Banks Structure $63 Billion Anthropic AI Financing, Deepening Exposure to AI Infrastructure

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Bank of America, Citigroup, Daily news, Funding

Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Blackstone have committed $63 billion to finance Broadcom AI computing equipment that will be leased to Anthropic.

The arrangement highlights the growing role of banks and private credit investors in financing AI infrastructure, as demand for computing capacity continues to accelerate.

The deal presents new opportunities for financial institutions while raising concerns about equipment depreciation, uncertain future demand, and broader financial stability risks.

Four major financial institutions have agreed to a $63 billion financing arrangement that will fund the purchase of AI computing infrastructure for Anthropic. Under the agreement Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Blackstone will contribute to a newly formed a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) that will purchase Broadcom AI accelerators and networking equipment and lease them to Anthropic. The transaction is part of an existing Broadcom–Anthropic compute agreement.

The three banks will arrange the primary financing, while Blackstone will provide…

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Lyzr and Ideas2IT Team Up to Boost Enterprise Agentic AI Adoption

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, Lyzr AI

AI-native software engineering company Ideas2IT has forged a strategic partnership with enterprise AI platform Lyzr to jointly build, sell, and deploy enterprise agentic systems for companies throughout North America. Lyzr will provide the enterprise platform for developing, orchestrating, and governing agents, with governance and guardrails built in and informed by implementations with Fortune 500 companies. Ideas2IT will provide experience in bringing agentic systems to production and scale in regulated industries, as well as forward-deployed engineers who work inside client environments to build and operate these systems.

"Enterprise adoption depends on how well agents work within existing systems, processes and controls," Ideas2IT President Murali Vivekanandan said. "This partnership brings our engineering and implementation experience together with Lyzr's platform to address those requirements from development through production."

The partnership comes at a time of growing enterprise interest in AI agents and a transition from experimentation to systems that can actually run inside…

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Zocks Partners with Founders Financial Securities

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Zocks

Zocks, an AI platform for financial services, announced a partnership with independent broker-dealer and RIA firm Founders Financial Securities, LLC.

The partnership will make Zocks' platform, which captures advisor-client conversations and turns them into structured data, part of the TRU Enterprise OS technology stack available to all Founders' Member Partners.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Zocks made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2026 in San Diego.

Privacy-first AI platform for financial services, Zocks, has partnered with Founders Financial Securities, LLC ("Founders"). The partnership with the privately-held independent broker-dealer and RIA firm makes Zocks part of the TRU Enterprise OS technology stack, which is available to all Founders' Member Partners throughout the US. Zocks' technology automates administrative processes such as meeting note-taking and manual data entry during onboarding, giving Founders' advisors the freedom to focus on serving clients and enhancing relationships.

Zocks' platform automatically captures details and context from client…

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Happen Bank’s Mark Elliot on How Better Financial Habits Improve Banking Experiences

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Finovate Awards, Happen Bank, Lending Club

For years, banks have competed for customers by offering attractive interest rates, cash back rewards, and convenient digital experiences. But as consumers gain access to an expanding range of financial services providers, attracting new customers is only part of the challenge. Increasingly, banks must find ways to encourage lasting engagement, build loyalty, and help customers make meaningful progress toward their financial goals.

One approach is to connect everyday banking products with incentives that reward positive financial behaviors. Rather than treating lending, checking, and savings as separate relationships, financial institutions have an opportunity to bring these services together to help customers manage debt, build savings, and strengthen their financial health. The result can be a more valuable banking relationship for both the institution and the customer.

To learn more about this approach, we spoke with Mark Elliot, Chief Customer Officer at Happen Bank, formerly LendingClub Bank. The company, which serves…

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Tech Mahindra Acquires Finastra’s Cash Management Product Suite

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Finastra, Mergers & Acquisitions

Tech Mahindra has acquired Finastra’s Cash Management product suite, including its cash management, virtual accounts, and liquidity management solutions.

Tech Mahindra plans to continue supporting existing customers while investing in the products to expand its banking technology portfolio.

The deal strengthens Tech Mahindra’s position as a banking software provider while allowing Finastra to streamline its portfolio and focus on its core businesses.

India-based consulting services company Tech Mahindra announced it has acquired the Cash Management product suite of financial services software company Finastra.

Under the agreement, Finastra is offloading Fusion Cash Management (FCM), Fusion Virtual Accounts (FVA), and Fusion Liquidity Management (FLM). Specifically, Tech Mahindra has acquired the intellectual property associated with the FCM, FVA and FLM products along with IP and capabilities across CashPlus, Global CashPlus, APIs, payables, receivables, balance and transaction reporting, liquidity management, cash-flow forecasting, and virtual accounts. Tech Mahindra anticipates that adding these capabilities…

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Bankjoy, Fintech Rundown, MasterCard, Temenos

Welcome to the working week! As October draws to a close, fintechs are raising capital, launching new offerings in agentic commerce and digital assets, and partnering with credit unions to help them modernize their operations. Be sure to check back here at Finovate's Fintech Rundown all week long for the latest updates and announcements.

Payments

Tech Mahindra and Mastercard forge strategic partnership to help companies embed secure virtual payment capabilities into their platforms.

Paymentology expands its partnership with South African fintech Mukuru.

Argentina-based payment infrastructure company Rebill raises $5.4 million in pre-Series A funding.

US-based fintech Coast raises $35 million for its payment platform.

Credit unions

Nashville-based TEN Credit Union (18,400 members; $394 million in total assets) chooses Bankjoy as its digital banking platform.

Canadian credit union Vancity (588,000 members; CAD $42.4 billion in total assets) turns to Temenos to modernize its banking.

