Athia, DEUNA’s AI, Unveils Real-time Payment Optimization for Higher Profits
Weekly news up to Thursday, 13th of March 2025.
😎 SPONSORED CONTENT
Power your FinTech, bank, or brand with full-service embedded banking—seamless account funding, transfers, payouts, and issuing, all backed by enterprise-grade risk management and compliance. Simplify operations, reduce costs, and launch faster. Find out more today.
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
The banking-as-a-service space took a hit last year when Synapse collapsed. But that hasn’t stopped BaaS startup Synctera from raising another $15 million in funding, it tells TechCrunch exclusively.
Synctera works to provide companies “of all shapes and sizes with everything they need to launch and operate FinTech and embedded banking products,” including: accounts, cards, and payment products, said CEO and co-founder Peter Hazlehurst.
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🇺🇸 NATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Papaya Global adds Citi as sponsor bank.
⭐️ Athia, DEUNA’s AI, unveils real-time payment optimization for higher profits.
⭐️ Introducing Pre-Chargeback Alerts: Minimize disputes before they become chargebacks.
⭐️ Greek FinTech Viva Wallet seeks end to long-running JP Morgan legal battle.
FINTECH
FIS launches Treasury GPT, a pioneering AI-based product support tool for the treasury industry. The tool uses Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service for enhanced data and risk management, and quickly generates responses on queries about product usability, client configuration, policies and best practices for use of the solution.
Astrada emerges from stealth to unveil a unified API for transaction data that offers the infrastructure, compliance, and workflows that software companies need to offer bring-your-own-card functionality. Using its API, software companies enable businesses to enroll Visa or Mastercard cards and track spending in real time.
Curve halves losses as it pauses US operations and prioritises fundraising. Curve’s auditors agreed with the directors’ assessment that the company will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. However, directors do note that further fundraising will be required to sustain normal business operations.
Conotoxia files complaint against Poland in the US. The firm has notified US law about alleged criminal offenses committed by employees of the Polish financial regulator KNF and various local prosecutor's offices. It claims they abused their power and deliberately acted to harm the international Conotoxia Holding group, causing estimated losses of “at least several billion Polish zlotys.”
The British FinTechs hoping to crack America. Revolut and Monzo face steep challenges in a complex regulatory environment and competitive retail banking sector. Revolut’s US Chief Executive, Siddhartha Jajodia, says the country is “critical” for its ambition to be a “global bank.” Monzo Chief Executive TS Anil agrees.
Digits debuts AI Accounting Tool and welcomes Xero Co-Founder. The new offering is designed to automatically categorize transactions, reconcile accounts, and deliver real-time financial insights. In addition to the new product launch, Digits said it has named Craig Walker to its leadership team.
PAYMENTS
Intuit QuickBooks enables Tap to Pay on iPhone for small and mid-market businesses to accept contactless payments. With this added functionality, QuickBooks customers can access even more ways to seamlessly manage their business finances, get paid faster, and unlock their growth path.
CRYPTO
Crypto Exchange Kraken preparing for IPO in 2026. The exchange is seeking to go public as soon as the first quarter of next year, amid a friendlier regulatory climate in the U.S. Click here for more info
Winklevoss Twins’ Gemini files confidentially for IPO. The crypto exchange and custodian is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. on the offering. The firm is considering going public as soon as this year.
Coinbase CEO Armstrong says he'll hire 1,000 in U.S. as the crypto tide turns. Brian Armstrong said his U.S. exchange is planning to hire a thousand people because of the policy progress the industry seems to be making at the beginning of President Donald Trump's second term.
Coinbase is launching 24/7 and Perpetual Style Futures in the US. 24/7 Bitcoin provides traders with uninterrupted access to manage risk and seize opportunities, similar to the crypto market. The company is also developing a Perpetual-style Futures Contract, addressing a key product that traders have been missing.
Robinhood fined $29.75M by FINRA for compliance failures. The regulatory authority found that Robinhood did not properly manage its system for processing trades, even though there were clear signs of delays due to a surge in trading activity.
PARTNERSHIPS
Ingo Payments partners with Securely to deliver real-time merchant settlements with advanced ledgering and payment capabilities. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for both companies as Securely™ partners to bring Ingo’s full-service embedded banking platform to the market, combining proven payment infrastructure with an innovative approach to real-time merchant settlement through advanced ledgering and diverse payment options.
Splitit partners with Highnote to enable installment payments for digital wallet credit cards and merchant endpoints. This allows shoppers to use an existing credit card at checkout. Splitit’s unique installment payment option will now be available through a digital wallet at the point of sale.
Affirm launches BNPL partnership with resale marketplace StockX. The partnership lets shoppers choose Affirm’s biweekly or monthly payment plans at checkout, choosing custom payment plans that meet their needs. Discover more
Dwolla partners with Plaid to future-proof pay by bank payments. The payments solution will integrate Plaid's instant account verification into Dwolla's pay by bank platform. This will enable customers to onboard with Plaid through Dwolla’s Open Banking Services, creating a modern A2A payment offering for mid- to enterprise-sized businesses.
DONEDEAL
Zolve, a neobank for global citizens moving to the US, raises $51M and secures $200M debt. With the funds, it aims to increase these numbers by introducing loans, starting with auto loans and gradually expanding to personal and education loans.
M&As
Coinbase announces key acquisition to enhance privacy efforts on Base. This acquisition aims to develop privacy-preserving technologies, enhancing user confidentiality within the Coinbase ecosystem. Keep reading
Finovifi acquires Modern Banking Systems to expand core banking capabilities. This will enrich the suite with AI-driven banking operations, secure cloud-native solutions, and API connectivity with “enhanced compliance and real-time payment capabilities”.
MoneyLion to hold special stockholder meeting on proposed acquisition by Gen Digital. The special meeting is to consider and vote on the proposal to adopt the merger agreement in connection with the proposed acquisition. It will be held on April 10, 2025
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Green Dot CEO leaves as firm explores strategic options. The digital bank announced that CEO and President George Gresham has stepped down from his roles and the Board of Directors. William I. Jacobs has been appointed as the interim CEO.