Author: Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

Mambu Expands its Payments Hub Beyond Europe into Asia and Latin America

Mambu Expands its Payments Hub Beyond Europe into Asia and Latin America
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mambu
  • Mambu is expanding its payments hub globally, launching in new markets across EMEA, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.
  • The global move comes in response to growing demand from banks and fintechs operating across multiple payment schemes and jurisdictions.
  • Mambu’s API-first payments hub extends the company’s composable core banking offering to help institutions modernize and scale payments alongside lending and deposits.

Cloud banking platform Mambu is expanding its payments hub into new global markets this year, with plans to launch in additional markets in EMEA, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.

Mambu said demand from global banks and fintechs operating across multiple payment schemes and jurisdictions drove this week’s expansion.

Mambu was founded in 2011 and emerged as one of the pioneering players to move banking software to the cloud. The company’s composable banking approach offers a plug-and-play approach to core banking that helps firms shift away from legacy platforms and build to scale.

As payments become a more central part of Mambu’s long-term platform strategy, the company is positioning its payments hub as a natural extension of its core banking business. “For years, Mambu’s core banking platform has long been the engine behind hundreds of the world’s most innovative financial players. Payments are now a cornerstone of our strategy as we help institutions navigate the industry’s growing complexity,” said Mambu VP of EMEA Leon Stevens. “We are poised to help modernize core infrastructure and accelerate innovation across the entire banking stack—from lending and deposits to payments and beyond.”

Launched in 2025 and fueled by the acquisition of payment gateway company and Finovate alum Numeral, Mambu’s payments hub aims to help firms modernize their entire payments stack with an API-first payments hub. With native straight-through processing, orchestration, liquidity, reconciliation, fully-managed connectivity to local and global payment schemes, and composable payment workflows, Mambu’s payments hub facilitates a faster, lower cost approach that can easily be scaled.

From an execution standpoint, Mambu sees growing complexity across global payment ecosystems as a key driver behind the expansion. “Payments are becoming more global and more local, more interconnected and more fragmented, and now move in real-time,” said Mambu VP Payments Edouard Mandon. “This complexity makes scaling payments across multiple markets challenging. To solve this, we have expanded our payments hub to give institutions access to local schemes while maintaining a consistent integration and operational experience. This continues our investment in connectivity at scale, which increasingly includes next-generation rails, to deliver payment solutions truly built for the future.”

Since launching, Mambu’s payments hub processed seven times as many payments in 2025 than what it did in 2024 when it was under the Numeral brand. Also in the nine months since launch, the company added European and global financial institutions, including Western Union, BCB Group, Flowe, and Spendesk.

As payments become increasingly global, the subsector is becoming a strategic battleground for banks as they seek to grow and modernize their technology stacks, especially as payments mix real-time, legacy, and new payment rails across multiple regions. Offering the ability to standardize integration while natively embedding payments into its composable banking platform will ultimately help Mambu’s clients scale faster while limiting complexity.

Mambu plans to continue expanding connectivity to major payment rails worldwide in an effort to help banks support payment schemes through a single platform. The company notes that its geographical expansion marks the next phase of its international growth, especially as it further builds out global core banking and payments infrastructure.

Photo by Marina Leonova

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Experian Finalizes Acquisition of AtData

Experian Finalizes Acquisition of AtData
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Experian has acquired AtData, US data and intelligence company.
  • The deal adds AtData’s more than 10 billion global email addresses to strengthen Experian’s identity and fraud capabilities.
  • Experian expects that integrating AtData’s real-time email intelligence into its broader consumer data and analytics platforms will support its clients’ AI-driven decisioning strategy.

Data analytics and consumer credit reporting company Experian announced a key acquisition today. The Ireland-based firm has acquired US data and intelligence company AtData for an undisclosed amount.

AtData was founded in 1999 as TowerData, then combined with FreshAddress in 2021, and rebranded to AtData a year later. The company offers email address technology that helps thousands of organizations take control of their first-party email data collection to fuel marketing and minimize fraud.

Experian expects the acquisition to expand its existing data and identity assets by adding more than 10 billion email addresses of people across the globe. The company will combine AtData’s real-time data signals with its consumer data, analytics, and decisioning platforms to better allow its clients to identify, authenticate, and engage their customers across multiple channels.

