Eltropy, an AI-powered conversations platform for community financial institutions (CFIs), announced this week that Nebraska-based Cobalt Credit Union has deployed its Eltropy AI Voice solution. This has enabled the credit union to secure an 83% session containment rate while maintaining high member satisfaction. Session containment rates refer to the percentage of customer interactions that are successfully resolved by the AI without the participation of a human agent. Typically, these rates range between 60% and 80%, and are lower than those for text-based systems due to the greater complexity of voice-based AI systems and the nuances of natural language processing (NLP) in spoken conversations. For Cobalt to achieve session containment rates exceeding 80% with its voice-based system is a significant achievement. “From day one, our AI-powered contact center assistant, Coby, has delivered measurable results and positive feedback from both members and staff,” Cobalt Credit Union VP of Digital Banking Chasmine McIntosh said. “What Coby does is handle routine inquiries 24/7, which frees up our team to focus on the complex situations where members really need that human touch. We consider him a vital member of our contact center team, handling high volume with empathy and accuracy.” Formerly SAC Federal Credit Union, Cobalt CU is no stranger to AI-enabled technology. The institution implemented its first AI agent in August 2024: an intent-based system that ran alongside the credit union’s new digital banking platform. Before the end of the year, Cobalt CU had added generative AI capabilities to enable its contact center assistant, Coby, to respond to an even broader range of queries. The implementation of AI Voice represents the completion of Cobalt CU’s multi-channel AI strategy, enabling members to engage with the institution via the channel of their choice. “The key to effective AI Voice is that it goes beyond just understanding member requests—it takes action,” Eltropy VP of Product, AI, Saahil Kamath said. “Members calling to check balances or transfer funds don’t want to work through phone menus and hold times. Our AI handles authentication conversationally, processes transactions in real-time, and provides confirmation—maintaining a natural, human-like interaction throughout. Cobalt members are experiencing this firsthand.” Founded in 1946 as SAC Federal Credit Union, the institution rebranded as Cobalt Credit Union in 2018. Cobalt CU is headquartered in Papillion, Nebraska—part of the Omaha metropolitan area—and has more than 20 branches serving approximately 120,000 members throughout Nebraska and Iowa. The credit union has $1.3 billion in assets under management. Robin Larsen is President and CEO. A Finovate alum since 2017, Eltropy most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Eltropy offers a unified conversations platform that enables more than 700 credit unions and community banks to transform the member and customer experience. With more than 40 use cases ranging from straightforward 1:1 texting and video banking to appointment and lobby management, Eltropy integrates AI at every step to automate processes and streamline complexity. Financial institutions using Eltropy’s technology have seen reductions in delinquency and fraud rates, as well as up to a 20% acceleration in lending processes. Photo by John Matychuk on Unsplash The post Cobalt Credit Union Teams Up with Eltropy to Deploy AI Voice appeared first on Finovate.       

FinovateEurope 2026 takes place in London on February 10 and 11. Register to attend and save up to £400. FinovateEurope is returning to London in February, spotlighting the latest in fintech innovation. The exceptional lineup of 30+ cutting-edge demos and 1,000+ senior-level attendees—including an impressive 600+ from banks and other financial institutions—makes FinovateEurope a must-attend event. This year’s demo lineup showcases the key trends driving change across the financial services sector and the innovative technologies bringing them to life. Here’s an early look at the first wave of companies taking the stage: Stay tuned for more announcements as we reveal the next wave of innovators in the coming weeks! Interested in demoing? Applications are still open! FinovateEurope is the perfect platform for organizations driving innovation in financial services—whether you’re a startup, bank, public entity, or established leader. Demoing offers unparalleled exposure, including: 7-minute demo slot on the main stage A plug-and-play exhibit hall stand Speaker passes and lead generation reports Coaching calls with Finovate’s host and resident expert Marketing and media coverage Don’t miss the chance to kick off 2026 with a strong pipeline of leads and high ROI. Apply now to secure your spot. The post Welcome to 2026! First Look at Europe Demos appeared first on Finovate.      Related StoriesWelcome to Day One of FinovateEurope 2022Welcome to Day Three of FinovateFall 2021!Welcome to Day Two of FinovateFall 2021! 

Flutterwave has agreed to acquire Mono, bringing open banking capabilities fully in-house as it pushes toward a more interoperable financial infrastructure across Africa. The deal allows Flutterwave to natively integrate financial data access, identity verification, and account-to-account payments. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Cross-border payments company Flutterwave revealed it has agreed to acquire Mono, a fellow Africa-based fintech focused on providing open banking tools. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. For Flutterwave, investing in open banking technologies shows that it is committed to building an interoperable financial system for Africa. While Flutterwave originally partnered with Mono in 2022, the acquisition will allow the company to fully integrate Mono’s API-driven open banking elements. The native integration will offer users secure access to financial data, identity verification, and account-to-account payments. It will also create a clear path for expanding into richer alternative payment methods, authenticated payment flows, and open banking-enabled stablecoin use cases. “This acquisition reflects how we think about the future of financial infrastructure in Africa,” said Flutterwave Founder and CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola. “Payments, data, and trust cannot exist in silos. Open banking provides the connective tissue, and Mono has built critical infrastructure in this space. This acquisition allows us to expand what’s possible for businesses operating across African markets, while staying grounded in security, compliance, and local relevance.” Mono was founded in 2020 to provide financial data, identity verification, and direct bank payments for businesses. With five million linked accounts across more than 500 banks and fintechs, the Lagos-based fintech covers three different countries. “Mono’s capabilities across financial data access, direct bank payments, and identity verification, combined with Flutterwave’s unmatched scale and global reach, create something more defensible and comprehensive,” said Mono Founder and CEO Abdulhamid Hassan. “This acquisition allows us to build the infrastructure layer that powers the next generation of African fintech at the speed and scale the continent deserves.” Once the acquisition is finalized, Mono will continue to operate independently with its leadership structure intact. Mono will also retain operational control, which will allow it to maintain its pace of innovation. Flutterwave accepts payments in more than 30 currencies, processing an average of 500,000 payments each day. In addition to its payments technology, Flutterwave also offers invoicing technology, business loans, and analytics tools. Since it was founded in 2016, Flutterwave has raised more than $470 million and has processed over one billion transactions in excess of $40 billion. The move positions Flutterwave toward full-stack financial infrastructure. It also reflects a broader industry shift toward open banking–enabled payment flows, where verified data and authenticated transfers reduce fraud, improve conversion, and unlock new use cases. For Africa’s fragmented financial ecosystem, tighter integration between payments and data infrastructure has the potential to boost interoperability while giving cross-border payment players like Flutterwave greater control over compliance, reliability, and product velocity. Photo by Muhammad-Taha Ibrahim The post Cross-Border Payments Fintech Flutterwave Acquires Open Banking Firm Mono appeared first on Finovate.       

