Fintech
Independent fintech coverage from WristPay — wearable payments, fintech, and regulation.
Hidden Currency Costs Haunt Football Transfer Deadline Day
On the final day of the summer market, clubs across Europe rushed to complete deals, but many overlooked a silent expense: foreign‑exchange risk. Laurent Descout, chief executive o…
What Are Bank Statement Business Loans? (2026)
Bank statement business loans allow small business owners to qualify for financing using their bank deposit history instead of traditional tax returns. This alternative lending opt…
Affirm Returns to Australia via Expanded Shopify Partnership
US-based fintech Affirm is re-entering the Australian market through a new partnership with Shopify, launching Shop Pay Installments for local merchants. The buy-now-pay-later serv…
Nasdaq Verafin Partners with Q6 Cyber to Enhance Dark Web Fraud Detection
Nasdaq Verafin announced on August 28, 2026, that it has formed a strategic partnership with Q6 Cyber to integrate dark web monitoring capabilities with its existing consortium tra…
Uganda’s Mobile Money Legacy Shapes Its Digital Future in 2026
Uganda’s fintech revolution began long before the term entered global vocabulary, rooted in the widespread adoption of mobile money services that transformed how millions accessed …
Swift Delays Structured Address Deadline for ISO 20022 Messages
Swift has postponed a November deadline requiring structured postal addresses in ISO 20022 payment messages, responding to industry requests for additional preparation time. The ch…
Chinese Hackers Acquire New RAT via Malware Marketplace for Multi-Campaign Attacks
A financially motivated Chinese-speaking cybercriminal group tracked as TA4922 has begun using a newly acquired remote access Trojan (RAT) framework, according to security research…
Affirm Expands Buy Now Pay Later Into Everyday Purchases
Affirm reported strong growth in its latest quarter, with transaction volume rising 41% as the company pushes deeper into routine consumer spending. Average order value declined sl…
Fraud Prevention Giants Team Up to Hunt Dark Web Thieves
Nasdaq-listed Verafin and Q6 Cyber have formed a strategic partnership to combat cybercriminals operating on the dark web. The collaboration targets financial institutions seeking …
Turning Unused Gift Card Balances Into Revenue
P1: A shopper receives a $50 gift card, spends $30 a month later, and the remaining $20 stays dormant on a misplaced card. This scenario is common, and for retailers it has traditi…
In Profile: James Owusu, CEO and Founder at Kord
James Owusu launched Kord in 2020 as a UK-based fintech focused on simplifying high-value transactions for businesses and individuals. The company operates under Financial Conduct …
Imprint Secures $2 Billion in Debt Funding for Co-Brand Card Expansion
Imprint, a financial technology company specializing in co-branded credit cards and loyalty programs, has secured $2 billion in new debt funding capacity since April since April 20…
Multiplier Secures $6 Million to Streamline Investment Firm Technology
Multiplier has raised $6 million in a seed funding round announced on August 27, 2026, led by Lux Capital. The investment targets the challenge of fragmented software systems and a…
Tonga’s economy relies heavily on cash sent home by overseas workers. This remittance flow acts as the nation's primary financial infrastructure. The Pacific kingdom faces unique challenges in managing this steady stream of foreign currency
Thousands of Tongans live and work in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. They regularly send a portion of their earnings back to family members in the Pacific. These tr…
Avaloq Appoints Nidhi Singh as New Chief Product and Development Officer
Swiss banking software provider Avaloq has named Nidhi Singh as its new Chief Product and Development Officer. The appointment takes effect on September 7. Singh will simultaneousl…
FinovateFall 2026 Announces Winners of Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Program
The Finovate Sustainability & Inclusion Scholarship Program unveiled its 2026 cohort at FinovateFall in New York on August 25. The initiative, now in its fifth year, selected ten f…
MoonPay Expands US Crypto Access With Discover Card Support
MoonPay has officially integrated the Discover Network into its United States crypto onramp platform. This move allows American consumers holding Discover cards to buy and sell dig…
Buy Now Pay Later Schemes May Push Up Retail Prices
Researchers at Olin Business School in St. Louis have identified a hidden cost of popular installment payment options. These buy-now, pay-later services are not just changing how c…
EDGE Markets Launches Round-the-Clock Funding for ProphetX Users
EDGE Markets, a specialist in alternative financial markets, has formed a strategic alliance with ProphetX. This partnership enables traders on the sports exchange platform to depo…
BNY Leads Cross-Border Real-Time Payment Pilot
The Bank of New York Mellon is joining a coalition of global financial institutions to launch an international pilot for real-time payments. This initiative targets cross-border tr…
34 Android Malware Families Target 1,243 Banking Apps
Zimperium’s zLabs team has identified thirty-four distinct Android malware families actively targeting financial services. These threats specifically aimed at 1,243 banking and fin…
Live Oak Bank’s BJ Losch on Why AI Is an Accelerant, Not a Strategy
Live Oak Bank, founded as a niche lender to veterinarians, has expanded into 40 industry verticals without opening a single physical branch. President BJ Losch shared insights on t…
Bahrain Enhances National Digital Payment Infrastructure Through Strategic Partnership
The UAE-based fintech firm FOO and Bahrain’s electronic transaction leader BENEFIT have reached a significant operational milestone. The two companies successfully completed 100 di…
ING Bank Romania Launches Two New Innovations for Mortgage Loans
ING Bank Romania has introduced two new digital services allowing customers to fully repay and discharge mortgage loans directly through its Home’Bank platform. The innovations, la…
