Why Is Visa Bringing Click to Pay to Revolut Cardholders? Visa has launched Click to Pay for eligible Revolut Visa cardholders across the UK and Europe, expanding a checkout standard designed to reduce manual card entry and make online payments faster and more secure. The rollout means eligible Revolut customers will be able to use Click to Pay at participating merchants without separately registering for the service. Because Revolut is enabling the feature at card level, customers can arrive at checkout already enrolled, removing a common friction point in online card payments. Click to Pay allows consumers to complete purchases without manually entering card numbers, passwords, or one-time codes at participating merchants. The service is built to work across devices, browsers, and supported merchants, making it more flexible than checkout flows tied to a single wallet, device, or merchant account. The launch also extends beyond consumers. Revolut will make Click to Pay available to merchants in the UK and Europe, giving businesses in those markets another checkout option to offer customers. The expansion fits Revolut’s wider merchant payments strategy as the company builds more tools around online checkout, acceptance, and customer conversion. How Does Tokenisation Change Online Checkout? Click to Pay is underpinned by network tokenisation, a payments standard that replaces card numbers with secure digital tokens. Instead of storing or transmitting the customer’s primary account number during checkout, merchants and payment systems use tokenised credentials designed for online commerce. That distinction matters because static card details remain a major weakness in digital payments. Manual card entry can expose card numbers to storage risk, typing errors, phishing, and fraud attempts. Tokenisation reduces reliance on exposed card data and gives card networks more control over how credentials are issued, updated, and used across digital channels. According to Visa network data, tokenised checkout can reduce fraud by up to 91% compared with manual card entry. Authorisation rates can also increase by up to 11% compared with manual PAN entry, reflecting a higher share of legitimate transactions being successfully processed. Visa also said checkout using Click to Pay can be up to 20 seconds faster than typing card details by hand. The standard also supports Visa Payment Passkeys, which use biometric verification instead of passwords or one-time codes. That adds an identity layer to checkout and reduces reliance on SMS codes or remembered credentials, both of which can add friction or security risk. Investor Takeaway The rollout shows how card networks are defending their role in digital commerce by making cards behave more like embedded digital credentials. For Visa and Revolut, the opportunity is not only faster checkout, but higher approval rates, lower fraud, and stronger merchant acceptance tools. What Does This Mean for Revolut and Merchants? For Revolut, Click to Pay adds another layer to its payments stack at a time when digital banks and fintech platforms are competing for more of the online commerce journey. The feature gives cardholders a smoother checkout option while giving merchants a way to reduce form-filling, failed payments, and customer drop-off at the point of purchase. Revolut’s merchant rollout is especially important because checkout performance can directly affect conversion. Faster payment flows can reduce abandoned baskets, while higher authorisation rates can improve completed sales without requiring merchants to acquire more traffic. The card-level enrolment model also reduces repeated onboarding. Millions of eligible customers across the UK and Europe can reach participating merchants already enrolled, instead of being asked to create another checkout account or re-enter the same card details across different websites. “We believe in giving our customers meaningful choices in how they manage their digital payments,” Alex Codina, general manager of merchant payments at Revolut, said. “Our goal is to offer flexible, secure ways to pay, and integrating the Click to Pay standard gives our customers an excellent additional option for a smooth checkout experience.” Why Does This Matter for the Future of Payments? The rollout reflects a wider industry move away from static card details and toward tokenised, digitally native payment credentials. Card networks, banks, and fintech firms are trying to make online card payments more secure while preserving the broad acceptance that cards already have across global commerce. Visa and Revolut have also framed the expansion as groundwork for future payment use cases where identity and checkout operate more quietly in the background. These include agentic commerce, digital identity verification, social commerce, and embedded payment flows inside apps and platforms. Revolut is also extending Click to Pay beyond the UK and Europe through launches in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Japan. That wider rollout gives the company a more consistent checkout layer across several international markets and supports its push to serve both consumers and merchants. For the payments industry, the key issue is whether tokenised checkout becomes a standard expectation rather than an optional feature. If adoption grows, merchants may see manual card entry become less central to online commerce, while card networks gain a stronger role in securing digital payments, identity checks, and cross-device checkout experiences.

