Revolut’s data breach just got worse 🤯

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

Revolut's data incident has escalated again.

After the FinTech confirmed that attackers had successfully impersonated a government agency and obtained sensitive customer information, the group behind the attack is now demanding a ransom and threatening to release "more and more data everyday."

Calling itself "Revolut Smilik," the group told City AM that it is seeking payment from Revolut and claims to have already published data belonging to several notable individuals.

But now there is another twist.

A new website, IAmNotAVillain.xyz , has appeared claiming to be behind the original Revolut data incident and alleging that the breach is far larger than previously reported.

The site claims it has access to KYC documents, verification selfies, names, addresses, phone numbers, bank account identifiers, fiat transactions and crypto deposits and withdrawals.

It also disputes the story being told by "Revolut Smilik," claiming that group only obtained a small sample of the data and is now falsely taking credit for the wider breach.

NOTE: Those broader claims have not been independently verified.

Revolut, meanwhile, says only a "very limited" number of customers were affected and that its core infrastructure, databases and customer accounts were not breached.

The incident is now also attracting regulatory attention, with both the FCA and the UK Information Commissioner's Office confirming they are looking into it.

For a FinTech with more than 80 million customers and a reported $115 billion valuation on the horizon, this is quickly becoming one of the industry's most serious security stories.

More industry news is lined up for you below 👇

And I'll be back in your inbox tomorrow, straight from San Francisco, with Dreamforce finally checked off the bucket list!

Cheers,

Marcel

INSIGHTS

💡 dLocal: How Stablecoins Are Changing Treasury Across Africa. In the latest episode of dLocal Chats, Juan Cammarota and Julie Neogy discuss why treasury teams are increasingly using stablecoins to move money across Africa. Faster settlement, better FX rates, and more flexible funding are driving interest, while regulation and market maturity continue to differ significantly across the continent. Watch the full conversation here

FINTECH NEWS

🇺🇸 Mastercard's Sherri Haymond says agentic purchases are already happening, pointing to Amazon's Buy for Me and Google's AI Mode checkout. She describes agentic commerce as a new mechanism accelerating transactions across mobile, web, and physical environments.

🇸🇪 Klarna expands its Nordics anti-fraud toolkit with a new live call verification tool. The in-app Call Status Detection feature shows a green or amber banner so customers can instantly verify whether a caller is genuinely from Klarna.

🇪🇪 Tuum makes the Sifted 100: DACH & CEE 2026, ranking among the 100 fastest growing startups in the region by revenue growth. The core banking platform provider highlights a 9.1 NPS score and a 100% implementation success rate with its banking clients.

🇸🇦 TransPerfect Legal launches eDiscovery and investigations capabilities in Saudi Arabia, hosting Relativity, Reef Discovery, and Brainspace in Riyadh. The in-country setup allows organizations to process and review legal data while complying with regional data sovereignty regulations.

🇨🇦 Wise launches its Chequing Account in Canada, offering no monthly fees, free Interac e-Transfer options, and eligibility for CDIC insurance. The product targets Canadians whose financial lives span borders, with features like Group Spend and the highest USD return in market.

🇧🇷 Brazilian FinTech Pagaleve receives authorization from Brazil's Central Bank to operate as a Payment Institution, gaining approval to issue postpaid payment instruments and initiate payment transactions. Founded in 2021, the Pix-based BNPL platform processed an annualized TPV of R$3 billion in 2025 and will expand its installment payment services under full regulatory oversight.

🇸🇬 MAS tests cross-bank AI models to detect scams faster, working with law enforcement and the banking industry on the initiative. The regulator expects findings by the end of 2026 and has also launched Pathfin.ai to help smaller firms access validated AI solutions.

PAYMENTS NEWS

🇬🇧 Sokin launches an MCP connector letting customers' AI tools line up payments in minutes. The Model Context Protocol integration lets finance teams use ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini to prepare cross-border payments and FX trades for human approval.

🇪🇬 Banque du Caire and Telda connect prepaid Mastercard to InstaPay, making it the first prepaid Mastercard in Egypt to support the instant payments app. The integration lets Telda customers transfer funds to mobile numbers, bank accounts, wallets, and cards via the national network.

🇬🇧 Premier Payment Solutions Ltd enters liquidation, with joint liquidators appointed after directors determined the firm could no longer continue trading. The FCA-registered small payment institution provided money remittance services and supported cross-border payments through a network of agents.

🇸🇦 Saudi FinTech Moyasar targets UAE expansion after securing dual payment approvals, having received licensing from both Saudi and UAE regulators. The move positions Moyasar to serve merchants across two of the Gulf's largest markets.

🌍 Thunes launches cross-border payouts across six new Middle East markets, covering Bahrain, Lebanon, Oman, South Yemen, Syria and the UAE. Members can now process payouts to bank accounts, mobile wallets, and cash pickup locations in local currencies.

🇦🇪 Paysend receives in-principle licence approval from the Central Bank of the UAE, covering Stored Value Facility and Category IV Digital Exchange Business categories. The approval brings Paysend closer to establishing a regulated hub for its Middle East operations and connecting businesses and consumers to its global payments network spanning 170+ countries.

🇺🇸 Talus launches ReadyPoint, an all-in-one smart mPOS solution for merchants. The device combines payment acceptance, business management tools, and connectivity into a single smart terminal designed for small and mid-sized businesses.

🇺🇸 Wells Fargo brings international money transfers to mobile banking, launching ExpressSend Mobile for seamless cross-border payments. The feature lets customers send international transfers directly from the Wells Fargo mobile app, streamlining a process that previously required branch visits or desktop access.

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

🇬🇧 Revolut confirms a customer data breach through fraudulent government requests. An unauthorized party used a legitimate agency email domain to obtain identity documents and contact details. The company says it blocked the address and alerted regulators after discovering the scam.

