The Green Sheet Online Edition
June 22, 2026 • 26:06:02
Industry Update
ANNOUNCEMENTS
American Banker honors Fifth Third, Vantage Bank, Custodia
Fifth Third Bank’s Newline platform was named an Innovation of the Year 2026 honoree by American Banker for its role in supporting large-scale payments and embedded finance capabilities for fintechs and enterprise clients. The API-driven platform enables businesses to embed payments, cards and financial services into their own ecosystems while leveraging the regulatory framework and scale of a major U.S. bank. American Banker highlighted Newline’s 2025 launch of agentic commerce infrastructure designed to support AI-initiated payments. Fifth Third said Newline is now the fastest-growing segment within its commercial payments business, which generated more than $1 billion in fee revenue in 2025.
In addition, American Banker ranked Vantage Bank CEO Jeff Sinnott and Custodia CEO Caitlin Long first and second, respectively, on its inaugural list of The Most Innovative People in Finance for their work co-founding Hazel Network. The bank-led network enables financial institutions to integrate tokenized deposits and stablecoins using a unified smart contract model designed for programmable compliance and operational controls. Launched on the Ethereum mainnet in April, Hazel Network supports automatic conversion between tokenized deposits and GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins. American Banker recognized Sinnott for blockchain-based payment initiatives and Long for advancing digital asset infrastructure and regulatory clarity for stablecoins.
Nayax a double honoree at The Vendies Awards
Nayax received two honors at The Vendies Awards 2026, winning Best Payment System for its VPOS Touch unattended payments solution and earning Highly Commended recognition in the Customer Service category. VPOS Touch combines cashless payments, telemetry and operational intelligence in a single device designed for vending and unattended retail environments. Supporting more than 80 payment methods and deployed on more than 250,000 machines globally, the platform provides features including real-time monitoring, loyalty integration and offline payment capabilities, Nayax stated, adding the recognition follows its recent launch of VPOS Media 4, a new payment terminal featuring PIN-capable payments and enhanced customer engagement tools.
Sperax launches SperaxOS
Sperax said its SperaxOS AI agent workspace for decentralized finance is now fully public and open source. The platform enables developers to build, deploy and monetize AI agents capable of safely executing on-chain financial activities. Founded in 2019, Sperax previously launched USDs, described as the first auto-yield stablecoin, and has expanded its defi infrastructure across Arbitrum and BNB Chain. SperaxOS includes more than 100 integrated defi and Web3 tools, support for 70-plus AI model providers, transaction simulation and risk controls, and an on-chain agent marketplace, the company noted, adding that the open-source approach supports transparency and safer AI-driven capital management.
Titan secures $3M in new funding
Titan, a banking-native AI platform designed specifically for financial institutions, raised $3 million in funding led by Entropy Ventures to accelerate development of auditable and explainable AI infrastructure for regulated banking environments. Emerging from stealth in October 2025, Titan said it has rapidly expanded adoption by focusing on AI systems trained on banking-specific language, workflows and compliance requirements rather than general-purpose large language models. The company serves banks, credit unions and fintechs seeking AI tools aligned with governance and examiner expectations. Titan said the new funding will support product development, hiring and continued expansion as demand for regulatory-ready banking AI grows.
RESEARCH
Latinia finds governance gap in banking communications
Latinia released a new industry perspective highlighting what it calls a growing governance gap in banking related to critical customer communications tied to financial events. The company said many financial institutions rely on fragmented infrastructures to manage fraud alerts, payment notifications, authentication messages and other customer communications, creating challenges around consistency, traceability and operational control.
Latinia believes that as real-time payments, digital banking and fraud prevention efforts expand, banks must apply stronger governance to customer communications. The company described this emerging approach as “Critical Event Governance,” treating communication processes as a core operational layer requiring oversight, resilience and accountability similar to other critical banking functions. Fraud eroding consumer trust in digital economy New research from LSEG Risk Intelligence highlights growing consumer concerns about fraud in the United States and its impact on trust in the digital economy. One-third of U.S. consumers surveyed said they had been targeted by a scam within the past two years.
The study found fraud is making consumers increasingly cautious online, with 41 percent reporting greater hesitation around digital payments and 39 percent becoming more careful about sharing financial information. Meanwhile, 36 percent said scams had reduced their trust in people or companies.
The report also warned that AI-driven fraud tactics such as deepfakes and voice cloning are making scams increasingly difficult to detect.
Nearly 1 in 3 drivers ticketed due to unclear payment instructions
New research from NMI found that confusing parking payment systems are affecting consumer behavior, with 30 percent of U.S. drivers reporting they have received parking tickets due to unclear payment instructions and 37 percent experiencing technical issues at kiosks or pay stations. The survey of 1,000 adults found parking frustrations influence where people shop, travel and spend time, with 49 percent of respondents saying they would visit local businesses more often if parking payments were more seamless.