For Experian, the acquisition is about strengthening identity resolution at a time when real-time signals and AI-driven decisioning are becoming table stakes. “Differentiated data and real-time identity signals are the ultimate advantage and increasingly important in the age of AI,” said Experian North America CEO Jeff Softley. “AtData brings deep email intelligence into our platform and further fuels our AI strategy. This isn’t just about adding capabilities; it’s about creating an integrated, durable identity solution that helps our clients deliver better experiences at every stage of the customer journey.”

Beyond expanding Experian’s identity stack, the deal highlights how the company is positioning itself amid an unsettled open banking landscape. As Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act remains tied up in a legal and regulatory debate, and data-sharing standards continue to vary by institution and use case, financial services firms are seeking more resilient ways to identify, authenticate, and engage customers. By expanding its identity stack beyond traditional credit data to include real-time email intelligence, Experian is betting on first-party identity as foundational infrastructure for AI-driven decisioning even as open banking remains in flux.

The acquisition comes 15 years after the two companies first teamed up. For AtData, the deal represents a natural evolution of a long-standing relationship between the two companies. “Our goal has always been to help our customers optimize their first-party email data collection, accelerate their marketing performance, minimize the cost of fraud, and drive their data-oriented business strategies,” said Tom Burke, CEO of AtData. “Experian has consistently set the standard for using data to drive trusted outcomes for businesses and consumers. Joining Experian enables us to combine complementary strengths and deepen the intelligence capabilities that power confident, real-world decisions.”

Founded in 1980 and originally known for its consumer credit reporting, Experian has extensive access to data and has added fraud prevention offerings, identity theft protection, credit building tools, and a loan comparison marketplace. On the commercial side, Experian provides a range of services for small businesses, including business credit reporting, marketing products and services, debt collection tools, and more.

Experian is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker EXPN. The company has a market capitalization of $31.6 billion.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Spreedly Taps Paysafe to Process Card Payments

Spreedly Taps Paysafe to Process Card Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Spreedly
  • Spreedly is partnering with Paysafe to integrate Paysafe’s merchant acquiring capabilities into its global payments orchestration platform.
  • The partnership gives merchants more flexibility by combining Paysafe’s gateway and acquiring tools with Spreedly’s open payments architecture.
  • The move will help modernize payment stacks with a modular approach.

Open payments platform Spreedly is partnering with payments processing fintech Paysafe, integrating Paysafe’s merchant acquirer capabilities into its own global payments orchestration platform.

Paysafe will process credit card and debit card payments for Spreedly’s online merchant clients doing business across Europe, North America, and other geographies. Under the agreement, Paysafe is processing card payments for multiple online trading brokers and financial services companies and plans to onboard additional merchants launching before the end of 2026.

From Paysafe’s perspective, the partnership expands the reach of its gateway technology into Spreedly’s global orchestration layer, particularly among online trading brokers and financial services companies operating across multiple markets. “With the Paysafe Gateway, a trusted solution for card payments among forex and financial trading brokers and a wide range of other industries, we look forward to strengthening Spreedly’s Open Payment Platform and streamlining payments for its merchant users and their customers,” said Paysafe Chief Revenue Officer Rob Gatto.

This integration is meaningful for merchants operating across borders, as payments complexity continues to grow with gateway fragmentation and regulatory changes. Combining Paysafe’s tools into Spreedly’s offering brings a modular, open payments stack that allows merchants to adapt without rebuilding their infrastructure.

Spreedly’s Open Payment Platform is a payment orchestration stack that offers merchants more than 140 gateway connections to more than 40 payment methods. Integrating the Paysafe Gateway allows Spreedly to process online card payments for merchants and their customers.

For Spreedly, adding Paysafe reinforces the company’s broader strategy of giving merchants more choice and flexibility across payment providers and geographies without locking them into a single acquirer or gateway. “At Spreedly, we believe open payments drive better outcomes for merchants. Bringing Paysafe onto our Open Payments Platform expands optionality for our customers and reinforces our mission to provide a flexible, future-ready infrastructure for global commerce,” said Spreedly Partner Strategy Director Michael Rokos.

