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Is Plaid worth $8 billion?
American fintech startup Plaid secured an US$8 billion valuation in a February 2026 funding round/share sale, representing a 31% increase from its US$6.1 billion valuation in April 2025. Plaid used this round to provide liquidity for employees while still remaining 40% below its 2021 peak of $13.4 billion. Plaid’s valuation is unlikely to ever again
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How Korean digital banks are taking divergent paths
Korean digital banks are among the most consistently successful in Asia and internationally. In fact, Kakao Bank was one of the first major digital lenders to reach profitability in 2019, and it did so just two years after its founding. Recently IPO’d K Bank and soon-to-IPO Toss Bank (under its Viva Republica parent) have also consistently posted
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Nubank logs another record-breaking quarter
Brazil’s Nubank just might be the most successful digital bank in the world right now. After a record-breaking third quarter, it followed that up with—what else?—a record-breaking fourth quarter that well exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Nubank’s net income in the fourth quarter surged 50% annually to a record US$895 million, and revenue rose 45% to
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Airwallex charges full speed ahead in EMEA
When AUSTRAC announced in January it would audit Airwallex for suspected breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFL) laws, the plucky fintech unicorn remained cool as a cucumber. Like many well-funded fintech disruptors, the company has become supremely confident in its prospects. It’s going to take more than an audit (or two) to rattle the
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Sea’s fintech business booms, but stock still plummets
Sea Group has long been seen as one of the more resilient Asian platform companies, with a diversified portfolio including gaming, e-commerce, and digital financial services. Sea’s fintech business, Monee, accounts for less than 15% of its overall revenue but has been a consistent bright spot for the company, which faces intense pressure in the ultra-competitive
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Revolut has big plans for the U.S. market
Revolut applied for a U.S. banking charter on March 5, signifying its determination to become a licensed bank in the world’s largest economy. “The United States is a key pillar of our global growth strategy. Filing for a national bank charter is a major milestone toward our vision of building the world’s first truly global
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Will Stripe buy PayPal?
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A Bloomberg report about a possible Stripe acquisition of PayPal has spurred intense discussion in the fintech industry. After all, Stripe is the digital payment colossus of 2026, the most valuable private fintech firm in the world. PayPal once dominated the online payment processing market, but not anymore. Any conversation about the digital payments pioneer
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Klarna fights an uphill battle with investors
Swedish payments giant, sometimes bank and stablecoin issuer Klarna is learning that it’s a lot harder being a listed fintech firm than a unicorn whose eye-popping valuation is decided by private investors who cannot resist hitting the inflate button. The aura of invincibility enjoyed by erstwhile unicorns like Klarna dissipates pretty quickly after an IPO “pops” and
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Why Swift Is Still The Global Payments Hegemon
Many a well-funded fintech upstart has burst onto the scene with the intention of challenging the dominance of the Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payments network. The Belgium-based interbank messaging network is and continues to be a convenient poster child for the woes of traditional correspondent banking. Yet disrupting the organization has proven,
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Why most Australian neobanks have failed or been bought
In many countries, neobanks are thriving. Australia is not one of them. In fact, we would say Oz is where neobanks go to die. If you think that’s an exaggeration, consider this: Just one major native digital Australian lender has survived for a decade. That would be Judo Bank. More on Judo in a moment.