If you stepped away from your desk over the holidays, you are probably realizing that fintech didn’t slow down while you were gone. Even if your email inbox is finally back to zero at this point, we’re here to help you filter out the noise and catch up on the important fintech news you missed. Below, we’ve rounded up the most important fintech developments that broke during the holiday lull. December 19 Mercury applies for OCC national bank charter to become the bank for builders. Business banking fintech Mercury submitted an application to the OCC for a national bank charter and applied for federal deposit insurance with the FDIC. Receiving approval from these agencies would allow Mercury to operate as an FDIC-insured national bank. The move would grant Mercury independence from its partner banks, Choice Financial Group and Column N.A., giving the fintech full control of its customers. European Central Bank (ECB) completes its technical and preparatory work on the digital euro. ECB President Christine Lagarde said during a press conference that the bank has completed technical and preparatory work on the digital euro. In the statement, Lagarde mentioned that the digital euro is a priority for Europe’s financial future. The announcement proves that central bank digital currencies are still on the table for 2026, even as stablecoins and tokenized deposits take precedence in the headlines. December 30 Retail investment platform PrimaryBid lays off about 40% of its workforce. The UK-based company’s newest registry filings indicate that PrimaryBid’s average employee headcount fell to 91, which is down from 152 during the same period last year. PrimaryBid has a long-term agreement with the London Stock Exchange to allow everyday retail investors to transact at the same time and price as institutional investors. December 22 Digital bank Erebor closed $350 million in funding at a $4.35 billion valuation. Erebor is a new digital bank that was founded by Palmer Luckey, billionaire and founder of Oculus VR and Anduril Industries. The new digital bank seeks to bridge traditional finance with the digital asset economy and has already obtained FDIC approval and conditional approval from US banking regulators. The bank is expected to launch this year. Fiserv and Mastercard partner to advance agentic commerce. Fiserv announced it is deepening its partnership with Mastercard, leveraging Mastercard’s Agent Pay Acceptance Framework to offer interoperable agentic commerce and empower merchants to embrace AI-driven payments. December 23 JPMorgan considers allowing crypto trading for institutional clients. With Jamie Dimon’s negative comments about crypto far in the past, JPMorgan announced plans to allow institutional clients to trade crypto. The announcement comes weeks after the bank’s asset management arm launched its first tokenized money fund. Photo by Ono Kosuki The post Returning to the Office? Here’s the Top Fintech News You Missed appeared first on Finovate.       

Global data, technology, and analytics company Experian announced that its commercial data is now available on its Ascend platform. The news means that companies using Ascend will be able to access and analyze Experian’s full commercial data suite within a single platform. Founded in 2006, Experian has been a Finovate alum since 2011. The company’s corporate headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland. Data, technology, and analytics company Experian reported today that its commercial data is now available on its Ascend platform. The company’s cloud-based analytics and decisioning solution, Ascend, combines Experian’s data assets and advanced analytics tools. The newly announced integration will enable companies to access and analyze Experian’s full commercial data suite within a single platform. This alleviates the need for separate integrations as well as manual data pulls. Experian UK&I Chief Product Officer, Business Information, David Gallihawk said that the enhanced offering will help customers using the Ascend platform keep pace with the “ever-growing number (of) lenders and new products entering the market.” Gallihawk added, “Experian Ascend helps lenders retain customers, identify new opportunities, launch new products, and leverage data to automate processes. Clients can have an even better view of their customers and businesses so they can make smarter, faster decisions—all within one integrated platform.” The need for access to commercial data is clear; Experian data supported at least two-thirds of SME borrowing in the UK in 2024. Commercial data provides in-depth, granular information on the borrowing and repayment history of more than eight million businesses in the UK. Access to this data will give lenders, businesses, and other organizations a more holistic view of company performance, enabling them to make better, faster, and more accurate lending decisions. The integration will provide quick and easy access to more than six years of full-file commercial credit data, including Commercial CAIS, Risk Scores, and CATO—along with their own internal datasets. Users can access the data via the Experian Analytical Sandbox on the Ascend platform. Founded in 1996 and established as a standalone public company in 2006, Experian has been a Finovate alum since 2011. Today, the company is a FTSE 100 firm that helps institutions improve lending and fight fraud with a unique combination of data, analytics, and software that enables them to secure deeper insights into their customers. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and boasting 25,000+ employees in 32 countries, Experian has more than 208 million customers on its free platforms alone. Along with fellow Finovate alums TransUnion and Equifax, Experian is one of the Big Three credit reporting agencies in the US. Of the three, it has the most extensive operations in the UK and Europe. Photo by Scott Webb The post Experian Integrates Corporate Commercial Data to its Ascend Platform appeared first on Finovate.       

2026 begins in earnest today as the first full working week of the year gets underway. Be sure to check in with Finovate’s Fintech Rundown over the next few days to get you up and running with the latest in fintech news and announcements! Open banking Flutterwave acquires African open banking infrastructure company Mono. Credit and analytics Experian announces availability of its commercial data via its Ascend platform. Investing and wealth management Universal Exchange (UEX) Bitget opens its TradFi trading suite to all users. Crypto and DeFi Telcoin, a digital asset bank that just won final charter approval from the Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance, launches its eUSD stablecoin. Kast, a financial platform built on stablecoin rails, expands global payouts to 11 new local currencies including GBP, EUR, and CAD, as well as a multiple currencies in the Asia Pacific region. Insurtech Zurich North America partners with modularized AI underwriting, data, and intelligent document automation workbench company Convr. Insurance broker and risk management firm M3 Insurance turns to SimplePin to modernize its finance and accounting operations. Agentic commerce Fiserv and Mastercard extend their partnership to advance agentic commerce for merchants, leveraging Mastercard’s Agent Pay Acceptance Framework at scale. Lending India-based digital lender Knight Fintech raises $23.6 million in Series A funding. Digital banking Egypt’s Bank NXT partners with IBM and inspire for Solutions Development. Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash The post Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News appeared first on Finovate.       

