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• Tyro Payments will acquire Australian financial management platform for SMEs, Thriday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
• The acquisition will expand Tyro’s banking and payments capabilities, and accelerate delivery of the company’s integrated, cash-flow management solutions.
• Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Tyro made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2017.

Australia-based fintech Tyro Payments has agreed to acquire SME financial management platform Thriday. Terms of the deal were not immediately available. Tyro said in its statement that the acquisition is part of its strategy to grow its banking and payments capabilities. The transaction will also enable Tyro to accelerate the delivery of integrated, all-in-one cash flow management solutions for its customers.

“Combining Thriday’s smart automation and financial tools with Tyro’s payments and banking capabilities will deliver a more complete and powerful solution for our customers and a platform for further software-driven innovation,” Tyro CFO and Acting CEO Emma Burke said. “We see the acquisition of Thriday as a great win for our business and our customers, and we will continue to pursue M&A opportunities that are aligned with our growth strategy.”

The acquisition is expected to be completed in January 2026, and is subject to customary conditions. The majority of Thriday’s team, including CEO Michael Nuciforo, is expected to join Tyro.

Based in Melbourne, Australia, Thriday offers an integrated banking, accounting, tax, and invoicing solution that serves as a financial operating system for small businesses. The company’s technology automates and streamlines multiple financial administrative tasks for these companies, helping them save time and boost productivity.

“We are excited to join Tyro, a company that shares our commitment to innovation and customer-focused product design,” Thriday’s Nuciforo said. “We look forward to helping Tyro accelerate the delivery of customer solutions that help Australian businesses run smarter and grow faster.”

Tyro made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2017. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, the company provides in-store, online, and on-the-go payment solutions for more than 76,000 merchants throughout Australia. With more than 450 POS partners, Tyro delivers integrated banking and lending solutions to companies in verticals including retail, services, hospitality, and healthcare.

Tyro’s acquisition news follows the company’s November announcement that Nigel Lee, a fintech veteran with more than 25 years of leadership experience, will take over as Chief Executive Officer in January 2025. Lee will replace outgoing CEO Jon Davey.

“I am passionate about the payments industry and have followed Tyro’s story since it was founded in 2003,” Lee said in a statement. “It is exciting to return to Australia to lead one of the country’s most innovative fintechs into its next chapter.”

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• Finovate Best of Show winner 10x Banking has partnered with audax Financial Technology to accelerate digital banking modernization with banks throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
• The partnership will help banks modernize their core operations quickly, but incrementally, keeping technology debt low as they pursue new business models such as Banking-as-a-Service and super apps.
• Founded in 2016, 10x Banking is headquartered in London, UK. Antony Jenkins is Founder, Chair, and CEO,

10x Banking, which won Best of Show in its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023, has teamed up with audax Financial Technology to bring digital banking modernization to core banking service providers throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. While speed is the headline, deploying systems that are capable of keeping up with the rapid growth of the digital payment and fintech markets is just as important.

“This partnership shows banks don’t need to choose between speed and resilience; they can have both,” 10x Banking Founder and CEO Antony Jenkins said. “By combining 10x Banking’s modern core with audax’s digital agility, banks in high-growth regions can innovate at pace, minimize risk, and deliver lasting customer value.”

In the partnership announcement, 10x Banking underscored research that indicated that a growing number of banks perceive the failure to modernize their core systems as an “existential risk.” In the APAC region, research indicated that 67% of banking executives believed they were falling behind in terms of digital modernization, a sentiment supported by the fact that only 8% reported that they had prioritized core banking at their institutions.

Together, 10x Banking and audax, a banking technology solutions provider supported by Standard Chartered, will empower banks to launch new digital products and services faster than is possible with their current legacy core systems. audax’s expertise in enabling modern banking systems, combined with 10x Banking’s meta core platform capable of processing more than a billion real-time transactions annually, will enable banks to modernize incrementally. This will help them keep overall technical debt low while still reaching new customer segments and launching new business models, ranging from Banking-as-a-Service to super apps.

“Traditional core banking projects take years and cost tens of millions,” audax CEO Kelvin Tan said. “Our partnership with 10x Banking changes that equation entirely. Banks can launch full digital services in as fast as six months for a fraction of the cost. That’s the difference between a digital banking project that only works for major cities versus one that can also reach underserved markets across the regions we serve.”

