MNT-Halan Sets Its Sights on a $150M IPO
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Remember when I mentioned that MNT-Halan was preparing for an IPO?
Well, we now know what that IPO might look like.
The FinTech unicorn is looking to raise 7.84 billion Egyptian pounds, or around $150 million, through an IPO priced at 24.5 pounds per share.
If everything goes ahead, it’ll be Egypt’s biggest IPO in dollar terms since e-Finance went public in 2021.
And it’s a pretty sizeable offering: MNT-Halan is putting 320 million shares on the table, representing about 20% of the company’s total issued share capital.
The company isn’t operating in a quiet corner of the market either. Its consumer and microfinance lending business is part of a broader push toward non-bank financial services in Egypt.
Two days ago, the IPO was still a milestone ahead. Today, we have the price tag.
Quite a change of pace.
I also couldn’t let today’s edition go by without mentioning Confide. Founded and led by CEO Pav Gill, the company just launched an agentic governance platform that brings GRC, risk and compliance into one place and, importantly, is built to govern AI agents as well as people. As more agents start making decisions inside businesses, I think this is a problem we’re going to hear a lot more about.
That’s just one story from today’s FinTech news.
There’s plenty more below, so let’s get into it.
See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
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INSIGHTS
📑 Plaid’s latest report with Javelin puts some striking numbers behind the fraud problem: $38B was lost to identity fraud and scams in 2025, while new-account fraud victims increased 31%. And in 56% of scam cases, people lost data rather than money. The report looks at why fraud can leave clues across onboarding, logins and transactions - and what happens when those signals are connected earlier. See how Plaid and Javelin are thinking about detecting fraud risk earlier.
FINTECH NEWS
🇺🇸 Plaid unveils its Fall 2026 release for intelligent finance, including LendScore Arc, its first transformer model for credit risk. In early testing, Arc, which learns from transaction sequences, increased approvals by 20% for subprime borrowers.
🌍 Pliant explores the role of commercial cards in agentic commerce, as AI agents increasingly move from assisting with purchases to executing them. The company looks at how commercial payment infrastructure needs to evolve for agent-led transactions, including questions around authentication, controls and distinguishing AI-initiated payments from human purchases.
🌏 Confide launches an agentic governance platform for financial institutions, designed to help organisations manage AI agents and automate governance, risk and compliance processes. The platform provides continuous oversight and controls for AI-driven operations, helping financial institutions govern agentic systems as they scale.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇦🇪 Wio Bank becomes the UAE's first bank to eliminate manual card entry, through Mastercard's Click to Pay. Wio will auto-enable Click to Pay for its Mastercard cards, allowing customers to complete online purchases without manually entering card details.
🇪🇺 Getnet simplifies European expansion for merchants, offering payment services in over 30 countries through one integration. Santander's merchant payments platform uses its Single Entry Point to connect merchants with local methods like Bizum and MB WAY. The solution initially supports 20 currencies and payouts to 140 countries.
🌏 Wise rolls out overseas QR payments and customisable eSIM plans, with Singapore and Malaysia among the first markets globally. The QR service covers more than 50 destinations, and Alipay+ lets eligible travellers pay merchants in mainland China without a Chinese bank card. The eSIM offers regional plans across more than 150 destinations.
🌍 Vipps MobilePay becomes Vipps across the Nordics, with MobilePay changing its name in Denmark, Finland and Greenland. The move brings close to 13 million Nordic users under one shared brand. MobilePay counts 4.8 million users in Denmark and 3 million in Finland, and the name change takes effect on 12 January.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇺🇸 Rain seeks a U.S. national trust bank charter amid a crypto charter lawsuit. If the OCC approves, the New York based bank could custody digital assets and issue USD backed stablecoins. The filing came three days after the Independent Community Bankers of America sued the OCC over its trust charter framework.
🇲🇾 Ryt Bank becomes Malaysia's first digital bank to support Apple Pay, letting cardholders pay in stores, online and in apps. Customers add their Ryt Card through the app, with transactions authenticated through Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. The bank added Google Pay support in January 2026.
🇮🇱 Revolut ramps up Israeli hiring as it seeks a foothold in the banking market. Many openings cover credit, risk, collections, AML and compliance, reflecting the infrastructure needed to run a regulated financial institution. Calcalist reported in June 2025 that Revolut was in talks with the Bank of Israel over a lean bank license.
🇺🇸 Agora secures conditional OCC approval for a U.S. national trust bank, which would take over AUSD issuance and reserves from Agora Bermuda. The bank must meet capital, liquidity and compliance conditions before it can open.
🇨🇦 Engine by Starling powers Tangerine Bank's new business client offering. Tangerine Business launched less than a year after Tangerine adopted Engine's cloud native platform. It marks Engine's third client deployment in a new market within 12 months, following Salt Bank in Romania and AMP Bank GO in Australia.
🇺🇸 Lumin Digital launches Lumin Signal, a behavioral analytics offering for banks and credit unions. The launch brings behavioral intelligence to credit unions and banks. Lumin Digital aims to transform behavioral analytics for these institutions.
