Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Cash App Debuts 151 Upgrades, Including Stablecoin Support

Cash App Debuts 151 Upgrades, Including Stablecoin Support
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Block’s Cash App rolled out its largest update ever, adding 151 new features spanning banking, bitcoin, payments, and AI-driven automation.
  • The app will soon let Cash App’s 58 million users send and receive stablecoins, automatically converting between fiat and crypto to bypass legacy payment rails.
  • A new Moneybot feature delivers personalized financial insights, while Cash App Green expands banking perks like 3.5% APY savings and fee-free overdrafts.

Block-owned Cash App unveiled its Fall Release this week. The move marks the brand’s most significant product expansion since it was founded in 2013. The new release brings 151 new features across banking, bitcoin, commerce, peer-to-peer payments, and AI and automation on the platform. 

Among the releases, one of the most relevant is the new stablecoin capability. When it goes live early next year, Cash App’s 58 million customers will receive a blockchain address that will allow them to send and receive stablecoins directly on the platform. When users receive stablecoins, they are automatically converted to fiat currency within the app. Conversely, fiat dollars sent out convert back to stablecoins on-chain. Leveraging the blockchain to transfer funds will help Cash App bypass ACH, card networks, and correspondent banking.

Other notable releases among the 151 announced are:

Cash App Green

Arguably the second most significant piece of the new launch is Cash App Green, a flexible banking program that expands banking tools to more than eight million qualifying customers. Cash App is positioning the banking program as a benefits program, and will pay 3.5% APY on savings, offer free overdraft coverage of up to $200, facilitate no-fee cash withdrawals from in-network ATMs, extend higher borrowing limits, offer free overdraft protection, and lend up to $500 without a credit check. Users can unlock these benefits by spending $500 or more with their card or depositing $300 or more in paychecks each month.

Moneybot

This AI-powered feature offers users real-time insight and personalized suggestions within the app. The feedback, which is based on in-app activity, helps customers budget smarter, identify trends, and build financial confidence. 

Expanded access to credit

Cash App’s lending product, Borrow, is now available to eligible customers in 48 states. This expansion targets underserved populations with low credit scores. Cash App disclosed that 70% of Borrow users have credit scores below 580, while repayment rates remain above 97%.

Expanded teen savings and safety features

Cash App’s teen accounts for users 13 to 17 year of age now earn 3.5% APY on their savings balances. Additionally, the company is releasing new parental controls to allow the primary accountholder to set spending caps, limit features, and approve contacts.

Making bitcoin everyday money

In addition to the stablecoin capabilities mentioned above, Cash App customers will be able to spend, send, and hold bitcoin. When users select USD as a currency for Lightning QR Code payments, they can make the payment without spending or holding bitcoin. Additionally, customers can access a new map to find and pay nearby merchants who accept bitcoin. 

Cash App was founded in 2013. At the time, Cash App most directly competed with Braintree’s Venmo. Twelve years on, Cash App still has its roots in peer-to-peer payments, but has since diversified into a more robust digital banking platform that enables users to hold funds, deposit their paychecks, spend their money, invest, manage their bitcoin, and file their taxes.

Today’s announcement, which comes four months after Cash App launched a group payment feature called Pools, is a clear statement that the company is seeking to compete in the challenger banking arena.

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Gusto Taps SymphonyAI to Protect Small Businesses

Gusto Taps SymphonyAI to Protect Small Businesses
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Gusto
  • Gusto is partnering with SymphonyAI to bring enterprise-grade financial crime protection to its 400,000+ small and mid-sized business clients.
  • SymphonyAI’s risk intelligence platform gives Gusto’s clients faster detection, deeper visibility, and fewer false positives across fraud, AML, and sanctions monitoring.
  • The partnership marks Gusto’s evolution beyond payroll, strengthening its risk management capabilities and expanding its role as a full-scale financial operations platform.

Payroll, benefits, and HR management solutions company Gusto is bringing new benefits to its small business customers today. The California-based company is teaming up with SymphonyAI to offer its small business clients another tool to fight financial crime.

