ANNOUNCEMENTSBank of America expanded its artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, and now holds nearly 1,100 patents in these areas, contributing to the bank's portfolio of almost 7,000 patents overall. This growth, BofA said, reflects the bank's commitment to technological innovation, with $12 billion invested annually, including $4 billion for new tech initiatives in 2024. AI applications include Erica, the bank's virtual assistant, and Client Insights for wealth management, which provides personalized advice to clients. Tools like CashPro Chat and Intelligent Receivables enhance efficiency for corporate clients, while a chatbot for Global Markets supports traders with rapid data access, the bank noted.
Chargebacks911's sister brand Fi911 launched the LIFT: Empowering Women in Fintech mentorship program to support women aiming to enter or advance in finance, technology and payments. The micro-mentorship initiative connects female mentees with experienced women leaders from companies like The Access Group, NatWest and Microsoft, offering one-on-one virtual sessions for career guidance. LIFT aims to bridge the gender gap in fintech leadership, addressing industry barriers by providing practical insights and empowering young women and rising professionals to envision leadership roles for themselves in the traditionally male-dominated sector.
CPI Card Group Inc. introduced a new contactless card build featuring Infineon's SECORA Pay Green, advancing eco-friendly payment solutions. The all-in-one technology integrates a chip and antenna, eliminating the need for a separate inlay, reducing the card's carbon footprint, CPI stated. This design flexibility allows for innovations like unique card shapes and eco-focused materials. CPI has begun manufacturing sample cards and is ready to pilot the technology with issuers, expanding its commitment to sustainable payment solutions through its portfolio.
Endor Labs launched Endor Scores for AI Models, a tool that evaluates open source AI models for security, popularity, quality and activity, aiming to provide developers with scores to select the most secure models. Similar to Endor Labs' DroidGPT, this feature applies 50 metrics, helping organizations manage dependencies and identify models with minimal risk. Endor CEO Varun Badhwar emphasized the need for secure AI integration to prevent vulnerabilities such as malicious code or complex model dependencies, while also navigating licensing challenges.
Rivero, an SaaS developer focused on dispute management and payment network compliance, won the Best Risk or Compliance Project award at the 2024 Pay360 Awards. In partnership with Cornèr Banca SA, Rivero's compliance solution, Kajo, proved highly effective in streamlining banks' regulatory management and was praised by judges for its ease of use and visual design. Additionally, Rivero's dispute management solution, Amiko, was shortlisted for Best Customer Engagement Programme.
The Payments Group, a collaboration of four fintech brands—Funanga, Calida Financial, TWBS and Surfer Rosa—launched to offer a global suite of payment solutions. Serving 190 countries with services available at 550,000 retail locations, TPG is designed to enable seamless digital, card and cash payments, including white-label e-wallets, prepaid programs and embedded payments. TPG CEO Jens Bader emphasized the company's dedication to eliminating payment friction, helping brands launch payment products quickly. Positioned as a "360-degree" payments provider, TPG said it aims to lead in the competitive payments market with swift, adaptable solutions.
A new SAS report revealed that banking leads other sectors in adopting generative AI (GenAI), with 17 percent of banking leaders fully integrating it and 60 percent using it in some capacity. Banks leverage GenAI mainly for risk management, marketing and operations, achieving gains in employee satisfaction, compliance and cost reduction. Despite benefits, challenges like data privacy, governance and technical limitations persist, with only 6 percent of banks having well-established governance frameworks. Nearly all banks surveyed plan to increase GenAI investments, with initiatives in synthetic data use and expanded marketing applications underway.
SWBC's SWIVEL Transactions LLC joined the U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC) to support safer, faster payment systems in the United States. The FPC, a national organization, aims to make payments universally accessible with near-instant funds availability. SWIVEL, a fintech company specializing in integrated transaction enablement solutions, aligns with the FPC's mission of fostering an inclusive, transparent payments environment. Amanda Crocker, SWIVEL's interim CEO, emphasized the company's commitment to addressing the challenges of secure instant payments and collaborating with industry stakeholders to advance faster payments adoption across the United States.