ARTICLE OF THE DAY
💡 Incognia: Behavioral biometrics may be getting asked to do too much. The way someone types, swipes or navigates can change with a new phone, setting or app reinstall, without their identity changing. Incognia’s André Ferraz looks at why fraud teams may need to think about behaviour over time rather than relying on a single session, especially as AI agents add another layer of complexity. The piece explores where behavioral biometrics fits in this changing landscape
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇱🇻 Latvijas Banka grants Noah LV SIA crypto-asset and payment licences, bringing both services under one licensed entity. The MiCA licence covers custody, exchange, order execution and transfers, while the payment licence covers payment transactions, credit transfers and standing orders.
🌐 Solana Foundation launches Solana DvP, an atomic settlement program built for financial institutions. The open source escrow program gives institutions one standard rail for delivery versus payment settlement on Solana. J.P. Morgan provided input on institutional settlement practices, and the program is released under the MIT license.
🇺🇸 Anchorage Digital cuts 17% of its staff, according to The Information. The workforce reduction comes months after a $100 million investment from Tether and as the federally chartered crypto bank expands its institutional settlement business.
🇭🇰 Qupital launches an AI-driven on-chain lending protocol for e-commerce, combining real-time AI credit monitoring with Ethereum smart contracts and USDC settlement. The Hong Kong FinTech says the protocol automates trade-loan operations and provides 24/7 liquidity, targeting the $2.5T SME trade-finance funding gap.
🇺🇸 Ondo introduces Ondo Private Markets, offering eligible investors tokenized exposure to private companies with 24/7 trading. The first market, tied to an AI company that has not yet gone public, launches this week with permissionless trading available on secondary markets. Exposure to names in robotics, cybersecurity, biotech and infrastructure will follow.
🌐 Binance unveils Binance Intelligence, a suite of AI tools for traders and developers. The company describes the initiative as a new AI layer built directly into the Binance experience.
STABLECOINS NEWS
🇺🇸 Stripe will expand its stablecoin cards to over 100 countries, as Privy's Henri Stern takes charge of crypto. Stern now oversees stablecoins and crypto across Stripe, with Kraken, Ramp and Morse among current customers. According to PaymentScan, stablecoin card spending reached about $1.2 billion last month, tripling in a year.
🌐 OKX launches OKX Money as a standalone app for digital dollars, letting users save, send and spend stablecoins. Customers can fund accounts in more than 50 currencies and hold USDG, USDC or USDT without conversion fees. Qualifying users can earn up to 10% APY on eligible USDG balances, with no staking or lockup required.
🇷🇺 Russians open 220,000 digital rouble accounts in first month after launch. The central bank had expected about 60,000 accounts since the September 1 launch. VTB said over 1,500 corporate clients are ready to open accounts.
PARTNERSHIPS
🌎 Klarna deepens its partnership with Wayfair across the U.S. and Canada, bringing always-on 0% APR financing for up to six months to eligible U.S. shoppers. In Canada, Wayfair customers gain access to Klarna's full suite of flexible payment options for the first time.
🌍 Mastercard and Tamatem team up to simplify gaming payments in the Middle East and Africa. Mastercard Gateway will power payments for the Tamatem Plus platform in more than 13 markets, starting with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
🇺🇸 Maple selects IRACE Digital Bank for institutional banking and fiat settlement. The relationship will support Maple's cash management, fiat payments and settlement as the onchain asset manager deploys more capital into credit markets.
🌐 Yuno integrates Coinbase Payments Acceptance for one click stablecoin checkout. Merchants can enable stablecoin checkout through their existing Yuno integration with no additional development required. The integration is complete and available globally, with settlement as fast as same day.
🇵🇱 BLIK Recurring Payments are now available to mBank customers, with mBank becoming the ninth institution to offer the service. Users can manage subscriptions and recurring bills inside their banking app without sharing card details.
🌐 ExpenseIn extends its Stripe partnership to automate employee reimbursements. The expanded partnership with Stripe focuses on automating how employees get reimbursed. The move builds on the existing relationship between the two companies.
🇬🇧 Wise partners with OakNorth to expand its infrastructure division, with the lender adopting Wise's international payments engine in its SME banking platform. The deal supports a target of 10% of group cross-border volumes for Wise Platform.
🌎 Corpay Cross-Border extends its exclusive partnership with WBSC, continuing as the organization’s Official FX Payments Provider under a new multi-year agreement. Corpay will support WBSC and its global members with cross-border payments and currency risk management, extending a relationship that began in 2022.
🇹🇷 Ripple targets Turkey's $200B crypto market with bank custody and dollar backed stablecoins. Ripple is partnering with Garanti BBVA and local exchanges to offer regulated custody and stablecoins like RLUSD. The move addresses demand for dollar pegged assets as Turkish users seek protection against lira depreciation and inflation.
