PayTabs is set to acquire Amazon Payment Services’ MENA business in a deal valued at $100 million, marking a major move in the region’s payments landscape. The transaction would give PayTabs greater scale and access to Amazon’s established payment infrastructure across the Middle East and North Africa. It also highlights continued consolidation among payment providers as fintechs compete to build broader regional capabilities. For Amazon, the deal represents a strategic shift in how its payments operations are positioned in the region. For PayTabs, acquiring an established payments business could accelerate its expansion significantly. The deal is one of the strongest examples in this batch of fintech M&A reshaping the payments market.
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Insight of the Day
Q1 2026 SaaS+Fintech Earnings Observations
SaaS and fintech equities have rallied over the past month yet remain laggards to the broader market over the past year. Despite the choppy stock performance, the fundamentals tell a story of continued strength. Average revenue growth accelerated slightly, and gross profit margins continued to expand in the most recent quarter, marking the 11th straight quarter.
Toast: Launched new marketing agent, Toast IG Grow, with pilot customers showing an average 8% lift in sales. Total monetization (recurring gross profit divided by gross payment volume) reached 1% for the first time
Fintech
Shift4: Gross revenue less network fees grew 11% organically and 49% including recent acquisition. Payment volume reached $56 billion in Q1 (+24% YoY)
Lightspeed: AI is now resolving 80% of customer support tickets. Divested Upserve U.S. hospitality segment to focus on core.
Block: Square international GPV grew 35% YoY; U.S. GPV grew 8% YoY; total Square GPV reached $61 billion. Cash App primary banking actives hit 9.7 million (+18% YoY)
E-Commerce
Shopify: Shopify Payments GMV grew 41% YoY to $67 billion in Q1 (67% of total GMV, up from 64% YoY). Q4 offline GMV grew 33% YoY; B2B GMV grew 80% YoY
Wix: Completed a $1.6 billion tender offer to repurchase nearly 30% of shares outstanding. Base44’s vibe coding platform reached $150 million ARR in mid-May, up from $100 million in early March
BigCommerce: GMV grew 14% YoY to $8.3 billion
GoDaddy: Airo AI Builder has scaled to $10 million annualized bookings within weeks of beta launch.
Curated News
💳 Payments
Brazil, ECB studying instant payments link in potential first cross-border move for Pix, sources say
Brazil and the European Central Bank are reportedly exploring a potential connection between Brazil’s Pix and European instant-payment infrastructure, which could mark a major step toward cross-border instant payments.
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Nexi, JCB and UnionPay team on Italian public transport payments
Nexi, JCB and UnionPay are collaborating to make public-transport payments in Italy more seamless, bringing international card networks into local transit infrastructure.
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DNA Payments links up with iwoca
DNA Payments has partnered with iwoca, bringing together payments capabilities and financing to support businesses with their payment and working-capital needs.
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India’s Juspay expands Wego partnership for Mideast Payments
Indian payments technology company Juspay is expanding its partnership with Wego to strengthen payment capabilities for travel customers across Middle Eastern markets.
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Viva.com Connects Directly to Multibanco, Portugal’s Payment Network
Viva.com has connected directly to Portugal’s Multibanco network, expanding its local payment capabilities and potentially improving access for merchants operating in the country.
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Fipto and Circle Payments Network: Regulated Stablecoin-Powered Payouts from Europe to Latin America and Asia
Fipto and Circle are introducing regulated stablecoin-powered payouts connecting Europe with Latin America and Asia, targeting faster international money movement.
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🏦 Banking
Swiss bank to demand AI proficiency from junior hires
A Swiss bank is reportedly making AI proficiency a requirement for junior hires, reflecting how rapidly AI skills are becoming part of the baseline toolkit for financial-services employees.
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DBS, Citi complete cross-border payment with tokenized deposits
DBS and Citi have completed a cross-border payment using tokenized deposits, demonstrating how blockchain-based deposit representations could be used for faster international settlement.
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TD Successfully Completes Testing of Tokenized Payments Through Project Agorá
TD has completed testing of tokenized payments through Project Agorá, adding another major banking participant to experiments around next-generation payment infrastructure.
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💼 Fintech
EMEA fintech funding declined in H1
Fintech investment across Europe, the Middle East and Africa declined during the first half of the year, pointing to a more cautious funding environment for the sector.
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Xpate releases API-based tool for embedded money management
Xpate has launched an API-based solution for embedded money management, allowing businesses to integrate financial-management functionality directly into their own products.
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Concryt deploys agentic AI to monitor live payment operations
Concryt is applying agentic AI to payment operations, aiming to monitor activity in real time and help identify operational issues more efficiently.
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Hyundai Card blends AI & staff in PR writing tests
Hyundai Card is combining AI tools with human employees in PR-writing tests, offering another example of financial institutions experimenting with AI-assisted workflows.
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Xendit promotes Nazim Ali to president as it expands globally
Xendit has promoted Nazim Ali to president as the fintech continues pursuing international expansion and broader growth.
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🪙 Crypto
XRP Gets Another Boost Through Ripple Deal With Florida Athletics
Ripple has entered a deal involving Florida Athletics, giving XRP another high-profile institutional and sports-related use-case.
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Harmony Cites AI Threats in Proposed Blockchain Shutdown
Harmony has cited AI-related security threats in a proposal concerning the shutdown of its blockchain, highlighting growing concerns about how advances in AI could affect crypto infrastructure.
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Bitcoin Starts the Week Flat, But Chainlink Is Flying—Here’s Why
Bitcoin began the week relatively unchanged while Chainlink saw stronger momentum, drawing attention to diverging performance across major crypto assets.
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Ethereum Proposal Would Let Users Pay Gas Without Holding ETH
A proposed Ethereum change would allow users to cover gas fees without directly holding ETH, potentially making interaction with the network simpler for mainstream users.
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📈 WealthTech
European wealthtech funding drops amid investor caution
Funding for European wealthtech companies has fallen as investors become more cautious, adding to broader evidence of a tougher fundraising environment across fintech.
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⚖️ Regulation
Mastercard (MA) Bets On AI Agent Commerce With New Start Path Cohort
Mastercard is backing the development of AI-agent commerce through a new Start Path cohort, focusing on technologies that could allow AI agents to participate more directly in purchasing and payment journeys.
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