Executive Summary
This week in fintech, AI continues to reshape both customer experiences and backend infrastructure, as Klarna rebalances automation with human support, BBVA scales ChatGPT use, and PayPal partners with Perplexity to bring intelligence to shopping. Meanwhile, fintech funding remains robust, with nearly $100M raised across AI, regtech, and insurtech, signaling investor confidence in specialized innovation.
In payments and crypto, global players like Mastercard, MoonPay, and Robinhood are pushing stablecoin and digital asset adoption further into the mainstream. On the compliance and security front, Coinbase faces a $400M insider breach, while AI-powered cyber risk and regtech platforms take center stage in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, and beyond. And in wealthtech, Acorns’ acquisition of EarlyBird shows growing attention to family-first financial planning and intergenerational wealth building.
📩 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 ‘Defendnot’ tool tricks Windows into disabling Microsoft Defender: A new tool called ‘Defendnot’ can disable Microsoft Defender on Windows devices by registering a fake antivirus product, even when no real AV is installed.
The trick utilizes an undocumented Windows Security Center (WSC) API that antivirus software uses to tell Windows it is installed and is now managing the real-time protection for the device.
When an antivirus program is registered, Windows automatically disables Microsoft Defender to avoid conflicts from running multiple security applications on the same device.
Coinbase says crooks bribed workers for customer data in breach that could cost it $400m: Coinbase says that crooks bribed employees and contractors to steal customer data for use in social engineering attacks in an incident that may cost the crypto exchange up to $400 million to address.
In an SEC filing, Coinbase says customer names, addresses, emails, masked (partial) social security numbers, masked bank accounts numbers, government ID images, account data and some corporate data was stolen. Passwords and private keys were not compromised.
The crooks paid several employees and contractors based outside of the US to abuse their access to customer support systems to steal the account data for a “small subset” of customers, says Coinbase in a blog.
Coinbase says the criminals demanded a $20 million ransom for the data but “we said no”.
Malicious NPM package uses Unicode steganography to evade detection: Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a malicious package named “os-info-checker-es6” that disguises itself as an operating system information utility to stealthily drop a next-stage payload onto compromised systems.
“This campaign employs clever Unicode-based steganography to hide its initial malicious code and utilizes a Google Calendar event short link as a dynamic dropper for its final payload,” Veracode said in a report shared with The Hacker News.
“Os-info-checker-es6” was first published in the npm registry on March 19, 2025, by a user named “kim9123.” It has been downloaded 2,001 times as of writing. The same user has also uploaded another npm package called “skip-tot” that lists “os-info-checker-es6” as a dependency. The package has been downloaded 94 times.
Latest Funding News
Samaya AI lands $43.5m to scale expert AI agents for finance sector: The funding round was led by NEA (New Enterprise Associates), with backing from prominent figures in both the technology and financial industries. Investors included former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, AI pioneer Yann LeCun, Two Sigma co-founder David Siegel, and Sixth Street vice chair Marty Chavez.
Samaya AI is developing a suite of AI agents designed to handle complex tasks across financial workflows. Its technology enables the automation of processes such as investment research, client advisory, and deal diligence. The platform is capable of generating investment reports across sectors, building presentations using proprietary data, and answering highly technical questions using a broad base of real-time information, all grounded with verifiable evidence.
Specialty insurance SaaS leader Tinubu secures $45m to expand AI-driven platform: Tinubu, a global provider of enterprise software for the specialty insurance sector, has secured $45m in growth capital to accelerate innovation and international expansion.
The funding round was led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, with continued support from Long Arc Capital. The capital will fuel Tinubu’s product development and broaden its reach into additional specialty insurance lines.
Tinubu offers end-to-end, cloud-based solutions tailored to the specialty insurance market, including capabilities for policy administration, underwriting, distribution, and claims. Its platform supports nearly 50 carriers and over 150 agencies across five continents.
The company also confirmed the successful completion of its acquisition of Innoveo, a no-code enterprise software provider.
RegTech startup Kovr.ai raises $3.6m to streamline cyber compliance: Kovr.ai, an AI-native cyber compliance automation platform, has exited stealth with $3.6m in seed funding.
