Stripe is set to acquire Parafin as it looks to expand its embedded-finance capabilities across a network of around 18,000 platforms. The deal would bring Parafin’s working-capital and financial-services technology deeper into Stripe’s ecosystem, allowing platforms to offer financial products directly to their business customers. The acquisition highlights the continued convergence of payments, lending and embedded financial services, as fintech infrastructure providers increasingly compete to become the financial layer behind other businesses. For Stripe, expanding this infrastructure could strengthen its role beyond payment processing and give more platforms access to integrated financial products.
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Insight of the Day
The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI
Organizations are deploying agentic coding tools and coming to grips with the costs of AI while still seeking to capture more of the benefits that their workers are deriving from their individual use of AI.
Key Insights:
Use of agentic AI is increasing, mostly accounted for by large enterprises. Forty percent of respondents from large organizations (those with annual revenues of more than $1 billion) report scaling AI agents, up from 27 percent last year. The share of respondents from smaller organizations reporting scaling remained flat at 22 percent.
Many organizations are already scaling software coding agents. About two in ten are scaling them (31 percent at larger enterprises).
Organizations are using agentic coding tools to build software in-house in lieu of purchasing it. Nearly a third of respondents (32 percent) report that their organizations have decided against buying one or more software products or features because they could be built internally with agentic coding tools.
The cost of AI is constraining usage in some organizations. About 20 percent of respondents report that AI-related operating costs (including token costs) constrained their AI use. But the majority plan to increase their AI investments.
The share of respondents reporting enterprise-level financial impact from AI use has not changed since last year. Thirty-seven percent of respondents attribute at least some EBIT impact to AI use (about the same share as last year). And the proportion of AI high performers (those who attribute at least 5 percent of EBIT to their use of AI and describe the technology’s impact as “significant”) has remained flat at about 6 percent of all respondents.
However, AI use is boosting the performance of individuals at work. Eighty percent of respondents report that AI has improved their individual productivity, and 50 percent report that AI helps them make better decisions.
Respondents increasingly expect AI to spark workforce declines. Thirty-nine percent of respondents expect AI-related declines in their organizations’ total employment in the coming year, compared with 32 percent last year. (Forty-three percent expect no AI-related change.) But the share expecting workforce declines in last year’s survey was about double the share now reporting actual declines over the past year.
Curated News
💳 Payments
Citi Becomes First Bank to Launch Multi-Market Instant Payments on the Swift Payments Scheme
Citi has become the first bank to launch multi-market instant payments through Swift’s payments scheme. The development is aimed at making real-time international payments more seamless across multiple markets.
Source
European Payments Groups Join Forces to Challenge US Dominance
European payments groups are joining forces in an effort to reduce reliance on US payments infrastructure. The move reflects a broader push to strengthen Europe’s own payments ecosystem.
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BMO Joins Project Agorá to Advance Cross-Border Payments Through Tokenization
BMO has joined Project Agorá, an initiative exploring tokenization for cross-border payments. The project brings another major financial institution into efforts to develop tokenized payment infrastructure.
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Walapay Raises $4.6M Seed Round to Put Global Payments on Local Terms
Walapay has raised $4.6 million in seed funding to develop its global payments platform. The company aims to make international payments work more like local transactions.
Source
🏦 Banking
Barclays Expands Use of Anthropic’s Claude in Efficiency Push
Barclays is expanding its use of Anthropic’s Claude as part of an effort to improve efficiency. The move reflects the growing adoption of generative AI tools by major banks.
Source
OceanBase Partners with Vietnam’s MB Bank on Database Upgrade
OceanBase is partnering with Vietnam’s MB Bank on a database upgrade. The collaboration focuses on modernising the bank’s underlying technology infrastructure.
Source
💼 Fintech
Monarch Hits $100M ARR and Buys HMBradley Team in First Acquisition
Personal-finance fintech Monarch has reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue and acquired the HMBradley team in its first acquisition. The deal expands Monarch’s capabilities as it continues scaling its financial platform.
Source
Australia’s WeMoney Launches AI and Open Banking-Powered Lending Assessment Service
Australian fintech WeMoney has launched a lending assessment service powered by AI and open banking data. The service uses financial information to support automated lending assessments.
Source
Robinhood Deepens Agentic AI Offering in Push to Become Go-To Place for Active Traders
Robinhood is expanding its agentic AI offering as it develops more AI-driven tools for active traders. The move builds on the company’s broader push to integrate AI into its trading platform.
Source
🪙 Crypto
HSBC Names Stablecoin ‘HSBC Redcoin’
HSBC has named its stablecoin HSBC Redcoin, adding a branded stablecoin initiative to its digital-asset strategy. The move reflects the growing involvement of major international banks in stablecoin infrastructure.
Source
Lloyds and Visa Test Faster, Round-the-Clock Cross-Border Settlement Using Stablecoins
Lloyds Banking Group and Visa are testing stablecoin infrastructure for faster, round-the-clock cross-border settlement. The initiative explores how stablecoins could support international payments beyond traditional banking settlement windows.
Source
A16z and CoinFund Back US Fintech Jeeves in $110M Round
Jeeves has secured $110 million in funding backed by Andreessen Horowitz and CoinFund. The round will support the fintech’s expansion of stablecoin and AI-based financial infrastructure.
Source
StraitsX Plans XSGD and XUSD Launch on Monad in 2027
StraitsX plans to launch its XSGD and XUSD stablecoins on the Monad blockchain in 2027. The move would extend the stablecoins into another blockchain ecosystem.
Source
📈 WealthTech
Zilch Reportedly Engages Banks for Potential London IPO
BNPL fintech Zilch is reportedly engaging banks ahead of a potential London IPO. The move could mark another major step in the evolution of the UK-based fintech.
Source
Capitolis to Acquire eSecLending in US$200M All-Cash Transaction
Capitolis has agreed to acquire securities lender eSecLending in a $200 million all-cash transaction. The deal expands Capitolis’ presence in securities-finance infrastructure.
Source
Bloomberg Completes Canoe Intelligence Acquisition
Bloomberg has completed its acquisition of Canoe Intelligence, expanding its capabilities in private-market investing. The deal is intended to support the development of technology for private-market investment workflows.
Source
⚖️ Regulation
New York and Wyoming Join Forces to Regulate Crypto Market
New York and Wyoming are joining forces on cryptocurrency regulation. The collaboration reflects efforts by US states to coordinate approaches to oversight of the crypto market.
Source
Nubank Denies Monzo Acquisition Talks After Reports of Potential Deal
Nubank has denied reports that it is in talks to acquire Monzo. The denial follows earlier reports of a potential transaction involving the two digital banks.
Source
🌍 Other
Apple Pay Launches in India
Apple Pay has launched in India, bringing Apple’s digital payment service to one of the world’s largest consumer markets. The launch expands Apple Pay’s international footprint.
Source
Sibos 2026: Thoughts from Experts at Commerzbank, SMBC and The Clearing House
Experts from Commerzbank, SMBC and The Clearing House have shared perspectives on developments shaping financial services at Sibos 2026. The discussion covers themes emerging across the international banking industry.
Source
Payments Canada Welcomes Six New Members
Payments Canada has welcomed six new members as expanded membership eligibility reaches its one-year milestone. The additions broaden participation in Canada’s payments ecosystem.
Source
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