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GRAB TO BUY MAJORITY STAKE IN SOFTBANK-BACKED ATOME FOR ABOUT $1.5B

Grab agreed to acquire a 60% stake in Atome Financial for $1.49 billion in cash, giving it control of the SoftBank-backed consumer finance company.

WELLS FARGO BRINGS INTERNATIONAL MONEY TRANSFERS TO MOBILE APP

Wells Fargo announced the nationwide launch of ExpressSend Mobile, bringing its international money transfer service into the Wells Fargo Mobile app.

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OPENAI TARGETS WALL STREET JUNIOR BANKER WORK WITH CHATGPT FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES

OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Financial Services, a finance-specific version of ChatGPT Work built with design partners Morgan Stanley and Evercore, using GPT-6 Astra and native data access from LSEG, Daloopa, Crunchbase, and PitchBook. The product is aimed at investment banking and equity research workflows like company research, financial analysis, M&A target evaluation, spreadsheet work, and pitchbook generation, raising questions about how Wall Street will train and staff junior bankers as AI automates more analyst-level tasks.

ROBINHOOD WINS A NEW ROLE IN THE OURA IPO: UNDERWRITER

The retail brokerage's first official underwriting assignment could help it secure more shares for individual investors, who are often left with limited allocations in popular public offerings. Robinhood ranks last among the deal's 18 banks, so its initial influence may be modest, but the move positions it to play a larger role as a wave of high-profile listings approaches.

CHIME TO BUY NATIONALLY CHARTERED STRIDE BANK FOR $590 MILLION

Chime is acquiring longtime banking partner Stride Bank for $590 million, giving the fintech a faster path to owning its banking infrastructure than pursuing a new charter. The deal will bring Stride's balance sheet in-house, support Chime's expansion into lending, and is expected to generate more than $100 million in net synergies. Chime also raised its full-year revenue outlook to 26%-27% growth.

THE AI-PILLED SOFTWARE FACTORY

AI-native companies are not just giving employees access to ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot, but building “software factories” where employees across product, sales, marketing, and finance can safely create and propagate software. The durable advantage is the harness layer: context, permissions, evaluations, model routing, memory, and governance that let the company see more, build faster, spread best practices, remember lessons, and notice important signals without waiting for a human to ask.

NUBANK TAKES ON AMERICA

Nubank went live in the US today through partner Lead Bank while it waits on its full OCC charter (conditional approval came in January). The Nu Account pays 3.5% APY, rising to 4.5% on balances up to $10k if you hold the credit card and use it three times a month. The credit card has no annual fee and 1.5% unlimited cashback, with a route to 2%. Transfers to Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia are free from day one.

AI AGENTS ARE LEARNING TO SPEND MONEY. WHO WILL HANDLE THE PAYMENTS?

As AI agents move from recommending products to completing purchases, payment providers are developing infrastructure that lets software transact autonomously within user-defined limits. Mastercard is extending traditional payment rails to machines, while Coinbase's x402 protocol and XDC enable agents to pay for APIs, data, and computing power with USDC, including transactions worth fractions of a cent. Adoption remains early, but backing from Visa, Stripe, Google, AWS, and others suggests agent payments could become a major battleground between card networks and stablecoin-based systems.

BLOCK APPLIES FOR OCC CHARTER TO LAUNCH DIGITAL ASSET TRUST BANK

Block has applied for an OCC charter to launch Builders Bank & Trust, a national trust bank focused on digital asset custody and fiduciary services. If approved, the charter would bring Block's growing Bitcoin and stablecoin operations under a single federal regulatory framework, avoiding the patchwork of state licenses and further integrating crypto infrastructure with the regulated banking system.

US BANK LAUNCHES USBDC STABLECOIN

US Bank launched USBDC, a proprietary US dollar-backed stablecoin, and completed a live cross-border pilot transaction between North American and European entities on the Stellar blockchain. The pilot validates the bank's internally built Digital Asset Platform, including minting, redemption, freezing, and clawback capabilities, positioning US Bank to explore on-chain use cases like liquidity management, collateral mobility, and cross-border treasury operations while keeping traditional banking controls in place.

72% OF US CONSUMERS HAVE USED AN AI ASSISTANT – VISA TRUST INDEX

According to the research, which collated data from 2,000 US consumers earlier this year, 72% of consumers have used an AI assistant. However, only 23% of participants trust generative AI (GenAI) to make payments on their behalf.

BLIK RECORDS FIRST AGENTIC PAYMENT TRANSACTION

Polish mobile payment network Blik has run its first agentic payment transaction, under which a user authorised an agent to search for a specific product and pay for it when it became available.

