• Stripe is expanding in Brazil with Pix integration via EBANX.
• The move will enable Stripe’s business customers, as well as merchants using ecommerce platforms tied to Stripe, to accept the central bank’s instant payment system at checkout.
• The partnership targets financial inclusion and growth, giving global merchants access to 60 million Brazilians without credit cards while allowing settlements in domestic currency.

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Stripe is continuing its busy season this week. The California-based fintech has deepened its partnership with payment gateway company EBANX to expand the coverage of Brazilian payment methods.

The two unveiled this week that Stripe’s business customers can now offer Pix as a payment method. Pix is Brazil’s central bank–operated instant payment system that the country launched in November 2020 to modernize its retail payments. It enables real-time money transfers in Brazilian reais. The transactions are settled in seconds, available 24/7 (including weekends and holidays), and are designed for person-to-person, person-to-business, and even government transactions. Users send funds using simple Pix keys, such as a phone number, email address, or a QR code.

Brazil-based EBANX was founded in 2012 to help expand international ecommerce. The company combines its technology with market expertise and infrastructure to enable companies across the globe to offer hundreds of local payment methods and streamline cross-border payments.

Today’s collaboration will enable businesses that are directly integrated with Stripe and those with ecommerce management platforms that use Stripe to offer Pix at checkout. Adding the new payment method will expand merchants’ prospective clients in Brazil while making settlements available in their domestic currency.

“Our partnership with EBANX is important for increasing Stripe users’ reach in Brazil, Latin America’s largest market,” said Stripe global head for Expansion, Strategics, and Incubation Partnerships Krishnan Rajagopalan. “For global commerce today, enabling how customers pay is often just as important as what’s being sold. Customers prefer payment methods they know and trust, which directly impacts the bottom line. Our research found businesses on Stripe that offered at least one additional relevant payment method beyond cards grew revenue by 12% and improved conversion by 7% on average.”

EBANX estimates—based on data from the Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), the World Bank, and the Central Bank of Brazil—that offering a local payment option in cross-border transactions will enable global ecommerce companies to reach twice as many consumers in Brazil compared to relying solely on international acquirers. Over a six-month period, the data showed that merchants offering Pix experienced a 16% increase in revenue and a 25% growth in consumers.

“Working with Stripe to offer Pix is a no-brainer,” said EBANX CEO and Co-Founder João Del Valle. “There are 60 million people in Brazil who lack a credit card. Meanwhile, 93% of Brazilian adults use Pix and, by the end of this year, its usage is projected to surpass credit cards in online purchases, according to PCMI in EBANX’s study Beyond Borders 2025. Working together with Stripe ultimately empowers Brazilian consumers and businesses to participate more fully in the global economy.”

Stripe, which processed more than $1.4 trillion in total payment volume in 2024, has made two notable acquisitions recently, scooping up real-time payments platform Orum last month, user data API company Privy in June, and stablecoin platform Bridge in February.

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Photo by Caio

• Wix launched two new embedded financial tools, Wix Checking and Wix Capital, to help small businesses streamline their finances and access their capital directly from the Wix platform.
• Wix Checking integrates with Wix Payments to offer a free business checking account with a debit card and real-time financial insights.
• Wix Capital provides merchant cash advances as an alternative financing option.

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Small business owners often have to toggle among multiple platforms to manage their finances, from payment processors to bank accounts to loan providers. Website building platform Wix is seeking to simplify this. The Israel-based company unveiled a new financial services suite this week, launching two new solutions, Wix Checking and Wix Capital.

The two new tools help eligible businesses manage cash flow and fund growth, streamline their finances, and access capital in order to help them focus on their business.

Wix tapped embedded finance company Unit to power Wix Checking to offer a fully integrated business checking account directly within the Wix platform. The free checking account offers a real-time view of the business’ cash flow and performance, allowing them to access their funds, track revenue, and view outgoing expenses in a single place in order to make more informed business decisions.

The new checking account syncs with Wix Payments, the company’s payment acceptance tool. This integration eliminates the need for businesses to conduct manual reconciliations or use third-party tools. Merchants can access their funds with the Wix business debit card and they also have the option to transfer funds into an external bank account.

Wix has partnered with Lincoln Savings Bank, which will be providing banking products and services, including issuing the Visa debit card.

The other new tool launched, Wix Capital, is a Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) service embedded into the Wix platform that offers a faster, more accessible alternative financing tool for organizations that have had difficulty securing financing from traditional banks. To access working capital, a business can request a cash advance for a fixed fee plus a percentage of future sales.

“With Wix Checking and Wix Capital, we’re giving users a complete financial solution built into the platform they already use,” said Wix Payments Co-Heads Amit Sagiv and Volodymyr Tsukur. “It’s fast, simple, and designed to help small businesses access their money and fuel growth—all in one place. This is part of our broader commitment to supporting the full journey of business ownership, from managing day-to-day operations to making smarter financial decisions.”

Wix’s move further underscores how companies outside of the fintech sector have the opportunity to offer financial services thanks to the power of embedded finance. In Wix’s case, integrating financial tools directly into its platform will allow its business clients to manage their operations and finances from a single interface.

The move also helps Wix compete with Square, which offers a similar suite of integrated financial services including Square Banking and Square Capital. As more platforms embed financial tools directly into their ecosystems, the lines between fintechs and SaaS companies will blur as they help small businesses to offer faster, simpler access to money management tools.

• Cash App launched Pools, a new tool that lets users plan, contribute to, and track group payments for shared expenses.
• Participants can contribute via Cash App, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, helping organizers avoid fronting costs and simplifying collection across different payment methods.
• Pools is part of Cash App’s broader move toward becoming a full-service, socially driven digital banking platform, especially for younger users.

