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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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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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Nubank Lands US Regulatory Approval

Nubank Lands US Regulatory Approval
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Nubank
  • Nubank has received conditional approval from the US OCC to form a national bank, marking a major regulatory milestone as it begins the setup phase for entering the US market.
  • Unlike past challenger bank attempts, Nubank enters the US from a position of strength, with more than 127 million customers, strong engagement, and $783 million in quarterly net income.
  • Regulators require Nubank to fully fund the bank within 12 months and begin operations within 18 months.

Brazil-based digital bank Nubank (also known as Nu) just achieved a long-standing goal. The fintech received conditional approval from the US OCC for the formation of a de novo national bank, Nubank, N.A.

Announcing the approval, Nu Founder and CEO David Vélez framed the move as a strategic validation of the company’s long-held belief in digital-first banking. “This approval isn’t just an expansion of our operation; it’s an opportunity to prove our thesis that a digital-first, customer-centric model is the future of financial services globally,” said Vélez. “While we remain fully focused on our core markets in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, this step allows us to build the next generation of banking in the United States.”

The conditional approval, granted about four months after Nu initially submitted its application, places the company in the early setup stage of forming a US national bank. During this period, Nu must meet a series of requirements set by the OCC and secure additional approvals from the FDIC and the Federal Reserve. Regulators also require the company to fully fund the bank within 12 months and begin operations within 18 months.

After Nu receives full regulatory approval for a national bank charter, it will operate under a comprehensive federal framework that allows it to launch deposit accounts, credit cards, lending, and digital asset custody. Nu plans to establish strategic hubs in Miami, San Francisco, Northern Virginia, and the North Carolina Research Triangle.

Cristina Junqueira, Nu’s co-founder and CEO of its emerging US business, highlighted the regulatory milestone as a step toward establishing credibility and competitiveness in a crowded market. “Receiving federal approval for a national bank charter is a significant step in our journey to becoming a solid, compliant, and competitive regulated institution in the US,” said Junqueira. “We look forward to delivering the transparent, efficient financial experiences already trusted by more than 127 million customers around the world to our future customers in the US.”

Founded in 2013, Nu has operated in its home country of Brazil as a fully regulated financial institution since 2016 and announced that it plans to obtain its full banking license this year. The fintech also operates in Colombia and has an expansion plan in Mexico, where it is waiting on approval from the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores to organize as a banking institution.

While international expansion efforts have been slow, the company’s customer acquisition growth has not. With more than 127 million customers, Nu is known throughout fintech for its high customer engagement level, reaching an activity rate exceeding 83%. In the third quarter of last year, the fintech reached a record revenue of $4.2 billion, which represents a 39% year-over-year growth.

It’s important to note that Nu’s entrance into the US market will likely succeed where other challenger banks have failed. Monzo, N26, and Bunq have all tried and failed to secure a US license from the OCC, while Revolut still does not have a US banking license, either. The difference is that Nu is massively profitable with relatively low customer costs. The company reported $783 million in net income in the last quarter alone.

For Nu, which caters to a largely Hispanic customer base, the US is full of opportunity. There are more than 65 million Hispanics living in the US, many of whom are left out of traditional banks in the US due to high fees, limited access to credit, and legacy onboarding models that fail to reflect their financial realities. Nu’s success in Latin America has been built on designing for inclusion at scale. The fintech boasts transparent pricing, an intuitive digital experience, and unique underwriting. Bringing this successful model to the US while navigating one of the world’s most demanding regulatory environments, would be a huge win for Nu, and perhaps could serve as a model for other overseas challengers seeking to launch in the US.

Photo by Steppe Walker

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Dotfile Teams Up with Bastion to Boost Risk Management for Stablecoin Programs

Dotfile Teams Up with Bastion to Boost Risk Management for Stablecoin Programs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Dotfile
  • AML compliance platform Dotfile has teamed up with stablecoin issuance platform Bastion to provide onboarding and risk management for stablecoin programs.
  • The partnership will deliver comprehensive verification, AI-powered compliance screening, and the ability to adapt to local jurisdictions and multiple regulatory regimes.
  • Headquartered in Paris, France and founded in 2021, Dotfile made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024 in London.