Before heading out for the holidays, Finovate Global shared a look back at the entrepreneurs and innovators we interviewed in 2025. Today, as the new year begins in earnest for many, we are officially saluting those companies hailing from outside the US that made the journey to our fintech conferences in London, San Diego, and New York in 2025. As you can see, Finovate continues to attract innovative fintech talent from around the world to be a part of our unique events. Want to join the roster? FinovateEurope is currently accepting applications for the upcoming February conference in London, February 10 and 11. Wherever you and your team call home, we are happy to learn more about you and your ready-to-demo innovation. Check out our FinovateEurope Apply to Demo page to learn more! APIMatic Founded in 2014, APIMatic is a developer experience platform for APIs that enables organizations to drive fast, widespread adoption of their APIs. The platform supports every stage of the API journey, from design and dynamic SDKs to code sample generation and end-to-end automation. Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, APIMatic made its most recent appearance on the Finovate stage at FinovateSpring 2025. AQ22 Founded in 2024, AQ22 offers an Agentic Orchestration Banking platform that enables banks to deploy AI agents to automate core banking processes and operations. Headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, AQ22 made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Aurem Founded in 2022, Aurem offers an intelligent operating system for retirement and wealth providers. Their platform helps institutions unify and optimize their products, processes, and data and deliver them globally in days. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Aurem made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2025. b-next Founded in 1989, b-next is a corporate software provider specializing in capital markets trading surveillance and compliance solutions. Headquartered in Herford, Germany, b-next made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Cinareo Solutions Founded in 2022, Cinareo Solutions offers a capacity planning platform that provides pro-active resource planning and financial analysis to cost-efficiently manage front- and back-office team members, as well as support staff. The company is a winner of Finovate’s Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Program. Headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, Cinareo Solutions made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2025. Copla Founded in 2023, Copla is an ICT security and compliance automation platform that transforms paper compliance into real-world resilience. The platform provides the capabilities of a full cybersecurity and compliance department at a subscription cost. Headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, Copla made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Deriskly Founded in 2020, Deriskly provides AI-driven communication intelligence that deciphers customer feedback, automates compliance, and enhances trust by transforming complex regulations into actionable insights. Headquartered in London, England, Deriskly made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Dimply Founded in 2020, Dimply enables organizations to optimize operations, enhance customer engagement, uncover growth opportunities, and accelerate digital transformation. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Dimply most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall 2025. Doshi App Founded in 2021, Doshi App empowers financial institutions to deliver engaging, rewarding, and scalable financial education experiences that build money confidence. Headquartered in London, England, Doshi App most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateEurope 2025. ebankIT Founded in 2014, ebankIT empowers financial institutions to innovate quickly, reduce costs, and deliver personalized services across all channels, accelerating growth and future-proofing their digital strategy. Headquartered in Porto, Portugal, the two-time Finovate Best of Show winner most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall 2025. FintechOS Founded in 2017, FintechOS enables banks and credit unions to launch any product faster, modernize customer experiences, and adapt quickly to market and regulatory changes—without replacing their core systems. Headquartered in London, England, FintechOS made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall 2025. Homely Founded in 2021, Homely is an AI-powered platform that empowers the journey to homeownership by combining education, spend management, and financial rewards in a hyper-personalized way. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Homely made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Hyperdesk Founded in 2022, Hyperdesk provides an AI-powered search engine that helps credit unions and community banks grow their loans and deposits by better engaging with local businesses.  Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and Mexico City, Mexico, Hyperdesk made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2025. ID-Pal Founded in 2016, ID-Pal facilitates business growth with AI-powered identity verification and AML screening, increasing operational efficiency and customer trust. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, ID-Pal most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall 2025. Intrepid Fox Founded in 2024, Intrepid Fox leverages GenAI to make KYC 10x faster for banks and fintechs. The company’s technology streamlines onboarding by instantly processing documents and engaging in value-added interactions. Headquartered in London, England, Intrepid Fox most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateEurope 2025. Intuitech Founded in 2018, Intuitech uses agentic networks to automate complex workflows, maximize efficiency, and elevate the customer experience for companies in financial services. Based in Budapest, Hungary, Intuitech made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Keyless Founded in 2019, Keyless replaces outdated MFA with biometrics, improving UX and saving millions. One bank saved $3.5 million by eliminating call centers for OTP-based recovery. Based in London, England, Keyless won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. The company returned to the Finovate stage later in the year for FinovateFall 2025. LemonadeLXP Founded in 2018, LemonadeLXP’s InsightAI improves staff and customer education while driving significant operational efficiencies. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, LemonadeLXP won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2022 and again at FinovateFall 2025. MDOTM Founded in 2015, MDOTM specializes in analytical and GenAI solutions for banks, insurance companies, asset managers, and wealth management companies. Headquartered in London, England, MDOTM made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Mifundo Founded in 2022, Mifundo provides a data solution that offers cross-border credit information and standardized credit scores to help lower banks’ credit risk for international customers by up to 7x. Headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, Mifundo made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. MoneyPlanned Founded in 2021, MoneyPlanned empowers institutions to offer intelligent, automated financial planning—boosting advisor efficiency, reducing cost-to-serve, and delivering personalized client experiences at scale. Based in Bengaluru, India, MoneyPlanned made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2025. Moonjelly Founded in 2024, Moonjelly offers a scalable, transparent, and reliable GenAI platform that enables businesses to leverage AI agents and custom AI solutions to retrieve information, derive insights, and complete tasks. Headquartered in South Holland, Netherlands, Moonjelly made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Offset Labs Founded in 2022, Offset Labs (formerly Byne) enables companies to build secure LLM agents and host LLM applications within their secure perimeter (on premise or private cloud) to ensure safe handling of sensitive data and integration with internal systems. Headquartered in London, England, the company made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. OPL Founded in 2015, OPL’s cash-flow-based lending helps banks transform their operations through agile lending, AI-driven insights, and intelligent credit underwriting—expanding credit access to SMEs. Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, OPL made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2025. PayIP Founded in 2021, PayIP is a specialized fintech provider that helps banks and financial services companies optimize both interchange and Visa and Mastercard billing costs. Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, PayIP made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Plumery Founded in 2016, Plumery offers a cloud-native digital banking experience platform that empowers financial institutions to build distinctive and customer-centric mobile and online experiences. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Primer Founded in 2023, Primer is an AI-powered financial analysis platform for investment professionals at banks, hedge funds, and asset management firms. Headquartered in London, England, Primer made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. PromoComply Founded in 2024, PromoComply offers a comprehensive platform for financial promotions compliance. The company helps financial sector companies ensure their financial promotion campaigns are continuously compliant with UK FCA regulations. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, PromoComply made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. R34DY Founded in 2019, R34DY helps organizations transform their business by taking the pain out of integrations and making it easy for business owners to create use cases and reduce time to market. Headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, R34DY won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025 and returned to the Finovate stage later in the year for FinovateFall 2025. Regsearch AI Founded in 2019, Regsearch AI offers a regulatory compliance solution that leverages AI agents to streamline compliance processes. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Regsearch AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Torus Founded in 2021, Torus is a SaaS intelligence platform for banks and fintechs that enables them to enhance profits on card transactions by up to 50%. Headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, Torus most recently demoed its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateEurope 2025. Tweezr Founded in 2024, Tweezr is an AI-powered developer assistant tailored for legacy environments that helps accelerate time-to-market and boost developer productivity. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tweezr won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Xaver Founded in 2023, Xaver offers a sales platform that enhances advisory quality and efficiency for financial institutions by delivering an AI-enabled, personalized, omnichannel customer journey. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany, Xaver made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2025. Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world. Middle East and Northern Africa Commercial Bank of Dubai and Pay10 launched Open Finance services under the UAE’s Open Finance Initiative, AlTareq. Middle East Economy looked at the potential for growth in the Oman fintech market. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) inked a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a pan African Gold bank. Central and Southern Asia Paytm secured approval from the Indian central bank, RBI to expand its payment aggregator license to include offline and cross-border transactions. Freedom Bank Kazakhstan added eSIM services to its Freedom SuperApp courtesy of a partnership with Boxo. VEON’s Mobilink Microfinance Bank launched Islamic banking operations in Pakistan. Latin America and the Caribbean Ecuadorean transactional network COONECTA teamed up with BPC to deploy the SmartVisa platform across 90 credit unions and 75 member institutions. International IT solutions provider JMR Infotech joined the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) as a Service Member. Zigi, the digital innovation unit of Guatemala’s Banco Industrial, expanded its partnership with core banking software provider Thought Machine. Asia-Pacific South Korea’s KakaoBank announced a deepened partnership with Indonesian digital bank Superbank. Mastercard introduced its Open Finance Business Solutions offering in Australia. Singapore-based fintech Fingular opened a new hub in Malaysia and launched a new Smart Limit financing solution. Sub-Saharan Africa Tech in Africa reviewed 2025 investment trends for startups in Africa, noting Nigeria’s lead in fintech spending. Zawya profiled South African SME lender Bridgement. Disrupt Africa looked at how Nigerian fintech Pay4Me is helping students make international payments. Central and Eastern Europe Lithuanian regtech iDenfy introduced an automated identity verification app for Shopify that triggers ID verification checks on high-risk orders. Romania’s Banca Centrală Cooperatistă CREDITCOOP deployed Allevo’s FINTP-Instant payments solution. German savings and investment platform Raisin announced plans to enter the US market in 2026. Photo by Saj Shafique on Unsplash The post Finovate Global: A Salute to Our 2025 International Alums appeared first on Finovate.       

