Articles
Tracking Fintech Insights and Trends That Shape Money & Markets
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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
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Are N26’s best days behind it?
Are N26’s best days behind it? N26 is one of Europe’s most prominent digital banks, with $486 million in sales in 2024. Yet despite the German neobank’s impressive growth over the past 12 years, we cannot help but wonder if it will ever live up to the promise of the US$9 billion valuation it achieved
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North Korea’s crypto theft reaches new high in 2025
Long known for financial crime, North Korea has become the most notorious crypto-pilfering state actor over the past few years. The Hermit Kingdom operates a sophisticated, state-directed cyber apparatus, known largely through groups like the Lazarus Group. North Korea steals cryptocurrency for the same reasons it engages in financial crime involving fiat currency: to circumvent
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South Asia doubles down on crypto
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In 2025, the United States was arguably the most prominent cryptocurrency market globally because of the Trump administration’s high-profile moves to regulate digital assets and incorporate them into the mainstream financial system. However, when it comes to actual demand for cryptocurrency, the U.S. is an outlier. Demand for digital assets is growing fastest in emerging
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Starling Bank mulls next big steps
Technology forward with a lean cost structure and known for being customer centric, Starling Bank is one of the most successful UK digital lenders. It has operated as a licensed bank in the U.K. since 2018 with shareholders that include Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments and the Qatar Investment Authority. In the fiscal year ended March 31,
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Why Mizuho took a majority stake in India’s Avendus
Japan’s financial heavyweights like Mizuho, MUFG and Sumitomo Mitsui are increasingly looking for more promising banking opportunities overseas as growth in their home market is flat given a legacy of ultra-low interest rates, deflation, heavy corporate cash holdings stifling investment, and a shrinking population. India has emerged as a preferred market for Japanese financial firms.
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UK neobanks hungrily eye U.S. market
UK neobanks, including Monzo and Revolut, are hungrily eyeing the massive, affluent but ultra-competitive American market. Monzo launched in the U.S. in 2022 via a partnership with Sutton Bank after an initial failed attempt to get its own U.S. banking license in 2021. Revolut also operates in the U.S. via partnerships, such as the one
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Why Toss Bank had a stellar Q3
Korean digital banks tend to be a cut above the industry standard, and Toss Bank is no exception. Leveraging the broader Toss super app’s 10 million monthly active users (MAU), the company has successfully integrated payments, stock trading, and lending, improving profitability and user engagement. While most tech companies outside China have struggled to build super apps,
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Paytech deals drive Europe’s Q3 fintech funding
A recent Finch Capital report shows that paytech deals drove Europe’s fintech funding in the third quarter, which fell slightly from the April to June period. Overall, paytech startups raised €896 million the third quarter, up 117% from €413 million sequentially. A key third quarter paytech deal was XBO Ventures’ US$25 million strategic investment in Rapyd’s Series F round, which
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Why is GXS Bank cutting 10% of its staff?
One of the brightest ideas (or not) of Southeast Asia’s early 2020s tech bubble was centralizing every digital service imaginable in a single smartphone app, a barely veiled attempt to replicate the success that China’s dominant platform companies enjoyed with this business model. Unsurprisingly, the results have been inconclusive because China is a unique market
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Why The CBDC Fever Has Cooled In Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia has 11 countries with a combined population of 700 million people, including some of the world’s most dynamic markets for digital finance: Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. From mobile wallets to digital banks to cryptocurrency and CBDCs Southeast Asia is usually a few steps ahead of the rest of the world
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Paytm’s remarkable comeback gains momentum
Paytm just might be that rare SoftBank bet that pays off big—even though the Japanese telecoms giant’s Vision Fund completed its exit from the Indian fintech sensation in Dec. 2024. While Paytm’s core financials continue to improve, its performance in capital markets (the stock is up 43% over the past year) is equally, if not
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South Asia Fintech Heats Up Outside of India
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As one of Asia’s largest economies and a wellspring of digital financial innovation, India has long dominated the fintech industry in wider South Asia. Historically, neighboring countries have been slower to adopt digital financial technology. That is changing with the ascendancy of fintech in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and, to a lesser extent, Nepal. The payments segment
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Klarna hops on the stablecoin bandwagon
If there was any doubt that the world is in the midst of a stablecoin craze – we hesitate to use that loaded term “bubble” – it should be dispelled by the recent launch of a stablecoin by buy now, pay later (BNPL) behemoth Klarna. In a news release, Klarna explains its rationale for the issuance of
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Why the K Bank IPO is a crapshoot
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South Korean digital lender K Bank has been talking about an IPO for years, literally. Since 2022, the company has twice aborted plans to go public. In early November, it formally filed for a third time, aiming to go public in the first half of 2026 on the Korea Stock Exchange (KOSPI). Both the company and
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Why A Grab GoTo Merger might be too little too late
The Southeast Asian super apps Grab and GoTo, long archrivals in some of the world’s most competitive digital services markets, are once again considering a Grab GoTo merger. In contrast to previous merger talks earlier in the decade, this time the discussions include a proposal to give the Indonesian sovereign wealth fund Danantara a minority
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Why has Chime’s market cap fallen 50% since its IPO?
The June 2025 IPO of Chime, the biggest American digital bank, was a big deal. The San Francisco-based company priced its market debut at US$27 per share above the expected range, raising US$700 million at a valuation of US$11.6 billion. Chime’s arrival in public markets was long anticipated and helped thaw an erstwhile frozen fintech IPO pipeline.
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How did Nubank conquer the Brazilian banking market?
Brazil’s Nubank posted a record profit of US$783 million in the third quarter, an increase of 39% from a year earlier and ahead of the US$723 million estimate from analysts surveyed by Valor. The total loan portfolio reached $30.4 billion in the third quarter, up 42% year-on-year. Nubank revenues reached $4.2 billion in the July
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Kakao Bank Hits New Record In First 9 Months of 2025
Kakao Bank, South Korea’s largest and most successful digital lender, posted a record cumulative profit in the first 9 months of the year of 375.1 billion won (US$259.1 million), up 5.5% over the same period in 2024. A diversified revenue base offset narrowing margins in interest income and was a key factor in its strong
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Why did GCash delay its IPO until H2 2026?
Ant Group-backed GCash, the most successful Philippine payments platform, has been eyeing an initial public offering (IPO) for several years. It achieved profitability in 2021, three years ahead of target. Having hit that milestone four years ago and boasting 94 million users, the company seems like it should be primed to go public. In fact,