Finovate Global

Meet the International Alums of FinovateSpring 2026!

Meet the International Alums of FinovateSpring 2026!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Ripple

With FinovateSpring 2026 right around the corner—May 5-7—we wanted to take a moment here at Finovate Global to highlight the international companies that will be demoing their latest fintech innovations live on stage next week.

While both our European conference FinovateEurope and our flagship event FinovateFall tend to showcase the lion’s share of our international alums, we are thrilled to host these eight fintech innovators from Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Singapore, and Switzerland this year at FinovateSpring!

Join us next week—May 5-7—at the Sheraton San Diego Resort for FinovateSpring 2026. 1200+ senior-level fintech attendees. 600+ attendees from banks and financial institutions. 50+ live fintech demos. Save your spot. Book your room. And we’ll see you in sunny San Diego!

BankUniverse—Greece

BankUniverse delivers a privacy-first ‘intent engine’ that identifies high-value prospects and automates conversion, increasing digital sales by 20%+ without sharing sensitive customer PII. Headquartered in Greece, the company was founded in 2024.

Cobalt—Tel Aviv, Israel

Cobalt automatically maps real system dependencies across complex banking environments, enabling agentic AI, real-time visibility, safer changes, reduced risk, and confident operations. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, the company was founded in 2025.

ContexQ — Singapore

ContexQ is forensic Graph AI that detects fraud, money laundering, and hidden beneficial ownership by seeing the relationships every other AI misses. Headquartered in Singapore, the company was founded in 2024.

CRIF—Italy

CRIF is a global technology company delivering credit bureau services, business intelligence, advanced analytics, decisioning platforms, and digital solutions that power smarter lending and risk management worldwide. Headquartered in Italy, the company was founded in 1988.

Holdyn—Tel Aviv, Israel

Holdyn is a trust-first fintech platform enabling secure, structured transactions, and conditional payments. In addition to moving funds instantly, Holdyn also allows users to define how and when funds are released, reducing counterparty risk in both local and cross-border transactions. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, the company was founded in 2025.

Nextvestment — Singapore

Nextvestment enables safe, self-service exploration while guiding advisors to intervene at the right moments, improving client engagement and advisor productivity without changing advisory models. Headquartered in Singapore, the company was founded in 2024.

uncharted group—Zurich, Switzerland

uncharted group’s operating system turns commoditized AI into a proprietary, compounding advantage for investment firms. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the company was founded in 2024.

Yubi—Chennai, India

Yubi is India’s AI-powered debt marketplace—connecting 17,000+ enterprises with 6,200+ lenders, having facilitated over $36 billion in financing. Now they’re bringing this breakthrough technology to the U.S. Headquartered in Chennai, India and Delaware, the company was founded in 2020.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Saudi Arabian financial app barq introduced international cross-border QR payments in partnership with Alipay+.
  • Dubai-based, B2B embedded finance platform Comfi raised $65 million in funding.
  • Blockchain-based enterprise solutions company Ripple opened the doors on a new regional headquarters in the UAE this week.

Central and Southern Asia

  • India-based fintech Pine Labs announced the acquisition of next-generation online checkout optimization platform Shopflo.
  • Central Asian digital banking ecosystem TBC Uzbekistan launched its AI assistant Lola.
  • Indian fintech Mobikwik secured approval from the Reserve Bank of India to initiate lending operations.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Cross-border payment infrastructure company TerraPay forged a strategic partnership with Nicaraguan remittance payout services company Banco de la Producción S.A (Banpro Grupo Promerica).
  • Argentina-based fintech belo secured $14 million in Series A funding in a round led by Tether.
  • The IMARC Group predicted that Mexico’s fintech market size will reach $67.2 billion by 2034.

Asia-Pacific

  • South Korea-based fintech RiskX secured seed funding for its technology that will enhance the pricing, risk analysis, and investor communication for structured derivatives.
  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia deployed an agentic AI system designed to detect emerging fraud and scam patterns in payments and transaction data.
  • Crypto payments network MoonPay joined Sungho Electronics and Seoryong Electronics in an investment in Soutk Korean fintech Finger as part of an effort to support a Korean won stablecoin ecosystem.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African bank Absa Group Limited improved its self-solve cases of digital and card fraud by 47% by using WhatsApp to instantly confirm suspected fraud transactions with customers.
  • Nairobi, Kenya-based cross border payments company WapiPay secured approval from the Bank of Jamaica to begin operations in the country.
  • PitchBook looked at the state of VC funding for African fintechs.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • European paytech Nexi integrated new digital payment option, Wero, bringing it into Germany’s ecommerce system via its German subsidiary, Nexi Germany.
  • Austrian cooperative banking group Raiffeisenbankengruppe Oesterreich partnered with nCino for its unified corporate lending platform
  • Finom unveiled a new, standalone version of its accounting solution for freelancers and small businesses in Germany.

Photo by Andrew Stutesman on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Libya: Chatbots, Payments, and Expanding E-Wallet Access

Finovate Global Libya: Chatbots, Payments, and Expanding E-Wallet Access
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

This week’s edition of Finovate Global features recent fintech news from the north African nation of Libya.

Tadhamun Bank Libya partners with JMR Infotech for AI Chatbot and Voicebot

Tadhamun Bank Libya has turned to JMR Infotech, a digital transformation and banking technology solutions provider, to assist in the implementation of its AI-powered Smart Social Banking Chatbot and Voicebot. The announcement expands the relationship between the two entities; JMR Infotech has been a strategic technology partner to Tadhamun Bank since providing the financial institution with transformation programs such as Oracle FLEXCUBE, Oracle Banking Digital Experience (OBDX), and Oracle Financial Services Analytical Applications (OFSAA), as well as ongoing managed services support.

The new Chatbot and Voicebot will automate customer onboarding and enable instant interactions, boosting customer engagement while simultaneously reducing reliance on traditional support channels. The technology will be deployed across the web, WhatsApp, and Messenger channels, enabling customers to interact with the bank for onboarding, fund transfers, real-time query resolution, and more. The bank believes that the new offering will improve response times, optimize service delivery, and reduce both call center volumes and operational costs.

“Our focus is on continuously enhancing customer experience while improving operational efficiency,” Tadhamun Bank General Manager Osam Alabearsh said. “JMR Infotech’s AI-powered Smart Social Banking Chatbot and Voicebot stood out for its practical use cases, flexibility, and ability to integrate seamlessly with our existing platforms. This initiative will play a key role in simplifying onboarding and enabling more accessible, always-on banking services for our customers.”

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Bangalore, India, JMR Infotech is an information technology solution provider that specializes in helping financial institutions and other businesses better interact with their customer and extended eco-systems. An Oracle Platinum Partner, JMR has been part of multiple core transformations and includes core and digital banking modernization, regulatory compliance, customer experience platforms, enterprise planning solutions, advanced analytics, and AI-powered engagement among its areas of expertise. Jayafar Moidu is Founder and CEO.

“We are delighted to extend our partnership with Tadhanum Bank through the introduction of our AI-powered Smart Social Banking Chatbot and Voicebot,” JMR Infotech Head of Global Sales and Business Development, Naman Jain, said. “This engagement reflects the trust we have built over the years and our shared vision of driving meaningful digital transformation. Our solution is designed to combine intelligence, scalability, and flexibility, enabling banks to deliver superior customer experiences while achieving measurable business outcomes.”

With $421 million in total assets, Tadhamun Bank was founded in 1998. Headquartered in Tripoli, the institution is known for its emphasis on innovation and customer service relative to its larger, state-owned rivals.

Network International teams up with Al Seraj Islamic Bank

Speaking of fintech and bank partnerships, UAE-based Network International has partnered with Libya’s Al Seraj Islamic Bank. The company will provide the bank with an end-to-end system to facilitate digital payment processing in a bid to help boost financial inclusion.

“Al Seraj Islamic Bank’s decision to partner with us reflects our leadership in the MEA region and our ability to deliver innovative, dependable solutions that transform payment ecosystems,” Mohamed Abu Gebba, Network International Regional Managing Director in charge of processing for North Africa, said. “Together we aim to advance financial inclusion, support the bank’s growth ambitions, and empower communities with secure, modern payment services.”

The partnership will deliver a range of digital payment processing solutions to the Libyan bank. These solutions include Visa sponsorship, prepaid issuing capabilities, as well as a suite of value-added services. Combined, the technology will empower Al Seraj Islamic Bank to streamline operations and expand access to digital payment options throughout the country.

“Partnering with Network International was a strategic decision driven by their proven service excellence, strong market reputation, and deep understanding of Libya’s banking landscape,” Al Seraj Islamic Bank CEO Foze Ghaith said. “Their end-to-end processing capabilities will enable us to launch advanced digital products, enhance customer experience, and accelerate our growth trajectory. This partnership reinforces our commitment to delivering world-class, Sharia-compliant digital banking solutions across Libya.”

Headquartered in Benghazi, Al Seraj Islamic Bank is a relatively new financial institution, founded in 2024. The bank is focused on delivering optimized banking services based on Sharia principles.

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in the UAE, Network International helps simplify commerce and payments for businesses throughout the Middle East and Africa. The company offers in-person, e-commerce, and payment gateway solutions; business payment and processing solutions; and value-added services for both merchants and processors. Network International operates in more than 50 countries and serves more than 130,000 merchants, as well as 250 financial institutions and fintech customers, while managing more than 16 million customer credentials.

