Registry — Vantage Bank Texas (US) added to the registry
Enforcement — Licence Revocation issued against Paytm Payments Bank · RBI · Apr 26, 2026
Partnership — Credit One Bank Partners With Bright Money for Embedded Credit Cards · Apr 27, 2026
Product — Banking Circle Launches Stablecoin Settlement Services After CASP License · Apr 27, 2026
M&A — Collective Acquires Embedded Accounting Startup Open Ledger · Apr 24, 2026
Funding — UAE B2B Embedded Finance Platform Comfi Raises $65M Pre-Series A · Apr 27, 2026
Deal Feed
Partnerships, funding rounds, product launches, and M&A across the ecosystem.
Mastercard announced its deepened co-creation strategy with fintechs, revealing it serves 80% of top digital payment and neobank players. The initiative emphasizes embedded payment partnerships amid the broader fintech funding slowdown.
Pepper Advantage and Clay formed a joint venture to create an end-to-end white-label credit platform for fintechs and enterprises. The platform integrates Clay's Debt-as-a-Service with Pepper's loan management capabilities covering origination, servicing, and analytics. This enables non-bank players to embed lending without building full credit infrastructure.
The Federal Reserve denied The Narrow Bank's (TNB) application for a master account after a six-year review process. While TNB is not a traditional fintech, the denial underscores the difficulty non-traditional financial entities face in accessing Fed infrastructure. The decision reinforces the regulatory barriers that push fintechs toward BaaS partnership models.
The FDIC publicized a consent order against Choice Financial Group (related to Choice Bank) for BSA violations and weak oversight of third-party fintech relationships. The action stemmed from a June 2023 examination and highlights continued regulatory focus on banks that serve as BaaS partners. Choice Bank is another in a growing list of sponsor banks facing enforcement actions.
Mizuho Americas announced a strategic investment in DirectBooks, a fintech bank consortium focused on primary markets communications. The investment strengthens Mizuho's ties to fintech innovation in capital markets infrastructure. DirectBooks aims to modernize how banks and investors communicate during new bond issuances.
Sygnum, a digital asset banking group, raised over $40M in an oversubscribed strategic growth round led by Azimut Holding, reaching a $900M post-money valuation. The company operates a B2B platform enabling banks to offer digital asset services. The round reinforces institutional demand for regulated crypto-banking infrastructure.
Jack Henry announced Banno Business, a cloud-native business banking solution designed for community and regional financial institutions serving SMBs. The platform bundles cash management, payments, and commercial lending with embedded payment capabilities and integrates with Mastercard's Finicity for consolidated financial views.
Mastercard welcomed 15 fintech startups into its Start Path program focused on small business empowerment and open banking innovation. The selected startups gain collaboration opportunities with Mastercard to refine technologies and scale solutions. The initiative underscores Mastercard's strategy of embedding fintech partnerships into its network to address real-world open banking challenges.
Novo launched Novo Payroll on January 24, 2024, an embedded payroll solution powered by payroll infrastructure company Check. The tool allows small business customers to run payroll directly from their Novo checking account, further integrating financial services into Novo's SMB banking platform.
Ozone API, an open banking platform operating in over 60 markets, raised £8.5 million (~$10.8M) in Series A funding led by Gresham House Ventures. The company provides standards-compliant APIs enabling banks to securely share data and generate revenue. The funding will support global expansion and regulatory compliance efforts.
PayTabs Group and Fintech Galaxy announced a partnership integrating PayTabs' payment orchestration middleware with Fintech Galaxy's FINX open banking platform. The deal targets SMEs and enterprises in Saudi Arabia and the UAE with services including account verification, A2A payments, and POS-based lending. The partnership aligns with evolving MENA open banking regulations, including SAMA's Q1 2024 specifications.
ModernFi, a deposit management platform for community and regional banks, raised $18.7M in a Series A led by Canapi Ventures with participation from Andreessen Horowitz. Total funding now exceeds $23M. The platform helps banks grow and manage deposits, a key banking infrastructure function.
Digital Onboarding raised $58M in growth capital from Volition Capital. The company provides a SaaS platform that helps banks and credit unions improve digital customer onboarding and engagement. The investment highlights demand for bank-enabling technology in the fintech ecosystem.
Treasury Prime partnered with FirstBank and High Circle to launch a suite of high-yield commercial checking accounts as an embedded banking program. The accounts target high-net-worth individuals and businesses, offering up to $125M in FDIC insurance via the Intrafi network. Treasury Prime provides the BaaS software layer integrating the fintech and bank partners.
PortX announced a partnership with Plaid to integrate its Integration-Platform-as-a-Service (IPaaS) middleware with Plaid's data network. The collaboration enhances core banking data access and fintech connectivity for financial institutions, enabling personalized services and real-time insights.
Prometeo, a fintech infrastructure provider offering a unified API for multi-banking data aggregation and payments across 283 financial institutions in 10 Latin American countries, raised $13 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Antler Elevate with participation from PayPal Ventures, Samsung Next, DN Capital, and others. The capital will fund regional expansion of its open banking offerings.
The Boost-RHB Digital Bank Consortium received regulatory approval from Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Finance to commence operations as a digital bank effective January 15, 2024. The consortium, now branded as Boost Bank by Axiata and RHB, became the first primarily Malaysian-owned digital bank. The approval came ahead of schedule after a review confirmed the consortium's operational readiness and focus on financial inclusion for underserved markets.
BridgeFT reported over 100% growth in total AUM powered by its WealthTech API in 2023, its first full year since launch. The cloud-native, API-first platform provides a single open interface for multi-custodial data, analytics, and services. The company also launched a WealthTech API Marketplace with pre-integrated partners like Yayati and Intrinio.
Redwood Capital Bank partnered with Apiture to modernize its online and mobile banking solutions using the Apiture Digital Banking Platform. The community bank aims to deliver a more advanced digital experience to its customers. The partnership includes integrations with fintech partners through Apiture's platform.
GXS Bank, Singapore's digital bank backed by Grab Holdings, raised $109M in January 2024. The digital bank was established as part of Singapore's digital banking license initiative, enabling Grab to embed financial services into its super-app ecosystem. The raise supports GXS Bank's growth in embedded finance for Southeast Asian consumers.
Tameed raised $15M (SAR 56.75M) in a Series A round in January 2024 for its Shariah-compliant SME financing platform in Saudi Arabia. The company provides embedded lending solutions tailored to the MENA market's regulatory and cultural requirements. The round reflects growing demand for embedded Islamic finance infrastructure.
Zeal, an Egyptian fintech, raised $4M in January 2024 to expand its embedded payment solutions for retailers. The company enables merchants to accept digital payments, addressing the underbanked MENA market. The round supports Zeal's efforts to embed financial services into retail commerce.
DailyPay raised $75M in equity and $100M in credit facilities in January 2024 to expand its embedded payroll and earned wage access platform. The company enables employers to offer on-demand pay as a benefit, embedding financial services into the employment relationship. The raise supports DailyPay's growth in the B2B2C embedded finance segment.
Fiserv applied for a merchant acquirer limited purpose bank (MALPB) charter in Georgia, USA. If approved, the charter would allow Fiserv to process card transactions directly without relying on a partner bank. Approval was expected in the first half of 2024, representing a significant shift in the payments value chain.