Adyen Is Turning Authentication Into a Conversion Tool
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Authentication is usually the part of checkout nobody wants to think about.
Adyen is trying to change that.
Its upgraded Authenticate product uses machine learning to decide in real time whether a transaction needs authentication, which method to use, and what data is most likely to help the issuer approve it.
Instead of forcing every shopper through the same 3DS flow, Adyen can choose between 3DS, Google SPA, Mastercard and Visa Payment Passkeys, or data-only flows — all through a single integration.
And the early results are interesting: Too Good To Go saw an 11% increase in payment conversion, while Just Eat Takeaway.com reported a 12% increase on eligible traffic.
The bigger idea is simple: authentication doesn’t have to be another obstacle between the shopper and the checkout. If it can become smarter and more contextual, it can actually help payments perform better.
And that matters because payment friction is still directly tied to lost sales. A new ACI Worldwide report on fashion and sportswear found that 39% of shoppers abandon a purchase after a payment failure, while 35% already buy online and collect in-store.
So the checkout battle is increasingly being won or lost in the payment layer.
Let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇
See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
💡 ACI Worldwide: The New Rules of Fashion & Sportswear Payments. A new report based on 3,000 fashion and sportswear shoppers in the US and UK shows how payments are increasingly shaping conversion, loyalty, and revenue. 39% abandon a purchase after a payment failure, while 35% buy online and collect in-store and 55% say stricter return policies would make them shop elsewhere. The report also explores payment preferences, checkout friction, omnichannel shopping, returns, and the growing role of AI — with shoppers showing a clear preference for AI that helps them save money and discover products, rather than making purchases for them. Read the full report here
FINTECH NEWS
🌏 Airwallex, what's new in September: launches T:0, an AI-native accounting platform designed to automate bookkeeping end to end. The tool categorizes transactions, builds custom reports from real-time financials, and tailors accounting around each business profile.
🇳🇱 Adyen launches a major upgrade to Authenticate, its ML-powered authentication module within Adyen Uplift. The upgrade routes each transaction to the best authentication method in real time, in partnership with Google, Mastercard and Visa.
🇺🇸 FinTech pioneer Bill Harris launches Evergreen.ai, an AI-powered financial advice app. Harris, known for co-founding PayPal and Personal Capital, aims to deliver personalized guidance through the new platform.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 GoCardless processes the first agentic A2A payment in the UK. The transaction was completed through an AI agent initiating an account-to-account payment autonomously.
🇬🇧 Mangopay launches Echo to give platforms more control over multi-PSP payment flows. Echo is a payment orchestration layer that lets platforms route, retry and manage transactions across multiple providers. Read more
🇮🇳 PhonePe secures in-principle approval from the Central Bank of UAE, marking its first international footprint. The approval covers Retail Payment Services and Card Schemes plus Stored Value Facilities licenses. PhonePe plans to collaborate with regional banks and local vendors upon final regulatory clearance.
🇸🇰 mBank Slovakia launches BLIK mobile payments for customers, giving users access to BLIK’s mobile payment solution directly through their banking app. The service enables customers to make fast payments using BLIK’s network across online and in-store transactions.
🇺🇸 Ramp launches Ramp Accounts Receivable, a new product to help businesses manage incoming payments alongside spend. The AI tool turns contracts into invoices and matches payments back to the books automatically.
🇺🇸 Moov launches Moov Money, a new P2P solution built on the debit cards Americans already carry. The product lets users send money using existing debit credentials without downloading a new app or creating a separate wallet.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇺🇸 SoFi becomes the first national bank to go live with stablecoin settlement across Mastercard's global payments network, processing real-time transactions for businesses and consumers. The milestone makes SoFi the first U.S. national bank to settle live transactions via stablecoin on Mastercard's infrastructure.
🇬🇧 Klarna adds a free unlimited mobile plan to its app for UK Max members, covering data, calls, texts, and 20GB of global roaming. Comparable unlimited 5G plans from legacy UK networks cost about £40 a month; Klarna Max is £44.99 with cashback, subscriptions, and travel perks included.
