Fintech | Embedded Finance | E-commerce

I am a fintech enthusiast and product leader passionate about crafting simple solutions for complex problems. I have successfully launched several products in the payments and fintech space, consistently driving growth for early-stage startups and enhancing customer satisfaction for established ventures. Additionally, I run the Fintech Wrap Up newsletter, sharing the latest industry news and insights, and serve as a pro bono peer mentor in product management, demonstrating my commitment to giving back to the community.

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭-𝐭𝐨-𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐂𝐆

Can you differentiate the types of payments or how they happen?

In 2024, real time payments represented around one quarter of all global retail payments. More than 70 countries now operate real time rails, although adoption looks very different from market to market. Some countries still treat A2A as a simple bank utility that powers peer to peer transfers. Others have turned it into a national digital backbone where banks, fintechs, and merchants build entire ecosystems.

A few examples show what strong policy, clear rules, and smart product design can unlock:

-> India’s UPI processes more than 19 billion transactions every month.

-> Brazil’s Pix serves over 160 million users.

-> Poland’s Blik drives more than 60 percent of all e commerce payments in the country.

-> Spain’s Bizum has grown to 29 million users and continues to expand.

These systems scaled fast at home. The next phase is taking them across borders.

Cross border instant payments could become a real alternative to correspondent banking and SWIFT based transfers. BCG estimates they could capture up to 30 percent of transaction related revenue pools across major remittance and trade corridors.

But here is the challenge: card networks run on global rails, and A2A systems do not. Every country operates its own scheme rules, its own infrastructure, and its own risk framework. Connecting them requires deep coordination between central banks, regulators, and payment operators.

The good news is that real progress is happening.

A few promising initiatives

• UPI International is already live in Singapore, Sri Lanka, UAE, France, and several others. More than 10 new markets are on the roadmap.

• Pix is preparing cross border corridors with countries such as Uruguay and Argentina.

• Europe is exploring EuroPA and Wero, which would use SEPA Instant and TIPS to enable a unified wallet based payments experience across the region.

• Project Nexus by the BIS proposes a hub and spoke model that removes the need for each country to integrate directly with every other country. India, Singapore, and Thailand are early adopters.

• Hosted or indirect access models are growing. For example, BNY connects into Australia’s New Payments Platform through Commonwealth Bank to enable instant cross border payouts.

Traditional systems like SWIFT GPI have pushed the industry toward faster and more transparent cross border transfers. Making instant payment schemes interoperable could take it even further by settling transactions in seconds, reducing costs, and shifting global flows to modern real time rails.

What happens next depends on sustained collaboration. Technology alone will not deliver global instant payments. Policy alignment, governance, and shared standards will determine how far the world can go.

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Sam Boboev

Founder & CEO at Fintech Wrap Up | Payments | Wallets | AI

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚, 𝐊𝐫𝐨𝐨 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 

They completed the first commercial Variable Recurring Payment (cVRP) powered by Visa A2A - ahead of its rollout across the UK.

If you’ve ever wondered how “smart” recurring payments will work in the open banking world — here’s the explainer 👇

👉 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗩𝗥𝗣?

Think of a cVRP as the next evolution of Direct Debits — but powered by open banking.

Instead of giving merchants permanent pull access to your account…
You grant them controlled, variable access (e.g., “you can take my monthly bill, but cap it at £150”).

That means you stay in control — you can set limits, revoke permission anytime, and see every transaction in real time.

👉 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗔𝟮𝗔 𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻

The biggest blocker for cVRPs so far? No commercial model. No trustmark. No consumer protection.

Visa A2A fixes that by combining:

✅ Open banking rails (instant payments via Faster Payments)
✅ Card-like protections (dispute resolution + “Secured by Visa” trustmark)
✅ Standardised rules across banks and payment initiators
So you get the speed of open banking with the safety of Visa — something the industry has been waiting for.

👉 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗩𝗥𝗣 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱

Here’s what happened in the first transaction 👇

1. Tink initiated the payment request and verified funds.
2. Kroo Bank authenticated the user and approved the transfer, sending the payment in real-time
3. Visa A2A facilitated liability, risk, and dispute frameworks.
4. Utilita Energy (the energy provider) demonstrated how customers connect their bank account to the Utilita app, set up a payment mandate, and how payments are received in real-time.  

