Latest news headlines: Finextra Research

AI-led RegTech startup Zango raises $4.8 million

London-based Zango AI has raised $4.8 million to overhaul financial compliance systems with AI agents.

45 mins

Fintech M&A picks up pace

Consolidation in the fintech sector is happening at pace, with disclosed deal value for transactions over $100 million in the first half of the year already close to double the total for all of 2024, according to new analysis from investment bank Artis Partners.

58 mins

/retail

Swedbank acquires digital mortgage brand Stabelo

Swedbank has acquired Stabelo, a tech-led mortgage business with a focus on younger, more digitally-aware customers.

1 hour

/payments

Yonder launches debit cards

British credit card rewards startup Yonder has launched its first premium debit cards.

10 hours

/payments

Pan-African card scheme launches

The first Pan-African card scheme has launched in a move designed to bolster the continent's financial sovereignty.

10 hours

/retail

Natech secures $33 million ahead of launch of Greek digital bank

Greek core banking vendor Natech has completed a Series B capital increase, securing over $33 million in growth funding.

21 hours

/ai

AI agent running vending machine business has identity crisis

An AI agent running a small vending machine company tried to fire its workers, became convinced it was a real person, and then lied about it in an experiment at Anthropic.

21 hours

/security

CommBank deploys batallion of AI-powered bot profiles to chat with scammers

Australia's CommBank is turning the table on scammers, launching a fleet of thousands of AI-generated bot profiles to engage with and disrupt criminal networks fleecing consumers.

30 June 2025

/payments

Tapi buys Mastercard’s Arcus assets for Mexico push

Argentinian payments processor tapi has acquired the utility payments and cash handling operations of Mastercard's Mexican business Arcus.

30 June 2025

/payments

UK tribunals rules Visa and Mastercard fees breach competition law

The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal has ruled that Visa and Mastercard's multilateral interchange fees charged to retailers breach European competition law.

27 June 2025

/regulation

Belgium prosecutors launch probe into local Worldline unit

In the wake of allegations about payments processor Worldline earlier this week, Belgian prosecutors have opened an investigation into potential money laundering activities at the firm's local unit.

27 June 2025

/retail

South African fintech Lesaka to buy Bank Zero

Lesaka Technologies, the South African fintech firm formerly known as , is set to buy South African digital-only institution Bank Zero Mutual Bank in a deal worth R1.1bn (US$62m).

27 June 2025