The round was co-led by IronGate and Xfund, with participation from Hack Factory, OODA Ventures, and McLean Capital.
Founded by former AWS, Gartner, and PwC executives Andrew Black and Sri Iyer, Kovr.ai aims to simplify compliance for heavily regulated industries. Its platform helps organisations quickly meet complex standards like FedRAMP, CMMC, and NIST by automating traditionally manual processes.
Identity-focused security firm ClearVector raises $13m to combat AI-era threats: ClearVector, a cybersecurity company pioneering identity-driven threat detection, has raised $13m in a Series A funding round.
The investment was led by Scale Venture Partners, with support from Okta Ventures, Inner Loop Capital, and returning investor Menlo Ventures.
ClearVector’s platform is designed to identify and stop adversaries by analysing runtime identity activity across complex production environments.
The company’s approach moves away from traditional threat intelligence and focuses instead on monitoring human, non-human, and third-party identity behaviour to detect threats in real time.
Banking and Payments
Cross Switch Bolsters African Footprint with Strategic Partnership with Pesawise, Kenya: Cross Switch, a provider of class-leading payment solutions, has strengthened its African presence by officially launching services in Kenya and partnering with licensed local payment provider Pesawise.
This collaboration makes the most of Pesawise’s solid regulatory standing and trusted reputation, allowing Cross Switch to establish it’s footprint and, together with Pesawise, immediately deliver robust payment solutions to businesses, merchants, and charitable organizations throughout Kenya.
Cross Switch brings to the partnership a highly scalable global payments infrastructure, allowing merchants simple and frictionless acceptance across multiple payment channels, including Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, mobile money and bank platforms.
InnBucks teams up with Mambu to drive pan-African digital banking expansion: InnBucks MicroBank has selected cloud-native banking platform Mambu to power its transition from a digital wallet solution into a fully integrated digital bank.
Originally launched in 2022 as part of Simbisa Brands Limited, InnBucks has quickly grown into a central player in Zimbabwe’s FinTech landscape. Initially focused on wallet-based services, the company has since expanded into broader financial services including personal and business banking, digital payments, lending, and cross-border remittances.
With a network of more than 500 outlets across Zimbabwe and a customer base of around three million users, InnBucks is having a notable impact on the country’s financial sector. As it prepares to scale further, the company is laying the foundation for regional growth by tapping into Mambu’s composable cloud-native platform. The transition will be supported by infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS), ensuring a secure and scalable backbone for operations.
Mastercard and MoonPay bid to mainstream stablecoin payments: Mastercard is stepping up its commitment to stablecoins, inking a deal with MoonPay to enable people and businesses to use them for payments across global markets.
Enterprises and fintechs will be able to tap Mastercard branded cards linked to users’ stablecoin balances, enabling cardholders to spend their stablecoins, which will simultaneously be converted to fiat currency, at more than 150 million locations where Mastercard is accepted worldwide.
The partnership will use API-driven stablecoin infrastructure from Iron, acquired by MoonPay in March, to facilitate the payments for businesses and transform crypto wallets into new digital bank accounts for seamless global transactions.
Monzo launches tool that allows customers to undo payments: Monzo has rolled out a new feature that allows customers to set a personal timeframe to cancel a mistaken bank transfer.
The new capability provides a customisable 10-60-second window that allows customers to cancel a bank transfer if a mistake is made, like adding an extra ‘zero’ to an amount, or selecting the wrong recipient.
The tool also provides a moment of pause for someone to stop and think if they’re tricked into sending a fraudulent payment.
This comes as new data from the bank reveals that almost one in three Brits (30%) have either sent money to the wrong person or sent the wrong amount in the last year. Over three quarters of Brits who sent a wrong payment (78%) realised they’d made a payment error within just a minute of it happening.
Leading retailers urge EU to crack down on Visa and Mastercard fees: Europe’s largest retailers have banded together to press the European Commission to crack down on fees charged by Visa and Mastercard.
“International Card Schemes (ICS) have been able to increase their fees without competitive challenge or regulatory scrutiny. They have also rendered their system of fees and rules so complex and opaque that players are unable to understand, let alone challenge, what they are paying for and why,” the retailers said in a letter dated May 13 and seen by Reuters.
