Revolut Clears a Major U.S. Banking Hurdle
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
Revolut is getting closer to becoming a real bank in the U.S.
The fintech has received conditional approval from the OCC for a national bank charter, clearing a major regulatory hurdle on its way to a planned 2027 U.S. launch.
That could give Revolut a much broader banking toolkit in its biggest target market — from FDIC-insured deposits and credit cards to consumer lending, while also bringing stablecoins and crypto into the same super-app experience.
There’s still work to do with the FDIC and Federal Reserve before the charter is fully approved. But with more than 80 million customers globally, Revolut is clearly not entering the U.S. quietly.
And while Revolut is pushing deeper into banking, Stripe and Adyen are showing what scale looks like on the payments side — with Stripe growing revenue 41% and Adyen reaching a 49% EBITDA margin in H1 2026.
Let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇 See you on Monday!
Cheers,
#FINTECHREPORT
Stripe +41% revenue growth. Adyen a 49% EBITDA margin 🤯
Here's the H1 2026 comparison Stripe 🆚 Adyen:
FINTECH NEWS
🌎 Incognia reveals how scam cities are industrializing financial crime across Southeast Asia and beyond. The company's data shows 81% of financial institutions report rising mule account activity, with fraud networks recruiting mules to open verified accounts.
🇺🇸 Finzly launches Assure, an AI-powered security assurance and intelligence layer. The tool embeds continuous AI-driven monitoring into Finzly's payments and banking infrastructure.
🇺🇸 OnePay launches My Garage, bringing vehicle value, loan equity, payoff timeline and insurance offers into one app. It is the first consumer financial app to consolidate the full picture of vehicle ownership.
🇺🇸 Yooz surpasses 7,000 customers worldwide as platform usage hits a record high. The AI-powered finance platform processed its highest monthly document and payment volume in company history during June.
🇦🇺 Australia unveils a national Financial Innovation Strategy covering regulatory sandboxes, digital assets, payments licensing and data sharing. The plan includes a new Financial Innovation Committee bringing together government, regulators and industry.
🇺🇸 Lumin Digital launches the M&A Readiness Advantage, the industry's first purpose-built M&A framework for financial institutions. Read more
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇺🇸 MassPay launches MassPay Collect, a new product designed for stablecoin payment collection. The tool expands MassPay's payout infrastructure into inbound stablecoin flows for businesses.
🇮🇳 PayPal cuts about 600 jobs in India, reducing roughly 10% of its 6,000 plus workforce. The layoffs span technology, engineering, and finance teams as PayPal targets $1.5B in run-rate savings.
🇵🇭 GCash launches GSukli, a feature that turns loose change into digital wallet funds for free. The service is live at all Bench branches in the Philippines, with more retail brands expected to follow.
🇿🇦 PhotonPay launches local account capability in South Africa, enabling global businesses to collect ZAR through domestic payment networks. The new capability connects local collections to PhotonPay's unified global financial operating system.
🇮🇳 India stalls Alipay's payments link over security and data concerns, according to sources. Officials have paused the approval process, blocking Alipay from connecting to India's payments infrastructure.
🇺🇸 X shifts U.S. creator payouts from Stripe to X Money, making all payments instant with no minimum threshold. Creators using the Original Content Rewards Program and Subscriptions now receive funds the moment they are sent.
🇦🇪 XTransfer secures in-principle approval for a retail payment services licence from the UAE Central Bank. The approval will enable the B2B platform to serve mainland UAE clients with regulated cross-border payment services.
🇬🇧 EcommPay rolls out QR code payments for merchants across its network. The new feature lets customers initiate payments by scanning a QR code at checkout.
🇸🇦 PayTic expands into Saudi Arabia to power AI-driven payment operations with market entry support from AstroLabs. The Canadian-Moroccan FinTech offers AI-powered components that help organizations build and operate payment systems at scale.
