S&P Global Is Buying the Security Layer of Onchain Finance
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
S&P Global is acquiring OpenZeppelin, bringing one of the biggest names in onchain security under one of the most established names in global financial markets.
OpenZeppelin has secured $37 trillion in value transferred through its Contracts, surfaced 10,000+ vulnerabilities and become a core security layer for stablecoins, tokenized funds and other onchain financial infrastructure. The deal is a pretty clear signal that onchain finance is moving further into the institutional world.
The interesting part is that OpenZeppelin’s open-source standards and security work will remain intact, while S&P Global adds institutional reach, market data and risk expertise to the mix.
FT Partners is also playing a role here, serving as the exclusive financial and strategic advisor to OpenZeppelin on its sale to S&P Global. Founded in 2015, OpenZeppelin has become a key security standard for onchain finance.
And if you’re in New York, there’s another way to connect with the FinTech community. FinTech Run Club, organized by Pedro D’Avila, is back with Rain, Monk, and JPMorgan for a casual run, coffee, and good conversations. No pressure — just come run, connect, and have fun. 🏃♂️☕
Let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇 See you on Monday!
Cheers,
FINTECH RUNNING CLUB
🏃♂️ Fintech Running Club is back!
Join FinTech Running Club ft. Rain + Monk + JPMorgan in New York for a casual run along the West Side Highway, followed by coffee and networking at Hungry Llama. All levels are welcome. Come for the run, the FinTech crowd, or both!
📅September 22 | 7:00 AM | New York
👉See the details & save your spot here
FINTECH NEWS
🌏 Money20/20 closes with Alipay and Tap to Pay on iPhone highlights. The event wrapped with sessions covering digital payment adoption trends across the Asia-Pacific region.
🇸🇪 Swedish FinTech Trustly to cut around 200 jobs, affecting roughly one in four employees as it streamlines operations and concentrates investment on priority markets. The cuts mostly hit Brazil, with CEO Johan Tjärnberg informing staff via email about the proposed organisational changes.
🇦🇪 iCapital deepens commitment to the Middle East with an ADGM license and Sharia-compliant strategies. The global FinTech received Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi's FSRA to serve eligible investors across the Gulf region with alternative investments.
🇬🇧 Clear Street completes UK and European equities build with London Stock Exchange clearing membership. The firm now clears its own UK and European equity business directly, with positions across the US, UK, and Europe held on one ledger.
INSIGHTS
💡 AI & Core Banking: Making Legacy Systems Less of a Black Box. Ove Kreison, Core Banking AI Expert and CPTO, COO & Co-Founder at Tuum, highlights how AI can help banks understand decades of undocumented business logic, dependencies, and edge cases before a core banking migration. Better visibility upfront means fewer surprises, less rework, and lower timeline risk.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇬🇧 3S Money launches business debit cards, expanding its product suite for international businesses. The multi-currency cards complement the firm's existing global account and local IBAN infrastructure across the UK, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
🇺🇸 ACI Worldwide expands ACI Connetic with advanced financial messaging, adding cloud-native capabilities for real-time domestic and cross-border payments. The upgrade helps banks modernize payments infrastructure and scale ISO 20022 migration without replacing legacy systems.
🇸🇦 Alipay+ to launch in Saudi Arabia, enabling cross-border QR code payments between the mada national scheme and Ant International's global wallet gateway. The rollout connects local merchants to over 1.7 billion user accounts across 36 partners in 70 markets.
🇺🇸 Chainlink connects 600+ banks to onchain payments via Bottomline, as the top-three SWIFT service provider launches Global Pay Connect. Institutions can access blockchain payment rails through existing SWIFT messaging standards without replatforming or building bespoke integrations.
🇺🇸 BofA's CashPro App facilitates more than €100 billion in payments approved by European companies. In the first seven months of 2026, transaction volume rose 25% and payment value increased 21% as mobile treasury usage reaches mainstream adoption across the region.
🇨🇳 PayPal meets with PBOC to discuss China expansion plans. The payments giant held talks with the People's Bank of China as it explores broader access to the Chinese market.
🇺🇸 Emburse launches AI-powered accounts payable and payments solution built for growing organizations. The platform aims to automate invoice processing and payment workflows for midmarket companies.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇬🇧 Revolut is exploring a dual listing in New York and London, as the neobank's long-awaited IPO plans take shape. The move would give the $45B valued FinTech access to both the world's deepest capital pool and its home European market.
🇬🇧 Revolut hackers demand $3 million in Monero, threatening to sell stolen customer data. At least 680 accounts were affected, with exposed data reportedly including identity documents and transaction histories.
🇺🇸 Mercury launches intelligent accounting with Mercury Books, adding automated bookkeeping to its banking platform. The product is designed to give startups real-time financial reporting alongside their bank accounts.
🇳🇿 Westpac becomes first NZ bank accredited to issue digital ID credentials. The accreditation positions Westpac to offer verified digital identity services to New Zealand customers under the country's digital identity framework.
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇬🇧 UK FCA sets crypto authorization guidance ahead of September application window. The regulator will open applications on Sept. 30, with a Feb. 28, 2027 deadline for firms seeking transitional arrangements before the new regime takes effect on Oct. 25, 2027.
