AI Isn't Just Entering Finance. Finance Is Entering AI.
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
There was a time when AI companies mostly looked to Silicon Valley for leadership.
Not anymore.
OpenAI has just appointed David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nubank, and Robin Vince, CEO of BNY, to the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC. One built Latin America's largest digital bank. The other leads one of the world's oldest financial institutions.
That combination says a lot about where AI is heading. It's no longer just about building better models. It's about bringing people into the room who understand financial infrastructure, regulation, governance, and how technology scales across industries that millions rely on every day.
Further down, we'll also look at how Wise started its new financial year with another quarter of strong growth while continuing to lower fees and speed up international transfers. And why banks may never solve APP fraud through customer education alone; the bigger opportunity could be detecting mule accounts and sharing fraud signals before a payment is completed.
Now, let's dive into today's biggest FinTech stories. 👇
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
📰 Incognia: Education campaigns won't stop APP fraud. André Ferraz, Incognia´s CEO, argues that consumer awareness campaigns are necessary but insufficient to prevent authorized push payment (APP) fraud. The company says financial institutions should complement education with real-time behavioral, device, and contextual risk signals to identify scams before fraudulent payments are authorized. Read the full article here
➡️ Unlimit Executives to discuss the infrastructure behind agentic payments. Unlimit Chief Commercial Officer Wolf Ruzicka and Chief Technology Officer Victor Shilo will explore how probabilistic AI is transforming payment routing, foreign exchange, and fraud prevention, as well as the infrastructure needed to enable agentic payments at scale. Request to join here
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇸🇻 Bancoagrícola and Mastercard launched McLaren Formula 1 rewards campaign for Salvadoran cardholders. Running through September 15, the campaign rewards everyday card spending with entries to win a three-day trip to São Paulo, Brazil, while reinforcing Mastercard's strategy of offering exclusive experiences through its global sponsorships.
🌍 Santander will roll out its payments platform Getnet in Europe starting in October. The group, chaired by Ana Botín, will roll out its payments platform in more than 30 European countries where it already holds licenses to focus on large multinationals and e-commerce.
🇺🇸 Apple to launch upgrade device leasing program with Klarna to spur sales. The Apple Upgrade service will work like a subscription, and users can pay off the device early, upgrade early to a new model, or keep it at the end of the leasing period.
🇧🇷 Adyen and TAP modernize payment infrastructure at Brazilian airports with Pix at service counters. The new platform enables passengers to pay with cards, digital wallets, and, for the first time at airport counters, Pix, improving payment flexibility and operational efficiency.
🇧🇷 XP launches payment terminal and card for SMEs and expands its business ecosystem in Brazil. The new products, the XP Empresas Pay payment terminal and the XP Empresas Visa Infinite card, offer a complete financial ecosystem for businesses, integrating investments, current accounts, foreign exchange, payment methods and, in the future, credit.
#FINTECHREPORT
🚨 Wise just posted $714M in net revenue for Q1 FY27.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 Revolut confirms a $115 billion valuation in a secondary share sale, reflecting strong investor demand following the company's expansion and business growth. The transaction gives eligible employees another opportunity to realize liquidity from their shareholdings.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🌎 1inch has integrated Maple Finance's syrupUSDC and syrupUSDT tokens, allowing users to trade tokenized institutional lending positions directly through its dApp and Swap API. The integration expands access to on-chain credit markets while enabling developers and users to swap the assets using 1inch's routing infrastructure across Ethereum, with additional blockchain support.
🇦🇺 OKX launches virtual Mastercard for Australian users. Customers can use the virtual card anywhere Mastercard is accepted. It draws directly from funds held in an OKX Pay wallet, letting users spend the same balance they use for peer-to-peer transfers and USDG rewards.
🌍 Kraken parent expands tokenized stocks to Hong Kong, UK and South Korea equities. The expansion, supported by investment infrastructure provider GTN, is part of Kraken's strategy to broaden access to global tokenized securities and other real-world assets.
PARTNERSHIPS
🌎 Global66 migrated and unified its card operation with Pomelo in Colombia and Chile, enabling faster product launches, card tokenization for Apple Pay and Google Pay, and improved transaction approval and fraud management. The migration supports the continued expansion of Global66's Smart Card across Latin America.
🇿🇦 eZi Remit collaborates with Mastercard to enhance cross-border payments and drive financial inclusion in South Africa. The collaboration is designed to help simplify global money transfers while advancing financial services, particularly for underserved and underbanked communities, as well as major diaspora groups living in the country.
