Socure Acquires BNPL Consumer Credit Database Qlarifi

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Socure
Identity verification, compliance, and risk decisioning platform Socure has acquired Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) consumer credit database, Qlarifi. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition will create a unified, identity, anti-fraud BNPL credit infrastructure to help consumers build credit responsibly. New York-based Socure has been a Finovate alum since 2013. Johnny Ayers is Founder and CEO. Global identity, compliance, and risk decisioning platform Socure has acquired real-time Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) consumer credit database, Qlarifi. The combination will create a unified identity, anti-fraud BNPL credit infrastructure helping consumers build credit responsibly, enabling lenders to confidently offer financing to more qualified customers, while providing transparency and increased consumer protection that regulators increasingly demand. "BNPL has outgrown the legacy systems that were never designed to support their innovative lending products," Socure Founder and CEO Johnny Ayers said. "At the same time, consumers deserve a safe path to build…

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Coinbase, Finastra, Fintech Rundown, Pendo, SoFi, VISA
Welcome to Finovate's final Fintech Rundown of 2025! DeFi and crypto have dominated the fintech news in recent weeks, with some companies in the space launching stablecoins and stablecoin-related services, while others announce expansion into new markets. We will update this post over the next several days to keep you informed on the final big headlines of the year. Investing and wealth management An investor group led by Permira and Warburg Pincus has announced plans to acquire Clearwater Anaytics in a transaction valued at $8.4 billion. DeFi and crypto Coinbase launches Stablecoins-as-a-Service solution, Custom Stablecoins. Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit re-launches in the UK. SoFi launches fully reserved stablecoin. US-based digital currency platform CoinFlip opens its Crypto Center in Mexico City. AI Pendo announces the general availability of its Agent Analytics solution. Insurtech AI-native commercial insurer Nirvana Insurance raises $100 million in Series D funding. Payments Visa and Aldar announce strategic collaboration…

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OnePay Becomes Infrastructure for Agent-Led Commerce

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
OnePay has joined Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), moving the Walmart-owned fintech from traditional payments into providing infrastructure for agent-led, AI-driven commerce. Unlike networks such as Mastercard, PayPal, and American Express that provide payment rails within AP2, OnePay is joining as a credential provider that will define how AI agents store credentials, interpret user intent, select payment instruments, and disclose financing options. By positioning itself upstream of transactions, OnePay is aiming to govern the rules and guardrails of autonomous payments. OnePay, the Walmart-owned digital banking platform, announced yesterday that it is joining Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). The partnership moves OnePay from offering traditional payments to becoming infrastructure for agentic payments. Google launched AP2 in September 2025 to provide an open, standardized framework for digital payments. AP2 connects banks, fintechs, and merchants with its protocol that creates a common language for how AI agents can transact on behalf of users. While OnePay…

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CoinJar, Australia’s Top Cryptocurrency Exchange, is Coming to America

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, CoinJar
Australian digital currency exchange CoinJar announced its expansion to the US. As part of its expansion to the US, the company is unveiling its intelligent, AI-powered assistant, CoinJar AI, for customers in both the US and Australia. CoinJar AI helps users query the platform for portfolio information and market activity data. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, CoinJar won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2015 in London. Asher Tan is CEO. Digital currency exchange CoinJar, which won Best of Show in its debut at FinovateEurope 2015, is coming to the US. As part of its expansion to the US, CoinJar will launch CoinJar AI, an intelligent AI-powered assistant, integrated directly into its exchange platform that helps users access portfolio information and data on market activity. "The US market has reached a point where we can plan and build with greater confidence," CoinJar CEO and…

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How Citi is Thinking About Fintech Funding Trends with Mary Joseph

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Speaker series
As the macroeconomic landscape changes and startup valuations adjust, financial services companies face new questions about where to spend their funds. Both investors and founders find themselves asking questions about what future funding will look like, which fintech niches are the most promising, and how startups can thrive with tighter funding restrictions. At FinovateFall 2025 in New York, Citi’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Investments, Mary Joseph, shared her perspective on these trends with William Mills, CEO of The William Mills Agency. During the conversation, Joseph shared her outlook on current funding dynamics, sector leadership, and what founders should consider as they build resiliency and relevance into their businesses. I think there was a time when companies could raise and raise and raise and spend and spend and spend, and the view was that, you know, at some point in the future, investors would be able to recoup that investment,…

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SoFi Launches SoFiUSD Stablecoin, But Could it Actually be a Tokenized Deposit?

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, SoFi, Thought Leadership
SoFi has launched SoFiUSD, a fully reserved US dollar token issued by SoFi Bank, positioning itself as a stablecoin infrastructure provider for banks, fintechs, and enterprises seeking faster, always-on settlement. Although branded as a stablecoin, SoFiUSD’s cash-only backing and on-demand redemption model place it closer to a tokenized bank deposit. SoFi’s approach aligns more closely with JPMorgan’s JPM Coin than with non-bank stablecoins like KlarnaUSD, underscoring a growing divide between bank-issued tokenized deposits and fintech-issued stablecoins as programmable money adoption grows. Lending and wealth management fintech SoFi is entering the stablecoin market today. The San Francisco-based lending and wealth management company has launched SoFiUSD, a fully reserved US dollar token issued by SoFi Bank. The new tool blurs the line between a traditional stablecoin and a tokenized bank deposit. The distinction between these two terms matters, as banks and fintechs are increasingly taking different approaches to bringing regulated money onto…