🇮🇳 WhatsApp will soon let users make bill payments in India, expanding its in-app financial services. The feature will allow users to settle utility and other bills directly within WhatsApp.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 Revolut wins conditional approval from the OCC for a national bank charter in the United States. The company now expects FDIC and Federal Reserve sign-off as it targets a full U.S. bank launch by 2027.
🇬🇧 Atom Bank launches a natural capital lending proposition aimed at unlocking new housing development in the UK. The digital bank's new product ties lending to natural capital and environmental outcomes.
🇺🇸 FIS launches its Embedded Banking Platform, letting banks deliver accounts and payments inside business software. Pilot banks include Cogent Bank, Commercial Bank of California, and M&T Bank, with accounts and payments planned for Q4 2026.
🇲🇾 Ryt Bank users can now apply for loans up to RM100,000 through the new Ryt Credit product. The upgraded offering replaces Ryt PayLater and requires EPF statements for higher credit limits approved in as little as five minutes.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇺🇸 Maple introduces new allocation strategies including direct lending, asset-backed securitization and the basis trade. Each strategy will be capped at 5% of the deposit base at launch and connects capital to traditional credit markets.
🇭🇰 Hashkey joins DTCC's Digital Assets Advisory Services working group as its first Asian digital asset service provider. The group includes JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Nasdaq, and is shaping how tokenized assets are issued and settled at institutional scale.
🇦🇪 Standard Chartered becomes the first G-SIB to launch institutional Bitcoin and Ether spot trading in the UAE. Eligible institutional clients can access deliverable BTC and ETH trading through the bank's existing electronic FX channels.
🇨🇦 Coinbase launches derivative contracts in Canada, expanding its regulated product offering in the market. Continue reading
🇲🇽 Grupo Salinas' CoinPro selects Integral for crypto infrastructure, powering its digital asset exchange operations. The partnership gives CoinPro access to Integral's institutional-grade execution and risk management technology.
🇸🇬 BitGo opens a new Singapore office, deepening its commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. The expansion positions BitGo to serve institutional clients across APAC with custody and financial services.
🇺🇸 Kraken parent Payward pushes its IPO back to mid-2027 at the earliest, according to a report. The delay gives the crypto exchange more time to prepare its financials and regulatory standing ahead of a public listing.
STABLECOINS NEWS
🇺🇸 EDGE Markets launches with ZeroHash to enable real-time stablecoin account funding for 24/7/365 trading. The integration allows traders to fund accounts instantly using stablecoins.
🇺🇸 Circle's CCTP extends crosschain support to EURC, its euro stablecoin. Starting with Ethereum and Base, EURC can now move natively across chains using the same burn-and-mint model that powers USDC transfers.
🇸🇬 WasabiCard expands global payroll and creator payouts for livestreaming businesses. The stablecoin-powered platform supports bulk payouts and local fiat settlement across 200+ countries and regions.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇨🇱 Chilean FinTech Racional partners with Pomelo to offer prepaid accounts and cards under a new "Racional Money" product line. Pomelo will act as the authorized non-bank issuer while Racional handles product development and app integration.
🌏 Minor Hotels partners with Checkout.com to power payments across its portfolio of 640+ hotels in 67 countries. The deal brings AI-driven optimization and domestic acquiring to improve authorization rates globally.
🇺🇸 SoFi and Payward partner to connect banking and digital asset markets, with Payward joining the SoFi Exchange Network and listing SoFiUSD on Kraken. SoFi will also use Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital asset liquidity for its members.
🌍 Revolut and Yuno partner to give merchants one-click access to Revolut's full payment stack. The integration bundles Revolut Pay, acquiring, and gateway services across the UK, EEA, Singapore, and Australia.
🌏 Bybit Pay partners with Mesh to expand digital asset payments across Mesh-powered platforms. The integration lets Bybit's 80 million users spend digital assets without manual withdrawals or conversions.