End result: a real-time, secure, recurring bill payment — no direct debit delay, no surprises.

👉 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

For consumers → more control, visibility, and get your money back when things go wrong.

For merchants → faster settlement, easier reconciliation, protection for their business. .

For banks & fintechs → a scalable open-banking use case with trusted rails.

It’s a small step — but one that could finally make open banking mainstream.

🚀 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁?

Visa plans to roll out Visa A2A across ecommerce, bills, subscriptions, and beyond. If successful, it might soon transform how we manage recurring payments — making them as transparent, flexible, and user-friendly as the everyday digital experiences we already rely on.

𝗧𝗟;𝗗𝗥:

cVRPs = Smart Direct Debits.
Visa A2A = Open banking with a safety net.
Together = A serious contender for the future of UK payments.

👉 Subscribe for more insights https://lnkd.in/d94JgWBU

#fintech #payments #visa #ad

🚨 BREAKING 🚨: Visa & Mastercard’s Deal Could Change Credit Card Rewards

So, Visa and Mastercard are finally close to ending a 20-year legal battle with U.S. merchants — and if this deal goes through, it could change how your credit card rewards actually work.

Here’s the gist: both companies would lower interchange fees — that’s the fee merchants pay every time you swipe your card — by about 0.1% over the next few years.

And they’d also give merchants more freedom to decide which cards they accept.

That means a store could say yes to basic Visa cards, but no to those premium rewards cards that charge higher fees.

Good news for merchants trying to cut costs… but maybe not great for anyone chasing travel points or cash-back rewards.

This case actually started back in 2005, when merchants accused Visa and Mastercard of anti-competitive practices. A previous deal was rejected earlier this year, but this one looks closer to final.

If approved, it could reshape how we pay — and how much value we get from our credit card perks.

It’s one of those quiet shifts that could have a very loud impact on your wallet.

Today I took a step that feels both exciting and terrifying.

After almost seven years working in the fintech industry, I made the decision to leave my full-time job and focus fully on building my own media venture.

Fintech Wrap Up started as a side project. I worked on it late at night, on weekends, during flights and in between meetings. I never imagined it would grow into a community of people who trust my voice and look for clarity in a very noisy industry.

But the more I learned, the more I realised something important. Customer acquisition is hard. Brand trust is hard. Reaching the right audience is hard. I felt it myself for years.

So I am choosing to build something that helps solve this. I want to help fintech, payments, crypto and banking teams reach a real audience, tell their stories with confidence, and grow in a smarter way.

I am excited. I am scared. But I am ready.

I am also opening up to collaborations and conversations with brands that want to connect with this audience in a meaningful way. And I will start creating more video content to share insights and stories that matter in our industry.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me. This is the start of a new chapter.

𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐅𝐗𝐂 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞

For years, people in crypto kept repeating the same line: “stablecoin payments are far cheaper than fiat.”

Meanwhile, people in payments kept shaking their heads. Now that I spend my days comparing both worlds for Fintech Wrap Up, I finally understand why.

Here is the truth: the on-chain part can be cheaper, but the real cost sits in the entire stack around it. Let me break it down.

🔹 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡

When people say stablecoin transfers are cheap, they usually talk about gas fees.

On Ethereum, gas has two parts:

• Base fee: automatically set by the network.

• Priority fee: the “tip” that helps your transaction get in faster, often set by wallet algorithms.

Both go up when the network gets busier, and that can take the total from cents to several dollars. None of this fee stays with the network. The base fee is burned. The priority fee goes to validators.

You must keep ETH to pay these fees even if you are sending USDC. That alone adds operational friction for companies processing transactions at scale.

🔹 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝

Ethereum still handles most USDC and USDT volume. Not because it offers bargain pricing, but because liquidity is deep. If you move large amounts, liquidity matters more than headline fees.

But other chains are fighting back with lower fees and incentives. You see this especially across emerging markets where stablecoin rails have real margin opportunities.