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UPSTACK on Empowering Businesses with Strategic Tech Advisory and Innovation

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2025, Interview, Speaker series
Businesses today are confronted with a dizzying array of options when it comes to digital modernization and embracing technological innovation. Decision-making when it comes to technology investment is often slow, and the costs incurred when those investments do not work out as planned can be painfully high. Poor solution choices have resulted in failure rates of up to 75%, according to some estimates, and even those investments that do succeed often come with hefty price tags that can put a drag on revenues. To learn what companies in the financial services space can do to make better technology choices, I caught up with Charlie Day, SVP, Sales and Advisory, at UPSTACK, at FinovateFall 2025 earlier this year. UPSTACK is a technology advisory platform that helps businesses reduce costs, accelerate deployment, and simplify IT decision-making. The company offers vendor-agnostic expertise, with recommendations powered by both AI and UPSTACK's vendor experience, all…

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Tyro Acquires SME Financial Management Platform Thriday

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Tyro
Tyro Payments will acquire Australian financial management platform for SMEs, Thriday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition will expand Tyro's banking and payments capabilities, and accelerate delivery of the company's integrated, cash-flow management solutions. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Tyro made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2017. Australia-based fintech Tyro Payments has agreed to acquire SME financial management platform Thriday. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Tyro said in its statement that the acquisition is part of its strategy to grow its banking and payments capabilities. The transaction will also enable Tyro to accelerate the delivery of integrated, all-in-one cash flow management solutions for its customers. "Combining Thriday's smart automation and financial tools with Tyro's payments and banking capabilities will deliver a more complete and powerful solution for our customers and a platform for further software-driven innovation," Tyro CFO and Acting CEO…

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10x Banking Accelerates Digital Banking Modernization with audax

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: 10x Banking, Alumni News
Finovate Best of Show winner 10x Banking has partnered with audax Financial Technology to accelerate digital banking modernization with banks throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The partnership will help banks modernize their core operations quickly, but incrementally, keeping technology debt low as they pursue new business models such as Banking-as-a-Service and super apps. Founded in 2016, 10x Banking is headquartered in London, UK. Antony Jenkins is Founder, Chair, and CEO, 10x Banking, which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023, has teamed up with audax Financial Technology to bring digital banking modernization to core banking service providers throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. While speed is the headline, deploying systems that are capable of keeping up with the rapid growth of the digital payment and fintech markets is just as important. "This partnership shows banks don't need to choose between speed and resilience;…

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Visa Launches USDC Settlement in the US

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, VISA
Visa has launched USDC stablecoin settlement in the US, enabling issuers and acquirers to settle transactions in Circle’s dollar-denominated stablecoin using blockchain infrastructure. Cross River Bank and Lead Bank are piloting the capability to deliver faster, always-on settlement and improved treasury efficiency while remaining compatible with existing payment rails. The move signals stablecoins’ shift from experimentation to bank-ready infrastructure. Visa unveiled today that it has launched stablecoin settlement in the United States. The payments giant is partnering with Circle's USDC dollar-denominated stablecoin to enable US issuers and acquirers to settle with Visa in USDC. USDC settlement relies on blockchains to offer issuers faster money movement and seven‑day settlement windows that will improve both speed and liquidity, modernized treasury management with automated treasury operations, and interoperability between traditional payment rails and blockchain-based payments. "Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because our banking partners are not only asking about it— they’re preparing to use it,"…

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Coinbase Bridges TradFi, DeFi Gap; Empowers Retail, Institutional Clients

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, Coinbase
As interest in digital assets and decentralized finance grows among both retail and institutional users, offering a platform that caters to both communities is a major point of differentiation for companies in the DeFi space. Further, companies that provide services that bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance will be best positioned to serve those retail and institutional users who increasingly need to efficiently manage both traditional and digital assets. This context helps understand two recent announcements from digital asset platform Coinbase. First, this week, the company announced that it had selected Chainlink CCIP as the exclusive bridging solution for its Coinbase Wrapped Assets. "We chose Chainlink because they are an industry leader for cross-chain connectivity," Coinbase Senior Director, Product Management, Josh Leavitt said. "Their infrastructure provides a reliable means to expand Coinbase Wrapped Asset offerings." A leading oracle platform, Chainlink connects blockchain-based smart contracts with real-world,…

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Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Fintech Rundown
Making headlines this December morning is the launch of Sam Altman's World, a self-proclaimed "super app" that offers crypto payments and encrypted chat functionality. Check out other fintech headlines as they break throughout the week below. We’ll continue to add more announcements as the week progresses. Core banking and digital transformation British Caribbean Bank goes live with Finastra Essence to transform core banking. Capital Bank advances digital transformation with Diebold Nixdorf's multivendor self-service software. Thread raises $30.5 million to continue building the future of embedded banking. Payments YouTube launches option for US creators to receive stablecoin payouts through PayPal. Maxio launches Maxio MCP to accelerate AI-forward finance with governed access to billing and revenue data. Nayax partners with Unipaas to launch integrated card-present payments solution for UK SaaS platforms. AI Arcesium unveils new suite of AI features in Aquata to help institutional investors scale their AI strategies. Crypto Sam Altman's World…

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