Founded in 1996, UK-based Paysafe has 30 years of experience providing online payments tools for forex and financial trading brokers, as well as merchants in iGaming, ecommerce, travel, and hospitality. The company connects businesses and consumers across 260 payment types in over 48 currencies around the world. Paysafe processes an annualized volume of $152 billion in transactions and is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PSFE with a market capitalization of $350 million.

Spreedly was founded in 2007 to help merchants build their payments stack on a single platform. The company’s payment orchestration stack processes over $60 billion in gross merchandise value on behalf of more than 400 customers across 100+ countries. Spreedly also offers fraud prevention, payment optimization tools, and more. Among the company’s clients are BMW, CLEAR, HBO Max, Hopper, Lemonade, Getty, Warner, The New York Times, and others.

Photo by Leeloo The First

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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

It’s the last week of February, which means we have one more month to wrap up any Q1 goals. Below, we’ve aggregated the top news in fintech for the week. We’ll continue to add more announcements as the week progresses.

Payments

Flywire appoints Patrick Blanc as Chief Technology Officer.

MoneyHash partners with Wayl to support expansion into Iraq.

Payabli and Huntington Bank partner to bring seamless payments to the digital banking experience.

Worldline unveils One Commerce, powering the next generation of omnichannel retail.

Jaris expands Paysafe partnership to bring instant payouts to US small businesses.

Apple Federal Credit Union partners with Quavo to modernize dispute operations.

Nuvei is selected by MediaMarktSaturn to support online marketplace payments across its European markets.

Alkami’s MANTL partners with MeridianLink to offer integrated Point-of-Sale (POS) solution.

Credit and collections

AKUVO partners with TransUnion to bring advanced scoring data into its collections platform.

Wealth mangement

Vestwell raises $385 million, doubling its valuation from 2023.

april launches AI tax platform for wealth management firms.

TradeStation to launch Capitalize’s streamlined rollover API experience for active traders.

Small business financial mangement

Forest Lawn Memorial Parks achieves complete spend management through Vroozi platform integration.

Wellspring launches treasury management platform for small and mid-sized businesses.

Fraud and identity

Illuma partners with Jovia Financial Credit Union.

TransferMate rolls out Vivox AI’s AI agents as its new Know Your Business (KYB) automation platform.

Stablecoins

Stable Sea and dLocal join forces to power low-cost, B2B cross-border stablecoin payments.

Back office banking technology

Finastra teams up with document transfer platform CargoX to further adoption of digital-at-source electronic trade documentation.

CUltivate, a new CUSO, unveils first foundational AI platform purpose-built for Credit Unions.


Photo by Vincent Jialei

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Successfully Implementing AI in Banking: Insights from Allica Bank CEO Richard Davies

Successfully Implementing AI in Banking: Insights from Allica Bank CEO Richard Davies
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2026, Interview, Sponsored

This article is brought to you in collaboration with Gregory.

AI is rapidly reshaping the competitive landscape in banking, and for many institutions, the real challenge lies not in experimentation, but in implementation. Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, has been focused on exactly that: how to successfully deploy AI across an organization and drive meaningful adoption at scale.

Founded in 2020, Allica is a digital bank focused on established small and medium-sized businesses. To date, it has lent over £3 billion and been twice named by Deloitte as the UK’s fastest growing technology company. In 2025 the Financial Times identified it as the second fastest growing company in Europe.

Richard delivered a fascinating keynote address at FinovateEurope, titled: “Successfully Implementing AI & Scaling Adoption: What Are the Challenges Around Rolling Out to Production?”. Afterwards, we sat down with him to talk about what it really takes to embed AI into a bank’s operating model.

Tell us a little more about your role as CEO of Allica Bank and what you’re focused on at the moment?

Richard Davies: Allica is a fintech bank focused on established small and medium-sized businesses. We typically define that as businesses with five or more employees or at least £500,000 in revenue. So we’re not talking about the very smallest microbusinesses, but those that are at a point where things start to get more complex and there are multiple staff to support.

