Lovey Secures £250M to Expand SME Lending
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Small businesses often struggle to get the financing they need to grow. Birmingham-based FinTech Lovey is looking to change that, securing a credit facility of up to £250 million from Pollen Street Capital, the largest funding deal in the company’s history.
The facility includes £50 million in committed capital, with a further £200 million available through an accordion. It will allow Lovey to lend more directly from its own balance sheet and offer larger loans to UK small and medium-sized businesses.
Founded in 2016, Lovey has come a long way from its one-person startup beginnings. It has now funded more than £600 million in loans to over 11,000 UK SMEs, evolving from a broker into a direct lender while continuing to connect businesses with other funding providers.
What I find interesting is that Lovey is scaling its own lending capacity rather than relying solely on matching borrowers with external lenders. That gives it more room to support businesses whose financing needs might otherwise go unmet.
And speaking of people shaping startup finance, Airwallex has announced its first Startup Finance 30, recognising 30 finance leaders across the global startup ecosystem.
There's plenty more to explore in today's FinTech news.
Let’s dive in, and I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow!
Cheers,
FEATURED NEWS
🏆 Airwallex announces inaugural Startup Finance 30 honorees. A committee of operating CFOs from Airwallex, Notion, Vercel and Deel selected 30 startup finance professionals from hundreds of nominations across the US, Europe, APAC and other markets. The cohort includes CFOs, heads of finance and financial controllers. Half of the honorees work at companies at Series B or later, while 11 represent businesses valued at $500 million or more. Individual profiles detail their roles and the companies they work with. Explore the full list.
FINTECH NEWS
🇮🇳 Paytm reports tenfold increase in quarterly profit The Indian FinTech recorded approximately ₹225 crore in profit after tax for Q2 FY27, compared with ₹21 crore a year earlier, while revenue grew 28% to ₹2,648 crore. Its September-quarter financial results also showed EBITDA rising 90% to ₹270 crore, with merchant subscriptions reaching 1.64 crore.
🇧🇷 Agi announces share repurchase program. Agi’s board of directors approved repurchasing up to 3 million Class A common shares. The program runs until October 27, 2027 at the latest, funded from cash balances.
🇬🇧 Pockit records nearly £4 million in frozen customer funds as income. According to The Times, the UK FinTech recognised unclaimed balances from closed accounts linked mainly to suspected financial crime or inactivity. Pockit defended the practice as lawful, saying claims expire after six years, while a consumer advocate called for an FCA review.
🇺🇸 Tipalti rolls out integrated treasury management solution Developed following its 2025 acquisition of Statement, Tipalti Treasury combines real-time cash visibility and automated forecasting with the company’s existing accounts payable platform. The integrated treasury offering targets mid-market businesses managing multiple banks, entities and currencies.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇳🇬 UBA adds Google Pay support for Visa and Mastercard cardholders. The Google Pay integration enables eligible customers to add their cards to the digital wallet and make contactless payments using compatible devices.
🇰🇷 Samsung Wallet expands payments to WeChat Pay merchants in China. Through a partnership with Tencent and Woori Bank, Samsung Wallet Money users in South Korea will be able to make QR code payments at participating Chinese merchants without installing a separate payment app.
🇪🇺 Brite Payments launches Brite Pass. The account-to-account payments provider has introduced a product called Brite Pass. The Brite Pass product launch expands its payments offering, but the supplied announcement could not be retrieved to confirm the product’s exact functionality, eligible markets or commercial availability.
🇪🇺 Noda launches BIN-to-Bank to reduce online card payment costs. Available across 26 European countries, the open banking checkout solution identifies customers’ issuing banks from their card details and redirects eligible transactions to bank payments.
🇰🇷 South Korean regulator fines Google and Apple over in-app payment practices. The Korea Communications Commission has imposed penalties on Google and Apple in connection with compulsory in-app payment arrangements. The in-app payments enforcement involves a reported combined sanction of 63.7 billion won.
🇸🇬 Grab, Wise and Liquid Group are first to sign Singapore's new payments code. The voluntary Singapore FinTech Association code requires providers to disclose full transaction costs, including fees, exchange rates and markups. Adherence declarations stay valid for one year before providers must reassess.
