Stripe’s Stablecoin Unit Wins Conditional OCC Bank Charter Approval
Stripe’s stablecoin platform, Bridge, has secured conditional approval for a US national trust bank charter from the OCC. The decision marks a major milestone in the institutionalisation of stablecoins, bringing federally supervised banking oversight to digital asset infrastructure. If finalised, the charter would allow Bridge to custody reserves and operate within a clearer regulatory perimeter. The move signals growing convergence between fintech, crypto, and traditional banking frameworks. It also positions Stripe at the forefront of compliant stablecoin payments in the US market. More broadly, the approval reflects regulators’ willingness to integrate digital dollar infrastructure into the formal banking system.
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How agentic AI actually changes inside lending and credit operations
I mapped what agentic AI actually changes inside lending and credit operations. Not conceptually. Operationally.
Traditional credit is memo-driven. Analysts extract financials, interpret policy, calculate ratios, draft credit notes, review each other’s work, then repeat. Outputs vary by person. Turnaround time stretches to days. Risk logic lives in people’s heads.
Agentic underwriting replaces this with an AI-led credit assembly line built around three explicit phases.
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Phase 1: Financial spreading
This is not data extraction. It is structured interpretation. AI agents ingest annual reports, management accounts, and bank statements, then:
- Normalize P&L, balance sheet, and cashflow data across formats
- Reconstruct financial indicators consistently across borrowers
- Synthesize qualitative context on business model, revenue concentration, and management behavior
The output is a standardized financial view. Analyst variance is removed before risk is discussed.
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Phase 2: Policy checks and credit memo generation
This is where underwriting logic moves from human memory into systems.
Agents evaluate the deal against credit policy line by line:
- Amount, tenor, purpose, sector exposure
- Covenant and structural constraints
- Risk drivers translated into red-amber-green scores per approval criterion
The credit memo becomes a digital artifact with traceable reasoning. Humans review exceptions, not entire files. Consistency is enforced by architecture, not training.
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Phase 3: Deal evaluation, pricing, and facility output
This phase links risk directly to economics.
Agents simulate:
- Risk-weighted assets and capital consumption
- Interest rate, fee, and collateral structures
- Profitability under multiple downside scenarios
The system generates either a pricing-backed facility letter or a decline letter aligned with borrower risk and lender return targets. No manual rework. No disconnected handoffs.
Across all three phases, the real shift is structural. Credit moves from static documents to living AI-led dossiers. Every decision is reproducible, auditable, and policy-aligned. Humans apply judgment only where signals conflict or thresholds are breached.
This is why decision cycles compress from days to under a day while compliance improves instead of degrading. Speed is a byproduct. Consistency at scale is the leverage.
Curated News
💳 Payments
Fluz Launches Embedded Payments Platform for Software Providers
Fluz has introduced an embedded payments platform designed to integrate native money movement directly into software products. The solution aims to help SaaS platforms monetize transactions and enhance user retention.
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Mastercard Move Expands Ericsson’s Global Wallet Reach
Mastercard Move is powering Ericsson’s wallet expansion, enabling broader cross-border money movement capabilities. The partnership strengthens telecom-driven financial services distribution.
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Mastercard and Visa Pilot Agentic Payments with Banks
Mastercard and Visa are working with banks to test AI-driven “agentic” payment models. The pilots explore how autonomous software agents could initiate and execute transactions on behalf of users.
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Modern Treasury Launches Unified PSP for Fiat and Stablecoins
Modern Treasury has introduced an integrated payments service provider supporting both fiat and stablecoin transactions. The offering reflects growing enterprise demand for hybrid payment rails.
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Zūm Rails to Become Payments Facilitator in North America
Zūm Rails is transitioning to a payments facilitator model in the US and Canada. The move enables greater control over merchant onboarding, compliance, and transaction flows.
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🏦 Banking
ECB Prepares for Digital Euro Pilot Phase
The European Central Bank is finalising groundwork ahead of planned digital euro pilot programmes. The initiative aims to test infrastructure resilience, privacy safeguards, and integration with commercial banks.
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Treasury to Issue AI Implementation Manuals for Financial Firms
The US Treasury plans to roll out AI “success manuals” to guide financial institutions in responsible AI adoption. The initiative seeks to standardise best practices while mitigating operational and compliance risks.
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b1BANK Deploys Agentic AI Through Covecta Partnership
b1BANK has partnered with Covecta to implement agentic AI across its operations. The deployment aims to enhance automation, decision support, and customer engagement capabilities.
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Nexi Ready Targets Agile Innovation for Issuers
Nexi has launched Nexi Ready, a platform designed to help issuers of all sizes accelerate product innovation. The solution provides modular tools to support rapid feature deployment.
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🧩 Fintech
Activist Investor Jana Builds Stake in Fiserv
Jana Partners has taken a stake in Fiserv, signalling potential pressure for strategic or operational changes. The move could influence direction within the payments and financial infrastructure giant.
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FAB Accelerates Group-Wide AI Adoption
First Abu Dhabi Bank is advancing enterprise-wide AI initiatives through innovation programmes and talent development. The strategy aims to embed AI across operations and customer-facing functions.
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Xceptor Launches Tax and MiKaDiv Compliance Modules
Xceptor has introduced a pre-configured Tax on SaaS solution alongside a MiKaDiv compliance module. The offerings support financial institutions navigating evolving European regulatory requirements.
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TreviPay Debuts AI-Powered Growth Center for B2B Sales
TreviPay has launched an AI-driven growth platform to help enterprises predict buyer behaviour and optimise B2B sales strategies. The tool leverages transaction data to enhance revenue forecasting.
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Ecommpay Executive Honoured in Risk & Compliance
Ecommpay’s Head of Fraud, AML, Transactions & Disputes received a Women in Risk & Compliance Award. The recognition highlights leadership in strengthening payment risk frameworks.
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🪙 Crypto
Coinbase Expands Crypto-Backed Lending to XRP and DOGE
Coinbase has extended its crypto-backed lending product to include XRP and DOGE. The expansion broadens collateral options and deepens retail access to liquidity services.
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Coinbase CEO Says Market Misunderstands the Business
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong argues the company is undervalued due to investor misunderstanding of its diversified revenue model. The comments come amid continued stock volatility.
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OpenAI and Paradigm Test AI Agents for Ethereum Security
OpenAI and Paradigm have developed EVMBench, a testing ground for AI agents designed to improve Ethereum security. The initiative explores whether AI can proactively detect smart contract vulnerabilities.
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Goldman Sachs CEO Signals Caution on Bitcoin Exposure
Goldman Sachs’ CEO disclosed minimal personal bitcoin holdings while backing regulatory clarity efforts such as the Clarity Act. The comments reflect continued institutional caution toward direct crypto exposure.
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💼 WealthTech
Monark Raises $8.1M to Build Standard Rails for Private Markets
Monark has secured $8.1 million to develop infrastructure standardising private markets transactions. The funding supports efforts to streamline capital formation and secondary trading processes.
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Morgan Stanley Backs $385M Round in US Savings Platform
Morgan Stanley has supported a $385 million Series E round in a US-based savings platform. The investment underscores sustained institutional interest in digital wealth accumulation tools.
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Investment Platform Caption Selects Mangopay to Scale Operations
Caption has partnered with Mangopay to enhance investor journeys and improve payments optimisation. The collaboration aims to support platform scalability and operational efficiency.
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