From Forbes 30 Under 30 to 7 Years in Prison
Hey FinTech Fanatic,
Another day, another cautionary tale from the startup hall of fame (or rather, the hall of shame). Charlie Javice—the founder who convinced JPMorgan to buy her student aid startup Frank for $175 million—was sentenced yesterday to just over seven years in prison.
Once celebrated on Forbes’ “30 Under 30,” Javice is now part of the not-so-exclusive club of young founders who went from magazine covers to mugshots. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon famously called the Frank deal a “huge mistake” after discovering that Javice allegedly inflated her customer base from 300,000 to over 4 million.
The fallout? A fraud conviction on all counts: bank, securities, wire, and conspiracy.
With Europe still remembering Wirecard’s execs being marched off to jail, it begs the question: which other FinTech founders or executives have actually done prison time?
Drop a comment—I’m collecting a list.
Cheers,
FINTECH NEWS
🏃➡️ The FinTech Running Club hosted a successful run in Sofia, uniting FinTech, tech, and finance professionals for a fun mix of networking and wellness in an active, informal setting. 🚀 Don’t miss the chance to join us at the next one!
🇺🇸 Charlie Javice sentenced to 7 years in prison for fraudulent $175M sale of financial aid startup. Javice, 33, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court for her March conviction by a Judge who said she committed “a large fraud” by duping the bank giant in the summer of 2021.
🇺🇸 Wealthfront files for IPO, joining wave of FinTech firms going public in 2025. The company in June filed confidentially for an IPO, but waited until now to make that filing public. That signals that Wealthfront is planning on kicking off its roadshow to pitch shares to investors. The company intends to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “WLTH.”
PAYMENTS NEWS
🌍 Preparations for MPE 2026 are underway, with sponsors including Payabl, Forter, Shopify, Ecommpay, dLocal, IXOPAY, and more, fueling Europe’s home for merchant payments and the #1 conference for the ecosystem. The event takes place in Berlin, March 17–19, 2026, with further partners to be announced. Be part of it
🇨🇴 Immediate payments from businesses and individuals are growing at a rate of 3,300%. In 2025, real-time payments in Colombia surged, with Transfiya processing over 8.5 million transactions worth 1.7 trillion pesos. The new Bre-B system, built by Banco de la República with support from ACI Worldwide, will enable instant, secure transfers between banks for both people and businesses.
🇪🇺 Airwallex adds support for Nordic currencies. From launch, Airwallex customers based in the EU will be able to transact directly in Danish Krone, Norwegian Krone, Swedish Krona, and Polish Zloty. Now, when card transactions are made in these currencies, amounts will be debited directly from the multi-currency wallets, eliminating unnecessary foreign exchange conversions and delivering cost savings for customers.
🌍 Seamless subscription migration with Ecommpay. Migrating payment data is a challenge for many subscription businesses. Ecommpay offers tools to switch providers without interrupting customer journeys, helping merchants maintain continuity while upgrading infrastructure. Learn more
🇺🇸 Visa Direct taps stablecoins to unlock faster funding for businesses. It will launch a stablecoin prefunding pilot through Visa Direct, giving businesses a new way to move money globally, unlocking liquidity and modernizing treasury operations for the digital-first economy.
🇺🇸 Stripe powers Instant Checkout in ChatGPT and releases Agentic Commerce Protocol codeveloped with OpenAI. ChatGPT users in the US can purchase goods from US-based Etsy businesses. Additionally, Stripe is to power the Mercari Global App. By integrating Stripe, Mercari can offer users worldwide a seamless shopping experience with multiple currencies, local payment methods, and consistently high authorization rates for cross-border transactions.
🌍 The European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank explore the link between instant payment systems. The exploration phase, which will involve assessing the technical, legal, and economic feasibility of the project, will be conducted in collaboration with the SNB and will run throughout 2026.
🇺🇸 Yaspa accelerates US expansion with Intelligent Payments platform. UK-headquartered Yaspa, which last month secured a $12m funding round led by Discerning Capital, has now incorporated a US entity in Atlanta and is in the process of scaling its operations in Georgia.
🇺🇸 Worldpay launches embedded lending, banking, and card issuing. Worldpay’s Embedded Finance Engine is available to partners integrated with Worldpay for Platforms and includes embedded lending, banking, and commercial card issuing products, with plans to expand capabilities rapidly over the coming months.
🇩🇪 Oracle achieves Swift-compatible application for payments 2025. With this achievement, financial institutions can feel confident in leveraging Oracle’s solutions to help meet Swift standards for payment security, interoperability, and regulatory compliance, while benefiting from modern, AI-enabled payment messaging processing.
🇺🇸 PayPal continues to shape agentic commerce with instant product discovery. PayPal announced it is transforming AI-centric shopping queries into seamless buying experiences by adding new capabilities to PayPal Honey. PayPal Honey can provide consumers with additional value directly in their AI-powered conversations.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇨🇴 Lulobank reached 600,000 customers in Colombia. Lulo Bank's Vice President of Sales, Santiago Mejía, revealed to Valora Analitik that the bank will surpass 600,000 users in Colombia by September and that its Lulo Pro program, which offers benefits such as 10% interest rates, has already attracted 35,000 customers.
🇺🇸 Peter Thiel-backed Plasma quietly debuts $373M stablecoin neobank promising 10% yields and access across 150 countries. The stablecoin-native neobank promises to deliver “everyone, everywhere permissionless access to saving, spending, and earning in dollars,” according to the statement.
