The New FinTech Playbook? Own the Bank
Hey FinTech Fanatic!
For years, FinTech companies built great products on top of banks.
Now, some of them are deciding that's no longer enough.
Darragh Buckley, Stripe's first employee and founder of Increase, has acquired and rebranded a U.S. bank to build the infrastructure he always wished existed while working at Stripe. Instead of relying on legacy banking partners, Increase now controls the technology, the banking license, and the payment rails under one roof.
It's a shift that's becoming harder to ignore. The next generation of FinTech infrastructure isn't just about building better APIs; it's about owning more of the stack. For companies serving other FinTechs, that can mean faster product development, fewer dependencies, and far more control over how money moves.
You'll also find why American Express just raised its full-year guidance after another strong quarter, posting double-digit EPS growth while credit provisions declined, a combination that says a lot about the resilience of its business.
Now, let's dive into today's biggest FinTech stories. 👇 See you tomorrow!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
📰 AppsFlyer: AI delivers results only when connected to attribution data. AppsFlyer argues that most finance marketers struggle to generate value from AI because fragmented and low-quality data limits its effectiveness and that successful AI adoption in FinTech marketing depends more on high-quality attribution data than on new technology. Read the full article here
PAYMENTS NEWS
🇨🇦 Ramp has launched its finance platform in Canada, expanding internationally with support for multi-currency spend management, local payments, tax automation, and accounting workflows. The company is also opening a Toronto office to support Canadian businesses as they scale across domestic and global markets.
🇩🇪 Pliant has reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR). Rather than prioritizing rapid expansion, the B2B payments company focused on building scalable card infrastructure, growing through banking and software partnerships, and expanding across Europe before entering the U.S.
🇳🇱 ING scanner won’t support Wero payments when the European payment system replaces iDEAL from late 2026. Instead, Wero payments will require the ING app, while the scanner will continue to work for other banking services, unlike authentication devices offered by some competing Dutch banks.
#FINTECHREPORT
🚨 American Express just raised its full-year guidance.
DIGITAL BANKING NEWS
🇮🇩 Indonesia’s Superbank posts $12.9m H1 pretax profit as total assets increased 81.5% year over year to 27 trillion rupiah. The Grab-backed digital bank also expanded its loan portfolio, improved asset quality, and continued growing through its integration with the Grab and OVO ecosystems.
🇬🇧 Revolut denies breach amid dark web claim that users' data is being sold. The FinTech said it found no evidence of unauthorized access to its systems and is investigating the claims while monitoring the situation. Keep reading
BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS
🌍 Quidax expands stablecoin payment infrastructure across 21 countries. This strategic move is designed to provide faster, more affordable, and compliant payment solutions for startups, FinTechs, and global enterprises operating across the continent and key international markets.
🌍 Ten European financial institutions launch RL1 blockchain cooperative. RL1 is a permissioned private blockchain network designed for regulated financial markets and tokenized assets. Each founding member has equal voting rights on the network's governance and development.
🇺🇸 MetaMask Maker Consensys shelves IPO plans until fall 2026. The postponement comes as crypto markets absorb a sustained February sell-off that has eroded risk appetite across digital assets, pulling Ethereum below levels at which Consensys’s revenue narrative would withstand the granular scrutiny of a public-market roadshow.
🇺🇸 Polymarket launches institute to fund independent academic research on prediction markets. The research initiative will operate as a branch of Polymarket and aims to provide the institutional rigor and infrastructure necessary to measure how prediction markets can function at scale.
🇵🇹 Bison Bank becomes Portugal's first MiCA-Regulated Crypto-Asset Service Provider. The move expands the bank's regulated digital asset offering with crypto custody, trading, advisory services, stablecoins, and future tokenization solutions for institutional clients.
PARTNERSHIPS
🇺🇸 Tipalti and Flagright extend AI-powered AML compliance across global payables. The implementation adds real-time transaction monitoring, dynamic risk scoring, AI-assisted investigations, and case management to support the company's global payments business.
🇺🇸 Visa used Mythos to hunt for bugs in its own payment network, then open-sourced the harness that made it possible. The initiative aims to help organizations strengthen cybersecurity by automating vulnerability discovery and sharing best practices for protecting critical systems.
🇧🇪 Crelan launches Wero. Customers can send and receive money using QR codes and payment links from the Crelan app, without needing to download or install an additional app. Thanks to this integration, the entire user experience remains in Crelan’s familiar digital environment with the same simplicity, security, and user convenience that customers are used to.
🇬🇧 GoCardless and anvil partner to launch automated payments for telcos and MSPs. The integration connects anvil's billing system directly to the GoCardless payment network, allowing telecom operators and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to automate how they collect payments and manage their accounts.
