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

Gwangju Bank and Toss announce stablecoin QR payment PoC

Korea’s Gwangju Bank announced that it had successfully completed proof of concept (PoC) for stablecoin-based QR code payments in partnership with Seoul-based superapp Toss. The PoC linked the Gwangju Bank mobile app, the Toss app, and Toss Place payment terminals. Selecting stablecoin payment in the bank app opens the QR scanner in the Toss app, where the user can scan the QR code displayed on the merchant’s payment terminal to verify the payment amount and complete the transaction.

The demonstrated flow was designed to transfer stablecoins from the customer’s wallet to the merchant’s wallet. The payment result could then be verified in the Gwangju Bank app, completing the app-to-app payment process. The PoC used a virtual merchant, and no actual customer data or assets were involved.

The two entities added that they plan to streamline the process by reducing the number of steps customers must take. The bank and fintech are also discussing a second phase of testing involving actual merchants in the Jeonnam and Gwangju regions.

“The PoC conducted with Toss is significant in that it established a technological foundation to proactively respond to the digital asset payment environment and verified the user experience from a customer perspective,” Gwangju Bank Vice President Byun Mi-Kyung said.

Gwangju Bank is a regional South Korean financial institution and a subsidiary of JB Financial Group. Founded in 1968, the bank reported total assets of approximately KRW 34.4 trillion ($54 billion) at year-end 2025. It operates branches in Gwangju, Jeonnam, Seoul, Incheon, and Seongnam.

Founded in 2015 as a money transfer service, Toss has grown into one of Korea’s leading superapps with 30 million users. Toss offers an ecosystem of more than 100 financial management and e-commerce services, along with more than 10,000 mini apps through its Apps in Toss platform, which runs within the Toss app.

Canton Foundation forges strategic partnership with LG CNS

In a bid to expand institutional adoption of the Canton Network in Korea, the Canton Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with Seoul-based IT services provider and systems integrator LG CNS. Together, the Canton Foundation and LG CNS will develop technical capabilities to support Canton implementation as help build a broader technical partner ecosystem.

“Korea is a critical market for institutional adoption of Canton in Asia,” Canton Foundation Head of APAC Thomas Chou said. “This partnership is about building the market together, combining Canton’s growing institutional ecosystem with LG CNS’s deep technology capabilities and relationships across the Korean financial sector. Together, we aim to help institutions move from identifying opportunities to implementation, while building the broader technical ecosystem needed to support adoption at scale.”

The Canton Network is a public, permissionless blockchain designed specifically for institutional finance, while individual applications can define their own permission requirements. Announced in 2023, the network’s mainnet went live in July 2024. It was designed to balance blockchain transparency with the confidentiality required by regulated financial institutions and markets. Canton operates as a modular blockchain ecosystem in which participating institutions maintain their own ledgers while connecting with others via a shared synchronization layer. Canton’s “network of network” architecture enables real-time secure synchronization and settlement, atomic transactions that ensure that complex exchanges involving multiple parties are completed in full or not at all, and privacy for sensitive financial information.

The partnership between the Canton Foundation and LG CNS will focus on three areas: institutional market development, technical enablement and implementation, and technical partner ecosystem growth. LG CNS has been a major player in Korea’s blockchain-based financial industry since 2015. Beginning with the issuance of blockchain-based electronic securities, the company has built the infrastructure for the issuance, distribution, settlement, and trading of digital assets such as CBDCs, tokenized deposits, security tokens, and stablecoins, as well as digital wallets and KYC systems for financial institutions. LG CNS has also built and operated core systems for major commercial banks, insurers, credit card companies, and securities firms for more than 30 years.

“Financial institutions are increasingly moving from exploring blockchain technology toward practical implementation,” said LG CNS EVP and Head of Digital Business Division Hongkeun Kim. “Through our partnership with Canton Foundation, we look forward to combining LG CNS’s technology and implementation capabilities with the Canton ecosystem to develop meaningful opportunities with institutions in Korea. We also look forward to contributing our experience to the development of a broader technical partner ecosystem that can support institutional adoption over the long term.”

The Canton Foundation is the advocacy and expansion arm of the Canton Network. The organization is dedicated to expanding the network’s reach and promoting broader institutional adoption.

