move supports VoPay’s strategy to modernize financial systems across the Middle East,...
Nigeria's Sterling Bank Joins Thunes’ Direct Global Network
Sterling Bank has joined Thunes’ Direct Global Network to offer Nigerians abroad faster, more transparent cross‑border payments. The partnership leverages Thunes’ infrastructure to roll out instant transfers across multiple European markets, serving an estimated 17 million Nigerian diaspora. Existing and new...
GTreasury Acquires Solvexia
Ripple-owned GTreasury has acquired Solvexia, a data‑driven reconciliation and compliance software provider, to extend its treasury management platform. The integration will automate reconciliation and regulatory reporting across fiat and digital‑asset transactions, replacing manual spreadsheet processes that heighten fraud and audit...
Self-Hosted AI in Banking: Lessons From HSBC’s Partnership with Mistral AI
HSBC announced a multi‑year partnership with French generative‑AI specialist Mistral AI to run self‑hosted AI models inside its own secure infrastructure. By keeping the models on‑premise, the bank meets stringent data‑sovereignty and audit requirements across multiple jurisdictions. The collaboration immediately...
The Next Era of Financial Services: A Dual Bet on Quantum and AI
Financial institutions are moving quantum computing and generative AI from experimental projects to core capabilities. In September 2025 HSBC and IBM completed a quantum‑enabled bond‑trading trial that lifted prediction accuracy by up to 34 percent, while a December 2025 partnership...
Deep Dive: Mastercard’s Value-Added Services And Solutions
In recent years, Mastercard’s Value-Added Services & Solutions (VAS) segment has emerged as a k...
2026: The Year Infrastructure Replaced Imagination
By 2026, gaming, stablecoins, immersive technology, tokenized finance and digital identity have moved from hype to the backbone of the global economy. Gaming now supplies verifiable skill data that employers value, while stablecoins settle tens of billions of dollars each...
2025 EBA-ECB Payment Fraud Report: Key Insights and Takeaways for Fintechs and PSPs
The 2025 EBA‑ECB report shows European payment fraud losses jumped to €4.2 billion in 2024, a 17 % increase despite a stable fraud‑rate of 0.002 % of transaction value. Remote, digital channels drove the surge, with credit‑transfer fraud reaching €2.5 billion and APP scams...
Enterprise-Grade AI in Financial Services: When Intelligence Meets Irreversibility
Financial institutions boast cutting‑edge analytics—real‑time fraud scoring, alternative‑data credit underwriting, and microsecond trading—but the introduction of generative AI has sparked a stark hesitation. Large language models (LLMs) are probabilistic, producing fluent yet often inaccurate outputs that clash with finance’s deterministic,...