RESEARCHBPC, in collaboration with Arkwright Consulting, released the report Next-Generation Card Processing, a report highlighting trends transforming the card processing market, particularly the rise of challenger processors. These new players, driven by cloud-native technologies and API-first approaches, are rapidly gaining market share, with a compound annual growth rate of 35 percent and expanding from 2.6 percent to 4 percent of the market between 2021 and 2024, researchers found. The report emphasizes how challengers outpace incumbents by offering scalable, flexible solutions tailored to non-bank entities like retailers, gig platforms and fintechs, reshaping the card processing industry.
S&P Global's Look Forward report projects that by 2035, emerging markets will drive 65 percent of global economic growth, spurred by favorable demographics, trade dynamics and technological advancements in energy and manufacturing. While these markets face challenges from geopolitics and climate change, key findings highlight an expected 4.06 percent GDP growth rate in emerging markets, led by countries like China, India and Vietnam. Investments in skills, manufacturing automation and renewable energy—totaling over $5 trillion—are crucial for growth, positioning these economies as central to global economic shifts and supply chain reconfiguration.
Research from PSE Consulting and The Strawhecker Group shows that Europe's banks and SaaS platforms lag behind the United States in embedded finance adoption. While 33 percent of U.S. small businesses use embedded finance via SaaS, only 11 percent in the U.K. and 6 percent in Germany and France do. A major barrier is SaaS platforms' limited promotion of these services in Europe, despite strong interest, researchers found. Notably, 70 percent of SMBs in both regions would switch to SaaS platforms for payments, yet U.S. interest exceeds 80 percent compared to 55 percent in Europe, they stated, adding that embedded lending holds promise, especially for U.S. banks to expand customer reach.
PARTNERSHIPSBlueStar Inc., a distributor of technology solutions, partnered with ecoprintQ to offer the MPS Monitor solution for print fleet management. This integration with Zebra barcode scanners allows BlueStar's partner network to manage Zebra printer fleets more effectively, enhancing compatibility and data insights, BlueStar stated. Dean Reverman, BlueStar's vice president of marketing, emphasized that ecoprintQ's solution aligns with BlueStar's mission to provide comprehensive, value-added services for business growth. ecoprintQ's Dominick Bracero said that the partnership advances ecoprintQ's commitment to innovative print management solutions, benefiting both companies' clients and the industry.
Klarna, a global AI-powered payments network, is now integrated with Apple Pay for U.S. and U.K. users on iOS 18 and later, allowing flexible payments like Pay in 4 installments interest-free. This new feature provides Klarna's payment options directly within Apple Pay, with Canada joining soon. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski highlighted the company's mission to make interest-free payments widely accessible, noting that users can easily choose Klarna during checkout and confirm with Face or Touch ID. This integration, Klarna stated, aligns with its goal of becoming a smart alternative to credit cards.
Swiss FinTech NetGuardians partnered with PalawanPay, an e-wallet provider in the Philippines committed to safe, efficient transactions, to enhance fraud prevention measures. Specializing in AI-driven fraud detection solutions, NetGuardians prides itself on helping clients worldwide detect fraud in real-time while minimizing false alerts. The partnership allows PalawanPay to protect customers' funds and reduce fraud investigation costs by up to 75 percent, the partners stated.
Ordoro Inc., a specialist in shipping and inventory management, partnered with Onramp Funds to support ecommerce sellers during the holiday season. This collaboration provides sellers with Ordoro's streamlined fulfillment tools and Onramp's fast, flexible funding tailored to sales performance, ensuring inventory stays stocked during peak demand, the partners stated. The partnership, they added, empowers merchants to handle high-volume orders and manage cash flow stress-free.
Sezzle Inc. partnered with ecommerce platform Shoplazza to offer flexible payment options designed to enhance the shopping experience for U.S. customers and drive growth for Shoplazza merchants. Through Sezzle's buy now, pay later service, shoppers can manage their budgets with Pay in 4 and Pay in 2 loans issued by WebBank. This collaboration aims to increase sales, boost average order values, and reduce cart abandonment by offering manageable installment payments. Additionally, Sezzle's credit-building feature, Sezzle Up, supports financial wellness, fostering customer loyalty and accessibility in ecommerce, the partners stated.