The group, comprising EuroCommerce, Ecommerce Europe, Independent Retail Europe, the European Association of Corporate Treasurers and the European Digital Payments Industry Alliance, cited a 2024 report by The Brattle Group that showed a cumulative increase in ICS’ fees of 33.9% between 2018 and 2022 – averaging 7.6% per year – on top of inflation, but did not find any corresponding improvement in service for EU merchants and consumers.
Wealthtech
Acorns acquires family wealth and digital memory platform EarlyBird: Acorns, a US-based financial wellness app catering to everyday Americans, has announced its acquisition of EarlyBird, a digital family wealth platform that helps families invest in their children’s futures while creating lasting digital memories. The deal underscores Acorns’ expanding footprint in family-oriented financial services.
The acquisition aims to bolster Acorns’ position as a leader in family-focused financial wellness, following its 2023 purchase of GoHenry, a UK-based smart money app for kids. While the value of the EarlyBird deal has not been disclosed, the move is positioned as a strategic addition to Acorns’ broader growth in serving families at every life stage.
Canadian Financial Services Platform Wealthsimple Taps Eventus for Compliance Solution: Eventus, a leading provider of comprehensive, at-scale trade surveillance and financial risk solutions, announced that Wealthsimple is among its newest clients deploying the firm’s Validus platform for trade surveillance across asset classes. Wealthsimple is one of Canada’s fastest growing financial services platforms, serving more than three million clients, with $50+ billion in assets across trading, saving and investing.
Artificial intelligence
Klarna Reverses Course on AI Customer Support, Resumes Human Hiring: Klarna, the Swedish buy now, pay later company, is reversing its artificial intelligence-first strategy and rehiring human customer service agents after a year of relying heavily on AI to handle customer inquiries.
The Swedish fintech giant now says customers must always have the option to speak to a human.
“AI gives us speed. Talent gives us empathy,” Klarna spokesperson Clare Nordstrom told CX Dive. “Together, we can deliver service that’s fast when it should be, and emphatic and personal when it needs to be.”
The pivot marks a strategic shift for the buy now, pay later firm, which had paused hiring and let go of staff while leaning into automation.
PayPal and Perplexity partner for seamless AI shopping: Perplexity is extending its bet on chat-powered shopping, aiming to stand out in the crowded generative artificial intelligence market against OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
The company said on Wednesday that it’s partnering with PayPal to let users make purchases directly in chat. U.S. customers will soon be able to book travel, buy products, and secure concert tickets without leaving the platform.
Payments will be completed in the chat with PayPal or Venmo, and PayPal will handle processing, shipping, tracking, and invoicing. Purchases will be completed with one click, with the help of the payment company’s passkey checkout.
BBVA expands OpenAI agreement to 11,000 ChatGPT licences: BBVA has nearly quadrupled the number of its ChatGPT Enterprise licences after concluding that the technology saves employees nearly three hours a week.
A year ago, BBVA became the first European bank to forge an alliance with OpenAI, signing up for 3,300 ChatGPT Enterprise licenses. The Spanish lender has now increased this to 11,000 after data revealed that using ChatGPT to automate tasks saves staffers an average of 2.8 hours a week.
Some 83% of licensed users use ChatGPT at least once a day, and over 3,000 assistants have been created — specialised bots designed for specific tasks, ranging from translations, document summaries, and report-writing to assisting with coding, analysing financial information to answer legal questions, or boosting visibility for marketing campaigns.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
Robinhood to acquire Canadian cryptocurrency firm WonderFi for $179M: Robinhood Markets Inc. announced Tuesday that it has acquired Canadian cryptocurrency firm WonderFi Technologies Inc. in an all-cash deal worth C$250 million (US$179 million), marking a major step in its international expansion and efforts to strengthen its digital asset portfolio.
The deal values WonderFi shares at 36 Canadian cents each—a 41% premium to their last closing price.
The acquisition continues Robinhood’s strategy of evolving beyond its origins as a commission-free stock trading platform and building a more diverse financial ecosystem.