🔹 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Layer 2 networks like Base or Arbitrum charge three different fees:

• Execution fee

• Layer 1 data fee (to post data back to Ethereum)

• Sequencer fee

Even with this, the total cost is often far lower because transactions are bundled into rollups before hitting Layer 1. I expect most stablecoin volume to shift here over time.

🔹 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐡

Gas fees are just the inner layer. The full stablecoin payment includes:

• On-ramp fee

• Provider or PSP margin

• Liquidity provider or market maker spread

• Treasury and treasury movement fees

• Off-ramp fee

Once you add this up, stablecoins are not always cheaper than fiat, especially in developed markets. But in emerging markets, the economics can be very attractive.

🔹 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭

For the next six months, the real competition will not be Ethereum vs Solana. It will be:

• Which chains can sustain low costs without heavy incentives

• Which PSPs build true end-to-end stablecoin rails

• Where liquidity naturally consolidates

• How quickly Layer 2 rollups mature.

𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐈

I just finished reviewing the new MIT Technology Review Insights paper on how banks are adopting agentic AI, and it confirmed something many of us have been sensing already.

👉 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.

𝟏. 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭

Seventy percent of banking executives surveyed said they are already using agentic AI in some form. Sixteen percent are in production. Fifty two percent are piloting. Only two percent are not using it at all.

For a sector that usually moves slowly on emerging tech, that kind of adoption curve is rare.

𝟐. 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬

The top two areas where banks say agentic AI is highly capable are fraud detection and security. More than half the leaders surveyed rate their systems as performing strongly in both areas.

It makes sense. Fraud teams deal with high volume, fast response times, and very high stakes. Agentic systems that continuously monitor behaviors, spot anomalies, and quarantine threats before they spread are a perfect match.

𝟑. 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨

From mortgage underwriting to small business lending to dispute resolution, banks are finally using AI to remove friction instead of creating more of it. One example in the report describes mortgage underwriting going from weeks of manual data stitching to near real-time decisions with humans still in the loop.

That is a practical example of what agentic processes can look like today.

𝟒. 𝐅𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰

Only 38 percent of executives say agentic AI is ready to operate fully autonomously in digital environments. And only seven percent feel confident about physical-world autonomy.

The current adoption pattern looks more like the “AI intern” model cited by HSBC’s Ian Glasner. The system handles the repetitive tasks. Humans supervise the important ones. Autonomy grows as confidence grows.

𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥

The top challenges banks reported are governance, risk, compliance, and a lack of technical talent. In other words, the biggest barriers are organizational and regulatory, not the algorithms.

Poor data quality is also a major issue. Large banks sit on fragmented data sets scattered across hundreds of systems. Without strong lineage, access controls, and integration, agentic AI will always be limited.

Download the report in the comments!

#fintech #ai #banking

Reimagining the future of banking with agentic AI

NORBr — thanks for adding me to the Payment People 2025 list.

If you want to deepen your understanding of how money moves, how products are built, and where the industry is heading, follow the people on this list. It’s a mix of founders, operators, analysts, and creators who consistently share insight, not noise.

Grateful to be included and excited to keep contributing to the ecosystem.

#fintech #payments #banking

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐯𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐚 - 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬

What company do you think is leading? Do you think new technologies e.g. AI, stablecoins and etc will disrupt these giants?

✅ Visa

- Fiscal Fourth Quarter Net Revenue: $10.7 billion, up 12% year-over-year.

- Full Year Net Revenue Growth: 11% year-over-year.

- Fiscal Fourth Quarter EPS: Up 10% year-over-year.

- Full Year EPS Growth: 14% year-over-year.

- Total Full Year Payments Volume: $14 trillion, up 8% year-over-year in constant dollars.

- Processed Transactions: 258 billion, up 10% year-over-year.

- Commercial Payments Volume: $1.8 trillion, up 7% year-over-year in constant dollars.

- Visa Direct Transactions: 12.6 billion in full year 2025, up 27% year-over-year.

- Value-Added Services Revenue Growth: 25% in constant dollars to $3 billion in Q4.