Robinhood is coming off a fairly weak quarter, as Revenues fell by 17% to $1.07 billion in Q1 2026. The post Robinhood lays off 10% of workforce to remain “lean and disciplined” appeared first on FX News Group.

City Traders Imperium, one of the prop trading firms to survive the wave of closures that hit the industry from 2024 to 2026, says it is close to launching a funding model that would pay traders no matter how much the firm makes from selling challenges. Chief Executive Martin Najat said the structure is in its final phase of testing and called it something the prop sector has not tried before.However, he offered no launch date and did not explain how it works. Speaking to review site ResponsibleTrading.com, Najat said the aim is to remove the conflict of interest at the center of most prop firms, where the same challenge fees that fund the business also fund payouts.A Survivor Pitches a Fix for the Industry's Core ConflictThe Dubai-based City Traders Imperium has run since 2018, which puts it among a small group of firms with a long record in a business that has churned through hundreds of brands. Najat said the new design is meant to break the firm's reliance on challenge income, calling it "one that decouples the business from its dependency on challenge fees entirely."The idea is not new. Rhodium FX has discussed linking its model to liquidity infrastructure so it profits from winning traders rather than from fees, and a Singapore firm rolled out a deferred-fee challenge in May. CTI has not said how its version would differ, or when traders will see it.The interview is the second in a CEO series putting prop bosses on the record, after FundedHive's chief executive called a consistency rule a payout trap. Najat framed CTI's ambition in similar language, saying the goal is "to be the most trader-aligned prop firm in the world."Challenge Prices FallCTI lowered its challenge prices on June 1 and said the cut is permanent. A $100,000 account now starts at $449 before discounts, down from what Najat acknowledged were premium prices through early 2026. "These are not promotional prices; these are our new permanent prices," he said.The move pulls CTI closer to rivals competing hard on entry cost. FundedNext lists a $6,000 plan from $59.99 and a $25,000 plan from about $199.99, while Funding Pips runs several evaluation tracks priced by account size. Najat put CTI's forex and commodities commissions near $5 per lot, which he said sits below a typical $6 to $9 range.CTI is cutting prices into a shrinking market. Industry estimates point to 80 or more prop firms shutting down across 2024 to 2026, many after MetaQuotes pulled platform support, a shakeout FinanceMagnates.com has tracked through its running closures list. Najat said CTI came through it on its balance sheet, saying the firm "maintained enough cash reserves to operate for a full year without any revenue."Others did not make it. FundingTicks said it would wind down in January after a backlash over new trading rules, and Seacrest closed its prop arm in February to focus on its CFD brokerage. Najat Pushes Back on Trader ComplaintsSome CTI funded traders have reported on review sites that their accounts were breached after taking stops in a roughly 2.5% to 5.6% range, with no clearly published maximum-risk figure. Najat rejected the idea of a hidden rule. "There is no hidden rule," he said, describing it instead as an overleveraging policy listed in the firm's FAQs and welcome emails.He went further, saying organized groups of traders deliberately exploit prop firms and then run complaint campaigns to pressure payouts. "We are aware of these groups, we recognise the patterns," Najat said, adding that CTI enforces its rules regardless.On whether CTI has altered terms on existing funded accounts, Najat said stricter changes apply only to new purchases, with one exception around copy trading and VPN use handled case by case. Retroactive changes have stung the sector before, including at FundingTicks, which drew a backlash over a rule change late last year.Najat would not give CTI's exact payout rate, the share of challenge buyers who ever withdraw, but said it runs above the 7% industry figure Finance Magnates reported from a study of 300,000 accounts. He separately cited an average payout worth 4.5% of a starting balance, a different measure that does not answer how many traders get paid. His line on cheap challenges was blunt: "They mean the firm can't afford to pay you."Offshore Structure Faces a Tightening Regulatory NetCTI's setup spans a UK origin, a Dubai headquarters, and a trading entity registered in the Comoros, the offshore jurisdiction it tapped to run its own MetaTrader 5 license. Najat described the Comoros as a stable, recognized framework, though jurisdictions like it are not known for substantive oversight of CFD or prop trading firms.He argued that regulating prop firms like brokers would do more harm than good, forcing country-by-country licensing and heavy compliance costs. For traders, he said, that would mean "higher challenge fees, fewer firms to choose from," not stronger protection.The pressure is already real. MetaQuotes' crackdown on unlicensed platform use rippled across the industry and forced FTMO to halt US client acquisition, while the CFTC's MyForexFunds case and growing FCA attention have signaled that formal rules may be coming. This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