Our Finovate Global interview series provides deep dives and extended conversations about fintech innovation around the world—especially in countries outside of the US. This year, we have featured seven different discussions on fintech topics ranging from payments and regtech to Islamic finance and workforce management solutions. Click the headlines below to access the interviews. If you are a Finovate alum headquartered outside the US and would like to share your story with our readers, then consider being a part of our Finovate Global interview series in 2026. Reach out to me at david@finovate.com—we’d love to have you join us! With that, we hope you enjoy these conversations and maybe even find one that you might have missed. And thanks to Jac, Karen, Kirill, Stav, Stuart, Maya, and Dilshod for being a part of our Finovate Global interviews of 2025. Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world. Central and Eastern Europe German fintech Trade Republic reached a valuation of €12.5 billion following a €1.2 billion secondary share sale. Mastercard unveiled its WhatsApp chatbot for users in Azerbaijan. Deutsche Bank has gone live with digital wallet and payments app, Wero. Middle East and Northern Africa Israel VC firm Viola Ventures launched a pair of new funds totaling $250 million to invest in Israeli fintechs innovating in AI and fintech. UAE-based Lucid Capital raised $2.5 million to expand AI-powered algorithmic trading. PayTabs Egypt teamed up with Edita Trade, a subsidiary of Edita Food Industries, to integrate a unified cash collection and payments solution across the company’s distribution network. Central and Southern Asia Bangalore, India-based tax management infrastructure startup Prosperr.io raised $4 million in seed funding. Google introduced its UPI-linked credit card in India. Unlimit secured final authorization from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate with a payment aggregator-cross border license. Latin America and the Caribbean Mexican fintech Plata secured a $500 million line of credit courtesy of an arrangement with Nomura Securities International. Payment infrastructure company Juspay launched Visa’s Click to Pay in Brazil. Contxto looked at recent venture capital investment trends in Latin America, with an emphasis on the rebound in fintech investing. Asia-Pacific Fintech holding company Fingular established a new hub in Malaysia. Invoice Lifecycle Management company Basware acquired Australian AP automation vendor Redmap. A debate over which entities can issue KRW stablecoins will determine how the digital asset is regulated in South Korea, CCN reported. Sub-Saharan Africa Payments, cash management, and capital markets solutions company Montran opened its African regional headquarters in Kenya. Zawya profiled South African SME financing company Bridgement. Ghama officially legalized cryptocurrency trading as the country’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill is passed. Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash The post Finovate Global: Our Top Interviews of 2025 appeared first on Finovate.       

Identity verification, compliance, and risk decisioning platform Socure has acquired Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) consumer credit database, Qlarifi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition will create a unified, identity, anti-fraud BNPL credit infrastructure to help consumers build credit responsibly. New York-based Socure has been a Finovate alum since 2013. Johnny Ayers is Founder and CEO. Global identity, compliance, and risk decisioning platform Socure has acquired real-time Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) consumer credit database, Qlarifi. The combination will create a unified identity, anti-fraud BNPL credit infrastructure helping consumers build credit responsibly, enabling lenders to confidently offer financing to more qualified customers, while providing transparency and increased consumer protection that regulators increasingly demand. “BNPL has outgrown the legacy systems that were never designed to support their innovative lending products,” Socure Founder and CEO Johnny Ayers said. “At the same time, consumers deserve a safe path to build credit, lenders need real-time visibility to reduce fraud and risk, and regulators require transparency and reporting. Qlarifi built the first real-time BNPL consumer credit database, and by combining it with SocureID and our Identity Graph, we can deliver the unified infrastructure that all market participants have been asking for.” Buy Now Pay Later is a growing component of the e-commerce ecosystem, with nearly 6% of all online transactions in the US relying on BNPL. With growth of more than 20% in the US, spending on BNPL is poised to top $700 billion globally by 2028. The rise of BNPL presents a challenge to both conventional credit reporting systems and infrastructure, however. These systems were not built for the kind of high frequency, small dollar amount lending decisions made in milliseconds that characterizes BNPL. Moreover, lenders have little visibility into the creditworthiness of borrowers, especially when it comes to cross provider visibility. This can expose merchants to significant losses and even increased fraud rates. Furthermore, unlike other credit schemes, BNPL also tends to leave consumers without a path to build credit. In response, Qlarifi’s platform enables BNPL providers to safely extend financing to qualified customers, while identifying high-risk behavior such as loan stacking and financial crime such as first-party fraud. Already piloted effectively with its partners in Europe, Qlarifi is designed specifically to help lenders protect their customers from overextension and reduce the risk for BNPL providers. Integrated with Socure’s Identity Graph intelligence and RiskOS decisioning engine, lenders will be able to validate identity across BNPL providers, enable thin file customers (those with limited credit history) to access credit responsibly, and reduce fraud-related payment costs for merchants. “We built Qlarifi to solve a very real pain point: the lack of infrastructure to protect consumers from overextending themselves across multiple BNPL providers,” Qlarifi CEO and Co-founder Alex Naughton said. “By joining forces with Socure, we now have their tremendous commercial scale, balance sheet, and world-class analytics behind us to build the infrastructure that will enable responsible lending at scale and demonstrate to regulators that the industry can protect consumers while expanding access to credit.” Headquartered in London and founded in 2023, Qlarifi offers a BNPL consumer credit database, providing lenders with BNPL transaction history data to enable them to make more informed underwriting decisions. The solution helps consumers access the right credit products for their needs, provides enhanced fraud protection, and reduces scoring costs while enabling lenders to mitigate operational risks through an emphasis on data privacy and data minimization. New York-based Socure has been a Finovate alum since 2013. The company leverages AI and machine learning, along with trusted online and offline data intelligence, to verify identities in real time. A leading digital identity verification and trust platform, Socure has more than 2,000 customers in financial services, e-commerce, healthcare, and other industries, and includes four of the top five banks, seven of the top 10 card issuers, and more than 250 of the largest fintechs among its clients. Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash The post Socure Acquires BNPL Consumer Credit Database Qlarifi appeared first on Finovate.       

