March 24, 2025 @ 11:12 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

ClearGrid has launched with $10 million in funding to build “the modern debt collection infrastructure for the digital age.” The funding comes across two rounds, with the pre-seed round co-led by Raed Ventures and Beco Capital. The seed round was co-led by Nuwa Capital and… Read More

March 24, 2025 @ 8:15 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Blockchain industry executives share their thoughts on some issues of the week. High tokenization treasury totals suggest market defensiveness but obscure real-world asset opportunities. “News that tokenized treasuries have hit an all-time high of $4.6 billion, combined with Aave’s decision to abandon new tokens in… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 6:57 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

While the Fed held rates at 4.5% this week, YouHodler’s head of risk, Sergei Gorev, doesn’t expect that to last much longer. Gorev said the decision is neutral for the market as it is within expectations. While the market initially perceived Trump’s assumption of office… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 6:51 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week, Plug and Play announced the lineup for its XDC Network RWA Accelerator program, which launched on March 18. The three-month initiative features tokenization projects and collaborations with industry stakeholders, all with an eye to real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Plug and Play will host… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 3:32 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

A new whitepaper from payment processor Silverflow suggests network tokenization can improve authorization rates by up to 6% while decreasing unnecessary churn. Launched at MPE Berlin 2025, a European merchant payments conference, Exploring the power of network tokenization for the modern payments stack explores how… Read More

March 23, 2025 @ 12:28 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This past week, Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) unveiled their collaboration on an enhanced cloud-based lending managed services offering. Finastra’s Lending Cloud Service (LCS) offers options for its Corporate Lending solutions — Loan IQ, Trade Innovation and… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 9:37 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Canada’s two most popular credit cards, and four of its top 10, are non-bank-branded, results of a study by Money.ca revealed this week. Money.ca surveyed more than 2,000 Canadians. The PC Mastercard is tops with 17.55%. PC stands for President’s Choice, a brand associated with… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 5:43 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Frubana, a B2B online marketplace for the food service industry, has partnered with global nonprofit Accion and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to provide embedded financing solutions to small-scale restaurant owners in Brazil. The partnership seeks to provide access to credit to more than… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 5:22 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

New SMB founders prefer social media marketing, results of a survey by digital marketing platform Constant Contact reveal. Constant Contact surveyed 1,600 small business owners across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada who have operated for five years or less. These businesses are… Read More

March 22, 2025 @ 6:40 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Results of a survey commissioned by Engage People, a loyalty network that enables program members to pay with points directly at checkout, found that 90% of consumers are open to switching brands. This highlights the growing importance of financial-based rewards—such as the ability to Pay… Read More

March 21, 2025 @ 8:21 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The 10th edition of the Worldpay Global Payments Report reveals a global transformation in payments. In one decade, innovation such as digital wallets, buy now pay later (BNPL) and real-time account-to-account (A2A) technology has revolutionized the way consumers pay. This year’s report looks back at a decade… Read More

March 20, 2025 @ 9:14 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Officials at Hostinger predict that many financial services jobs will be made redundant by AI and AI agents within five years. With the artificial intelligence market projected to grow from $184 billion in 2024 to $826.7 billion by 2030, businesses are rapidly adopting these technologies to… Read More

March 20, 2025 @ 8:58 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

According to a new report from fraud prevention platform Ravelin, e-commerce merchants are bracing themselves for a significant rise in AI-powered fraud over the next 12 months. The majority (91%) of retailers, travel companies, digital goods providers, and marketplaces are worried about criminals turning to… Read More

March 18, 2025 @ 4:02 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

This week Abrigo, a provider of software and advisory services for financial institutions, launched Loan Review Assistant. This generative AI-powered solution, available as an add-on to Abrigo’s DiCOM Loan Review, is designed to improve the loan review process with a more accurate approach to credit… Read More

March 18, 2025 @ 9:19 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

  Insurance is one of life’s boring necessities, but bolt is livening it up through technology partnerships and industry expertise. The platform works with hundreds of insurers and businesses across industries and operates in more than 35 markets on four continents. Bolt’s financial services vertical… Read More

March 18, 2025 @ 9:05 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

YouHodler’s chief of markets, Ruslan Lienkha, recently shared his thoughts on cryptocurrency market trends. With BTC’s price cooling off after recent highs, is this a healthy consolidation phase, or does it signal deeper weakness ahead? Based on last year’s trends, Bitcoin’s consolidation phase can last… Read More

March 17, 2025 @ 9:25 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

The Capgemini Research Institute’s World Retail Banking Report 2025, published this week, reveals a critical shortcoming in how retail banks appeal to the demands of digital-native, urban clients between the ages of 18-45. According to the report, while 73% of these credit card customers are motivated primarily by… Read More

March 17, 2025 @ 8:52 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Recent cryptocurrency-related moves from Washington generated mixed reactions from industry insiders. Some moves were more important than the markets may think, while others lacked substance. SPACE ID director of business development Harrison Seletsky said that despite the market’s tepid reaction to the crypto reserve announcement,… Read More

March 15, 2025 @ 3:59 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Concerns about fraud are escalating among Canadians, with a new Equifax Canada survey revealing that 89% believe companies must do more to protect personal data. Seniors and Quebec residents are particularly worried, demanding stronger fraud prevention measures and broader fraud education. Key findings 55% believe… Read More

March 14, 2025 @ 10:38 am By Tony Zerucha  |  

Thredd’s Damien Gough said that in today’s economically challenged environment, many Fintechs seeking growth must expand to new countries. However, with every country having unique characteristics, companies cannot simply cut and paste their playbook from one into another. Thredd helps such firms quickly and successfully… Read More