Executive Summary
This week’s fintech developments reflect a market balancing aggressive innovation with growing oversight. AI is moving deeper into customer service, developer tools, and payment automation, while the UK takes major steps toward formal crypto regulation. Major funding rounds—from Thunes to Dinari—signal continued confidence in payments, wealthtech, and digital asset rails.
Yet, as the industry evolves, data breaches, KYC expectations, and AI governance are moving to the forefront. The combination of scale, speed, and accountability will define which players lead the next wave of fintech transformation.
📩 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
Ascension discloses new data breach after third-party hacking incident: One of the biggest private healthcare systems in the US, Ascension, has notified patients that personally identifiable information (PII) including health data, was stolen in a previously unannounced attack affecting a former business partner in December 2024.
The incident follows a previous ransomware attack in May 2024, in which the sensitive data of six million patients, forcing the company to take systems offline, divert ambulances, and pause elective care in some places.
VeriSource now says February data breach impacts 4 million people: Employee benefit administrative services provider VeriSource Services is notifying four million individuals that their personal information was stolen in a year-old hack.
The incident, the company says, was discovered on February 28, 2024, one day after a threat actor exfiltrated data from its systems.
A review of the compromised data was concluded on August 12, 2024, and the company started notifying the potentially impacted individuals a week later.
The stolen information, VeriSource says, belonged to employees and dependents of companies using its services, and it has been working with these companies to “collect the necessary information to notify additional individuals affected by this incident”.5, obtained copies of certain data.”
Latest Funding News
Fuze raises $12mln from Galaxy and e& Capital to scale its Digital Assets infrastructure across MENA and Turkey: Fuze, the Middle East and Turkey’s fastest growing digital assets infrastructure firm, today announced the successful completion of a $12.2 million Series A funding round led by Galaxy (TSX: GLXY), a global leader in digital assets and data center infrastructure, and e& capital, the venture capital and investment arm of global technology group e& (ADX: EAND).
Fuze provides Digital Assets-as-a-Service infrastructure enabling financial institutions and businesses across MENA and Turkey to offer regulated digital assets to their clients, as well as an Over-The-Counter (OTC) trading desk. In addition, Fuze has now launched a full suite of stablecoin infrastructure products and recently announced its expansion, through FuzePay, into payments.
The Series A investment will fuel Fuze’s regional and international expansion, accelerate product innovation and compliance, and support top-tier hiring.
Fintech Sprive Raises £5.5M to Enable Mortgage Overpayments: Sprive, a UK-based FinTech specialising in helping homeowners pay off their mortgages faster, has raised £5.5m in a new funding round.
The investment was led by Ascension, with additional backing from Channel4Ventures, Velocity Capital, and TwoMagnolias.
Sprive operates the UK’s only independent mortgage overpayment app, aiming to reduce household debt by enabling users to repay their mortgages quicker. With mortgage debt accounting for 80% of UK household borrowing, Sprive’s approach offers a timely solution, especially amid rising interest rates and growing concerns over long-term mortgage liabilities.
Global payments FinTech Thunes raises $150m Series D led by Apis Partners and Vitruvian Partners: Thunes, a global payments FinTech based in Singapore, has completed a $150m Series D funding round, marking the largest capital raise in its history.
The round was led by private equity firms Apis Partners and Vitruvian Partners.
Thunes operates a proprietary Direct Global Network that facilitates real-time payments across more than 130 countries and over 80 currencies. The platform connects to more than 7 billion mobile wallets and bank accounts worldwide, and offers access to 15 billion cards through more than 320 different payment methods.
Banking and Payments
Acquired.com co-funds new industry initiative and launches Variable Recurring Payments solution: Acquired.com, the next generation payments business powering recurring commerce, is proud to announce its participation as a founding member of a landmark industry initiative, facilitated by Open Banking Limited (OBL), to create a new company that will carry forward work to establish Commercial Variable Recurring Payments (cVRPs).
Acquired.com joins 30 other prominent organisations-including fintechs, high street banks, challenger banks, and payment providers in a collective effort that marks a significant step forward for the UK’s National Payments Vision and the evolution of open banking.
Rain and Visa Partner to Accelerate Onchain Credit Cards: Rain announced it has joined Visa’s pilot program for stablecoin settlement. Rain has fully tokenized its credit card receivables and has transitioned all settlement transactions for its Visa cards to USDC, to now be able to settle with Visa 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Rain has fully tokenized its credit card receivables and has transitioned all settlement for its Visa cards to USDC.
Rain provides backend infrastructure – APIs, compliance layers and settlement logic – that enables fintechs and wallets to build and launch stablecoin-linked card programs. As demand for real time, global payments grow, Rain is seeing strong momentum from partners looking to issue and use onchain cards and settle in stablecoins.
