FinovateEurope 2026: AI, Embedded Finance, and Women in Fintech

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2026
The agenda for FinovateEurope 2026 (February 10—11) in London is still taking shape. We've already shared a preview of some of the top themes that the conference will address. Today we're looking at a trio of Executive Briefings that will offer attendees concentrated deep dives on a few key issues and trends in fintech and financial services. This year, women in fintech, integrating AI into financial services, and the embedded finance revolution are the three areas of focus for our FinovateEurope Executive Briefings. Stay tuned for more on our moderators and speakers. For now, check out this advance look at how we're tackling these top issues for 2026. Women in Fintech: How Can We All Make Sure We Are Moving The Needle? Ladies first! Tuesday morning will feature the first of three Executive Briefings at FinovateEurope: our Women in Fintech Briefing. This session, open to all attendees, will examine and…

Read more →

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AMLYZE, FICO, Fintech Rundown, Intuit, Revolut, WorldPay
From AI-enabled commerce to AI-powered voice agents in insurance, companies across the fintech spectrum are busily integrating AI into their operations to boost efficiency, cut costs, and enhance the customer experience. It is a holiday-shortened week, so be sure to check in to Finovate's Fintech Rundown to keep you informed on the latest fintech headlines. Insurtech Eleos Life unveils AI voice agent to provide 24/7 customer support. HawkSoft partners with AI automation company Liberate to leverage the company's Voice AI to enhance sales and service operations. Payments European payment provider Mollie announces payment integration with ChatGPT. Worldpay unveils its Worldpay MCP (Model Context Protocol). Revolut reaches a valuation of $75 billion following a share sale and investment from NVIDIA's venture capital arm, NVentures. TerraPay introduces payments interoperability network, Xend. Australian payments and rewards platform pay.com.au raises $53 million to fuel US expansion. Payments platform Paysafe partners with independent cloud gaming…

Read more →

Finovate Global South Africa: Acquisitions and Licensing Innovation in Banking

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: MasterCard, Napier, PayQuicker, Revolut
This week's edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from South Africa. Lesaka Technologies to Acquire Bank Zero Lesaka Technologies, a fintech that provides low-cost financial services to underbanked South Africans, has secured approval from the Competition Commission to acquire Bank Zero. An app-only bank co-founded by Michael Jordaan in 2018 and publicly launched three years later, Bank Zero today has more than 40,000 funded accounts and deposits of more than $22 million. The financial institution offers personal and business banking solutions to both underbanked and tech-first customers. Initially announced in July, the acquisition is valued at $60 million. The transaction consists of a combination of newly issued shares in Lesaka and up to $5 million in cash. Post-transaction, Jordaan will remain as Bank Zero's chairman, and co-founder Yatin Narsai will continue to serve as CEO. Bank Zero's entire management team will also remain in place. Lesaka anticipates…

Read more →

Modernizing Financial Systems with Casey Ferguson of Zoot Enterprises

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Speaker series, Streamly
How can financial institutions determine the correct digital modernization strategy that will help them achieve their goals while respecting the role of legacy technologies? Can organizations effectively modernize their operations, leveraging enabling technologies like AI, without risking the potential disruptions that change—even positive change—can bring? This year at FinovateFall 2025, I caught up with Casey Ferguson, VP of Marketing at Zoot Enterprises to discuss the company's phased approach to modernizing financial systems and integrating legacy technologies. Ferguson explains how effective transformations should embrace incremental progress, cross-functional collaboration, and layered fraud defenses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RoWonBM9_w&list=PLdscmqhRMVY1_jBkf_ILNDfSmPK37Sb55&index=11 At Zoot we look at modernization this way: it's not about tearing everything down. When you look at this kind of 'rip and replace' mentality, you have to remember it can be pretty risky. It can be very expensive and it can be slow, as well. When you think about the pace of change, architecting the perfect environment,…

