Rillet Raises $100M at a $1B Valuation — What a Journey, Nicolas

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

Nicolas, I still remember meeting you over coffee in NYC a few years ago, before Rillet had even come out of stealth. So seeing where you and the team are today is pretty special.

Rillet has just raised $100 million in Series C at a $1 billion valuation, with Iconiq leading the round and Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia coming back in. The company now serves 600+ businesses and says it has doubled ARR in just three months. What started as a bold idea around an AI-native finance stack is moving very quickly into reality.

Huge congratulations, my friend — really happy to see how far you’ve taken it.

And if you want to keep the AI + banking theme going, DashDevs looks at what an AI-native bank could actually look like, while Maple takes a step back to explore how credit has evolved from ancient contracts to onchain lending.

Now, let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇 See you on Monday!

Cheers,

Marcel

INSIGHTS

🎤 What an AI-native bank actually looks like by DashDevs. In this episode of the FinTech Garden Podcast, Igor Tomych speaks with Theodora Lau, founder of Unconventional Ventures, author of Banking on (Artificial) Intelligence, and host of the One Vision podcast, about how banks built their value on being the institution customers turn to, what changes now that 53% of US consumers consult AI tools for financial advice, and what institutions should be doing over the next two to three years. Watch the full podcast here

PAYMENTS NEWS

🇸🇦 SNB Group launches the first World Legend Mastercard in the Middle East and North Africa region, targeting Private Banking clients with Mastercard's most prestigious tier. The card marks the debut of World Legend in the MENA market.

🇨🇦 Klarna launches in-store at GARAGE and DYNAMITE, expanding BNPL to over 300 physical locations across Canada, the U.S., and the UK. Shoppers scan a QR code at checkout to split eligible purchases into interest-free installments.

🇵🇱 BLIK delivers a strong first half of 2026, processing 1.6 billion transactions worth €56.56 billion. Active users reached 21.6 million, up over 2 million YoY, with transaction volume growing 13% and value rising 18%.

🇩🇪 Eurvon expands the EURV digital payment ecosystem, connecting customers with participating merchants across hotels, retail, restaurants, and online businesses. The Berlin-based platform focuses on simple, secure digital payments for everyday commerce.

🇺🇸 Stripe's net revenue grew 41% YoY in the first half of 2026. Billing revenue jumped 71%, free cash flow hit 43%, and the company shows no rush toward an IPO.

🇬🇧 Modulr becomes the only non-bank payment service provider with direct access to all three major UK payment schemes. The company is now a direct CHAPS participant, settling directly at the Bank of England alongside its existing Faster Payments and Bacs access.

🇺🇸 Xero accelerates US growth, adding embedded payroll powered by Gusto and Melio Expense Management. The updates unify accounting, payments, payroll, and tax in one platform, showcased alongside new agentic AI capabilities at Xerocon US.

🇺🇸 Ramp launches Router.com to cut companies' rising AI bills by routing each request to the lowest-cost model meeting performance requirements. Customers already using Router have reduced inference costs by 40% on average.

🇨🇳 Ant International's FalconTST Model 2.0 achieves state-of-the-art results, elevating predictive AI application in finance. The upgraded model targets time-series forecasting for financial use cases across Ant's global network.

ARTICLE OF THE DAY

💡 Maple: Four Thousand Years of Credit — and the Chapter We’re Writing Now. Maple traces the evolution of lending from ancient contracts and community enforcement to banks, fintech, and onchain credit, arguing that the core problems of trust, risk, default, and liquidity have remained largely unchanged. The difference today is the infrastructure: blockchain can make property rights and loan terms enforceable by code, while transparent onchain data can improve how credit risk is assessed and monitored. Maple sees this shift as a path toward more open, global access to credit and yield, with stablecoins, tokenization, and zero-knowledge proofs playing an increasingly important role. Read the full article here

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

🇪🇬 CIB Egypt's Yomo obtains a digital banking license from the Central Bank of Egypt with $200M in capital. The wholly owned digital bank targets operations in Q4 2026, initially offering limited services before expanding.

