Executive Summary
This week’s headlines feature bold moves in AI, finance, and cybersecurity. Trump signs an order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve, OpenAI eyes high-end pricing for AI agents, and Klarna prepares for a $1B+ IPO. Meanwhile, regulatory battles intensify, cybersecurity threats escalate, and fintech funding rounds continue at full speed.
📩 Stay ahead of these fintech trends! Read our full report for expert insights and deeper analysis on the latest industry developments.
Trends in Fintech Verticals
Top Data Breaches
New Era Life Insurance Companies Data Breach Impacts 335K Individuals: A major data breach has been announced by New Era Life Insurance Companies that involved the protected health information of more than 335,000 individuals. Data breaches have also been announced by Pacific Rehabilitation Centers, Artistic Family Dental, and DuPage County Health Department.
Suspicious activity was identified within its computer systems on December 18, 2024, and immediate action was taken to isolate the affected systems to contain the attack. Third party cybersecurity experts were engaged to investigate the activity and confirmed that certain systems had been accessed by an unauthorized third party between December 9, 2024, and December 18, 2024, and during that time, certain files were copied from its systems. A review of the exposed files was initiated, and that process was completed on January 31, 2025
Consulting Firm BRG Suffers Cyberattack Amid LBO Debt Sale: Berkeley Research Group suffered a cyberattack last week, according to people with knowledge of the matter, just as banks have been looking to wrap up a debt sale that would finance the consulting firm’s buyout by TowerBrook Capital Partners.
The firm discovered its systems had been breached on March 2, and received several ransomware notices from a hacker, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing a private transaction. The hacker claimed they had taken data from BRG’s systems and had encrypted files within its network, the people added.
Latest Funding News
WealthTech firm Zocks bags $13.8m to expand AI-powered advisory solutions: Zocks, a privacy-first AI platform for financial advisors that analyzes conversations with clients to capture key information, and integrates with key business and records systems to accelerate workflows, today announced it has raised a $13.8 million Series A round led by Motive Ventures with participation from existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. Additional investors in the round include Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée Capital, and 14Peaks. The investment will accelerate Zocks’ mission to empower advisory firms with data-driven insights while maintaining the personal touch essential to client relationships.
Since launching in early 2024, Zocks has experienced explosive growth, onboarding over 1,000 advisory firms to its platform. The company has established partnerships with industry-leading fintech platforms Wealthbox, Redtail, and Practifi, as well as notable enterprise clients and partners that include Carson Group, Osaic, RFG Advisory and Cambridge Financial Group.
Fintech start-up Grain bags over $50m in funding to launch FX management solution: Israel-based fintech start-up Grain has secured over $50 million in funding to launch its new platform designed to help commerce companies optimise FX for cross-border transactions.
The company has emerged from stealth after raising $18 million in seed funding and a more recent $33 million Series A round, which was led by Bain Capital Ventures. Also participating in this latest round were existing investors Aleph, Vesey Ventures and Hanaco Ventures.
UK AI FinTech Quantexa secures $175m Series F: Quantexa, one of the British tech stars in Decision Intelligence (DI) solutions made headlines last week amid reports of an impending valuation boost. Now, it’s official! The London-based and one of the hottest tech companies has secured $175 million in Series F funding, pushing its valuation to $2.6 billion. The round was led by Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), part of the CAD 255 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with participation from existing investors, including British Patient Capital.
As part of the deal, TVG Managing Director Ara Yeromian will join Quantexa’s board, alongside representatives from Warburg Pincus, Dawn Capital, Evolution Equity Partners, AlbionVC, and HSBC.
The investment will be used to speed up platform innovation, grow the company’s presence in North America, and drive strategic M&A activity. With this, Quantexa aims to help enterprises and government agencies stay ahead in AI-driven decision-making and also fuel international expansion with new investors on board.
InsurTech platform CoverForce secures $13m Series A to enhance carrier-agency connectivity:The funding round was led by Insight Partners, a global software investor, with additional participation from Nyca Partners.
Using the capital, CoverForce will expand its platform capabilities, onboard more carriers and distributors, and invest in AI-powered tools to simplify insurance workflows.
The funding also supports the company’s aim to enhance its quote-and-bind application programming interface (API) connections to facilitate digital connections between insurance carriers, agencies and wholesalers.
The company is currently working on developing ties with carriers that focus on digital innovation.
Former Google VP of Engineering and Gradient Ventures founder raises $12M to redefine AI training with Ceramic:Training large-scale AI models takes significant time — often weeks to months — depending on factors like model size, architecture, and computational resources. For example, OpenAI’s GPT-4, trained on approximately 1.7 trillion parameters, significantly increases training complexity and duration. Ceramic.ai promises to create faster, more efficient systems for training large language models (LLMs) while reducing compute requirements and costs.