Klarna Hits 11 Million UK Customers as UK Revenue Soars 30% in Breakout 2024: Klarna, the AI-powered payments and commerce network, crossed 11 million active customers and has doubled its merchant base in a year to 60,000, launching with names like Argos, eBay, Eurostar and John Lewis. The UK is now Klarna’s third-biggest market globally, with revenue up 30% in 2024 alone. It’s a major moment for the Swedish fintech giant as it cements its place in the British retail scene.
Since launching in the UK ten years ago, Klarna has helped shoppers avoid nearly half a billion pounds in interest by offering a simpler, fairer alternative to credit cards. As well as avoiding interest charges, BNPL customers have lower outstanding balances, which they clear more quickly, than credit card users: the average outstanding BNPL balance was £150 compared with £1,295 for credit card.
Google Wallet brings ID passes to the UK: Brits will soon be able to use their passports to create digital ID passes and store them in their Google Wallets.
At launch, Google is partnering with Rail Delivery Group, which will offer train travellers the opportunity to use their digital ID to verify that they meet the eligibility criteria for select Railcards.
The company is also exploring certification within the UK government’s digital identity trust framework, which would allow people to use their Google Wallet IDs for things like alcohol purchases.
Wealthtech
Dinari raises $12.7m to bring US stock market access onchain for global investors: Dinari, a FinTech firm focused on enabling global access to US equities through blockchain-based technology, has announced a $12.7m Series A funding round.
The round was led by Hack VC and Blockchange Ventures, with further backing from VanEck Ventures, F-Prime, Blizzard (Avalanche Fund), and several other strategic investors. This latest injection brings Dinari’s total capital raised to $22.65m.
Dinari provides tokenised versions of US equities and ETFs, known as dShares™, which are accessible through a single API. These dShares are supported by SEC-registered infrastructure, including Registered Transfer Agent status. The company’s technology is already being used across more than 60 countries in regions such as Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Artificial intelligence
Anthropic lets users connect more apps to Claude: Anthropic on Thursday launched a new way to connect apps and tools to its AI chatbot Claude, as well as an expanded “deep research” capability that allows Claude to search the web, enterprise accounts, and more.
The new app connection feature, called Integrations, and expanded deep research tool, dubbed Advanced Research, are available in beta for subscribers to Anthropic’s Claude Max, Team, and Enterprise plans, and soon Pro. In related news, Anthropic has also upped the rate limits for its AI-powered coding tool, Claude Code, for Max customers.
Airbnb is quietly rolling out an AI customer service bot in the US: Airbnb is planning to embed artificial intelligence (AI) throughout its operations to transform guest and homeowner experiences, enabling a “concierge in your pocket,” according to its chief business officer.
AI is an “incredibly high priority,” said Airbnb’s Dave Stephenson, at the Human[x] conference in Las Vegas on Monday (March 10). He added that top management recently met to discuss the “critical importance of AI” and its role in the lodging giant’s long-term vision. “It pervades everything we do.”
Airbnb is developing sophisticated AI capabilities to personalize recommendations based on user preferences and behaviors. The company collects data through what it calls “passports,” or user profiles, that help it understand travel context and preferences.
Apple and Anthropic reportedly partner to build an AI coding platform: Apple and Anthropic have reportedly partnered to create a platform that will use artificial intelligence (AI) to write, edit and test code for programmers.
Apple has started rolling out the coding software to its own engineers, Bloomberg reported Friday (May 2). The company hasn’t decided whether to make it available to third-party app developers.
The tool generates code or alterations in response to requests made by programmers through a chat interface. It also tests user interfaces and manages the process of finding and fixing bugs, according to the report.
It was reported in August that while generative AI is not yet making money in some fields, it has quickly proven its value in powering coding assistants.
Visa, Mastercard, PayPal Fuel Agentic AI Commerce Boom: Three of the world’s largest payment companies, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, are racing into the next frontier in digital commerce: agentic AI.
This week, all three announced they were deploying agentic commerce, a fast-emerging trend in which AI agents not only assist consumers with shopping but also complete transactions on their behalf.
“These technologies have the potential to radically transform commerce, to radically transform how we all shop, how we all buy, and how commerce works at its most fundamental layers,” said Visa CEO Ryan McInerney at a livestreamed company product unveiling.
Agentic commerce will be rolling out in the next few quarters, McInerney said in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV.