🇺🇸 Ally Financial launches Loyally, its first loyalty program designed to replace complex point systems with fee-free rewards. Individual perks are valued at up to $1,000 a year, with VIP experiences reaching up to $10,000.
🇬🇧 Monzo shares insights from the FCA's AI Live Testing programme, detailing how it tested an AI savings assistant under regulatory supervision. The programme combined FCA specialists with technical support from Advai to evaluate real-world AI deployment. Monzo focused on ensuring consistent customer outcomes rather than just helpful answers.
🇲🇽 Klar Empresarial opens a $10M credit line for PFAEs and RESICOs in Mexico. The product targets self-employed individuals and small business owners underserved by traditional banks. Read more
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇪🇺 ECB launches Pontes to link its payment system to blockchain markets. The service lets banks settle tokenized transactions in central bank euros. Deutsche Bank, Santander and Clearstream have completed onboarding, and the ECB will also invest part of its own funds in digital securities.
🇨🇦 Six Canadian banks explore a tokenized CAD deposit solution, aiming to keep Canada's payments infrastructure competitive as digital money evolves globally. BMO, CIBC, NBC, RBC, Scotiabank, and TD are collaborating on the first phase to move tokenized deposits across institutions.
🇬🇧 ClearToken wins Bank of England approval to clear tokenised assets. The authorization allows ClearToken to operate within the UK's Digital Securities Sandbox. The firm will provide clearing services for tokenised securities on a live basis.
🇺🇸 Ondo Finance launches in-kind conversion for tokenized stocks, powered by Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network. Approved institutions can now mint Ondo Stocks tokens by contributing existing shares, or redeem tokens to receive underlying shares directly. Conversions are live on Ethereum and BNB Chain.
STABLECOINS NEWS
🇬🇧 Unlimit brings its Global Accounts business under Stable.com, creating a unified platform for traditional and digital money. The consolidation brings Unlimit’s global accounts and digital-money capabilities together under one platform.
🇬🇧 BVNK adds native Stellar network support, expanding its stablecoin infrastructure across all 130+ supported markets. Stellar processed $55.6 billion in payment volume in 2025, and the integration gives BVNK customers another low cost settlement route via a single API.
🇺🇸 Visa settled $20B in stablecoins and is now running blockchain infrastructure. The payments company joined Circle's Arc L1 as a founding validator alongside BlackRock, DTCC, and Mastercard, marking a shift from using blockchain to operating it.
🇺🇸 Circle launches Bitcoin-backed USDC borrowing for eligible institutional Circle Mint customers. Users deposit BTC, mint cirBTC and borrow USDC through third-party lending markets on Arc or Ethereum. Morpho is the first supported protocol, with Aave expected to follow.
🇺🇸 Anchorage Digital taps LayerZero for stablecoin rails, integrating the cross-chain messaging protocol into its institutional custody and settlement infrastructure. The integration enables stablecoin transfers across multiple blockchain networks for Anchorage Digital's institutional clients.
PARTNERSHIPS
🌏 Solidgate and Airwallex partner to localize acquiring across global high-demand markets. Merchants using Solidgate's orchestration layer can now access Airwallex's local card acquiring without additional integration work.
🇺🇸 ACI Worldwide extends ACI Connetic to support Swift's blockchain-based ledger. The integration lets banks process tokenized deposit payments alongside traditional types using the same infrastructure. Swift's ledger is being piloted by 17 banks across six continents.
🇪🇸 Visa and LaLiga announce an official partnership in MENA, bringing Visa into LaLiga’s commercial ecosystem across the Middle East and North Africa. The partnership will focus on fan engagement and payment experiences across the region.
🌎 Thunes powers J.P. Morgan Payments' Xpedite Remit solution to accelerate global payouts. The collaboration provides access to 12 billion mobile wallets and bank accounts across 100+ corridors via a single connection.
