Fintech Futures

Avantos Raises $25M in Series A Funding Round

New York-based fintech startup Avantos announced a $25 million Series A funding round to accelerate its growth and product development. The round marks a significant milestone for the company as it expands its AI-driven financial services platform.

Tembo Raises over £15m to Accelerate Savings and Mortgage Products

Tembo, a fintech platform focused on savings and mortgage solutions, announced it has secured more than £15 million in funding to expand its product offerings. The capital will be used to accelerate development and growth of its services.

ConnectPay Moves to In-House Core Banking System Mars

ConnectPay announced the deployment of Mars, an in‑house core banking platform designed to replace its previous external provider. The move eliminates the single biggest operational risk for an electronic money institution—dependency on third‑party core systems. By bringing core banking functions...

EToro Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results

BTG Pactual Boosts Retail Strategy with Acquisition of 48% Meutudo Stake

Mynt's Fuse Financing Lands $30m to Scale MSME Support

Boerse Stuttgart Digital and Tradias Plan Merger in Germany

Boerse Stuttgart Digital and Tradias announced plans to merge, forming a new unit within the Boerse Stuttgart Group. The combined entity will be managed by a joint leadership team operating from Frankfurt and Stuttgart. The merger aims to integrate Boerse...

Mynt Secures $30M Fuse Financing to Expand MSME Support

Mynt announced a $30 million Fuse Financing round to scale its support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The new capital will be used to expand its platform, enhance product offerings, and accelerate growth across its fintech services.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital and Tradias Plan Merger in Germany

Boerse Stuttgart Digital and Tradias announced plans to merge, creating a new unit that will operate under the Boerse Stuttgart Group. The combined entity will be led by a joint management team from the two firms, with headquarters in Frankfurt...

BTG Pactual Acquires 48% Stake in Meutudo to Boost Retail Strategy

Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual announced the acquisition of a 48% stake in fintech platform Meutudo, aiming to strengthen its retail strategy. The deal, disclosed on February 17, 2026, expands BTG Pactual’s presence in the consumer finance market.

SME-Focused Zempler Bank Set to Be Acquired by The Access Bank UK

Zempler Bank, a niche lender serving small and medium‑sized enterprises, is being acquired by The Access Bank UK. Both parties announced that regulators have approved the transaction, clearing the final hurdle. The deal is slated to close within the next...

Brite Payments Appoints Robin Paulsson as CFO as Fredrik Strömqvist Departs

Brite Payments announced that Robin Paulsson will assume the role of chief financial officer, succeeding co‑founder Fredrik Strömqvist who is leaving the company. Paulsson brings senior finance experience from a leading Nordic payments platform, while Strömqvist departs after guiding Brite...

Farhan Ahmad Steps Down as PayNet CEO

Farhan Ahmad is stepping down after more than three years as chief executive of PayNet. The fintech firm announced that Praveen Rajan, formerly the chief consumer business officer at CelcomDigi, will assume the CEO role. The leadership transition is positioned...

Array Enhances Embedded Finance Suite with Chimney Acquisition

Array announced the acquisition of fintech startup Chimney, a move aimed at strengthening its embedded finance suite. The deal will integrate Chimney’s consumer‑facing financial decision tools into Array’s existing platform. By combining Chimney’s analytics and recommendation engine with Array’s infrastructure,...

Commonwealth Credit Union Partners Zest AI to Debut CU Lending Collective

Commonwealth Credit Union has announced a partnership with Zest AI to launch the CU Lending Collective, a cooperative credit union service organization (CUSO) focused on AI‑driven lending. The collective will provide smaller credit unions with shared access to Zest AI’s...

Energy One FCU to Integrate Six Appli Financial Calculators Into Its New Site

Energy One Federal Credit Union is embedding six Appli financial calculators into its newly launched website on February 15. The suite includes tools for auto loans, home‑equity lines of credit, mortgages, money‑market accounts, share certificates, and a savings‑goal planner. By...

Ethiopia Launches Instant Payments with BPC

Ethiopia has launched EthioPay-IPS, an instant payment system built on BPC’s SmartVista platform. The service connects banks and payment providers, enabling 24/7 real‑time transfers, QR code payments, alias transfers, and recurring collections. By linking the financial ecosystem, EthioPay-IPS aims to...