Finovate alums raised more than $1.4 billion in the final three months of 2025. The funding total in the fourth quarter of the year is the best Q4 for alum funding in more than a decade. The historic Q4 also takes the annual total capital raised by Finovate alums to levels not seen since 2021. As we learn more about the overall level of fintech funding in the fourth quarter and for the full year, it will be interesting to see if this impressive performance by Finovate alums reflects broader investment trends in the industry. Previous Annual Comparisons 2024: $553 million 2023: $1.2 billion 2022: $2.7 billion 2021: $8.4 billion A total of 46 Finovate alums reported funding in 2025, totaling more than $3.3 billion. This figure represents the largest fundraising year for Finovate alums since the blow-out year of 2021 in which more than $8 billion was raised. Previous Quarterly Comparisons Q4 2024: More than $132 million raised by seven alums Q4 2023: More than $307 million raised by 11 alums Q4 2022: More than $380 million raised by 15 alums Q4 2021: More than $1.2 billion raised by seven alums The pattern of billion+plus Q4s arriving every other year continued in 2025. 11 Finovate alums reported raising more than $1.4 billion in the fourth quarter of this year. This includes one company’s investment (Qolo’s fundraising in October) for which the amount is unknown. The last time Finovate alums raised a comparable amount in funding in the fourth quarter was in 2014, when 26 alums raised more than $1.4 billion. Top Quarterly Equity Investments The top equity investments of the quarter were the $500 million secured by both Avalara and Ripple. Also among the top fundraisings of the quarter was the $280 million raised in two separate, back-to-back rounds by MoEngage. Here is our detailed alum funding report for Q4 2025. October: More than $108 million raised by four alums Basis Theory: $33 million – post Feedzai: $75 million – post Offset Labs (fka Byne): $804,000 – post Qolo: undisclosed – post November: More than $1.1 billion raised by five alums Abacus: $5 million – news Avalara: $500 million – news Kaaj: $3.8 million – news MoEngage: $100 million – news Ripple: $500 million – post December: More than $191 million raised by two alums Kobalt Labs: $11 million – news MoEngage: $180 million – post If you are a Finovate alum that raised money in the fourth quarter of 2025, and do not see your company listed, please drop us a note at research@finovate.com. We would love to share the good news! Funding received prior to becoming an alum not included. Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash The post 11 Finovate Alums Raised More than $1.4 Billion in Q4; More Than $3.3 Billion in 2025 appeared first on Finovate.       

Welcome to Finovate’s final Fintech Rundown of 2025! DeFi and crypto have dominated the fintech news in recent weeks, with some companies in the space launching stablecoins and stablecoin-related services, while others announce expansion into new markets. We will update this post over the next several days to keep you informed on the final big headlines of the year. Investing and wealth management An investor group led by Permira and Warburg Pincus has announced plans to acquire Clearwater Anaytics in a transaction valued at $8.4 billion. DeFi and crypto Coinbase launches Stablecoins-as-a-Service solution, Custom Stablecoins. Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit re-launches in the UK. SoFi launches fully reserved stablecoin. US-based digital currency platform CoinFlip opens its Crypto Center in Mexico City. AI Pendo announces the general availability of its Agent Analytics solution. Insurtech AI-native commercial insurer Nirvana Insurance raises $100 million in Series D funding. Payments Visa and Aldar announce strategic collaboration and live implementation of end-to-end voice-enabled agentic payments. Digital banking Financial services software company Finastra announces opening of new offices in Atlanta and in Trivandrum, India. Fraud prevention and financial crime ComplyAdvantage partners with Sutherland to launch an AI-powered compliance solution for banks and fintechs. Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash The post Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News appeared first on Finovate.       

OnePay has joined Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), moving the Walmart-owned fintech from traditional payments into providing infrastructure for agent-led, AI-driven commerce. Unlike networks such as Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express that provide payment rails within AP2, OnePay is joining as a credential provider that will define how AI agents store credentials, interpret user intent, select payment instruments, and disclose financing options. By positioning itself upstream of transactions, OnePay is aiming to govern the rules and guardrails of autonomous payments. OnePay, the Walmart-owned digital banking platform, announced yesterday that it is joining Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). The partnership moves OnePay from offering traditional payments to becoming infrastructure for agentic payments. Google launched AP2 in September 2025 to provide an open, standardized framework for digital payments. AP2 connects banks, fintechs, and merchants with its protocol that creates a common language for how AI agents can transact on behalf of users. While OnePay joins heavyweights such as Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express in enlisting in AP2, it will not serve in the same capacity as the payments players, which are providing the payment rails. Instead, OnePay is joining as a credential provider, meaning the company will focus on how payment credentials are stored, secured, and reused by AI agents, how the user intent is expressed, how agents choose between different payment instruments, and how financing options are disclosed. Essentially, OnePay is taking on the role of defining the rules and guardrails that govern agent behavior. For OnePay, joining AP2 positions the company as critical infrastructure for agent-led commerce. By acting as a credential provider within AP2, OnePay helps solve how agents securely store, select, and reuse payment credentials while respecting user constraints like spending limits, merchant rules, and financing preferences. “We’re excited to collaborate with Google and the broader ecosystem to bring these ideas to life,” said OnePay CTO Moe Matar. “As AI begins handling more of the everyday work in commerce, consumers deserve a payments infrastructure that is fast, trustworthy, and aligned with their intent.” Notably, this move positions OnePay upstream of payments. Since it was founded in 2020, the company has focused on facilitating transactions. Today’s announcement indicates OnePay has much bigger plans as it broadens its scope into governing how autonomous commerce decisions are made. The post Walmart’s OnePay Becomes Infrastructure for Agent-Led Commerce appeared first on Finovate.       