Mesh integrated with Shift4, allowing Shift4 merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments worldwide. Shift4 said it is now the first global payments leader to offer seamless crypto acceptance, converting crypto to local currencies instantly through Mesh's secure API infrastructure, simplifying transactions and reducing conversion risks. With demand for crypto payments growing, Shift4's new feature caters to this need, enabling merchants like TAO Group and BLADE to offer crypto payment options, the company stated. Backed by $45 million from investors including PayPal Ventures, Mesh is advancing its position in the crypto industry with key partnerships, the partners noted.
Treasury Prime, an embedded banking software provider, added Greenlite to its Partner Marketplace, offering banks an AI-powered tool to enhance anti-money laundering (AML) and risk management by automating workflows. Treasury Prime CEO Chris Dean emphasized that the company's Bank-Direct model allows banks to maintain compliance oversight while efficiently onboarding fintech partners. Greenlite, using generative AI, helps financial institutions meet OCC, SEC, and FDIC standards by automating customer due diligence and risk assessments, the partners said.
Worldline and Online Payment Platform launched an embedded payments solution tailored for platforms and marketplaces in Europe. By combining OPP's specialized platform technology with Worldline's expertise in acquiring and POS capabilities, this solution offers essential features like split payments, escrow and mediation, enabling seamless transactions across multiple currencies, the partners stated. A turnkey model with strong compliance and onboarding support, Embedded Payments provides platforms rapid deployment and comprehensive support across EU and UK markets, they added.
ACQUISITIONSSocure, a leader in digital identity verification and fraud prevention, is set to acquire real-time risk decisioning company Effectiv for $136 million, expanding Socure's capabilities across the entire customer lifecycle. Effectiv's platform features AI-powered decision-making and transaction-level fraud solutions, enabling seamless integration of identity, payment and compliance risk controls, Socure stated, adding that with this acquisition, it can provide a unified view of identity and risk to enhance fraud detection at every customer interaction. Effectiv's founders and team will join Socure and are expected to accelerate development of a scalable, comprehensive fraud prevention solution for global enterprise clients.
APPOINTMENTSPayouts Network appointed Jon Anderson as its chief financial officer, bringing his extensive experience in financial strategy and team leadership to the company. Known for guiding companies through public offerings and financial integrations, Anderson previously served as senior vice president and corporate controller at Netspend, overseeing its IPO and major acquisitions. His background includes CFO/COO roles at Dama Technology and strategic leadership at Campus Advantage. Anderson is expected to advance Payouts Network's financial strategy, focusing on scalable growth and tech-driven processes, aligning with the company's goals for transparency and operational excellence in B2C payments.
Will Bryant, COO and co-founder of Quantalytix, was elected to the Association for Financial Technology's (AFT) board of directors. The AFT fosters innovation in fintech and U.S. financial services. Elected during the AFT's Fall Summit in Palm Springs, Calif., Bryant expressed his honor in joining the board and emphasized the AFT's role in advancing fintech through collaboration and problem-solving among industry leaders. With nearly all U.S. financial institutions served by AFT member companies, Bryant joins a group dedicated to setting high standards for technology solutions in the financial sector.
Worldwide Stablecoin Payment Network appointed Austin Campbell as CEO of WSPN US, bringing his extensive stablecoin and digital asset experience from roles at JPMorgan, Citi and Paxos. Formerly WSPN's head of strategy, Campbell played a key role in developing the company's road map for WUSD. He now aims to drive WUSD's adoption globally. With a focus on secure treasury management, user-friendly stablecoin products, and strategic partnerships, Campbell said he envisions a seamless payment experience that broadens access to stablecoins, aligning with WSPN's goal to transform global payments.
Mary McDuffie, former president and CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union, joined SRM's international advisory board, bringing to SRM over two decades of leadership experience in digital transformation and member-centric strategy. During her tenure at Navy Federal, she led digital innovations like mobile banking and cloud data infrastructure, and her insights are expected to fuel SRM's growth and global partnerships, SRM noted. SRM CEO Brad Downs praised her as an industry leader with a deep understanding of financial services' evolution and highlighted her fit for SRM's mission of strategic guidance and innovation. 
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