- Operating Expenses Growth: 13% in Q4.

- Stock Buyback: Approximately $4.9 billion in Q4.

- Dividends Distributed: $1.1 billion in Q4.

- Remaining Buyback Authorization: $24.9 billion at the end of September.

- Q1 2026 US Payments Volume Growth: 7% through October 21.

- Q1 2026 Processed Transactions Growth: 9% year-over-year through October 21.

- Q1 2026 Cross-Border Volume Growth: 12% year-over-year through October 21.

✅ Mastercard

- Net Revenue Growth: Up 15% overall, with value-added services and solutions net revenue up 22% on a non-GAAP currency neutral basis.

- Operating Expenses: Increased 14%, including a 1 percentage point increase from acquisitions.

- Net Income and EPS: Net income increased 8%, EPS increased 11% to $4.38, including a $0.10 contribution from share repurchases.

- Share Repurchases: $3.3 billion worth of stock repurchased during the quarter, with an additional $1.2 billion through October 20th, 2025.

- Gross Dollar Volume (GDV): Increased 9% year over year on a local currency basis.

- Cross-Border Volume: Increased 15% globally for the quarter.

- Switch Transactions: Grew 10% year over year in Q3.

- Card Growth: 6% globally, with 3.6 billion Mastercard and Maestro branded cards issued.

- Operating Income: Up 15%, including a 1 percentage point headwind from acquisitions.

- Tax Rate: Higher than expected due to a discrete tax expense, with a non-GAAP tax rate around 21% for Q4.

👉 Subscribe for more insights https://lnkd.in/d94JgWBU

Image source: App Economy Insights

#fintech #cards #payments

𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐯𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 - 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚

Stablecoins are reshaping how money moves — but not all stablecoins play by the same rules.

To understand where this space is heading, we need to talk about open and closed loop ecosystems.
---

👉 CLOSED LOOP

Think of a closed loop as a private payment network. Money moves fast — but only within the system.

Platforms like PayPal’s PYUSD or a crypto exchange’s in-house stablecoin operate this way.

Transactions settle instantly inside their network, but moving funds out often means going through fiat rails (ACH, SWIFT, or cards).

✅ Pros:

* Faster, controlled environment

* Easier compliance and fraud monitoring

* Predictable user experience

🚫 Cons:

* Limited interoperability — can’t freely move between platforms

* Reliant on centralized control

* Harder to integrate into broader DeFi or fintech stacks

In short, closed-loop stablecoins are efficient — but isolated.

---

👉 OPEN LOOP

Now picture an open loop ecosystem — where stablecoins move freely across networks, wallets, and banks.

That’s the vision behind USDC, EUROC, and other blockchain-based stablecoins integrated with fiat rails like FedNow, RTP, or ACH.

Here, a stablecoin can flow from a wallet to a business bank account or a DeFi protocol without friction.

✅ Pros:

* Borderless, programmable, and composable

* Encourages innovation across DeFi and fintech

* Bridges the gap between digital and traditional finance

🚫 Cons:

* More complex compliance and fraud-monitoring challenges

* Requires deep interoperability between stablecoin and fiat infrastructures

As Astra notes in its research, stablecoins will only truly succeed when fiat and digital dollars feel like the same currency.

That means unified ledgers, instant settlement, and shared infrastructure between both worlds.

---

👉 Why This Matters

Right now, most stablecoins live in silos. To reach mainstream adoption, we need bridges — not just exchanges.

The future isn’t stablecoins vs. dollars — it’s stablecoins and dollars, working together on fast, secure, compliant rails.

👉 Subscribe for more insights https://lnkd.in/d94JgWBU

#fintech #payments #stablecoins #digitalassets #crypto

Founder at Fintech Wrap Up | Payments | Wallets | AI

After following Backbase’s work and speaking with teams in the industry, it is seems clear that banks are moving beyond basic chatbots. They are starting to use AI that can actually complete tasks and support real operations.

I just published the latest edition of Fintech Wrap Up, where I break down a topic that is becoming important for the future of banking: Agentic AI.