Libyan Central Bank OKs E-Wallets for Foreign Residents

The Central Bank of Libya has announced new regulations that will allow non-Libyan legal residents in the country to access electronic wallet services.

The new policy enables licensed financial service providers to issue e-wallets to foreign residents who pass modest verification requirements including a valid passport or residency document issued by official Libyan authorities as well as a registered mobile phone number linked to their identity. Expanded access comes with new fund transfer limits, which have been implemented to manage the flow of digital funds and help ensure financial stability. Libyan citizens will face transfer limits of up to 100,000 dinars between individuals, 500,000 dinars from individuals to companies, and up to two million dinars between companies. Non-Libyan residents will have transfer limits of up to 50,000 dinars between individuals and up to 100,000 dinars from individuals to companies.

The new regulations are designed to expand access to formal financial services and reduce reliance on cash transactions in a country that is largely cash-based. Introducing e-wallet services will help support the development of Libya’s electronic payments ecosystem, and send a signal to investors and entrepreneurs that the country is increasingly committed to establishing a more formal and modern financial system.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Lithuanian regtech IDenfy launched an identity verification app for WooCommerce merchants.
  • Italian paytech Nexi teamed up with Visa to modernize card issuance in Germany.
  • Polish fintech PragmaGo has brought its Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) model to the Croatian market.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Libya’s Tadhamun Bank announced that it would deploy JMR Infotech’s social chatbots.
  • GCC-based wealth management firm, The Family Office, launched its AI-powered assistant, Wealth Mermaid, fully integrated into its Client app.
  • Payment orchestration platform MoneyHash teams up with Oman-based Thawani Pay.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African fintech Ozow teamed up with SME funding provider Lula to expand access to business financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across South Africa.
  • UK-based cross-border payments company LemFi expanded its remittance services to Kenya.
  • A new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Beyond Payments: Unlocking Africa’s Second FinTech Wave, suggested that revenues from African fintechs will grow 13x to $65 billion by 2030.

Photo by Moayad Zaghdani on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Central America and the Caribbean: Credit, Stablecoins, and Wallets

Finovate Global Central America and the Caribbean: Credit, Stablecoins, and Wallets
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: eToro, Finastra, Finovate Global, Nubank

This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Aruba.

Credit Assessment Platform CreditYa Launched in Guatemala

Colombia-based financial services company YUMIVI S.A.S has brought its AI-powered credit assessment platform, CreditYa, to Guatemala. CreditYa is a digital microcredit platform designed to provide small, fast, accessible, and reliable financing to individuals and small business owners. Founded by Wingston Oswaldo González Reyes, CreditYa’s entry into the Guatemalan market is the company’s first expansion beyond its native Colombia. The company’s Regional Operations Lead María Gabriela noted in a statement that the launch was “the first step in (the company’s) long-term commitment” toward making financial services more accessible to “every hard-working Guatemalan with a digital footprint.”

Gabriela added: “In Guatemala, business opportunities are often fleeting. Whether it is purchasing materials in advance to meet a sudden surge in orders or repairing store equipment that fails unexpectedly, entrepreneurs need timely access to fast and flexible financial support—not an endless approval process. Our goal is to eliminate delays through technology. Users only need to download the app, complete identity verification, and authorize data access within minutes to receive a preliminary credit assessment and, in most cases, gain access to financial support within 24 hours.”

Using advanced data analytics and AI intelligence, CreditYa delivers fast and convenient digital financial services to individuals and microenterprises in Latin America. The company has established partnerships with local payment gateways and data processing providers to ensure that its operations are compliant with local regulations. CreditYa will also work with community organizations to deliver financial education and boost financial inclusion in the Guatemalan market.

“We are not just a financial app,” Gabriela said. “We aspire to be a trusted partner for users as they pursue a better life and grow their businesses.”

Tether Introduces New Stablecoin Wallet

Digital asset company and issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether launched tether.wallet, the People’s Wallet, this week. Tether.wallet is a self-custodial digital wallet that puts the company’s international financial infrastructure directly into the hands of its users.

“Tether has achieved, without any doubts, the widest financial inclusion success story in the history of humanity,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino boasted. “With more than 570 million people already using Tether’s technology, the next step is making that digital infrastructure even more accessible and usable by the end users. The objective is to remove the complexity that has prevented broader adoption while preserving the properties that make the digital assets technology valuable.”

Until now, Tether operated primarily as part of the underlying layer of the digital economy, enabling liquidity, settlement, and payments across more than 160 countries, with its USDT stablecoin becoming among the most popular digital representations of the US dollar. The launch of tether.wallet puts this entire infrastructure in the hands of end users, enabling them to transact in digital dollars by way of USDT and USAT, gold by way of XAUT, and via Bitcoin. The wallet is built to remove the complexity that tends to limit broader embrace of digital assets, for example, enabling users to send funds with simple, straightforward, human-readable identifiers such as “[email protected]” rather than long, error-prone wallet addresses.

The solution is 100% self-custodial. All transactions are signed locally on the user’s device before being broadcast to the network, and private keys and recovery phrases remain under exclusive control of the end user.

“Tether.wallet is ‘the People’s Wallet’ because it truly reflects the natural evolution of Tether’s role, from building the foundation of the digital asset economy to making it directly usable by anyone, ready for a future in which tens of billions of humans, machines, and trillions of AI agents will transact seamlessly at the speed of light,” Ardoino said.

Founded in 2014, Tether named El Salvador as its formal headquarters last year after securing a license under the country’s Digital Asset Issuance Law. The goal was to capitalize on El Salvador’s status as an emerging crypto currency hub and its embrace of Bitcoin. The move gave Tether its first physical headquarters. The firm was previously incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.

Aruba-based AIB Bank Partners with Finastra for Digital Banking

AIB Bank, an Aruba-based financial institution with nearly $2 billion in assets, has inked a deal with Finastra to deploy its Finastra Essence core banking solution. The deployment is part of AIB Bank’s goal of establishing the first fully digital bank in the country. Finastra Essence will deliver an enhanced core solution that blends broad and deep digital banking functionality with advanced technology to empower banks to offer customers faster transactions, greater reliability and security, and the kind of modern, personalized digital experiences that customers have come to expect.

“Choosing Finastra Essence allows us to position ourselves at the forefront of full-service digital banking innovation in Aruba and across the Caribbean,” AIB Managing Director Frendsel Giel said. “This transformation of our recently acquired commercial bank will not only enhance the way we serve our customers but also establish a solid foundation for accelerated growth and long-term success in Aruba and the region.”

Founded in 1987, AIB Bank is a privately owned financial institution based in Oranjestad, Aruba. The company specializes in loan syndication, agency services, corporate lending, program and project management, as well as advisory services, and has structured large and complex financing through Aruba and the region.

Formed via a merger between D+H Corporation and Finovate alum Misys in 2017, Finastra works with banks and other financial institutions to help them deliver secure and trusted mission-critical financial services technology. Headquartered in the UK, Finastra has more than 7,000 customers around the world using its financial services software, including 80% of the top 50 global banks, and moves $7 trillion in transactions every day. Chris Walters is Finastra’s CEO.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • PitchBook looked at the current state of venture capital funding for fintechs in Africa.
  • South African bank Capitec partnered with Wise Platform, Wise’s international payments infrastructure for banks and enterprises.
  • Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator reached 100 startups since inception with its fifth cohort.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Germany’s Deutsche Börse purchased a 1.%% fully diluted stake in crypto platform Kraken.
  • Polish fintech PragmaGO, which provides financial services for small and medium-sized businesses, expanded to Croatia.
  • Cryptonews examined how the recent election in Hungary could rekindle debate on crypto policy and regulation.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Nu Mexico, the Mexican subsidiary of Brazil’s Nubank, topped the 15 million customer milestone, establishing itself as one of Mexico’s three largest financial institutions by customer base.
  • Uruguay-based cross-border payment platform dLocal partnered with Italy’s NEC to power international remittance payouts.
  • Aruba’s AIB Bank teamed up with Finastra and will deploy the fintech’s core banking solution Finastra Essence.

Asia-Pacific

  • Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, expanded its partnership with Finastra to support ACH payments in the US.
  • Indonesian bank CIMB Niaga, Google Cloud, and Artefact unveiled enterprise AI agents to bring greater personalization to the banking experience for customers.
  • Australian Trade and Investment Commission sent a delegation to Vietnam to support deepening fintech ties with the country.

Photo by Rodrigo Escalante on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Thailand: Digital Assets, Agentic Transactions, and Moving Money

Finovate Global Thailand: Digital Assets, Agentic Transactions, and Moving Money
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, MasterCard

This week’s edition of Finovate Global reviews recent fintech news and headlines from Thailand.

DV8 Public Company to Acquire Rakkar Digital

Pending regulatory approvals, DV8 Public Company has announced plans to acquire Rakkar Digital, a digital asset custody provider, and invest up to $3 million (THB100 million) in the firm. DV8 has inked a share sale and purchase agreement to buy Rakkar’s ordinary shares from its existing shareholders. The transaction marks DV8’s latest entry into regulated digital asset operations. The company invested in Korean digital asset treasury platform Bitplanet in 2025.