Singapore-based audax offers a plug-and-play digital banking platform that enables banks to quickly launch scalable, compliant solutions—from Banking-as-a-Service to new digital banks. Founded in 2023, audax includes Standard Chartered and Maybank Islamic among its customers.

Headquartered in London, UK, 10x Banking was founded in 2016. A B Corp-certified core banking platform, 10x Banking handles six billion API calls a month and generates more than three million statements an hour for global institutions.

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• Visa has launched USDC stablecoin settlement in the US, enabling issuers and acquirers to settle transactions in Circle’s dollar-denominated stablecoin using blockchain infrastructure.
• Cross River Bank and Lead Bank are piloting the capability to deliver faster, always-on settlement and improved treasury efficiency while remaining compatible with existing payment rails.
• The move signals stablecoins’ shift from experimentation to bank-ready infrastructure.

Visa unveiled today that it has launched stablecoin settlement in the United States. The payments giant is partnering with Circle’s USDC dollar-denominated stablecoin to enable US issuers and acquirers to settle with Visa in USDC.

USDC settlement relies on blockchains to offer issuers faster money movement and seven‑day settlement windows that will improve both speed and liquidity, modernized treasury management with automated treasury operations, and interoperability between traditional payment rails and blockchain-based payments.

“Visa is expanding stablecoin settlement because our banking partners are not only asking about it— they’re preparing to use it,” said Visa’s Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships Rubail Birwadker. “Financial institutions are looking for faster, programmable settlement options that integrate seamlessly with their existing treasury operations. By bringing USDC settlement to the US, Visa is delivering a reliable, bank‑ready capability that improves treasury efficiency while maintaining the security, compliance, and resiliency standards our network requires.”

Piloting the launch are Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, which are leveraging the Solana blockchain to settle with Visa in USDC. Visa is planning broader availability in the US in 2026. Cross River Bank, a leading infrastructure provider that offers embedded financial solutions, reinforces the importance of true interoperability. “Fintech and crypto innovators increasingly ask us to bring stablecoins into their existing product suite,” said Gilles Gade, Founder, President and CEO of Cross River. “A unified platform that natively supports both stablecoins and traditional payment networks is the foundation for how value will move globally. As one of the first US banks to enable USDC settlement with Visa, we’re demonstrating how a tech-forward, deeply integrated banking partner can connect blockchain networks and legacy systems at scale.”

Today’s announcement comes the same week that Visa Consulting & Analytics launched its Stablecoins Advisory Practice to offer education and guidance on market fit and implementation. VyStar Credit Union and Pathward are early participants in the program, which they will use to find new opportunities in the $250 billion stablecoin market.

Visa, which became one of the first major payment networks to settle in stablecoins in 2023, has been positioning itself at the forefront of the stablecoin revolution. Last month, the company’s monthly stablecoin settlement volume passed a $3.5 billion annualized run rate threashold.

Visa’s move to bring USDC settlement to the US shows that the early momentum in stablecoin activity this year is set to continue into next year as the payment rail moves from experimental to a bank-ready settlement tool. By embedding stablecoin settlement directly into its network, Visa is making programmable, always-on settlement a practical option for traditional banks seeking to improve liquidity management, shorten settlement cycles, and bridge existing payment rails with blockchain infrastructure.

Photo by Jonathan Borba

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Last year’s FinovateEurope conference brought together fintech creators from around the world. At the event, our audience voted for three standout companies that took home Best of Show honors for their demos. Almost a year out from FinovateEurope 2025, and with FinovateEurope 2026 coming up on February 10 and 11, we’re taking a look at how last year’s three Best of Show winners in innovation have continued to grow, influence their markets, and shape the future of financial services technology.

Keyless

At FinovateEurope 2025, Keyless showcased its privacy-preserving biometric authentication solution that replaces traditional, multi-factor authentication with fast, passwordless identity verification using zero-knowledge biometrics.

Nine months later, the company agreed to be acquired by identity and access management company Ping Identity. Keyless’s biometric authentication technology will be integrated into Ping Identity’s platform to expand adoption of secure, privacy-first login experiences across enterprise environments.

This acquisition not only validates Keyless’s technology but it also demonstrates the importance of seamless, secure authentication.

R34DY & ABLEMENTS

Hungarian fintech R34DY and its ABLEMENTS integration platform won Best of Show in London thanks to its solution that aims to simplify complex integrations between legacy core systems and modern microservices architectures.