🇺🇸 PayPal partners with Meta on Muse AI shopping across merchants worldwide. PayPal customers can shop and check out using Muse personal AI agents across all PayPal merchants globally.
🇺🇸 Afterpay named Fanatics' preferred BNPL partner, expanding flexible payment options across the digital sports platform. Eligible shoppers can use Pay in 4 and Pay Monthly on Fanatics.com, Lids.com, NBAStore.com, NHLShop.com, and associated partner sites.
🇨🇦 Fiserv expands Clover's footprint in Canadian sports and entertainment, with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers selecting the platform for venue commerce. Clover now supports six of the nine CFL venues across Canada.
🌍 Perk selects Katanox to improve hotel payments and financial infrastructure across its travel and spend platform. Katanox will unify B2B payments, reconciliation, and settlement for hotel bookings across the Perk platform.
🇰🇷 Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank sign an MoU with Fireblocks to explore digital asset infrastructure in Korea. The companies will jointly assess stablecoin distribution frameworks suited to local regulatory requirements. Fireblocks has deployed infrastructure for over 2,500 global institutions including more than 100 banks.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇺🇸 Creatio commits $300 million to its Bank.AI platform, accelerating development of AI capabilities for financial institutions serving retail and commercial banking segments. The investment will expand Bank AI's automation and intelligence features across the platform's core product suite.
🇺🇸 Binance invests $100 million in Circle, expanding their strategic partnership with a new five-year commercial agreement focused on USDC adoption. The equity investment was made via a private placement of Class A common stock at a 5% discount to market price.
🇩🇰 CellPoint secures $34M from Toscafund and appoints new leadership. With the new funding, CellPoint aims to launch Zenith, its AI decisioning platform for airline and hospitality payments.
🇪🇺 Benford raises €5M pre-seed to target Europe's audit market. The round was backed by alumni from Palantir, Goldman Sachs and One Peak. The startup plans to rebuild audit workflows using AI.
🇮🇳 India's Definedge raises $2.3M to scale its wealth-tech platforms. The Pune-based FinTech and brokerage startup will use the funding to expand its trading and investment tools.
🇺🇸 Sela secures $21M as its AI mortgage agents drive over $1B in monthly loan originations, serving lenders across the U.S. residential market. The funding will accelerate deployment of Sela's AI agents across additional lending workflows.
🇬🇧 Promenaut launches with $8.9M in funding and HSBC as a strategic investor, debuting an enterprise agentic workforce platform aimed at financial services. The raise positions Promenaut to scale its agentic workforce technology across institutional clients globally.
M&A
🇳🇬 Kredete acquires Gravv to build agentic stablecoin infrastructure for real-time global money movement. Gravv has processed over $3 billion in annualized volume for 1,000+ businesses across 100+ countries with seven global banking partners.
🇦🇺 Eftsure acquires Relish, creating the global leader in trusted enterprise payments from onboarding to payment. The combined platform protects A$413 billion in payments a year and actively monitors 11 million vendors across 190 countries.
🇰🇪 Luno acquires GTXN Kenya, expanding its regulated presence in East Africa's growing crypto market. The acquisition strengthens Luno's local infrastructure and compliance footprint in Kenya.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
🇦🇪 Visa appoints Mario Makary as VP and Country Manager for the UAE. Makary brings over 12 years of Visa experience across Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and the wider Levant. He will lead market strategy and deepen engagement with clients and regulators in one of the world's most dynamic payments markets.
🇳🇱 Niclas Neglén to join Adyen as new Chief Financial Officer, bringing senior financial leadership experience to one of the world's leading global payments companies. Neglén steps into the CFO role as Adyen continues to scale its enterprise and platform business across international markets. Read more
🇮🇪 Monzo's EU CEO Michael Carney to leave the neobank five months after its Irish launch. Carney plans to launch a new startup using AI and robotics to support people living with disabilities.
Trusted reach among senior decision-makers in FinTech, Payments & Banking.
👉 Explore Partnership here
Comments ()