We find these businesses fall into a gap between the corporate banking divisions and retail banking divisions of the major banks. That’s the space we focus on.

We have been building Allica for five or six years now and provide a full stack of services, including current accounts, cards and all types of lending. Increasingly, we are moving into financial operations areas such as spend management and cash flow forecasting. Alongside that, we have been thinking hard about how we can apply AI to power many elements of what we do across the organisation.

In your keynote, you spoke about successfully implementing AI and scaling adoption. What do you see as the biggest challenges for banks when it comes to rolling AI out in practice?

Davies: I would group it into three main areas:

First, ensuring that AI adoption happens across the whole company, rather than sitting in an innovation lab or small specialist team. A big focus for us has been getting people bought in, upskilled and confident, and encouraging teams to create their own simple, agentic use cases. I am a big believer that bottom-up adoption tends to win over purely top-down mandates.

Second is software engineering and product development. Around a third of our staff are in engineering, and that is probably the area that has seen the greatest progress in AI tooling. We have focused on helping people move towards more T shaped or full stack roles, and ensuring our tech stack is AI enabled to unlock significant productivity gains. Depending on what you measure, we are seeing productivity improvements of two to ten times.

Finally, there are more complex agentic use cases. We have specialized teams working on these, and we have been learning a lot over the past two years about what it takes to get them live in production. It’s exciting because beyond engineering, you start solving real world problems that consume a lot of human time and can be inconsistent when done manually.

A lot of banks are investing in AI at the moment. How should they decide where it makes the most sense to focus first?

Davies: My view is that you should not overly narrow your focus. If you pick two areas, you are neglecting ten others, and those areas will fall behind.

Perhaps I have the luxury of leading a fintech organization that is naturally inclined towards this, but I think AI needs to be embraced across the company. Where you do need focus is on infrastructure, including data quality, enabling access to different AI models and ensuring that is done company wide.

If I had to pick one area with immediate and certain benefit, it would be engineering. The productivity unlock in software development is huge. If teams are still working in traditional ways, they need to move quickly, not just for the company’s benefit, but for their own careers. The industry is shifting rapidly, and people need the skills and experience to keep up.

Beyond the technology itself, what changes do banks need to make internally for AI to really become part of how they operate?

Davies: Culture is a big part of it. People need to lean into it. You need the infrastructure in place, as well as training and upskilling so people feel confident using AI.

At the same time, organizations need to remain risk aware. Different AI use cases carry different risks, and teams need to understand those.

In many ways, it’s similar to previous organizational transformations, such as moving from traditional waterfall practices to agile. The enablers are not conceptually different, but it does require deliberate leadership and a clear view of how you enable the organization to change.

From what you’ve seen at FinovateEurope so far, what themes or conversations around AI in banking have stood out to you the most?

Davies: Some of the most interesting conversations have been happening off stage. Recently, we have seen software company valuations come under pressure following major AI model releases, with the view that people can now build their own software more easily.

At the same time, traditional banks have re-rated quite significantly over the past year. In the UK, share prices are up roughly 80 percent. It creates an interesting dynamic.

Fintech has at times in the past been viewed by investors as a poor relation to software, but in reality, building a fintech is much harder than building a pure software company. You have complex regulatory requirements and balance sheet considerations that software firms do not.

It feels like there may be a shift happening in the relative valuation of where companies with real assets versus asset light software companies. For many fintechs, particularly those with strong fundamentals, that could ultimately be a net positive.

Photo by Google DeepMind

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FinovateEurope 2026 in 1,046 Photos

FinovateEurope 2026 in 1,046 Photos
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2026

FinovateEurope 2026 wrapped up last week, but the fintech conversations are still flowing across social media. The two-day event was packed with meaningful conversations, fast-paced demos, a reunion of familiar faces, and new connections.

And while speakers and attendees were busy talking and learning about all things fintech and banking, Finovate’s photographer was capturing the event in more than 1,000 photos.

The photos are broken down into three categories, and we’ve pulled in a few photos as well as highlights to help summarize FinovateEurope via pictures. If you’re looking for a full content summary, check out our event summary blog post.