AI-powered AML compliance platform Dotfile has forged a partnership with Bastion to provide onboarding and risk management for enterprise-grade stablecoin programs. Bastion, which powers secure and compliant stablecoin issuance, wallets, on/off ramps, cards, and yield products for financial institutions, will benefit from a comprehensive verification platform with AI-powered compliance and the ability to adapt to multiple regulatory contexts.

“Bastion’s enterprise focus demands flexible, auditable onboarding that scales,” Dotfile Founder and CEO, Vasco Alexandre, said. “Together, we’re enabling a compliant path from treasury to consumer rollouts.”

As stablecoins are maturing into enterprise-grade financial instruments, a greater range of companies and brands are exploring ways to use their own branded stablecoins for operations such as treasury management and consumer payments. In order for them to do so safely and compliantly, these firms will need modern KYC capabilities to ensure an engaging user experience as well as meet regulatory requirements. The partnership between Dotfile and Bastion will deliver an all-in-one solution for the safe and secure onboarding of institutions (KYB) as well as individuals (KYC). The platform leverages AI to automate sanctions and PEP screening, document verifications, and risk assessments. It also ensures compliance with local regulatory requirements with bank-level due diligence across jurisdictions.

“Bastion has been hyper-focused on compliance and ensuring we operate under the highest level of regulation as we work to bring stablecoin implementation to life for some of the world’s largest enterprises,” Bastion Chief Risk & Compliance Officer Rohan Kohli said. “Partners like Dotfile help us meet those standards in a scalable and efficient way.”

Bastion builds regulated stablecoin infrastructure for modern money movement. Businesses around the world leverage Bastion’s technology to issue, orchestrate, convert, transfer, and scale white-label stablecoins. Founded in 2023, Bastion recently announced a partnership with Sony Bank to power the Japanese financial institution’s stablecoin program infrastructure. Nassim Eddequiouaq is Bastion’s co-founder and CEO.

Headquartered in Paris, France, Dotfile was founded in 2021. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2024, demonstrating how its platform enables businesses to streamline verification and onboarding, automatically evaluate risk profiles, and manage risk in real-time. Dotfile’s technology increases productivity, reduces operational costs, and accelerates customer onboarding processes.

Photo by Clément Dellandrea on Unsplash

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ThetaRay Launches Ray, An Agentic AI Investigation Suite 

ThetaRay Launches Ray, An Agentic AI Investigation Suite 
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, ThetaRay
  • ThetaRay has launched Ray, an Agentic AI investigation suite designed to help banks automate and standardize transaction monitoring investigations amid rising alert volumes and regulatory scrutiny.
  • The platform targets growing regulatory demands from frameworks such as the EU’s AMLR and FinCEN’s AML/CFT directives by delivering faster, more consistent, and audit-ready investigations with traceable, explainable AI.
  • Ray helps firms create compliance-critical workflows and scale AML operations without relying on manual processes or increasing headcount.

Financial crime detection company ThetaRay has launched a new set of tools to help firms keep up with evolving regulations in the face of advanced fraud. Called Ray, the new Agentic AI investigation suite aims to help banks conduct transaction monitoring investigations.

Ray is embedded into ThetaRay’s Investigation Center, an Agentic investigation suite designed for banks, fintechs, and payments platforms balancing high alert volumes with rising regulatory demands. Ray combines autonomous investigations with on-demand analyst support. The fintech anticipates Ray will ultimately help banks reduce the time it takes to resolve cases and create more consistency in investigations that span internal teams and jurisdictions. ThetaRay created Ray to autonomously handle the full investigation by validating the geolocation, analyzing patterns, and scanning adverse media to prepare a structured, audit-ready case-file document.

The launch is strategic and comes at a time when regulators across the globe are raising their expectations for investigative quality and documentation. The EU’s new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) and AML Authority framework require stronger due diligence, more rigorous monitoring and record-keeping, and consistent compliance controls across jurisdictions. In the US, FinCEN’s AML and Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT) directives require transparent, evidence-based investigations and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) narratives.

“This is an incredibly important moment for us and for the industry,” said ThetaRay CEO Brad Levy. “I couldn’t be more energized by the opportunity to tackle one of the biggest challenges in financial crime compliance. Our mission is simple: to help make global markets more modern and secure for all. The future will be shaped by people who care and by megatechs and specialized fintechs working closely together to raise the bar for transparency, accountability, and lasting trust.”