The startup has secured $12M in seed funding from NEA, IBM, Samsung Next, and Earthshot Ventures, highlighting its achievements in long-context training and improved training speeds — 2.5X faster than the state-of-the-art.
Banking and Payments
ProcessOut and Trustly Team Up to Offer Merchants Smarter Instant Bank Payments: ProcessOut and Trustly partnered to simplify bank payments for merchants across Europe.
By integrating ProcessOut’s payment orchestration platform and Trustly’s pay-by-bank payment network, the companies are making it easier for merchants to offer Trustly’s instant bank payment solutions, according to a Thursday (March 6) press release.
The combination enables merchants to add Trustly to their payment stack with one click and ensure the highest chance of success for transactions with features like dynamic failover and data-driven insights, the release said.
Instant bank payments enable businesses to “improve conversion rates, reduce costs and expand into new markets with ease,” ProcessOut Head of Payments Pierre Lafanechaire said in the release.
Klarna to File for $1 Billion-Plus IPO as Soon as Next Week: Klarna is seeking to raise at least $1 billion in a US initial public offering and is set to file publicly as soon as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The payments business aims to price the IPO in early April, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Klarna is targeting a valuation of more than $15 billion in the New York Stock Exchange listing, the people said.
Amex Acquires Center to Bolster Small Business Expense Management: American Express is set to purchase expense management software firm Center.
The deal is aimed at helping American Express (Amex) bolster its services for small businesses, according to a Thursday (March 6) news release.
“As a leader in corporate and small business cards, it is our job to deliver innovative products and services that help customers run their businesses more efficiently,” Raymond Joabar, president for global commercial services at Amex, said in the release.
“By integrating Center’s outstanding talent and technology, we can save our customers time and money and strengthen our leadership position in commercial card payments.”
According to the release, Center’s software is designed to give businesses real-time visibility into employee spending, automating manual accounting tasks, streamlining expense submissions and reporting, and helping finance teams optimize decision making.
Revolut and Visa file legal challenges over PSR’s plan to cap fees: Revolut and Visa reportedly filed legal challenges against the U.K.’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), seeking to overturn the regulator’s proposed cap on interchange fees on cross-border online payments.
The two companies argue that the regulator overstepped its powers with the plan it proposed in 2023, the Financial Times (FT) reported Friday (March 7).
Revolut told the FT, per the report: “We disagree with the PSR’s assessment and believe it has acted beyond its statutory powers in imposing these caps. We have therefore requested the court to review, and ultimately overturn the PSR’s decision.”
Visa said in the report: “We respect the PSR’s role as an economic regulator. This narrow legal action is focused only on the PSR’s legal authorization and process related to price setting to ensure a fair and thorough process, and give clarity to the industry. This is critical to future growth and investment in the U.K.”
Wealthtech
Flanks raises €14m to automate wealth management: Flanks, a Barcelona-based FinTech specialising in wealth management automation, has secured €14m in an equity funding round aimed at accelerating its expansion across Europe.
The investment round was led by Motive Ventures, with participation from Battery Ventures and existing investors Earlybird, JME Ventures, and 4Founders Capital, according to a report from EU-Startups.
Founded in 2019, Flanks provides a data-driven wealth management platform designed to simplify wealth management. Its platform automatically gathers high-quality data and consolidates its into brand-customised 360-degree wealth reports.
Insurance Technology (Insurtech)
Kanguro Expands Innovative Insurance Offerings with Launch of Renters Insurance in Florida: Kanguro, the insurtech leader known for disrupting the pet insurance space, is now transforming renters’ insurance in Florida with its innovative, tech-driven approach. As part of its continued expansion, Kanguro is also introducing a new partnership vertical, offering even greater value and convenience to its customers.
With a focus on affordability, seamless claims management, and an unparalleled customer experience, Kanguro continues to redefine the insurance industry through its user-friendly Super App and end-to-end bilingual (English/Spanish) services.
Insurtech Startup Outmarket AI Secures $4.7M in Seed Funding to Drive Innovation: Outmarket AI, an intelligence platform designed to modernize commercial insurance, has raised $4.7 million in seed funding.
The round was led by Fika Ventures, with additional backing from TTV and Dash Fund. This investment will drive platform innovation, team expansion, and strategic partnerships with leading brokers and carriers.
AXA XL Partners with Darkweb IQ to Strengthen Cybercrime Prevention: AXA XL, the property and casualty (P&C) and specialty risk division of global insurer AXA, has partnered with Darkweb IQ to help businesses strengthen their cyber security practices.