The FinovateEurope experience

FinovateEurope 2026 - Experience

Some of the best discussions happen off stage. And with almost a dozen networking sessions baked into the event, there were a lot of valuable ideas exchanged in the hallways and on the networking floor. Heightening this experience were a live caricaturist and, even though fintech has a magic of its own, a magician.

The sessions

FinovateEurope 2026 Session

Between panel discussions, fireside chats, and keynote presentations, the FinovateEurope stage hosted some of the brightest minds in fintech (and I’m not just saying that because I was on stage). We heard from founders on their biggest challenges, venture capitalists on the state of funding as we move into 2026, and bankers on how they actually measure the value of AI pilots.

The demos

FinovateEurope 2026 Demo

The more than 20 companies that demoed their newest technology on stage showcased some of the most cutting edge ideas in fintech. From identity verification to core modernization, banks and fintechs face a lot of challenges. These fintechs took the stage to show their newest technology in under seven minutes.

You can view the entire photo album on Finovate’s Flickr page.

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FinovateEurope 2026: From AI Hype to Operational Reality

FinovateEurope 2026: From AI Hype to Operational Reality
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2026

If you attended FinovateEurope in London last week, you may have noticed that the energy of the event felt different.

In previous years, the conversation leaned heavily toward experimentation. This year, it shifted toward execution. Across the demo stage, panel sessions, and hallway conversations, it was clear that fintech is maturing. And that maturity is reshaping how banks create, partner, and serve customers.

AI moves from experimentation to operationalization

Agentic AI dominated the agenda in a pragmatic way that eschewed hype for reality.

Speakers discussed the importance of governed agentic AI that protect users with guardrails, auditability, and human oversight. Among these protective barriers, trust, explainability, and regulatory alignment were highlighted as central design principles when implementing agentic AI tools. It is clear that the conversation has shifted from “Can AI agents work?” to “How do we deploy them safely inside regulated institutions?”

Fraud and identity also pulsed throughout conversations about AI, as new technologies are evolving these elements from singular checks to continuous behavioral intelligence. The topics of responsible AI and the impact of AI on the future workforce were also front and center, with standing-room-only crowds on the AI stage discussing governance, skill atrophy, and ethical deployment.

As one attendee said, “When it comes to AI, speed may win attention, but trust wins the relationship.”

Customer experience: from product-centric to embedded

In the Analyst All-Stars session, much of the conversation centered on customer-centricity. Banks are moving from product-centric models to embedded, predictive, and contextual financial experiences.

In my panel discussions on embedded and challenger banking, we explored how digital lending is moving closer to the customer as part of the journey. Executing embedded lending is about being present at the moment of need in the correct channel.

Other panel discussions and keynotes offered more insights around improving the customer experience:

  • Customers compare bank journeys to every digital experience they have.
  • Onboarding remains a major friction point.
  • Personalization and channel choice are now expectations.
  • Balancing compliance, risk, and conversion requires smarter orchestration.

Challenger banks continue to influence customer expectations, especially when it comes to how they think about brand and community. Many conversations along these lines considered the benefits of collaboration. In fact, over 70% of fintech product launches now involve strategic partners, and panels on platform banking reinforced that partnerships are structurally necessary to compete.

Payments, tokenization, and agentic commerce

Many of the payments discussions highlighted the fact that instant payments are becoming mainstream, but geography and behavior matter. By increasing the speed of payments, fraud also accelerates. This shift is pushing institutions toward implementing “friendly friction,” with biometrics and AI-powered detection.

While not highlighted quite as much, the topic of agentic commerce was brought up in the payments track. If (or when?) bots become customers, banks must rethink identity verification and value-chain control. With ISO 20022 becoming the common language for blockchain-based value exchange, tokenization and programmable money will become key pieces of infrastructure.

Capital is maturing

Most of the investors on the networking floor and up on stage agreed that fintech funding rebounded globally in 2025. Today, capital efficiency and unit economics have returned to the center of strategy. To keep up, founders are tightening business models and refining their distribution strategies. Additionally, panelists mentioned that community-backed capital structures, which add accountability, are increasingly being used alongside traditional venture funding.