OnePay has joined Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), moving the Walmart-owned fintech from traditional payments into providing infrastructure for agent-led, AI-driven commerce. Unlike networks such as Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express that provide payment rails within AP2, OnePay is joining as a credential provider that will define how AI agents store credentials, interpret user intent, select payment instruments, and disclose financing options. By positioning itself upstream of transactions, OnePay is aiming to govern the rules and guardrails of autonomous payments. OnePay, the Walmart-owned digital banking platform, announced yesterday that it is joining Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). The partnership moves OnePay from offering traditional payments to becoming infrastructure for agentic payments. Google launched AP2 in September 2025 to provide an open, standardized framework for digital payments. AP2 connects banks, fintechs, and merchants with its protocol that creates a common language for how AI agents can transact on behalf of users. While OnePay joins heavyweights such as Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express in enlisting in AP2, it will not serve in the same capacity as the payments players, which are providing the payment rails. Instead, OnePay is joining as a credential provider, meaning the company will focus on how payment credentials are stored, secured, and reused by AI agents, how the user intent is expressed, how agents choose between different payment instruments, and how financing options are disclosed. Essentially, OnePay is taking on the role of defining the rules and guardrails that govern agent behavior. For OnePay, joining AP2 positions the company as critical infrastructure for agent-led commerce. By acting as a credential provider within AP2, OnePay helps solve how agents securely store, select, and reuse payment credentials while respecting user constraints like spending limits, merchant rules, and financing preferences. “We’re excited to collaborate with Google and the broader ecosystem to bring these ideas to life,” said OnePay CTO Moe Matar. “As AI begins handling more of the everyday work in commerce, consumers deserve a payments infrastructure that is fast, trustworthy, and aligned with their intent.” Notably, this move positions OnePay upstream of payments. Since it was founded in 2020, the company has focused on facilitating transactions. Today’s announcement indicates OnePay has much bigger plans as it broadens its scope into governing how autonomous commerce decisions are made. The post OnePay Becomes Infrastructure for Agent-Led Commerce appeared first on Finovate.       

Australian digital currency exchange CoinJar announced its expansion to the US. As part of its expansion to the US, the company is unveiling its intelligent, AI-powered assistant, CoinJar AI, for customers in both the US and Australia. CoinJar AI helps users query the platform for portfolio information and market activity data. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, CoinJar won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2015 in London. Asher Tan is CEO. Digital currency exchange CoinJar, which won Best of Show in its debut at FinovateEurope 2015, is coming to the US. As part of its expansion to the US, CoinJar will launch CoinJar AI, an intelligent AI-powered assistant, integrated directly into its exchange platform that helps users access portfolio information and data on market activity. “The US market has reached a point where we can plan and build with greater confidence,” CoinJar CEO and Co-Founder Asher Tan said. “That applies not only to market access, but to the kinds of tools we can responsibly deploy for users. CoinJar AI shows what becomes possible when regulation and technology move forward together. It’s no coincidence we’re launching this capability first in the US, where oversight is evolving in a way that supports innovation while maintaining strong consumer protections.” CoinJar’s expansion to the US has been years in the making, but recent shifts in policy and political leadership—e.g., the passage of the Genius Act and the return of Donald Trump to the White House—have only bolstered reasons for the move. “Right now, the president has his own memecoin,” Tan said in an interview with the Australian Financial Review. “It’s a change of temperature in the US, and that changes a lot.” In a statement, the company highlighted the growing interest within the cryptocurrency and digital asset space for embedded, AI-driven trading tools capable of operating in regulated environments. CoinJar is one of a small group of digital asset exchanges that are bringing AI-enabled portfolio and market analysis tools integrated into the core platform to the American market. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, CoinJar made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2015. At the conference, the company won Best of Show for its technology that enabled users to buy, sell, receive, and spend both digital and traditional currencies. A pioneer among Australian fintechs, CoinJar is the longest-running cryptocurrency exchange in the country and is regarded as the #1 cryptocurrency exchange in Australia. To date, the company has helped more than 800,000 customers in the UK, Australia, Ireland, and the US buy, sell, and spend billions of dollars in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 60+ other cryptocurrencies. In addition to its exchange and crypto wallet, CoinJar also offers institutional DeFi solutions. These products include CoinJar Clear, which enables fintechs to integrate cryptocurrency trading capabilities into their platforms via secure APIs, and CoinJar Payout, which empowers companies to integrate Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 60+ other cryptocurrencies into their cashback, rewards, or loyalty programs. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash The post CoinJar, Australia’s Top Cryptocurrency Exchange, is Coming to America appeared first on Finovate.       

As the macroeconomic landscape changes and startup valuations adjust, financial services companies face new questions about where to spend their funds. Both investors and founders find themselves asking questions about what future funding will look like, which fintech niches are the most promising, and how startups can thrive with tighter funding restrictions. At FinovateFall 2025 in New York, Citi’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Investments, Mary Joseph, shared her perspective on these trends with William Mills, CEO of The William Mills Agency. During the conversation, Joseph shared her outlook on current funding dynamics, sector leadership, and what founders should consider as they build resiliency and relevance into their businesses. I think there was a time when companies could raise and raise and raise and spend and spend and spend, and the view was that, you know, at some point in the future, investors would be able to recoup that investment, right? Because the IPO market was hot, we were seeing more mergers and acquisitions. That’s not the case now, right? So we need to see companies that are really strong in terms of what they’re offering to the market. Mary Joseph leads Citi’s global investments in fintech and B2B SaaS startups, focusing on opportunities that enhance Treasury and Trade Solutions and broaden the bank’s technology ecosystem. Before her current role, she worked within Citi’s Investment Banking fintech M&A advisory team and also served as a venture investor at GreenHouse Capital, where she focused on early-stage fintech innovation across Africa and the Middle East. She holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from Columbia University. Citi is a strategic player in fintech investment. Through its strategic investments arm, Citi aims to partner with companies that complement its core banking and corporate finance services, while also helping startups gain access to enterprise scale and regulated banking capabilities. Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko The post How Citi is Thinking About Fintech Funding Trends with Mary Joseph appeared first on Finovate.       