DBS Bank to Offer S$3 PayLah! Cashback at Hawkers and Heartland Shops Starting 29 August 2026
DBS Bank will reintroduce its PayLah! cashback promotion, giving customers up to S$3 back for every qualifying transaction at participating hawker stalls and heartland businesses e…
Solving the Agentic Payments Privacy Problem
In July, Cloudflare launched its Monetization Gateway, enabling websites and APIs to charge AI agents directly for access to data and services, marking a major step toward mainstre…
Bluefin and Visa Launch New In‑Person Payment Tool
Bluefin, a digital payments and data‑security firm, announced on August 25, 2026 that it has teamed up with Visa to offer a new card‑present acceptance solution. The partnership co…
Bluefin and Visa Launch Joint Card-Present Payment Solution
Bluefin, a global leader in payment and data security infrastructure for integrated commerce, and Visa, a world leader in digital payments, have partnered to launch a new card-pres…
Demand for Seamless Payments Reshapes Gaming Purchases
A new study reveals that nearly two-thirds of gamers abandon gaming purchases due to frustrating checkout experiences, while a strong majority express interest in unified digital w…
Dukascopy Bank Sees 58% Drop in First‑Half Profit Amid Trading Slump
Dukascopy Bank, headquartered in Geneva, reported a 58.1 % decline in consolidated profit for the six months ending 30 June. The Swiss‑based institution posted a profit of CHF 1.38…
Deepfake Detection Shifts From One-Time Checks to Ongoing Trust Systems
Deepfake detection technology is moving beyond initial user onboarding to become a continuous safeguard across the entire customer lifecycle, according to Biometric Update’s 2026 D…
FinTech Firm Secures $35 Million to Back Startups
FGV Capital, a US-based venture capital firm, has closed its second investment fund at $35 million, exceeding its original target of $25 million. The fund will be used to support e…
Business Credit Card Leaders
Businesses rely on credit cards for daily spending and cash flow. American Express and Bank of America are top issuers. The financial institution behind a credit card plays a cruci…
ShardLab Expands SEA Payments
ShardLab, a FinTech venture studio, has taken a strategic stake in StoreHub. The move aims to develop new payment solutions in Southeast Asia. This joint venture launches on August…
FinTech firm's closed system curbs fraud rates
American Express, the New York‑based card network, reports its fraud rate remains among the lowest in the industry. It attributes this edge to a closed‑loop system that limits data…
Building Block Expands Square Seller Base
Building Block, a fintech company, is expanding its efforts to market local restaurants using its point-of-sale system across Cash App's user base. The company is targeting Square …
Tokenisation Boosts UK Economy
The UK Treasury has formed a taskforce with 54 financial institutions. They aim to develop tokenisation use cases, with the City of London's support. The taskforce, led by the Whol…
Continuous Monitoring of Risk Isn't Enough as Threats Evolve in Real Time
Financial institutions have long relied on scheduled risk assessments, but this approach is no longer sufficient in today's fast-paced environment. For decades, customer due dilige…
Romania's Money Supply Sees Slight Increase in July
Romania's money supply, also known as broad money or M3, increased by 0.7 percent in July compared to the previous month. The National Bank of Romania reported that M3 reached RON …
Legacy Is No Longer Cheap. The Economics of Payments Modernisation
Julian Farley, Sales Director for the UK and EU at BPC, challenges the assumption that legacy payment systems remain cost-effective simply because they are fully depreciated. Speak…
Solomon Islands: When the Bank Branch Is an Island Away
In the Solomon Islands, accessing basic banking services often requires a boat journey across scattered islands in the South Pacific. As of 2026, this geographic reality shapes dai…
Dukascopy Bank Sees Profit Drop 58% in First Half Despite Deposit Growth
Dukascopy Bank reported a 58% decline in consolidated profit for the first six months of the year, falling to CHF 1.38 million (approximately $1.73 million). The drop was announced…
API Keys From 659 Stripe Merchants Leaked Alongside 688,000 Other Records
A data leak has exposed API credentials belonging to 659 merchants using the Stripe payment platform, alongside approximately 35GB of data containing sensitive information. The bre…
Singapore Fintech Company Launches Cash Management Product for Small Businesses
Singapore-based fintech company Chocolate Finance is expanding its services beyond individual savers by introducing a dedicated cash management product for small and medium-sized e…
From Frustration to Fintech Success: How Happy Pot Simplified Group Gifting in Switzerland
A Zurich-based startup called Happy Pot emerged from a simple frustration: collecting money for group gifts remained unnecessarily complicated in Switzerland despite its advanced f…
Philadelphia Bank Collapse Marks Fifth Failure of 2026
Tioga‑Franklin Savings Bank, a community institution founded in 1873, was closed by regulators on August 24, 2026. The bank held roughly $68 million in assets and served primarily …
Starling Bank Unveils AI Assistant for Business Customers
Starling Bank has launched a cutting-edge AI-powered assistant for its business customers. The free in-app tool is designed to reduce administrative tasks and boost productivity fo…
Fifth Third Bank Invests in Cincinnati Payments Startup Payload
P1: Fifth Third Bank has made a strategic investment in Payload, a Cincinnati-based embedded payments platform founded in 2019 by Ryan Rybolt and Ian Halpern. The company, known fo…
Virtual Cards Poised for a Banner Year in Commercial Payments
Virtual cards are gaining momentum in the commercial payments space, driven by factors beyond traditional control and security benefits. This year is expected to see a significant …
Clicx Bank Reopens Digital Lending with Stricter Checks
Clicx Bank has resumed digital lending after a nearly three-week pause, with a renewed focus on applicant screening. The virtual bank reopened applications on August 21, marking a …