🇬🇧 Nationwide aims to simplify credit scores with a free widget in its app and online banking. The tool shows customers what factors influence their score, helping them make more informed financial decisions.

🇦🇪 Fintech Galaxy receives in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the UAE to operate as an Open Finance provider. The approval enables participation in Al Tareq, the UAE's Open Finance scheme for consent-based financial data sharing.

🇬🇧 Starling Bank adds AI-powered skills to its customer-facing chatbot, launching "smart tools" for personalised savings plans, scam guidance, and automated VAT savings. The bank plans to release new smart tools every week.

🇺🇸 Prevail Bank adopts Jack Henry's core processing and digital solutions to modernize operations. The bank will use Banno Digital Platform, Tap2Local for payments, and AI-assisted fraud investigation tools.

#FINTECHREPORT

🚨 Klarna’s Q2 showcases growth and profitability moving in tandem. 

Revenue rose 27%, operating profit turned positive. Here are the key numbers 👇

BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

🌏 Binance introduces Agent OS, a developer platform connecting AI applications to its trading, market data, wallet, and payment capabilities. User-controlled permissions determine which data and trading functions an AI agent can access.

🇬🇧 Standard Chartered and HSBC execute the first live tokenised deposit transaction on Swift's blockchain-based ledger. The cross-border transfer demonstrates interbank interoperability, advancing 24/7 settlement using regulated deposits.

🇰🇷 BitGo Korea becomes the first new Korean entity established by a global digital asset company to secure VASP registration in South Korea. The registration enables BitGo to offer regulated custody and trading services to institutional clients in the country.

🇬🇭 Ghana expands its crypto regulatory sandbox to 20 firms, nearly doubling participation. The Securities and Exchange Commission is broadening supervised access for digital asset companies operating in the country.

🇬🇧 Standard Chartered issues $200M in digitally native notes on Euroclear's D-FMI, becoming the first G-SIB to do so. The three-year floating-rate notes use distributed ledger technology within regulated market infrastructure.

🇪🇺 Axiology joins the ECB's Pontes and Appia Contact Group for the initial launch of DLT settlement infrastructure. The firm will connect its regulated trading system with Eurosystem payment architecture starting September 21.

🇭🇰 RedotPay secures its first U.S. Money Transmitter License, with applications pending in over 20 additional states. The crypto card platform serves 8 million users and generates approximately $180M in annualized revenue.

STABLECOINS

🇺🇸 Trump reaffirms ban on a central bank digital currency, defending the GENIUS Act at a White House crypto meeting. The legislation mandates 100% reserve backing for payment stablecoins and subjects issuers to strict AML compliance.

🇦🇪 Bitcoin.com Wallet integrates UAE-regulated stablecoin USDU, issued by Universal Digital Intl. in Abu Dhabi Global Market. Users can hold, send, and receive USDU on Ethereum while maintaining full self-custody of private keys.

🇺🇸 Elon Musk's X is exploring stablecoins to pay influencers and content providers. Conversations are ongoing according to a person who also works with other social platforms testing stablecoin payouts.

🇺🇸 MoonPay launches onramps and offramps for ctUSD, Citrea's Bitcoin-native stablecoin. The integration connects on-chain collateral to fiat rails, live in the U.S. and over 120 countries.

PARTNERSHIPS

🇨🇴 Alianza Fiduciaria launched its first prepaid card with Pomelo's infrastructure in Colombia. The digital card lets clients spend investment fund returns directly, tokenizable via Apple Pay and Google Pay with dynamic CVV security.

🌎 DEUNA and PayPal bring the full PayPal ecosystem to enterprise merchants through a single API integration. The expanded partnership activates PayPal Wallet, Venmo, and Pay Later across every market where DEUNA operates.