👉 In this edition, I explain:

• How AI agents review documents, start workflows, and prepare cases for employees
• Why banks are shifting from small pilots to AI that works across multiple processes
• How conversational banking could allow customers to simply ask for what they need
• What this means for efficiency and day to day operations

If you want a clear view of where banking is heading with AI, the new deep dive is now available.

Happy to hear your thoughts.

#banking #ai #agenticai

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞

I have been spending a lot of time studying how agentic commerce works in real payment flows. The more I dig into it, the clearer one thing becomes.

We are entering a world where agents handle the entire customer journey, but merchants receive less data than ever before.

The diagram above illustrates the core issue.

- Agents collect everything needed to initiate a transaction.

- Networks validate and tokenize it.

- PSPs authorize it.

But somewhere in the middle, the merchant loses the context that used to fuel fraud prevention, approval intelligence, customer understanding, and loyalty strategies.
_____

👉 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬:

- Agents know who triggered the purchase

- Networks know how the token was created

- Merchants only see the final token and amount

That missing context is the blind spot.
_____

Why this matters for the ecosystem

👉 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝:

- Identity and verification signals

- Purchase mandates

- Agent identification

- Purchase limits and intent

- Payment credential metadata

Without it, fraud gets harder, approvals suffer, and personalization becomes guesswork.
_____

👉 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬

- The flow shows a way to preserve privacy and automation while still restoring visibility.

- The idea is simple.

- When agents collect and validate this data, it should not disappear once the token is created.

Merchants and PSPs should be able to receive the contextual elements required to understand the transaction and manage risk.
____

👉 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰

- As agentic commerce scales, data will not just move through APIs.

- It will move through agents.

- If we do not solve the visibility gap now, merchant intelligence will decline just as automation is rising.

I think this will become one of the biggest topics in payments over the next 12 to 18 months.

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Adapted from VGS

#agenticcommerce #payments

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲

I have been thinking a lot about how financial services are changing. The biggest shift today is not only about technology. It is about where value gets created. We are moving from institutions that owned products to platforms that orchestrate outcomes.

In consumer finance, platforms already lead the experience. Chime for deposits. Venmo for payments. Wise for cross-border. Robinhood for investing.

In business finance, software is becoming the front door. Toast, Jane, Brex and Ramp embed payments, cards and credit directly into workflows. Stripe and Adyen have turned acquiring, issuing and treasury into API-first building blocks.

Banks still power the regulated rails behind all this. Deposits, lending, settlement. But the customer relationship is shifting to the platforms that own the journey. Finance used to be a destination. Today it is embedded in apps, marketplaces and conversations.

Think about Uber. Drivers can hold and spend earnings inside the app without touching a traditional bank. Or Starbucks, where customers preload billions of dollars that behave like deposits. These platforms do not simply process payments. They own the experience and the data.

👉 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬.

Today, most banks are organised around internal products. Deposits, lending, payments, wealth. Customers come to the bank to use them.

Tomorrow, the same capabilities will be distributed across platforms. Financial services will show up inside the digital places where people live and work.

👉 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Ecosystem banking is how banks use their scale and trust to create and capture value in the platform economy. It means delivering financial capabilities directly inside the experiences that customers already use.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦.

• White-labeled infrastructure providers power services behind the scenes.

• Branded partners provide visible, integrated services inside external platforms.

• Full platform owners combine both the financial capability and the customer experience.

A simple example is the home buying journey. A customer starts on a real estate platform. Before visiting a single property, the platform offers mortgage tools powered by partner banks. The customer compares rates, gets prequalified and initiates an application in one place. Once an offer is accepted, insurance, title and closing processes follow behind the scenes. After the purchase, the homeowner can manage their mortgage and related services inside the same platform.

The customer never opens a separate banking portal. But every step is powered by the bank’s compliance, credit engines and secure data flows.