However, as regulators require higher investigative quality, documentation, and more defensible decisions, alert volumes continue to rise and place a strain on investigation teams, requiring manual data gathering.

“Financial institutions are moving beyond experimentation toward real, production-grade use of Agentic AI in compliance-critical environments,” said Microsoft Global Head of AI Strategy and GTM for Payments and Banking Tyler Pichach. “Platforms like Ray demonstrate how Agentic AI, when deployed on a secure and governed cloud like Microsoft Azure, can help banks modernize complex investigation workflows while meeting regulatory expectations for transparency, control, and trust.”

With Ray, firms can prepare for this increased strain by using it to automate evidence collection, behavioral and counterparty analysis, open-source checks, and document review and narrative generation. Built and deployed on Microsoft Azure, Ray offers an on-demand AI assistant that supports questions from analysts and deeper exploration.

“Manual investigations inevitably vary from analyst to analyst. Ray introduces a consistent reasoning framework across the entire operation, reducing subjectivity, and ensuring that each case, no matter who handles it, stands up to scrutiny,” said ThetaRay Regulatory Affairs Manager David Shapiro. “Most importantly, Ray was built so that every decision is traceable back to evidence. In a regulatory environment that demands transparency, AI explainability is the foundation.”

As regulators require more defensible, consistent, and transparent investigations, financial institutions are under pressure to modernize workflows that rely on manual analysis and fragmented tools. By embedding Agentic AI directly into the investigation process, ThetaRay is positioning Ray amid the next generation of AML operations in which regulators require speed, consistency, and explainability.

Founded in 2013, ThetaRay offers transaction monitoring, transaction and customer screening, and customer risk assessment suites to help firms fight financial crime. The Israel-based company helps its 100+ institutional clients leverage AI to monitor 15 billion transactions valued at $20 trillion on an annual basis.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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Stablecoin Rails Company Kast Pays Stablecoin Yield with Gauntlet’s Vault

Stablecoin Rails Company Kast Pays Stablecoin Yield with Gauntlet’s Vault
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Kast has launched Kast Earn, a yield-bearing cash management feature that uses Gauntlet’s institutional-grade DeFi vaults to generate variable APY (currently 4%–9%) on user deposits.
  • User funds are deployed via onchain lending strategies and actively managed using quantitative risk models, with earnings accruing continuously and remaining liquid through Kast’s spending account.
  • The move positions Kast in direct competition with banks and money market funds.

Stablecoin-based challenger bank Kast is making its stablecoin banking platform more enticing this week. The company is launching Kast Earn, a tool that allows accountholders to earn yield on funds in their account.

Powered by Gauntlet, Kast Earn will employ users’ deposits for onchain lending, allowing users to earn yield on fiat funds in their account. Founded in 2018, Gauntlet offers an automated risk platform with institutional-grade vaults that enable decentralized finance to provide risk-adjusted yields at scale. Kast said it partnered with Gauntlet because of its experience building quantitative decentralized finance strategies.

When a user deposits US dollars, their funds go into the Gauntlet USD Alpha vault, which is designed to generate sustainable yield by prioritizing long-term, risk-adjusted returns and proactively adapting as markets change. This vault has $73.8 million in total value locked, or TVL (roughly equivalent to assets under management).

Once a user deposits funds, their capital is distributed across a diversified set of established digital lending markets and actively managed using quantitative risk and performance models developed by Gauntlet. The yield compounds continuously through Vault Share tokens, and the users’ earnings are reflected in the rising value of their shares. Accountholders can cash in on their shares at any time by transferring funds back to their KAST spending account. While the rate of return is variable, the vault currently offers a variable APY between 4% and 9%.

Founded in 2024, Kast bridges traditional finance and decentralized finance by offering a digital money app where users can deposit cash, USDC/T, and crypto. It also allows users to spend their crypto like cash with its Solana payment cards that are accepted at more than 150 million merchants and ATMs and in over 160 countries.

In 2025, Kast evolved from a simple solution to spend stablecoins into a full-fledged global money app. Last year alone, the company launched MOVE cashback, KAST Convert, USD virtual accounts, global bank transfers, and KAST Tags to add more bank-like functionality.

