Stripe Brings Stablecoin Accounts to 100+ Markets
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
The second day of Stripe Sessions is gone. After Tuesday’s opening, where Stripe's CEO John Collison revealed that Stripe processed $1.4 trillion in 2024, or 1.3% of global GDP, the spotlight shifted from numbers to product.
On the first day, Collison sat down with Mark Zuckerberg to discuss AI, privacy, and Stripe’s role as connective tissue in the digital economy. Now, attention has turned to the product stack.
The focus was on four core areas: Payments, Connect, Revenue, and Money Management. In the Payments keynote, a live demo of Stripe Orchestration showed how businesses can manage multiple payment processors, customize routing, and gain complete visibility within Stripe's platform.
Still regarding payments, there's major announcement: Klarna will be available by summer with a single click on Link, allowing even first-time Klarna users to check out instantly. Stripe also added Brazil’s Pix and India’s UPI to its list of 125+ payment methods, which already includes stablecoins and real-time payment options. With this, Stripe moves further into local instant payments without losing sight of its global scope.
On the Connect side, Stripe now powers 15,000+ SaaS platforms serving over 10 million businesses. A new version of Radar was introduced, enabling deeper fraud detection tools: account-level rules, dynamic risk indicators, and intervention capabilities like payout holds or ID checks. These features are available via both API and Dashboard, reinforcing Stripe’s aim to make trust programmable at scale.
For Revenue, the Stripe Billing suite is now used by more than 300,000 companies, including OpenAI, NVIDIA, Midjourney, and others. One highlight was Stripe Scripts, which lets companies define custom logic within the billing cycle.
The product push also included tax capabilities in 102 countries, which nearly doubled since 2024, pointing to increasing complexity in global monetization, and Stripe’s intention to abstract it away.
But probably the biggest announcement came in Money Management. Stripe introduced Stablecoin Financial Accounts, powered by Bridge, unlocking access to USD-denominated services in over 100 new countries. These accounts combine stablecoin storage with traditional rails like ACH, wire, and SEPA, offering the ability to hold, send, and receive USD or EUR, instantly and globally. The launch brings Stripe’s financial infrastructure to businesses in markets previously out of reach.
There were other product previews too: a new commerce API, the Stripe Verified credential, and a business-to-business network that lets companies transact directly with others inside the Stripe ecosystem.
Stripe continues to expand its FinTech stack, integrating more AI and blockchain components into its infrastructure. Stripe is part of a wider shift in FinTech, where firms are rapidly developing new capabilities and expanding into adjacent areas to maintain relevance. The FinTech industry has already extended into areas like insurtech and telecom, raising the question of which industry might be integrated next.
Read more global FinTech industry updates below 👇 and I'll be back with more tomorrow!
Cheers,
FINTECH NEWS
🇧🇷 RS2 and ACI Worldwide call for advanced technology to reduce payment disputes in Brazil. These disputes can be costly and time-consuming for all parties, from merchants and payment processors to banks and card networks. Credit cards, the most popular payment method, are also the most frequently exploited by bad actors.
🇺🇸 BankThink: The future of finance is inclusion, or it's no future at all. Strong economic growth and future prosperity hinge on the ability of everyone in society to access financial services, writes Thomas Warsop, of ACI Worldwide. Keep reading
🇪🇪 XData Group to go public on Nasdaq via blank check merger. XData Group CEO described the deal with Alpha Star as the next step in the company’s journey, adding that going public will provide the necessary resources to accelerate the development of new products and foster new industry partnerships.
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇺🇸 External billing is now live on App Store, and it’s a big deal for app monetization by Solidgate. A U.S. District Judge ruled that Apple must allow external payment options in App Store apps for U.S. users. In this article, find out what this change means in practice.
🌎 Exploring the expanding landscape of payment processing solutions. The Payment Processing Solutions market is highly competitive, featuring several notable companies that significantly shape the industry landscape, like ACI Worldwide.
🇩🇪 GreenBanana unveils BNPL platform for retailers. The bnplx.io platform is designed to support small, medium-sized businesses and international enterprise retailers. It uses machine learning to route transactions in real-time to the best-suited BNPL providers across more than 25 countries.