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Adapted from Zafin

#fintech #banking

Revolut Launches Fee-Free Fiat-to-Stablecoin Conversions

Revolut has unveiled a new feature allowing users to convert fiat currencies into stablecoins without fees, marking a bold move into digital assets. This initiative positions the neobank as a bridge between traditional finance and crypto, offering users seamless access to stablecoins like USDC and USDT. It’s part of Revolut’s broader strategy to expand its crypto offerings and enhance cross-border payment flexibility. The launch reflects growing consumer demand for low-cost, borderless financial tools. By eliminating conversion fees, Revolut strengthens its competitive edge against both banks and crypto-native platforms. This move could significantly accelerate mainstream stablecoin adoption among everyday users.

#fintech #crypto #stablecoin

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐔𝐏𝐈'𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭

Let's dive in: 👇

🔹 1. Built for Scale

Most payment systems evolve reactively — scaling after demand grows. UPI was built the other way around — for the future, not the present.

Its Active–Active–Active (AAA) architecture runs across three data centers, each capable of handling 200% of live transaction volume.

That means if one site fails, the system doesn’t even flinch — transactions auto-route instantly.

Every node is monitored, self-healing, and horizontally scalable — making it ready to handle a billion transactions per day without breaking a sweat.

🔹 2. Security You Don’t See — But Always Feel

UPI’s design eliminates traditional vulnerabilities like card skimming or data leaks.

Every transaction validates your device + SIM as the first factor, and your UPI PIN as the second.

Under the hood, NPCI runs ML models (random forests, boosting, auto-encoders) to detect anomalies in real time — and even uses graph technology to map and predict fraud patterns across the network.

The result?

A fraud detection framework that’s faster, smarter, and cheaper than traditional card systems.

🔹 3. Open Source

UPI was built on open-source software and APIs, giving fintechs a free, level playing field. No licensing fees. No vendor lock-in.

That’s why you now see banks, wallets, and even small fintech startups building layers on top of UPI — from credit and insurance to gaming and investments.

This open architecture is what fuels the innovation flywheel. When infrastructure is open, creativity compounds.

🔹 4. Collaboration

Unlike most systems dictated by regulators, UPI’s evolution is co-created with its ecosystem — banks, PSPs, fintechs, and regulators.

Every new feature — like AutoPay, Credit on UPI, or UPI Lite — goes through shared sandboxes, collective testing, and zero-touch rollouts.

This collaborative model means faster adoption, fewer bugs, and ecosystem-wide readiness from day one.

🔹 5. When Payments Fail (and They Sometimes Do)

UPI turned even dispute resolution into a digital experience. “UPI Help” lets users raise and resolve issues directly within the app — no branch visits, no support calls.

In August 2025 alone, 6.7 million disputes were resolved end-to-end through this online system — proving that digital trust isn’t just built through speed, but also through reliability and transparency.

🔹 6. Privacy

Unlike cards or net banking, where every transaction reveals your account details, UPI follows “minimum data capture and data dispersion.”

No single entity — not even NPCI — has the full picture. Your transaction trail is split between banks, TPAPs, and PSPs — making centralized profiling nearly impossible.

It’s as close as digital payments can get to cash-level privacy.

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Source: BCG & The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

#fintech #payments #UPI

🚨 PAYMENTS: VGS is Offering 3DS through Single API Integration to Reduce Fraud and Lift Approval Rates for Online Payments Globally

VGS, the world’s leader in tokenization and a leading card management platform, is excited to announce its offering of 3D Secure (3DS) in a single API integration. VGS’s 3DS capabilities enable card networks and issuing banks to authenticate shoppers in real-time, helping merchants reduce fraud, minimize chargebacks, and increase authorization rates while preserving a fast, low-friction checkout experience.

3DS is not only an essential fraud-prevention tool but also a regulatory requirement in many countries worldwide. The offering reflects VGS’s ongoing commitment to giving businesses control, flexibility, and visibility over their payments infrastructure, without locking companies into third-party ecosystems.

VGS’s approach to payment security centers on centralization and simplicity. Through a single integration, businesses can access a suite of essential capabilities, including Network Tokens, Account Updater, Card Attributes, and now 3D Secure (3DS), all with a unified platform. Merchants also experience flexibility by having the ability to route transactions to any PSP, independent of where 3DS authentication takes place, while maintaining full ownership of the authentication responses and data.