Visa is working with Anthropic, Microsoft, Mistral, OpenAI, Perplexity and others to integrate payment capabilities into AI chatbots. When people use AI chatbots to shop, they will also be able to use AI agents to pay for purchases — something not possible yet.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
FCA Seeks Feedback on Regulation of Cryptoasset Trading Platforms in Next Phase of Road to Regulation: The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seeking feedback on the regulation of cryptoasset trading platforms, saying clear regulation will boost confidence in the sector and boost its growth.
The FCA released a discussion paper Friday (May 2) and said in a press release that it will accept feedback until June 13. After considering this feedback, the regulator will propose potential rules later this year.
“Currently largely unregulated, we want to create a crypto regime that gives firms the clarity they need to safely innovate, while delivering appropriate levels of market integrity and consumer protection,” David Geale, executive director of payments and digital finance at the FCA, said in the release. “Our aim is to drive sustainable, long-term growth of crypto in the U.K. We’re asking whether we have got the balance right.”
UK unveils draft crypto laws: The proposed legislation will bring cryptoassets into the full scope of UK financial services regulation and enable the UK’s future cryptoasset regime.
On 29 April, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled draft legislation aimed at regulating cryptoassets at the International Fintech Growth Summit (IFGS) in London, sponsored by Latham & Watkins.
The proposed legislation will bring cryptoassets (including stablecoins) and cryptoasset-related activities in scope of the UK regulatory perimeter, providing the fundamental legislative framework for the UK’s future financial services regime for cryptoassets. When implemented, firms issuing stablecoins, operating cryptoasset trading platforms, and providing custody, brokerage, or dealing services will require full authorisation to conduct activity in the UK.
Visa unveils agentic commerce and stablecoin plays: Visa has unveiled its plans for two of the next big things in payments: agentic commerce and stablecoins.
At its global product drop this week, the firm has launched Visa Intelligent Commerce, its technology for enabling AI to find and buy. The likes of Anthropic, IBM, Microsoft, Mistral AI, OpenAI, Perplexity, Samsung, Stripe have all been signed up as partners.
Visa chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell says: “Soon people will have AI agents browse, select, purchase and manage on their behalf. These agents will need to be trusted with payments, not only by users, but by banks and sellers as well.
Insurance Technology (Insurtech)
Experian partners with Root Insurance to bring personalised auto coverage to its digital marketplace: Experian, a global data and analytics company, and Root Insurance, an InsurTech specialising in personalised auto insurance, have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at integrating Root’s auto insurance offerings into Experian’s digital marketplace platform.
By embedding Root’s services into Experian’s platform, users can seamlessly compare and purchase coverage without leaving the site—streamlining the experience and supporting Experian’s financial wellness mission.
Experian, a global leader in data and analytics, offers consumers tools like credit scores and tailored financial products through its digital marketplace. Root Insurance, a U.S.-based InsurTech, uses data to personalise auto insurance, offering transparent and competitive pricing based on driver behaviour.
Earnix expands AI capabilities with Zelros acquisition to transform insurance pricing and underwriting: Earnix, a leading dynamic AI platform for insurance, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zelros in a bid to enable pricing and underwriting professionals to deliver more accurate offers and improve customer engagement.
The acquisition combines Earnix’s predictive AI with Zelros’ generative AI capabilities to enhance customer engagement and business performance.
This partnership will deliver a comprehensive AI solution covering the full customer lifecycle, from risk decisioning to claims management. Both companies support major global insurers and banks like Aviva, AXA, and Santander.
Regulatory Technology (Regtech)
Corlytics Becomes the First Dedicated RegTech to Earn ISO 42001 Certification for AI Governance: Corlytics, the global RegTech leader backed by Verdane, becomes the first RegTech firm to achieve the ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification for its business-wide AI management system. This establishes Corlytics’ commitment to AI Governance. It joins ranks alongside a few leading technology companies.
Where many third-party providers and suppliers are quick to integrate AI software, too few place the right level of focus on security. Last week JP Morgan’s Chief Information Security Officer warned third party software suppliers that “SaaS is creating a substantial vulnerability that is weakening the global economic system” and demanded they “prioritise security over rushing features”. The ISO 42001 certification answers this challenge by building the trust and security today’s stakeholders need as it mandates bias mitigation, risk, and resilience controls across the entire AI lifecycle. It also maps to both the EU AI Act and the UK Government’s National AI Strategy.
Capgemini debuts industry-first perpetual KYC platform to combat financial crime: Capgemini has unveiled a pKYC sandbox, aimed at helping financial institutions adopt a real-time, continuous compliance framework.
The new solution addresses the challenges associated with outdated and labour-intensive static KYC procedures, which expose firms to operational risks and regulatory vulnerabilities. With financial crime constantly evolving, Capgemini’s pKYC sandbox supports a more dynamic approach to anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and risk management.