Since its FinovateEurope demo, R34DY has continued to build on both its product and presence. The company added four main modules to ABLEMENTS, each addressing critical needs in context engineering; completed eight proofs of concept, demonstrating real-world value; and found six flagship use cases for the product, demonstrating diverse applications of the solution.

Overall, R34DY’s platform has attracted attention for its ability to bring context-aware automation and faster time-to-market for banks and fintechs seeking to modernize complex workflows.

Tweezr

Tweezr took Best of Show honors at FinovateEurope 2025 for its AI-powered developer assistant, a tool built to help teams accelerate time-to-market while navigating legacy code and modernization efforts.

Over the past year, Tweezr has continued to refine and expand its platform to help organizations address the notorious difficulty of maintaining and modernizing mission-critical systems without sacrificing stability or productivity. Having been founded in mid-2024, Tweezr is still early in its growth journey, but its tools will be increasingly relevant as firms navigate the intersection of AI solutions and legacy systems.

Looking Ahead: FinovateEurope 2026

While these winners are just a snapshot of the new technologies available in fintech today, they show how the Finovate stage can serve as a springboard to real-world traction, strategic partnerships, and industry recognition.

Join us February 10 through 11 in London for FinovateEurope 2026 to see the next wave of fintech demos first-hand and learn how they will shape the future of financial services. Whether you’re a founder, builder, investor, or enterprise leader, the opportunity to meet, connect, and collaborate with tomorrow’s fintech leaders awaits.

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• Mollie plans to acquire GoCardless in a move that creates a unified European payments platform that combines card payments, bank-to-bank transfers, and local payment methods for more than 350,000 businesses.

• GoCardless strengthens Mollie’s recurring payments and open banking capabilities, helping merchants reduce failed payments, customer churn, and cross-border complexity.

• The deal reflects a broader shift in payments, as merchants increasingly favor full-stack platforms that integrate payments, fraud, financing, and analytics while making bank payments and open banking rails core infrastructure rather than optional add-ons.

Payments platform Mollie unveiled this week that it plans to acquire business payments platform GoCardless. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Combined, the two providers will serve over 350,000 businesses with a holistic solution that offers card payments, local payment methods, and bank payments into a single solution.  

“We’re incredibly excited to join forces with Mollie,” said GoCardless Co-Founder and CEO Hiroki Takeuchi. “This deal brings together two highly complementary businesses that have built best-in-class products across Europe and beyond.  By combining our expertise in card, bank and hyperlocal payments into one provider, we can better serve our customers, accelerate growth and raise the bar for the industry. It’s a win for European fintech and we’re confident that the new company will be greater than the sum of its parts.”

GoCardless, which won Best Enterprise Payments Solution at the 2021 Finovate Awards, was founded in 2011. The UK-based company’s technology helps merchants collect recurring and one-off payments from customers via ACH transfers. GoCardless’ APIs help businesses automate payment collection and reconciliation billing for subscription and invoice payments. Last year, the company acquired NuPay, which helped expand GoCardless’ services through partners and intermediaries, including Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs). 

Mollie’s platform powers online and in-person payments, reconciliation, fraud prevention, and working capital loans with flexible repayment options across 30+ European markets and the UK. Founded in 2004, Mollie has raised $928 million.

“Mollie’s mission has always been to make money management effortless,” said Mollie CEO Koen Köppen. “We were founded on the vision to eliminate financial bureaucracy for every business. We see that bureaucracy creates challenges, especially for businesses with recurring revenue. A card-only approach has its limits, leading to high costs due to failed payments and customer churn. GoCardless built the definitive solution to optimize this process with its global bank payment network. By bringing them into Mollie, we take a huge step towards fulfilling our vision and creating one complete platform for sustainable growth.”

Mollie anticipates that the deal will give businesses access to a broad suite of tools that will offer financing, fraud monitoring, and analytics from a single place. The integration will also allow Mollie to offer recurring revenue management, more options for SaaS and vertical software vendors, local onboarding and reporting, and an easier on-ramp to international expansion.