Rakkar Digital was established in 2022 as a joint project between SCBX, the parent company of Siam Commercial Bank, and Fireblocks, a global digital asset infrastructure provider. Headquartered in Singapore, Rakkar Digital provides institutional-grade digital asset and cryptocurrency custodian services and has more than $700 million in assets under custody. In a statement, DV8 noted that Rakkar Digital’s regulatory standing, operational framework, and trust among institutional customers made the company a wise acquisition and will help DV8 compete in Asia’s rapidly growing digital asset ecosystem.

Founded in 1978, DV8 Public Company is a media and advertising agency based in Bangkok, Thailand. Formerly known as Demeter Corporation Public Company Limited, the company rebranded in 2020 and is currently transforming itself into a builder of regulated digital asset infrastructure. DV8 announced this pivot last summer, appointing Thai business leader Chatchaval Jiaravanon as its new Chairman and raising approximately $7.4 million (THB 241 million) in funding.

Mastercard and Krungthai Complete Agentic Transaction in Thailand

Mastercard announced that it has completed a pilot project in Thailand to deliver its first authenticated agentic transaction in partnership with Krungthai Card Public Company Limited (KTC). The project featured Mastercard Agent Pay and was initiated by AI agents in a secure, transparent pilot environment with full consumer control. The transaction used tokenized credentials, authenticated by Mastercard Payment Passkeys, to provide customer verification and data protection.

“AI-driven innovation in payments marks a significant step forward for the financial industry,” Krungthai Card President and CEO Pittaya Vorapanyasakul said. “Our collaboration with Mastercard reflects our strategic commitment to integrating agentic commerce into KTC’s ecosystem—enabling smarter, more secure, and intuitive experiences for consumers. This milestone reinforces our role in advancing payment innovation in Thailand.”

The pilot project demonstrated how AI can complete everyday tasks for consumers safely and efficiently. In this instance, an AI agent booked transportation from Suvarnabhumi airport to Central Chidlom via global mobility provider Elife. Both the booking and the agentic transaction were facilitated by the AI agent, which was connected to Elife’s services network.

Thailand is the latest country where Mastercard has tested its innovations in agentic commerce. So far in 2026, the company has completed authenticated agentic transactions in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

“Thailand continues to be one of the region’s most attractive travel destinations, and its dynamic travel environment provides an ideal, real-world testbed for agentic commerce,” Mastercard Country Manager for Thailand and Myanmar Winnie Wong said. “Through this collaboration with Krungthai Card (KTC), Mastercard’s first partner in Thailand to test agentic AI transactions, consumer-authorized AI agents can help make travel experiences more seamless, while embedding trust, authentication, and security directly into payments.”

KTC is a major Thai financial services provider that specializes in credit cards, personal loans, and other payment services. Founded in 1996, the company is headquartered in Bangkok.

Wise Secures Licenses for Wallet and Card Services in Thailand

International money transfer innovator Wise (formerly TransferWise) has obtained five licenses that will enable the firm to offer banking and financial services in Thailand. The UK-based company is the first non-bank to secure five licenses in the country: an electronic money service license, an electronic fund transfer license, an authorized money transfer agent license, an authorized electronic money business operator license (also known as an FX e-Money License), and a foreign business license.

These licenses reflect the relatively complex nature of Thailand as a market for international payments. However, the effort is likely to prove worthwhile. Thailand one of the most internationally connected economies in Southeast Asia, and the APAC region is an especially important one for Wise, accounting for 20% of the fintech’s global revenue.

“Thailand’s cross-border payments market has long been dominated by traditional banks, and Wise is bringing a faster, more transparent alternative,” Wise Head of Banking and Expansion for APAC SK Saraogi said. “With these licenses, customers will soon be able to manage money seamlessly whether they are sending it abroad or using it locally. Beyond Thailand, we see strong demand for our products across APAC and will continue to increase our regulatory footprint to bring our products to even more customers.”

A Finovate alum since 2013, Wise is an international fintech specializing in global money movement and management. Launched in 2011 as “TransferWise” by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus and headquartered in the UK, Wise supported more than 15 million individuals and businesses with its fund transfer services in fiscal 2025. The company processes £9 billion in cross-border transactions every month, saving customers around £1.5 billion a year.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Asia-Pacific

  • Mastercard completed a pilot project that delivered the first authenticated agentic transaction in Thailand with Krungthai Card Public Company Limited.
  • Australian Payments Plus agreed to sell its payments app Beem to Bolt Group.
  • StraitsX and KBank established real-time payments between Singapore and Thailand.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • African fintech Moniepoint acquired Sumac Microfinance Bank, accelerating its entry into the Kenyan market.
  • Paytech Flutterwave announced plans to establish a regional hub in Anambra, in the southeast part of Nigeria, to help target small businesses.
  • The Fintech Times reviewed Ghana’s fintech ecosystem.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Polish fintech ZEN.COM launched in Ukraine.
  • Fintech analyst Chris Skinner took a look at the “State of Fintech in Germany.”
  • Latvia announced a new type of banking license in a bid to encourage new market entrants.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian lending platform KreditBee achieved a valuation of $1.5 billion after raising $280 million in new funding.
  • A merger between CityPay and Chhito Paisa is expected to bolster Nepal’s fintech sector.
  • Glaas, an India-based embedded credit infrastructure company, raised $5 million in funding from Devesh Sachdev, who joined the company as co-founder and managing director.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Stablecoin issuer and infrastructure company Balboa Corporation launched in Panama.
  • Mexican retail bank BanCoppel announced a partnership with payment solutions provider BPC.
  • TikTok has applied for EMI and credit licenses in Brazil.

Photo by DUYTRG TRUONG

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Africa: Stablecoins, Digital Payments, and Funding Infrastructure

Finovate Global Africa: Stablecoins, Digital Payments, and Funding Infrastructure
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, MasterCard, Revolut

This week’s edition of Finovate Global highlights recent fintech headlines from Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa.

Circle and Sasai Fintech team up to boost adoption of USDC

Digital asset platform Circle announced a new partnership between one of its affiliates and Sasai Fintech, a business of Cassava Technologies. The partnership is designed to boost adoption of Circle’s USDC stablecoin and expand internet-native financial infrastructure across Africa.

“Africa’s digital economy is entering a new era, propelled by entrepreneurship, a mobile-first generation, and the acceleration of intra-regional trade,” Cassava Technologies Founder and Executive Chairman Strive Masiyiwa said. “By integrating with the trusted and widely adopted USDC network, we can drive financial inclusion and open transformative opportunities for businesses and consumers alike.”

Stablecoin adoption in Africa is accelerating due to increases in the number of mobile-first consumers, the growth of cross-border commerce, and the overall expansion of the digital economy. USDC is a fully-reserved, transparent payment stablecoin redeemable 1:1 for US dollars. The stablecoin has been used to power programmable payments and financial applications around the world. This week’s partnership announcement between Circle and Sasai Fintech calls for further exploration into practical applications for USDC. The two companies will also investigate ways that Circle’s full stack platform can lower costs, friction, and settlement time for Sasai’s enterprise and retail customers.

“Emerging markets are at the forefront of stablecoin adoption, and Africa represents a significant opportunity for internet-native innovation,” Circle Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO Jeremy Allaire said. “Working with Cassava, we can extend the benefits of USDC and on-chain infrastructure into high-growth payment corridors to deliver always-on global connectivity.”

Sasai Fintech is a pan-African digital payment solutions provider. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and founded in 2021, Sasai Fintech has enabled more than 250 million wallets and more than 85,000 POS terminals. A division of Cassava Technologies, Sasai Fintech has 20+ enterprise partners and is active in 30+ cross-border markets.

IFC Partners with Cashi to expand digital payments infrastructure

International Finance Corporation (IFC) has teamed up with digital payment infrastructure company Cashi. The fintech offers a digital payment platform that allows users to send and receive money via mobile phones, point-of-sale devices, and SMS-based tools. Cashi’s platform links users with banks, telecoms, and other financial institutions in a single interoperable ecosystem that makes everyday transactions easier in an economy that still relies heavily on cash and faces significant obstacles to accessing comprehensive banking services.

“IFC’s upstream support allows us to adapt our proven, crisis-tested platform to the realities of central Africa,” Cashi CEO Tarneem Saeed said. “This partnership enables us to work closely with regulators and ecosystem partners, build trust with local merchants, and deliver practical financial tools that people can use in their daily lives, even in low-connectivity environments.”

Cashi’s platform helps address and alleviate digital infrastructure bottlenecks in economies that are cash-dependent and underbanked. The company offers a range of financial products and services that enable businesses and individuals to send, receive, and spend money. Cashi offers instant settlement, reliable uptime, and dedicated support for both merchants and users. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Khartoum, Sudan, Cashi operates as part of Alsoug.com, the country’s largest digital classifieds and marketplace.

Financial infrastructure startup Littlefish raises $9.4 million

A South African fintech infrastructure startup, littlefish, has scored $9.4 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Partech, and featured participation from TLcom Capital, Flourish Ventures, and Proparco. The investment is the latest fundraising for the company since its 2021 seed round, and the firm expects to use the new capital to grow its team, advance product development, and enter new markets such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

“This raise is a validation of our belief that the best way to serve Africa’s small businesses is to work with the institutions they already trust, not around them,” Brandon Roberts, Co-Founder and CEO of littlefish, said. “We’ve proven the model in South Africa, and this capital gives us the runway to deepen those relationships and bring what we’ve built to millions more merchants across the continent. The little guys deserve world-class financial infrastructure, too, and we’re building it.”