Read more →

Superannuation Fund Brighter Super Selects Napier AI to Upgrade Compliance Infrastructure

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Napier
Superannuation fund Brighter Super is upgrading its compliance infrastructure courtesy of a partnership with Napier AI. Migrating to Napier AI's Continuum platform enables Brighter Super to benefit from Kubernetes-based scalability and intuitive rule-testing capabilities, helping compliance teams adapt to changing regulations. Headquartered in London, Napier AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2018. One of the largest superannuation funds in Queensland, Australia, Brighter Super, has partnered with financial crime prevention platform Napier AI. The fund will leverage Napier AI's Continuum solution to improve scalability, increase regulatory preparedness, and boost operational efficiency. "Brighter Super is an excellent example of how a forward-looking institution can use technology to drive compliance transformation," Napier AI CEO Greg Watson said. "By adopting Napier AI Continuum, Brighter Super has built a scalable, future-ready compliance operation that not only meets today's regulatory expectations, but also positions them for continued growth." Based in Queensland, Australia, Brighter Super migrated…

Read more →

From Process Automation to Industry Reimagination

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Sponsored
This is a sponsored blog post from Capgemini, a financial services consulting and technology firm. Unlock large-scale growth with cloud-powered AI agents Cloud and AI agents boost efficiency and personalization, but adoption remains nascent. Cloud-powered AI agents unlock value by automating tasks and enabling real-time, personalized CX. To maximize impact, financial institutions must redesign processes and align cloud-AI strategies with compliance. AI is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of almost every industry. Today, it’s everywhere – discussed, adopted, and integrated across sectors. Now, we’re entering the era of agentic AI. Here’s what it means for financial services.  According to Capgemini’s latest World Cloud Report – Financial Services 2026, 87% of financial institutions have implemented some form of AI, but only 10% are using AI agents at scale. This gap represents a major opportunity for banks, insurers, and market operators to move beyond basic automation and embrace the AI-driven revolution.  Meanwhile, cloud platforms have evolved from simple infrastructure providers into powerful innovation engines. Today, they enable AI-driven transformation across the…

Read more →

ebankIT and Alogent Forge Digital Banking and Payments Partnership

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, ebankIT
Digital banking solutions provider ebankIT has forged a strategic partnership with banking and financial services software company Alogent. The partnership integrates ebanktIT's omnichannel digital banking platform with Alogent's advanced remote deposit capture (RDC) and item processing technologies. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Porto, Portugal, ebankIT won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2015. Digital banking solutions provider for community financial institutions (CFIs), ebankIT, has announced a strategic partnership with banking and financial services software firm Alogent. The partnership integrates ebankIT's omnichannel digital banking platform with Alogent's advanced remote deposit capture (RDC) and item processing technologies. This will create a unified experience that enables financial institutions to accelerate digital transformations, boost security, and enhance customer journeys. "Our partnership with ebankIT delivers secure, seamless experiences that build trust and keep users engaged across every channel, helping financial institutions modernize faster and smarter," Alogent VP of Business Development Chris…

Read more →

Union Coop Chooses MoEngage as Customer Data and Engagement Partner

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni profile, MoEngage
Insights-led customer engagement platform MoEngage helps marketers and product owners leverage AI-powered automation and optimization to enable hyper-personalization at scale. Effective across multiple channels including mobile and web push, email, SMS, on-site and in-app messaging, cards, and more, MoEngage empowers brands to analyze customer behavior and engage consumers through highly personalized communication. This is what UAE-based Union Coop sought when it selected the San Francisco, California-based company as its customer data and engagement partner this week. "Union Coop's success is rooted in how we cater to our loyal member base," Union Coop Chief Marketing Officer Sanjay Patney said. "To deliver on this promise and as we enhance our app-based Tamayaz loyalty program, we needed to move to a complete, all-in-one solution. We chose MoEngage for its powerful ability to unify our members' data and orchestrate the beautifully designed, highly personalized campaigns our members deserve. This partnership is a key step…