SymphonyAI’s financial crime and risk intelligence platform offers financial crime detection, investigation, and reporting capabilities to more than 2,000 enterprise customers across the globe, including 200 of the top financial institutions. The tools give compliance teams a synchronized view of risk across fraud, AML, and sanctions. As a result, organizations benefit from faster investigations, fewer false positives, and greater transparency.

“Small businesses deserve enterprise-grade protection, and SymphonyAI helps us deliver exactly that,” said Gusto’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance and AML/BSA Officer John Wiethorn. “Their platform gives our team deeper visibility and faster insight so we can stay ahead of risk and keep our customers’ operations safe and seamless.”

SymphonyAI’s financial crime platform enables Gusto’s compliance team to analyze massive transaction volumes, identify risks faster, and minimize false positives on its 400,000+ small- and mid-sized business clients.

“Gusto’s implementation shows how vertical AI delivers tangible, immediate impact,” said SymphonyAI President of the Financial Services Division John Edison. “Our platform automates the entire financial crime lifecycle—from detection and investigation to compliance and reporting—unifying processes that have historically been fragmented. This end-to-end automation is transforming how institutions fight financial crime, improving speed, accuracy, and operational efficiency.”

Gusto, originally known as ZenPayroll, was founded in 2011 to provide a cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR management solution. The company’s tools help businesses track time and attendance, onboard new employees, manage existing talent, and more. Earlier this fall, Gusto acquired retirement specialist Guideline.

Adding SymphonyAI’s capabilities to its lineup will strengthen Gusto’s risk management framework and mark another step in its evolution from payroll processor to full-scale financial operations platform.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fintech Rundown

We have two more weeks until the holiday season slowdown, but the fintech news pulse is already beginning to slacken. So far this week, we’re seeing a lot of news in the fraud and compliance spaces, as well as the payments subsector, with Visa and Mastercard reaching a revised $38 billion settlement with merchants. Here is some of the biggest news from this week so far. We’ll continue adding news to this post throughout the week, so stay tuned!

Fraud and security

Agent IQ enhances fraud prevention capabilities with integrated risk-based authentication platform from IDScan.net.

P1FCU strengthens security and member experience with IllumaSHIELD’s Voice Authentication.

Compliance

Solutions By Text launches its first customer with Rich Communication Services (RCS) messaging.

Payments

PayPal brings no-fee Buy Now Pay Later offering to Canada.

Block enables Bitcoin payments for millions of Square sellers.

Visa, Mastercard reach new swipe fee settlement with merchants.

Back Office

Digits automates the monthly close with AI bank reconciliations.

DeFi

Coinbase launches new platform for early access to digital tokens.

Photo by Karola G

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Paystand Acquires Bitwage to Boost Stablecoin Settlement Capabilities

Paystand Acquires Bitwage to Boost Stablecoin Settlement Capabilities
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, PayStand
  • Paystand has acquired Bitwage to create a Global Autonomous Finance Network that combines accounts receivable, accounts payable, FX, and treasury management into one decentralized system.
  • The deal strengthens Paystand’s stablecoin capabilities, enabling instant global payments, on-chain treasury management, and lower transaction costs for businesses operating across borders.
  • As stablecoin adoption surges, today’s deal validates that stablecoins are not speculative assets, but rather reliable, programmable payment instruments.

Cloud-based billing and payment platform Paystand is acquiring blockchain payments company Bitwage this week. The California-based company will leverage Bitwage to build a Global Autonomous Finance Network to offer a decentralized, programmable foreign exchange and treasury engine.

Bitwage was founded in 2014 and has since helped more than 90,000 workers and 4,500 businesses send and receive payments across almost 200 countries. The company facilitates stablecoins, bitcoin, and fiat currencies, linking both sides of the ledger in one programmable platform.