Rafael Moral Santiago, Head Securities Services and Member of the Executive Board, will leave SIX. Marion Leslie, Head Financial Information and Member of the Executive Board, will assume responsibility for the business unit on an interim basis with immediate effect. SIX today announced that Rafael Moral Santiago, Head Securities Services and Member of the Executive Board, will leave the company with immediate effect. Rafael Moral Santiago joined SIX in May 2025. Over the past year, he has made valuable contributions to the development of the business unit and has helped advance a number of important strategic and operational initiatives. “On behalf of the Executive Board and the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Rafael for his commitment and contribution over the past year,” said Bjørn Sibbern, CEO of SIX. “We appreciate his dedication to the business and wish him every success in his future endeavours. I would also like to thank Marion for taking on the additional responsibility during this transition period, while continuing to lead SIX Financial Information successfully.” The Securities Services Business Unit is very well positioned and fully focused on delivering for clients and executing its strategic priorities. The business unit records growth across all core products and service segments. The interim appointment of Marion Leslie remains subject to the required regulatory approvals. SIX will communicate the permanent succession once a decision has been made.

Why Did South Korean Police Target the USDT Network? South Korean police have arrested 23 suspects accused of laundering criminal proceeds for a Cambodia-based phishing organization, widening the country’s crackdown on crypto-linked financial crime and cross-border scam networks. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s criminal investigative division said the group allegedly moved 16.8 billion won, or about $11.1 million, in illegal funds between February 2024 and April 2025. The suspects reportedly used USDT purchases and transactions across domestic and overseas cryptocurrency exchanges to move the proceeds. The case highlights how stablecoins have become a preferred rail for criminal groups that need fast settlement, broad exchange access, and easier cross-border movement than traditional banking channels. USDT is widely used in legitimate crypto markets, but its liquidity and global reach also make it attractive to scam operators trying to convert stolen funds into transferable digital assets. Police said around 11,300 accounts were used in the laundering operation. Those accounts were linked to roughly $17 million in stolen funds across 265 phishing and investment scam cases. Authorities have seized 650 million won, or about $430,000, in suspected criminal proceeds from the suspects. How Did Stablecoins Fit Into the Alleged Scheme? The alleged laundering method was built around converting criminal proceeds into USDT and moving funds through a chain of domestic and overseas exchanges. That process can make investigations harder because it spreads activity across platforms, jurisdictions, wallets, and customer accounts. For law enforcement, the key challenge is not only identifying the first transfer from a victim account. It is following the money after funds are converted into digital assets and moved through exchange accounts that may be controlled by different individuals, intermediaries, or shell participants. The use of 11,300 accounts suggests a layered structure rather than a simple wallet-to-wallet transfer pattern. Large account networks can be used to split funds into smaller amounts, reduce the visibility of individual transactions, and create distance between the original fraud and the final cash-out point. The case also shows why authorities are paying closer attention to stablecoins in fraud investigations. Unlike volatile tokens, USDT allows criminal groups to preserve value during transfers. That makes it useful for phishing rings and investment scam operators that need to move proceeds quickly without taking major price risk. Investor Takeaway The arrests show that stablecoin enforcement is moving beyond wallet tracking and into account networks, exchange flows, and informal currency exchange channels. For crypto firms, compliance pressure is likely to increase around customer screening, transaction monitoring, and links to overseas fraud operations. Why Does the Cambodia Link Matter? The alleged connection to a Cambodia-based phishing organization gives the case a regional dimension. Southeast Asia has become a major focus for cyber-enabled fraud investigations, with scam compounds using online investment schemes, phishing campaigns, and social engineering to target victims across borders. South Korean victims have been repeatedly exposed to investment scams that use fake platforms, impersonation, and promises of high returns. Once funds are collected, crypto can be used to move the proceeds outside the reach of local banking controls before investigators can freeze accounts. The ringleader of the laundering group remains at large and is subject to an Interpol Red Notice, according to the police account. That detail matters because it points to an operation that