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
Varo Money raised $241 million in a Series D funding round on June 3, 2020, as it moved closer to becoming the first fully digital national bank in the US. The company had received preliminary approval from the OCC for a national bank charter. Full approval from the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve was anticipated by summer 2020. The charter would enable Varo to offer credit cards, loans, and other banking products directly.
Entities: Varo Money · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) · FDIC
Rapyd launched an all-in-one integrated payment solution in the United Kingdom, enabling businesses to access local payment methods including cash, bank transfers, e-wallets, and cards via a single API. The fintech-as-a-service platform supports embedded payments for businesses looking to integrate diverse payment rails. This positions Rapyd as an infrastructure provider for embedded finance use cases across the UK market.
Bank ABC Group entered a founding partnership agreement with Bahrain Fintech Bay (BFB) to accelerate Bahrain's fintech ecosystem. Bank ABC's subsidiaries ila Bank and AFS joined BFB's advisory board. The partnership positions Bank ABC as a key player in enabling fintech innovation in the MENA region.
Entities: Bank ABC Group · ila Bank · Arab Financial Services (AFS) · Bahrain Fintech Bay
Arvest Bank selected Finzly's EXIM STAR trade finance platform to automate operations and launch an online portal for treasury customers. The partnership focuses on process automation for letters of credit, standby guarantees, and collections. This reflects banks' increasing reliance on fintech partners to modernize back-office and treasury functions.
Treasury Intelligence Solutions (TIS), a cloud-based payments and cash flow management platform, raised $20 million in funding led by Acquiline Technology Growth. Existing investor 83North also participated. The funding supports TIS's enterprise payment infrastructure, which connects corporates to banking partners for payment execution.
Pacific National Bank (PNB) launched Facile, a digital-only challenger bank built on Nymbus's SmartLaunch platform, targeting Florida's young professionals. Facile offers fee-free accounts, P2P payments, bill splitting, early paycheck access, and PFM tools. Nymbus provides the core banking technology, back-office operations, call center, and digital marketing, enabling a rapid launch without additional hires.
Aspiration, an LA-based digital banking fintech focused on sustainable finance, raised $135 million in Series C funding led by Alpha Edison. The round brought total capital raised to over $200 million. The company reported 1.5 million users and $4 billion in processed transactions, reflecting strong growth in the neobank segment.
Entities: Aspiration · Alpha Edison · UBS O'Connor · DNS Capital · Radicle Impact · Sutter Rock
The Bancorp announced its release from a regulatory consent order imposed by the FDIC, removing growth restrictions on its Payments businesses. The move positions The Bancorp as a strengthened sponsor bank for BaaS and fintech payments partners. The company highlighted its investments in BSA/AML compliance technology and infrastructure to support rapid-growth fintech clients.
Tink integrated open banking capabilities including account aggregation, payments, and personal financial management tools into Nordea's mobile banking app. The partnership allows Nordea customers to view and manage accounts from multiple banks within a single app. This highlights the growing role of open banking infrastructure providers in enhancing incumbent bank offerings.
Chime commanded approximately 60% of the US digital banking market as of May 2020, operating entirely through bank partnerships rather than its own charter. This underscored the dominance of the BaaS partnership model for scaling consumer fintech. The report also noted the broader landscape of fintech charter challenges.
Visa announced a major expansion of its Fast Track program on May 7, 2020, growing its network to over 140 fintech partners worldwide. The program provides fintechs with streamlined access to Visa's payments network via APIs and partner integrations. This expansion supports bank-fintech collaboration and embedded payments at scale.
Proxymity, spun out from Citi, raised $20.5M from major banks including HSBC, JP Morgan, and Deutsche Bank. The company provides real-time API-driven platforms for investor communications, proxy voting, and shareholder disclosures. The backing from multiple global banks highlights demand for modernized financial infrastructure.
Entities: Proxymity · Citi · HSBC · JP Morgan · Deutsche Bank
Mobile banking platform N26 extended its Series D funding by over $100M, bringing the total round to $570M at a $3.5B valuation. The funds were directed toward accelerating product development for its digital banking infrastructure. The extension came during the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring resilience in digital banking demand.
Marqeta, a card-issuing API platform powering modern payment infrastructure, raised $140M–$150M at a $4.3B valuation. The round was advised by FT Partners. Marqeta enables fintechs and enterprises to issue and manage payment cards via API, making it a core BaaS infrastructure provider.
Standard Chartered's innovation arm SC Ventures launched 'nexus', a Banking-as-a-Service platform enabling ecosystem players such as e-commerce platforms to offer white-labelled financial services. The venture operates as a separate legal entity with approximately 100 staff across Singapore, India, and Indonesia. Its first partner is a major unnamed e-commerce platform in Indonesia, with co-created products planned for 2021.
Entities: Standard Chartered · SC Ventures · nexus
Santander InnoVentures, the venture capital arm of Santander Group, invested in a55, a Latin American alternative SME lender. The investment supports a55's mission to provide liquidity solutions to recurring revenue companies in Brazil and Mexico. This deal exemplifies the bank-fintech partnership model where traditional banks back embedded lending fintechs.
Entities: Santander InnoVentures · Santander Group · a55
Tink, a European open banking platform, closed a $99.7 million investment round to fuel expansion across Europe. The round was led by Dawn Capital and HMI Capital, with participation from existing investors Heartcore Capital and ABN AMRO Ventures. The funding underscores growing investor appetite for open banking infrastructure that enables embedded finance use cases.
Entities: Tink · Dawn Capital · HMI Capital · Heartcore Capital · ABN AMRO Ventures
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition submitted comments opposing Monzo's OCC bank charter application, citing inadequate CRA plans and fair lending commitments. Monzo had applied in April 2020 for a US national bank charter. NCRC argued a branchless fintech model lacked sufficient national reach for LMI communities and recommended rejection.
Nordic fintech Rocker partnered with card-as-a-service provider Enfuce to build out its neobank platform. Enfuce provides the underlying card issuing and payment processing infrastructure. The partnership exemplifies the BaaS model enabling rapid neobank launches in the Nordics.
First Bank initiated a partnership with FintechOS in May 2020 to build an end-to-end digital self-service mortgage channel. The platform cut Time To Yes by 89% and achieved a 25% conversion rate. The collaboration exemplifies embedded finance trends where banks integrate fintech platforms for rapid digital lending without heavy internal investment.
UK challenger bank Monzo submitted a 96-page de novo national bank charter application to the OCC on April 20, 2020, planning a San Francisco headquarters for FDIC-insured deposits. The approval process was expected to take 18-24 months. This marked a significant move by a major European neobank to establish a fully licensed U.S. banking operation.
Entities: Monzo · Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
UK fintech VibePay accelerated the opening of its APIs to SMEs for embedded payments, originally planned for Q3 2020 but launched earlier amid pandemic-driven demand. The company also secured £1.25 million in funding. This reflects the broader trend of embedded finance enablement for small businesses in the UK.
Portland-based fintech Sila raised $7.7M to expand its white-label banking API platform. The startup enables developers to integrate compliant ACH payments, money transfers, and digital wallets via partnerships with Evolve Bank & Trust, Plaid, and Alloy. The raise underscores growing momentum in banking-as-a-service infrastructure.
Entities: Sila · Evolve Bank & Trust · Plaid · Alloy
Goldman Sachs launched MarcusPay, a point-of-sale financing product, as part of its embedded finance strategy. The product represented a major Wall Street bank entering the BaaS-adjacent POS lending space. The launch signaled Goldman's broader ambitions in consumer and embedded financial services.