BitGo secures EU crypto custody licence: US-based crypto custodian BitGo has become one of the first non-EU firms to secure a licence under the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) directive.
The licence, which was awarded by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) will enable BitGo to expand its digital assets service across the EU.
BitGo opened its EU subsidiary in Frankfurt in 2023 and in that time it has gained regstration in Italy, Spain, Poland and Greece.
Meta Considering Using Stablecoins for Cross-Border Payments: Years after being forced to abandon its crypto project, Meta is in talks with digital asset firms about integrating stablecoin payments into its platform, according to Fortune.
Citing sources, Fortune says Facebook has been talking to crypto infrastructure players about introducing stablecoins as a way of managing payouts. Stablecoins could prove useful in enabling payouts to individuals across different regions more efficiently and with lower fees than more traditional payment options.
No final decision has been made, but the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent could take a multi-token approach and integrate support for the likes of Tether’s USDt and Circle’s USDC.
Insurance Technology (Insurtech)
Neutrinos Secures Major AI Underwriting Transformation Deal with Fortune 500 Life Insurer: Neutrinos, a leading provider of AI-powered intelligent automation solutions for the insurance industry, has announced a significant partnership with a global Fortune 500 life insurance company.
The collaboration aims to transform the insurer’s new business underwriting operations across eight countries, marking a major milestone for the insurtech firm.
The engagement will span both retail and high-net-worth (HNW) segments, covering products such as Whole Life, Universal Life, and Critical Illness. By implementing Neutrinos’ advanced platform, the insurer seeks to streamline fragmented intake processes, leverage AI-driven risk assessment, and enable first-time-right (FTR) underwriting decisions. The result will be faster, more accurate, and highly personalized customer and advisor experiences.
TIMBY Specialty Insurance Solutions Launches Warehouse Legal Liability Coverage to Expand Inland Marine Portfolio: TIMBY Specialty Insurance Solutions, a managing general underwriter (MGU) focused on inland marine insurance, has announced the launch of its Warehouse Legal Liability Coverage (WHLL), a new product designed to meet the evolving needs of public and contract warehouses across the United States.
The WHLL product provides coverage for third-party property stored at warehouse facilities, with limits of up to $5 million per location. Going beyond traditional storage coverage, the policy offers optional protections for activities such as handling, repacking, and processing—services that are increasingly common in modern warehouse operations. The new product is available exclusively to TIMBY’s appointed agents and brokers and is backed by A-rated admitted capacity.
“Our warehouse legal liability product represents a strategic expansion of TIMBY’s inland marine capabilities and is a direct response to the growing risks faced by warehouse operators in today’s logistics landscape,” said Tyler Van Spanje, CEO and Founder of TIMBY. “By combining advanced underwriting technology with traditional underwriting expertise, we’re delivering a solution that meets the complex needs of today’s warehouse operations.”
Regulatory Technology (Regtech)
Resilience launches AI-powered Cyber Risk Calculator to quantify financial cyber exposure: Resilience, a cyber risk solutions provider based in the US, has introduced the industry’s first Cyber Risk Calculator, an AI-driven tool designed to offer organisations a clear financial view of their cyber risk exposure.
The launch of the Cyber Risk Calculator comes in response to the growing need for a common language between security teams and executive decision-makers. Traditional approaches such as heat maps often fail to translate cyber threats into financially actionable terms, leaving businesses without the clarity they need to justify investments in cybersecurity. With the increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the rise in vendor-related risks, organisations are seeking smarter, data-driven approaches to managing digital threats.
Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi unite to boost regulatory oversight of investment managers: In a move to deepen regulatory collaboration between Asia and the Middle East, the SFC of Hong Kong and the FRSA of ADGM have signed a MoU aimed at enhancing supervision of cross-border investment management activities.
The agreement establishes a framework for greater consultation, cooperation and exchange of information between the two regulatory bodies, particularly in the oversight of collective investment scheme managers operating across the jurisdictions. This includes fund management, investment advisory, and other related cross-border financial services.
The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), held in Doha, Qatar. SFC CEO Julia Leung and executive director of investment products Christina Choi were present at the event alongside FSRA CEO Emmanuel Givanakis.