SoFi has launched SoFiUSD, a fully reserved US dollar token issued by SoFi Bank, positioning itself as a stablecoin infrastructure provider for banks, fintechs, and enterprises seeking faster, always-on settlement. Although branded as a stablecoin, SoFiUSD’s cash-only backing and on-demand redemption model place it closer to a tokenized bank deposit. SoFi’s approach aligns more closely with JPMorgan’s JPM Coin than with non-bank stablecoins like KlarnaUSD, underscoring a growing divide between bank-issued tokenized deposits and fintech-issued stablecoins as programmable money adoption grows. Lending and wealth management fintech SoFi is entering the stablecoin market today. The San Francisco-based lending and wealth management company has launched SoFiUSD, a fully reserved US dollar token issued by SoFi Bank. The new tool blurs the line between a traditional stablecoin and a tokenized bank deposit. The distinction between these two terms matters, as banks and fintechs are increasingly taking different approaches to bringing regulated money onto blockchain rails. SoFiUSD will allow SoFi, an OCC-regulated insured depository institution, to serve as a stablecoin infrastructure provider for banks, fintechs, and enterprise platforms with an aim to streamline operations with the faster and more efficient money movement that stablecoins offer. SoFi’s new stablecoin will enable partners to leverage SoFi’s framework to issue white-labeled stablecoins or integrate SoFiUSD into their own settlement flows. SoFiUSD will be used for: Settling SoFi’s crypto trading business Offering third parties such as card networks, retailers, or businesses faster, safer settlement 24/7 Powering SoFi Pay for international remittances and point-of-sale purchases Serving as an alternative form of payment for Galileo’s partners Acting as a secured dollar-denominated asset for companies operating in countries with volatile currencies “Blockchain is a technology super cycle that will fundamentally change finance, not just in payments, but across every area of money,” said SoFi CEO Anthony Noto. “With SoFiUSD, we’re using the infrastructure we’ve built over the last decade and applying it to real-world challenges in financial services. Companies today struggle with slow settlement, fragmented providers, and unverified reserve models. SoFi is helping address these gaps by combining our regulatory strength as a national bank with transparent, fully reserved on-chain technology to provide a safer and more efficient way for partners to move funds.” While SoFi is calling SoFiUSD a stablecoin, its reserve model acts more like a tokenized deposit. That’s because the token is fully backed by cash held at SoFi Bank and redeemable on demand, representing bank deposits on-chain. This structure removes liquidity and credit risk and positions SoFiUSD as regulated bank money rather than a crypto instrument. SoFi may be using the term “stablecoin” for three reasons. The first is market familiarity, as the term “stablecoin” is more widely recognized than tokenized deposits. The second is regulatory ambiguity, since US regulators have yet to formally define how tokenized deposits should be treated. The third is interoperability, with “stablecoin” indicating compatibility with today’s on-chain payment rails. By launching what is effectively a tokenized deposit, SoFi joins a small but growing group of regulated banks experimenting with blockchain-based bank money, most notably JPMorgan Chase, which launched JPM Coin in November. Like JPM Coin, SoFiUSD keeps reserves inside the banking system and uses on-chain rails to modernize settlement rather than to create a parallel form of money. The tokenized deposits approach stands in contrast to KlarnaUSD, Klarna’s recently announced stablecoin, which is issued by a non-bank and backed by reserves held outside the issuer’s balance sheet. While KlarnaUSD is designed to improve payments efficiency for cross-border commerce, SoFiUSD’s approach leverages a bank charter to embed stablecoins directly into deposits, lending, and treasury workflows. As banks and fintechs experiment with programmable money, the distinction between bank-issued tokenized deposits and non-bank stablecoins may prove critical in determining which models scale beyond payments into the core of financial services. Photo by Dawid Sokołowski on Unsplash The post SoFi Launches SoFiUSD Stablecoin, But Could it Actually be a Tokenized Deposit? appeared first on Finovate.       

Businesses today are confronted with a dizzying array of options when it comes to digital modernization and embracing technological innovation. Decision-making when it comes to technology investment is often slow, and the costs incurred when those investments do not work out as planned can be painfully high. Poor solution choices have resulted in failure rates of up to 75%, according to some estimates, and even those investments that do succeed often come with hefty price tags that can put a drag on revenues. To learn what companies in the financial services space can do to make better technology choices, I caught up with Charlie Day, SVP, Sales and Advisory, at UPSTACK, at FinovateFall 2025 earlier this year. UPSTACK is a technology advisory platform that helps businesses reduce costs, accelerate deployment, and simplify IT decision-making. The company offers vendor-agnostic expertise, with recommendations powered by both AI and UPSTACK’s vendor experience, all informed by the firm’s proprietary dataset. In this conversation, Day explains how UPSTACK combines a focus on long-term relationships, human expertise, and AI-powered insights to drive business success and help companies achieve their goals in an ever-evolving technology landscape. Technological advisory has really shifted into more of a strategic relationship. It’s not just about a transaction, an event, or a sale, but a true, long-term relationship beyond the technology choice. We mix the technology expertise we have with marketing insights—everything from pricing to integration capabilities to how certain selections will mix into their overall IT landscape—to ensure that our customers are making not only the right decision in a short snapshot in time, but also what’s going to keep them achieving their goals over the long term. Charlie Day brings more than 20 years of experience in enterprise sales and strategic partnerships. He has held leadership roles at 8×8, RingCentral, Oracle, and AT&T. Day has business degrees from the University of New Hampshire and Southern New Hampshire University. UPSTACK is a vendor-neutral, full-service technology brokerage. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in New York City, the company provides expert advisory and execution services to help businesses make smarter technology decisions. UPSTACK works with companies across the entire technology landscape, including colocation, cloud, connectivity, networking, cybersecurity, AI, and more. With more than 60 customers in the Fortune 1000, UPSTACK recently acquired Breakwater Cloud Advisors, a CX consultancy specializing in contact center modernization, automation, and AI transformation. Christopher Trapp is UPSTACK’s Founder and CEO. Photo by Sonja Langford on Unsplash The post UPSTACK on Empowering Businesses with Strategic Tech Advisory and Innovation appeared first on Finovate.       