🇺🇸 BitGo goes live on Arc Mainnet with day-one wallet and custody support. The crypto custodian now provides wallet and custody infrastructure on the Arc network from launch.
🇺🇸 Blockchain finance platform Theo launches tokenized silver backed by $40 million in active leases. The thSLVR token gives holders exposure to silver while passing on lease income from institutional borrowers such as refiners and mints.
🇺🇸 Ondo Finance joins DTCC's Fund/SERV as its first tokenization member. The integration allows Ondo's tokenized funds to reach traditional distributors connected to the platform, which processes over 85% of U.S. mutual fund activity.
STABLECOIN NEWS
🌍 Stable.com expands to Polygon Open Money Stack, letting users fund bank transfers directly from USDT or PYUSD held in self-custody wallets. The integration, built on Unlimit's infrastructure, allows users to transact without first depositing into a custodial account.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇪🇪 Creem announces Airwallex as its new payments infrastructure partner. The Estonian merchant-of-record platform now runs across multiple payment rails to eliminate single-point-of-failure risk for its merchants.
🇦🇪 Citi and Mastercard launch Smart Subscriptions in the UAE, marking Citi's first global deployment of the solution and the first Mastercard subscription management rollout in the Middle East. Citi cardholders can view and manage digital subscriptions directly in the Citi banking app, with issuers adopting the tool seeing a 10% average increase in subscription spend.
🇬🇧 Segen partners with Zopa Bank to launch residential solar finance, giving homeowners access to credit for solar panel installations. The collaboration brings Zopa's lending capabilities into the renewable energy sector through Segen's installer network.
🇬🇧 Wolves extend their FX partnership with Neo, renewing the foreign exchange collaboration for the 2026/27 season. The Premier League club continues to rely on Neo to handle international payment flows across its global operations.
🇺🇸 Microsoft, Marvell, and Utimaco deliver a cloud-scale payments security platform, combining hardware security modules with Azure infrastructure. Azure Payment HSM v2 enables financial institutions to secure payment workloads and meet PCI compliance without managing physical HSMs.
🇦🇪 NEOPAY and Deem Finance partner on UAE SME working capital, combining payment technology with financing solutions. The collaboration aims to support small businesses across the Emirates with improved access to capital.
🌍 Partior and LSEG DiSH partner to bring always-on settlement bank liquidity to cross-border payments. The collaboration develops a Multi-Settlement Bank solution that enables 24/7 movement of settlement liquidity across multiple banks.
🇰🇿 South Korea's Dunamu partners with Kazakhstan's Alatau City on a digital finance push worth $6 billion. South Korea's Upbit operator signed an MOU targeting tokenization pilots across real estate, logistics, and stablecoin infrastructure.
🇺🇸 Ripple adds XRP payments to Stripe and Tempo's AI standard in a new developer kit. The update expands support for automated payments in XRP and RLUSD, with tools that let AI agents manage wallets across blockchains.
🌏 Ripple partners with SBI and Kyobo to complete direct Japan-Korea stablecoin transfer pilot. The trial used RLUSD to settle a cross-border payment between Japan and South Korea without a correspondent bank.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇬🇧 UK Islamic FinTech Ayan Capital secures £75 million ($100 million) facility originated by Triple Point. The Shariah-compliant funding will support halal car finance originations as Ayan prepares its UK banking licence application. Over 150,000 people have started an application since launch.
🇮🇪 Small business lender Wayflyer secures $50 million in financing, fueling its expansion into new markets. The Dublin-headquartered firm provides revenue-based funding to help ecommerce and SME businesses scale their growth.
🇬🇧 Payments company Ryft lands £20 million in Series B funding for its expansion push. The Manchester-based firm secured the round led by growth investors to scale its payments platform across new markets.
🇬🇧 UK FinTech Joiin secures €1.5 million in growth financing to accelerate global expansion. The financial reporting and consolidation platform will use the capital to drive its go-to-market strategy and next growth phase.
🇺🇸 Payment Nerds secures $2 million credit facility from Espresso Capital. The non-dilutive financing will support investments in sales, technology infrastructure, and merchant services capabilities as the company scales.
M&A
🇺🇸 S&P Global enters agreement to acquire OpenZeppelin, the onchain finance security standard founded in 2015. The deal brings together S&P Global's institutional reach and OpenZeppelin's platform, through which $37 trillion in value has been transferred via its smart contract libraries.
🇺🇸 FIS buys AI-native OpenCoreOS months after launch as core banking consolidates. Founder Al Karim Somji has joined FIS as president of enterprise platforms, a move analysts see as central to the acquisition's rationale.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
🇳🇱 Nadya Maffei announces exit from Shopify as she joins payments company Adyen. The executive departs the e-commerce giant to take on a role at the Amsterdam-based payments platform.
🇬🇧 Blythe Masters exits as CEO of FinTech FNZ in the latest leadership shakeup. Masters departs the global wealth management platform as FNZ undergoes a senior leadership transition.
🇺🇸 Pagaya appoints payments pioneer Jason Gardner to its board of directors, adding deep industry expertise to its leadership. Gardner, known for founding Marqeta, brings decades of payments and FinTech experience to the AI lending platform.
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