🇬🇧 Zopa to share all consumer credit information with Infact. The partnership reflects Zopa Bank’s commitment to helping customers better understand and improve their financial position through reliable, up-to-date credit information and supports healthy competition in the UK bureau market.
🇩🇪 Temenos launches AI-powered Money Movement & Management platform at Sibos. This unified solution brings together payments, accounts, risk, and treasury modules, enabling financial institutions to move money faster, more reliably, and at lower cost.
🇺🇸 Nubank applies for a U.S. national bank charter. This undertaking is aligned with the company’s intention to explore future international opportunities by evolving its regional platform into a global model. Pursuing a U.S. national bank charter positions Nubank to unlock new possibilities within the U.S. financial landscape.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🌍 Binance introduces crypto-as-a-service for financial institutions. This service aims to provide the necessary infrastructure and liquidity for these institutions to offer cryptocurrency trading without the need to build complex systems from scratch.
🇶🇦 Qatar National Bank taps JPMorgan’s Kinexys to speed up cross-border dollar settlements. The blockchain network allows transactions to settle within minutes, significantly faster than traditional methods. Unlike conventional systems, which rely on manual clearing and limited banking hours, Kinexys provides continuous, round-the-clock settlement.
🇪🇺 EU watchdog pushes multi-issuance stablecoin ban on crash fears. The ECB is winning support for a ban on stablecoins issued jointly in the bloc and other jurisdictions, setting the scene for a clash over how operators like Circle Internet Group Inc. and Paxos Inc. manage their activities across borders.
🇺🇸 FinTech Brex launches stablecoin payment platform amid demand. In the coming months, the firm said its clients will be able to accept and send Circle Internet Group’s dollar-pegged token USDC for payments and disbursements. Brex said it is working with its partner Column Bank N.A. to power its stablecoin offering.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇸🇦 Hala partners with Marn POS to support SMEs in KSA with smarter, more efficient payment solutions. This integration streamlines checkout, offers more payment options, enhances security, reduces errors, and helps merchants manage inventory and sales more effectively, saving time and driving business growth.
🇺🇸 BitGo and Elysium bring institutional-grade clearing to digital assets. This partnership delivers post-trade utility, operational scale, and enhanced risk controls that enable institutional investors to trade digital assets with the same confidence and efficiency they have experienced in traditional markets.
🇫🇷 N26 has launched its new PEA offering in France, powered by Upvest’s Investment API. This fully digital, compliant, and scalable solution allows N26 to enter the €114 billion French retail investing market with speed and efficiency, delivering seamless onboarding, tax compliance, and account management in weeks, not years.
🇺🇸 Fiserv launches Content Next to accelerate AI-driven content management and workflow optimization for financial institutions. Designed specifically for financial services, Content Next supports enterprise content management administrators, bank and credit union employees, and end customers, empowering users with self-serve tools.
🌍 Deutsche Börse Group and Circle announce collaboration to advance stablecoin adoption in Europe. This first-of-its-kind agreement in Europe aims to deliver new solutions for market participants by connecting token-based payment networks with traditional financial market infrastructure.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇧🇷 Tiger-backed Brazil FinTech Zippi gets funding from Itau and Verde Asset. Zippi raised 85 million reais through a securitized structure amid plans to double the amount of credit it provides to micro-entrepreneurs and very small companies. Read more
🌏 Digital Bank Yup closes $32m round and total funding exceeds $100m. Yup plans to use the new capital to expand its customer base and improve its product experience while providing accessible financial services to working- and middle-class consumers in Southeast Asia.
🇩🇪 German mobile payments startup FLIZpay closes $1M pre-seed funding. The funding will enable FLIZpay to pursue its goal of becoming the preferred mobile payment method in Germany and across the EU. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Maximor raises $9M to advance AI finance automation. The funds will help to expand its finance automation platform aimed at easing the accounting workload without requiring organisations to overhaul their existing ERP and financial systems.
🇮🇳 FinTech startup Ignosis raises $4 million from PeakXV’s Surge and others. Founded in 2022, the company aims to address the credit underserved consumers and MSMEs by providing advanced analytics and AA infrastructure to over 125 BFSI clients.
🇻🇳 Viamericas raises $113.6 million to expand global remittance network serving 95 countries. The funding comes as global remittances continue to grow in importance, playing a vital role in connecting families and supporting economic stability worldwide.
🇦🇺 Wych secures NZD $1.5 million to accelerate open banking delivery in New Zealand and Australia. The capital will be used to expand delivery in New Zealand, grow accredited CDR services in Australia, invest in product innovation, and enhance security, compliance, and partnerships across the open finance ecosystem.
M&A
🇺🇸 First Merchants inks $241M merger deal with First Savings. Under the agreement, First Savings shareholders will receive 0.85 shares of First Merchants common stock for each First Savings share. First Merchants trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FRME, while First Savings trades as FSFG.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇧🇷 Nubank announces Felipe Torres as the FinTech's new Engineering Director. Torres brings extensive experience, having previously worked at Grupo Boticário, where he led the engineering and product department for a year and a half. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Global Payments appoints Nathan Rozof as Head of Investor Relations. Rozof brings more than two decades of experience in finance, capital markets, and investor engagement. He will lead Global Payments’ investor relations strategy, serving as the primary liaison between the company and the investment community.
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