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Why Banks Are Rejecting Too Many Small Business Loans
Small business loan rejection rates in the United States remain stubbornly high, which is a lose-lose scenario. Denial of credit prevents capital-starved firms from growing and deprives lenders of revenue: they literally leave money on the table. In 2024 (the most recent full year for which data are available), 41% of applicants received all the…
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Payment giants have high hopes for agentic AI
Agentic AI represents a shift from “AI as a tool” to “AI as an active agent” or partner. Unlike passive generative AI, which relies on step-by-step instructions, agentic AI is given a goal and determines the necessary actions to achieve that goal with limited supervision. Agentic AI systems can learn from past tasks and adapt…
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Why Wise is growing so fast
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is growing briskly thanks to its combination of a disruptive low-cost business model, proprietary technology, and rapid expansion into business and partner banking. The UK-based firm currently serves 10.9 million active customers. Its quarterly cross-border volume grew 25% annually to £47.4 billion in the third fiscal quarter of 2026, while underlying income…
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Why Airwallex has a new compliance headache
Airwallex had been on a great run. The Australia-founded B2B payments startup reached a valuation of US$8 billion in December following a massive $330 million Series G funding round. This valuation represents a 30% increase from its previous $6.2 billion valuation in May 2025, driven by strong growth in annualized revenue and transaction volume. Then AUSTRAC, Australia’s…
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Vietnam launches crypto exchange licensing
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In a region where cryptocurrency use is growing briskly in many countries, Vietnam still manages to stand out. Research firm Chainalysis notes that along with India and Pakistan, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing decentralized virtual currency markets in both the Asia-Pacific region and the world. Vietnam’s overall index rating is 4 of 151. 21% of Vietnamese adults…
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2 of Brazil’s biggest fintechs eye U.S. IPOs
Across the globe, momentum is building for fintech IPOs as equities markets continue to surge, shrugging off economic uncertainty and geopolitical tension. Two of Brazil’s largest fintechs, Agibank and PicPay, are both planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which attracted seven of the 10 largest IPOs in 2025. Among them were…
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Why the Taiwan Stock Exchange had an incredible year in 2025
Geopolitical tumult and economic uncertainty across the world failed in 2025 to shake investor confidence in equity markets, with Taiwan being one of the best examples of this phenomenon. The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TAIEX) set six records in 2025 and could soon overtake Canada’s stock market (TSX) to become the world’s No. 6 stock market…
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U.S. Fintech IPOs Surge, Then Fizzle
After several years of a slow deal pipeline, U.S. fintech IPOs rebounded strongly in 2025. The concerns about inflation and high interest rates that had made investors risk-averse dissipated this year, despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty linked to the United States’ trade policy. 2025 saw several long-awaited big-ticket deals come to fruition, including Chime, Circle, and Klarna. Deal…
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Why Stripe won’t commit to an IPO
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Stripe is one of the oldest fintech unicorns to remain a private company. Founded in 2010, Stripe is arguably past prime time to go public. Why the delay? It’s complicated. With a valuation of $106.7 billion, the San Francisco and Dublin-headquartered company is one of the most successful payment startups of all time. Its seed…
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Google Pay launches UPI-linked credit card in India
Google Pay has long been an anomaly in India’s fintech industry. It is the only U.S. tech giant that has gained a strong foothold in the Indian payments sector and has been able to maintain at least a 33% share of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) market for almost eight years. Paramount to Google Pay’s…