Capgemini delivers a broad suite of financial crime compliance (FCC) services across risk, regulation, and operational transformation. The firm recently enhanced its capabilities through the acquisition of Delta Capita BV, reinforcing its position as a trusted partner for financial institutions navigating complex compliance demands.
Upcoming Events
- Finovate Spring
Cutting-edge fintech. High-impact networking. Now in SoCal.
The West Coast’s premier fintech showcase is where innovators and banking decision-makers connect.
Date: May 7th- 9th
More Details Here
🎙️ Tech Behind Fintech Podcast Highlights
Coming Up This Week
Join us on Friday, May 9th, 2025, at 12 PM EST for a powerhouse episode of Tech Behind FinTech featuring John Shammas, Chief Growth Officer at DriveWealth—a firm revolutionizing how people around the world invest. At just 17, John helped build the core API infrastructure that now powers investing features for over 100 partners globally—including brands like Revolut, Cash App, and Stake. A developer turned product visionary, he now leads global expansion and product strategy at one of the most influential fintech infrastructure providers in the world. In this conversation, we unpack the future of investing—from round-up micro investing to the potential of 24/7 trading. We’ll also explore how DriveWealth is enabling fractional share ownership, redefining brokerage through APIs, and helping emerging markets access U.S. equities for the first time.
💡 What You’ll Learn:
✅ How a teenager helped launch one of fintech’s most impactful platforms
✅ Why the demand for U.S. equities is skyrocketing across the globe
✅ How DriveWealth’s APIs are reshaping embedded investing
✅ What’s next: From 24/7 markets to real-time, personalized portfolios
✅ The power of financial inclusion through innovation
Show Links
Website: https://techbehindfintech.com/featured/the-17-year-old-behind-a-fintech-giant-powering-global-investing
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzA8HbpfwSU
📌 In case you missed it – Latest Episode Highlights
“No Bank, No Problem: The New Age of Small Business Loans”
Host: Nnamdi Osuagwu
Guest: Ryan Rosett, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Credibly
In this episode, Ryan Rosett shares the journey from his early days in real estate development through the 2008 financial crisis, to founding Credibly, a leading fintech focused on small business lending. After the real estate market collapse, Rosett pivoted into bridge lending and eventually saw an opportunity in the underserved small business credit market, particularly as traditional banks pulled back.
Credibly launched in 2010 to fill the lending gap by using technology, data, and speed to offer working capital loans typically ranging between $5,000–$600,000, with an average of $65,000. Rosett describes how the business matured from manual underwriting to sophisticated AI- and ML-powered credit models, enabling fast funding decisions and scalable risk management. He also dives into regulatory considerations, fraud controls, dynamic pricing models, and how economic shifts like tariffs and recession trends impact lending strategies.
💡 Key Takeaways
1. Fintechs Fill the Lending Void Left by Banks
Traditional banks often avoid small-dollar business loans due to operational costs and slow underwriting. Credibly addresses this gap by offering fast, tech-enabled lending decisions with same-day funding in many cases.
2. AI and Automation Power Scalability
Credibly leverages machine learning models, proprietary scoring algorithms, and digital underwriting to process thousands of loan applications daily—up from just a few hundred before automation.
3. Data is Credibly’s Competitive Advantage
With over a decade of lending history, internal data has become one of the company’s most valuable assets. AI and ML are used not just for risk scoring but for bias detection, pricing optimization, and fraud prevention.
4. Resilience Is a Core Small Business Trait
Despite higher default rates compared to banks (~7%), small businesses are seen as resilient and adaptive, often finding creative ways to stay afloat—even through pandemics, tariffs, and recessions.
5. Risk-Based Pricing and Dynamic Underwriting Are Key
Credibly uses dynamic pricing based on factors like FICO scores, cash flow, average daily balances, and business health. Borrowers with stronger financials get better rates—making the platform flexible but financially disciplined.
6. Tech Enhancements Go Beyond Automation
From real-time site inspections via smartphone cameras to ML models that detect fraud in broker channels, Credibly uses tech to enhance compliance, speed, and accuracy in decision-making.
7. Customer Relationships Matter
Repeat borrowers are central to the business model. Credibly focuses on lifetime value, aiming to be a long-term financing partner for its customers.
8. Advice to Fintech Founders
Rosett emphasizes starting slow, understanding risk, and building with data-driven discipline. He warns that lending is more complex than it appears, especially with small businesses where both entity and owner behavior matter.
🔗 Watch the full episode now: https://techbehindfintech.com/featured/no-bank-no-problem-the-new-age-of-small-business-loans
Or stream it on your favorite podcast platform! 🚀
📩 Stay Connected
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