UK Gives the Bank of England a New Role in Stablecoins

Hey FinTech Fanatic!

The UK is taking another step toward making stablecoins part of the mainstream financial system. The government plans to give the Bank of England a formal secondary objective to support innovation in stablecoins, digital money and payment systems — while keeping financial stability as its top priority.

It’s an important shift. The Bank won’t just be expected to manage the risks around digital money, but also to help the market develop under a clearer regulatory framework. With the US and EU already moving ahead, the UK clearly doesn’t want to be left behind.

For FinTechs, issuers and payment companies, the bigger question is what this new mandate will actually unlock once the legislation moves forward in September.

And if you’re thinking about what it really takes to build a digital bank, DashDevs CEO Igor Tomych and Arthur Bedel dig into exactly that — from ledgers and build-vs-buy decisions to the compliance challenges that can slow everything down.

Let’s get into today’s FinTech stories. 👇 See you on Monday!

Cheers,

Marcel

INSIGHTS

💡 DashDevs: Should You Launch a Bank? With Igor Tomych and Arthur Bedel. DashDevs CEO Igor Tomych joins Arthur Bedel of Monyz to discuss why digital banks are booming — and why so many fail. They cover the real difference between neobanks and digital banks, the importance of the ledger, build vs. buy decisions, and why compliance consistently takes longer than expected. Read the full video here

FINTECH NEWS

🌍 Twenty Nordic and Baltic startups join the Mastercard Lighthouse 2026 Fall Program, spanning FinTech and impact tech cohorts across Sweden, Finland, and the Baltics. Partner banks including Swedbank, SEB, and DNB join Mastercard to help scale the selected startups and scaleups.

🇺🇸 Visa releases its AI-powered cyber defense system to open source through Anthropic's Project Glasswing initiative. The Visa Vulnerability Agentic Harness systematically maps codebases and deploys AI agents to uncover and prioritize vulnerabilities.

🇮🇳 Paramotor Digital Technology secures SEBI nod for IPO. The FinTech firm used SEBI's confidential pre-filing route and received final observation on August 25. Read more

🇺🇸 9fin expands credit analytics platform with private market offering. The company broadens its data and analytics coverage into private credit for institutional investors.

Q&A

💡 AppsFlyer: Inside Fintech Growth and Attribution. In this Q&A, Lesia Kupriienko, AppsFlyer’s Industry Lead for Finance, discusses how fintechs can connect marketing, product, and data around a shared view of ROI. She covers stablecoin infrastructure, fraud and growth collaboration, AI-driven efficiency, privacy constraints, customer re-engagement, web-to-app journeys, and why acquisition and retention should be treated as one growth strategy. One key takeaway: cheap CAC does not necessarily mean better growth — retention and LTV need to be part of the equation. Read the full interview here

PAYMENTS NEWS

🇮🇳 Cashfree launches Relay to automate SMB payment operations. The platform retries failed payments, follows up on abandoned carts, and files disputes before deadlines on behalf of merchants.

🇮🇳 Bank of Baroda introduces UPI Global QR Payments for foreign visitors. Tourists from Singapore, the UAE, and other eligible countries can now pay at Indian merchants by scanning BoB QR codes.

🇵🇭 GCash Tap-to-Pay now available on iOS devices, more than a year after launching on Android. iPhone users can now make NFC contactless payments directly from the GCash app.

🇬🇧 Edenred turns gift cards into an embedded finance play, building payment infrastructure for Toolstation's new programme. The integration covers over 590 branches and launched in eight weeks with real-time top-ups and redemptions.

DIGITAL BANKING NEWS

🇧🇷 R2 enters Brazil, bringing embedded credit technology to serve SMBs and gig workers with Ant International's backing. The platform embeds working capital into digital platforms, with eligible businesses receiving funding in an average of 0.7 hours.

🇬🇧 Bloxley expands to the United Kingdom, bringing multi-currency banking and AI features to UK users. The early access launch follows its EU rollout, with a US expansion planned before the end of 2026.

🇬🇧 Lloyds Bank and Halifax users unable to use app in latest outage. Nearly 3,000 complaints hit Downdetector during the Wednesday afternoon disruption, the second outage in just over a week.

🇬🇧 Starling's AI gamble sparks staff concerns. Employees have raised questions about the bank's accelerating shift toward AI-driven operations internally.

🇸🇬 HSBC mulls restructuring Singapore units to simplify operations. The move would bring wholesale, retail, and private banking under one entity as CEO Georges Elhedery continues his cost reduction drive.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Bank cites progress on technology revamp of its retail division. The bank highlights advances in its digital transformation as it modernises customer-facing systems.

🇦🇺 Lucie Money taps Fiskil to embed open banking data into its conversational AI agent. The Australian FinTech partnership connects real-time bank account data to power AI-driven financial guidance.

BLOCKCHAIN/CRYPTO NEWS

🇭🇰 EXOPAY builds a blockchain finance network connecting digital assets with everyday commerce. The Hong Kong company is developing wallets, merchant infrastructure, and payment tools to support digital asset acceptance globally.

🇺🇸 Charles Schwab to add solana, avalanche, and chainlink to its crypto platform in the coming months. Schwab Crypto launched in May 2026 and currently offers bitcoin and ethereum, with the platform charging 75 basis points per trade.