Founded in 2013, Paystand was created to eliminate fees, digitize the cash cycle, and create a self-driving money experience for businesses. The company offers B2B payments and billing capabilities, helping businesses leverage the blockchain to securely record their payment history by certifying and notarizing payments on the blockchain. Over the past few years, Paystand has connected 1+ million businesses and processed billions in volume.

Bringing on Bitwage’s technology will enable Paystand to help businesses scale their stablecoins operations. Specifically, clients will be able to make global payments instantly within Paystand’s accounts receivable (AR)/accounts payable (AP) network, handle treasury management with on-chain settlement, maintain compliance, and lower costs. Notably, the integration will also offer a more connected finance stack that merges AR, AP, payouts, foreign exchange, and treasury in a single, borderless system.

“This is how modern business should move money, from manufacturers in China, to suppliers in Argentina, to developers in Kenya, and everywhere in between,” said Paystand CEO and co-founder Jeremy Almond. “From invoices to payroll, from spending to earning, we’re building a financial system that works like software: 24/7, decentralized, and borderless.”

Paystand selected Bitwage because it has been using the company for years to pay international vendors and contractors in stablecoins. Some employees, including Almond, even received portions of their paycheck and bonuses in Bitcoin.

Logistically, Bitwage employees will join the Paystand team.

The acquisition comes at a time when stablecoin usage and regulation are rising. According to Paystand, the value of stablecoins in circulation has grown by more than 50% since early 2023, while over $7 trillion in stablecoin transactions were processed last year, surpassing even PayPal’s volume. At the same time, new legislation such as the GENIUS Act in the US and MiCA in the EU are offering regulatory clarity.

When mainstream adoption and policy momentum are converging, digital dollars are becoming a core part of global commerce. Paystand’s purchase of Bitwage validates that stablecoins are not speculative assets, but rather reliable, programmable payment instruments that can lower costs, reduce settlement times, and connect businesses and workers across borders in real time.

Photo by Ihsan Adityawarman

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Breaking Through the Verification Barrier: How Middesk Simplifies Risk & Identity

Breaking Through the Verification Barrier: How Middesk Simplifies Risk & Identity
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2025, Middesk, Speaker series

Digital businesses in the modern era span geography, product types, and regulatory regimes, making the process of verifying identities and assessing risk difficult. Today, we’re highlighting a conversation that digs into how platforms can assess risk at scale by embedding identity and risk intelligence into a single workflow.

At FinovateFall earlier this year, I spoke with Kate Young, Marketing Manager at Middesk, a company specializing in identity verification and onboarding automation. During our conversation, Kate discussed identity and onboarding challenges, how platforms distinguish legitimate enterprises from fraudulent ones, and the importance of embedding risk intelligence and KYB tools into the onboarding and lending processes. The interview touches on real-world use cases, ROI metrics, and what it takes to move from spreadsheets to APIs.

“There’s still this… trust gap between all of the businesses and the changes that they make both legitimately and illegitimately and the understanding of those financial institutions of those businesses. So there’s a wide gap between that business identity data and financial institutions being able to trust it…. We can actually bring that [gap] much closer and financial institutions can get much closer to trusting those businesses and saying yes to them more confidently and honestly growing their portfolio with those businesses once they truly trust who they are.”

Founded in 2018, Middesk’s identity and business verification platform provides APIs for verifying B2B customers, reducing fraud risk, and automating underwriting. With features such as entity resolution, beneficial-owner monitoring, and embedded data flows, Middesk enables platforms to streamline onboarding, reduce fraud, and scale reliably by offering up-to-date, verified data about their business users and clients.

Photo by Lisa from Pexels

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Walmart’s OnePay Selects DriveWealth to Power Embedded Investing

Walmart’s OnePay Selects DriveWealth to Power Embedded Investing
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, DriveWealth
  • Walmart’s OnePay digital banking platform is partnering with DriveWealth to launch OnePay Invest, giving users access to stock and ETF trading within their existing app.
  • Since acquiring fintechs Even and ONE, Walmart has built OnePay into a full-service app offering savings, credit-building, BNPL, and now investing.
  • Integrating DriveWealth’s brokerage-as-a-service APIs, OnePay lowers the barrier to entry for first-time investors and strengthens Walmart’s bid to become a one-stop financial hub for everyday consumers.