Korea Fintech Industry Association announces new anti-hacking strategy

In response to a series of suspected, AI-assisted cyberattacks and data leaks that struck at least seven major South Korea financial institutions in recent weeks, the Korea Fintech Industry Association brought fintech firms and electronic payment providers together this week to discuss the importance of coordinated data-sharing and early risk checks to enhance their defense against cyberattacks.

Kim Jong-hyun, chairman of the association, said recent cyber incidents should not be viewed as problems affecting individual companies alone, but as threats to public confidence in financial services as a whole. His remarks underscored the need for coordinated information-sharing and greater cooperation with regulators to strengthen security. The chairman also emphasized the importance of building systems that will enable teams to identify risks early and respond proactively.

The discussion also covered the Financial Supervisory Service’s (FSS) IT security self-inspection checklist, which the country’s Financial Services Commission has asked firms to use. The 12-point checklist addresses threat intelligence and blocklists, system abnormality detection, access controls and vulnerabilities, system hardening, and incident investigation.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

• Czech fintech Dateio secured its biggest contract to date thanks to a partnership with ING.
• Bulgaria’s Fibank partnered with Bitpanda Enterprise to integrate crypto investing into its My Fibank app.
• Poland’s mBank introduced BLIK Recurring Payments, the ninth bank in the country to offer the service.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Valley National Bank acquired Israeli fintech Bluevine for $340 million.
• Diebold Nixdorf announced that it will deploy cash recyclers for digital wallet and mobile payments company stc pay Bahrain.
• US-based money transmitter Viamaericas has added Ethiopia and Morocco to its remittance network.

Central and Southern Asia

• TBC Uzbekistan launched its first secured lending product for SMEs.
• India’s Pine Labs introduced a unified payments platform for merchants in Singapore.
• DK Bank to establish a subsidiary in the UAE, becoming the first Bhutanese bank to expand its financial services offering internationally.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Brazilian fintech Asaas raised $55.6 million in new funding to supports its payment, financial management, and credit tools for small businesses.
• SoFi Tech Solutions (formerly Galileo) teamed up with Orbi and Mastercard to launch a crypto-linked card in Mexico.
• Latvia’s Regula and Chile’s Bernini.ai announced a partnership to provide ID verification for AI agents.

Asia-Pacific

• South Korea’s Gwangju Bank and fintech Toss successfully completed a proof of concept involving stablecoin payments using QR codes.
• Vietnam’s MB Bank partnered with OceanBase to modernize its database infrastructure.
• The Korea Fintech Industry Association announced new anti-hacking measures in the wake of series of recent cybersecurity incidents involving financial services companies.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Pan-African payments aggregator PawaPay secured a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license from the Bank of Mozambique.
• South Africa’s WalletDoc launched Visa Payment Passkeys for merchants in the country.
• Pan-African neobank Mukuru introduced its new account and card in South Africa, in partnership with Bank Zero and Mastercard.

Photo by Ayyeee Ayyeee

This week’s edition of Finovate Global features the latest fintech news from Indonesia.

Digital financial platform DANA secures investment

Indonesian digital financial platform DANA has secured an investment from 01Fintech, the growth-stage fintech private equity arm of 01FGroup. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

A leading Indonesian digital e-wallet and financial services platform, DANA serves consumers, merchants, and financial institutions, providing digital payments, QRIS, money transfers, and AI-powered financial solutions. Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Jakarta, DANA supports millions of users in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions of the country, as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially across Tier 2 to Tier 4 regions.

“We are pleased to welcome 01Fintech to DANA’s journey,” company Co-Founder and CEO Vince Iswara said. “Beyond capital, 01Fintech brings specialized fintech expertise, strategic regional connectivity, and a shared commitment to sustainable growth. Together, we remain focused on strengthening our core platform, supporting everyday merchants, and providing trusted financial tools to communities across Indonesia.”

Together, 01Fintech and DANA will investigate ways to create value across the broader financial services ecosystem. These opportunities include expanding credit and capital access for MSMEs, broadening access to financial services via products like micro-insurance and digital savings, and supporting regional connectivity to bring more efficient cross-border payment solutions to Indonesian merchants and consumers.