By offering yield-bearing cash management, Kast is placing itself in competition with banks and money market funds. By embedding onchain lending and quantitative risk management directly into a consumer-facing banking app, Kast is testing whether DeFi-based yield products can be delivered with the simplicity, liquidity, and trust. If users are able to trust Kast’s offerings as much as those from their traditional financial institutions, offerings like Kast Earn could change how both challenger banks and incumbents think about generating returns on customer balances in a stablecoin-driven financial system.

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PayPal Acquires Cymbio for Agentic Commerce Capabilities

PayPal Acquires Cymbio for Agentic Commerce Capabilities
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions, PayPal
  • PayPal has acquired Cymbio to accelerate its push into agentic commerce, adding marketplace and drop-ship automation capabilities that help merchants sell across AI-driven channels like Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity.
  • The deal builds on an existing partnership between the two players, which first teamed up in October 2025.
  • The acquisition reinforces PayPal’s broader ambitions in agentic commerce.

PayPal just acquired drop-ship and marketplace automation platform Cymbio for an undisclosed amount. The move fits with PayPal’s push into agentic commerce, as Cymbio’s payment orchestration platform helps brands sell across agentic channels, including Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity.

Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close later this year, were undisclosed.

PayPal’s acquisition comes three months after PayPal first partnered with Cymbio to launch agentic commerce services, a suite of solutions to help merchants attract customers in an AI-powered commerce environment.

“PayPal has established itself as a leading commerce partner for merchants looking to sell within top AI platforms,” said PayPal Executive Vice President and General Manager of Small Business and Financial Services Michelle Gill. “Acquiring Cymbio’s technology and team will enhance our agentic commerce capabilities and accelerate the expansion to more of our merchants. By making their product catalogs discoverable on AI surfaces, merchants can increase sales while expanding product choice to the millions of consumers shopping on AI platforms today.”

Cymbio was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv. The company’s marketplace and social commerce automation platform facilitates collaboration between brands and retailers by automating processes such as product listing, inventory management, pricing, order fulfillment, and returns. Cymbio connects to 800 brands’ and retailers’ internal systems to enable strong collaborations that can be scaled quickly. The company has raised $35 million from investors including PayPal Ventures, and counts Balmain, Reebok, Abercrombie & Fitch, New Balance, Steve Madden, and Fabletics among its customers.

Once the deal is finalized, PayPal will use Cymbio to power Store Sync, one of PayPal’s agentic commerce services that allows merchants’ product data to be discoverable within AI channels. Store Sync drops orders to merchants’ existing fulfillment and management systems. The system allows the merchant to remain the merchant of record and retain customer relationships and control over their brand.

As a pioneer in fintech, PayPal is seeking to be an early mover in agentic commerce as well. In late 2025, the company rolled out agentic commerce services to help merchants connect product catalogs and checkout experiences to AI platforms like Perplexity. PayPal has also collaborated with AI ecosystem partners such as OpenAI to support instant checkout via the Agentic Commerce Protocol. It is clear that the company is seeking a top spot in the agentic commerce battlefield.

Photo by Julio Lopez

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OnePay Expands Klarna Partnership with Post-Purchase Payments

OnePay Expands Klarna Partnership with Post-Purchase Payments
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Klarna
  • OnePay is expanding its partnership with Klarna to launch Swipe to Finance, a feature that will enable eligible customers to convert debit card purchases into post-transaction installment payment plans.
  • Specific details of the terms around post-purchase financing have not been disclosed, but the feature will position OnePay alongside players like PayPal and Affirm by offering flexible repayment options beyond the point of sale.
  • Swipe to Finance strengthens OnePay’s push to compete with digital banks such as Chime and Dave, adding to its growing suite of banking, payments, investing, and crypto tools backed by Walmart’s scale and embedded distribution.

Walmart-owned digital banking platform OnePay is deepening its ties with BNPL player Klarna to launch Swipe to Finance, a new feature that will offer customers the option to pay over time even after they’ve made the transaction.

“Not every purchase comes at the right time,” said Thomas Hoare, Chief Commercial Officer at OnePay. “Customers want and deserve financial flexibility when they need it most, which is why we’re excited to offer new ways for them to pay over time and do it simply, transparently, and all in the OnePay app.”

After making a purchase with a OnePay debit card, eligible customers can use the OnePay app to convert transactions into fixed-term payment plans. While the company has not disclosed details about launch timing, eligible purchases, or available plan options, OnePay’s post-purchase financing may resemble models offered by PayPal and Affirm, which allow users to either pay in four installments or spread payments over longer repayment periods ranging from three to 36 months.