Digital trading and brokerage company DriveWealth scored a partnership this week with Walmart’s digital banking platform OnePay, which will leverage DriveWealth’s brokerage-as-a-service offering to launch OnePay Invest.

Walmart launched OnePay in January 2021 through a partnership with Ribbit Capital. In January 2022, Walmart expanded OnePay’s capabilities by acquiring two fintech platforms, Even and ONE, which helped Walmart create a more comprehensive financial services app. Since then, Walmart has been actively building up OnePay to compete with top fintech startups by adding features such as a high-yield savings account, credit-building tools, and BNPL capabilities.

DriveWealth will give OnePay users a new way to invest in stocks and ETFs. OnePay Invest will offer users access to trading tools within the same mobile app they already use to save, spend, and borrow.

“OnePay puts everyday money decisions in one place. By embedding DriveWealth’s investing technology directly into that experience, we are giving millions of Americans simple, reliable access to invest where they already save and spend,” said DriveWealth CEO Naureen Hassan. “This partnership moves our shared mission forward: make investing available to anyone, anywhere.”

Many OnePay customers may be new to investing, and embedding DriveWealth’s tools directly into the OnePay app lowers the barrier to entry. By enabling users to explore stock and ETF investing within the same platform they already use to manage savings, spending, and borrowing, OnePay creates a simple on-ramp to wealth building.

The move also helps OnePay differentiate itself from competitors such as Chime and Dave, which both cater to similar underbanked populations but have yet to integrate investing capabilities. In combining everyday money management with access to the markets, OnePay is positioning itself as an all-in-one financial hub for the mass-market consumer.

Today’s partnership isn’t Walmart’s first attempt this month to bolster the capabilities of OnePay. On October 3, the company announced plans to offer crypto trading and custody in its mobile app, allowing users to buy, hold, and trade Bitcoin and Ether. 

DriveWealth was founded in 2012 to allow third parties to enable access to US equities, fixed income, and other asset classes through scalable, compliant solutions via its suite of APIs. Earlier this year, the New York-based company teamed up with Moment Technology to make fixed-income investing more accessible to a broader range of investors.

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Barclays to Acquire Lending Company Best Egg

Barclays to Acquire Lending Company Best Egg
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Barclays, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Barclays’ US consumer banking subsidiary, Barclays Bank Delaware, is acquiring Best Egg for $800 million.
  • Barclays aims to use the purchase to diversify its US consumer business and strengthen its presence in unsecured lending.
  • The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

Barclays‘ US consumer banking subsidiary, Barclays Bank Delaware, unveiled plans this week to expand its US footprint, acquiring personal loan origination company Best Egg. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026 for $800 million.

Best Egg offers a direct-to-consumer personal loan origination platform that specializes in lending to prime borrowers. Since it was founded in 2013, the Delaware-based company has facilitated over $40 billion in personal loans to more than two million customers. By the end of this year, Best Egg will have facilitated more than $7 billion in personal loan originations.

Best Egg currently services approximately $11 billion in personal loans which are funded through structures such as securitization programs and forward flow arrangements provided by a range of alternative asset managers. The company generates fee-based income from its loan origination and servicing activities.

Best Egg CEO Paul Ricci said the acquisition marks a major milestone in the company’s mission to help consumers achieve financial confidence through modern lending products. “At Best Egg, we are driven by a mission to empower people with financial confidence and flexibility through our suite of lending products and financial health tools,” said Ricci. “Joining forces with Barclays marks a pivotal moment in our journey—one that amplifies our ability to reach even more people through innovative lending solutions that truly make a difference. This transaction is a testament to the strength of the incredible business we’ve built over the past 12 years, our talented team, and the trust we’ve earned from our customers. Together with Barclays, we’re excited to accelerate our growth and continue shaping the future of consumer finance in ways that are both meaningful and impactful.”