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🎙️ Tech Behind Fintech Podcast Highlights
Coming Up This Week
Join us on Friday, May 23rd, 2025 at 12 PM EST for a visionary episode of Tech Behind FinTech as we sit down with Kony Kwong, CEO and Co-Founder of GAIB—the platform reshaping how we invest in AI infrastructure. In a world where GPUs are becoming as valuable as real estate, Kony breaks down why compute power is no longer just a tech resource—it’s a financial asset. We’ll dive into the tokenization of AI infrastructure, the rise of “real yield” from compute, and how decentralized finance is unlocking entirely new investment frontiers. Kony brings a unique lens from both Wall Street and Web3, showing how financial systems are being rewired to support the next phase of AI growth. If you care about the future of investing, infrastructure, and innovation, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss.
🔍 What You’ll Learn:
• Why GPUs are the new oil in an AI-driven economy
• How GAIB is democratizing access to compute infrastructure
• What tokenized AI assets mean for FinTech and global capital markets
• The growing intersection between DeFi, AI, and real-world yield
• How synthetic dollars are bridging liquidity into physical infrastructure
Website:https://techbehindfintech.com/featured/the-ai-gold-rush-why-gpus-are-the-new-financial-frontier
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhbVeEStbhU
📌 In case you missed it – Latest Episode Highlights
Show Title: Fake Voices, Real Damage: Social Engineering in the Age of AI
Guest: James Edgar, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at CorPay
🎧 Episode Summary:
In this episode, the host Nnamdi Osuagwu sits with James Edgar, CISO at CorPay to unpack how AI and social engineering are colliding to redefine cyber threats.
The discussion dives deep into the psychology of deception, real-world phishing and fraud examples and how attackers increasingly exploit human urgency and trust. Edgar highlights the evolving threat landscape—from ancient tricks like the Trojan Horse to sophisticated AI-generated deepfakes—while sharing how CorPay trains and empowers its teams to defend against these modern exploits.
The episode also addresses the cultural and organizational shifts needed to combat insider threats and social engineering, emphasizing the role of leadership, employee awareness, and targeted training in creating a secure fintech environment. Edgar provides real examples of spear phishing via LinkedIn, AI-generated video scams, and the potential risks posed by fraudulent IT job applicants, notably referencing North Korean threat actors.
💡 Key Takeaways:
- Social Engineering is Timeless—But Evolving Fast
From the Trojan Horse to AI-powered phishing emails, attackers exploit human psychology—urgency, trust, and fear—to bypass even the most advanced technical defenses. - Layer 8 = The Human Layer
Edgar emphasizes that no matter how strong your tech stack is, the biggest vulnerability remains “Layer 8”- the human being. Training and awareness must evovle to account for emotional manipulation. - AI is Weaponizing Deception
Tools like ChatGPT make phishing and spear phishing more convincing and scalable. Attackers now craft grammatically perfect, context-rich emails and fake personas with minimal effort. - Security Training Must Be Targeted and Ongoing
CorPay customizes training based on job roles (e.g., finance vs. HR), runs regular phishing simulations, and reinforces protocol-based thinking—even advocating for code words for wire transfers. - Culture Shift is Critical
Changing behavior starts with leadership. At CorPay, executives send security messages directly, reinforcing a top-down commitment to vigilance and security ownership. - Recognition Fuels Accountability
CorPay’s “Protect” award program celebrates employees who act on training and help prevent attacks, reinforcing a culture where security is everyone’s responsibility. - Fake Resumes and Deepfake Interviews Are a Real Threat
Edgar outlines how sophisticated threat actors now use AI-generated LinkedIn profiles, resumes, and video interviews to infiltrate organizations—often from hostile nation-states. - Empowerment Over Blame
Employees are encouraged to slow down and question suspicious requests—even if it means delaying a task from a senior executive. “Better to break something than to let something break you.”
🔗 Watch the full episode now: https://techbehindfintech.com/featured/the-17-year-old-behind-a-fintech-giant-powering-global-investing
🔗 Listen to the full episode below
Or stream it on your favorite podcast platform! 🚀
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