“Post-purchase payments are becoming a core part of how people manage money,” said David Sykes, Chief Commercial Officer at Klarna. “With Swipe to Finance powered by Klarna, we’re giving customers a simple, transparent way to take control of payments after the fact, directly in the OnePay app. It’s another step in expanding smarter payment options and meeting consumers wherever they choose to pay.”

This week’s Swipe to Finance announcement comes about 10 months after OnePay and Klarna first teamed up to offer BNPL options at the point of sale for consumers. The company hinted at plans to deepen ties with Klarna even further, stating, “Additional products and features are planned for later this year that expand OnePay’s types of flexible payment options and can reach new customers.”

Today’s announcement comes at a time of major growth for OnePay, which is seeking to compete with well entrenched digital banks such as Chime and Dave. Last fall, the company partnered with DriveWealth to offer embedded investing tools and teamed up with Zero Hash to facilitate bitcoin and ether trading within its app. In addition to these new capabilities, the OnePay app also offers traditional banking tools such as a high-yield savings account, peer-to-peer money transfer capabilities, and cross-border payments. However, the app also differentiates itself from traditional banks and even other digital banks with a credit builder card, tax filing service, and even a low-cost mobile phone plan via a partnership with Gigs.

OnePay is seeking to compete with entrenched digital banking players such as Chime and Dave. The company is well positioned to do so thanks to its second-mover advantages and embedded distribution through its parent company, Walmart, which launched OnePay in January 2021 in partnership with Ribbit Capital. In January 2022, Walmart expanded OnePay’s capabilities by acquiring two fintech platforms, Even and ONE, which helped Walmart create its version of a financial services super app.

For more on Walmart’s fintech ambitions, which started in 2005 when it applied for a Utah Industrial Loan Corporation (ILC) charter, check out my deep dive conversation on the One Vision podcast with host Theodora Lau.

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Airwallex Acquires Paynuri to Move into Korea

Airwallex Acquires Paynuri to Move into Korea
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Airwallex is acquiring Paynuri to enter South Korea, securing payment gateway, prepaid electronic payment instrument, and foreign exchange business registrations to support cross-border payments and FX services.
  • The move gives Korean businesses access to Airwallex’s global financial platform, enabling multi-currency spending, international payments, and cross-border expansion.
  • The acquisition signals intensifying competition in APAC payments, as Airwallex uses its fresh Series G capital to accelerate regulatory access, expand headcount locally, and strengthen its position against regional fintechs and global incumbents.

Commercial payments and banking platform Airwallex is expanding its global reach this week. The Singapore-based company is acquiring Paynuri, an entity that holds payment gateway and prepaid electronic payment instrument licenses in South Korea. Financial terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Airwallex plans to use these licenses to empower companies in Korea to expand across borders by offering Korean businesses a comprehensive platform for managing their financial operations across multiple markets and currencies. The acquisition will also give Airwallex the benefit of Paynuri’s South Korea Foreign Exchange Business registration, an accreditation that will further support cross-border payments and FX services in Korea.

“We are excited by this significant investment by Airwallex into the Korean market,” said Invest Seoul President and CEO Lee Jihyung. “We believe Airwallex’s entry will strengthen the financial operating environment for both Korean and global companies in the market.”

Airwallex’s spending capabilities, for example, allow businesses to manage company spending across multicurrency payment cards, expense management, and bill payments. The company’s multi-currency account facilitates the management of global banking, FX conversion, and international transfers, while its payments offerings allow businesses to accept online and in-store payments across the globe in more than 160 payment methods.

“This acquisition marks a pivotal milestone for Airwallex as we expand the global reach of our financial platform,” said Airwallex General Manager of APAC, Arnold Chan. “Korea’s fast-growing ecommerce, creative, and entertainment sectors present immense opportunities for Korean businesses on the global stage. Our goal is to support these businesses with a more efficient solution to expand beyond borders.”

Airwallex, which already operates across Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, has been growing rapidly in the APAC region. In 2025, the company reported an 85% year-over-year increase in revenue and a 71% year-over-year boost in transaction volume. Globally, during the month of December 2025, Airwallex achieved $1.2 billion in revenue and recorded $266 billion in transaction volume.