Littlefish offers a merchant operating system that empowers banks to deliver fintech products and services to small businesses by integrating payments, POS software, CRMs, APIs, and more into a unified layer. This enables banks and other financial institutions to offer modern, digital services to merchants without disrupting their existing relationships with customers. Littlefish helps banks deliver more services to their business customers more efficiently, and gives small businesses the opportunity to gradually modernize and digitize their operations.

Littlefish counts institutions such as Standard Bank, First National Bank, and Absa among its clients. The company was co-founded in 2021 by Roberts and Miod Davith Kahwa.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Mexico-based digital commerce platform, Clip, introduced Tap to Pay functionality on the iPhone.
  • Mastercard executed a series of live, end-to-end agentic payment transactions across Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • Cross-border payments technology company Reap obtained a Money Transmitter Registry in Mexico.

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore-based fintech Fingular unveiled Shariah-first digital financing brand in Malaysia, Tazee.
  • Enterprise on-chain settlement infrastructure company Capital Layer forged a distribution partnership with Taiwan-based domestic system integrator Stark Technology Inc.
  • Vienamese police dismantle fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme that cost investors billions of dollars.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Operating system for African banks and merchants, Littlefish, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding.
  • Western Union partnered with Sasai Fintech to bring digital remittance access to South African consumers.
  • African financial ecosystem platform Moniepoint acquired cloud-based restaurant management platform Orda Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Georgia-based TBC Bank partnered with GDS Link to power credit decisioning for retail lending.
  • German fintech Solaris announced plans to become an “AI-native bank,” cut 20% of its workforce.
  • PA Turkey looked at the strength of fintech investment in Turkey in 2025.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Saudi Arabia’s central bank issued its first Major Payment Institution license for open banking services to Lean Technologies.
  • Vault22 announced plans to launch its Islamic finance platform Hafiq in the UAE by the middle of 2026.
  • Banque Misr inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Microsoft Egypt to launch an open fintech innovation program for the Egyptian market.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Sri Lanka-based commercial bank Hatton National Bank enabled its debit cards to be added to Google Wallet.
  • Indian employee health and insurance platform Plum raised $20.6 million in Series B funding.
  • Revolut announced plans to boost its India-based workforce by 5,500 by the end of 2026.

Photo by Adrien Olichon

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Canada: Mortgagetech, Real-Time Payments, and Top Investment Trends

Finovate Global Canada: Mortgagetech, Real-Time Payments, and Top Investment Trends
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, NCR Corporation, Ripple

This week’s edition of Finovate Global showcases recent fintech news from Canada.

Royal Bank of Canada acquires mortgagetech Pinch Financial

The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has acquired Toronto-based mortgagetech Pinch Financial. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the move is designed to accelerate the decisioning process for mortgage borrowers throughout the country.

“This acquisition helps us deliver on our commitment to bring the best solutions to clients on their path to home ownership,” RBC SVP of Home Equity Financing Janet Boyle said in a statement. “Pinch’s technology will help us accelerate our digital roadmap to deliver a quicker, more streamlined mortgage experience for Canadians.”

Founded in 2016, Pinch Financial offers banks, lenders, and other financial services providers a platform that allows them to verify data and automate mortgage applications. The company’s technology verifies identity, income, assets, liabilities, source of the down payment, and creditworthiness to establish whether a borrower meets the requirements—from TDS and FICO to LTV and net worth—for rate and underwriting eligibility.

RBC already plays a major role in Canada’s mortgage market. The acquisition of Pinch Financial will help the bank serve customers who prefer to apply for home loans online instead of in-person at a branch.

“We started Pinch to make mortgages more relevant and familiar for digital-first consumers—making the qualification process faster, simpler, and more transparent for borrowers,” Pinch Financial CEO Andrew Wells said. “This acquisition gives us the opportunity to bring our technology to more Canadians while being part of a team that shares our vision for innovation in financial services.”

Canada’s largest bank by market capitalization and assets—and one of the largest banks in the world—RBC serves more than 19 million clients in Canada, the US, and 27 other countries. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, and boasting more than 101,000 employees, RBC reported total assets of $1.9 trillion CAD as of October 31, 2025. Dave McKay is President and CEO.

Wealthsimple becomes first Canadian fintech to join SWIFT

Canadian fintech Wealthsimple has secured a big “first” and a big “second” this week. The firm became the first Canadian fintech and the second non-bank fintech in the world to become a member of the SWIFT global financial messaging network. The company is currently completing final technical integration and security certification ahead of a full launch with clients expected later this spring.

“Many Canadians rely on international wire transfers, and yet to date, the experience has been clunky and expensive. We want to fix that,” Wealthsimple VP of Payment Strategy Hanna Zaidi said. “Our SWIFT membership is going to unlock faster, simpler, and more transparent international money transfers for the more than three million Canadians who trust Wealthsimple.”

SWIFT’s international messaging network serves 11,000 financial institutions around the world, facilitating trillions of dollars in payment volume. SWIFT makes the sending and receiving of international money transfers more seamless and efficient, while also providing end-to-end tracking visibility with real-time status updates.

Wealthsimple’s SWIFT membership is part of the company’s overall strategy to lower costs and boost efficiency for money movement in Canada. Wealthsimple also announced that it will be an early adopter of the country’s pending Real-Time Rail (RTR) payment system, making its clients among the first to benefit from instant money movement between institutions.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Wealthsimple offers a wide range of financial products and services, including managed investing, do-it-yourself trading, cryptocurrency, tax filing, spending, and saving. The company serves more than three million Canadians and has more than $100 billion in assets under administration. Co-founder Michael Katchen is CEO.

KPMG: Canada fintech investment “moderated” in 2025

The bad news is that investment in Canadian fintech slowed in 2025. The good news is that this moderating pace comes on the heels of record highs notched in 2024.

KPMG International recently unveiled its Pulse of Fintech H2’25 and FY25 report. The document depicts a fintech investment landscape in Canada that has returned to more historic levels, with “sustained interest in later-stage companies, platform acquisitions, and strategically important fintech subsectors such as artificial intelligence and digital assets.”

Specifically, the comparison is $2.4 billion across 113 deals in 2025 versus $9.9 billion across 161 deals in 2024. The report notes that much of the deal value in 2024 came from two sizable transactions: Nuvei’s $6.3 billion public-to-private buyout and Plusgrade’s $1 billion private equity deal. In 2025, the two largest investments in Canadian fintech were the $898 million private equity buyout of Converge Technology Solutions and Wealthsimple’s $536 million equity raise.

The report notes that investment activity in the sector picked up in the second half of 2025, especially with regard to gains in average deal value. Dubie Cunningham, a partner in KPMG Canada’s Banking and Capital Markets Practice specializing in fintech, indicated that she believed the strength in the second half of 2025 augured well for strength in 2026. “The investment appetite for Canadian fintechs will continue to grow in 2026, as investors prioritize quality, scale, and strategic fit, signaling a market that is maturing and aligning more closely with long-term value creation,” Cunningham said.

Read the full KPMG report for much more.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Pakistan-based digital banking platform Zindigi unveiled what it is billing as the country’s first “fintech credit card.”
  • Indian fintech Cred secured approval from the country’s central bank to operate as a payment aggregator.
  • IBS Intelligence looked at how fintech innovation in India is evolving from transaction rails to financial data rails.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

  • Cross-border payments platform Neema forged a partnership with China’s Alipay.
  • NCR Voyix agreed to sell its bank technology business in Japan to NTT Data.
  • An analysis of the Australian fintech sector by Deloitte Access Economics and FinTech Australia reported that the sector could grow to $71 billion in value by 2035.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Kenya and Rwanda inked an agreement that could enable digital payments companies licensed in one country to operate in the other.
  • South African fintech PayInc and First Capital Bank Botswana teamed up to launch instant cross-border payments.
  • The Fintech Times analyzed the fintech ecosystem of West African country, Burkina Faso.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Part of Estonia’s Iute Group, IuteBank has begun operating as a regulated bank in Ukraine.
  • Lithuanian fintech PAYSTRAX announced an major expansion to its team, adding up to 150 new specialists.
  • Czech fintech Flowpay acquired Berlin, Germany-based SME financing firm Tapline.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Israel-based fintech Datarails launched a new solution to help companies reduce contract and subscription waste.
  • Kaspersky and UAE fintech Codebase teamed up to enhance digital banking security.
  • Moroccan fintech WafR secured $4 million in seed funding in a round co-led by LoftyInc Capital.

Photo by Guillaume Jaillet on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Scotland: Innovations in Regtech, Accounting, and Insurtech

Finovate Global Scotland: Innovations in Regtech, Accounting, and Insurtech
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from Scotland.

AutoRek Launches RegToolKit

Automated reconciliation and financial control solutions provider AutoRek has launched its AutoRek RegToolKit. The new offering will help financial services companies simplify, track, and demonstrate their compliance with complex regulations.

AutoRek RegToolKit maps client products and services against regulatory requirements to ensure that companies can become compliant as well as prove their compliance with regulatory authorities. The solution features an applicability matrix across regulatory requirements, business risks, and mitigating controls, providing a comprehensive overview for all legal entities and product lines and reducing the audit burden. AutoRek RegToolKit uses an in-built breach register to identify compliance breaches, assign ownership, and track the process through to remediation, avoiding reliance on both spreadsheets and manual audits. The new offering complements the company’s data management, reconciliation, and reporting platform providing a consolidated data, governance, and oversight solution.