Mollie’s acquisition of GoCardless marks a major consolidation in Europe’s payments landscape as unified platforms that combine cards, bank payments, and hyper-local payment options become more popular. As card failure rates, churn, and cross-border complexity continue to challenge merchants, Mollie is positioning itself as a full-stack alternative to fragmented payment tooling. The added capabilities offer merchants fewer integrations, stronger recurring revenue management, and a single provider for payments, fraud, financing, and analytics across Europe and the UK. The move also shows that bank-to-bank payments and open banking rails are becoming a core necessity for high-growth digital businesses.

The deal is expected to close by mid-2026.

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• Enova is acquiring Grasshopper Bank for $369 million, creating a full-stack digital financial services provider that blends online lending with modern API-driven banking.
• Grasshopper brings $1.4 billion in assets, $3 billion in deposits, and a growing sponsor-bank portfolio, strengthening Enova’s infrastructure, deposit base, and fintech capabilities.
• The deal show the benefits of digital lenders that move up-market by acquiring bank charters to stabilize funding, expand product suites, and compete in the next phase of fintech.

It may be mid-December, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to announce a bank acquisition. Online financial services company Enova International revealed that Grasshopper Bancorp has agreed to be acquired in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $369 million.

Grasshopper Bank, which offers small business banking and lending tools, as well as embedded finance and BaaS, was founded in 2019 and currently holds more than $1.4 billion in total assets as of September 2025. In addition to small business banking, the digital-first bank focuses on startup banking, venture and tech-forward SMB tools, digital treasury management, and high yield business checking and savings products. Grasshopper Bank is also a sponsor bank, working with fintechs such as Pocketbook, Manifest, and Sydecar. The bank, through its direct banking and BaaS product offerings, holds $3 billion in total deposits.

“We’re thrilled to join forces with Enova, a market leader in digital lending and a true innovator in the use of technology and analytics in the financial services sector,” said Grasshopper CEO Mike Butler. “This combination of enhanced digital lending and banking will enable us to serve an even broader set of customers while expanding and strengthening the product offerings for our current clients.”

Enova anticipates that this transaction will combine its consumer and small business online lending capabilities with Grasshopper’s digital banking infrastructure to help it become a stronger, more diversified financial services provider. With more than 13 million customers, Enova’s portfolio has seven brands, including OnDeck, Headway Capital, The Business Backer, CashNetUSA, NetCredit, Simplic, and Pangea.

“Acquiring and partnering with Grasshopper creates a powerful digital bank that positions us to offer a more comprehensive suite of financial solutions across more states to empower consumers and small businesses with the products they need to succeed,” said Enova Chairman and CEO David Fisher. “Our complementary capabilities and shared customer-first mindset mean we can grow and innovate faster, together. We’re excited to welcome the Grasshopper team to Enova.”

Once the deal is finalized, Enova will be formed as a bank holding company with Grasshopper Bank as its subsidiary. Butler will stay on as President of Grasshopper Bank, reporting to Steve Cunningham, who will be appointed CEO of Grasshopper Bank and will assume the role of Enova CEO on January 1, 2026.

The deal creates a vertically integrated fintech–bank hybrid that combines Enova’s scale in online consumer and SMB lending with Grasshopper’s modern, API-driven banking infrastructure, giving Enova a foothold in embedded finance. The announcement also offers a clue of how digital lenders and digital banks are converging to compete in the next phase of financial services. We may see other digital lenders move up-market by acquiring bank charters to stabilize funding and expand their product sets.

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Today’s financial landscape is steered by rising consumer expectations, requiring banks to search for ways to deliver more personalized, actionable guidance to their customers. While fintech has always discussed financial wellness, it is not always easy to deliver it in a way that is embedded, intuitive, and with low friction. The banks that will take the lead in the customer journey in 2026 are the ones that will turn complex financial decisions into simple, interactive experiences that help users understand their options in real time.

Today, we’re highlighting a conversation with Chase Neinken, CRO and co-founder of Chimney, which offers banks personalized tools to help them improve the customer experience and ultimately improve their financial wellness. Recorded at FinovateFall 2025, this interview features Neinken’s thoughts on how banks can use interactive tools to deepen engagement, increase transparency, and empower consumers to make smarter financial decisions within their trusted banking channels.

But I think over the next few years, what you’re going to see, especially with AI and automation and some of the intelligence tools that are coming out, is that the winners are going to separate themselves by moving from the application layer to the infrastructure layer. So owning that data and being able and prepared to take advantage and act on it. So [consider] how you take advantage of all of the accountholder data that you have within your existing systems, not relying on third parties to do that, and then analyze that data, act on that data, and give that to the accountholders in a very convenient experience that helps your teams be more efficient and helps you grow the balance sheet in a meaningful way.

