Italy’s State-Backed Block on Nexi’s Takeover

Italy’s State-Backed Block on Nexi’s Takeover
Italy’s State-Backed Block on Nexi’s Takeover

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

This story is a reminder that payment networks can be treated as quasi-public infrastructure when governments view them as strategically sensitive. 

Italy’s state-backed lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is set to raise its stake in Nexi, the Milan-based payments company, to just under 30%, effectively blocking a takeover by private equity group CVC.

Beyond the M&A angle, the bigger question is who controls the rails. 

CDP is positioning Nexi as a digital-money infrastructure platform for Europe, backing an “industrial evolution” and the idea of a European champion. 

That suggests Italy wants to keep control of a core layer in the payments stack even as the sector consolidates around scale, data, and transaction economics.

Keep scrolling for more FinTech news from around the world. 👇 See you tomorrow!

Cheers,

Marcel


#FINTECHREPORT

📊 Chime’s Q1 2026 results highlighted how US neobanks are expanding beyond basic banking services into areas such as credit, liquidity management, payroll infrastructure, and AI-driven operations. The company’s strong revenue growth and improving profitability reflect a wider FinTech trend toward deeper customer engagement and broader financial ecosystems. Read the full breakdown

Chime’s Q1 2026 Financial Results

FINTECH NEWS

🇮🇩 Polymarket banned in Indonesia after bets on Prabowo’s Ouster. Authorities classified the platform as online gambling, following widespread attention around bets related to President Prabowo Subianto’s potential early departure from office. 

🇮🇳  Visa-backed PayMate ties unpaid employee dues to long-pending DigiAsia deal and funding. The company said outstanding dues are expected to be settled once the transaction closes and new capital is secured. Read more

🇳🇬 Digital lender, Branch layoff staff in Nigeria despite reporting a $30 million profit. Employees were informed of the sack before receiving immediate termination notices. The FinTech said the cuts were not linked to financial distress and will pay at least four months of compensation.

🇮🇹 Italian state-backed bank to raise stake in payments group Nexi after CVC weighs bid. Cassa Depositi e Prestiti plans to increase its stake in Nexi to just under 30%, a move that would strengthen its influence over the Italian payments group and effectively block a potential takeover by CVC Capital Partners. 

🇨🇳 China proposes $338 million in penalties against Futu and Up FinTech. This is part of a broader crackdown on unlicensed cross-border trading services targeting mainland Chinese investors. Futu said it received a preliminary penalty notice from the regulator’s Shenzhen branch regarding the proposed sanctions.


PAYMENTS NEWS

🇨🇴 Mastercard officially launches its card for the highest-value segment in Colombia. Federico Martínez, president of Mastercard Colombia, said that with the launch of World Legend Mastercard in Colombia, “we are taking a new step in the evolution of our premium offering, expanding the concept of value beyond payments.”


DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

🌎 Nubank reported record first-quarter 2026 results, surpassing $5 billion in quarterly revenue and generating $871 million in net profit while growing its customer base to 135 million users across Latin America. The company also announced that its Mexican operation reached financial break-even, strengthening Mexico’s role as a key market in Nubank’s regional expansion strategy.

🇬🇧 Revolut backer cashes in as FinTech eyes stock market float. Analysts said the secondary share sale could be part of broader efforts to provide liquidity to investors and prepare Revolut’s shareholder structure ahead of a potential public listing. 

🇳🇬 FirstBank’s Digital Xperience Centres expand self-service banking, allowing customers to carry out a range of transactions through self-service kiosks, including account opening, card issuance, and other routine services. By offering round-the-clock access, the centres enable customers to interact with the bank beyond regular business hours.


BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

🇬🇧 Aave and MetaMask bring DeFi to traditional payments with Mastercard. The initiative aims to bridge decentralised finance and traditional payment infrastructure by enabling real-world transactions without requiring users to first convert crypto holdings into fiat currency.

🌍 MoonPay enables Bitcoin purchases inside ChatGPT. MoonPay has launched a new ChatGPT integration that allows users to buy cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, XRP, Solana, and USDC directly through OpenAI’s chatbot interface. MoonPay says the feature is aimed at making cryptocurrency purchases easier for mainstream users.

🇧🇪 Crypto trading group Keyrock tallies $73m in AI payments, highlighting the growing role of autonomous systems in decentralised finance. The data points to increasing adoption of AI-driven transaction activity and suggests that automated agents are becoming a meaningful part of the digital asset economy.

🇬🇪 Tether and the Government of Georgia to launch GEL₮, the official stablecoin of Georgia. GEL₮ is designed to function as a digital representation of the Georgian Lari, enabling lower transaction costs, near-instant settlement, programmable payments, and more efficient movement of value across digital financial systems.


PARTNERSHIPS

🇦🇪 Samsung Gulf Electronics has integrated Samsung Wallet with qlub to enable faster contactless bill payments at restaurants and hospitality venues. Galaxy users can scan a QR code, review their bill, and pay directly from their devices, with transactions secured through tokenisation and Samsung Knox technology.


DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

🇧🇷 FinTech Robbin raises US$8 million with Canary, Atlântico, and Caravela. According to Robbin, the funds raised in this round will be directed towards the growth of its credit and payments platform with a native artificial intelligence architecture, as well as the development of new agents focused on automating financial flows in the industry.

🇲🇽 Mexican startup Palenca raises $4 million. The company aims to improve financial inclusion by helping lenders assess borrowers with informal or non-traditional income sources, using AI-driven verification and risk models to support broader access to credit.

🇨🇦 Cycles raises $6.4m to expand clearing network for digital asset markets. The funding aims to support the development of its open clearing network for on-chain finance, as the company looks to address settlement and liquidity inefficiencies across digital asset markets.

🇵🇭 First Circle lands US$4.87M from Cathay United to expand Philippine SME loans. The new facility from Cathay United Bank will bolster First Circle’s balance sheet capacity, allowing it to scale lending without immediately diluting investor equity or tapping capital markets.

🌍 Paytm said its subsidiary Paytm Cloud Technologies will invest €9 million into Paytm Europe Payments to strengthen the European unit’s capital base and support future business expansion. The Luxembourg-based subsidiary, established earlier this year, has not yet begun operations.


M&A

🇧🇷 Evertec acquires a controlling stake in BBChain and enters the digital assets market. The agreement has a two-phase structure. In the first phase, the Puerto Rican company assumes a controlling interest upon closing. In the second phase, the remaining stake is tied to the achievement of future performance targets.


MOVERS AND SHAKERS

🌎 TransFi appoints Victor Lucena as CEO for Latin America to drive regional expansion. Lucena brings more than a decade of leadership and commercial experience across the global payments industry. His career spans senior roles at Worldpay, PayU, Rapyd and Thunes.

🇲🇾 AEON Bank appoints Mohammad Ridzuan Abdul Aziz as new CEO. The bank said his experience across FinTech, regulation, compliance, cybersecurity, and digital banking will support the next phase of growth for Malaysia’s first digital Shariah-compliant bank.

🇨🇦 CIBC hires John Lee from Accenture to lead digital assets push as the bank expands its focus on cryptocurrency and next-generation payments services. Lee previously led digital assets, currencies, and market infrastructure initiatives at Accenture.


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