“Our investment in DANA is grounded in three core convictions: the platform’s exceptional operational discipline, its essential role in empowering local MSMEs, and the team’s unwavering resilience,” said Founder and Managing Partner of 01FGroup Kenny Man. “We are not just capital providers; we look forward to being a long-term partner to DANA as it continues to strengthen Indonesia’s digital financial infrastructure and broaden access to trusted financial services.”

Japanese investor in talks to fund paytech Durianpay

DANA is not the only Indonesian fintech attracting investor dollars right now. Durianpay, a payment infrastructure startup that enables local and international firms to accept payments, automate payouts, and more, has attracted interest from Japanese investors.

According to reporting in Deal Street Asia, the potential funding of the Indonesian payments infrastructure provider is another sign of Japanese investors’ interest in Indonesian fintech. If the investment goes through, the capital is expected to support Durianpay as it expands beyond Indonesia. The funding will also help the company develop new products and services focused on international money movement and digital-asset infrastructure.

“Digital payments in Southeast Asia are poised to grow at 10-13% CAGR for the next few years,” the company noted on its LinkedIn page. “With no clear winners identified yet, we believe the time is right to enter and build mobile-optimized solutions for these markets.”

Durianpay enables connections to more than 20 local payment methods from virtual accounts, e-wallets, cards, QRIS, and more through a single integration. Founded in 2020 and based in Jakarta, the firm serves more than 400 merchants and processes more than five million API requests per day. Durianpay was ranked as the third-fastest-growing fintech in the Asia-Pacific region according to the Financial Times, with an absolute growth rate of more than 1,600%. The company recorded its first full fiscal year of profitability in 2025, processing more than $5.5 billion in total payment volume. In September 2026, the company was named to the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch 2026 list in the finance category.

The challenge of progress: P2P lending in Indonesia

A recent op-ed in Eurasia Review asks an interesting question in the face of rapid technological change: how can value be captured from an economy that moves faster than the state’s capacity to monitor it?

The authors, Andi Mohammad Illham and Andi Mohammad Johan, examine the peer-to-peer lending sector of Indonesia as what they call “a striking case study in the digital age’s most vexing tax challenge.” Through a combination of historical review and statistical analysis, Illham and Johan show how policies in Indonesia that embraced financial inclusion and serving underserved markets combined with a crackdown on the domestic P2P lending industry in China contributed to an influx of Chinese capital, a surge in Indonesia’s outstanding P2P lending debt, and what the authors call “a shadow economy, digitally native, cross-border, and largely invisible to the Directorate General of Taxes (DJP).

The op-ed is an interesting read because it shows how the intersection of policies that encourage and take advantage of greater inclusion—whether they are underserved consumers or capitalists seeking new opportunities—can lead to unintended consequences. The goal of the op-ed is to encourage regulators in Indonesia to look beyond using tax reform to merely close withholding gaps but instead examine the relationships between Indonesian P2P subsidiaries and their parent companies in China. “Until Indonesia extends its reform agenda to the cross-border profit allocation dimension … it will continue taxing only the tip of the value chain,” the authors warn.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Mastercard teamed up with The Mojaloop Foundation and AfricaNenda Foundation to help build more inclusive payment systems in Africa.
• Pan-African payment infrastructure provider Kora launched One Rail to support stablecoin transactions.
• Visa unveiled the sixth cohort of its Africa FinTech accelerator, featuring 21 companies from nine countries.

Central and Eastern Europe

• UniCredit acquired a stake in German fintech VC Trade.
• Latvia’s Atrya Technologies secured a MICA crypto license from Latvijas Banka.
• Czech fintech Flowpay earned Sifted 100’s ranking as the fastest-growing company among 100 tech firms from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Egyptian payments infrastructure provider Paymob raises $35 million in pre-Series C funding.
• Saudi Arabia’s Aljazira Bank partnered with Thunes to enhance its international remittance services.
• Jordan FinTech Academy (Jordan FTA) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the MENA Fintech Association (MFTA).

