
The Brink's Company announced a cash-and-stock acquisition of NCR Atleos for $6.6 billion, creating a leading financial‑technology infrastructure firm. The definitive agreement was signed on Feb. 26, 2026, with closing expected in the first quarter of 2027. The combined entity will generate about $10 billion in revenue and target $200 million in annual synergies.

Bedrock Robotics announced a $270 million fundraising round to expand its AI-driven autonomous construction equipment, aiming to address labor shortages and improve safety. The capital will be used to retrofit traditional machinery with AI systems for earthwork tasks. The raise...

Equal Parts, a platform that acquires independent insurance agencies, announced a $23 million Series A round led by Inspired Capital. The funding will fuel its growth network, supporting plans to acquire 25 agencies this year and target $1 billion in premiums within two...

Brazilian fintech Agibank announced on Feb. 10 that it is reducing its U.S. IPO size from 43.6 million to 20 million shares and lowering the price range to $12‑$13, down from $15‑$18. The adjustment follows a 20% decline in competitor PicPay’s shares after...

Creator-driven platform Beast Industries announced the acquisition of financial‑literacy app Step on Feb. 9, 2026. The deal combines Step’s technology and 7 million‑user base with Beast Industries’ audience reach to deliver financial wellness solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

U.K. banking group NatWest announced it will acquire wealth manager Evelyn Partners for about $3.6 billion (£2.7 billion). The acquisition, disclosed on Feb. 9, 2026, aims to expand NatWest's savings and investment services. Evelyn Partners is being bought from private-equity...

Databricks announced a $7 billion financing round on Feb 7, 2026, comprising $5 billion in equity and $2 billion in debt, lifting its valuation to $134 billion. The capital will be used to expand its Lakebase serverless Postgres database for AI agents and its Genie conversational...

Resolve AI announced a $125 million Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, taking its total funding above $150 million and valuing the startup at $1 billion. The capital will accelerate development of its AI agents that act as site‑reliability engineers, helping enterprises...

Boston-based fintech EnFi announced a $15 million fundraising round led by Fintop, with participation from Patriot Financial Partners, Commerce Ventures, Unusual Ventures and Boston Seed Capital. The capital will be used to deploy AI agents that automate credit analysis and...

Experian announced it will acquire Own Up, an AI-powered mortgage shopping platform, to expand its mortgage offerings within the Experian Marketplace. The acquisition was announced in a Feb. 3 press release and is expected to close within 90 days pending...

Google-owned autonomous vehicle startup Waymo is close to finalizing a $16 billion funding round that would value the company at $110 billion. Google will contribute more than 75% of the capital, and the round is reported to be three times oversubscribed, underscoring...

Varo Bank, the all‑digital nationally chartered bank, announced a $123.9 million Series G round led by existing investor Warburg Pincus and new investor Coliseum Capital Management. The funding will support Varo’s next growth phase, including expansion of its AI‑driven lending products. The round...

Fifth Third Bancorp and Comerica Incorporated closed their merger on Feb. 2, creating a $294 billion institution that becomes the ninth‑largest U.S. bank. The deal combines Fifth Third’s consumer digital platform with Comerica’s commercial franchise, expanding digital banking and embedded‑finance capabilities across...

TransUnion announced a definitive agreement to acquire the mobile division of RealNetworks, aiming to boost its communications solutions and fraud‑prevention portfolio. The deal, disclosed in a Feb. 2 press release, will bring AI, machine‑learning and real‑time analytics capabilities to TransUnion, with...

Loop AI announced a $14 million Series A round led by Nyca Partners to expand its AI-driven platform for restaurant and retail back offices. The funding will be used to broaden its product suite and increase headcount, as detailed in...

LendingClub posted a 40% YoY jump in Q4 loan originations to $2.6 billion, driven by strong uptake of its LevelUp savings and checking products. LevelUp checking accounts now have 60% of new users who are existing personal‑loan borrowers, and total deposits...

German prosecutors and the Federal Criminal Police raided Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt and Berlin offices on Jan. 28, targeting unnamed staff linked to foreign entities suspected of facilitating money‑laundering. The investigation focuses on business relationships the bank maintained with overseas companies....

Dynamic interchange is replacing static rate tables, with Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program (CEDP) tying fees to real‑time transaction data. Verified commercial card transactions receive a 10‑15 basis‑point reduction, while unverified ones can incur up to a 75‑basis‑point surcharge. The...