Beyond the stage

The Women in Fintech panel was one of the most popular sessions. The overflowing crowd was a reminder that inclusion plays a role in organizational growth. Geopolitical risk, national security strategy, and regulatory shifts also underscored the fact that financial services innovation does not happen in isolation.

Thanks to all of our speakers who braved the stage to share their insights, and to everyone who attended. You all make up such a great community and we truly could not do this without you all!

We’ll see you in San Diego on May 5 through 7 for FinovateSpring, in New York on September 9 through 11 for FinovateFall, or back in London in 2027.

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Three Fresh Lending Tools that Are Redefining Credit Decisioning

Three Fresh Lending Tools that Are Redefining Credit Decisioning
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2026 Sneak Peek, Intuitech, List series, Mifundo, Sea.dev

As banks digitize their lending processes and seek to expand credit access across borders, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make fast, accurate credit decisions. To mitigate risk, lenders need real-time insights into spending habits, automated functionality, and visibility into a broader set of data, especially as they seek to improve speed, enhance the customer experience, and maintain compliance.

At FinovateEurope 2026, a new group of fintechs will showcase how they are addressing these challenges by bringing intelligence and automation directly into the lending process. From sourcing alternative credit data to deploying AI-driven lending agents, the companies below are helping banks and lenders modernize credit decisioning while keeping risk in check.

FinovateEurope 2026 will take place at London’s InterContinental O2 on February 10 and 11. Tickets are available now. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today and save your spot!

Intuitech

Intuitech brings live AI agents into lending workflows to automate manual, time-consuming processes across origination and servicing. The company helps lenders streamline tasks including data collection, validation, and borrower interactions. This automation helps reduce operational burden while improving speed and consistency.

By embedding AI agents directly into clients’ lending operations, Intuitech enables them to scale their lending activity without requiring additional talent in-house. The automated approach helps bring modern credit delivery to lenders of all sizes.

Mifundo

Mifundo’s technology enables customers to assess cross-border credit risk by sourcing and standardizing credit data from across European markets. The company helps lenders better evaluate borrowers with international financial histories by assess creditworthiness for mobile, expatriate, and cross-border customers. Mifundo enables banks to reach more borrowers, as many are underserved by traditional credit systems and therefore are overlooked.

With remote work becoming more popular and the potential for cross-border lending increasing, firms are realizing that there is a gap in data for European credit markets. Mifundo closes this gap by expanding access to reliable credit information, ultimately helping lenders minimize risk while unlocking new lending opportunities across borders.

Sea.dev

sea.dev provides real-time risk insights designed to help lending teams make better credit decisions across the loan lifecycle. The company’s platform aggregates and analyzes borrower, portfolio, and market-level data to offer lenders clearer visibility into risk exposure, ultimately supporting faster approvals.

sea.dev enables lending teams to continuously monitor risk and adapt decisions as inputs change. The company’s more dynamic, insight-driven approach helps lenders explore more products and serve new borrower segments.

Why banks should care

With more consumer data available than ever before, lenders can now underwrite loans more effectively, especially for customers who were once considered risky or had limited credit histories. This abundance of data also introduces new challenges, including inaccurate, unclean, or cross-border information that can complicate analysis and require specialized expertise. Fortunately, new tools are emerging to help automate data collection, filtering, and validation. These tools have the potential to enable lenders of all sizes to expand their reach and better serve a broader customer base.

Photo by RDNE Stock project

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FinovateEurope 2026 Is Almost Here: What You Need to Know Before You Go

FinovateEurope 2026 Is Almost Here: What You Need to Know Before You Go
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2026

The countdown is on! FinovateEurope 2026 lands in London on February 10 through 11 at the InterContinental O2 in London, and the global fintech community is gearing up for one of the year’s most engaging events.

The two-day conference will feature more than 1,000 senior decision-makers, including bankers, investors, founders, and fintech leaders as they uncover what’s next in fintech and banking. You’ll see over 20 live demos of cutting-edge technology with 100+ expert speakers offering insights that go well beyond buzzwords.