Darkweb IQ is a cybersecurity firm that specialises in protecting companies from cyber threats such as ransomware, data theft, and third-party risks.
By collaborating with law enforcement and the cyber insurance industry, and infiltrating cybercriminal supply chains, Darkweb IQ can obtain exclusive intelligence and intercept imminent ransomware attacks.
Tim Smit, Global Head of Cyber Risk Strategies and Partnership Programs, stated: “Partnering with cyber security experts Darkweb IQ enables us to provide comprehensive and effective solutions to our clients, helping them to safeguard their digital assets, data, and operations from potential cyber-attacks and data breaches.
“Access to a cyber expert like Darkweb IQ is crucial in helping our clients fight the ongoing battle against ransomware.”
Regulatory Technology (Regtech)
PSR to take action against card schemes after 25% hike in fees: The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has said its review into Mastercard and Visa has found that the companies hiked their processing fees by at least 25 per cent between 2017 and 2023.
The regulator also claimed that both firms are failing to provide easy-to-understand fee information, which has led to costs for acquirers and merchants, including small retailers.
It said that retailers then have little choice but to either pass these increased costs onto consumers or incur the costs themselves, impacting their ability to invest.
As a result of its findings, the PSR has announced plans to soon begin consulting on “potential remedies” to address the issues it has found.
US CFPB drops Zelle case against JPMorgan, BofA, Wells Fargo: The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told a federal court on Tuesday it was dropping a lawsuit filed in December against three of the nation’s largest banks over their handling of the payment service Zelle, court papers show.
The agency, which was virtually shuttered by President Donald Trump last month, had accused JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo of failing to protect consumers from fraud costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
Representatives for the CFPB, Wells Fargo, and Early Warning Services, the joint venture of seven different banks which operates the Zelle system, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the agency’s action in an Arizona federal court.
In a statement, JPMorgan said tackling fraud required a joint effort by the public and private sector and that the bank looked forward to cooperating with others “to effectively address these crimes at their source.”
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
US charges admins of Garantex for allegedly facilitating crypto money laundering for terrorists and hackers: The United States Secret Service said it has seized a Russian cryptocurrency exchange website(Garantex), according to court documents unsealed last Friday. The Justice Department also charged the two administrators of that website with a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme, court documents said.
The Justice Department said that since April 2019, Garantex has processed $96 billion in crypto transactions and noted that those proceeds were allegedly used to fund illicit activities.
“The seizure of website domains associated with Garantex’s operations and the freezing of over $26 million in cryptocurrency strikes a serious financial blow to cybercriminals worldwide,” said Michael Centrella, assistant director of the Secret Service’s Office of Field Operations. “Alongside our U.S. and international law enforcement partners, this coordinated action will prevent additional funds from falling into the hands of criminals.”
BVNK launches embedded wallet that unifies fiat and stablecoin payments: BVNK, the stablecoin payments infrastructure provider, has launched what it describes as the first embedded wallet that unifies global fiat and stablecoin payments.
The new solution combines fiat, crypto and stablecoin payments in a single platform, offering direct access to a range of blockchains and payment schemes.
The wallet connects to traditional banking networks including Swift, ACH, Fedwire, SEPA and Faster Payments Service (FPS), alongside blockchain networks such as Solana, Tron, Polygon, Ethereum, BNB Smartchain, Bitcoin and Cardano.
Trump signs order to establish strategic bitcoin reserve: U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to establish a strategic reserve of cryptocurrencies by using tokens already owned by the government, disappointing some in the market who had hoped for a firm plan to buy new tokens.
The announcement, made on Thursday ahead of a meeting with crypto executives at the White House later on Friday, sent the price of bitcoin down by around 5% to $85,000. In early European trading on Friday, bitcoin has recovered to trade at $89,200.
A “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” will be capitalized with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was seized as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, the White House crypto czar, billionaire David Sacks, said in a post on social media platform X.
Artificial intelligence
Manulife Rolls Out GenAI Capabilities to 100 Percent of Its Workforce: Manulife (Toronto) announced last week that it has rolled out GenAI capabilities to its entire workforce and that currently over 75 percent of its global workforce is engaged with GenAI through learning, immersive experiences and tools, including ChatMFC, the company’s proprietary GenAI assistant introduced in 2024. Manulife reports that it has been actively investing in AI tools to embed across its workforce since the AI practice was introduced nearly ten years ago.
By democratizing access to AI-enabled solutions, the Manulife says it is empowering colleagues to harness its potential in their daily workflows, enhancing efficiency and driving innovation. Rather than a standalone function at the company, AI is an integral part of how Manulife operates across teams, geographies, and business units, a company statement says.