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said digital platforms are central to the company’s turnaround, emphasizing the progress of the "Back to Starbucks" plan. In Q1 FY2026, global comparable store sales rose 4%, with U.S. comparable transactions up 3%—the first increase in...

Credibly announced a newly issued patent that embeds AI deep into its SMB financing platform, automating affordability evaluation, offer structuring, and complex underwriting workflows at scale. The patent bolsters the company’s intellectual‑property portfolio and signals a shift from experimental add‑ons...

Mastercard has launched the “BIN Sponsor Plus” accreditation framework to streamline market entry for UK fintech startups. The program connects fintechs with a vetted network of banks that can provide rapid card‑program launches while meeting heightened due‑diligence and training standards....

Post‑purchase installment plans are moving from niche checkout features into mainstream payment flows, blurring the line between banks and buy‑now‑pay‑later (BNPL) providers. Fiserv teamed with Affirm to embed BNPL options directly into debit card programs, while Walmart‑backed OnePay partnered with...

Online shopping in Latin America is expanding 1.5 times faster than the rest of the world, according to data from Endeavor and MercadoLibre. The region’s e‑commerce market is projected to hit $215.31 billion this year, with Argentina, Brazil and Mexico accounting...

Enova reported fourth‑quarter originations of $2.3 billion, a 32% year‑over‑year increase, pushing its portfolio to a record $4.9 billion. Small‑business loans drove 68% of the portfolio, with originations up 48% to $1.6 billion and revenue climbing 34% to $383 million. The company highlighted an...

Anthropic is on the brink of closing a $20 billion fundraising round that would lift its valuation to $350 billion, after investor demand reportedly surged to six times initial expectations. The deal is distinct from a prior $15 billion commitment from Microsoft and...

Nuvei announced a partnership with WEX to embed virtual‑card technology into its travel merchant network. The integration lets agencies, airlines and hospitality brands issue single‑use cards directly from settlement flows, improving cash‑flow visibility and reducing reliance on external credit. By...

Crypto payments network Mesh raised a $75 million Series round that lifts its valuation to $1 billion. The capital will fund global expansion into Asia, Europe and Latin America as the firm courts fintech clients. Mesh’s platform, likened to Plaid, links consumer...

Congress reintroduced the Unsubscribe Act (H.R. 7048) on Jan. 13, aiming to curb deceptive subscription practices by requiring clear consent, easy cancellation, and regular notifications. The bill mirrors the FTC’s stalled click‑to‑cancel rule, which a federal court invalidated earlier this year...

UPS announced the completion of its strategic reduction of low‑margin Amazon package volume, cutting it by more than 50% as part of a multi‑year margin‑focused plan. The carrier is redirecting growth toward higher‑margin segments such as healthcare, small‑and‑medium‑business, automotive and...

Ohio-based Kemba Credit Union, with 14 branches in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, has selected Velera to provide debit and credit card processing services beginning in August. Velera, a credit union service organization serving more than 4,000 financial institutions across North...

Visa is urging banks to move beyond credit‑card‑centric loyalty programs toward contextual, data‑driven rewards. Margin pressure on interchange fees and the proliferation of consumer loyalty accounts are forcing banks to seek new funding sources, such as merchant‑backed offers. Visa’s suite...

CFOs are accelerating payment modernization as AI becomes mainstream, according to Boost Payment Solutions founder Dean Leavitt. The COVID‑19 pandemic forced a rapid shift from checks and wires to digital platforms, boosting transaction volumes and highlighting the need for flexible,...

A new PYMNTS Intelligence study of 3,196 U.S. consumers finds that influencers act more as discovery catalysts than direct sales drivers. While 56% of shoppers purchase an influencer‑recommended item at least once a year, 95% conduct additional research before checkout,...

Crypto payments network Mesh announced a $75 million funding round that values the company at $1 billion. The round was led by Dragonfly Capital and will fund Mesh’s expansion into Asian, European and Latin American FinTech markets. The company previously raised...

Anthropic, the AI startup, is close to finalizing a new fundraising round that would raise $20B and value the company at $350B, according to the Financial Times on Jan. 27, 2026. The round follows a $13B Series F raise in...

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation fined Bank of Scotland £160,000 for processing 24 payments linked to a Russian‑designated individual. The breach stemmed from a misspelled name that escaped the bank’s screening system and a manual review error that mis‑identified...