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Block-owned Cash App launched a new peer-to-peer (P2P) payment tool called Pools this week. The new group payments feature makes it easy for users to manage payments and track shared goals in a single place.

With Pools, users can make contributions to do things like plan a vacation with friends, chip in on a joint gift, or reimburse friends for a group dinner. The new tool allows group members to plan, collect, and track contributions to a shared expense before the event occurs. Because the expense is shared before the transaction occurs, no single person has to front the entire cost.

The organizer starts a group by creating a name, setting a goal amount, and inviting members to join the pool. Once the group is created, the organizer can track the group’s contributions, which helps remove unnecessary logistics and brings clarity to the amount each person has (or has not) contributed. Once the organizer is ready to close the pool, they can transfer the money into their Cash App balance.

Pools also helps in situations where participants have varying payment preferences. Organizers can not only invite members in-app via their $cashtag, but can also text or share a link to members, who can make a contribution using Apple Pay or Google Pay.

“Cash App has always made sending money between friends and family feel effortless, and we know that many of our customers already use the platform as a way to collect payments from groups,” said Cash App Head of Product Design Cameron Worboys. “With Pools, our customers now have a dedicated, easy-to-use solution for group payments: they can start a pool to collect the money in seconds, and then instantly transfer the funds to their Cash App balance when it’s time to pay.”

Cash App was founded by Block (then known as Square) in 2013. At the time, Cash App most directly competed with Braintree’s Venmo. Twelve years on, Cash App still has its roots in peer-to-peer payments, but has since diversified into a more robust digital banking platform that enables users to hold funds, deposit their paychecks, spend their money using a QR code or cash, invest, manage their Bitcoin, and file their taxes. With more than 57 million monthly active users in its network, Cash App plans to introduce more group features and services in the coming months.

“For younger customers in particular, managing money is often an inherently social experience that requires extensive discussion, planning, and collaboration between groups. Combining the scale of Cash App’s network with our robust suite of banking and commerce tools, we’re excited to introduce new solutions tailored to the next generation and their financial lives,” added Worboys.

Pools is currently available to a select group of Cash App customers. The company is planning to make it more broadly available in the coming months with an aim to reach all Cash App customers.

Cash App’s launch of Pools reflects the company’s shift from simple money transfers to a more social, full-stack financial experience. As users increasingly treat money as a shared experience, tools like Pools show how fintech is adapting to a more shared, communal economy.

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Photo by Sarah Schorer

• EarnIn launched a new Live Pay tool and Visa card that let users access their earnings in real time as they work, up to $1,500, per pay period. with no interest and no credit check required.
• The new earnings tool helps users align cash flow with expenses and avoid reliance on credit cards or payday loans.
• Users who enable autopay benefit from reduced fees and may even help improve their credit score when they pay on time.

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Earnings management company EarnIn is changing the game when it comes to payday. The California-based company recently announced the launch of Live Pay, a tool that lets workers get paid continuously.

While most earned wage access tools allow workers to receive a portion of their paycheck a few days early, EarnIn’s Live Pay allows users to gain access to their earned funds as they work. Live Pay provides a real-time earnings stream that grows when the user works.

Live Pay is available to users through the new EarnIn Card, which is available to the public starting this month. The EarnIn Card works everywhere Visa is accepted. Live Pay enables cardholders to redeem up to $1,500 per pay period. Because EarnIn reports account activity to credit bureaus, users who make on-time payments may be able to boost their credit scores. Users who set up autopay not only support their credit health but also benefit from reduced fees, an incentive that EarnIn offers to promote consistent repayment habits.

Live Pay is available to US workers who receive a W-2 tax statement. By enabling real-time access to earnings, EarnIn helps users better align income with expenses, reducing reliance on credit cards, payday loans, or overdraft fees.

“The natural evolution of any batch-based system is continuous—and payroll is no different,” said EarnIn Founder and CEO Ram Palaniappan. “Earned wage access was a step in that direction, but it was inevitable that pay would move like everything else in your life—in real time. We stream music, entertainment, news, sports, and more whenever we want—now, with EarnIn Card and Live Pay, you can stream your pay too. It’s a system that’s always on, always working. Live Pay gives workers access to money they’ve already earned, putting them back in control of their financial timing. It’s a long-overdue upgrade to how we get paid.”

The EarnIn Card comes with no interest on transactions and no credit check requirement. Instead, it uses a flat fee structure that varies based on user behavior:

• One-time Processing Fee: Users pay a $5 fee when requesting their first card, which covers production and shipping. This fee is waived entirely for users who enroll in autopay.
• Monthly Access Fee: The standard monthly fee is $12.99, but it drops to just $2.99 when autopay is enabled for the full month. This fee is charged as a transaction on the EarnIn Card and collected during the repayment process.
• ATM Fee: Withdrawing cash from an ATM using the EarnIn Card incurs a $2.99 charge per transaction, not including any third-party ATM operator fees.
• Penalty APR: If a user is more than 365 days late on a required payment and receives advance notice, a small penalty APR of 0.001% may be applied to the overdue balance until it is fully repaid.

Behind the scenes, Live Pay is made possible through EarnIn’s partnerships with BaaS providers like Evolve Bank & Trust and Lead Bank, and by leveraging real-time payment infrastructure that enables the fast, reliable delivery of funds.

EarnIn was founded in 2012 when it launched Cash Out, an earned wage access tool that allows customers to access their entire paycheck up to two days early. The company also offer other banking tools in addition to earned wage access tools, including credit monitoring, savings tools, and overdraft protection.

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Photo by Valeria Boltneva