Microsoft reportedly ramps up AI efforts to compete with OpenAI: Microsoft is developing in-house artificial intelligence reasoning models to compete with OpenAI and may sell them to developers, The Information reported on Friday, citing a person involved in this initiative.
The Redmond, Washington-based company, a major backer of OpenAI, has begun testing out models from xAI, Meta and DeepSeek as potential OpenAI replacements in Copilot, according to the report.
Microsoft has been looking to reduce its dependence on the ChatGPT maker, even as its early partnership with the startup put it in a leadership position among Big Tech peers in the lucrative AI race.
Cursor in talks to raise at a $10B valuation as AI coding sector booms: Anysphere, the developer of AI-powered coding assistant Cursor, is in talks with venture capitalists to raise capital at a valuation of nearly $10 billion.
The round, if it transpires, would come about three months after Anysphere completed its previous fundraise of $100 million at a pre-money valuation of $2.5 billion, as TechCrunch was first to report. The new round is expected to be led by returning investor Thrive Capital.
OpenAI reportedly plans to charge up to $20,000 a month for specialized AI ‘agents’: OpenAI is reportedly doubling down on the launch of several ‘AI agent’ products as a key driver of revenue growth.
The AI startup behind ChatGPT is looking to charge up to $20,000 a month for specialised AI ‘agents’ that are designed to execute specific tasks related to software engineering and research, according to a report by The Information.
As per the report, OpenAI plans to launch a “high-income knowledge worker” agent, which will cost $2,000 a month to access. An upcoming software developer agent is said to cost $10,000 a month.
While it is unclear when OpenAI is expected to launch these AI agent-based tools, The Information reported that its investor, Softbank, has committed to spending $3 billion on OpenAI’s agent products this year alone.
Upcoming Events
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In today’s regulatory environment, maintaining audit readiness and compliance is a complex challenge for organizations dealing with fragmented legacy recording systems and evolving regulatory standards. In this webinar, we explore how centralized data management can transform compliance operations, enabling faster audit responses, robust data integrity, and reduced costs. Learn how adopting a unified approach to interaction data can minimize risks, streamline workflows, and prepare your organization for any compliance audit.
Date: March 4th
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🎙️ Tech Behind Fintech Podcast Highlights
Coming Up This Week
Join us on Friday, March 14th, 2025, at 12 PM EST for an eye-opening episode of Tech Behind FinTech featuring Steve (Mac) McKeon, CEO/CTO of MacguyverTech and MacNerd Enterprises.
APIs are the backbone of modern FinTech, connecting apps, processing transactions, and managing sensitive financial data. But with 75% of applications containing security flaws and cybercrime costs expected to surpass $10.5 trillion annually, weak API security is leaving the door wide open for hackers.
In this episode, Steve (Mac) McKeon—a seasoned tech innovator and cybersecurity expert—will break down how cybercriminals exploit APIs, why most FinTechs are vulnerable, and what companies must do now to close the backdoor before it’s too late.
🔍 What You’ll Learn:
✅ The API Security Crisis – How financial data leaks are fueling cybercrime at an unprecedented scale.
✅ Common API Vulnerabilities – The biggest security flaws putting FinTechs at risk.
✅ How Hackers Exploit Weak APIs – Real-world tactics cybercriminals use to breach financial systems.
✅ Closing the Backdoor – Practical security measures every FinTech should implement today.
Live Show Links
Website: https://techbehindfintech.com/featured/the-10-5-trillion-backdoor-why-poor-api-security-is-a-goldmine-for-hackers
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7G-Ls78si0
📌 In case you missed it – Latest Episode Highlights
Navigating AI Adoption in Banking: Strategies for Success
In this special re-run of Tech Behind FinTech, Hossein Rahnama, Founder & CEO of Flybits, shares insights on the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in banking. As AI reshapes the financial services industry, Hossein dives into effective strategies for its integration within banking institutions while maintaining key factors like security, compliance, and customer trust.
Key Takeaways:
Future of AI in Finance
As the industry evolves, banks must stay ahead of the curve by adopting AI strategically to unlock long-term growth and maintain a competitive edge.
The Power of AI in Banking
AI is driving innovations in customer engagement and operational efficiency, offering personalized banking experiences and automating complex tasks.
Challenges in AI Integration
Banks face significant hurdles in AI adoption, from regulatory compliance to data security. Hossein discusses practical solutions for mitigating these risks and ensuring smooth implementation.
📩 Stay informed on the latest fintech security trends! Watch the full episode for expert insights using the links below.
🔗 Watch now: https://techbehindfintech.com/featured/navigating-ai-adoption-in-banking-strategies-for-success-3
Or stream it on your favorite podcast platform! 🚀
📩 Stay Connected
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