🇧🇷 EBANX has partnered with Pagaleve to launch Pix 4x, a BNPL solution that allows Brazilian consumers to pay in four installments using Pix without a credit card. The offering expands access to installment payments and helps merchants reach millions of consumers with limited or no access to traditional credit.
🇮🇹 Scalapay is expanding its partnership with Stripe to make it even easier for global businesses to access its Buy Now, Pay Later services. Stripe customers based in over 30 countries can now activate Scalapay more easily and offer their customers a flexible payment experience in key Southern European markets.
🇮🇹 Lazio has removed Polymarket branding from its digital channels after the platform was blacklisted in Italy, although the sponsorship agreement remains in effect. The club will continue receiving payments under the deal while regulatory issues surrounding Polymarket are addressed.
🇳🇱 PayPal is now live on Rootline, allowing partners and merchants to offer PayPal through a single API alongside other payment methods. The integration streamlines checkout, settlement, reconciliation, and dispute management while simplifying PayPal onboarding for platform merchants.
🇸🇬 LANDI Global partners with Mollie. By integrating Mollie’s payment technology directly into LANDI’s enterprise-ready Android smart terminals, you can take payments anywhere in your store or restaurant. Keep reading
🇮🇳 Banks in Bangladesh can now offer cross-border transaction services through PayPal and Payoneer. The central bank said the initiative aims to facilitate international service-oriented trade, enhance digital financial inclusion and modernise the country's transaction framework.
DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS
🇧🇷 Brazilian FinTech Zeom raises US$3 million. It will use the funds to accelerate the growth of its platform, strengthen the technological development of its solution and officially launch its operations in Brazil with a global account proposal and international investments.
🇬🇧 London-based responsible lending FinTech Plend secures a funding facility of up to €58.3 million. Plend plans to use this facility to refinance its existing funding line and fund new originations, providing committed capital for the next phase of growth as the business continues to scale its lending platform.
🇲🇽 Mexican FinTech Nexu secures US$142.5 million in financing from HSBC to expand access to auto credit. The funds will allow the financing of more than 10,000 vehicles for private customers in Mexico through the automotive brands with which Nexu maintains commercial alliances.
🇺🇸 Olomon raises $2.6M pre-seed. The company plans to use the capital to build out product depth to include account and entity management, insurance, and estate structure. Read more
🇦🇪 UAE's Epic Markets raises a $10 million pre-Seed round. The fresh capital will support product development and platform expansion as the company aims to narrow the gap between the trading experience available to institutional clients and that offered to retail investors.
🇺🇸 LemonEdge raises £15.8m to modernise private market infrastructure. With this new funding, it plans to accelerate growth over the next 12 months by bringing on a significant number of new clients. The company also appointed David T. O'Malley as CEO and board chair and Katharine Briggs as Chief Growth Officer to support its next phase of growth.
M&A
🇸🇬 HashKey proposes to acquire the entire equity interests in Singapore's APEX, a licensed derivatives exchange and clearing house. If completed, the deal would strengthen HashKey's institutional trading, clearing and settlement infrastructure while expanding its regulated presence in Asia.
🇺🇸 Darragh Buckley, Stripe's first employee and founder of Increase has acquired and rebranded Twin City Bank as Increase Bank, giving the FinTech its own regulated banking platform to expand infrastructure services for FinTech clients. The move strengthens Increase's ability to offer integrated banking capabilities while continuing to support its community banking operations.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
🇪🇸 Santander hires Jonathan Beaney, Revolut's global head of recruitment. In his new role, Beaney will be responsible for personnel management, implementing various organizational changes, and measuring the efficiency of the processes that Santander puts in place for its employees worldwide, among other functions.
🇩🇪 N26 advances search for new Chief Financial Officer as Arnd Schwierholz transitions to next chapter. A successor will be announced in due course, and N26’s core leadership bench will focus on operational continuity and the disciplined execution of the bank's European growth strategy.
🇵🇱 Dariusz Mazurkiewicz steps down as BLIK CEO after nine years. In a farewell statement, he said that the time had come to begin a new professional chapter. He described his years at the company as an opportunity to build BLIK together with its employees, shareholders, banking partners and representatives of Poland’s financial sector.
🇺🇸 i2c has appointed Joseph Schmidt as new CFO and Jason Goldberg as CCO to strengthen its executive leadership team. The appointments support the company's global growth strategy, with Schmidt leading finance and Goldberg overseeing client engagement and expansion across i2c's banking and FinTech customers.
Want your message in front of 315.000+ FinTech fanatics, founders, investors, and operators?
Comments ()