Barclays’ US Consumer Bank will leverage Best Egg’s digital and risk capabilities to enhance its credit card business that provides unsecured personal lending to customers by partnering with co-brand card partner programs. Buying Best Egg provides the bank an on-ramp into a well-established lending platform with proven underwriting and distribution capabilities. It also signals Barclays’ intent to diversify beyond credit cards and move into unsecured lending.

Barclays Group Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan described the acquisition as a key growth opportunity within the bank’s long-term US strategy. “The deep and sophisticated US consumer finance market offers rich prospects for growth at Barclays,” said Venkatakrishnan. “The transaction will strengthen our US Consumer Bank and offers an exciting opportunity to significantly bolster our capabilities in personal lending.”

Once the acquisition is complete, Barclays plans to leverage this same model while retaining a small portion of Best Egg’s new lending flow on its balance sheet.

Denny Nealon, CEO of Barclays US Consumer Bank, said the move supports the company’s broader goal of diversification and scale in US retail banking. “This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our strategy to grow and diversify our US consumer banking business,” said Nealon. “As a leader in the personal loans market, Best Egg gives us the ability to reach more US consumers through a proven platform that has been successful for over a decade. We look forward to welcoming Best Egg’s customers as well as its talented and experienced management team and colleagues upon closing in 2026.”

Photo by YUSUF ARSLAN

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Thredd Taps LoanPro for New Credit Offering

Thredd Taps LoanPro for New Credit Offering
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, LoanPro

Digital payment solutions company Thredd has teamed up with lending and credit platform LoanPro this week. The UK-based company will leverage LoanPro’s credit platform to underpin its new suite of credit solutions, which will allow it to deliver full-stack embedded issuing and processing capabilities.

Thredd was founded in 2007 and offers real-time card issuing and processing capabilities to help clients personalize and differentiate their credit offerings. Integrating LoanPro’s composable credit infrastructure into its offerings will help Thredd expand further into the credit and lending space, enabling clients to launch and manage credit programs with greater flexibility and speed.

Commenting on the partnership, Thredd CEO Jim McCarthy emphasized the growing importance of credit-led innovation in embedded finance. “Credit-based value propositions drive not only more opportunities for both B2B and B2C verticals, but also generate more revenue for issuers, fintechs, and enterprises,” said McCarthy. “LoanPro’s platform solves much of the inherent complexity in providing truly differentiated credit, allowing us to offer our clients the tools to build sticky, profitable credit products, while maintaining compliance and operational efficiency.”

Founded in 2016, LoanPro has helped 600+ lenders launch 2,000 unique credit programs, upgrading their borrower, agent, and back-office operations. The Utah-based company’s composable architecture, built on a modern lending core, allows lenders to enhance their origination, servicing, payments, and collections operations.

LoanPro Co-Founder and CEO Rhett Roberts said that the partnership combines the strengths of both companies to accelerate how credit products are designed and deployed. “There is a massive opportunity to launch credit products in the U.S. and globally in a way that truly meets consumers and businesses where they are,” Roberts said. “The future of finance is personalized. Thredd brings together the entire ecosystem needed to launch revolving credit products, and with LoanPro’s modern, composable platform, clients can personalize and differentiate their offerings at scale in a way that drives share of wallet. We’re proud to support Thredd’s vision for global credit innovation.”

The partnership highlights how embedded finance providers are converging around full-stack, credit-enabled platforms. As banks, non-banks, and fintechs continue to embed lending and credit capabilities into their platforms, partnerships like this one blur the lines between payment processing, issuing, and credit management. Teaming up with LoanPro will place Thredd at the intersection of modern card issuing and next-generation credit infrastructure.

LoanPro has participated in our developers conference, FinDEVr 2021, and demoed its loan management system at FinovateSpring 2021.