🇮🇳 UPI QR codes record 91.5 pc surge to 657.9 million, credit card growth slows. The surge in UPI QR codes was accompanied by a slowdown in the growth rate of credit card transactions to 7.94% year-on-year, while debit card additions registered a mere 2.7% growth to 991 million.
🌍 Nordics and Estonia are rolling out offline card payment back-up in case the internet is cut. The plans come after the region has suffered several instances of unexplained damage to critical undersea infrastructure in recent years, and as Western intelligence services have accused Russia of committing various acts of sabotage.
🇺🇸 Stripe allows iOS developers to dodge Apple’s commission. Developers can now accept payments with the processing platform Stripe, outside any app, without Apple Store commission fees. A guide showed developers how to accept transactions outside an app using Stripe Checkout.
🇺🇸 Samsung introduces a new tap-to-transfer feature for Samsung Wallet. The new feature will make peer-to-peer (P2P) payments faster and more convenient in the U.S. It is designed to simplify the process of paying, eliminating the hassle often associated with shared expenses.
OPEN BANKING
🇬🇧 TrueLayer hits record-breaking milestone processing over $10 billion in payments in a single month. Its rapid growth is being driven by consumer demand for simple, instant payments and instant refunds, and by merchant demand for low-cost, secure payment methods that eliminate the possibility of card fraud.
REGTECH NEWS
🇬🇧 Revolut chooses Fourthline as a strategic partner. The partnership was further solidified by Fourthline's exceptional customer-centric approach, which includes dedicated account management and technical support tailored specifically to Revolut's unique operational needs.
🇺🇸 CFPB reveals plans to rescind BNPL regulation. That rule stated certain BNPL products would be regulated within the same parameters as credit cards under the federal Truth in Lending Act. Continue reading
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇺🇸 Santander to shut 18 U.S. branches as it boosts digital bank. It plans to close about 4.5% of its U.S. branch network this summer, with all of the shutdowns slated to affect locations in the Northeast. The U.S. closures come as Santander pursues a nationwide digital banking strategy in the U.S.
🇱🇹 MyTU secures Visa and Mastercard acquiring licences. This milestone will enable myTU to process card payments directly through its own acquiring infrastructure, across e-commerce platforms, retail stores, and POS terminals.
🇬🇧 Plum launches Lifetime ISA to help people save for their first home. This offers an interest rate of 4.61% AER (variable), including a 1-year bonus of 1% AER (variable), and the Government bonus of 25%. This allows savers to build up their funds more quickly to give them the best chance of reaching their goals.
🇩🇪 Digital bank N26 launches mobile plans in Germany. Called N26 SIM, the digitally-activated mobile plans will be run off the back of Vodafone Germany’s 5G network, and will operate via eSIM as opposed to a physical SIM card. Plans can be activated directly in the N26 app quickly, without paperwork, and without the need to visit a local telco store.
🇰🇷 KakaoBank’s operating profit up 23% to $131.09m in Q1 2025. This is also 59% higher than the $82.42m (KRW115b) operating profit that the South Korean digital bank reported for Q4 2024. Keep reading
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🇬🇧 Revolut will roll out Bitcoin Lightning Payments for users in the U.K. and select European countries through Lightspark. The integration aims to reduce transaction fees and payment processing time by using Lightspark's infrastructure for global payments.
🇺🇸 Bitcoin payments company Strike launches BTC-backed loans. The company is now giving loans to eligible customers who use their Bitcoin as collateral. Eligible U.S. customers can get 12-month loans starting at a minimum of $75,000 and capped at $2 million.
🇺🇸 Coinbase x402 payments protocol to make AI agents more autonomous. Coinbase introduced a new payments protocol for online payments that enables stablecoin transfers over standard internet protocols and AI agents to transact autonomously.
🌍 Robinhood plans to use blockchain to trade US assets in Europe. It will allow retail investors in Europe to trade US securities such as stocks. The venture will likely be launched through a partnership with a digital-asset firm. Keep reading
PARTNERSHIPS
🇺🇸 Tether adds Chainalysis tokenization platform for compliance and monitoring. Hadron by Tether platform users will now have access to risk detection and real-time transaction monitoring, helping them become compliant with regulators. The move comes amid expanding oversight across the crypto industry.
🇬🇧 OakNorth and OpenAI partner to embed generative AI in banking operations. The collaboration aims to accelerate OakNorth’s integration of generative AI across its banking operations to improve speed, personalisation, and efficiency for its customers.
