Mastercard x AI = No Room for Fraud 🛡️
Future of Finance - Edition #170 (1st - 7th July‘ 25)
The fintech stack is flexing hard! 🏗️ When wallets become payment passports and APIs replace legacy logic, you can feel the industry stretch into a new shape. This week’s drops are pure evolution:
✔️ Checkout gets a back-end brain
✔️ Infra goes borderless
✔️ Crypto tools level up for builders
Your feed's about to get a lot more future-facing!
But before we unpack the week, let’s zoom in on a deeper shift happening beneath the surface.
Simon Taylor breaks down a fundamental truth that often gets glossed over: today’s “instant” cross-border payments are only instant because we pre-fund millions in foreign accounts to make them look that way. It’s not magic — it’s margin.
Stablecoins challenge that model entirely.
No pre-funding. No trapped capital. Just programmable, on-chain liquidity that settles in motion - globally. The implications?
Not just faster payments, but a structural reset in how we move money across borders.
If you think cross-border is solved, this thread might just change your mind.
🧵 Read Simon’s full breakdown here »
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🌟 Fintech Fiesta: The Week's Hot 10!
🌐 ‘Byte’ Buzz: Fintech highlights, sorted by segment!
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Edition #170 is hot off the press - extra shot of infra, a splash of embedded, and topped with open finance foam.
The Week's Hot 10!♨️🔟
Frictionless Payment Flows
⤷ Klarna’s “Pay in 4” option is now the default on Bolt-powered checkouts, offering flexible payments directly at the point of sale.
⤷ Stripe and TrueLayer launched Pay by Bank in France and Germany, letting users pay straight from their bank accounts without using cards.
Infrastructure Gets Embedded
⤷ OpenPayd partnered with MetaQuotes to integrate it’s financial infrastructure into MetaTrader 5. allowing brokers to embed payments directly into trading platforms.
⤷ MPS and Salt Edge launched PSD2-compliant APIs for retail and corporate accounts across the EEA, supporting secure access for third-party providers.
Going Local to Scale
⤷ Monzo opened a new office in Barcelona to deepen its presence in Europe and support local product development and operations.
⤷ TBC rolled out fully digital insurance services in Uzbekistan as part of a broader push to grow its financial ecosystem in Central Asia.
Ecosystem Expansion Strategies
⤷ Adyen revamped its global partner program with new resources and incentives to help partners grow on its payments platform.
⤷ Mastercard launched an AI-powered tool in the EEMEA region to help issuers detect fraud and manage card reissuance more efficiently.
Crypto in Motion
⤷ Coinbase acquired Liquifi to simplify token ownership and automate token launch workflows for Web3 developers.
⤷ Bitget Wallet launched a zero-fee crypto card that lets users spend their digital assets at millions of merchants globally.
Now, for the ‘byte’-sized fintech buzz –
Embedded Finance is getting personal, stepping deeper into daily moments with seamless access to credit where it matters most.
Tesla introduced a "Pay Later" financing option for service invoices in the U.S. and Canada. This feature, integrated into the Tesla app version 4.46, allows qualifying owners to defer payments for maintenance or repairs using services provided by Affirm and Klarna.
Bayut Saudi Arabia entered into a strategic partnership with Tarabut to enhance the provision of real estate financing planning services. This collaboration aims to deliver these services digitally, securely, and seamlessly.
Open Finance is powering up the user journey - less friction, more insight - making money smarter and movement easier for everyone involved.
Chip partnered with Tink to integrate Open Banking-powered payment initiation services into its app. This collaboration enables Chip users to fund their accounts via direct bank transfers, bypassing traditional card networks, thereby enhancing speed and security.
Imprint partnered with Nova Credit to integrate cash flow analytics into its underwriting processes. This collaboration aims to provide a more granular view of consumer financial health, thereby expanding access to credit for consumers with thin credit files or those recovering from financial setbacks.
Digital Finance is doubling down on regulated reach, as tech-first players aim to become licensed institutions on both sides of the Atlantic.
French neobank Qonto applied for a banking licence with the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) in France. This move aims to expand its services beyond payment solutions to include lending, savings, and investment options.
Wise applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a national trust bank. This initiative aims to allow Wise to bypass intermediary banks and settle U.S. dollar payments directly with the Federal Reserve.
Fintech Infrastructure is fine-tuning the pipes - from faster business flows to homegrown acquiring, pushing for more control and cleaner payments.
Multifi partnered with GoCardless to integrate Direct Debit features directly into the Multifi platform. This collaboration aims to automate cash flow processes, reduce late payments, and simplify reconciliation for SMEs in the UK.
Nuvei announced its status as a direct payment acquirer in Canada, allowing local businesses to process domestic transactions through its platform without relying on third-party processors.
Digital Assets are building trust with bigger ambitions - bridging real-world value and banking-grade compliance into the next phase of crypto's evolution.
Mercado Bitcoin plans to tokenise over $200M in permissioned real-world assets (RWAs) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). This initiative aims to enhance global liquidity and access to regulated digital products in South America and Europe
Ripple applied for a national banking license with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). This move aims to bring its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, under federal oversight, enhancing transparency and compliance in the stablecoin market.
And that's a wrap 👋
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Weekly Fintech Brew!
As a reward for making it this far, enjoy a curated list of awesome fintech resources to keep your curiosity cuppa full to the brim. Cheers to continuous learning!
🔗 Link Up! –
Africa's Cross-Border Payment Landscape Report- OuiCapital
The Great Tokenization Shift 2025 and the Road Ahead Report- Centrifuge
If you’re Wise, London has lost its shine Blog- Chris Skinner
Stop guessing, start growing: 4 key insights from the Adyen Index Report 2025 Blog- Adyen
B2B Embedded Finance: Unlocking New Business Models and Financial Growth Blog - WhiteSight + Toqio
If you're someone who likes to read think pieces, you will likely love our monthly blog, Fintersections, where our team members analyse the convergence of fintech with the world.
And lastly, to stay updated on everything fintech and web3, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, and don't be shy to show some ❤️