may have relied on both local money-moving networks and overseas organizers. The arrests of the 23 suspects may disrupt part of the laundering chain, but the remaining fugitive raises the likelihood of further cross-border coordination. Police will likely need exchange records, bank data, wallet tracing, and international cooperation to determine how much of the stolen money can be recovered. What Are the Broader Risks for Crypto Exchanges? The case adds pressure on exchanges operating in South Korea and abroad to strengthen anti-money laundering controls tied to stablecoin flows. Domestic platforms may face closer review of accounts that show repeated USDT purchases, rapid transfers to overseas exchanges, or links to suspected fraud clusters. Overseas exchanges also remain part of the risk chain. When funds leave domestic platforms, investigators often depend on foreign exchanges to provide account data, freeze assets, or identify beneficiaries. Delays in that process can reduce recovery prospects for victims and allow laundering networks to keep moving funds. Police also arrested 33 other individuals accused of illegally providing currency exchange services through USDT for tourists and acquaintances. Those arrests show that enforcement is not limited to the main phishing-linked laundering group. Authorities are also targeting informal exchange activity that can help move value outside licensed financial channels. For the crypto industry, the message is clear. Stablecoin adoption is growing because it offers speed, liquidity, and global transferability. Those same features are drawing greater law enforcement attention when they appear in fraud and money laundering cases. South Korea’s latest arrests show that stablecoin misuse is becoming a central concern in financial crime enforcement. The next phase will depend on whether authorities can recover more of the stolen funds, capture the alleged ringleader, and push exchanges to detect large account networks before criminal proceeds move offshore.

FinTelegram has published a new Compliance Intelligence Report on Softon Ltd, the Cyprus-registered company publicly identified by Betzter.com as its owner and operator. The report is now available for download and provides a structured review of a broader risk environment involving Cyprus corporate structures, offshore gambling narratives, EU-facing activity indicators, payment-route opacity, technical infrastructure, and player-data telemetry. The central finding is not a simple “one casino, one operator” story. The report maps a layered compliance picture around Softon Ltd, Betzter, KingdomCasino, SPTPub, InvisibleSport, NovaFlick, Transferop, and related infrastructure or payment indicators. The report does not allege proven criminal conduct by any named person or entity. It raises serious compliance questions that regulators, payment providers, banks, hosting providers, and data-protection authorities should examine. The Softon Layer: Cyprus Company, Offshore Casino Narrative, EU-Facing Risk According to the documented materials reviewed by FinTelegram, Softon Ltd was incorporated in Cyprus on 9 August 2024 with a share capital of EUR 2,000. The company is publicly named by Betzter.com as the platform’s owner and operator. The report examines whether this Cyprus corporate layer is part of a broader online casino and payment environment that may involve: an Anjouan licence narrative for gambling operations; EU-facing accessibility and market indicators; possible reliance on EU payment rails; links or references to Kaspela Labyrinth OÜ in Estonia; unresolved questions around cashier infrastructure, merchant routing, acquirer chains, settlement beneficiaries, and payment-service providers. The report’s most important payment finding is not that a final PSP chain has been proven. Rather, the report shows that key payment infrastructure questions remain opaque at precisely the points where transparency is most important: cashier provider, merchant ID, gateway identifiers, PSP route, acquirer chain, and settlement beneficiary. Technical Findings: Player Telemetry, Application-Layer Signals And German Hosting Lead The report also highlights technical indicators that should matter to gambling regulators, AML supervisors, payment institutions, hosting providers, and data-protection authorities. Publicly accessible application-layer indicators reviewed in the investigation point to a real-time player-account architecture and telemetry configurations involving tools such as FullStory, Sentry Replay, Pusher, and player-linked fields including Player.uuid and Player.email. These indicators create a potentially significant privacy and compliance risk surface. If player-linked identifiers and behavioural telemetry are processed in connection with an offshore casino environment, the relevant questions include: who controls the player data; where the data is stored and processed; whether EU players are involved; whether privacy disclosures are adequate; whether session replay or telemetry tools capture sensitive account or payment-related information; whether service providers have been properly informed of the gambling and compliance context. The strongest direct infrastructure lead currently identified in the report is the api.sptpub.com endpoint resolving into Hetzner-hosted IP space in