Photo by Monstera Production

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Prove’s New Verified Agent Solution Brings Trust and Verification for Autonomous Agents

Prove’s New Verified Agent Solution Brings Trust and Verification for Autonomous Agents
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • As AI agents begin transacting on behalf of users, traditional payment and identity models fall short of providing the trust these systems require.
  • Prove is introducing its Verified Agent solution that links verified identity, intent, payment credentials, and consent through a cryptographically backed chain of custody for every autonomous transaction.
  • By replacing weak verification methods with multi-factor authentication and cryptographic proof, Prove aims to make agentic commerce safe enough to scale globally.

There has been plenty of hype around agentic commerce this fall, but many of the announcements surrounding agentic shopping and payments have leap-frogged an important issue: agent identity verification.

Digital identity company Prove is helping to solve this issue today with its new launch, the Prove Verified Agent, which aims to provide a trust and verification layer for autonomous agents acting on behalf of consumers and businesses. The new Verified Agent tool works by creating an end-to-end chain of custody that links verified identity, intent, payment credentials, and consent backed by cryptographic proof.

Agentic commerce, which could add more than $1 trillion in annual economic value, is different from the traditional four-party payment model that leverages legacy rails and identity verification. These models were not designed to allow AI agents to act on behalf of users, and agentic commerce can’t scale on traditional identity rails.

Recognizing that agentic commerce depends on verified trust between humans and machines, Prove’s leadership emphasized how identity must sit at the heart of this new ecosystem. “The vision and benefits of agentic commerce cannot be realized without trust,” said Prove CEO Rodger Desai. “Our foundational principle has always been to enable secure transactions by verifying identity and consent without friction. That approach positions Prove to lead in the agentic economy. Our platform is purpose-built for a future where bots act on our behalf, with identity that is native to every transaction and built on frontier identity principles.”

Prove’s Verified Agent offers a new trust framework that is built on the Prove Identity Graph, creating a cryptographically backed “chain of custody” for every autonomous transaction. The system begins by anchoring a verified digital identity to real-world attributes—such as phone numbers, national IDs, and payment credentials—tying each agent’s actions to a legitimate individual or business.

After tying the verified person or entity to an attribute, Prove issues signed digital credentials to authorized agents. These credentials enable agents to transact on behalf of their users, while counterparties can instantly verify their authenticity using cryptographic checks. Every identity and transaction is cross-referenced against a live registry of agent publishers, relying parties, merchants, payment networks, and CDNs to filter out unverified automation. Once verified, agents are authorized to act on behalf of a verified individual or entity, and Prove maintains the link between verified identity, intent, payment credentials, and consent.

To further protect users, Prove’s Verified Agent replaces text-based verification and one-time passwords with multi-factor authentication and session-level authorization limits, reducing phishing attempts and ensuring that each agent operates strictly within a user’s explicit consent. Additionally, every interaction is completely auditable. The interactions among agents, merchants, and users are co-signed by both user and merchant keys to provide cryptographic evidence for dispute resolution, chargeback protection, and regulatory reporting.

By creating this trust, Prove anticipates that it will enable global ecosystems to participate in the agentic economy without fear of identity violations.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fintech Rundown

The final week of October is always a little extra spooky, as it signals that the start of the holiday season is just days away. The week also generally brings an onslaught of company announcements, as organizations rush to publish their latest news before audiences become distracted by the holidays. Here is some of the biggest news from this week so far. We’ll continue adding news to this post throughout the week, so stay tuned!

Payments

Mastercard and Citi bring Citi Flex Pay Installments to more retailers at checkout.

Worldpay unveils AI-powered 3D Secure optimization service to increase payment approvals.

PayQuicker announces Flex, a business-ready stablecoin alternative for global payouts.

Bold.org partners with Wildfire to launch first debit card rewards program for purchases on AI platforms.

PayNearMe enhances PayXM with the rollout of AI-powered Intelligent Virtual Agent (IVA).

Worldpay launches OpenAI agentic commerce protocol.

MassPay processes tens of thousands of monthly identity verifications through Veriff integration.

Interactive Brokers launches the Karta Visa Card.

Southwest Airlines taps SoFi’s Galileo to offer a new way for customers to earn rapid rewards points on everyday purchases.

