August 25, 2026 @ 1:20 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Stripe goes AI shopping, buys OpenRouter for $7B Stripe expands its AI presence with OpenRouter, which builds infrastructure allowing developers to secure access and route requests across different AI models. Bank of America to invest up to $1.8B in Jio Credit For its investment, BoA… Read More

August 23, 2026 @ 8:18 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Thredd to underpin Cashi’s Hong Kong stablecoin card debut Thredd contributes issuer processing infrastructure for Cashi, whose app lets users send and hold digital assets. The card can facilitate daily spending. In Hong Kong, users get virtual Visa cards and Google Pay support. Apple Pay… Read More

August 23, 2026 @ 5:49 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Why AI will select AI “The sheer number of AI agents is already unmanageable at enterprise scale. Gartner predicted that the average Fortune 500 company will go from less than 15 AI agents in 2025 to more than 150,000 in 2028, while only 13% of… Read More

August 18, 2026 @ 12:00 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

New agentic AI services from TransFi, OSL Group and Ionic highlight this week’s fintech product release and partnership announcements. TransFi launches JARVIS, an AI-powered compliance intelligence platform JARVIS consolidates customer and transaction data from across its internal systems and third-party providers into a single, risk-based… Read More

August 16, 2026 @ 3:27 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

I don’t think Bitcoin is ever going to go back below $60,000. I think forever “I think the base case for Bitcoin is basically that you get higher lows, and you do have these run-ups that happen roughly every four years. I would say that… Read More

August 15, 2026 @ 7:36 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Mainframe computers could endure in the AI era Research from Crisil Coalition Greenwich suggests mainframe computers will retain their place alongside cloud computing and AI. More than 90% of banking technology executives say more than 50% of their core banking applications rely (and will continue… Read More

August 14, 2026 @ 8:30 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Maybank buys remaining Maybank Ageas Holdings stake for $1.18B Malayan Banking, better known as Maybank, gets the remaining 31% stake from Belgian insurer Ageas. It now has full control of the Etiqa insurance arm. Allianz buys UOB asset management services for $434M An arm of… Read More

August 11, 2026 @ 10:16 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Drata co-founder and CEO Adam Markowitz sees Artificial Intelligence’s rapid adoption creating an unprecedented trust gap that his company is perfectly positioned to solve. Drata empowers security teams to automate compliance, manage risk, and win with trust. Markowitz said trust is a scarce resource that… Read More

August 10, 2026 @ 3:36 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Two new Marqeta partnerships highlight this week’s list of fintech product release and partnership announcements. Marqeta, Google, expand child-focused Google Wallet capability Google can now bring tap-to-pay technology to the Wallet for kids experience, enabling supervised kids and teens to use their NFC-enabled Android phones… Read More

August 10, 2026 @ 9:04 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

While Forward Financing saw the biggest number, several others reached unicorn status thanks to fresh capital. Forward Financing nabs $525M in new financing The package includes a $350 million variable funding note (VFN) facility alongside a $175 million asset-backed securitization (ABS). It grows Forward Financing’s… Read More

August 9, 2026 @ 9:44 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Digital Assets sector had plenty to say on stablecoins, the Coldcard hack, and crypto investing this week. Stablecoins “It’s a demand-side story for treasuries at exactly the moment the traditional buyers are stepping back. “The traditional U.S. marginal debt buyer was the foreign official sector,… Read More

August 2, 2026 @ 9:42 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

South American stablecoin usage rising “Brazil’s regulators are already tightening control over stablecoin flows and virtual-asset service providers, and they’re doing it in tiers. Under Resolution 561, virtual assets can no longer settle transactions inside the regulated eFX system, so cross-border payment and receipt flows… Read More

August 2, 2026 @ 9:34 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Freehand lands $75M for AI agents Freehand’s AI agents manage supply-chain spend for Fortune 500 enterprises. The round was co-led by Battery Ventures and NewRoad Capital Partners, with participation from former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker’s venture capital PSP Growth, Nexus Venture Partners and others…. Read More

July 31, 2026 @ 10:11 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Klarna/Apple Upgrade Klarna is the leasing provider behind the Apple Upgrade program, a new hardware leasing option available from Apple in the United States. Apple Upgrade offers a new way to pay for eligible iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch. Customers can select from 12-… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 3:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Fintech innovators were busy integrating AI agents into their products and expanding into new markets. Wondergate’s Payment SaaS platform Payment SaaS platform is designed to help payment platforms and merchants rapidly build global acquiring capabilities. It contains Hong Kong MSO and US/Canada MSB licenses. A… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 9:48 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Regulation was on digital assets’ minds this week. They shared their thoughts on the CLARITY and the GENIUS Act and how they compare with the European Union’s MiCA regulation [Markets in Crypto Assets]. Other topics included AI and investing. Markets and investing “Capital is beginning to… Read More

July 25, 2026 @ 9:37 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Ant’s $1.2 Billion Series A The financing supports expansion of its global payments and financial services business and positions the Alibaba-backed fintech unit for a potential future IPO. Participants included Ant Group and Alibaba Group. Parafin’s $300M forward-flow funding agreement Parafin recently surpassed 50,000 funded… Read More

July 24, 2026 @ 4:18 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

  Regulators are coming with questions about financial institutions’ Artificial Intelligence processes that many will struggle to answer, warns QAwerks CEO Konstantin Klyagin. More documented hallucinations, customer complaints of banking doom loops, and the CFPB’s determination that inaccurate Artificial Intelligence chatbot responses may be federal… Read More

July 21, 2026 @ 8:59 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

While fraud continues to evolve (with AI playing its part), Veriff fraud platform lead, Ira Bondar-Mucci, said familiar methods still reign supreme. Veriff’s identity verification platform supports more than 3,000 businesses, including Western Union, Bumble, Blockchain, Stake, Instacart and AWS. Veriff’s 2026 Identity Fraud Report… Read More

July 20, 2026 @ 3:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Brokerage infrastructure provider Alpaca raises $135M Peak XV led the raise with participation from Elefund, Opera Tech Ventures, the venture capital arm of BNP Paribas Group, and Unbound. It follows Alpaca’s $150 million Series D from January, which valued the company at $1.15 billion. Flex… Read More