“Firms are required to not only control their data, but also evidence that their processes align with regulatory rules,” AutoRek Chief Product, Technology, and Operations Officer Jim Sadler said. “RegToolKit takes the complexity out of compliance by mapping rules to controls, tracking non-conformity, and providing a complete audit trail. Combined with our reconciliation platform, it allows firms to achieve full end-to-end financial control and compliance.”

Founded in 1994, AutoRek made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023. At the conference, the Glasgow, Scotland-based regtech demonstrated how its intuitive, configurable dashboards help firms manage the pain points in the reconciliation process. The company’s machine learning-based technology monitors the performance of reconciliations, disaggregating and categorizing outstanding balances, highlighting escalation points, and more. AutoRek helps institutions transition away from spreadsheets and manual processes toward greater control and efficiency.

FreeAgent Integrates with Sodium Software, Active | UK

Edinburgh, Scotland-based fintech FreeAgent has announced a handful of integrations in recent days. First, the company reported that it had integrated with cloud-first workpapers and accounts platform Active | UK. Active works with core accounting systems to boost accuracy and standardize workflows. The partnership will enable users to automatically import data from FreeAgent into Active Workpapers, reducing the potential for human error and enabling faster, more consistent reporting.

Second, just this week FreeAgent reported that it has integrated with accounting practice management platform Sodium Software. The partnership is designed to help accounting professionals and teams in the UK streamline CRM, proposals, workflows, invoicing, and more. Connecting FreeAgent accounts to Sodium will enable accountants and teams to sync client data instantly and directly monitor the status of clients. In a LinkedIn post, FreeAgent added that further functionality, including automated billing and bookkeeping insights, is “coming soon.”

Founded in 2001, Active | UK is celebrating its 25th year as a technology partner for accounting firms. A division of Active by Business Australia, Active | UK helps companies standardize processes and workflows to ensure that all team members are working in the same way. Active | UK offers automated accounting workflows to seamlessly populate and sync data, and an intuitive Excel split pane that gives users greater control and transparency over figures and calculations.

Officially in public beta, Sodium Software was launched in late 2025 as a practice management platform for UK accountants. While seeing practice management as “the foundation,” the company has noted that its roadmap extends beyond this to include AML, payments, accounts production, and more. Sodium Software recently unveiled new features including unlimited custom fields, pricing tiers, and the ability to make both client and bulk updates.

FreeAgent made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2013 in London. Founded in 2007, the company today has more than 200,000 small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers using its accounting software

Insurtech Wrisk Acquires Atto, formerly DirectID

Here’s some M&A news from last month that slipped under our radar: Independent embedded insurtech platform for the automotive OEM sector Wrisk has acquired real-time financial intelligence platform Atto. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Atto enables companies to make context-aware credit and risk decisions within live customer journeys. Leveraging open banking to securely access and analyze transaction-level data, Atto’s technology transforms it into actionable insights that can be embedded into regulated, enterprise-grade customer experiences. Wrisk, which partners with automotive OEMs to embed insurance directly into the consumer journey, will use Atto’s financial intelligence solution to offer greater flexibility in how financing and protection products are designed and delivered.

The acquisition will also enable Atto to take advantage of Wrisk’s OEM relationships, delivery capability, and regulated operating framework to deploy its capabilities across a broader range of markets and use cases.

“Atto has built a credible financial intelligence and credit scoring platform with real-world enterprise use,” Wrisk Chief Executive Officer Nimesh Patel said. “Joining Wrisk allows us to combine that intelligence with a delivery layer that serves brands and other partners at scale.”

Edinburgh, Scotland-based Atto rebranded from DirectID in 2024. DirectID was launched in 2016 as the flagship product of James Varga’s The ID Company (which itself was a rebrand of Varga’s miiCard, a digital verification company and Finovate alum founded in 2011).

“Joining Wrisk represents a natural next phase in Atto’s growth,” Atto Strategic Programme Advisor Rob Knight said. “We have proven the value of open banking-driven credit intelligence with enterprise clients, and Wrisk brings the regulated operating framework and delivery capability required to deploy that intelligence at scale. Together we can embed credit decisioning, affordability, and actionable insights directly into live finance and protection journeys.”

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • We Are Tech Africa profiled Algerian fintech platform Gifty, which offers a single app for shopping, billpay, mobile top-ups, and digital gift cards.
  • MENA-based fintech Network International and ADCB Egypt went live with FICO Falcon Fraud Manager.
  • The Times of Israel looked at how momentum from 2025 will drive the Israeli fintech industry in 2026.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Santander teamed up with Visa to test agentic payments in markets in Latin America.
  • DriveWealth announced a partnership with Latin American neobank Banco Ualá to help it launch a new stock investing service for customers in Mexico.
  • Jamaica Observers profiled financial wellness app Quatta which goes live this month.

Asia-Pacific

  • Mizuho Financial Group chose FIS’ Balance Sheet Manager to help it navigate new regulatory reporting requirements in Japan.
  • Indonesia-based digital credit unicorn Kredivo acquired Vietnamese digital bank Timo.
  • Mastercard announced a collaboration between its money movement platform, Mastercard Move, and Bank of Shanghai.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • UK-based international credit information and risk management service provider Creditinfo announced its entry into the Uganda market.
  • African Islamic neobank Nyla partnered with Mambu as it goes live in Ghana and readies for West African expansion.
  • Nigerian fintech Thrifto launched a platform to help digitize traditional group savings scheme such as Ajo and Esusu,

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Commerzbank and Berlin, Germany’s Hawk announced a collaboration to leverage AI to optimize internal banking processes such as fighting money laundering.
  • Berlin-based AAZZUR forged a partnership with Estonian electronic money institution Wallester.
  • Romanian P2P lending platform Fagura secured investment from Bravva Angels, named “FinTech of the Year” at 2026 Romanian Startup Awards.

Photo by Jure Tufekcic on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Malaysia: Agentic Commerce, Embedded Finance, and Shariah-Compliance

Finovate Global Malaysia: Agentic Commerce, Embedded Finance, and Shariah-Compliance
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

This week’s edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech news and headlines from Malaysia.

Agentic Commerce: Mastercard Completes Pilot Project

One of the biggest stories in payments in 2026 is the rise of agentic commerce. This week, Mastercard announced that it had completed an AI-powered commerce pilot project in partnership with Kuala Lumpur-based CIMB Group Holdings Berhad (CIMB), Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), and RHB Banking Group (RHB). The project involved using Mastercard Agent Pay to show how AI can help consumers complete common tasks such as coordinating transportation. Specifically, as part of the pilot, an AI agent booked a ride from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to KL Sentral via hoppa, an international mobility provider. The transaction was facilitated by CardInfoLink’s AI agent connected to hoppa’s taxi and airport limousine service.

“This milestone underscores how AI can simplify everyday interactions without compromising customer control,” CIMB Bank Berhad and CIMB Malaysia CEO Gurdip Singh Sidhu said. “It reflects our vision of banking that is intuitive and seamlessly woven into life. Our collaboration with Mastercard enables us to deliver secure and responsible AI-powered experiences to our customers.”

The transaction leveraged tokenized credentials that were authenticated with Mastercard Payment Passkeys to ensure strong customer verification and data protection. This pilot project was designed to confirm the feasibility of agentic transactions in Malaysia. Commercial deployment of the technology will be introduced in phases with Mastercard working with issuing banks and partners to educate consumers on agentic commerce and the safe use of AI-powered payments.

“Mastercard’s first live agentic transaction in Malaysia demonstrates how AI can engage in commerce responsibly,” Mastercard Country Manager Malaysia, Beena Pothen said. “With Agent Pay, we’re embedding trust, authentication, and transparency directly into AI-driven payments. In collaboration with CIMB, Maybank, and RHB, we’re meeting the highest standards of tokenization, enhancing security and consumer protection.”

This week’s news is the latest example of Mastercard’s involvement in bringing agentic commerce to the Asia Pacific region. It follows authenticated agentic transactions completed previously in Australia, New Zealand, and India.

Embedded Finance: Boost Bank Unveils Insurance Offering

Customers of Malaysia’s Boost Bank can now access insurance plans directly from their banking app. Courtesy of a partnership with Great Eastern General Insurance Malaysia, Boost Bank will offer three protection plans for travel (TravelProtect), personal accidents (CoreProtect PA), and daily commutes (CommuteProtect).

Priced at RM15 ($3.30) annually, TravelProtect offers coverage of up to RM250,000 ($55,000). CoreProtect PA provides personal accident coverage, including accidental death and permanent disablement benefits, of up to RM50,000 ($11,000). CommuteProtect specifically covers personal accidents of up to RM25,000 ($5,500) during daily commutes. Both CoreProtect and CommuteProtect will be available for RM25 ($5.50) a year. The average monthly income in Malaysia is between RM3,000 ($660) and RM4,000 ($880).

Purchasing any of the three plans will unlock the new Protect Jar feature under the Special Jars section of the Boost Bank app. The Protect Jar offers 3.3% per year in daily compounding interest. Customers who make deposits into the Protect Jar will get a complimentary TravelProtect Lite PA plan. The plan provides coverage for personal accidents and travel disruptions such as flight delays.

Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Boost Bank began operations in January 2024 as Malaysia’s first fully digital bank. A joint venture between Axiata’s Boost and RHB Banking Group, and licensed by Bank Negara Malaysia, Boost Bank offers digital banking services, including lending, savings, and e-wallet solutions.

Compliance: Regulating Islamic Fintech and a Look at the Malaysian Model

There are countries in the Asia-Pacific that have higher Muslim populations than Malaysia. Indonesia, for example, has the largest Muslim population in the world with more than 230 million Muslims (87% of its population). Bangladesh has about 150 million Muslims who represent approximately 91% of its population.

By comparison, Malaysia’s 20 million Muslims might seem small. Yet Muslims do represent the majority of the country’s population at 63%. This creates a significant opportunity to provide financial services, specifically Islamic and shariah-compliant financial services, to customers throughout the country.

We discussed the challenges and opportunities in Islamic finance in a Finovate Global interview a little over a year ago. A recent essay in Salaam Gateway took a more focused look at innovation and Islamic finance, highlighting the approach taken by Malaysia’s Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), which oversees and establishes standards for Islamic banking and Shariah-compliance for financial institutions, and Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), which regulates capital markets, digital asset exchanges, and peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms.

The article discusses not only the internal operations of BNM and SC—and the institutions’ partnerships with entities such as the Islamic Development Bank—but also notes that Malaysia’s Shariah governing system has positively influenced regulators and policy advisors in Muslim-majority markets in Southeast Asia. Indonesia was highlighted specifically for its recent efforts to expand its fintech regulatory sandbox, and pursue stronger coordination between financial regulators and those committees and boards providing Shariah certification.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Lithuanian P2P lending platform Finbee secured an investment of €5 million from venture builder Tesonet.
  • Estonian fintech group lute Group to establish its first fully digital bank in Ukraine.
  • Latvia unveiled a new specialized credit institution license to empower new financial service providers and fintechs.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

  • Mongol iD, Mongolia’s largest payment infrastructure firm, has joined RTGS.global’s liquidity network.
  • FinHarbor completed the core deployment of a hybrid neobank platform for Asterium, a fintech project based in Uzbekistan.
  • India’s Pine Labs announced plans to launch stablecoin payments outside of the country.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

  • China announced that it will provide state banks with $44 billion to support technology investments.
  • Malaysian financial institution Boost Bank partnered with Great Eastern General Insurance Malaysia to offer three protection plans via its app.
  • Southeast fintech platform Fiuu issued a report highlighting recent developments in the Philippine fintech industry.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) announced plans to bring robo-advisors and digital investment platforms into its licensing framework.
  • Western Union and Sasai Fintech partner to launch a new international money transfer mobile app for consumers in South Africa.
  • Ghana-based digital lender Fido Ghana raised $5.5 million in debt financing.

Photo by Mohd Jon Ramlan on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global East Africa: Investing in Digital Banks, Delivering on Instant Payments, and More!

Finovate Global East Africa: Investing in Digital Banks, Delivering on Instant Payments, and More!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Salt Edge, Temenos, VISA

This week’s edition of Finovate Global focuses on fintech developments in countries located in and around East Africa.

Digital banking secures investment in Zambia

Zambian digital banking platform Lupiya has raised $11.25 million in Series A funding. The round—nearly two years in the making—was led by IDF Capital’s Alitheia IDF Fund, and featured participation from INOKS Capital and KfW DEG, a German development finance institution. Lupiya will use the capital to bolster the digital bank’s technology infrastructure, grow its product range, and enter southern and east African markets beyond Zambia’s borders.

Founded by Evelyn Chilomo Kaingu (CEO) and Muchu Kaingu (CTO) in 2016, Lupiya serves unbanked and underbanked communities in Zambia with credit products and digital payment services via its Lupiya Pay offering. The company has partnered with Mastercard to access payment rails to enable digital transactions and is part of the card network’s financial inclusion strategy. Previous investors in the firm include Enygma Ventures, which contributed $1 million to the company’s coffers. Lupiya has opened an additional funding round this year—alongside its Series A—dedicated to scaling its lending business, enhancing its embedded finance offerings, and bringing Lupiya Pay to new markets.

Lupiya was one of the first companies to earn approval from the Security Exchange Commission in Zambia to offer investments through peer-to-peer lending. Launching this service in-country in 2022, Lupiya expanded operations to Tanzania the following year. Lupiya offers personal loans including collateral-backed loans and salary advances, as well as business financing, invoice discounting, and agriloans. Customers can use Lupiya to send and receive funds via mobile money, P2P, or bank accounts.

According to the World Bank, Zambia’s financial inclusion rate has improved significantly in recent years, climbing from 59.3% in 2015 to 69.4% in 2020. Regional disparities are significant, however, with Lusaka Province, home to the capital city, Lusaka, having a financial inclusion rate of more than 87%, with more rural areas having inclusion rates of approximately 40%. The landlocked country shares borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania.

Ethiopia goes live with instant payments

Instant payments are sweeping the globe—and now businesses, communities, and banks throughout Ethiopia will be able to leverage the technology to provide centralized automated reconciliation, new card and e-wallet services, and more.

In partnership with the National Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s national switch EthSwitch has launched Ethiopia’s National Instant Payment System. Powered by BPC’s SmartVista platform, the system was officially introduced in December 2025, and now connects 32 banks, 12 MFIs, three PSOs, and three PIIs. The unveiling of EthioPay-IPS will enable EthSwitch to offer banks and other financial institutions modern payment rails capable of delivering faster and more economical payment transactions. These include account-to-account and wallet-to-wallet transfers, payments with interoperable QR codes, as well as requests-to-pay and alias-based payments that allow users to transfer funds using a simple identifier.

BPC’s SmartVista suite is a modular payment processing solution for banks, financial institutions, payment service providers, and fintechs. The technology combines banking, commerce, and mobility platforms to facilitate digital banking, payment processing, ATM and switching, fraud management, financial inclusion, and more. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Switzerland, BPC has more than 500 customers across 140 countries.

Established in 2011, EthSwitch is a share company owned by Ethiopia’s private and public banks, as well as the National Bank of Ethiopia, MFIs, PIIs, and PSOs. The organization has a mandate to support the modernization of Ethiopia’s payment system and to enhance financial inclusion throughout the country. This includes EthSwitch’s 2016 initiative to enable the interoperability of ATMs and POS terminals operated by the nation’s banks.

“Our goal is to provide simple, affordable, secure, and efficient digital payment infrastructure to every retail payment provider and through them, to every Ethiopian,” EthSwitch Chief Portfolio Officer Abeneazer Wondwossen said. “With SmartVista, we have built an interoperable nationwide ecosystem for instant payments that is locally governed, future-ready, and open to innovation. This launch is a point of pride for Ethiopia and a milestone for our financial sector.”

Kayko Raises $1.2 million to help SMEs in Rwanda

Kayko, which offers a small business financial management platform for companies in Rwanda, has secured $1.2 million in seed funding. Participating in the investment were Burrow Capital, the Luxembourg Development Agency, and Hanga Ignite by BRD and develoPPP Ventures. The company, founded in 2021 by brothers Crepin and Kevin Kayisire, will use the capital to fortify its infrastructure, expand its data capabilities, and build credit scoring and lending tools based on real transaction data.

Kayko serves more than 8,500 Rwandan SMEs with bookkeeping, inventory, and tax support. The fintech helps boost SME access to credit in a country in which many businesses have incomplete or informal financial records that make it difficult to secure financing or to scale operations. For these and other small businesses, Kayko provides a point-of-sale and business management system that helps them process sales, track expenses, and accept payments, while turning everyday business activity into structured financial data for analysis and insights.

Kayko’s funding news coincides with the Kigali-based fintech securing an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) license from the National Bank of Rwanda (NBR). “With this license, we move from planning to execution,” Crepin Kayisire said in a statement on the company’s LinkedIn page. “We can now operate regulated payments, merchant wallets, and data-driven financial services that improve access to financing for small businesses.”

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African crypto platform Luno introduced crypto and tokenized stock bundle.
  • Blockchain infrastructure provider Binance and African mobile network operator Africell announced a collaboration to boost blockchain education and digital asset literacy across Africa.
  • Ethiopia’s national switch, EthSwitch, launched the country’s National Instant Payment System, in partnership with the National Bank of Ethiopia and powered by BPC’s SmartVista platform.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • The Bank of Lithuania supplemented the electronic money institution (EMI) license for TransferGo Lithuania, enabling the fintech to expand beyond money transfers and payment account services.
  • Open banking solutions provider Salt Edge and financial management platform NoCFO teamed up to bring Pay by Bank to SMEs in Germany and Finland.
  • UK-based fintech Unlimit opened a new global research and development center in Belgrade, Serbia.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Uruguayan fintech dLocal partnered with online English-language platform Open English to introduce a new payment method, Bre-B, for students in Colombia
  • Visa inked a deal to acquire Argentinian payment companies Prisma Medios de Pago and Newpay from private equity firm Advent International.
  • Peru’s Banco de la Microempresa selected Temenos SaaS to modernize its core banking infrastructure.

Asia-Pacific

Photo by Aron Marinelli on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global: Meet the International Alums of FinovateEurope 2026!

Finovate Global: Meet the International Alums of FinovateEurope 2026!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

FinovateEurope 2026 is only days away!