🇺🇸 Better launches Bitcoin-backed mortgages powered by Coinbase. US homebuyers can pledge BTC worth at least 250% of the down payment loan without selling their holdings.

STABLECOINS

🇬🇧 UK to give the Bank of England a formal mandate to support stablecoins, adding a secondary statutory objective to back digital money innovation. HM Treasury confirmed the announcement on 27 August 2026, with the bill next due in the House of Lords on 7–9 September.

🌎 USDY is now live on Tempo, bringing permissionless tokenized Treasuries to the payments Layer-1 blockchain. Businesses on Tempo can now earn Treasury-backed yield within payment flows.

🌎 Crossmint launches a global onramp supporting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and cards in 160+ countries. FinTechs can let users fund stablecoin wallets without leaving their app.

🌏 KiiChain adds TRON to expand onchain FX and stablecoin settlement. The integration taps TRON's $90B in circulating USDT to offer 24/7 stablecoin payments and treasury operations.

🇺🇸 JPMorgan weighs launching its own stablecoin as bank push accelerates. More than a dozen major banks explore a global consortium, while thousands of smaller banks formed the BankChain Alliance targeting a 2027 launch.

PARTNERSHIPS

🇸🇾 QNB Group and Mastercard enable world's first international card payment in Syria. Eligible merchants, including hotels and restaurants, can now accept international Mastercard credit cards through QNB POS terminals.

🇸🇾 Visa tests first live international transaction in Syria, working with Fransabank Lebanon and Paymera. The test paves the way for broader digital payment acceptance for international visitors.

🇺🇸 NFL Extra Points Credit Card launches on the American Express Network. Bread Financial continues as issuer while 18 NFL teams transition to Amex with refreshed card designs.

🌏 infiniFi appoints Qiro Finance as private credit underwriting partner, formalizing institutional credit evaluation for the onchain yield protocol. Qiro has already underwritten two allocations including an $8.14M US residential bridge lending vehicle.

🇸🇬 DBS and Stripe partner to accelerate the digital and AI-powered economy in Asia. The collaboration combines DBS banking capabilities with Stripe's platform to develop agentic AI commerce and cross-border payments.

🇬🇧 Experian and iPiD partner to bring UK businesses global bank account verification. The integration enables companies to verify international bank accounts before sending payments.

🇫🇮 Tieto and Siirto partner to improve e-invoicing in Finland. The collaboration lets businesses retrieve customer e-invoice addresses and send invoices directly to online banking via Siirto's centralized registry.

🇲🇽 MAPFRE and PayPal partner to digitize insurance payments in Mexico. Policyholders can now pay premiums digitally with automatic renewals and interest-free installments.

🇮🇳 M2P collaborates with Federal Bank to power digital loan onboarding. The partnership aims to streamline and digitise the end-to-end loan origination process for bank customers.

🇺🇸 Vikar Technologies and Swivel team on account funding for FIs. The partnership aims to streamline account funding capabilities for financial institutions.

DONEDEAL FUNDING NEWS

🇺🇸 Socure secures $156M at a $5.2B valuation, led by Summit Partners with Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo participating. The identity verification firm reports $364M ARR, up 63% YoY, and acquired agentic AI startup Fravity.

🇺🇸 RQD Clearing raises $74M as Wall Street prepares for tokenized markets,* led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities with ABN AMRO Clearing Bank and Nyca Partners also participating. The U.S. clearing and custody firm plans to expand digital asset custody and tokenization infrastructure across North America, Asia, and the Middle East.

🇰🇪 Flowt raises pre-seed funding from Delta40, Impacc, and the Argidius Foundation, with the amount undisclosed. The Nairobi-based AI credit platform transforms fragmented business records into lender-ready financial telemetry to unlock working capital for underbanked businesses.

🇺🇸 Multiplier raises $6M seed financing to build AI for asset managers. The round will fund development of AI tools designed to support investment workflows at asset management firms.

🇺🇸 TNS reveals ongoing investment in its omnichannel payments orchestration platform. The infrastructure provider aims to reduce complexity for merchants managing multiple payment channels.

🇸🇻 Bitfinex Securities completes record $50M tokenized capital raise, marking its largest to date. The ALKN token represents interests in nickel assets valued at approximately $1.64 billion.

🇧🇷 Pluggy levanta US$3,5 millones en Serie A, expanding its open finance platform connecting business systems with banks. The company has 600 direct clients and expects to reach R$40M ARR by year end.

M&A

🌏 BNP Paribas and KB Kookmin in talks over $2 billion Vietnam Techcombank stake. The two banks are in separate discussions to acquire a significant shareholding in Techcombank from existing investors.

🇩🇪 German finance minister invites UniCredit's CEO to meeting, according to government sources. The invitation signals ongoing government engagement over UniCredit's pursuit of Commerzbank.

🇺🇸 Victory Capital to acquire First Eagle Investments, creating a $571 billion diversified global asset manager. The deal expands Victory Capital's alternatives and international capabilities significantly.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

🇬🇧 Atom Bank to replace veteran chief Mark Mullen, who has led the digital lender since its founding and championed the four-day working week. Read more

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