HSBC Orion Selected to Pilot UK's Digital Gilt Instrument

HSBC’s Orion platform has been chosen to run the UK’s first digital gilt pilot. The Treasury will use distributed ledger technology to issue and settle sovereign bonds on a test basis. The project aims to assess DLT’s efficiency, transparency and...

The Access Bank UK to Acquire Zempler Bank

The Access Bank UK announced it will acquire Zempler Bank, an SME-focused lender. The transaction has received regulatory approval and is expected to close in the coming weeks.

Array Acquires Chimney to Boost Embedded Finance Suite

Array announced the acquisition of Chimney, aiming to enhance its embedded finance platform with robust consumer-facing financial decision tools. The deal is expected to accelerate Array's ability to deliver comprehensive financial solutions as part of its suite.

Wrisk Acquires Atto for Enhanced Embedded Insurance Offering

Wrisk, the UK‑based embedded insurance platform, announced the acquisition of Edinburgh‑originated financial intelligence firm Atto. While Atto will continue operating as a standalone brand, it will now sit within the Wrisk group. The deal is positioned to blend Atto's data‑driven...

Bretton AI (Formerly Greenlite AI) Raises $75M in Series B Round

AI startup Greenlite AI, now rebranded as Bretton AI, announced a $75 million Series B funding round to accelerate its AI platform development and market expansion.

Waffo Secures Over $15M in Series A Funding to Expand Global Payments Platform

Payments startup Waffo announced it has raised over $15 million in a Series A round to accelerate the expansion of its global payments platform. The funding will support product development and market entry initiatives worldwide.

SiFi Secures $20M Series A to Boost AI-Driven Finance Tools

Fintech startup SiFi announced a $20 million Series A funding round to accelerate development of its AI-driven finance platform. The capital will be used to expand product offerings, enhance AI capabilities, and scale operations.

Momenta Finance Lands £125m Forward Flow Facility to Boost SME Lending

Momenta Finance, a UK‑based fintech lender, secured a £125 million forward‑flow facility to fund additional SME loans. Since its 2013 launch, the company has already disbursed over £250 million to more than 2,500 small and medium‑size enterprises. The new capital line, provided...

Eight Years on, Open Banking Has Become National Infrastructure - the UK Must Now Protect Its Global Advantage

Eight years after its launch, the UK’s open‑banking ecosystem has matured into a national financial infrastructure, supporting more than 16.5 million live user connections and 145 regulated third‑party providers. Open‑banking‑enabled payments surged to almost 34 million transactions in November 2025, signalling mass‑market adoption....

Momenta Finance Secures £125m Forward Flow Facility to Expand SME Lending

UK-based lender Momenta Finance announced it has secured a £125m forward flow facility to support its SME lending operations. Since its launch in 2013, the lender has disbursed over £250m to more than 2,500 small businesses. The new facility will...

Reltio Achieves AWS Financial Services Competency

Reltio, a context‑intelligence platform, earned the Amazon Web Services Financial Services Industry Competency, confirming its secure, compliant data solutions for banks, insurers, and capital‑markets firms. The badge follows prior competencies in Travel & Hospitality and Life Sciences and validates Reltio’s...

TSB Head Marc Armengol Appointed as New Banco Sabadell CEO

Spanish lender Banco Sabadell announced that Marc Armengol, currently head of TSB, will assume the role of chief executive officer in May. He will replace outgoing CEO César González‑Bueno following the bank’s annual shareholders’ meeting. Armengol’s appointment comes as Sabadell...

Fintech for Good: How Interledger Foundation Is Pioneering Open Payments for Global Financial Inclusion

The Interledger Foundation (ILF) is accelerating open, interoperable payments by stewarding the Interledger Protocol (ILP), a TCP/IP‑based system that routes payment packets across disparate financial networks. Established in 2019, ILF combines standards development, grant funding and academic partnerships to lower...

ICE Launches FTSE® South Korea RIC Capped Index Futures

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has introduced the FTSE® South Korea RIC Capped Index Futures (ticker SKO), a CFTC‑approved, USD‑denominated contract developed with FTSE Russell and the Korea Exchange (KRX). The RIC‑capped methodology limits single‑name concentration, aligning with regulatory standards while delivering deep...