Agentic commerce

Dispute resolution and chargeback management…

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Coast Raises $35 Million to Serve Trade and Service Businesses

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

Business financial management platform Coast raised $35 million in growth equity funding, bringing its total funding to nearly $226 million.

Coast will use the funding to expand its financial platform for trade and service businesses, invest in AI-powered expense automation and accounts payable tools, and grow its customer base.

Coast's expansion reflects a broader trend among business fintechs, including Gusto and Ramp, to offer more comprehensive financial services and deepen customer relationships.

Business financial management platform Coast raised $35 million in new growth equity funding this week. The investment brings the company's total funding to just under $226 million. The round was led by Thomvest Ventures, with participation from new investors Intuit Ventures, Small World Capital, and Alpha Square Group, as well as existing investors including ICONIQ Growth, Accel, and Insight Partners.

"The physical economy has been underserved by financial software for decades, and Coast is changing that with a…

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Inbenta’s Melissa Solis and Merlin Bise on Why AI Deployments Fail and How to Get Them Right

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2026, Speaker series

As financial institutions race to adopt artificial intelligence, many are discovering that implementing AI is easier than generating meaningful results from it. In 2026, AI is no longer just a playground; organizations are facing growing pressure to demonstrate ROI, maintain regulatory compliance, and manage rising technology costs. How can firms separate successful AI deployments from those that fall short?

At FinovateFall 2026 in New York, Finovate Research Analyst David Penn sat down with Melissa Solis, CEO of Inbenta, and Merlin Bise, the company's CTO, to discuss the challenges financial institutions face when implementing AI. In their conversation, Solis and Bise explain why some organizations are abandoning their AI initiatives, how companies can avoid common deployment mistakes, and why involving employees across IT, compliance, and other departments is essential to success. They also discuss the importance of balancing automation with human expertise and introduce Inbenta's Encore platform.

"It's amazing how…

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Hours After the GENIUS Act is Finalized, SoFi Launches Interest-Bearing Tokenized Deposit

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, SoFi

SoFi has launched SoFi Earn (SOFIE), a bank-issued tokenized deposit that offers consumers 4.40% APY and FDIC insurance eligibility.

Customers can convert SOFIE deposits into SoFiUSD stablecoins at a one-to-one ratio to purchase cryptocurrency or transfer funds over blockchain networks.

The launch comes a day after the OCC finalized rules implementing the GENIUS Act, which restricts stablecoin issuers from paying yield, positioning tokenized deposits as an interest-bearing alternative that could help banks retain deposits.

SoFi has launched SoFi Earn (SOFIE), a bank-issued tokenized deposit for consumers. The new tokenized deposit will allow members to earn interest on their digital dollars while making them ready to use.

SoFi Earn allows customers to hold digital dollars in an interest-bearing, tokenized bank deposit that earns 4.40% APY and is eligible for FDIC insurance. When customers want to use those funds to purchase cryptocurrency or transfer money over a blockchain, they can convert their…

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Checkout.com Expands into In-Person Payments

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Checkout.com is expanding into in-person payments after 14 years of focusing exclusively on online payments, responding to growing merchant demand.

The company is partnering with European payments platform Mollie to combine Mollie's payment terminals and point-of-sale technology with Checkout.com's acquiring infrastructure.

Checkout.com's new hardware-agnostic offering will initially launch in the UK and EEA, followed by the US, with additional markets and capabilities planned for 2027.

Digital payments provider Checkout.com unveiled plans to expand into in-person payments after spending 14 years solely focused on online payments.

The move comes in response to merchant demand and is made possible by a partnership with Mollie, a European payments platform with 350,000 business clients. The partnership combines Mollie's proprietary payment terminals, point-of-sale software, and merchant relationships with Checkout.com's acquiring infrastructure. Under the agreement, Mollie will retain control of its hardware strategy and customer experience while leveraging Checkout.com's processing capabilities to support in-person transactions.

Founded…

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Spotlight Your Technology at FinovateSpring: Apply to Demo Now

By Madeline Clines Posted on
Categories: Finovate Marketing, FinovateSpring 2027

FinovateSpring 2027 takes place in San Diego on May 3 through May 5. Register to attend by November 6 and save up to $600.

FinovateSpring is where the industry comes to see what’s next, and often sees it first. For demo companies, it’s an opportunity to put their technology in front of the people who matter and demonstrate what it can do, who it’s for, and why it matters. In just seven minutes on fintech’s biggest stage, companies can make a lasting impression and open the door to new opportunities.

Demo applications are now open for FinovateSpring 2027!

You’ve built something innovative. Now it’s time to show the industry what it can do.

What could your seven minutes unlock?

Your technology—front and center.
Seven minutes on the main stage to show your product live. No slides. No videos. No pitch deck. Just your technology in action.

A room full…

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Cross River Acquires Accrue to Bring Loyalty to Payments

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions

CRB Group, the parent company of Cross River Bank, has agreed to acquire customer loyalty platform Accrue for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition will integrate Accrue's branded wallet technology into Cross River's banking infrastructure, enabling merchants to offer payments, rewards, stored value, and loyalty capabilities in a single experience.

The deal reflects the growing convergence of payments and loyalty, helping brands deepen customer relationships and keep more financial activity within their own ecosystems.

The parent company of Cross River Bank, CRB Group, has agreed to acquire customer loyalty provider Accrue. While Cross River did not disclose the acquisition amount, the bank did express that the purchase will help it continue to expand its embedded finance offerings.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2021, Accrue powers modern customer loyalty at the payment layer. Its branded wallet platform enables merchants to connect stored value, payments, rewards,…

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