Germany. This makes the case relevant not only for gambling and AML supervisors, but also for infrastructure and hosting-provider compliance teams. Methodology: Whistleblower Material, OSINT, Technical Review And AI-Assisted Structuring The Softon Compliance Report was built from multiple intelligence layers: whistleblower submissions; corporate-registry analysis; passive OSINT collection; application-layer and infrastructure review; technical correlation work; structured evidentiary grading; AI-assisted organisation and cross-checking of findings. FinTelegram applied its usual evidence framework and separated confirmed facts, strong indicators, investigative leads, and unresolved questions. This distinction is important. The purpose of the report is not to overstate attribution, but to identify the compliance issues that require further scrutiny. A specialised network and systems expert contributed to the technical review of the infrastructure and application-layer findings. This contribution helped ensure that the technical section remained anchored in reproducible artefacts, reasonable evidentiary boundaries, and clearly defined disclosure targets for providers, payment institutions, regulators, and infrastructure operators. Why This Report Matters The Softon case is a good example of how modern offshore casino structures may operate across multiple layers: LayerCompliance RelevanceCyprus company layerSofton Ltd as publicly identified operator / owner of BetzterOffshore licence narrativeAnjouan licence context and regulatory-perimeter questionsEU-facing indicatorsPotential exposure to EU players, regulators, PSPs and data-protection rulesPayment opacityCashier, PSP route, MID, acquirer chain and settlement beneficiary not publicly transparentTechnical infrastructureapi.sptpub.com and Hetzner-hosted IP space as relevant infrastructure leadPlayer telemetryFullStory, Sentry Replay, Pusher and player-linked fields create privacy and compliance questionsWhistleblower inputSource material points to broader casino and payment structures requiring verification This is exactly the type of structure that often remains invisible when regulators, banks, payment schemes and infrastructure providers review only one domain, one corporate entity, or one payment screenshot in isolation. No Final Allegation — But A Serious Compliance Warning FinTelegram emphasises that the report should not be read as a final finding of criminal conduct by any named person or entity. It should be read as a compliance warning and a call for scrutiny. The documented combination of a Cyprus corporate vehicle, offshore gambling narrative, EU-facing indicators, application-layer telemetry exposure, hosting infrastructure in Germany, and opaque payment routing deserves immediate attention from: gambling regulators; AML supervisors; payment institutions and acquiring banks; hosting and infrastructure providers; data-protection authorities; compliance teams at technology and telemetry vendors; consumer-protection bodies. Download The Report The full Softon Compliance Intelligence Report is available for download here: Download the Softon Compliance Report Call For Information FinTelegram invites whistleblowers, former employees, players, affiliates, payment insiders, PSP compliance officers, hosting providers, technical service providers, and regulators to provide verifiable information on: Softon Ltd; Betzter; KingdomCasino; SPTPub; InvisibleSport; NovaFlick; Transferop; Cyprus-linked casino and payment structures; cashier providers, PSPs, MIDs, gateways, acquirers and settlement beneficiaries; KYC/KYB files, merchant records, contracts, platform-account records and compliance memoranda; technical documentation, telemetry configurations, hosting records and provider communications. FinTelegram protects confidential sources and evaluates all credible submissions in the public interest. Whistleblower-derived claims are handled under strict source-protection standards and clearly distinguished from verified findings, strong indicators, and investigative leads. Share Information via Whistle42

Robert Pemble has been named head of US equity trading at Invesco, stepping up to the role after 22 years at the asset manager.  He initially joined the firm in 2004 as a senior equity trader, working for Oppenheimer Funds before the company was acquired by Invesco in 2019. The new position marks a promotion for New York-based Pemble, who most recently spent two years as head of quantitative equity trading at the firm. Pemble has worked extensively across capital markets for more than two decades, and prior to his time at Invesco, held various equity trading roles at firms spanning Caldwell & Orkin Funds, Bulldog Capital, Hovde Capital Advisors and William R. Hough & Co.  Pemble confirmed his appointment in an announcement on social media.  Invesco had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.  The appointment follows further significant senior promotions for Invesco, with Samuel Henderson stepping into the role of head of EMEA equity trading in January 2026.  Henderson’s promotion followed the departure of the firm’s head of trading – EMEA and APAC equities, Paul Squires in November 2025, as revealed by The TRADE at the time.  The post Invesco promotes internally for new US equity trading head appeared first on The TRADE.