🇺🇿 Apple Pay and Google Pay launch in Uzbekistan, expanding digital payments in the country. Users can now make contactless payments with compatible smartphones and smartwatches. Availability depends on the issuing bank, payment network and card type, and Android devices require NFC.
🇺🇸 ApprovalMax launches ApprovalMax Pay for QuickBooks Online in the US. The new offering aims to streamline accounts payable within QuickBooks Online. The launch targets US companies managing their payables on the platform.
INSIGHTS
💡 Stablecoin card spending has grown 86x in less than three years. From just $38 million in Q4 2023, quarterly spending has now reached $3.3 billion, with cards processing more in a month than they did throughout 2024. Interestingly, RedotPay's market share has dropped from around 85% to 36% as other providers have grown, even though its own volumes continued rising. And over 90% of all spending still runs through Visa's network.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇺🇸 Ripple receives final OCC approval for US national trust bank. The national trust bank approval covers management of segregated reserves backing Ripple USD, collateral trustee services and fiduciary digital asset custody. RLUSD will continue to be issued by Ripple’s New York-regulated subsidiary.
🇬🇧 Bank of England orders independent review of Revolut's product approval processes. The Prudential Regulation Authority issued a Section 166 order earlier this year, requiring external experts to assess the FinTech's internal controls and risk management procedures.
🇲🇽 Revolut is launching payroll portability in Mexico, nine months after becoming a bank there. Workers can make Revolut their primary bank account through a fully digital process in the app. The switch takes 2 to 10 business days, with a gradual rollout to over 1 million customers.
🇨🇦 Scotiabank adds new self service and money transfer features to its Canadian mobile app. The bank also redesigned Scotiabank. com with a simpler layout built for mobile, plus more personalized offers. Client feedback from its inaugural Client Innovation Day guided the update.
🇺🇸 VersaBank receives final Federal Reserve approval for its reorganization. Versa Bancorp, a new Delaware corporation, will become its holding company. VersaBank targets completion on November 13, 2026 after a minimum 15 day waiting period.
🇺🇸 SoFi reports record third quarter net revenue of $1.4B, with $241M net income. Adjusted EBITDA rose 70% to $470M, and members grew 35% to 17.1 million. SoFi raised its 2026 adjusted net revenue guidance to $5.04B.
🇹🇭 Thailand's digital BankX delays launch for second time. The SCBX, KakaoBank and WeBank-backed digital bank now expects to launch in 2027, according to sources cited by The Banker. CLICX began operations in June 2026, while Ascend Bank has yet to confirm a launch date.
🇬🇧 Chetwood Bank joins the FCA and PRA Scale-Up Unit. The bank was selected to participate in the Scale-Up Unit initiative. Its participation is intended to accelerate the growth of its digital banking business.
🇬🇧 LHV Bank joins the PRA and FCA Scale-up Unit. Membership of the unit is expected to accelerate the bank's UK growth strategy. Through the unit, LHV Bank will work directly with the PRA and the FCA.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🌍 PrimeRevenue moves trade finance instruments onto Solana. The working capital provider is tokenising its Electronic Time Drafts to bring short-duration trade finance assets onto blockchain-based capital markets, with plans to expand access to eligible on-chain investors.
🇺🇸 Ripple Treasury introduces round-the-clock corporate cash management capabilities. The platform automates cash positioning, forecasting and reconciliation using AI-powered workflows, while its 24/7 Returns capability enables eligible businesses to earn returns on qualifying digital assets, including RLUSD.
🌍 Chainlink introduces CustodySync with Anchorage Digital for institutional DeFi lending. The solution connects assets held in qualified custody with decentralised lending markets, allowing institutions to borrow against collateral while retaining existing custody arrangements.
🇪🇺 European Stability Mechanism prices €1 billion digital bond using Pontes infrastructure. Deutsche Bundesbank is acting as issuing and paying agent, while Clearstream facilitates delivery-versus-payment settlement through its D7 platform and the Eurosystem’s Pontes infrastructure, settling the cash leg in central bank money.
🇺🇸 BitGo plans integration of WisdomTree tokenised money market fund. The planned tokenised-fund integration would connect fund exposure with BitGo’s services; the announcement describes an intended integration rather than confirmation that the feature is already live.