If you already have your ticket (if you don’t, there’s still time to register), here’s how to make the most of your days on-site:

  • Download the ConnectMe app and create your profile to start networking, set your schedule, and view the agenda.
  • The invitation-only Leaders+ and Impact+ sessions begin on February 9 at 6:00 pm.
  • Registration and networking begins at 8:15 am on February 10 and the day concludes with the Best of Show announcement during the evening cocktail reception, which starts at 4:30 pm.
  • Breakfast and networking begins at 8:15 am on February 11 and the day concludes with the Investor All Stars panel, which wraps up at 4:30 pm.
  • Bring your badge each day. You’ll need it for entry!
  • Plan your travel time to the venue, especially if you’re commuting or taking public transport.
  • Dress code? Business casual to business formal. Be comfortable, but ready to make an impression.
  • Need help? Stop by the registration desk or find a Finovate team member for assistance.
  • Follow #FinovateEurope on LinkedIn and Twitter for live updates and key takeaways.

Whether your goal is to track early fintech trends, forge new partnerships, or benchmark your strategy against peers, FinovateEurope delivers. With elite networking, live product insights, and industry-shaping conversations all under one roof, this conference promises to kick off 2026 with fresh ideas and real momentum.

See you in London!

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Varo Raises $123.9 Million to Scale its Lending and Banking Platform

Varo Raises $123.9 Million to Scale its Lending and Banking Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Varo raised $123.9 million in a Series G round led by Warburg Pincus and Coliseum Capital.
  • The bank will use the investment to scale its chartered banking and lending platform.
  • Alice Milligan, former chief marketing officer at Morgan Stanley, and Kevin Watters, former division chief executive officer at JPMorgan, have joined Varo’s Board of Directors.

Digital challenger bank Varo landed $123.9 million in financing this week. The Series G round, which boosts Varo’s total funding to $1.1 billion, was led by existing investor Warburg Pincus and new investor Coliseum Capital Management. Also contributing to today’s investment are existing investors such as Northview.

For new investor Coliseum Capital Management, the appeal lies in Varo’s ability to use its charter to compete with incumbent banks while expanding its product depth. “We are thrilled to join Warburg Pincus as long-term, collaborative partners, and support Varo’s work to expand its customer value proposition and to further differentiate from traditional banks,” said Coliseum Capital Management co-founder and Managing Partner Chris Shackelton. “We believe Varo is building a resilient and scalable platform from which to capitalize on a significant market share opportunity.”

Varo was founded in 2017 and secured a bank charter three years later. The fintech’s banking platform brings digital-first bank tools, from money management to lending, credit building, and savings accounts and tools. Varo offers two lending products, Varo Advance and Varo Line of Credit, which together generated $547 million in volume last year. The bank’s lending tools are powered by the company’s machine learning models that supplement traditional credit data, allowing the bank to lend to non-traditional borrowers.

As part of today’s announcement, Varo disclosed that Alice Milligan, former chief marketing officer at Morgan Stanley, and Kevin Watters, former division chief executive officer at JPMorgan, have joined its Board of Directors.

From a governance and operating perspective, Varo’s board sees the company’s combination of regulated banking discipline and modern technology as a key differentiator in a crowded challenger market. “Varo has built something rare: a technology-first customer experience paired with the governance and risk discipline required of a nationally chartered bank,” said Varo Bank Board of Directors Alice Milligan and Kevin Watters. Watters reports that Varo will use today’s funds to support the company’s next phase of growth by scaling its lending and banking platform.

“This combination of new capital, Coliseum’s partnership, and experienced banking leaders joining our board, is propelling Varo into its next phase of growth,” said Varo Bank CEO Gavin Michael. “We remain focused on operating with discipline and delivering meaningful impact for our customers.”

US-based Varo is one of the few true challenger banks that operate with their own bank charter, a structural advantage that gives it direct control over deposits, lending, customers, and unit economics. But a charter alone does not guarantee scale. Varo is still small when compared to competitors such as Chime, which operates under a sponsor banking model and has tens of millions of users. And while SoFi is Varo’s closest chartered competitor, the gap between the two is widening. SoFi recently reported record Q4 2025 results, including $1 billion in net revenue, $174 million in net income, and one million new members added in a single quarter.

As bank charters increasingly become table stakes in the challenger banking field, Varo will need to focus on scaling by differentiating its offerings and channels to reach new markets, especially as international players like Nubank, which just received regulatory approval to operate in the US, bring their customer-winning strategies to the US.