Venmo and Bilt unveil partnership reinventing rent and mortgage payments nationwide.

Lending

U.S. Bank Avvance launches customized embedded financing offering.

dLocal launches BNPL Fuse, a Buy Now, Pay Later aggregator for emerging markets.

Alogent partners with Vine to accelerate commercial lending workflows.

Ocrolus launches Encore: A cash flow data sharing platform for small business funding.

Investing

Clearwater Analytics and J.P. Morgan Asset Management launch automated cash management solution for hedge funds.

DriveWealth selected by OnePay to power embedded investment platform .

Fraud, security, and compliance

Trulioo reports 1,996% growth in US Know Your Business (KYB) transaction volume since 2023.

ThetaRay and Kaufman Rossin announce AI AML model validation.

iDenfy revamps its RegTech software and launches a new AML Screening solution.

Socure expands RiskOS platform with AI suite of agents and assistants designed to automate and accelerate identity, risk, and compliance decisions.

Daon launches mobile driver’s license support, powered by MATTR’s verifiable credential infrastructure.

Trulioo unveils next-generation identity capabilities to power a complete digital trust life cycle.

Core banking

Belize Bank Group taps Finastra’s Essence to reimagine its core.

Small business banking

BILL launches new AI agents to power touchless transactions.

Digits launches Connect API for open, programmable accounting and faster, integrations.

AI

Incode launches Agentic Identity to verify and secure AI agents.

Photo by Juan Felipe Ramírez

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Modern Treasury Acquires Beam to Bring Stablecoins and Fiat Under a Single API

Modern Treasury Acquires Beam to Bring Stablecoins and Fiat Under a Single API
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Modern Treasury announced its first acquisition, purchasing stablecoin and fiat payments company Beam to expand its real-time money movement capabilities.
  • The deal unifies fiat and stablecoin rails under Modern Treasury’s single API and will support RTP, FedNow, ACH, wires, Push-to-Card, and stablecoin payments while streamlining compliance through built-in KYC, KYB, and AML.
  • By combining Beam’s stablecoin technology with Modern Treasury’s scale, the company is positioning itself as a bridge between traditional and blockchain payments.

Payment operations platform Modern Treasury marked its first acquisition today. The San Francisco-based company announced this week it has purchased payments company Beam for an undisclosed amount.

Modern Treasury plans to use Beam, which offers both stablecoin and fiat payments capabilities for customers like Sling Money, to broaden its own money movement platform to include both traditional and stablecoin settlement rails.

Beam was founded in 2022 and has since processed more than $350 million in payments across the globe that have enabled small and medium-sized businesses to manage their cross-border operations. The company has raised $7 million and is backed by investors including Archetype, Castle Island Ventures, Arca, A*, and Soma.

“Instant payments and stablecoins are the future of money movement,” said Modern Treasury Co-founder and CEO Matt Marcus. “Beam has proven traction delivering real-time payments for stablecoin-native payment flows. Modern Treasury has processed hundreds of billions of dollars on our platform. Together, we’re creating the best infrastructure to move money instantly—without the delays and limitations of banks or card-first payment providers.”

Modern Treasury will support real-time payments via stablecoins, Push-to-Card, and traditional rails like RTP, FedNow, ACH, and wires. The company simplifies the application with its single API that handles compliance elements such as KYC, KYB, and AML, which allows it to replace six months of onboarding and compliance work with just a few API calls.

“Beam was founded on the belief that stablecoins can play a major role in the future of payments, but to make that real, you need scale, regulatory strength, and trusted infrastructure,” said Beam Founder and CEO Dan Mottice. “By joining forces, we’re accelerating that vision. Beam’s stablecoin and fiat orchestration capabilities will be woven directly into Modern Treasury’s platform to unlock instant pay-ins and payouts, FX efficiency, and next-generation liquidity management, all within a trusted enterprise-grade system.”

Mottice, who previously led Visa’s crypto settlement products and Visa Direct Payouts, is joining Modern Treasury as Head of Beam as part of today’s deal.