Central and Southern Asia

• Apple Pay has launched in India via a partnership with Axis Bank.
• Uzbek fintech Alif Moliya announced plans to issue Islamic bonds in Astana
• The Kathmandu Post featured Niraj Sharma, the new CEO of eSewa, the largest digital wallet in Nepal.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Colombian fintech KOA secured $25.6 million via a debt securitization on the Colombian Stock Exchange.
• Venezuelan fintech Fina Partner raised $1 million in seed funding to scale its financial platform for small and medium-sized businesses.
• ColombiaOne looked at the potential impact of a proposed tax reform on the nation’s fintech industry.

Asia-Pacific

• Thailand-based international money transfer firm DeeMoney partnered with SEON to enhance fraud defenses.
• Australia’s WeMoney launched Connect, its AI and open banking-powered lending assessment service.
• MoonPay has officially launched MoonPay Korea in partnership with KakaoBank, Woori Bank, and KB Financial Group.

Photo by kevin yung

This week’s edition of Finovate Global features fintech news from Cambodia.

Cambodia and the UK partner to fight online scams

The UK and Cambodia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) declaring their intent to work together to combat networks of illegal scam centers. The agreement calls for more data sharing and greater coordination against criminal gangs in order to bring scammers to justice. The two countries also noted the role of human trafficking in international financial crime and have pledged to make sure that victims of trafficking are supported as well.

The problem of scam centers is the focus of the agreement, which marks the first time the two countries have established a joint working framework for tackling scam networks. Scam centers and networks have been effective in launching and scaling fraud attacks against thousands of victims simultaneously. These criminals deploy sophisticated tactics to con individuals into sending them money, including romance scams. In some cases, the people carrying out these scams are themselves victims of human trafficking, forced to commit fraud under threat of violence. Many of these scam centers and networks are based in Southeast Asia, which has increasingly become an international hub for this kind of illicit activity.

“Fraudsters don’t respect international borders,” UK Minister for Fraud, Lord Hanson, said. “Over two-thirds of fraud affecting the UK originates overseas so agreements like this are vital to reducing the threat to the public here at home. I’m pleased to have reached this agreement with Cambodia which will strengthen our work to dismantle scam centers and stop these criminals profiting from misery. We will pursue fraudsters wherever they operate from.”

The UK will also help bolster the capacities of Cambodian law enforcement through training in cybercrime investigations, digital forensics, and investigative procedures. The UK and Cambodian governments will also collaborate via the Global Fraud Taskforce, jointly developed by the UK and INTERPOL. This will involve identifying suspects and providing support to operations to dismantle scam centers, as well as tracing and disrupting the financial flows that support them.

UPI acceptance goes live in Cambodia

Through of a partnership between NPCI International Payments Limited, the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India, and ACLEDA Bank, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) acceptance is now live in Cambodia via the country’s own national QR code, KHQR.

The launch, currently in Phase 1, will enable Indian consumers to scan KHQR at more than 4.5 million merchant outlets, allowing them to make secure and seamless QR-based payments at tourist attractions, retail outlets, restaurants, and other businesses using their UPI-powered apps. The next phase of the partnership will enable Cambodian travellers in India to use their Cambodian payment and banking apps at millions of UPI QR-enabled merchant locations throughout the country, creating a bilateral, interoperable payment corridor between the two nations.

“ACLEDA Bank is proud to launch Phase 1 of our cross-border interoperability initiative, enabling Indian travellers to execute secure digital transactions via UPI-enabled applications across our extensive KHQR merchant network,” ACLEDA Bank President and Group Managing Director In Channy said. “This partnership represents a significant achievement in our digital transformation roadmap.”

Officially launched in July 2022 by the National Bank of Cambodia, KHQR made Cambodia one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to deploy a national standardized QR code payment system. The system is widely used in Cambodia; by the end of 2024, banks had onboarded approximately 4.5 million merchant accounts that could accept KHQR payments. KHQR is integrated with Bakong, Cambodia’s national payment system, which was unveiled in October 2020.

“By integrating the payment gateways of Cambodia and India, we are removing transactional friction and foreign exchange volatility for travellers,” In Channy added. “This synergy empowers local merchants by providing direct access to a high-velocity digital market, optimizing liquidity management, and enhancing operational throughput via secure, real-time settlement protocols. Ultimately, this collaboration drives financial inclusion and strengthens the bilateral economic corridor through robust, scalable technology.”