To meet this demand, Airwallex will boost its workforce in Korea with plans to add 20 employees across multiple functions by the end of this year.

Founded in 2015, Airwallex holds 80 licenses and permits that enable customers to operate in 200+ countries and regions and support multi-currency checkout at scale. In 2025 alone, the company extended its regulated and local capabilities across 12 new markets, securing licenses and launching products in France, the Netherlands, Israel, Canada, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, and the UAE.

Today’s investment comes about six weeks after Airwallex’s $330 million Series G fundraise, which valued the company at $8 billion. Airwallex’s expansion into the Korean market is a direct result of that investment.

By securing payment, prepaid, and foreign exchange approvals in South Korea, Airwallex is positioning itself to serve Korean businesses that are scaling internationally while avoiding the delays associated with organic licensing. The move also strengthens Airwallex’s position against both regional fintechs and global incumbents vying to serve global businesses.

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Gusto Unveils Global Stablecoin Payout Capabilities 

Gusto Unveils Global Stablecoin Payout Capabilities 
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Gusto
  • Gusto is testing stablecoin payouts for global payroll through a partnership with zerohash.
  • The beta test is using regulated on-chain settlement infrastructure to enable faster, more transparent cross-border payments.
  • If successful, the beta could signal stablecoins’ shift into core payroll infrastructure, modeling how HR and payroll platforms can adopt digital assets in a compliant, scalable way.

Payroll, benefits, and HR management solutions company Gusto revealed today that it is testing stablecoin payout capabilities across its global payments. The California-based fintech will leverage a partnership with digital asset infrastructure provider zerohash.

Founded in 2017, zerohash is a crypto, stablecoin, and tokenization platform that brings instant money movement to banks, brokerages, and fintechs. With more than six million end customers, the company has settled $65 billion in transaction volume, is available in more than 200 jurisdictions, and supports over 100 assets.

Gusto said it chose zerohash for its deep regulatory expertise, operational maturity at scale, and the ability to support global expansion securely and seamlessly.

In teaming up with zerohash, Gusto will use zerohash’s regulated on-chain settlement infrastructure to allow its clients to receive their earnings in digital dollars. Gusto will use zerohash’s stablecoin rails to enhance speed and transparency to allow workers to receive payments in the form of stablecoins.

When compared to traditional cross-border payments, which can take three-to-seven days to settle, stablecoins will allow Gusto to move funds from employer to worker across the globe in minutes. In addition to real-time settlement, leveraging digital currencies will also allow for on-chain traceability and compatibility with both custodial and self-custodial wallets.

Pointing to the growing mismatch between global workforces and legacy payment infrastructure, zerohash Founder and CEO Edward Woodford said stablecoins offer a faster and more flexible alternative for moving money across borders. “As the workforce increasingly becomes more global and more digital, traditional payment rails can no longer meet the speed and accessibility that modern businesses require,” said Woodford. “Gusto is one of the most forward-thinking platforms for businesses, and we’re proud to provide the infrastructure that enables them to deliver instant, transparent, and flexible payouts across borders. Stablecoin rails unlock real-world benefits for millions of workers, and this partnership is a major step toward modernizing how money moves.”

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. With more than 400,000 small business clients, Gusto processes tens of billions of dollars of payroll each year and provides employee benefits, including 401(k) accounts, which are powered by the company’s 2025 acquisition of retirement specialist Guideline.

According to Samant Nagpal, Head of Payments and Risk at Gusto, the partnership allows the company to introduce stablecoin payouts while maintaining the compliance and scalability required for global payroll. “At Gusto, our mission is to grow the small business economy. We believe payment choice is integral to helping small businesses and their teams thrive, which is why we’re committed to ensuring they can pay anyone, anywhere, anytime,” said Nagpal. “zerohash’s regulatory posture and global infrastructure allow us to offer stablecoin payouts in a way that is simple, compliant, and scalable. This partnership means that we can deliver a faster, more seamless global payments experience for our customers and their teams.”

This partnership is another example of how stablecoins are shifting from experimental use cases into core financial infrastructure, especially in cross-border payments. Testing stablecoin payouts within a regulated framework gives Gusto the ability to expand payment choice for its small business customers. While Gusto’s trial of stablecoin payouts is still in beta, if successful, the approach could set the standard for other HR and payroll platforms as global workforces continue to grow.

Photo by Ann H

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