As a co-founder of Chimney, Chase Neinken brings a commercial mindset shaped by years of working with banks and fintechs to solve real consumer pain points. Neinken’s focus is on transforming static, outdated digital banking experiences into dynamic tools that guide users toward financial wellness.

Founded in 2021, Chimney is helping banks change the role they play in consumers’ financial lives by providing interactive financial tools that power more personalized, data-driven experiences within the banks’ existing channels. Chimney’s tools help users explore scenarios such as mortgage affordability and home-equity planning. For financial institutions, the New York-based company offers a plug-and-play way to increase engagement, build trust, and drive conversions without overhauling their core.

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• Brex and Fifth Third Bank have entered a multiyear partnership that uses Brex Embedded to power the bank’s new commercial card, bringing modern spend management and AI-driven automation to Fifth Third’s commercial clients.
• The integration gives businesses access to Brex’s finance platform, enabling real-time payments, automated expense workflows, corporate card issuance, and AI agents that streamline closing the books and controlling spend.
• The partnership is strategically significant for both sides. It expands Brex’s reach into established commercial banking while helping Fifth Third differentiate itself with an AI-powered alternative to legacy expense management tools.

Corporate card and expense management fintech Brex announced a new partnership with Fifth Third Bank this week. In the multiyear agreement, Fifth Third will leverage Brex Embedded, Brex’s API-driven payments infrastructure to power the Fifth Third Commercial Card.

Through the integration, Fifth Third’s commercial clients will gain access to Brex’s finance software platform that will enable them to issue corporate cards, automate expense management, and make secure, real-time payments. Customers can also use Brex’s AI agents that automate complex workflows to close the books faster, reduce manual review, and control spending.

“The future of business demands financial platforms that do more than process payments—they must power growth,” said Fifth Third Chairman, CEO, and President Tim Spence. “Our partnership with Brex is a commitment to redefine how companies leverage financial technology. By combining the strength of a leading bank with Brex’s AI-driven innovation, we’re creating intelligent solutions that simplify complexity, drive efficiency, and enable businesses to scale globally with confidence.”

For a long-standing, traditional financial institution like Fifth Third, this partnership will bring modern, AI-powered technology into its commercial banking business. The new commercial card will become the default commercial card solution for the bank’s commercial clients.

“This partnership changes everything. By combining Fifth Third Bank’s financial strength with Brex’s AI-driven technology, we’re delivering an intelligent platform that automates workflows, enhances visibility and eliminates manual processes,” said Fifth Third’s Head of Commercial Payments Bridgit Chayt. “Businesses gain real-time insights, global scalability and finance tools that work proactively on their behalf—freeing teams to focus on strategy, not spreadsheets. We’re introducing a new standard for speed, accuracy and control in commercial finance.”

Brex was founded in 2017 to create a digital-first business banking solution. The company offers business bank accounts with credit cards that have built-in rewards, spend controls, and expense tracking. The accounts provide businesses access to their online revenue, billpay tools, and integration with popular accounting tools.

Brex quickly rose to prominence in the fintech space after positioning itself as a digital bank account and card offering for startups. The company sought to solve pain points that often come with corporate cards, including lengthy approval processes and restrictive credit limits. Within just two years, Brex managed to raise billions of dollars in funding and achieve unicorn status.

In 2022, however, as Brex sought to expand its client base from small businesses to larger, venture-backed firms, the company experienced a downward shift. In pivoting toward this target market, Brex discontinued some of its services geared toward small businesses, many of which were the fintech’s original customers. This pivot required some of Brex’s original small business clients to leave to seek alternative solutions.

Despite the dip, Brex remains a major player in the fintech space, serving “tens of thousands of businesses” ranging from small private companies to large public brands, including Airbnb and ClassPass.

For Brex, the partnership is strategically significant. After years of repositioning toward larger, venture-backed firms, embedding its technology inside a major US bank gives the company a new distribution channel and a path to reach established commercial clients. For Fifth Third, the partnership serves as a differentiating factor from peers that still rely on dated expense management tools and manual workflows. Overall, the partnership raises expectations across the commercial banking category.