Named Cambodia’s leading bank for trade finance by Global Finance 2025, ACLEDA Bank is one of the country’s largest banks by assets and has a strong standing among rural communities and with small businesses. ACLEDA Bank was founded in 1993 as a non-governmental organization (NGO) that provides microfinance services. The institution became a specialized bank in 2000 and a full commercial bank in 2003. As of 2025, ACLEDA Bank has assets of more than $10 billion.

ABA Bank earns top marks from Forbes

ACLEDA Bank is not the only financial institution in Cambodia making headlines this month. ABA Bank, one of the Big Four Cambodian banks (along with ACLEDA, Canadia Bank, and KB Prasac Bank), was named by Forbes as the country’s number one bank in its World’s Top Performing Banks 2026 ranking. The listing puts the institution at number 31 globally among all Lower Mid-Size Banks, and represents a significant milestone for ABA Bank.

Founded in 1996 as the Advanced Bank of Asia Limited, providing commercial banking services to a small group of corporate customers, ABA Bank today is the largest commercial bank in the country and is recognized as a leader in digital banking. With assets of more than $16 billion and more than five million mobile banking customers, the institution maintains 106 branches, 45 self-service banking locations, and more than 2,000 self-service banking machines.

“This achievement reflects the strength of our business and the consistency of our performance, but it also represents something broader,” ABA Bank Chief Executive Officer Askhat Azhikhanov said. “It is the result of the trust of millions of customers, the dedication of our people, and our continued focus on building a strong, resilient, and forward-looking bank. We are proud to see ABA’s performance recognized on a global stage, and we remain committed to raising the bar even further.”

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Asia-Pacific

• AIFU, a Chinese-based, Nasdaq-listed, AI-powered financial services platform raised $140 million in a private placement.
• 01F Group, via its fintech private equity arm 01Fintech, announced an investment in Indonesian digital financial platform DANA.
• Philippine fintech unicorn Mynt won approval from the country’s stock exchange for a nearly $1.3 billion IPO.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• Uganda-based fintech Algosys agreed to be acquired by Nigeria’s CreditChek.
• South African fintech Mission Mobile raised $30.9 million in growth capital from DN Invest (DNI).
• Nigerian stablecoin infrastructure provider Yellow Card announced its expansion to Canada.

Central and Eastern Europe

• Estonia-based pan-European credit data platform, Mifundo, teamed up with open banking infrastructure provider Yapily.
• Payment app Blackcat and Prague-based non-profit consumer organization Fundurama announced a new partnership.
• Estonian fintech CostPocket agreed to be acquired by Swedish fintech Mynt.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Egyptian payments infrastructure company Paymob raised $35 million in a pre-Series C funding round.
• Fintech Galaxy announced that it has become the first company in Jordan to achieve multi-bank open banking integration and account aggregation.
• The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) announced a new national fintech strategy.

Central and Southern Asia

• Payment technology company EBANX announced its expansion into Pakistan.
• India’s Pine Labs partnered with Google Cloud to build agentic AI infrastructure.
• The Astana Times looked at the role of modernizing financial infrastructure in supporting the country’s growing fintech industry.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Mexico-based financial services company Kapital raised $125 million in combined equity and debt.
• Brazilian fintech NG.CASH secured $15 million to boost access to credit.
• New report from Uruguay-based fintech dLocal emphasized the value of local payment options for consumers in countries in the Global South.

Photo by Nara Tsitra

This week’s edition of Finovate Global features the latest fintech headlines from Germany.

Berlin-based spend management platform Moss raises capital

Germany has a new fintech unicorn.

Moss, a spend management platform based in Berlin, has raised €30 million ($35 million) in Series C funding. The round was led by Portage and Cherry Ventures. It brings the company’s total funding to more than €200 million ($234 million) and gives the firm a valuation of more than €1 billion. The funding will enable Moss to develop additional AI agents to automate financial processes for small and medium-sized companies.

“This round reflects the trust of customers and partners in shaping the future of finance,” Moss CEO and Co-Founder Ante Spittler said in a LinkedIn post announcing the investment. “It allows us to expand beyond spend management and further build out our Finance AI product suite. Soon, Moss will allow customers to configure agents for every finance job while maintaining full control over every step and decision taken. This is Finance AI, shaped by you.”