Modern Treasury’s acquisition of Beam is a great example of how stablecoins are not only becoming mainstream, but they are also becoming a key way for organizations to differentiate themselves in the enterprise payments space.

As stablecoins gain regulatory clarity and businesses demand faster, always-on settlement, Modern Treasury is positioning itself as the connective tissue between fiat and blockchain rails. Because it brings both traditional and stablecoin payments under one API and compliance framework, Modern Treasury sets itself apart in the crowded global money movement space.

Photo by Maximilian Orlowsky

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Splitit’s New Partnership Helps Banks Compete on BNPL

Splitit’s New Partnership Helps Banks Compete on BNPL
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SplitIt
  • Splitit and DXC Technology are partnering to bring AI-powered, card-linked installment payments to banks using DXC’s Hogan core banking platform, enabling personalized BNPL functionality directly from existing cards and accounts.
  • The collaboration will help banks reclaim BNPL market share by eliminating friction while giving institutions the flexibility to originate installment loans on their own books or through Splitit.
  • DXC’s bank clients will be able to embed installment capabilities within their own traditional banking infrastructure, helping them modernize, retain customer relationships, and compete on flexibility and user experience.

Georgia-based BNPL solutions provider Splitit announced it is collaborating with DXC Technology (DXC) to help banks compete on BNPL.

DXC Technology and Splitit have joined forces to bring card-linked installment payments to banks using DXC’s Hogan core banking platform. The integration enables banks to offer personalized, AI-powered installment plans at checkout or post-purchase, both online and in person, using cards and accounts customers already trust.

Hogan supports more than 300 million accounts across 40+ major banks with $5 trillion in deposits. By partnering with Splitit, banks can compete directly with BNPL providers while avoiding the friction of new account openings and serving customers who prefer to pay with debit. The collaboration aims to help banks reclaim market share lost to traditional BNPL players and deliver the flexibility today’s consumers expect.

“For decades, Hogan has been the backbone of the world’s largest banks. This partnership with Splitit shows how that foundation can now be used to create new revenue streams at the point of sale,” said DXC Global Head and General Manager of Financial Services Sandeep Bhanote. “By normalizing installment capabilities across existing accounts, we’re enabling issuers to modernize their offerings without replacing their core—and empowering consumers with flexible payments that use the cards they already trust.”

The benefits of the partnership extend beyond simply providing more payment options for end users. Banks will be able to deploy branded installment offers that appear natively at checkout or within the bank’s online banking portal. Additionally, partnering with Splitit will help DXC offer its bank clients the choice to originate the installments directly on their books or to have Splitit originate the installments.

“BNPL players have disintermediated banks by offering transactional lending at the merchant checkout. This partnership resets the playing field,” said Splitit CEO Nandan Sheth. “Together with DXC, we’re empowering banks to compete head-on with BNPL providers by bringing installments directly into existing bank accounts or issued debit cards. With DXC’s access to over 300 million bank accounts through its core banking platform, our joint technology gives financial institutions a seamless, low-lift way to automatically deliver installment functionality to existing customers. This innovation enables banks to maintain greater control of their customer relationships and attract new younger customers.”

Splitit was founded in 2012, went public in 2019, and went private again in 2023 after it was acquired by Motive Partners. The company seeks to simplify flexible payments, launching a partner program called the Agentic Commerce Partner Program earlier this month. The new initiative will allow autonomous shopping agents to make payments using card-linked installments.

While BNPL has fallen off the list of top trends in the past few years, its use has not dropped. The installment payment solution market is set to grow from $2.23 billion in 2024 to $3.44 billion by 2031, with 72% of merchants saying that they prefer card-linked installments for their simplicity and reach.

By embedding installment functionality into existing cards and core systems, DXC can help banks compete on flexibility without sacrificing customer relationships to third-party fintechs. As BNPL grows, the next wave of BNPL innovation isn’t about new entrants, but about how legacy infrastructure adapts to meet changing consumer expectations.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

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