Consumers expressed growing interest in automatic payments, remote parking extensions and app interoperability across cities. NMI said operators can improve customer experiences through simpler, more secure and flexible unattended payment technologies.
FPC explores digital inclusion fosters financial inclusions
The U.S. Faster Payments Council released a new report examining how digital access affects participation in financial services and faster payments. Developed by the Financial Inclusion Work Group’s Access to Technology Subgroup, the report highlights that financial inclusion depends on reliable digital infrastructure, affordability, digital literacy, trust and user-friendly design. Drawing on interviews with financial institutions, fintechs and government organizations, the report found that gaps in digital access disproportionately affect seniors, rural communities and low-income households. Recommendations include expanding broadband access, investing in digital literacy and fraud awareness programs, maintaining hybrid digital and in-person service models, strengthening community partnerships, and improving multilingual and localized support.
PARTNERSHIPS
Aware integrates with Mitek,ROC, enhances fraud prevention
Aware announced major enhancements to its Awareness Platform biometric orchestration system, including expanded decisioning capabilities, configurable biometric workflows, and integrations with ROC and Mitek technologies. The updates are designed to help organizations improve identity verification and defend against fraud threats such as deepfakes, synthetic identities and injection attacks. New Intelligent Liveness capabilities use optical and spectral analysis to verify that images originate from real device cameras without requiring user actions such as blinking or head movements. Aware also introduced improvements to its Intelligent Matching technology, including a new algorithm that significantly reduces false non-match rates and enables sub-second biometric matching across large datasets. General availability is expected in the third quarter of 2026.
Bluefin, PAX extend secure patient payments
Bluefin expanded support for Epic Wisdom through its Epic-certified PayConex integration and collaboration with PAX Technology, enabling healthcare organizations to extend secure payment capabilities into dental care environments. The solution allows organizations using Epic Wisdom to unify payment security across medical, dental, pharmacy and patient engagement workflows while leveraging the same infrastructure used across MyChart, kiosks and point-of-service environments. Bluefin said its PayConex platform combines PCI-validated point-to-point encryption, tokenization and secure payment devices to help protect payment data and simplify compliance efforts. PAX smart terminals will support payment acceptance across healthcare settings including front desks, kiosks and mobile workflows.
Flywire, Scholarship America digitize scholarship funding
Flywire partnered with Scholarship America to digitize scholarship disbursements for students and higher education institutions across the United States. Scholarship America said it selected Flywire for its established higher education payment infrastructure and experience processing digital 529 college savings plan disbursements. Through the partnership, Flywire will help reduce reliance on more than 110,000 paper checks issued annually by increasing ACH payments delivered directly to students and institutions. The companies said the collaboration is designed to improve payment speed, transparency and administrative efficiency. Flywire has already processed more than $9 billion in electronic 529 tuition payments across more than 800 institutions since launching its digital disbursement solution.
Nuvion joins CPN to take near-instant settlements global
Nuvion joined Circle Payments Network, expanding its ability to provide near-instant cross-border settlement using stablecoins. The integration will enable Nuvion customers to move money globally through stablecoin-powered settlements, 24/7 liquidity and multi-currency payment capabilities. The company said the partnership supports its goal of helping creators, businesses, marketplaces and fintech platforms manage global payments with faster settlement and reduced friction. Through the integration, customers will gain access to near-instant global payouts in USDC and API-powered settlement tools designed for platforms and fintechs. Nuvion said the move strengthens its efforts to make global financial infrastructure more accessible for digital businesses operating across borders.
Payfuture, ACE Money Transfer tackle cross-border payments
Payfuture partnered with ACE Money Transfer to enhance cross-border payout services across key remittance markets. ACE Money Transfer serves more than 1.3 million customers across the UK, Europe, Australia and Canada. The companies said the collaboration is designed to improve service reliability, operational efficiency and the overall customer experience for international money transfers. Payfuture will support ACE Money Transfer’s payout capabilities as demand grows for faster and more dependable remittance services. Executives from both companies said the partnership reflects a shared focus on delivering seamless cross-border payment experiences for customers sending money to family members and loved ones abroad through trusted and efficient remittance services.
Valor PayTech, LANDI Global form strategic partnership
Valor PayTech and LANDI Global formed a multi-year strategic alliance to bring LANDI’s Android-based payment and point-of-sale devices to Valor’s U.S. platform ecosystem. The partnership will initially focus on integrating LANDI’s existing device portfolio while the companies collaborate on next-generation payment hardware for a variety of merchant environments and vertical markets. Valor said LANDI’s family device certification, manufacturing scale and hardware roadmap complement its expanding software development kit and platform strategy. LANDI added that the partnership combines its global engineering and manufacturing capabilities with Valor’s U.S. distribution network and platform vision. New device launches are expected to be announced later in 2026.