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Source: Business Wire

#fintech #payments #fraud

Checkout.com just dropped some huge Black Friday numbers.

🔹 62 percent year on year growth in ecommerce volume across their network over the BFCM weekend.
🔹 More than 5.2 billion dollars processed.
🔹 Almost 100 million transactions.
🔹 And uptime at 99.999 percent with an average processing time of 304 milliseconds.

This is what peak season readiness actually looks like.

A few patterns caught my eye:

• Global online spending across the weekend was up 36 percent vs the same October weekend.
• Black Friday alone hit 1.6 billion dollars in TPV with a late night surge at 11pm. Spending jumped 85 percent in that single hour.
• Cyber Monday kept the tempo. Checkout recorded 32,900 transactions per minute at the peak.
• Electronics and appliances more than doubled in volume with a 109 percent uplift.
• Singles Day is becoming a serious signal. Volume was up 50 percent year on year.
• And here is the interesting part. One in three shoppers planned to use an AI agent to hunt for deals and 19 percent already use AI tools to find discount codes.

Curious to see how many providers can keep this performance curve going into next year.

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𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲’𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭 — 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 🇩🇪

Mobile banking in Germany is no longer just about checking balances or moving money — it’s becoming a full-blown digital ecosystem.

According to Optima Consultancy’s German Mobile Banking App Review 2025, the shift is clear:

🔹 𝟏. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 “𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫-𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐬”

Banks are turning apps into lifestyle hubs — integrating travel, shopping, and even mobile connectivity. Revolut now offers eSIMs for travel data; Lloyds integrates with Booking com. The goal? Make your banking app the one app you never leave.

🔹 2. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐔𝐗

After Google and Apple updated their ranking algorithms, app performance now directly impacts discoverability. A crash or lag can literally drop your app down the charts. Banks that prioritise reliability over novelty are winning.

🔹 𝟑. 𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞

AI-powered experiences are becoming the default — from BBVA’s “discreet mode” that hides your balance in public, to fully conversational interfaces where users simply ask, not tap. The next frontier? Agentic UIs that understand context and act on intent.

🔹 𝟒. 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐀𝐩𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞

Discovery itself is shifting. Ask ChatGPT “What’s the best banking app in Germany?” — and it recommends C24, N26, Sparkasse, ING. AI agents are becoming the gatekeepers of digital trust and visibility.

🔹 𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

Fintechs average 91 app features vs. 57 for traditional banks — especially in budgeting, card control, and personalisation. But legacy players are catching up fast, with ING, Sparkasse, and BBVA accelerating update frequency and feature parity.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲?

The mobile banking app is the bank now — and the next competitive edge lies at the intersection of AI, trust, and seamless experience.

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#fintech #banking #mobilebanking

German mobile banking app review 2025

Visa Launches Stablecoin Payout Pilot to Accelerate Payments for Creators and Gig Workers

Visa has announced a major leap forward in digital payments with the launch of its stablecoin payout pilot, aimed at transforming how creators, freelancers, and gig workers access their earnings worldwide. Through its Visa Direct platform, the initiative enables real-time payouts in USDC stablecoin, combining the speed of blockchain settlement with the reliability and compliance of Visa’s global network. This move bridges traditional finance with Web3 infrastructure, offering near-instant payments that bypass the delays and costs of conventional banking rails.

The pilot directly addresses a major challenge in the global gig economy — slow, high-fee cross-border transactions — by allowing workers to receive funds in minutes rather than days. Beyond faster payments, it expands access to the financial system for unbanked or underbanked users in emerging markets, helping democratize digital earnings. 

The initiative also underscores Visa’s strategic shift toward tokenized money and programmable payments, showing how stablecoins can power real-world financial use cases at scale. As stablecoin regulation matures and blockchain infrastructure strengthens, Visa’s pilot positions the company at the forefront of digital asset integration in mainstream finance. It’s a bold step toward a more inclusive, efficient, and borderless payment ecosystem.

#fintech #payments #crypto

𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬

Buying crypto directly inside a Web3 app has always been painful. You would sign up, verify your identity again, move funds from an exchange, wait for confirmations, and then swap. Most people gave up long before any tokens arrived.