Alinea Invest Scores $22.5m in User Acquisition Financing

Alinea Invest secured $22.5 million in user acquisition financing, bolstering its growth engine. The new capital follows a $10.4 million Series A round in 2025 and a $3.4 million seed round earlier in 2024. The financing is targeted at expanding...

Akbank Goes Live on Mambu Core in Germany

Akbank AG, the German subsidiary of Turkey’s Akbank, has gone live with Mambu’s cloud‑native core banking platform on Microsoft Azure. The rollout, executed by Innovance Consultancy with support from Akbank’s AkTech unit, also included a parallel rebuild of the data...

Affirm and Wayfair Expand Partnership to the UK and Canada

Alinea Invest Secures $22.5M User Acquisition Financing

Alinea Invest announced it has secured $22.5 million in user acquisition financing, its latest capital raise following a $10.4 million Series A in 2025 and a $3.4 million seed round in early 2024. The new funding will support the company's...

One Day to Go! Submit Your Nominations for the Banking Tech Awards USA Today

The Banking Tech Awards USA are closing nominations tomorrow, 6 February, with the ceremony slated for 28 May. The awards honor the most innovative solutions shaping the U.S. banking sector, from digital platforms to cybersecurity breakthroughs. Organizers urge firms to...

UK Challenger Tandem Bank Promotes Ryan Heaps to CFO

UK challenger Tandem Bank announced the promotion of Ryan Heaps to chief financial officer. Heaps, who joined after Tandem’s 2022 acquisition of Oplo, has served as deputy CFO since January 2025. The move underscores Tandem’s focus on strengthening its finance...

Exclusive: Veritus Raises $10.1m Seed Funding to Power Voice-First AI Agents for Lenders

Veritus announced a $10.1 million seed round to accelerate its voice‑first AI agents for lenders. The platform delivers omnichannel assistants that plug directly into loan‑origination systems, handling follow‑ups, identity verification, and payment‑plan negotiations. Funding, led by a group of fintech‑focused investors,...

Ravi Pangal Joins IndusInd Bank as New CIO

IndusInd Bank has appointed Ravi Pangal as its new Chief Information Officer. Pangal brings more than three decades of technology leadership experience, most recently serving eight years in senior tech roles at HSBC. His expertise spans digital transformation, cybersecurity, and...

Castles Technology Lands in Turkey Through MTBT Acquisition

Castles Technology, a European fintech firm, entered the Turkish market by acquiring local payments provider MTBT. The deal follows the company’s recent rollout of POS and payment services in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Spain, marking a rapid multi‑country expansion. MTBT’s...

Arcesium Buys Limina to Connect Portfolio Management with Post‑trade Ops

Arcesium announced the acquisition of Limina, a portfolio and order management provider, to fuse its front‑office capabilities with Arcesium's post‑trade platform. The deal will embed Limina's order system directly into Arcesium's accounting and reporting suite, creating a seamless workflow from...

Castles Technology Acquires MTBT to Expand Into Turkey

Castles Technology announced the acquisition of Turkish payments firm MTBT, marking its entry into the Turkish market following recent launches in several European countries.

Veritus Secures $10.1M Seed Funding to Accelerate Voice‑First AI Agents for Lenders

Fintech startup Veritus announced a $10.1 million seed round to expand its omnichannel AI agents that integrate with lenders' platforms for follow‑ups, identity verification, and payment‑plan negotiations. The capital will fuel product development and market rollout, strengthening Veritus' position in...

Arcesium Acquires Limina to Integrate Portfolio Management with Post‑Trade Operations

Arcesium announced the acquisition of Limina, a portfolio and order management platform. The deal will integrate Limina’s front‑office workflow capabilities with Arcesium’s post‑trade accounting and reporting system, enhancing end‑to‑end trade processing for clients. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Columbia Bank Inks $597m Merger with Northfield Bank

Columbia Bank announced a $597 million merger with Northfield Bank. As part of the agreement, Northfield’s chairman, president and CEO Steven Klein will join Columbia as senior executive vice president and chief operating officer. The transaction combines two mid‑size lenders with...

Rebecca Griffin Named New Afin Bank CRO

Afin Bank marks the third financial institution that Griffin has been CRO at during her career.

FCA Unveils First Cohort for UK Government's Scale-Up Initiative

The Financial Conduct Authority announced the inaugural cohort of the UK government's scale‑up programme, selecting six challenger lenders – Allica Bank, ClearBank, Monument Bank, Nottingham Building Society, OakNorth Bank and Zopa Bank. The cohort will receive regulatory guidance, a streamlined...