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• Kraken is launching the Krak Card, a crypto-to-fiat debit card offering 1% cash back and multi-asset spending across 400+ crypto and fiat currencies, with initial rollout in the UK and EU.
• The card supports direct deposit, no foreign exchange or monthly fees, and flexible funding rules that let users choose which assets cover each purchase.
• With the Krak Card, Kraken is positioning itself closer to a full-service financial platform, further blurring the lines between TradFi and DeFi and enabling everyday spending of digital assets.

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Kraken revealed plans to launch a crypto-to-fiat debit card that pays 1% cash back rewards on all purchases. The Krak Card will first be available to users in the UK and EU, and will be offered to customers in additional markets in the coming weeks. 

In addition to paying rewards, the Krak Card also allows direct deposit for salaries and offers expanded wealth-building opportunities. Kraken anticipates that the new upgrades will bring users one step closer to replacing their traditional banking relationships by helping them explore the unique opportunities available within digital assets.

“To us, everything is money. You should be able to use whatever assets you hold to pay for everyday goods and services in the digital era we live in,” said Kraken Global Head of Consumer Mark Greenberg. “From groceries to getaways, the Krak Card makes value move freely, no matter who you are or how you choose to store your money.”

Powered by Mastercard, the physical Krak Card comes in two color options and is available in a virtual format, as well. With no foreign exchange or monthly fees, the card delivers instant spending using multiple balances with no FX or monthly fees. Uniquely, the Krak Card offers multi-asset spending, supporting more than 400 crypto and fiat assets. Purchases can be funded from either crypto, fiat, or a mix of both. The app lets users preset which assets are used first and allows them to exclude specific holdings from payments.

The 1% cash back on every purchase is paid in either the local fiat currency or Bitcoin. The cash back rewards help differentiate Kraken from other debit products, as it is quite rare to find a debit card that pays cash back.

Since its debut six months ago, the Krak app has seen over 450,000 downloads in over 130 countries. Kraken expects that the launch of its debit card will accelerate this number. In the coming months, Kraken plans to launch new features, including credit products, additional card options, enhanced merchant rewards, simplified onboarding, and broader support for assets.

Kraken’s move, as it positions itself against traditional banks and neobanks, is an example of the pending convergence of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). By combining multi-asset spending, direct deposit, and cash-back rewards into a single debit product, Kraken is offering another way to spend crypto while building an everyday money hub. The new capabilities allow consumers to bridge their digital assets and real-world payments without the friction of conversions or fees.

Photo by Karola G

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• Klarna revealed plans to launch KlarnaUSD, a new stablecoin built on Stripe and Paradigm’s Tempo blockchain.
• Set to debut on the Tempo mainnet in 2026, KlarnaUSD will leverage early access to Tempo for testing and integration.
• The move positions Klarna to capture value in the $120 billion cross-border payments market, using stablecoins to cut costs for both consumers and merchants as stablecoin usage surpasses $27 trillion annually.

Two months after reaching one million card sign-ups in the US, BNPL leader Klarna has revealed plans to launch its own stablecoin, KlarnaUSD.

Klarna is launching its new stablecoin on the Tempo blockchain. Launched in September 2025, Tempo is an independent, layer-1 blockchain created by Stripe and Paradigm that’s built for payments. KlarnaUSD is built on Open Issuance by stablecoin infrastructure platform Bridge.

“With 114 million customers and $118 billion in annual GMV, Klarna has the scale to change payments globally: with Klarna’s scale and Tempo’s infrastructure, we can challenge old networks and make payments faster and cheaper for everyone,” said Klarna Co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski. “Crypto is finally at a stage where it is fast, low-cost, secure, and built for scale. This is the beginning of Klarna in crypto, and I’m excited to work with Stripe and Tempo to continue to shape the future of payments.”

Klarna will launch its stablecoin on the Tempo mainnet in 2026. Tempo has granted Klarna early access to its infrastructure in advance of the KlarnaUSD launch to allow the fintech to conduct advanced testing, prototyping, and integration.

Klarna and Stripe first teamed up in 2021 when they partnered to allow Stripe users in 20 countries to offer Klarna’s BNPL option, with Stripe as the preferred payments partner in the US and Canada. The partnership between Klarna and Stripe’s blockchain, Tempo, deepens the relationship between the two players.

Today’s announcement comes as cross-border payments are estimated to generate $120 billion in transaction fees annually, and as stablecoin transactions top $27 trillion a year. Launching its own stablecoin isn’t just a way for Klarna to jump on a recent trend. The company will leverage the benefits of stablecoins to reduce costs for both consumers and merchants.