Chainlink and Mastercard are changing that.

Their new integration lets anyone use a credit or debit card to buy crypto directly onchain. No jumping between apps. No bridging. No complicated flows. Just a simple card checkout that becomes tokens in your wallet.

And this could finally bring everyday users into DeFi.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰?

-> Chainlink provides the secure data and transaction routing.

-> Mastercard provides the payment network.

-> zerohash handles compliance and crypto conversion.

-> DEXs handle the final onchain swap.

It is an end-to-end flow that feels familiar to billions of cardholders while staying fully onchain.

----

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧?

People understand card payments. They do not understand seed phrases, bridges, or liquidity routing. This removes the biggest adoption barrier.

🔹 More Liquidity Flows Into DeFi

If users can go from card to tokens in one step, activity naturally grows across DEXs, stablecoins, and onchain apps.

🔹 A Cleaner, Safer User Experience

Chainlink removes the risk of insecure frontends. Mastercard handles trusted payment processing. The flow is regulated, compliant, and predictable.

🔹 Stronger Institutional Confidence

A global card network integrating with onchain rails signals that crypto payments are moving from experimentation to infrastructure.

----

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

-> Compliance and KYC requirements vary across regions.

-> Pricing and fee structures need to stay competitive with exchanges.

-> DeFi apps must design safer, clearer UX for card-to-chain flows.

-> Merchant and developer adoption will take time to scale.

----

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤

Payments are the biggest entry point into the onchain economy. According to McKinsey, global digital payments revenue will pass 3 trillion dollars by 2028. Tapping even a small part of that flow would reshape DeFi’s liquidity and user base.

This is one of the most practical steps yet toward mainstream onchain adoption.

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Adapted from Chainlik

#crypto #fintech #payments

Let’s learn how Visa sees AI-initiated payments evolve

Visa envisions the evolution of agentic payments in four stages — each building on the last, from AI acting as a smart advisor to becoming an autonomous orchestrator of transactions.

1. AI Recommends

This is where we are today. AI tools like ChatGPT serve as intelligent advisors, providing tailored suggestions based on prompts, preferences, and previous interactions. Users ask for purchase ideas or comparisons, and AI offers recommendations — but it doesn’t yet execute payments.

At this stage, AI helps users make smarter spending decisions, identify cost-effective merchants, or choose better delivery options. For instance, OpenAI’s shopping results in ChatGPT display product carousels with prices and direct merchant links. It’s advisory — the user still completes checkout manually.

2. AI Initiates

Here, AI agents begin to take action. They can interact with eCommerce platforms to initiate checkout processes, though users must still confirm and authorise each payment.

This is where OpenAI’s Operator or early browser-based agents come in — simulating user behaviour to perform tasks on their behalf. While still in beta and not fully reliable, these prototypes mark a shift from advice to execution.

This stage also introduces integrations via plugins and APIs, setting the groundwork for what Visa calls Agentic Commerce — the first wave of AI-initiated payments.

3. AI Transacts

In this phase, AI gains conditional autonomy. Agents could complete low-risk, repetitive purchases within predefined limits — like renewing subscriptions, paying for cloud credits, or restocking office supplies.

The system would handle payments end-to-end, provided parameters (amount, merchant type, frequency) are pre-approved. Human oversight remains, but manual steps shrink.

4. AI Orchestrates

The final stage is where things get truly transformative. Here, AI agents independently manage complex workflows across platforms — planning, executing, and optimising in real time with minimal human input.

Examples include:

- A travel agent planning and booking an entire trip, comparing prices and options.

- A personal-shopping bot purchasing the best-value sneakers from multiple sites.

- A marketing agent dynamically buying ads based on live keyword pricing.

- A logistics bot handling vehicle maintenance and repair payments automatically.

At this point, AI stops being a tool and becomes an operational layer of commerce — orchestrating purchases, subscriptions, and services across ecosystems.

By understanding these stages — Recommends, Initiates, Transacts, Orchestrates — we can better frame what’s next: AI evolving from a helpful assistant to an autonomous participant in the economy.

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#Fintech #payments #AI

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