FinTech Keeps Winning in Sports
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
You know I’ve got a soft spot for sports, so when it meets FinTech, I can’t help but share. A few weeks ago, Airwallex joined forces with Arsenal. This week, Bitpanda kicked off its UK market entry with the club as well, and Sokin, one of my portfolio companies, partnered with Manchester United.
From Revolut’s laps in F1 to Nubank’s miles in cycling, and now these football partnerships, the FinTech-sports connection is picking up speed (and getting more exciting by the week!).
And that’s just the kick-off, scroll down for the full line-up of today’s FinTech stories.
See you Monday!
Cheers,
FEATURED NEWS
📈 dLocal Reports Record Growth and Product Innovation in Q2 2025.
FINTECH NEWS
🇺🇸 Leadership in FinTech Innovation with BVNK and Lead. BVNK’s Chris Harmse interviewed Jacqueline Reses, CEO of Lead. The conversation covered key topics, including the challenges of banking crypto amid regulatory uncertainty, the impact of the GENIUS Act, and her vision for building the kind of bank she once wished had existed during her time at Square.
🇰🇷 Toss posts 35% revenue growth in the first half of 2025. "Increased service usage from our strong 30 million user base, along with improved profitability in our core business segments, has driven overall performance growth," the FinTech firm stated.
🇪🇬 Valu’s revenue rises 94% YoY to $53.8 million in H1 2025, with over $7 million in net income. GMV for the quarter stood at EGP 5.21 billion, while transactions reached 1.89 million, demonstrating ongoing operational scale and customer engagement.
🇸🇪 Klarna’s quarterly losses more than double amid IPO speculation. According to the results release, Klarna is making a pre-tax loss of $46m for the second quarter of this year, compared to $19m in the same time period last year. Revenue grew from $497m in Q2 2024 to $604m in Q2 2025.
FINTECH RUNNING CLUB
🇲🇽 Meet our CDMX host: Gabo Contreras! Discover where you can network & run at the same time here!
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 Payment orchestration platforms: When do you need them? By Solidgate. In this article, Solidgate breaks down how payment orchestration platforms (POPs) solve problems and why it has become the technology of choice for most high-growth digital merchants. Read the full article here
🇳🇱 Adyen tanks €9 billion in market value wiped out in a single morning 🤯
🌏 Visa expands click-to-pay across Asia Pacific with 2C2P, Adyen, AsiaPay, and Worldpay. By allowing customers to retrieve their saved, tokenised payment details using a mobile number or email alias, Click to Pay eliminates the need to enter card information manually.
🇬🇧 Verto unveils revolutionary accounts payable solution to simplify international payments. The feature directly addresses the inefficiencies and risks inherent in manual invoice processing, enabling finance teams to streamline operations and enhance financial controls.
🇮🇳 PhonePe tops UPI in July with 8.93 bn transactions and 46% market share. PhonePe’s total value processed stood at ₹12.20 trillion, followed by Google Pay’s ₹8.91 trillion and Paytm’s ₹1.43 trillion. Its market share by volume was 45.88% in July, while its closest competitor, Google Pay, cornered 35.56%.
OPEN BANKING NEWS
🇪🇬 HSBC Egypt launches Treasury APIs for real-time access to award-winning cash management services. The service allows corporate clients to integrate directly with the bank’s treasury and payment systems, providing real-time access to HSBC’s full suite of cash management solutions.
REGTECH NEWS
🇵🇭 Philippine central bank orders e-wallets to drop gambling links. Financial firms have 48 hours to take down icons redirecting to Internet betting, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor. Senators are tackling proposals to either restrict or ban online gambling amid concerns over debt and addiction.
🌎 Google Play clarifies crypto wallet policy, exempts non-custodial apps from licensing rules. Starting October 29, 2025, any wallet app that holds and manages user funds will be required to obtain the appropriate licenses for operation in more than 15 jurisdictions, including the United States and the European Union.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇮🇳 PSU banks to hold majority in digital payment intel body. DPIP aims to enhance fraud risk management through real-time intelligence sharing and prevent fraudulent transactions. A committee comprising public and private banks, MeitY, and the RBI will finalize the structure, ensuring representation from FinTech companies and payment banks.
🇨🇳 Standard Chartered Hong Kong launches SC Invest platform. The platform simplifies the fund investment process, offering four foundational portfolios curated by the Bank’s Chief Investment Office. It features low investment entry thresholds and zero fees.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 ARK Invest scoops $172M in Bullish shares as stock soars 84% on debut. According to trade notifications, the ARK Innovation ETF acquired 1,714,522 shares, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF added 545,416 shares, and the ARK FinTech Innovation ETF purchased 272,755 shares. At Bullish’s $68 closing price, the combined purchases were worth about $172 million.