Equifax launched Income Confirm, a service that bundles verified employment and income information with its traditional consumer credit reports. The product pulls data from The Work Number and the recently acquired Vault Verify, delivering details such as employee name, Social...

Float Financial, a Canada‑based business finance platform, announced C$100 million (≈US$73 million) in new debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank, First Citizens and a tier‑1 Canadian bank. The facilities allow Float to continue offering up to 4 % interest on business accounts—the highest...

The article warns of a brewing standards war as major players roll out new protocols to unify identity, data, and payments. Google’s Agentic Unified Commerce Protocol (UCP) and Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), the industry‑wide ISO 20022 upgrade, and Visa’s Commerce Enablement...

MIT researchers challenge the assumption that more data always improves AI decisions. They propose a framework that identifies the minimal dataset needed to guarantee an optimal decision under uncertainty, and an algorithm that tests whether additional data could change the...

Chainalysis reports illicit crypto transactions reached $154 billion in 2025, a 160% jump from the prior year. The surge stems largely from nation‑state actors, especially Russia, leveraging a ruble‑backed stablecoin (A7A5) to bypass sanctions. Stablecoins now represent roughly 60% of illicit...

Uber and DoorDash lost a federal bid to block New York City’s new tipping law, which forces delivery apps to present a tip option and a suggested minimum of 10% at checkout. U.S. District Judge George Daniels rejected the companies’...

Wearable devices are rapidly becoming the primary human‑computer interface, with IDC reporting 136.5 million units shipped in Q2 2025, a 9.6 % YoY rise. Apple is developing an AI‑enabled wearable pin—featuring cameras, microphones, a speaker and wireless charging—aimed for a 2027 release, signaling...

The U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge that Live Nation has been pressuring venues to keep Ticketmaster as their ticketing platform, using the threat of withdrawing concerts as leverage. The DOJ cites eight alleged incidents over the past 15...

Saks Global’s eCommerce arm, Saks OFF 5th Digital, received court approval to hire a liquidator and sell its remaining inventory while the parent company remains in Chapter 11. The liquidation order applies only to the online unit; the company’s brick‑and‑mortar...

KeyBank is leveraging conversational AI to dramatically lower call‑center expenses, with AI‑handled interactions costing about $0.25 versus $9 for human agents. The bank reports roughly $100 million in annual savings and has boosted its technology budget to about $1 billion to support...

Equifax unveiled Synthetic Identity Risk, an AI‑driven solution that flags synthetic identity fraud using machine‑learning analysis of identity data, credit histories, and behavioral signals. The tool can be deployed at account opening or continuously for ongoing monitoring, enabling lenders to...

The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment index rose to 56.4 in January, up from 52.9 in December, driven mainly by a modest easing of inflation expectations that fell to 4.0%. Despite the monthly gain, sentiment remains over 20% below its...

TikTok and its parent ByteDance have signed agreements with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX to create a new TikTok U.S. joint venture, slated to close on Jan. 22, 2026. The partnership will secure TikTok’s continued operations in the United States and...

India’s largest digital payments firm PhonePe, backed by Walmart, has received SEBI approval for its upcoming Indian IPO. The offering could raise up to $1.5 billion, valuing the company at roughly $15 billion, with existing shareholders Walmart, Microsoft and Tiger Global expected...

BlackRock announced that its AI partnership with Microsoft has raised $12.5 billion, bringing the collaboration closer to its $30 billion target. The partnership, which also includes Nvidia, xAi and UAE‑based MGX, aims to fund data‑center infrastructure for AI workloads. The capital raise...

Anthropic announced plans to raise $10 billion in a new funding round that would value the AI startup at $350 billion, nearly double its September 2025 valuation. The round is separate from its partnership with Microsoft and Nvidia, who have pledged a combined...

Consumer payments platform Zilch announced plans to acquire Lithuanian challenger bank Fjord Bank, securing a European banking licence and establishing a new headquarters in Lithuania. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory...

Ripple’s GTreasury announced the acquisition of Solvexia, a no‑code financial automation platform, to broaden its treasury management suite with end‑to‑end reconciliation and regulatory reporting. The deal, disclosed on Jan. 6 2026, adds analytics and compliance tools for both fiat and digital‑asset transactions....