With its home in London, it is no surprise that FinovateEurope often showcases the highest number of demoing companies headquartered outside of the United States. What’s especially interesting about this year’s cohort of FinovateEurope demoing companies, however, is the percentage of non-US companies compared to the total: more than 77% of this year’s demoers hail from countries other than the US. Check them out below and then join us next week for FinovateEurope 2026!

FinovateEurope 2026 kicks off at London’s Intercontinental 02—February 10 and 11. Tickets are still available. Visit our FinovateEurope 2026 hub to register and save your spot!

AAZZUR—Berlin, Germany

Founded in 2019, AAZZUR empowers brands to launch embedded finance solutions with a single integration, unlocking new revenue streams and enhancing customer engagement.

Candour Identity—Oulu, Finland

Founded in 2021, Candour Identity boosts onboarding conversions, reduces fraud losses, enables daily biometric use, and supports regulatory complaince to help instituions scale their digital offerings.

FINTRAC—London, England

Founded in 2024, FINTRAC automates workflows to deliver stronger controls, richer analytics, and lower costs across the model lifecycle. The company’s Model Ops platform helps banks and other financial institutions manage their most complex models and calculations.

Francis—London, England

Founded in 2025, Francis empowers financial institutions and fintechs to make the most of open finance by leveraging AI. The company’s technology turns fragmented financial data into actionable wealth insights.

Hagbad—United Kingdom

Founded in 2025, Hagbad digitizes trust-based savings, enabling compliant engagement, expanding customer reach and driving financial inclusion via regulated, culturally aligned financial infrastructure.

Intuitech—Budapest, Hungary

From simple workflows to complex cases such as commercial loans and mortgages, Intuitech delivers AI agents capable of automating over 90% of manual tasks, shortening approval times and lowering costs. The company was founded in 2018.

Keyless—London, England

Keyless replaces outdated multi-factor authentication (MFA) with biometrics, improving the user experience and saving millions. Founded in 2019, Keyless was acquired by fellow Finovate alum Ping Identity.

Maisa—Valencia, Spain

Maisa boosts business efficiency by automating end-to-end processes with traceability, hallucination-resistance, and governance, in regulated industries such as banking and financial services. Maisa was founded in 2024.

Mifundo—Tallinn, Estonia

Mifundo enables banks and other financial institutions to grow their business volume by up to 15% by enabling them to better serve foreign and cross-border customers throughout Europe. The company was founded in 2022.

MyPocketSkill—London, England

Founded in 2020, MyPocketSkill is a digital technology company at the nexus of fintech and edtech that offers solutions to help Gen Z to save, invest, and become more money savvy.

Neuralk AI—Paris, France

Founded in 2024, Neuralk AI makes predictive capability a viable option at every point where tabular data is available. The company’s technology delivers superior performance compared to traditional machine learning and large-language models.

Opentech—Rome, Italy

Opentech partners with banks and card issuers, supporting digital transformation with secure, compliant, and scalable payment solutions. The company combines UX design with software engineering via a co-design model that accelerates delivery while ensuring equality and reliability.

R34DY—Budapest, Hungary

Founded in 2019, R34DY offers an automated system, ABLEMENTS, that enables rapid AI transformation for banks, enabling them to deliver new products faster, lower IT costs, and differentiate themselves via context-aware modernization.

Sea.dev—London, England

Sea.dev provides embeddable AI for business lending. The company’s technology automates underwriting workflows, to enable credit analysts to focus on higher-value analysis, faster decision-making, and growth. Sea.dev was founded in 2024.

Serene—London, England

Founded in 2023, Serene combines behavioral insights, predictive intelligence, and financial data to enable institutions to identify and understand early signs of fraud, vulnerability, and financial stress.

Skill Studio AI—Dublin, Ireland

Founded in 2025, Skill Studio AI transforms training documents into engaging, AI-powered learning experiences. The company’s platform reduces training costs, accelerates compliance readiness, and scales globally.

Tweezr—Tel Avi, Israel and Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Tweezr empowers institutions to transform and grow by accelerating time-to-market and boosting developer productivity for both maintaining legacy systems as well as for modernization initiatives. The company was founded in 2024.

Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global Europe: Competition, Profitability, and a Reckoning Year for Regulation

Finovate Global Europe: Competition, Profitability, and a Reckoning Year for Regulation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, NCR Corporation, PayPal, Thought Leadership

Last week, Finovate Global looked at how key trends are shaping fintech innovation in the UK. This week, our Friday column crosses the channel to consider the most significant forces shaping fintech innovation on the Continent, especially among advanced industrial economies in the West and Baltic north.

In our examination of the UK, we highlighted navigating regulatory complexity, accelerating technological transformation, and meeting rising customer expectations as three key issues facing banks and financial services providers there. These issues are also important to markets in the advanced markets of Europe. However, there are additional themes that distinguish the concerns of bankers in developed Europe from their colleagues in both the UK and the US.

Profitability and Competitiveness in the Shadow of NIRP

One of the challenges that European banks are still dealing with is the legacy of negative interest rates. Just as the US economy was emerging from its post-Global Financial Crisis (GFC)-initiated ZIRP or zero interest rate policy, the EU was plunging into what would be a seven-year experiment in negative interest rates (NIRP). A response to the threat of deflation in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis and, more acutely, the sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012, the EU’s NIRP policy lasted longer and was more extreme, with rates falling to -0.50%.

The impact on EU banks has been significant. Even as interest rates have normalized since NIRP ended in 2022, net interest income for EU banks has remained squeezed, impeding profitability. Additionally, European banks suffer from structural challenges to greater profitability that extend beyond the legacy of NIRP. Among them is one fundamental issue: there are a lot of banks in Europe, arguably too many, all chasing too few customers. Considered on a per capita basis, countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy have a very large number of banks and similar financial institutions relative to their populations. By comparison, the UK is significantly less “bank dense,” and even the US, which is often accused of having “too many banks,” is considered only moderately bank dense.

Along with excess capacity, issues of market fragmentation and high cost-to-income ratios all contribute to an environment in which achieving profitability as an EU bank remains a challenge. Banks struggling to make money often hesitate to make the necessary investments in technology that can help them reach new customers, access new markets, and offer new products and services.

A More Integrated Union? Overcoming Fragmentation to Enable Innovation

Both the EU and UK face challenges when it comes to digital transformation. But the differences between the two regions are significant and in some ways related to the issues of market fragmentation that plague EU bank profitability. When it comes to digital transformation and investing in technology, fragmentation and diversity between member states make the task more difficult and more expensive. Larger EU banks often have country- and product-specific legacy cores—sometimes even different cores built in multiple decades. These legacy cores not only fail to communicate well with each other, but also often exist in increasingly outdated mainframe environments. On the other hand, smaller banks and financial institutions in the EU often simply can’t afford major core replacements.

Uneven development and country-specific challenges often hold back fintech innovation in the EU. Even where the EU has effectively encouraged innovation, such as PSD2, which mandated open banking, adoption and implementation has varied widely by country. While open banking adoption rates in parts of Europe, such as the Baltics, are exceptional, many other countries, including Western European countries like France, Germany, and Spain, have had more modest rates of implementation. In this context, it will be interesting to see how the different countries embrace Wero, the new pan-European instant payments and wallet scheme currently being introduced throughout the EU. Here, countries like France, Germany, and Belgium are experiencing strong implementation and user adoption trends, while others, including Spain, Italy, and Switzerland are lagging.

How are some of the other enabling innovations—such as AI and DeFi—shaping banking and financial services in Western Europe? The European Banking Authority characterizes adoption of AI in its industry as “widespread but cautious.” Unsurprisingly, use cases in customer service are the most common, as is the use of AI to help in AML/CFT screening. In addition to customer service, streamlining internal workflows is another popular use case for AI among EU banks. Generally speaking, the larger markets of the EU—Germany, France, the Nordics—are experiencing the most robust use of AI in banking and financial services.

The story is similar with DeFi and blockchain technology adoption in banking: the larger countries tend to have more banks engaged in activities such as digital asset custody services, tokenization, and trade finance. One especially interesting development is the pursuit of a euro stablecoin, an effort led by a consortium of EU banks including ING, UniCredit, and SEB that is expected to lead to a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin launch later this year.

A Regulatory Year of Reckoning for Payments, Crypto, and AI in the EU

There is a variety of regulatory events coming this year. Some of them are the latest chapters in policies that were enacted last year, while others will make their compliance debut here in 2026. With regard to the former, regulations such as DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Regulation) which was passed in 2025 and deals with ICT, third-party, and operational risk, will continue to have an impact as institutions look to ensure compliance with resilience requirements for governance, testing, and incident reporting. Elements of the Basel III reforms, initially designed to help fortify banks in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, have been postponed from scheduled implementation this year to 2027. Speaking of postponements, another significant regulation, the Enhanced Operational Risk Reporting Deadline, has been moved forward to June of this year.

Other key regulatory developments to anticipate for EU banks and financial services providers include the rollout of new payment regulations including PSD3, which focuses on licensing and institutional requirements, and PSR (Payment Services Regulation), which deals with day-to-day operational issues. PSD3, in particular, will be an important mandate insofar as it seeks to correct a number of problems with the previous open banking directive, PSD2. PSD3 features significant guidelines and requirements with regard to fraud prevention and liability, and also paves the way for open finance.