Founded in 2019 by Spittler, Anton Rummel, Ferdinand Meyer, and Stephan Haslebacher, Moss was among the first fintechs to offer corporate credit cards to German startups. Today, the company combines corporate cards, invoice management, reimbursements, real-time budgeting, and automated accounting in a single platform. Moss leverages agentic AI to automatically categorize and reconcile transactions and reports that its AI agents process more than two million transactions a month.

The investment also paves the way for Moss’ development of what the company and investor Cherry Ventures refer to as Finance AI: “AI that prepares the work, shows its reasoning down to the ledger account, and takes no consequential action without the team’s sign-off,” Cherry Ventures noted in a LinkedIn post. “Moss asked its customers what they wanted from AI and built exactly that, control at every step.” Cherry Ventures was referring to a Moss survey that indicated that 48% of financial leaders identified “control” as their top priority when it came to deploying AI, with only 6% wanting AI to have “full autonomy.”

Moss serves more than 5,000 businesses and generates more than €70 million in annual revenue. In addition to its Berlin headquarters, the company has offices in Tallinn and Amsterdam.

YouLend partners with comrce on embedded capital

Embedded finance platform YouLend and e-commerce software platform for German SMEs comrce have forged a strategic partnership to help small businesses access working capital directly from within their current e-commerce operations. The partnership will combine comrce’s e-commerce platform with YouLend’s embedded finance technology to enable Germany’s 24,000 merchants to explore potential financing options.

“With YouLend, we are expanding our e-commerce offering with a service that can support merchants as they take their next steps towards growth,” comrce Head of Partner Management Amirah Hadry said.

YouLend and comrce have been partners since May, but are just now formally announcing their alliance. The partnership will make information about YouLend financing options available alongside the software and communications channels used by merchants to manage orders, inventory, accounting, and customer service. comrce will direct merchant financing queries to YouLend, which manages the financing process via its digital platform.

“comrce is part of the day-to-day operations of around 24,000 merchants,” YouLend General Manager Europe Leonard Strigel said. “Now, we are bringing them flexible financing options to give them greater access to growth capital. Our partnership demonstrates how embedded financing is incredibly vital to the day-to-day success of small businesses.”

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in the UK, YouLend offers an embedded financing platform that powers e-commerce, payments, and technology firms ranging from Amazon to SumUp. The company operates in more than 11 markets across the UK, EU, and US.

A leading e-commerce software hub, comrce offers specialized e-commerce solutions such as Billbee (automated order processing), Amainvoice (accounting software), Replyco (e-commerce helpdesk), and VentoryOne (inventory management) from a single location. Headquartered in Twistetal, Germany, and founded in 2023, comrce gives retailers an integrated ecosystem for automation, multichannel management, and revenue optimization.

N26 integrates with Instant Payments System Wero

Berlin-based neobank N26 has unveiled its support for Wero, the new pan-European instant payment system, via its mobile app. The launch makes the payment service available to eligible customers in Germany and France, with a gradual rollout to other markets planned for the future.

N26 joined the payment system in December 2025, entering into a strategic collaboration that has culminated in the August launch. Embedding Wero into the N26 app’s native transfer flow will enable users to benefit from a single European payment standard for daily digital transactions. The integration will allow users to send and receive funds instantly with individuals who do not hold an N26 account without requiring bank details or an additional app. Transfers are powered by SEPA Instant and the Wero network and arrive in the recipient’s account in less than 10 seconds.

“Instant payments without an IBAN have been a core N26 feature since our inception,” N26 Chief Product and Business Officer Daniel Lappas said. “With Wero, we’re extending this seamless experience to the broader European banking ecosystem, bringing the simplicity N26 customers already know to even more people.”