Tyro Payments will acquire Australian financial management platform for SMEs, Thriday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition will expand Tyro’s banking and payments capabilities, and accelerate delivery of the company’s integrated, cash-flow management solutions. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Tyro made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2017. Australia-based fintech Tyro Payments has agreed to acquire SME financial management platform Thriday. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Tyro said in its statement that the acquisition is part of its strategy to grow its banking and payments capabilities. The transaction will also enable Tyro to accelerate the delivery of integrated, all-in-one cash flow management solutions for its customers. “Combining Thriday’s smart automation and financial tools with Tyro’s payments and banking capabilities will deliver a more complete and powerful solution for our customers and a platform for further software-driven innovation,” Tyro CFO and Acting CEO Emma Burke said. “We see the acquisition of Thriday as a great win for our business and our customers, and we will continue to pursue M&A opportunities that are aligned with our growth strategy.” The acquisition is expected to be completed in January 2026, and is subject to customary conditions. The majority of Thriday’s team, including CEO Michael Nuciforo, is expected to join Tyro. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Thriday offers an integrated banking, accounting, tax, and invoicing solution that serves as a financial operating system for small businesses. The company’s technology automates and streamlines multiple financial administrative tasks for these companies, helping them save time and boost productivity. “We are excited to join Tyro, a company that shares our commitment to innovation and customer-focused product design,” Thriday’s Nuciforo said. “We look forward to helping Tyro accelerate the delivery of customer solutions that help Australian businesses run smarter and grow faster.” Tyro made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2017. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company provides in-store, online, and on-the-go payment solutions for more than 76,000 merchants throughout Australia. With more than 450 POS partners, Tyro delivers integrated banking and lending solutions to companies in verticals including retail, services, hospitality, and healthcare. Tyro’s acquisition news follows the company’s November announcement that Nigel Lee, a fintech veteran with more than 25 years of leadership experience, will take over as Chief Executive Officer in January 2025. Lee will replace outgoing CEO Jon Davey. “I am passionate about the payments industry and have followed Tyro’s story since it was founded in 2003,” Lee said in a statement. “It is exciting to return to Australia to lead one of the country’s most innovative fintechs into its next chapter.” Photo by Kevan Lin on Unsplash The post Tyro Acquires SME Financial Management Platform Thriday appeared first on Finovate.       

Finovate Best of Show winner 10x Banking has partnered with audax Financial Technology to accelerate digital banking modernization with banks throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The partnership will help banks modernize their core operations quickly, but incrementally, keeping technology debt low as they pursue new business models such as Banking-as-a-Service and super apps. Founded in 2016, 10x Banking is headquartered in London, UK. Antony Jenkins is Founder, Chair, and CEO, 10x Banking, which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023, has teamed up with audax Financial Technology to bring digital banking modernization to core banking service providers throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. While speed is the headline, deploying systems that are capable of keeping up with the rapid growth of the digital payment and fintech markets is just as important. “This partnership shows banks don’t need to choose between speed and resilience; they can have both,” 10x Banking Founder and CEO Antony Jenkins said. “By combining 10x Banking’s modern core with audax’s digital agility, banks in high-growth regions can innovate at pace, minimize risk, and deliver lasting customer value.” In the partnership announcement, 10x Banking underscored research that indicated that a growing number of banks perceive the failure to modernize their core systems as an “existential risk.” In the APAC region, research indicated that 67% of banking executives believed they were falling behind in terms of digital modernization, a sentiment supported by the fact that only 8% reported that they had prioritized core banking at their institutions. Together, 10x Banking and audax, a banking technology solutions provider supported by Standard Chartered, will empower banks to launch new digital products and services faster than is possible with their current legacy core systems. audax’s expertise in enabling modern banking systems, combined with 10x Banking’s meta core platform capable of processing more than a billion real-time transactions annually, will enable banks to modernize incrementally. This will help them keep overall technical debt low while still reaching new customer segments and launching new business models, ranging from Banking-as-a-Service to super apps. “Traditional core banking projects take years and cost tens of millions,” audax CEO Kelvin Tan said. “Our partnership with 10x Banking changes that equation entirely. Banks can launch full digital services in as fast as six months for a fraction of the cost. That’s the difference between a digital banking project that only works for major cities versus one that can also reach underserved markets across the regions we serve.” Singapore-based audax offers a plug-and-play digital banking platform that enables banks to quickly launch scalable, compliant solutions—from Banking-as-a-Service to new digital banks. Founded in 2023, audax includes Standard Chartered and Maybank Islamic among its customers. Headquartered in London, UK, 10x Banking was founded in 2016. A B Corp-certified core banking platform, 10x Banking handles six billion API calls a month and generates more than three million statements an hour for global institutions. Photo by Corporate Locations on Unsplash The post 10x Banking Accelerates Digital Banking Modernization with audax appeared first on Finovate.       

Visa has launched USDC stablecoin settlement in the US, enabling issuers and acquirers to settle transactions in Circle’s dollar-denominated stablecoin using blockchain infrastructure. Cross River Bank and Lead Bank are piloting the capability to deliver faster, always-on settlement and improved treasury efficiency while remaining compatible with existing payment rails. The move signals stablecoins’ shift from experimentation to bank-ready infrastructure. Visa unveiled today that it has launched stablecoin settlement in the United States. The payments giant is partnering with Circle’s USDC dollar-denominated stablecoin to enable US issuers and acquirers to settle with Visa in USDC. USDC settlement relies on blockchains to offer issuers faster money movement and seven‑day settlement windows that will improve both speed and liquidity, modernized treasury management with automated treasury operations, and interoperability between traditional payment rails and blockchain-based payments. “Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because our banking partners are not only asking about it— they’re preparing to use it,” said Visa’s Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships Rubail Birwadker. “Financial institutions are looking for faster, programmable settlement options that integrate seamlessly with their existing treasury operations. By bringing USDC settlement to the US, Visa is delivering a reliable, bank‑ready capability that improves treasury efficiency while maintaining the security, compliance, and resiliency standards our network requires.” Piloting the launch are Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, which are leveraging the Solana blockchain to settle with Visa in USDC. Visa is planning broader availability in the US in 2026. Cross River Bank, a leading infrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions, reinforces the importance of true interoperability. “Fintech and crypto innovators increasingly ask us to bring stablecoins into their existing product suite,” said Gilles Gade, Founder, President and CEO of Cross River. “A unified platform that natively supports both stablecoins and traditional payment networks is the foundation for how value will move globally. As one of the first US banks to enable USDC settlement with Visa, we’re demonstrating how a tech-forward, deeply integrated banking partner can connect blockchain networks and legacy systems at scale.” Today’s announcement comes the same week that Visa Consulting & Analytics launched its Stablecoins Advisory Practice to offer education and guidance on market fit and implementation. VyStar Credit Union and Pathward are early participants in the program, which they will use to find new opportunities in the $250 billion stablecoin market. Visa, which became one of the first major payment networks to settle in stablecoins in 2023, has been positioning itself at the forefront of the stablecoin revolution. Last month, the company’s monthly stablecoin settlement volume passed a $3.5 billion annualized run rate threashold. Visa’s move to bring USDC settlement to the US shows that the early momentum in stablecoin activity this year is set to continue into next year as the payment rail moves from experimental to a bank-ready settlement tool. By embedding stablecoin settlement directly into its network, Visa is making programmable, always-on settlement a practical option for traditional banks seeking to improve liquidity management, shorten settlement cycles, and bridge existing payment rails with blockchain infrastructure. Photo by Jonathan Borba The post Visa Launches USDC Settlement in the US appeared first on Finovate.