🇺🇸 Coinbase revives stablecoin bootstrap fund to boost USDC in DeFi. Coinbase said its first placements will provide USDC liquidity into Ethereum-based lenders Aave and Morpho, and Solana-based trading platforms Kamino and Jupiter. Keep reading
🇬🇧 Binance Earn Suite is back for UK professional clients. This allows Binance to again offer products including Simple Earn, Liquid Staking, Crypto Loans, RWUSD, Super Earn, On-Chain Yields, and Soft Staking to eligible high-net-worth companies, investment professionals, and other exempt categories.
🇬🇧 Bitpanda launches largest crypto offering in the UK. With over 7 million users across Europe, Bitpanda aims to make cryptocurrency more curated, accessible, and secure for UK users. Continue reading
🇵🇰 Pakistan teams up with Japan to develop a CBDC framework. This partnership is viewed as a strategic effort to integrate advanced digital financial solutions into Pakistan’s existing economic structure, enhancing efficiency and competitiveness in an increasingly digitized global market.
🇸🇰 Remittix Web3 Wallet Beta launches Q3 2025 after $18.7m presale. The wallet enables cross-chain crypto transfers, real-time FX conversion to 30+ fiat currencies, and direct bank account deposits in 30+ countries. The presale has already seen more than 590 million RTX tokens sold.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇬🇧 Arsenal F.C. x Bitpanda: a powerful partnership marking Bitpanda’s UK market entry. Combining the passion of football with the innovation of digital finance, this collaboration sets the stage for an exciting new chapter.
🇬🇧 Manchester United FC names Sokin official global business payment solutions partner. The partnership marks a major step forward in Manchester United's commitment to enhancing its global operations through smarter, faster, business-to-business payment solutions. Sokin will provide the club with its industry-leading global business payments platform.
🇲🇾 Malaysia's Ryt Bank selects Episode Six to power card services ahead of launch. Episode Six's card issuing and ledger infrastructure will provide Ryt Bank with instant card issuance capabilities, as well as personalised spending controls and real-time authorisations.
🇩🇪 Fawry teams up with FORSA to expand BNPL services. The partnership aims to offer seamless, secure, and more convenient services that meet the evolving needs of customers across different segments. The two companies will join forces to enable merchants to leverage FORSA’s services, streamlining their daily operations.
🇸🇨 KuCoin Pay joins forces with BitTopup to increase the real-world spending possibilities of cryptocurrency. The partnership will allow KuCoin users to spend their cryptocurrencies directly on a large variety of digital products and, in the process, support their real-world adoption to a considerable extent.
🇦🇪 Mastercard and Zand launch cross-border payments solution in the UAE. The first phase of the partnership with Zand will utilise Mastercard Move’s capabilities to provide payment solutions in deposits and cash pickup services. The collaboration aims to drive payments innovation in the region.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇺🇸 Banks Score win with $2 billion debt deal for FinTech IntraFi. A group of banks led by Morgan Stanley sold debt on behalf of IntraFi, backed by Blackstone Inc. and Warburg Pincus, so the company could pay its private equity owners a dividend and refinance a slice of its riskier debt.
🇬🇧 Sheffield-based vehicle BNPL firm Bumper secures £8m investment. The new funds will fuel its expansion across European markets. Bumper offers garages and dealerships the option to spread the cost of repairs into multiple interest-free payments, a service it has recently extended to original equipment manufacturers.
🇺🇸 Mesh is pushing total funding over $130 million. Mesh says the fresh capital will help it expand product development, scale APIs, and support hundreds of crypto and payments platforms. Mesh's infrastructure integrates with major exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, ByBit, and OKX, giving it reach to hundreds of millions of users.
🇺🇸 Cache raises $12.5M in Series A Funding. The round was led by Bill Trenchard at First Round Capital, with participation from solo investors from across technology and finance. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.
M&A
🇮🇳 Team India Guaranty inks deal to acquire 4A Financial Technologies. The transaction is aimed at integrating TIGL's platform with 4A FinTech's full-stack FinTech solutions, creating a unified listed entity with enhanced technology capabilities, lending infrastructure, and market reach.
🇺🇸 MeridianLink to be acquired by Centerbridge in $2bn deal. Under the terms of the all-cash transaction, which values MeridianLink at around $2 billion, shareholders will receive $20 for each share of common stock, representing a 26% premium over MeridianLink's closing price.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇨🇳 AMINA Bank taps banking leader Michael Benz to lead APAC expansion. Franz Bergmueller, CEO of AMINA Bank, stated that Michael's expertise in both traditional finance and crypto positions him as the ideal leader to drive the bank's continued expansion across Asia.
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