🇧🇷 Binance faces approaching Brazil crypto licensing deadline. Brazil’s regulatory timetable requires crypto firms to assess compliance with new licensing requirements, with 30 October identified in the report as a deadline. The Brazil licensing deadline has implications for exchanges including Binance.
🇭🇰 Hong Kong gold token project adopts Chainlink CCIP for cross-chain transfers. GoldZip is integrating Chainlink’s cross-chain interoperability protocol to enable blockchain transfers of its XGZ token, backed by one gram of 99.99% pure gold per token. The initiative is being developed with Midas Labs.
🇰🇷 Shinhan Card and Dunamu pilot blockchain-based QR payments in South Korea. Under the blockchain payment pilot, Shinhan Card will issue and manage payment tokens, while Dunamu provides the underlying infrastructure. Employees will make purchases by scanning QR codes, with on-chain authentication and pre-registered wallets used to test transaction security and compliance.
STABLECOINS NEWS
🇺🇸 zerohash brings Open USD stablecoin live across its network. Partners including Marqeta and Visa Direct can now embed OUSD across treasury, payouts and payins. The stablecoin is supported on Base, Ethereum, Solana and Tempo.
🌐 Mastercard warns that stablecoin payments still face infrastructure challenges. Matthew Driver, Mastercard's Asia Pacific executive, told CNBC that slow conversions between fiat currencies and stablecoins can offset faster blockchain transfers. His comments follow Mastercard's acquisition of BVNK and the October launch of its Global Money Platform.
🌎 ACI Worldwide and Circle collaborate on USDC settlement in Latin America. The companies have announced a collaboration designed to connect USDC-based settlement with existing payments infrastructure in the region. The Latin American settlement collaboration targets interoperability between stablecoin and conventional payment systems.
🇨🇳 Beijing promotes digital yuan payments for salaries and university spending. Chinese authorities are encouraging wider e-CNY use, including applications connected to university payments and remuneration. The digital yuan adoption push illustrates broader public-sector efforts to expand everyday usage.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇵🇭 Philippine DTI and Mastercard team up to support small business digitalisation. The small-business digitalisation initiative will focus on supporting merchants as they move towards digital commerce; programme terms and implementation details remain unconfirmed.
🇦🇪 Mastercard and FAB Rewards launch Messi-themed cardholder experience in UAE. The companies have announced a promotional football experience for eligible UAE cardholders tied to Lionel Messi and Mastercard’s Priceless programme. The cardholder rewards partnership concerns benefits and customer engagement rather than a new payment rail or financial product.
🌍 Noah brings USD and EUR accounts to Bitget Wallet's 100 million users. The integration lets users receive dollars and euros into their self custodial wallets via ACH, Fedwire, SEPA and SWIFT. Incoming deposits can be converted into stablecoins and accessed directly within Bitget Wallet.
🇺🇸 CarParts.com goes live with Klarna's full suite of payment options. Shoppers can pay in full, split purchases into four payments, or finance repairs. The options cover more than 1.5 million parts and accessories. Read more
🇯🇵 BlackRock, SBI Holdings and Startale explore tokenised funds and yen stablecoin integration. The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to examine connections between tokenised money market funds and JPYSC, the yen-denominated stablecoin issued by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank.
🇨🇴 BBVA and Druo enable automatic debits for over 3 million accounts. Users can link their account through merchant channels and automate collections 24/7. Druo plans to extend the capability to other banks via Bre-B.
🌍 Whop partners with Lightspark for global seller payouts. The integration gives the digital commerce platform access to payment infrastructure spanning more than 65 countries, supporting transfers funded through dollars or stablecoins.
🇮🇪 Paysafe expands Irish football partnership through Shelbourne FC. The payments provider has entered an agreement with the Irish football club as part of its expansion in the country’s sporting sector. The Shelbourne FC partnership adds to Paysafe’s football-related commercial activities and is intended to increase the company’s brand visibility in Ireland.
🇦🇪 Botim and Orange Egypt connect UAE remittances to Orange Cash wallets. The partnership allows users in the UAE to transfer money directly to Egyptian mobile wallets, connecting more than two million Egyptian Botim users with approximately ten million Orange Cash customers.