PAYPAL CEO PLANS FOR A FIX

PayPal CEO Enrique Lores is trying to repair the company by reorganizing it into three units: branded checkout, processing and Venmo, and consumer financial services. His plan centers on clearer accountability, $1.5 billion in run-rate savings, potential acquisitions, more consumer financial services such as BNPL, and modernizing PayPal's fragmented technology stack after years of acquisitions, as the company faces pressure from commoditized checkout, Venmo competition, and weaker investor confidence.

NASDAQ TO INVEST $100M IN KRAKEN PARENT TO DEEPEN TOKENIZATION PUSH

Nasdaq's venture arm agreed to invest $100 million in Payward, Kraken's parent company, as part of a broader push to build regulated infrastructure for tokenized equities. The companies plan to launch Nasdaq Equity Tokens on Payward's xStocks platform in Q2 2027, aiming to let tokenized assets trade and settle outside traditional market hours while preserving shareholder rights, compliance, and market safeguards.

FINTECHS CONQUERED PAYMENTS IN INDIA. NOW THEY'RE EYEING CREDIT

Indian fintechs are shifting from UPI payments into digital credit, with leaders arguing the credit opportunity could be more than twice the size of the payments market. PhonePe, Google Pay, BharatPe, Amazon Pay, and others are using transaction data, e-commerce behavior, and broader digital footprints to underwrite small consumer and MSME loans, targeting a market where only 15% of adults have formal credit access, and most small businesses still rely on informal financing.

SYNCTERA BECOMES A MONEY SERVICES BUSINESS, MAKING A LONG-TERM BET ON BAAS

Synctera has registered a subsidiary as a money services business, allowing it to take on more anti-money-laundering compliance and regulatory reporting for select bank-fintech partnerships.

SAM ALTMAN CONFIRMS OPENAI WON'T GO PUBLIC THIS YEAR, SAYING AN IPO NOW WOULD COME AT AN ‘ILL-ADVISED MOMENT' GIVEN AI SAFETY CONCERNS

Sam Altman says the company needs more time to address AI safety and alignment before facing the pressures of public markets.

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RAMP IN TALKS FOR NEW FUNDING AT $60B VALUATION

Ramp is reportedly discussing a new funding round at a $60 billion valuation, up from $44 billion just a few months ago and $13 billion in March 2025. The company has surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue, says transaction volume is growing more than 170% year over year, and is leaning on AI-driven expense, procurement, and model-spend management as a major part of its growth story ahead of a potential IPO.

CHIME AGREES TO ACQUIRE STRIDE BANK FOR $590M

Chime agreed to acquire longtime partner Stride Bank for $590 million in cash, giving the fintech a national bank charter and bringing banking infrastructure in-house under the future Chime Bank, N.A. The deal is expected to be immediately accretive and generate more than $100 million in net synergies through lower partner-bank fees, cheaper funding, and expanded lending, while giving Chime tighter control over product development, compliance, and its balance sheet.

BLOCK APPLIES FOR FEDERAL TRUST BANK CHARTER

Block filed with the OCC to establish Builders Bank & Trust, an uninsured national trust bank that would provide custody and fiduciary services for assets including bitcoin and stablecoins. The move would give Block a federal framework for certain digital asset activities and adds it to a growing group of fintech and crypto companies seeking national bank charters.

PAYPAL HELPS DEVELOPERS BUILD APPLICATION-SPECIFIC PYUSD-BACKED STABLECOINS

PayPal is working with crypto specialists MoonPay and M0 on an infrastructure platform that lets developers create application-specific stablecoins backed by PYUSD. Launched in 2023, PYUSD is PayPal's own dollar-backed stablecoin, issued by Paxos Trust Company, a federally regulated national banking association. The new platform, called PYUSDx, aims to help developers launch application-specific stablecoins quickly while leveraging the core foundation of PayPal's established token.

DATA CENTER SPENDING TO REACH $32T BY 2050, PWC SAYS

PwC projects that meeting global demand for artificial intelligence will require $31.6 trillion in infrastructure investment through 2050, potentially rising to $50 trillion if adoption accelerates. The US is expected to capture nearly half of the capital, while recurring replacements of chips and other hardware will account for most of the investment. Access to reliable electricity and semiconductors will ultimately determine which regions benefit most.