Photo by Landiva Weber

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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

Welcome to the first week of February! Both FinovateEurope and Valentine’s Day are just around the corner, and there’s lots to love about this week’s fintech news headlines. Below, we’ve aggregated the top news in fintech for the week. We’ll continue to add more announcements as the week progresses.

Payments

Payments platform PPRO and Southern European Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solution provider Scalapay announce partnership.

Verisave launches credit card processing fee optimization program for professional services firms.

NCR Atleos and Heart of England Co-operative extend relationship to enhance financial inclusion.

STAR Financial Bank partners with CorServ to meet demand for enhanced commercial credit cards.

dLocal partners with DHL Express Brazil to automate Pix payments and accelerate parcel release.

Wealth management

UK-based Novum Investment Management secures investment form UK local government pension fund to launch and scale Doris, a new offering to help transition people from saving to investing.

Envestnet appoints Jonathan Linstra as Chief Growth Officer (CGO). 

Arcesium acquires Limina to deliver a unified front-to-back investment platform.

Back office tools

HuLoop and Ceto partner to advance adaptive work optimization for financial institutions.

Embedded lending

Affirm expands buy now pay later network with Expedia.

Digital banking

OnePay names Patrick O’Connell Chief Financial Officer.

Afin Bank introduces new Chief Risk Officer Rebecca Griffin.

DeFi

NymCard enables stablecoin settlement with Visa in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region including countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman.

Credit, data, and analytics

Analytics software firm FICO forges global partnership with technology consulting and digital solutions provider Tech Mahindra to help companies integrate AI-powered decisioning and advanced analytics.

Digital identity and verification

LexisNexis Risk Solutions announces the availability of LexisNexis IDVerse for Insurance, an AI-powered document authentication and identity verification solution.

Photo by Monstera Production

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Payoneer Expands Services in Indonesia and Mexico

Payoneer Expands Services in Indonesia and Mexico
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Payoneer
  • Payoneer is expanding local collection capabilities across Indonesia and in the Mexican Peso.
  • The investments aim to scale infrastructure and capabilities that support Payoneer’s global payments and commerce ambitions.
  • With nearly 2 million customers, Payoneer aims to offer further improved local access and cross-border payment efficiency through 2026.

Global payments company Payoneer made moves to help companies doing business in Indonesia and Mexico this week. The New York-based company expanded its global payment platform in Indonesia and enhanced local collection services in Mexico.

The new capabilities aim to help customers transact and receive funds from local buyers and ecommerce platforms. Payoneer anticipates its platform will facilitate the funds faster and at a lower cost, ultimately helping businesses tap into new, global markets.

In Indonesia, Payoneer will help small businesses collect funds from local businesses. The company aims to offer more control over foreign exchange management while providing increased access to a trade in the largest ecommerce market in Southeast Asia.

For global businesses looking to collect funds in the Mexican Peso, Payoneer has expanded its collection services in that currency. With the expansion, the company is aiming to reduce friction for global sellers who need to collect funds across multiple channels, supporting shifting international demand.

“Global trade is dynamic—reshaping in response to macro factors and trade policy,” said Payoneer SVP of Treasury and Payment Services Derek Green. “For over 20 years, Payoneer has supported and enabled our customers’ global ambitions. By expanding our capabilities in critical markets like Mexico and Indonesia, we continue to empower our customers as they look to expand into fast-growing markets, leveraging our ecommerce marketplace ecosystem to enable access to customer demand on Amazon Mexico, Walmart, Mercado Libre, and Shopee.”

Payoneer was founded in 2005 to help SMBs transact, do business, and grow globally. The company’s global financial stack helps remove barriers and simplify cross-border commerce to make it easier for businesses to connect to the global economy, pay, get paid, manage their funds across multiple currencies, and grow their businesses.

The new capabilities launched this week add to Payoneer’s existing local collection infrastructure across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific.

In today’s announcement, Payoneer disclosed that it plans to expand local collection capabilities in other high-growth markets in Latin America and Asia Pacific later this year to support its almost 2 million customers. 


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