🌍 TerraPay and Deutsche Bank expand global payment connectivity through a new collaboration. TerraPay gains access to Deutsche Bank's correspondent banking network, strengthening USD settlement and cross-border efficiency.

🌏 Tenpay Global and ShopeePay launch China QR payments, enabling Chinese tourists to pay at ShopeePay merchants across Southeast Asia. The collaboration connects WeChat Pay users to local merchant networks in the region.

🇭🇰 BOCHK and Ant International forge a strategic partnership to enhance cross-border payment connectivity and corporate financial services. The collaboration leverages FinTech to improve payment efficiency and innovative solutions for corporate clients across borders.

🇺🇸 Pathward selects Thought Machine's Vault Core to modernize its U.S. sponsor banking infrastructure. The cloud-native platform will replace legacy technology and accelerate FinTech innovation.

🇬🇧 Experian brings personalised credit scores to ChatGPT in a UK first, allowing users to access their Experian data directly through OpenAI's platform. The integration marks the first time a major credit bureau has connected to ChatGPT for consumer-facing credit information.

DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

🇺🇸 Rillet raises $100M Series C at a $1B valuation, just two years after emerging from stealth. Led by Iconiq with Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia returning, the AI accounting startup has doubled its ARR in three months and serves over 600 companies.

🇺🇸 Blueprint Finance announces a strategic funding round led by Polychain Capital to scale Concrete's institutional DeFi infrastructure. Participants include Bullish, Keyrock, BitGo, and FalconX, supporting on-chain vault and capital allocation tools.

🇵🇱 EIB launches a €30M FinTech fund in Poland with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, managed by Inovo.vc. The fund targets early-stage startups in Central and Eastern Europe.

M&A

🇺🇸 Stripe agrees to acquire OpenRouter, an AI model gateway routing requests across 400+ models from 80+ providers. The deal strengthens Stripe's push to help businesses optimize token costs alongside payment revenue.

🇺🇸 Santander completes its acquisition of Webster in the United States. The deal creates a leading retail and commercial bank with nearly eight million customers, expanding Santander's Northeast presence as it targets 18% RoTE by 2028.

LAWSUITS

🇺🇸 Cash App settlement forces Block to pay 46 states $45M, plus back $120M in CFPB restitution. A bipartisan coalition alleged Block misled consumers about fraud protections while failing to require basic identity verification at sign-up.

🇦🇺 Australian competition regulator searches WiseTech in antitrust probe, sending shares down over 12%. The ACCC executed a search warrant seeking documents on global logistics services and software supply.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

🇳🇱 Adyen appoints Nicole Olbe as EMEA President, effective September 1, succeeding Alexa von Bismarck. Olbe joins from her role as Managing Director of UK and Ireland, a position she held for three years before taking on the broader regional leadership.

🇺🇸 Pibank appoints Daniel Barake as EVP of Retail Banking to lead U.S. growth. The former Citibank executive brings extensive retail banking experience to strengthen Pibank's digital-first platform and expand its U.S. customer base.

🇨🇦 Versapay names Glen Braganza as CFO to drive financial strategy during its next growth stage. He brings over 20 years of leadership across payments and software businesses including Worldpay and EasyPark.

🇬🇧 Tandem Bank bolsters its executive team with new CRO and CPO appointments, adding senior leadership to accelerate its sustainable finance strategy. The two hires are expected to strengthen Tandem's green lending proposition and drive long-term product growth.

FINTECH SIGNALS

🇰🇷 South Korean FinTech startup Afinit seeks a Kosdaq IPO, fueled by its True Balance lending business in India. The company has begun preparations for a public listing on South Korea's tech-focused exchange. Read more

🇮🇳 Tiger Global-backed Upstox begins IPO talks, eyeing a $400M public issue through fresh shares and an OFS. India's fifth-largest brokerage by active clients has started preliminary discussions with investment banks.

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