DEFI: ROBINHOOD'S LEADING LAUNCHPAD STAPLED $5B OF MEMES TO STOCKS

Pons, a meme-token launchpad on Robinhood Chain, pairs new tokens against tokenized Robinhood stock tokens instead of crypto, making it the top fee-generating protocol in DeFi at $1.45M/day. The structure mirrors Olympus DAO's 2021 bonding trick, using real equity exposure as collateral to give meme coins a quoted price, with one case pushing a wrapped HIMS token to $132 versus a $28 real close.

VISA BRINGS ONCHAIN LENDING INTO EVERYDAY PAYMENTS

Visa is combining VisaNet settlement data with blockchain lending infrastructure to help stablecoin-linked card programs and fintechs access working capital, using real-time payment performance to support underwriting, collateral management, and automated repayment. The model is already live with Credit Coop, which has financed more than $2.5 billion of settlement volume with zero defaults, as Visa expands its broader stablecoin strategy across settlement, card programs, and digital asset infrastructure.

ION PARTNERS WITH COINBASE TO SUPPORT KALSHI'S EVENT CONTRACTS

ION announced that Coinbase selected its XTP for Event Contracts platform to support clearing and back-office processing for Kalshi's prediction market contracts. The partnership gives Coinbase real-time infrastructure for contract creation, resolution, settlement, high-volume onboarding, and 24/7 automated processing, with XTP already supporting Kalshi's first one million Super Bowl weekend trades.

US BANK PILOTS CUSTOM-BUILT STABLECOIN

US Bank has executed a live intrabank pilot transaction between North America and Europe that utilized the bank's proprietary US dollar-backed stablecoin, USBDC.

SPLIT PAY RAISES $125M TO BRING NET-30 FINANCING TO RENT

Split Pay raised $125 million from Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, and Max Levchin to let renters defer up to half of a bill for 30 days, charging 2% of the full bill plus $10 per month with no interest or late fees. The bigger bet is underwriting: Split Pay says its non-FICO model uses 50,000 variables and has achieved a 97.5% repayment rate across $350 million of originations, using rent as a high-frequency wedge to build a richer cash-flow dataset and eventually expand into broader consumer credit.

AFTER $240M BITCOIN THEFT, CRYPTO SCAMMERS' SPENDING SPREE COMES TO AN END

A group of young hackers allegedly stole more than 4,100 bitcoin by impersonating Google and Gemini representatives and manipulating a wealthy investor into revealing his security codes. Their extravagant purchases, including luxury cars, private jets, mansions and a $569,000 night out, helped attract attention before investigators traced the scheme through an exposed IP address. Eighteen people have been charged, with alleged ringleader Malone Lam expected to become the eleventh to plead guilty.

SAVVY WEALTH RAISES $100M SERIES C LED BY HALO FUND

Savvy Wealth raised a $100 million Series C led by Ryan Smith and Ryan Sweeney's Halo Fund, bringing total funding to more than $200 million. The AI-native RIA now supports 150+ independent advisors overseeing $9 billion in client assets, is approaching $100 million in ARR, and is positioning itself as an alternative to private-equity-backed RIA consolidation by giving advisors AI-powered operating infrastructure without requiring them to give up independence.

HEDGE FUND MANAGER BUILDS TRADING FIRM POWERED ENTIRELY BY AI AGENTS

Former crypto hedge fund manager Brian Kelly built Bracket22 around specialized AI agents that handle functions such as technical analysis, quantitative strategies, and workflow coordination, cutting his estimated annual labor and compute costs from roughly $5 million to $30,000 to $40,000.

FELIX PAGO RAISES $200 MILLION TO PUSH PAST REMITTANCES

The company plans to introduce lending, savings, and an AI financial assistant for Latin American immigrants living in the US.

CONSUMER TRUST IN AGENTIC PAYMENTS CONTINUES TO LAG

While consumers are increasingly using AI across the shopping journey, only 23% of US consumers trust GenAI to handle payment transactions on their behalf.

REVOLUT WINS CONDITIONAL US BANKING LICENSE

Revolut received preliminary approval from the OCC for a national bank charter, moving it closer to launching a full-service American bank in the first half of 2027. The fintech plans to invest about $95 million in the Connecticut-based operation, which would offer checking accounts, loans, credit cards, foreign exchange services, and potentially a stablecoin, pending approval from the FDIC and Federal Reserve.

LEBRON JAMES TEASES PARTNERSHIP WITH POLYMARKET

LeBron James teased an upcoming partnership with Polymarket, with a broader football-focused campaign expected to be announced soon as prediction markets deepen their ties with athletes, teams, and leagues. The deal adds another major sports figure to the sector's marketing push, though terms were not disclosed and NBA rules limit players' financial interests in wagering-related businesses.