🇮🇪 Revolut Bank hits a €1 billion credit milestone in Ireland, with 300,000 customers now using its borrowing facilities. The FinTech has more than 3.4 million users in Ireland, representing the highest penetration per capita in the world.

🇮🇪 Monzo pumps €25M into its Irish operation, boosting its European expansion with a significant capital injection. The investment supports the neobank's growing presence in Ireland as it prepares to move to a new Dublin office.

🇺🇸 PhoenixWorx launches to redefine core banking for U.S. community financial institutions. The new company aims to modernize legacy infrastructure for credit unions and community banks with a purpose-built core banking platform.

🇵🇭 MUFG secures a Universal Banking License in the Philippines, receiving approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The license allows MUFG Manila to expand its range of financial services in the country.

BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

🇺🇸 Kraken launches xStocks vaults with yields on tokenized stocks, offering up to 2% yield on SPYx, QQQx, and NVDAx. The vaults use leveraged DeFi strategies to generate returns on tokenized versions of popular equities.

PARTNERSHIPS

🇸🇾 QNB Group and Mastercard issue the first internationally accepted payment card in Syria, marking a milestone in the country's financial reintegration. The card gives Syrian customers access to global payment networks for the first time.

🇦🇪 CBUAE and Mastercard conclude a capacity-building programme to strengthen fraud risk management across the digital payments ecosystem. The four-day initiative trained 25 CBUAE employees on emerging fraud risks and detection best practices.

🌏 Ant International's Agentic Mobile Protocol rolls out globally with wallets and acquirers, initiating collaboration on a KYA interoperability framework with Mastercard and Visa. The protocol aims to establish standards for agent-initiated payments across mobile wallets.

🇨🇴 Inter Bogotá lands Mastercard as its main jersey sponsor, bringing integrated payment solutions and cardholder benefits to the Colombian soccer club. The celebrity-backed team, owned by a group including Ryan Reynolds and Eva Longoria, will feature Mastercard's logo on the front of its jersey.

🇫🇷 Worldline enables agentic commerce payments through Google's Universal Commerce Protocol, becoming one of the first European payment providers to launch a UCP payment handler. The integration lets merchants accept AI-initiated purchases across multiple platforms through a single payment setup, supporting cards, mobile wallets, and European payment methods.

🌍 Nuvei and Kolleno partner to embed global payments into AI-powered finance workflows, combining Nuvei's payment infrastructure with Kolleno's automation platform. The partnership enables B2B companies to streamline accounts receivable with integrated payment processing.

🇬🇧 YouLend and Dojo's partnership hits £2 billion in funding, supporting over 30,000 UK SMEs across hospitality, retail, and e-commerce. Funding volumes doubled from £1 billion in under 15 months, with a merchant approved every 20 minutes.

DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

🇭🇰 Qupital raises $300M in Series C led by M Capital, with additional ABS commitments from MUFG and Quester Capital. The AI-driven trade finance platform has processed over $9.5 billion in cumulative loans and will expand financing across China, the US, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

🇸🇦 Saudi FinTech firm Tabby raises $233M to expand financial services, reaching a $6.5 billion valuation. Blue Pool Capital led the round as Tabby, profitable since 2023, processes over $18 billion in annualized volume and plans to expand beyond BNPL into broader financial services across Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

🇫🇷 Crypto data firm Kaiko secures $110M in a funding round led by S&P Global, with BNP Paribas, Nasdaq, Royal Bank of Canada, Bpifrance, and Susquehanna also participating. The Paris-founded firm will use the funds to strengthen its data business and expand its product offering across 150+ exchanges and crypto protocols.

🇺🇸 Pave Finance raises $15M in an oversubscribed Series A at a $100M valuation to scale its AI-powered wealth management platform. The funding will help Pave expand its technology that uses AI to deliver personalized investment strategies.

🇸🇦 Tarabut secures $50M from Saudi banks and business groups, with Riyad Bank, SAB Invest's X-Tech Fund, and GIB Saudi Arabia among participants. The financing deepens its focus on embedded lending and credit decisioning in the Kingdom.

🇧🇪 Chift raises €10.5M to build a financial connectivity layer for the AI era. The round will fund expansion of its integration platform connecting financial software. The company aims to make financial data more accessible across accounting, banking, and other business applications as AI-driven workflows become more common. 

🇪🇬 Synapse Analytics secures $13M in Series A led by Partech, bringing total funding to $17M. The Abu Dhabi-based company builds agentic decisioning infrastructure helping banks and FinTechs manage credit and risk across the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

M&A

🇺🇸 MoonPay buys Rhythm in its latest strategic acquisition move, acquiring the on-chain trading signals platform to promote online trading adoption. Rhythm's technology and three co-founders have joined MoonPay to expand its capabilities in on-chain trading.

🇪🇺 Euronext is open to merging with rival Deutsche Börse, signaling potential consolidation among Europe's largest exchange operators. A deal would reshape the continent's capital markets infrastructure.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

🇩🇰 Christian Sillesen appointed country manager for Avanza in Denmark, joining from neobank Lunar where he served as Head of Commercial. He will lead Avanza's organic market entry in Denmark ahead of a planned 2027 launch, bringing over 10 years of experience from Lunar and Saxo Bank.

🇦🇹 fiskaly appoints a Co-CEO to accelerate European growth, strengthening its leadership as the fiscal compliance platform expands across the continent. Read more

🇺🇸 Galaxy appoints Taylor Reinhardt as Head of Investor Relations, reporting to CFO Tony Paquette. She joins from Perella Weinberg and previously held IR roles at Apollo Global Management, bringing experience in communicating complex business models to institutional investors.

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