A European digital bank with a German banking license, N26 offers secure, digital-native banking to millions of customers across 24 markets. Founded in 2013, N26 offers bank accounts, debit cards, international transfers, savings and investments, and insurance products. Today, the bank holds more than €10.5 billion in customer deposits and reported annual revenue of more than €500 million in 2025, marking the firm’s first full year of net profitability. N26 started the year with the launch of its N26 for under 18s solution, a debit card designed for children aged 7 to 17 and managed via their parent’s N26 app.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

• India-based digital financial services firm Navi secured an investment of $100 million from Dutch asset manager Prosus.
• India’s RazorPay unveiled Vulcan, its AI payments foundational model, powered by NVIDIA and AWS.
• IBS Intelligence looked at how wealthtech is driving growth in India’s fintech sector.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Brazilian digital bank PicPay introduced an integration with ChatGPT, enabling customers to access financial data via generative AI.
• Banco Plata, a Mexican neobank, announced its expansion into Colombia.
• Uber invested in Chilean fintech Galgo to support the firm’s motorcycle financing business.

Asia-Pacific

• Ant International and the Bank of China (Hong Kong) forge strategic partnership to enhance cross-border payments.
• Nexo Australia secured approval to launch crypto-backed credit lines.
• Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank announced a partnership with Ripple to deploy Ripple Payments for cross-border remittances.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• South African payment gateway Onafriq partnered with Dubai-based credit infrastructure company _able and Visa to expand credit access in Africa.
• Nigerian fintech Pouchers raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding to scale its stablecoin-powered cross border payments business.
• Mastercard and Flash teamed up to expand access to digital payments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Central and Eastern Europe

• The European Investment Fund (EIF) has partnered with Polish national development bank, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), to launch a €30 million venture capital fintech fund.
• Berlin-based AI-powered spend management platform Moss raised €35 million in Series C funding, earning a valuation of €1 billion.
• PPRO teamed up with Blik to develop agentic commerce capabilities for local payments in Poland.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Digitally native bank Yomo secured preliminary approval from the Central Bank of Egypt.
• UAE-based payment gateway Telr teamed up with Jordanian commerce platform Jet Application.
• Oman-based bank Sohar International launched its innovation hub to support the country’s fintech ecosystem.

Photo by Meduana on Unsplash

This week’s edition of Finovate Global features recent fintech developments from Egypt.

MNT-Halan Achieves $1.4 Billion Valuation with Latest Investment

An investment from Al Ahly Capital, the investment arm of the National Bank of Egypt, has boosted the valuation of Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan to $1.4 billion. The investment represents the first closing of a new round for the firm; a second closing is expected as part of the ongoing funding. Reports indicate that the company has received an initial infusion of $30 million out of what will be a $70 million-plus funding round. In any event, MNT-Halan noted that the capital will help the company expand its operations in Egypt, as well as support growth in the region.

Currently operating in Egypt, Turkey, and the UAE, as well as in Pakistan, where it owns a bank that serves micro and small businesses, MNT-Halan offers a range of digital financial services including both consumer and business lending, payments, e-wallets, savings, investments, and e-commerce tools. The company achieved unicorn status in 2023, becoming the first Egyptian fintech to earn a valuation above $1 billion.

“While we have partnered with more than 30 Egyptian banks and financial institutions, this is the first time a commercial bank has become an equity partner in our journey, making this a particularly important milestone for us,” MNT-Halan Founder and Chairman Mounir Nakhla said. “Together, we will redefine access to financial services for small and micro businesses, as well as people living in remote towns and villages across Egypt who have historically been underserved.”

Headquartered in Giza, MNT-Halan has more than 1.5 million quarterly active users. The firm has disbursed more than $15.5 billion in loans and served more than eight million customers globally since its founding in 2018.

Telda and Mastercard Team Up on New Integrated Payments Offering

A partnership between Mastercard and Cairo-based financial brand Telda will bring a new integrated financial services solution to consumers in Egypt. The new offering will seamlessly connect everyday payments and investment wallets within the Telda app for an experience that is inclusive, accessible, and integrated.

“By embedding Mastercard’s digital capabilities within Telda’s platform, we are creating a seamless bridge between everyday payments and investment opportunities, empowering users to manage, grow, and access their wealth instantly,” Mastercard Country Manager for Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria Mohamed Assem said. “Together, we are redefining financial inclusion and supporting Egypt’s vision for a fully digital, unified financial ecosystem.”

Designed for Millennials and GenZ consumers, Telda offers an app that enables users to send and request money as easily as sending a text message. The company’s Telda Mastercard can be used online or in-store, as well as to withdraw cash from any ATM worldwide. Telda offers instant payment notifications to keep users apprised of transactions, and spend categorization functionality to help users understand their spending habits better.

