Fintech Payments Trends and Funding
Card networks, real-time rails, stablecoin settlement, and the processors moving money between them. Every entry cites its primary source.
More: Banking · Crypto and Stablecoins · Lending · Investing · Insurance
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Swift Extends ISO 20022 Structured Address Migration Deadline
Swift has formally granted an extension past the November deadline for banks to migrate from unstructured to structured postal addresses in ISO 20022 payment messages, following broad industry requests. Operators running cross-border payment infrastructure need to revise…
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Stripe Acquires AI Gateway OpenRouter in $7B Deal
Stripe has agreed to acquire OpenRouter, an AI model routing platform, for $7 billion, per Bloomberg. The deal signals Stripe embedding AI infrastructure directly into its payments stack, with implications for how payment platforms monetize and route AI-driven transaction flows.
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Ant International Closes $1.2B Series A for Cross-Border Payments Expansion
Ant International, Alibaba's global payments arm, raised $1.2 billion in a Series A equity round to scale cross-border payment infrastructure and agentic commerce capabilities. A raise of this size from an operator with established transaction volume signals a significant…
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PayPal Board Rejects $53B Stripe-Advent Takeover Offer as Undervalued
PayPal's board formally rejected a ~$53 billion acquisition bid from Stripe and Advent International submitted July 15, calling it inadequate — a response that keeps the deal alive for renegotiation on price and structure. For payments operators, a Stripe-PayPal combination…
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Deluxe to Acquire Payments Processor Celero Commerce for $625M Cash
Deluxe has agreed to buy Canadian payments processor Celero Commerce for $625 million in an all-cash deal, combining Deluxe's legacy payments infrastructure with Celero's modern acquiring stack. Operators should note the ongoing consolidation among mid-tier payment processors…
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Adyen Acquires Enterprise Billing Platform Orb for $335M
Dutch payments processor Adyen has agreed to buy enterprise billing platform Orb for $335 million, its second acquisition in recent months as it pushes deeper into corporate billing infrastructure. Operators should note Adyen consolidating the billing layer alongside core…
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Colorado Gov. vetoes law barring swipe fees on taxes
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature last month that would have barred banks and credit card companies from charging interchange fees on taxes, arguing that the bill would create too much legal risk for businesses and consumers.
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Paxos gets green light to settle securities on blockchain
Paxos has become the first blockchain-native firm to be approved by US regulators to provide clearing and settlement services by the SEC.
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Visa Aims at the Real Virtual Card Bottleneck: Suppliers Who Will Not Take Them
Visa is folding its Accounts Receivable Manager into the Commercial Solutions Hub, so eligible issuers get virtual card processing and reconciliation through one integration when it arrives in September 2026, at no added cost. AR Manager already runs in 69 geographies. The…
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General Catalyst just led a $63M bet on India’s travel payments market
Scapia, an Indian startup that combines travel booking with co-branded credit cards and mobile payments, said the deal doubles its valuation.
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NMI Acquires Dwolla to Add A2A, FedNow and Payout Rails
NMI acquired Dwolla, adding API-first account-to-account payments, real-time payments, FedNow connectivity, open banking and payout capabilities to its embedded payments platform. NMI says the combined business processes close to $700B in annual transaction volume; financial…
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Appeals judge sends Illinois interchange case back to district court
A Seventh Circuit ruling remanded the challenge to Illinois' interchange-fee law, keeping the payments fight active ahead of the July 1 effective date.
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Brazil central bank prohibits crypto use in regulated cross-border payments under new FX rules
The rule forms part of the central bank's broader effort to bring cross-border payments fully inside the regulated FX system.
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US Treasury unveils proposed stablecoin rules targeting money laundering, sanctions
The U.S. Treasury's sanctions agency and its financial crimes bureau released a joint rule proposal for stablecoin issuers.
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Reserve Bank of Australia to introduce caps on interchange fees
The Reserve Bank of Australia is to ban merchant surcharging and cap interchange fees in an effort to boost competition in the payments sector.