ACQUISITIONS
AmEx eyes TheFork
American Express Co. disclosed plans to acquire European restaurant reservation platform TheFork from TripAdvisor for $700 million in cash, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2026. TheFork connects millions of diners with more than 50,000 restaurants across 11 European countries through reservation, discovery and restaurant management tools, AmEx stated. The acquisition, the company noted, expands its dining strategy and builds on its previous acquisitions of Resy and Tock, bringing its global dining network to an expected 75,000 bookable venues. TheFork will continue operating under its current leadership team following the acquisition.
Nuvei to acquire Payoneer
Nuvei will acquire Payoneer for approximately $2.75 billion in cash, creating a global financial infrastructure platform supporting local and cross-border commerce in more than 190 countries and territories. The combined company is expected to generate about $3 billion in annual revenue and process more than $500 billion in annual payment volume for more than 2.4 million customers. By combining Nuvei’s payment acceptance capabilities with Payoneer’s cross-border payout, multi-currency and banking services, the companies aim to provide businesses with a unified platform for payments, treasury management, FX services and stablecoin transactions. The deal is expected to close in mid-2027, pending approvals.
REPAY completes acquisition of KUBRA
Repay Holdings completed its $372 million cash acquisition of KUBRA, expanding its position in consumer bill payment services. REPAY said the addition of KUBRA will increase its reach to more than 40 percent of U.S. and Canadian households each month and boost combined annual payment volumes to more than $130 billion. The company expects to achieve more than $15 million in annual run-rate cost synergies and over $5 million in technology savings within three years. REPAY also raised its 2026 financial outlook to reflect KUBRA’s contributions, projecting revenue of $490 million to $500 million and adjusted EBITDA of $168.5 million to $176 million.
XFolio AI acquires Absolute Payment Solutions
Paris-based treasury and cash management technology company XFolio AI acquired Absolute Payment Solutions, a Pay.UK-accredited Bacs payment system service provider in the UK. The acquisition creates an integrated platform combining Bacs and other payment types, open banking, treasury management and risk management capabilities for UK corporates. The companies said the combined offering will provide accredited Bacs infrastructure alongside AI-driven forecasting and multi-rail payment connectivity across SWIFT, API, H2H and EBICS rails without the cost and complexity often associated with enterprise platforms. The solution will be offered directly and through partners, banks and intermediaries. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
APPOINTMENTS
Paysecure appoints Vanessa Mantzarioti
Vanessa Mantzarioti, Paysecure's new chief financial officer, is now in charge of the company’s global finance operations. Mantzarioti brings to Paysecure extensive senior finance leadership experience across the payments and fintech sectors, having served in CFO and strategic finance roles throughout Europe and the Middle East. Her background includes scaling high-growth fintech companies, building financial infrastructure and managing complex cross-border operations requiring regulatory compliance across European and UAE markets.
At Paysecure, she will join the executive leadership team and report directly to CEO and co-founder Amit Hooja. Mantzarioti said she was drawn to the company’s innovation, talent and long-term vision.
SEI strengthens leadership team
SEI appointed Sneha Shah as chief AI strategist, Michael Tryniszewski as head of AI orchestration and William Coffey as chief data officer as the company expands its enterprise AI and data initiatives. Shah, who also leads SEI Next, has more than 25 years of experience in strategy, innovation and enterprise transformation, with previous leadership roles at London Stock Exchange Group, Refinitiv and Thomson Reuters. Since joining SEI in 2023, she has focused on developing the company’s AI-native operating model and innovation strategy. Tryniszewski brings to SEI more than two decades of experience leading enterprise-scale transformation and AI initiatives in regulated industries, including senior leadership roles at Takeda. Coffey adds expertise in data strategy, cybersecurity and operational leadership, most recently serving as chief risk and data officer at AKUVO and previously holding leadership roles at WSFS Bank and Vanguard. The executives will lead SEI’s efforts to scale AI, data services and enterprise innovation.
Truist selects Lindsey Stampone
Truist Financial named Lindsey Stampone regional president for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Stampone brings nearly 20 years of commercial banking leadership experience, most recently serving as New Jersey market executive for Bank of America’s Global Commercial Bank. During her career, she has led growth strategies and delivered banking, treasury and capital markets solutions to middle market and large corporate clients. Her background also includes leadership roles in business banking, treasury sales, national sales teams, and regional strategy and operations. In her new role, Stampone will oversee regional growth strategy, strengthen client relationships and lead commercial and middle market banking teams across Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Greg Westfall joins Stavtar
Greg Westfall signed on with business spend management firm Stavtar as global head of strategic accounts. Westfall joins the company after nearly 16 years at Grant Thornton, where he held senior leadership roles including chief revenue officer, chief growth officer and national managing principal of the firm’s private equity practice. During his tenure, he led national growth initiatives, built executive relationships with private equity firms and portfolio companies, and helped expand the firm’s financial services and private capital markets businesses. In his new role, Westfall will help drive Stavtar’s global expansion and strategic account growth. He said he was attracted to the company’s differentiated approach to business spend management, expense allocation and payments automation. 
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact information, links and other details may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
