Robinhood withdrew its application for an OCC national bank charter on November 27, 2019, amid persistent regulatory challenges facing fintechs seeking full banking status. The withdrawal highlighted the difficulty for non-bank fintechs in obtaining bank charters in the US. The move underscored broader tensions between fintech innovation and traditional banking regulation.
Entities: Robinhood · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The New York Department of Financial Services granted a limited liability trust company charter to Fidelity Digital Asset Services, LLC. The charter authorizes virtual currency custody and execution services for bitcoin. This positioned Fidelity as a regulated institutional-grade crypto custody provider in the embedded finance landscape.
Entities: Fidelity Digital Asset Services · Fidelity Investments · New York Department of Financial Services
BlueVine, a fintech offering small business lending and BaaS-like checking accounts, raised $102.5 million in a Series F round led by ION Crossover Partners. The funding will be used to scale its business checking account launched in October 2019 and expand its integrated banking and financing platform. The round brought BlueVine's total funding to $692 million including debt.
Entities: BlueVine · ION Crossover Partners · MUFG Innovation Partners · O.G. Tech · Vintage Investment Partners · ION Group · Maor Investments · Lightspeed Venture Partners · Menlo Ventures · 83North · SVB Capital · Nationwide · Citi Ventures · M12 · Mastercard
US Bancorp subsidiary Elavon agreed to acquire Sage Pay, a UK and Ireland payment gateway, from Sage Group for $300 million (£232 million). The deal positioned Sage Group to refocus on SaaS while partnering for payments and banking services. Sage Pay competed with Stripe, PayPal, and Adyen in the payment gateway space.
Entities: Elavon · US Bancorp · Sage Pay · Sage Group
United Arab Bank chose Finastra's Fusion suite—including Corporate Channels, Cash Management, and core banking upgrades—to embed enhanced digital retail and corporate services. The deal unifies trade, finance, cash, and treasury under a single portal for improved customer experience.
Bank of Georgia launched MBank, an AI-powered personal finance management tool built in partnership with Strands. The tool integrates smart spending tracking, categorization, and personalized recommendations directly into digital banking. It is the first such tool in the Caucasus region.
Facebook launched Facebook Pay, a unified payment experience across Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, processing payments via partnerships with Stripe and PayPal. The launch came shortly after both Stripe and PayPal withdrew from the Libra cryptocurrency project. The move embedded payments directly into Facebook's social platforms.
Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB), a federally chartered Canadian bank, announced an agreement to acquire CoPower Inc., a Toronto-based fintech platform for sustainable investments. The acquisition had already received regulatory approvals from the Autorité des marchés financiers and the Minister of Finance under the Bank Act. Closing was expected later in November 2019.
Entities: Vancity Community Investment Bank · CoPower Inc.
Dubai Islamic Bank introduced its 'Banking in Minutes' service, enabling UAE nationals and residents to open bank accounts entirely through the DIB Mobile App. The digital onboarding process involves scanning documents, taking a selfie, and signing digitally. Prequalified customers can also apply for credit cards in-app and use them immediately via Apple Pay.
Santander acquired a controlling 50.1% stake in UK-based fintech Ebury for approximately $450 million. Ebury operates a payments and foreign exchange trading platform focused on SMEs. The deal aims to bolster Santander's international trade and SME banking services through embedded fintech capabilities.
Australian bank Westpac partnered with UK fintech 10x Future Technologies to build a standalone banking-as-a-service platform. The deal, announced during Westpac's full-year results, enables institutional customers and fintech partners to distribute Westpac banking products. Westpac also plans a minority equity investment in 10x.
Vancouver-based fintech VoPay launched an open banking payment solution enabling Canadian businesses to accept direct bank account payments. The platform integrates with major Canadian financial institutions including Bank of Montreal and offers payment processing at 80%-90% lower cost than traditional credit card fees.
Galileo Financial Technologies expanded its white-label banking platform with new products including Galileo Instant Issuing for rapid debit card issuance and Galileo Money+ for financial advisors. The company processed millions of daily transactions and served challenger banks, gig economy apps, and payment fintechs without requiring long-term contracts.
BankMobile, the digital banking division of Customers Bank, expanded its white-label BaaS partner program for fintechs and brands. The program powered T-Mobile Money (launched April 2019) and had a strong pipeline of additional white-label deals. BankMobile targeted 5 million customers over five years by enabling partners to offer branded digital banking products at lower customer acquisition costs.
Starling Bank partnered with insurtech Anorak to offer income protection insurance directly within its banking app. The embedded insurance product uses bank account data for quick, personalized assessments, targeting sole traders and gig workers. This is a notable example of embedded finance in challenger banking.
HSBC Holdings and the Royal Bank of Scotland announced preparations to launch new digital banking platforms to meet growing client demands. The move signals major UK and global banks investing in digital-first banking capabilities to compete with challenger banks and fintechs.
Citi launched Citi Global Collect, a cross-border payment platform combining digital invoicing with integrated foreign exchange capabilities. The platform helps multinational clients collect international B2B payments more efficiently, streamlining receivables across currencies and markets.
Mastercard partnered with Tappy Technologies to embed contactless payment chips into fashion wearables and accessories. Using Mastercard's tokenization technology, consumers can make purchases at any Mastercard-accepting merchant directly from payment-enabled watches and accessories.
Mastercard announced Accelerate, a global initiative to simplify how it works with fintechs. The program includes Fintech Express, enabling card issuance in as little as 4 weeks. Mastercard partnered with certified processors including Pismo, Conductor, and Tutuka to provide Express Onboarding services.
Unit, an API-first banking infrastructure platform, raised a $10M seed round led by KKR and QED Investors. The company enables fintechs and non-banks to launch banking products such as accounts and cards via developer-friendly APIs. Bessemer Venture Partners also participated in the round.
Entities: Unit · KKR · QED Investors · Bessemer Venture Partners
TransPecos Banks went live with Nymbus' SmartLaunch platform to power its new digital banking subsidiary, BankMD. The partnership enables TransPecos to offer a digital-first banking experience through Nymbus' cloud-based core banking infrastructure, representing a bank-fintech collaboration to launch embedded digital banking services.
Bank of America unveiled a redesigned mobile banking app with embedded loan applications for credit cards, auto loans, and home loans. The app also features AI assistant Erica, serving 29 million users. This represents an early example of embedded lending within a major bank's digital platform.
Current, a mobile banking app offering FDIC-insured accounts through partner banks, raised $20 million in Series B funding. The round brought total fundraising to $45 million and supported growth past 500,000 accounts. New investors included Wellington Management, Galaxy Digital EOS VC Fund, and CMFG Ventures, with returning investors QED Investors, Expa, and Elizabeth Street Ventures.
Entities: Current · Choice Financial Group · Metropolitan Commercial Bank · Visa · Wellington Management Company · Galaxy Digital EOS VC Fund · CMFG Ventures · QED Investors · Expa · Elizabeth Street Ventures
Evolve Bank & Trust partnered with i2c to leverage its cloud-based payments processing platform. The deal enables Evolve to offer customizable credit, debit, prepaid, and DDA products to its fintech clients. This strengthened Evolve's position as a leading BaaS bank serving fintechs nationwide.