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KUBRA sells to REPAY for $372 million
REPAY (NASDAQ:RPAY) acquires KUBRA in a $372 million deal, with FT Partners serving as financial advisor. KUBRA is a customer communications and payment solutions provider.
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EU, UK and Switzerland issue T+1 testing plan ahead of joint move on 11 October 2027
The EU T+1 Industry Committee, UK Accelerated Settlement Taskforce and Swiss Securities Post-Trade Council outlined testing logistics, scenarios and readiness metrics to help firms de-risk the transition.
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Mastercard to offload Nets payments unit bought for $3.2bn - FT
Mastercard is trying to find a buyer for the real-time payments business it acquired for $3.2 billion from Danish outfit Nets in 2019, according to the Financial Times.
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Silverflow — Series B
Cloud-native payment processor Silverflow raises $40M Series B led by Picus Capital. Nearing 1B annual transactions, 1.75M daily.
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Visa Pays $1.5B for Argentina's Prisma, Its Biggest Bet Yet on Issuer Processing
Visa bought 100% of Prisma Medios de Pago and Newpay in Argentina for $1.5 billion cash in February 2026, disclosed in its Q3 FY2026 10-Q. Prisma runs credit, debit and prepaid card issuer processing; Newpay operates real-time payments, the Banelco ATM network and the…
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PicPay raises $434 million in IPO
Brazilian digital payments platform PicPay completes its IPO raising $434 million, with FT Partners serving as IPO advisor and co-manager.
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Credit Key — Growth
B2B embedded payments platform Credit Key raises $90M growth capital from Barings. Embeds into merchant checkout to offer business buyers net terms and flexible repayment.
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Juspay — Series D
Payments infrastructure provider Juspay raises $50M Series D at $1.2B valuation from WestBridge Capital. Processes $1T+ annualized TPV across 300M+ daily transactions.
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FIS Closes $13.5B TSYS Purchase, Splitting the Payments Stack With Global Payments
FIS completed its acquisition of Global Payments' Issuer Solutions business — the former TSYS — on January 12, 2026, at $13.5 billion enterprise value and roughly $12 billion net after $1.5 billion in tax assets, and closed ahead of schedule. FIS simultaneously sold its…
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FedNow Volume Surges 645% YoY, Crosses 1,000 Institutions
FedNow daily transactions grew from 3,657 to 27,239 — a 645% year-over-year increase. Over 1,000 financial institutions across all 50 states are now live, signaling the shift from pilot to production.
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Intermex — M&A (Acquisition)
International Money Express acquired by Western Union at ~$500M ($16/share, 72% premium). Enables remittances from US, Canada, and Europe to 60+ countries.
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Ramp — Series E-2
AI-powered corporate spend management raises $500M at $22.5B valuation led by ICONIQ Capital. 40,000+ customers including Shopify and Notion. Now cash-flow positive.
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Quavo — Growth
Dispute management platform for banks and fintechs secures $300M from Spectrum Equity. Automates 12.5M+ consumer disputes annually. Back-office payments infrastructure.
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Bilt — Series D
Rent payments loyalty platform raises $250M at $10.75B valuation (3x in one year), co-led by General Catalyst and GID. United Wholesale Mortgage invested $100M as strategic partner.
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Airwallex — Series F
Cross-border payments platform raises $300M at $6.2B valuation. $720M annualized revenue, $130B+ annual payments volume. Backed by DST Global, Salesforce Ventures, Visa Ventures.
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AvidXchange — M&A (Take-Private)
AP automation leader AvidXchange taken private by TPG and Corpay at $2.2B ($10/share, 45% premium). FT Partners advised since 2009 across 16+ transactions including 2021 IPO.
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Plaid — Late-Stage
Financial data infrastructure provider raises $575M in common stock at $6.1B valuation (down from $13.4B peak). Led by Franklin Templeton with BlackRock, Fidelity, NEA, and Ribbit Capital.