🌎 Ripple expands its strategic digital assets collaboration with BNY. The expanded collaboration now covers both custody and tokenized trade finance. The move deepens the digital assets relationship between Ripple and BNY.
🇪🇺 Planet and YouLend partner on financing for European businesses. The merchant funding partnership brings together Planet’s merchant relationships and YouLend’s financing capabilities, while eligibility and market-by-market rollout remain to be verified.
🌍 Adyen and Sabre partner to modernize airport payments at check in. Embedding Adyen's Terminal API lets airlines using Sabre's airport application accept payments at the point of departure. Transactions link automatically to the passenger record, from booking to boarding.
🇺🇸 SeatGeek and Rain connect game day payments and rewards for sports fans. Rain powers the team branded wallet, virtual card and rewards engine within SeatGeek's Game Day Your Way. SeatGeek is expanding the program after successful pilots during the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run.
🇺🇸 Charlotte FC and Ally extend their founding partnership into the next decade. Ally will remain the official banking partner and front-of-kit sponsor. The extension will be marked with Fan Appreciation activities, including a pre-match celebration and commemorative patch giveaway, at the club's final regular-season home match on Oct. 31.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇸🇬 Rently secures $12 million credit facility from January Capital. The Singapore-based rental payments platform will use the financing to expand its Rent Now Pay Later offering across Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE, alongside potential new markets.
🇮🇳 Mochatrade raises $5.5 million for US equity-linked trading platform. CoinFund led the financing, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and other investors. The funding for Mochatrade supports a platform allowing Indian users to fund accounts through UPI and trade leveraged perpetual futures linked to US-listed companies without owning the underlying shares. The product remains in beta.
🇬🇧 Birmingham FinTech Lovey secures £250 million credit facility. The funding from Pollen Street Capital comprises £50 million in committed capital and a £200 million accordion facility, enabling the SME lender to expand lending from its own balance sheet.
🇿🇦 Circle Ventures invests in South Africa's CrissCross, owned by Stitch Group. The undisclosed investment will fund the expansion of its stablecoin payments infrastructure across Africa. CrissCross operates in more than 30 African markets and supports over 20 currencies.
🇺🇸 Predicate lands $8M Series A to police tokenized assets. Blockchain Capital led the round for the San Francisco startup. Its tools check transactions for compliance before tokens move, including KYC and sanctions screening.
🇨🇴 Colombian FinTech FinMaq raises $6.5M Series A for SME machinery financing. Accion led the round for the company, which has disbursed over $100M since 2019. FinMaq plans to disburse over $200M and add 5,000+ clients within 18 months.
M&A
🇸🇦 PayTabs signs agreement to acquire 100% of Saudi Arabia’s SeaPay. The proposed SeaPay acquisition would combine acquiring capabilities with PayTabs’ acceptance, processing and switching infrastructure, supporting its Saudi expansion targets.
🇺🇸 Zafin signs a definitive agreement to acquire marketing compliance provider Naehas. Naehas brings offer management and disclosure automation technology serving many leading US financial institutions.
AI DEVELOPMENTS
🇮🇳 Paytm extends its in-house AI platform to enterprise merchants. The enterprise AI service expansion follows wider use of specialised models and agents for personalisation, fraud prevention, collections and customer servicing.
🇳🇱 Backbase launches AI Software Factory for banking. The AI Software Factory launch is positioned around bank software production, although its specific tooling, deployment arrangements and availability have not been independently established.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇧🇭 Singapore Gulf Bank parent appoints two advisers to global advisory board. Asia Gulf Holdings appointed former Singapore minister Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman and Revolut Group chairman Martin Gilbert to its global advisory board. The new advisory appointments will support the group’s work on government relations and investment opportunities across Asia and the Gulf.
🌍 LiveMore appoints Danielle Wilson as Chief Commercial Officer. In the role, Wilson will drive growth in later life lending. The appointment places later life lending at the center of LiveMore's commercial agenda.
🇺🇸 PayQuicker appoints Tyron Bennion as Chief Revenue Officer to accelerate growth. Bennion brings more than 15 years in payments, including senior roles at Hyperwallet. He will oversee sales, partnerships, and account management at PayQuicker.
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