🇬🇧 Zilch partners with Rezolve AI to grow Intelligent Commerce. The partnership aims to strengthen merchant engagement by embedding AI-driven shopping experiences directly into the payment journey. Keep reading
🌍 UnionPay International signs strategic MoUs with the Central Bank of the UAE, Al Etihad Payments, and the Bank of China Abu Dhabi branch to expand Jaywan card acceptance, develop a national QR payment network, and improve cross-border payment interoperability and local-currency settlement between China and the UAE.
🌍 Viva.com becomes a new European Payments Initiative member, expanding instant Account-to-Account payments across Europe. The partnership strengthens Viva. com's pan-European payments infrastructure while accelerating Wero's rollout across e-commerce and future in-store payments.
🇺🇸 zerohash and Marqeta announce partnership to enable stablecoin spending across global card networks. The partnership will enable Marqeta customers to embed stablecoin payments directly into new and existing financial products without rebuilding core systems or taking on new regulatory burden.
🇺🇸 Amazon Business adds Affirm as its first buy now, pay later option at checkout. Amazon Business customers can split the total cost of eligible purchases and pay over time with Affirm without late or hidden fees. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Stripe signs payments agreement with Ryder Cup, providing payment infrastructure for ticketing, merchandise and on-site purchases. The partnership will support a seamless cashless experience for fans across online and in-person transactions.
🇦🇪 Changer. AE and Tether sign MoU. Under the MoU, Changer.ae and Tether aim to evaluate opportunities to introduce regulated USD₮-to-fiat conversion services and explore blockchain-enabled infrastructure designed to improve the efficiency, security, and interoperability of regulated digital asset transactions.
🇪🇬 Egypt and Eswatini central banks deepen cooperation on digital payments and banking. During the meeting, the two sides discussed several topics of common interest, including the experience of the Central Bank of Egypt in the money circulation system, the potential of the money printing house as a leading model, and its role in printing money for the benefit of several countries.
🌎 Relay integrates Circle gateway to settle large USDC payments from a single balance across multiple blockchains, reducing idle capital requirements. The integration enables more capital-efficient on-chain payments while simplifying liquidity management as transaction volumes grow.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇦🇺 Former Rapyd executives raise $8 million Seed with Cordant to solve a hidden problem in global payments. The platform provides end-to-end visibility across payment systems, helping banks and FinTechs manage increasingly complex payment flows, compliance, and operations.
🇺🇸 Canton developer Digital Asset raises additional $10 million at same $2 billion equity valuation. The new investment increases the total size of the company's recent funding round to $365 million, up from $355 million. Read more
🇿🇦 South Africa’s Zazu secures Seed funding from Launch Africa Ventures to scale SME banking platform. The new backing marks the startup’s latest milestone as it works to build out a full finance operating system for entrepreneurs across the continent.
🇺🇸 Parafin closes $300 million forward-flow deal with NY-based alternative asset manager, expanding its funding capacity for embedded finance. The deal follows partnerships with Goldman Sachs, EverBank and First Citizens as the company surpasses 50,000 businesses funded across its lending, BNPL and credit card products.
M&A
🇬🇧 Metro Bank eyes £2bn merger with rival challenger bank Aldermore. Metro Bank is at the early stages of examining whether to make a formal offer for Aldermore, which specialises in mortgages and business lending. Read on
🇪🇸 Contents acquires FinTech Balio to expand enterprise AI in Spain. Balio will use Contents’ AI infrastructure to improve financial wellbeing tools, personalise user experiences, expand multilingual capabilities and support growth beyond the country.
🇮🇩 Bybit acquires Nobi to launch in Indonesia. The latest acquisition aligns with Bybit's regulatory-first international expansion strategy, which prioritises local compliance, licenses, and regulatory engagement ahead of market entry. Continue reading
🌍 Monterro acquires majority stake in Mors Software. The partnership will enable MORS to accelerate its international expansion, particularly in the United Kingdom and across Europe, while investing further in product development and AI capabilities.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 David Vélez and Robin Vince join the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC. The appointments bring leadership experience in financial services, technology and governance to support OpenAI's long-term growth and philanthropic initiatives.
🇦🇪 MEXC hires Binance and Bybit Veteran Robert MacDonald as Compliance Chief. MacDonald will run the exchange's global compliance strategy, governance framework and dealings with regulators, the company said. Read more
🇺🇸 Varo Bank appoints JPMorgan Chase veteran Sean Kelley as Chief Financial Officer as the company advances its path to profitability. Kelley will drive profitable and efficient growth and serve as a key advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors.
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