Registry — Vantage Bank Texas (US) added to the registry
Enforcement — Termination of Enforcement Action issued against Deutsche Bank AG, DB USA Corporation, and Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch · Federal Reserve · Aug 25, 2026
Partnership — Revolut Japan Partners with Minna no Ginko via BaaS Banking Agency Agreement · Aug 25, 2026
Product — Absa Develops Embedded Payment Tool for Township Small Businesses · Aug 22, 2026
M&A — I-Remit Approves P20 Million Capital Infusion Into Surepay Technologies · Aug 22, 2026
Funding — Startup Embedd Raises Pre-Seed Investment Round · Aug 25, 2026
Deal Feed
Partnerships, funding rounds, product launches, and M&A across the ecosystem.
FinWise Bank announced a strategic partnership with Earnest to originate and support Earnest's private student loan portfolio. The deal emphasizes responsible financing with flexible repayment terms and competitive rates. FinWise serves as the originating bank, providing the regulatory infrastructure for Earnest's lending program.
Grasshopper Bank partnered with Greenlite to implement AI-powered enhanced due diligence for customer risk monitoring in its BaaS operations. The partnership helps Grasshopper scale compliance processes as its fintech client base grows. Greenlite's AI automates risk assessments for SMB and startup customers.
The OCC issued a Cease and Desist Order against Blue Ridge Bank, N.A. for BSA/AML violations, capital deficiencies, and unsafe practices related to its fintech partnerships. The order superseded a prior agreement and classified the bank as in 'troubled condition,' restricting it from onboarding new fintech partners without OCC approval. This is a significant escalation in regulatory scrutiny of BaaS sponsor banks.
LoanPro appointed Jer Wood as President of Credit Sponsorship to strengthen direct sponsor bank-fintech partnerships. The hire signals LoanPro's push into facilitating compliant lending relationships between banks and fintechs. The move comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny of BaaS and sponsor bank models.
Cascading AI secured $3.9 million in pre-seed funding led by Peterson Ventures for its AI-native loan origination system, Casca. The platform targets banks and claims to reduce back-office work by 90% through automated loan processing. The raise highlights the intersection of AI and BaaS in lending.
EY announced an alliance with MoneyLion to help banks accelerate digital transformation using MoneyLion's embedded finance platform. The partnership combines EY's consulting capabilities with MoneyLion's technology for core banking modernization and customer engagement.
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.
Canadian fintech Zūm Rails raised $7.8 million (CAD $10.5M) in a Series A round led by Arthur Ventures. The company merges open banking with instant payments and processes over $1 billion in monthly payments. The funding will support the launch of new BaaS features.
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.
Estonian core banking platform Tuum raised $27 million (€25M) in a Series B round led by CommerzVentures and Speedinvest. The cloud-native infrastructure provider offers API-driven core banking for banks and fintechs. Funding will support expansion into the Middle East and Islamic banking.
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.
Bangor Savings Bank's BaaS partnership with Treasury Prime, initiated in early 2023, achieved significant scale by early 2024 with 23 signed fintech programs and 80% compounding monthly deposit growth. The bank provides checking accounts, ACH, wires, KYC/KYB, and debit card issuing through integrations with Alloy and Marqeta.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.