Aeon Bank Names Yew Jin Kang as New CTO

Aeon Bank announced Yew Jin Kang as its new chief technology officer, marking his return to digital banking after nearly a decade away. Kang previously directed digital banking initiatives at Hong Leong Bank from 2014 to 2016. His appointment underscores...

Columbia Bank to Acquire Northfield Bank in $597M Merger

Columbia Bank announced a $597 million merger with Northfield Bank, with the deal expected to close later this year. As part of the agreement, Northfield Bank's chairman, president and CEO Steven Klein will become senior executive vice president and COO...

BLAQclouds Announces the Successful Live Launch of ApolloCASH

Checkout.com Acquires Blue EMI for Euro Stablecoin Issuance Capabilities

Checkout.com announced the acquisition of Blue EMI, a firm specializing in euro‑denominated stablecoin issuance, to broaden its crypto‑payment offerings. The deal gives Checkout.com immediate access to Blue EMI's technology stack and regulatory licences for issuing digital euros. Simultaneously, Checkout.com will...

Chicago's Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust Closed by State Regulator

Chicago’s Metropolitan Capital Bank & Trust was shut down by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation on Jan. 30, with the FDIC stepping in to oversee the closure. All insured deposit accounts were transferred to First Independence Bank, ensuring...

BNF Bank Migrates to Temenos Transact with Validata’s ConnectIQ

The project has seen the bank replace its legacy Banka 2 core system with Temenos Transact R23 SaaS.

Banking Tech Awards USA 2026 Champions Community Banking

The Banking Tech Awards USA 2026 will be held on May 28 in New York, spotlighting community‑banking innovation. FinTech Futures interviewed judges from Capital One, Wells Fargo, Travis Credit Union and ImpactFI to uncover what makes a solution award‑worthy. The...

ICE’s Environmental Market Trading Reaches Record Highs in 2025

Intercontinental Exchange reported record environmental derivatives trading in 2025. The exchange processed $1 trillion in notional value for the fifth consecutive year, with 20.9 million futures and options contracts—a 4% rise from 2024. Physical delivery of carbon allowances topped $117 billion, and North...

FinTech Futures: Top Five News Stories of the Week – 30 January 2026

FinTech Futures highlighted five major developments this week: Australian digital bank in1bank will cease operations and return deposits by 4 February 2026; Saxo Bank received a DKK 313 million (≈$50 m) fine from the Danish regulator for AML compliance gaps; digital‑asset firm BitGo completed...

Banking Technology Magazine February 2026 Issue Out Now

Banking Technology Magazine has released its February 2026 issue, featuring the cover story “From Chrysalis to Butterfly,” which frames the fintech evolution as a metamorphosis. The issue offers a 2025 fintech trends recap, a forward‑looking feature on page 12, and Dharm Mistry’s...

JP Morgan to Acquire WealthOS to Boost Pensions Offering

JP Morgan announced it will acquire UK‑based wealth‑tech firm WealthOS, a SaaS platform for digital wealth‑management, to enhance its pensions and retirement‑planning services. The terms were not disclosed, and WealthOS’s 60‑person team will join JP Morgan’s International Consumer Banking division.

Flutterwave Acquires Nigerian Open‑banking Provider Mono in $25‑$40M All‑stock Deal

Flutterwave, a US‑based payment‑technology firm, announced the acquisition of African open‑banking infrastructure provider Mono. The all‑stock transaction is valued between $25 million and $40 million, with Mono to continue operating independently. The deal expands Flutterwave’s capabilities in open‑banking and payments across Africa.

CVB Financial Acquires Heritage Commerce in $811M Merger

CVB Financial Corp, the parent of Citizens Business Bank, announced a definitive all‑stock merger with Heritage Commerce Corp valued at approximately $811 million. Under the agreement, CVB Financial shareholders will own about 77% of the combined company, with the transaction slated...

Imprint Raises $150M Series D, Reaches Unicorn Status

Imprint, a New York‑based co‑brand financial platform, announced a $150 million Series D round led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Hedosophia, Spice Capital, Thrive Capital, Ribbit Capital and Timeless, valuing the company at $1.2 billion and achieving unicorn status. The...