AI OUTAGES RIPPLE THROUGH BANKING SECTOR, RAISING RESILIENCE QUESTIONS

Simultaneous disruptions at Anthropic, OpenAI, Grok, and Gemini exposed the limits of relying on multiple external model providers. Banks are considering locally hosted models, interchangeable infrastructure, degraded operating modes, and manual fallbacks to keep critical systems running when providers fail.

INSTINCT MADE THE CONSUMER AGENT FEEL REAL

Instinct is the first consumer AI agent that makes the shift from apps to agents feel tangible, using persistent context and delegated actions to handle tasks like bookings, appointments, and purchases without forcing users through individual websites or apps. The bigger implication is a new distribution channel where businesses need to make themselves reliably callable by consumer agents, with identity, permissions, payments, liability, and recourse becoming core infrastructure while wallets like Stripe Link sit between agent intent and merchant checkout.

THE INCUMBENTS ARE COMING

Amble argues that AI may strengthen incumbent systems of record because they control the data, permissions, and actions that general-purpose agents increasingly rely on, but that the full customer job usually spans multiple systems and organizations. The best opportunity for vertical AI startups is in high-frequency, judgment-heavy workflows where they can own more of the end-to-end job, build tighter expert learning loops, and become better at producing the actual outcome than either the incumbent's agent or a general-purpose model.

AI IS READY FOR FINANCE, BUT MANY FINANCE TEAMS AREN'T

For finance leaders, the AI conversation has reached a tipping point. The question of whether AI should have a role to play in finance has moved on (the answer is yes), and we're now seeing professionals working on making sure their operations are mature enough to scale AI effectively.

RAMP EXPANDS INTO AI EXPENSE MANAGEMENT WITH ROUTER

Ramp is extending its expense-management platform into AI cost control with Router, a tool that directs workloads across models based on factors such as price, latency, and benchmark performance while giving finance teams visibility into token spend and the rationale behind each routing decision. Ramp sees AI usage becoming a standard corporate expense category, with companies increasingly applying the same budgeting, controls, and ROI discipline to model spend that they already use for travel, software, and other operating costs.

ANTHROPIC LAUNCHES AI AGENT BLUEPRINTS FOR RETAILERS AHEAD OF HOLIDAY SEASON

Anthropic released blueprints to help retailers, travel companies, and ticketing platforms build shopper and merchant agents on Claude, as AI-driven commerce becomes a growing source of high-intent traffic. Anthropic says early partners have seen 30% to 35% larger carts and roughly 60% higher purchase completion, while merchant agents can also help optimize inventory, pricing, and marketing without autonomously completing transactions.

FOUR MAJOR AI MODELS SUFFER RARE OVERLAPPING DOWNTIME

ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini all experienced service interruptions within a few hours Thursday morning, disrupting products operated by four competing companies. No common cause was identified, making the near-simultaneous failures an unusual reminder of how dependent businesses have become on a small group of AI providers.

INSURERS ARE RETRAINING AI, INSOURCING DATA TO REGAIN CONTROL

Insurance companies including MSI, American Growth Insurance, and VIPR Solutions are bringing more data operations in-house after early vendor-led deployments produced inconsistent results. By training models on carefully governed, company-specific information, insurers hope to improve accuracy, limit hallucinations, and maintain greater oversight of automated decisions.

TABAPAY RAISES $155M AS IT MOVES INTO BANKING

TabaPay raised $155 million in strategic growth financing from FTV Capital as it prepares to acquire Transact Bank and rebrand it as TabaBank, bringing banking and payments capabilities under one corporate structure. The company, which expects to process more than $100 billion this year, plans to use the bank to expand sponsor banking, card sponsorship, acquiring, and access to rails including RTP, FedNow, ACH, and wires while continuing to work with its existing bank partners.

PAYPAL PAUSES VENTURE CAPITAL PORTFOLIO SALE AFTER LOWBALL OFFERS

The payments giant shelved plans to offload roughly $900 million to $1 billion in startup investments after bids topped out at just 60 cents on the dollar.

ANTHROPIC EXPANDS CREDIT FACILITY TO $15 BILLION AHEAD OF MEGA IPO

Anthropic is increasing its revolving credit facility sixfold, from $2.5 billion to $15 billion, as it prepares for a potential IPO.

5 QUESTIONS EVERY PAYMENT PRODUCT MANAGER SHOULD ASK ABOUT CHECKOUT PERFORMANCE

Checkout is the last step in the funnel and the costliest one to get wrong.