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The agenda for FinovateEurope 2026 (February 10—11) in London is still taking shape. We’ve already shared a preview of some of the top themes that the conference will address. Today we’re looking at a trio of Executive Briefings that will offer attendees concentrated deep dives on a few key issues and trends in fintech and financial services.

This year, women in fintech, integrating AI into financial services, and the embedded finance revolution are the three areas of focus for our FinovateEurope Executive Briefings. Stay tuned for more on our moderators and speakers. For now, check out this advance look at how we’re tackling these top issues for 2026.

Women in Fintech: How Can We All Make Sure We Are Moving The Needle?

Ladies first! Tuesday morning will feature the first of three Executive Briefings at FinovateEurope: our Women in Fintech Briefing. This session, open to all attendees, will examine and discuss the status of women in fintech and financial services today. From strategies to encourage intentional change at the executive level to ideas on how to make mentoring relationships successful, our Women in Fintech Briefing will share experiences with successful initiatives to grow and retain female talent. The session will also explore ways that fintech and financial services professionals can drive change in their companies and the industry, at large.

How Can We All Make Sure We Are Moving the Needle? And How Can We Support Women in the Toughest Job Market We Have Seen In Years? Tuesday, February 10. 10:40am—11:20am

The AI Competitive Imperative: Ten Solutions You Need to Know About Today

On Tuesday afternoon our Executive Briefing on the increasing importance of AI in fintech and financial services will take place. This session will focus on practical, real-world applications of AI technology in core financial services operations ranging from fraud prevention and compliance to lending and customer intelligence. Our Executive Briefing on AI will discuss every aspect of the integration process: from pilot to production, emphasizing the best practices that have enabled leading financial institutions to successfully deploy AI-powered solutions to increase profitability, lower costs, boost efficiency, and better engage customers.

The AI Competitive Imperative & the Ten Solutions You Need to Know About Today. Tuesday, February 10. 3:20pm—4:00pm

From Embedded Finance to Platform Banking

On Wednesday, Day Two of FinovateEurope, we will present our Executive Briefing on the latest developments in the field of embedded finance and the growth of platform banking.

Embedded finance continues to be one of the most revolutionary developments in fintech. As the ability to offer banking and financial services becomes increasingly ubiquitous, what are the opportunities for banks to expand their own distribution footprint? This session will examine the current challenges faced by banks from nonbank rivals and discuss ways—including platform banking—that can enable them to compete with the integrated user experiences from Big Tech, Big Retail, and super apps.

From Embedded Finance to Platform Banking—How Can Banks Capture This Huge Opportunity, Create a Robust API Strategy & Defend Against Super Apps & Ecosystem Threats? Wednesday, February 11. 11:30am—12:10pm

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From AI-enabled commerce to AI-powered voice agents in insurance, companies across the fintech spectrum are busily integrating AI into their operations to boost efficiency, cut costs, and enhance the customer experience. It is a holiday-shortened week, so be sure to check in to Finovate’s Fintech Rundown to keep you informed on the latest fintech headlines.

Insurtech

Eleos Life unveils AI voice agent to provide 24/7 customer support.

HawkSoft partners with AI automation company Liberate to leverage the company’s Voice AI to enhance sales and service operations.

Payments

European payment provider Mollie announces payment integration with ChatGPT.

Worldpay unveils its Worldpay MCP (Model Context Protocol).

Revolut reaches a valuation of $75 billion following a share sale and investment from NVIDIA’s venture capital arm, NVentures.

TerraPay introduces payments interoperability network, Xend.

Australian payments and rewards platform pay.com.au raises $53 million to fuel US expansion.

Payments platform Paysafe partners with independent cloud gaming provider Boosteroid.

Lending

Tech Mahindra launches its advanced, sustainable lending platform i.GreenFinance.

Fraud prevention

GFT Technologies and FICO team up to help banks leverage AI to stop fraud in real time and simplify risk decision-making.

Lithuania-based Electronic Money Institution (EMI) Wallter UAB partners with regtech AMLYZE to bolster its AML screening.

Open banking

Intuit QuickBooks partners with SiSS Data Services (SISS) to facilitate open banking data feeds for its customers in Australia.

Photo by Balazs Busznyak on Unsplash

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