🇺🇸 Chainlink partners with Bottomline to explore blockchain-based cross-border payments for over 600 banking clients. Chainlink will serve as an interoperability layer connecting Bottomline's infrastructure to public and permissioned blockchain networks.
🇸🇪 Celeri and Saldo Bank partner to deliver an integrated financial stack for Nordic SMEs. The collaboration combines Celeri's platform with Saldo Bank's banking services to serve small businesses across the Nordics.
🇮🇹 JCB partners with Nexi to simplify public transport in Campania, enabling contactless travel across Naples and beyond while making journeys easier for international visitors.
🇵🇰 Simpaisa and Tencent Cloud collaborate on a strategic cloud transformation to optimize infrastructure for FinTech operations. The initiative leverages Tencent Cloud's financial-grade infrastructure to support security, resilience and regulatory requirements.
🇦🇺 Send Payments appoints Three Are One as its global scale-up partner to accelerate growth in Australia. The agency will lead commercial strategy, brand and media buying as the international payments platform launches new capabilities.
🇸🇬 SHOPLINE selects Splitit as its card-linked installment partner, embedding the technology into its commerce platform. The integration gives 700,000+ merchants the ability to activate installment payments using consumers' existing credit.
🇫🇷 Adyen and GetYourGuide celebrate 15 years of partnership powering payments for the global travel experiences platform. Adyen's local acquiring network helps GetYourGuide localize payment methods across international markets.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇦🇺 Airwallex dominates Australian FinTech funding as investors turn to AI-first. The company attracted nearly $1 billion of the sector's $1.73B total in FY26, accounting for the bulk of a 137% year-on-year funding surge.
🇨🇩 Nomba raises $3M in debt from CardinalStone Finance to expand cross-border payments infrastructure out of the DRC. The company processes over $480M monthly and is targeting $1B in monthly cross-border volume.
🇺🇸 TabaPay closes $155M in financing and has agreed to acquire a bank. The deal strengthens TabaPay's position as it builds out its payments and banking infrastructure.
🇬🇧 Laters.com raises $1.5M in a seed round led by XBO Ventures. Formerly known as Fly Fairly, the startup is building flexible travel payment solutions beyond cards.
🇮🇳 Slice raises $100M from Neo Wealth, Kado Global and Moore Strategic Ventures at a valuation of $450M. The round comes at a lower valuation than previous funding, as the company continues building its digital banking and credit platform in India.
🇨🇴 Colombian FinTech Plenti secures a $3M seed round led by Tether, with participation from Verda Ventures. The funds will support expansion into Peru and Bolivia, building on over 150,000 active users and $3.1B in annual transaction volume.
🇸🇦 Saudi FlyAkeed raises $25.15M in equity and travel financing, led by Sanabil Investments with participation from Artal Capital and stc group. The funding supports a new embedded deferred payment offering for enterprises to settle travel invoices with flexible terms.
🇸🇬 Beams FinTech Fund secures $22M for next-gen finance, targeting early-stage companies across Southeast Asia. The fund will back startups building infrastructure and applications across payments, lending and embedded finance.
🇸🇦 Saudi FinTech Rabeh raises $8.5M to expand its financial management platform for SMEs. The round will support product development and growth across the Kingdom's small business market.
M&A
🇺🇸 Nasdaq completes its acquisition of Dasseti, integrating AI-powered due diligence into Nasdaq eVestment. Dasseti supports 17,000 asset managers representing $34 trillion in assets under management.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Stripe taps Drew Turchin as its new stablecoin cards executive. Turchin joins from Native Markets and will work alongside Henri Stern and Max Segall to lead Stripe's stablecoin card payments strategy.
🇬🇧 Former Revolut executive Nick Tomadakis becomes Apex's second CPO in 20 months. He joins from DCM to lead the product roadmap at a firm servicing over $3.5T in assets, ahead of its $100B tokenization target for June 2027.
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