🇬🇧 Ant International partners with Barclays on treasury management with an AI-powered FX model. By integrating the time series forecasting algorithms, the TST Model predicts patterns over time. Ant also created new pre-training and Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) frameworks to train the model and improve its predictions over time.
🇺🇸 BigCommerce taps Klarna as global preferred partner for flexible payment solutions. The partnership furthers BigCommerce and Klarna’s mutual mission to help brands and retailers optimize their checkouts and conversion rates by offering payment flexibility and making large purchases more accessible to consumers.
🇫🇷 Edenred Payment Solutions supports Qileo in making corporate accounts more responsible in France. This allows companies to no longer choose between business and impact. They can manage their finances with peace of mind, save valuable time with pre-accounting features, and measure and reduce their carbon emissions through the tool’s recommendations.
🇬🇧 Cardstream and Mastercard partner to advance open banking payments in the UK. The new solution expands payment choice for businesses and consumers, supporting single immediate payments (SIP) and preparing for commercial variable recurring payments as they are expectedly to roll out across Europe.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇸🇬 Iterative backs SG FinTech firm Seedflex’s $3.2m seed extension. The funding was co-led by Z Venture Capital and Iterative, with participation from 500 Global and angel investors. The capital will support Seedflex’s expansion across Southeast Asia, with a planned launch in Indonesia later this year.
🇬🇭 Ghanaian FinTech company Zeepay secures $18m debt funding to accelerate expansion. The new funding will provide crucial float financing support, ensuring Zeepay can manage liquidity demands associated with real-time mobile money transactions and international remittances.
🇩🇪 German expense management firm Circula secures €15 million in funding. This investment will accelerate the company’s path to solidify its position as the market leader in expense management. Continue reading
🇺🇸 Agree.com raises $7.2M to take on Docusign, Bill.com with AI. It uses AI on top of optical character recognition (OCR) software so it can auto-detect and label all of a contract’s input fields and signature blocks. Its technology can also identify and extract all payment terms to dynamically generate invoices.
🇬🇧 Wagestream secures £300M debt financing to expand its alternative to high-interest loans. Its solutions are offered to over three million people through 2,000+ brands, helping employees make better financial wellbeing decisions.
🇮🇳 Indian FinTech firm BharatPe raises $15m in debt funding. BharatPe plans to use the funds for business expansion and general corporate purposes. The round was co-led by Neo Group and Trifecta Capital. Keep reading
🇩🇪 German WealthTech Fincite merges with France's Harvest. This partnership sets the stage for accelerated European expansion with a clear goal: to double the group’s revenue within the next four years. By joining forces, they will pursue strategic acquisitions to expand their product portfolio, geographical footprint, and better serve their target audience.
M&A
🇺🇸 Corpay and TPG secure AvidXchange in a $2.2 billion acquisition. This acquisition accentuates the increasing consolidation trends within the industry, particularly among FinTech firms aiming to enhance their capabilities and market presence.
🇺🇸 Global Payments bets big on $600M Synergy from Worldpay. The merger will combine Global’s strength in small and mid-sized businesses and vertical-specific solutions with Worldpay’s enterprise and eCommerce capabilities, creating a comprehensive commerce solutions platform that spans the full merchant spectrum.
🇺🇸 IntoTheBlock and Trident announce merger, raise $25M for new firm. The firms will now become Sentora, and the goal of the new joint entity is to cater to funds, treasuries, and other institutional investors in DeFi. They want to create an ecosystem focused on the needs of institutions to push into DeFi.
🇵🇰 Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah acquires nearly 10 percent stake in UAE FinTech Jingle Pay. The partnership draws on Bank Alfalah’s extensive infrastructure to boost Jingle Pay’s role in cross-border payments and digital banking, supporting its bold vision for the MENAP region, including the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇺🇸 Michael P. Lyons assumes leadership of Fiserv as Chief Executive Officer. Lyons assumed the position upon the confirmation of Frank Bisignano, Fiserv’s prior CEO, as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Lyons also joins the Fiserv Board of Directors.
🇬🇧 Saxo hires Michelle West as UK Head of Compliance. In her role, Michelle will focus on further enhancing Saxo’s risk and compliance functions, ensuring Saxo maintains the highest standards of operational integrity. Read on
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