Read more →

Kyriba Powers New Cash Forecasting Tool for U.S. Bank

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, US Bank
U.S. Bank partnered with Kyriba to launch Liquidity Manager, an AI-powered cash forecasting and liquidity management tool for commercial clients. The solution offers real-time visibility, scenario planning, reconciliation, and multi-bank reporting, helping firms automate workflows and reduce operational risk. The move signals U.S. Bank’s push into tech-forward treasury capabilities, positioning it to compete with modern finance platforms like Ramp. U.S. Bank has teamed up with treasury solutions company Kyriba to launch a cash forecasting tool to offer businesses visibility and control over their cash and liquidity positions. The new tool, Liquidity Manager, is powered by Kyriba's liquidity performance platform. Leveraging Kyriba, U.S. Bank will deliver cash forecasting, scenario planning, and operational efficiencies to its mid- to large-scale commercial clients. Kyriba's SaaS solutions empower CFOs, treasurers, and IT leaders to connect, protect, forecast, and optimize their liquidity. Founded in 2000, the company aims to help companies and banks improve their financial performance and increase operational…

Read more →

FreeAgent and Pleo Team Up to Help Small Businesses Manage Expenses, Cash Flow

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, FreeAgent
Accounting software provider FreeAgent has partnered with spend management platform Pleo. The partnership makes Pleo FreeAgent's preferred expense management partner, enabling seamless, automated syncing of data from Pleo into FreeAgent. Headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland, FreeAgent made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. A new partnership between accounting software provider FreeAgent and spend management platform Pleo will help small businesses in the UK better manage both day-to-day expenses as well as cash flow. As part of the alliance, Pleo will now serve as FreeAgent’s preferred expense management partner. This will enable seamless syncing of expenses, card transactions, receipts, and attachments—as well as categories and VAT—from Pleo into FreeAgent. Automated syncing removes the reliance on error-prone and cumbersome manual entry, makes it easier for employees to complete their expense reporting responsibilities, and provides for more accurate, up-to-date bookkeeping for small businesses. “We know how frustrating and time-consuming it can be for…

Read more →

Agentic AI Compliance Specialist Kodex AI Announces Acquisition by Regtech CUBE

By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Kodex AI, Mergers & Acquisitions
Automated regulatory intelligence company CUBE has agreed to acquire agentic AI compliance specialist Kodex AI. Terms of the acquisition were not immediately available. The acquisition will enable CUBE to leverage Kodex AI's agentic AI technology to offer "co-worker functionality" for compliance teams to help them keep up with ever-evolving regulations. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany and founded in 2022, Kodex AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024 in London. Agentic AI compliance specialist Kodex AI has agreed to be acquired by automated regulatory intelligence company CUBE. Calling the agreement "more than an acquisition," Kodex AI framed the deal as the "beginning of a new era for regulatory technology" in a statement on the company's website. The acquisition combines CUBE's regulatory data and risk capabilities with Kodex AI's agentic AI technology to offer an AI that is more co-worker than tool to assist compliance teams as they seek to implement ever-evolving…

Read more →

Ramp Valued at $32 Billion After $300 Million Financing Round 

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
Ramp raised $300 million at a $32 billion valuation, bringing its total funding raised to $2.3 billion. The company surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue, doubled customers year-over-year, and is scaling AI-driven automation across its platform. Ramp is evolving from a corporate card provider into a more holistic finance operations engine, which raises the bar for value creation in corporate spend management. Corporate card and expense management platform Ramp is unveiling an updated valuation this week after a new funding round. The New York-based company closed $300 million in funding, boosting its valuation to $32 billion and bringing its total raised to $2.3 billion in equity. The investment was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with continued support from existing investors Founders Fund, D1 Capital Partners, Coatue, GIC, Avenir Growth, Thrive Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Khosla Ventures, ICONIQ, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Soma Capital, Emerson Collective, 8VC, Lux…

Read more →