“Telda was founded with a bold vision to redefine the financial services experience,” Telda CEO Ahmed Sabbah said. “Today, the integration of daily payments and the investment wallet within a single app through our collaboration with Mastercard marks a significant leap forward, giving individuals immediate control over their money.”

Blnk Secures $37 Million in Funding

Egyptian Buy Now, Pay Later outfit Blnk has raised $37 million in combined debt and equity. The equity component, led by Algebra Ventures and featuring participation from SANAD Fund for MSME, Endeavor Catalyst, and Emirates International Investment Company, amounted to $12.5 million. Debt facilities from local banks, totaling $24.6 million, completed the round.

“This new round of funding positions us to strengthen our profitability—expanding our reach, diversifying our offerings and doubling down on our commitment to unlocking financial access for millions of consumers in Egypt and beyond,” Blnk Co-founder and CEO Amr Sultan said.

Blnk offers inclusive financing programs for all Egyptians, less than 4% of whom have access to credit cards. This means that many Egyptians can only afford to buy products with cash or after borrowing money from hard money lenders at high interest rates. In response to this, Blnk’s point-of-sale financing options offer instant approvals in minutes and allow borrowers to apply with just their National ID and mobile phone number at the stores they are already shopping at.

“Since our seed round in 2022,” the company noted on its LinkedIn page earlier this week, “Blnk has grown to serve more than one million customers, built a loan portfolio exceeding EGP 1 billion, and reached profitability in 2025. Today, 75% of our customers were previously unbanked or underserved, while more than 35% are women.”

Blnk’s approach to financial risk assessment relies on dynamic, data-driven risk maps. The company’s proprietary AI analyzes hyper-local variables to identify patterns that guide precise credit decisioning. Blnk also leverages specialized machine learning models to provide real-time, precise Probability of Default (PD) predictions which support instant credit decisions with risk-based pricing.

Founded in 2020, Blnk is headquartered in Giza.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

• Montevideo, Uruguay-based cross-border payment company Bamboo teamed up with Swedish payment network Centiglobe to streamline cross-border B2B and B2C payments throughout Latin America.
• Mexican fintech Clip unveiled its digital wallet ecosystem Mi Clip.
• The Fintech Times looked at the current fintech landscape in Costa Rica.

Asia-Pacific

• Singapore-based payments and treasury management platform Sunrate introduced Sunrate.AI, a new category of AI-native global payment infrastructure for complex enterprise workflows.
• Three Japanese banks—MUFC, Mizuho, and Sumitomo Mitsui Bank—announced plans to issue a Yen-backed stablecoin in 2026.
• XTransfer, a cross-border financial and risk management service company based in Shanghai, inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Societe Generale.

Sub-Saharan Africa

• South Africa-based payments service provider (PSP) Kwik Payments has gone live on the ACI Payments Orchestration Platform.
• MTN Group Fintech, the fintech arm of African telecom MTN Group, announced a strategic partnership with Ant International to enhance mobile money services.
• A new proposal from Kenya’s legislature, Finance Bill 2026, could bring additional tax reporting and compliance requirements for virtual asset providers and digital payment platforms.

Central and Eastern Europe

• Estonian white-label banking platform Wallester has been granted a license from the FCA to enable the firm to expand to the UK.
• Lloyds Banking Group secured approval from the Bank of Lithuania to acquire electronic money institution Curve Europe.
• The Fintech Latvia Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK’s Innovate Finance to foster knowledge exchange and joint business initiatives.

Middle East and Northern Africa

• Securities finance technology company EquiLend partnered with Saudi Arabia’s alrajhi capital.
• The Times of Israel looked into reports that Canadian paytech Nuvei is considering a $2.7 billion acquisition of Israel-based Payoneer.
• Abu Dhabi-based Deem Finance formed a strategic partnership with embedded finance firm Yusr.

Central and Southern Asia

• India’s PhonePe launched SmartPages, an AI-powered payment page creator.
• Crowdfund Insider looked at the importance of regulatory clarity in supporting fintech innovation in Pakistan.
• US-based P2P payments service Zelle announced plans to expand to India.

Photo by Roaming Pictures on Unsplash