🌍 Ant International and HSBC expand real-time treasury management services to the Middle East. Ant International becomes HSBC’s first regional client to use its Tokenised Deposit Service, completing real-time AED transactions in the UAE and cross-border USD transfers between the UAE and markets including Hong Kong and Singapore.
🌐 BitGo and HashKey sign a strategic partnership covering four areas of institutional digital-asset infrastructure. HashKey Cloud will support staking and institutional trading, while BitGo will provide custody for HashKey Capital and support HashKey's RWA tokenization initiatives.
🇸🇬 Anchorage Digital expands its institutional banking services through a partnership with Standard Chartered. Eligible non-US clients can now access USD accounts and SWIFT transfers through Anchorage Digital Singapore, alongside crypto custody and trading, with 24/7 USD settlement available for counterparties banking with Standard Chartered Singapore .
🇳🇱 Adyen joins Holland FinTech Association as HFA strengthens its leadership. The payments company will bring its global reach and technical expertise to industry discussions and support the development of the Dutch FinTech sector.
🇺🇸 Chime partners with Son Heung-min to launch its It Pays to Switch campaign. Building on Chime’s multi-year partnership with MLS, the campaign draws on Son’s move to the league to connect making a career switch with consumers choosing a new approach to their financial lives.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇺🇸 OKX raises fresh capital at a flat $25B valuation, with Circle, Ripple and SC Ventures among the backers. The round extends its March raise, and its joint venture with ICE is seeking approval to offer tokenized stock in 63 U.S. companies.
🇺🇸 Capitolis raises $220M at a $1.9B valuation, including a $120M Series E led by existing investor Citi plus debt financing. Most of the new capital will support its recent acquisition of eSecLending and its push into securities lending.
🇺🇸 Valon raises $150M in a Series D round, valuing the AI-native mortgage servicing platform at $2.3B. Ribbit Capital joined existing backers including Andreessen Horowitz, with the new capital going toward deploying ValonOS and AI agents across the mortgage servicing industry.
🌐 Spiko raises $90M in a Series B round led by NEA, taking its total funding to $120M. The tokenized cash fund platform will use the capital to expand access to yield-generating cash products and scale its tokenized money market funds.
🇧🇷 Asaas raises about $55.6M in its largest FIDC to date, a receivables fund that will finance advances on SME installment sales. Around 30% of its 300,000 monthly active clients use the advance product to access sales revenue early.
🇺🇸 SoFi cofounder Mike Cagney's Navra raises $19M in Series A funding. Navra will make onchain lending and securities markets more accessible to traditional investors. Navra is the newest startup from Cagney, who also cofounded Figure.
🇩🇪 Finmid raises a €17M Series A extension, and strikes a vehicle financing deal with Bolt. Big Pi Ventures and Mainset led the round, bringing the embedded lender's total funding to €52M. The Bolt deal gives fleet operators access to up to €400,000 over four years to finance vehicles, alongside a new merchant lending deal with Skroutz.
🇮🇳 Oolka is in advanced talks to raise around $45M, with Bessemer Venture Partners and Prosus expected to invest alongside existing backers including Accel and Lightspeed. The round could value the AI-powered credit management platform at around $200M, more than double its April valuation.
🇫🇷 Cleavr raises €8M in a seed round led by Varsity, with participation from Kima Ventures, Better Angle, Portfolio Ventures, Kerala Ventures and Financière Saint James. The AI-powered accounts receivable platform will use the funding to scale invoice collection automation across Europe
M&A
🇪🇬 MNT-Halan prepares for a $150M IPO in Egypt, with the FinTech planning to sell a 20% stake on the Egyptian Exchange. The offering comprises 320M shares, while CIB has committed up to EGP2B ($38M) as a cornerstone investor, ahead of the planned listing.
🇲🇽 Kapital Grupo Financiero reaches a $2B valuation and acquires a U.S. AI firm, with the deal for the technology company valued at $30M. CEO and cofounder René Saúl Farro is betting on AI as a pillar of its expansion.
🇩🇪 Personio acquires spend management platform Circula. Circula serves more than 3,000 European businesses with expenses and corporate cards. It becomes Circula by Personio from October 6, with its team joining.
🇺🇸 Prosperum FinTech Holdings acquires Yellow Tunnel, combining it with Option Hotline. The combined AI platform will help retail investors find opportunities and analyze markets. Deal terms were not disclosed.
🇫🇷 BPCE acquires a 7% stake in Spanish lender Sabadell, becoming a long-term strategic shareholder in the bank. The French banking group plans to seek a board seat and explore strategic cooperation across corporate and investment banking, equipment financing, consumer finance and cross-border activities.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇬🇧 Jaja Finance appoints Abby Vickers as Chief Customer Officer. Vickers joins the company after previously serving as Klarna UK CEO. The hire adds a former Klarna UK chief executive to the Jaja Finance leadership team. Read more
🇬🇧 Revolut's commercial real estate lending chief Duncan Batty exits, less than two years after joining from M&G Investments. A spokesperson confirmed the departure, which appeared in Companies House filings, with no successor named.
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