What about the enabling technologies highlighted in the previous section? With regard to DeFi and crypto, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) comes fully into effect in 2026. Among the requirements are that cryptocurrency firms must have MiCA licenses to operate by the middle of the year. While this will address centralized service providers (CASPs) in the DeFi market, it does not specifically define the parameters of DeFi, including what services should be subject to MiCA. This conversation will be key for EU policy-makers in 2026.

As for AI, 2026 will be a big year, as well. Enacted in 2024, the EU AI Act will require AI systems designated as “high risk” to adhere to new guidelines with regards to creditworthiness, loan origination, risk evaluation, and automated decisioning. Additionally, the Act will require these systems to use strong governance, risk management documentation, transparency, human oversight, and quality control. Note that the Act categorizes AI systems by risk: minimal/no risk, which is virtually unregulated; limited risk, where compliance consists largely of transparency obligations; high risk, which is strictly regulated; and banned AI, which includes capabilities such as social scoring by governments and real-time remote biometric identification. Another key development is the launch of national AI regulatory sandboxes in each EU member state by August of this year, as mandated by the Act. Here, both Denmark and Spain have been credited as being ahead of the game in terms of getting these initiatives underway.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore-based Airwallex acquired Paynuri in bid to enter the South Korean market.
  • Indonesian fintech UangCermat raised $26.4 million in a combination of equity and credit facilities.
  • Vietnam announced that crypto firms that want to participate in the country’s pilot digital asset market will need a minimum capitalization of VND 10 trillion ($400 million).

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Payment software firm Akurateco forged a strategic partnership with African digital payments service provider Payaza.
  • Two South African fintechs—Johannesburg’s RelyComply and Cape Town’s Ozow—teamed up to enhance security for digital payments in the country.
  • The Africa Report profiled SycaPay, the first fintech to be licensed by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).

Central and Eastern Europe

  • German KYB/KYC lifecycle management platform Sinpex raised €10 million in Series A financing.
  • Greece-based Epirus Bank teamed up with NCR Atleos to modernize and expand its ATM network.
  • Berlin-based climate fintech Cloover secured a $1.2 billion debt facility and raised $22 million in Series A funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • PayPal acquired Israel-based agentic commerce innovator Cymbio.
  • Financial infrastructure and payment solutions provider Montran opened a new office in Dubai.
  • Saudi Arabia’s EdfaPay, a payment infrastructure solutions company, secured approval to launch SmartPOS service in the Kingdom.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Indian digital payments giant PhonePe secured approval from the country’s financial regulator to launch an IPO, slated for mid-2026.
  • Pakistan-based fintech Neem raised an undisclosed sum in Pre-Series A funding in a round that featured participation from Epic Angels, the largest all-female investment collective in the world.
  • Kazakhstan enacted a range of new laws to regulate digital assets and to allow banks to expand into fintech, AI, and digital payments infrastructure.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Uruguayan cross-border payment platform dLocal teamed up with international AI device ecosystem company HONOR to launch local payments in Peru.
  • Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit launched Bybit Pay in Peru via integrations with the country’s Yape and Plin digital payment platforms.
  • UK-based stablecoin infrastructure company Noah partnered with Brazil-based digital wallet and investment platform Picnic.

Photo by Marco

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Finovate Global UK: Regulatory Complexity, Tech Innovation, and Keeping Consumers Safe

Finovate Global UK: Regulatory Complexity, Tech Innovation, and Keeping Consumers Safe
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Temenos, Thought Leadership

Heading into 2026, there are some challenges to banks, fintechs, and financial services companies that are almost universal. How can firms navigate regulatory uncertainty? What is the most sustainable pace for the adoption of enabling technologies like blockchain and AI—much less basic modernization and digital transformation? What do consumers expect from banks and financial services providers in 2026 and how can these institutions do a better job of serving them?

With FinovateEurope coming to London in less than a month, this week’s Finovate Global will examine these issues in the context of fintech in the United Kingdom. Future editions will look at how these trends are playing out in Western and Southern Europe, the Baltics, as well as Central and Eastern Europe.

Navigating Regulatory Complexity: Balancing Innovation and Risk

More than a decade later, the consequences of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union continue to reverberate throughout the region: and its financial sector is no exception. In the years since Brexit, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has created and implemented its own financial regulations, including guidelines for the use of enabling technologies like crypto assets and AI, that diverge from those in the EU.

The UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA), for example, regulates stablecoins through use cases related to payments, whereas the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, is broader, including asset-based tokens as well as e-money tokens. Policies in both regions have been credited for their emphasis on consumer protections. Nevertheless, some have suggested that the UK’s approach, by comparison, is more focused on balancing innovation with risk management, in alignment with the UK’s efforts to position itself as an international hub for digital finance.

Unsurprisingly, this pattern is also apparent in the differing approaches the UK and the EU have taken toward AI regulation in financial services. Whereas the UK’s approach seeks to grant more space for financial institutions and fintechs to experiment with AI technologies and relies on existing regulators (i.e., the FCA) to ensure compliance, the EU approach, with its AI Act, puts a primary focus on risk management. The Act itself categorizes AI systems by “risk levels” (high, limited, minimal) and mandates risk assessments, transparency disclosures, and compliance with other technical standards.

Accelerating Technological Transformation: Early Embrace Leads Broad Adoption

The UK’s early embrace of open banking has helped the region not only develop a robust open banking and finance ecosystem, but also has fueled its embedded finance industry. The combination of an active regulator in the FCA, innovations such as standardized APIs, and the availability of regulatory sandboxes have helped the UK reach a point where analysts believe its embedded finance market alone could double from 6.5 billion pounds ($8.7 billion) in 2024 to 15.8 billion pounds ($21 billion) by 2029. This far surpasses the EU’s embedded finance growth expectations of $194.6 million by 2030.

While fraud and cybersecurity threats are as much a concern in Europe as they are in the UK, the UK’s status as a major international financial hub also means that it suffers from a disproportionately high rate of cybercrime and fraud. Even innovations like Faster Payments have had the unfortunate consequence of making certain types of fraud—such as Authorized Push Payments (APP) scams—easier for cybercriminals to pull off. It is true that the UK does an exceptional job when it comes to fraud reporting; in the UK tracking and analyzing fraud data is more centralized compared to the EU where this data is predictably more fragmented. However, this alone does not account for the difference in fraud rates.

One area of transformation that still haunts much of the UK banking and financial services sector is the reliance on outdated infrastructure. The persistence of outdated core systems significantly limits the ability of banks and other financial services providers to innovate and scale. Successfully modernizing and digitizing their systems is key to enabling them to take advantage of some of the enabling technologies noted here: from AI and blockchain technology to faster payments and tougher cybersecurity protections.

It is true that both the UK and the EU suffer from more mainframe-based core banking infrastructure and layers of middleware than is beneficial to either region’s financial sector. This is especially true when the less developed areas of both—the UK’s north and the EU’s east—are taken into account. What is interesting is that the demand for modernization is greater in the UK, where there is both strong pressure from regulators and from increasingly digitally savvy consumers. The dominance of a few major banks in the UK also puts significant constraints on modernization, and encourages a tendency to innovate and modernize “around the core” rather than engage in wholesale replacement.

Meeting Customer Expectations: Incentivize Innovation, Increase Engagement

The UK banking and financial services customer is sophisticated, digitally savvy, and is willing to experiment with new banking and fintech innovations across payments, lending, investments, and more. Because of this, the UK enjoys a relatively high trust in banks, creating a virtuous circle that, along with these other factors, incentivizes innovation in financial services and a higher degree of engagement among financial services consumers.

As such, it is no surprise that the chief concern for UK banking consumers is financial crime and fraud. If anything, it is refreshing that a population open to new technologies and methods in an area as delicate as finance is similarly focused on ensuring that these new financial products and services are secure. Moreover, because fraud fears are a consistent, but not necessarily dominant concern, it is worth noting that much of what drives concerns over financial crime involve recent developments such as faster payments and greater personalization. In this light, it is clear that the key to ensuring continued adoption of innovations in fintech and financial services—for individuals as well as businesses—lies in a path to adoption that is accessible, transparent, regulated, and safe.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

  • WeLab, a Pan-Asian fintech that operates a number of digital banks in the region, raised $220 million in a debt and equity round involving HSBC and Prudential.
  • Liminal Custody, a digital asset custody firm, joined the Fintech Association of Japan.
  • Temenos and Myanmar Citizens Bank partnered to fortify core banking operations and facilitate real-time payments.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Capital.com secured a license from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
  • Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations de Côte d’Ivoire announced an investment in local fintech GREEN-PAY.
  • US fintech PayServices filed a lawsuit in US federal court against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over a failed banking and payments infrastructure modernization project.

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Payment orchestration platform MoneyHash teamed up with Spare to promote open banking payments in the UAE.
  • Oman’s first licensed payment service provider Thawani Technologies inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Oman-based fintech Monak.
  • Floss, a fintech based in Bahrain, secured a $22 million credit facility arranged by UAE-based investment company Shorooq.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Leading banks in India announced a plan to deploy more than 17,000 ATMs across the country’s banking network to promote cash recycling.
  • Crowdfund Insider looked at how Pakistan’s fintech industry is dealing with a payments ecosytems that is still dominated by cash.
  • TBC Uzbekistan introduced its TBC Plus subscription service to expand its range of financial and lifestyle offerings.

Photo by Deeana Arts 🇵🇷

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook