Brex has announced a new stablecoin payment feature for its business accounts. According to the company’s September 30, 2025 press release, Brex will be “the first global corporate card to enable instant balance payments with stablecoins.”

In practical terms, Brex customers will be able to receive payments in stablecoins (starting with USDC) directly into their Brex accounts – with the amounts automatically converted to USD.

Conversely, they can send payments in stablecoins from their existing USD balances. The system will also let customers repay their Brex corporate card balances using stablecoins.

All stablecoin transactions are processed instantly and free of fees, with automatic on-platform conversion back to USD. The stablecoin payment service is slated to become generally available in the coming months (initially supporting USDC), and interested users can join the waitlist now for early access.

Why This Matters

Brex highlights several key features of this offering. The company notes it is building a unified platform “to manage both traditional and stablecoin-backed spend at scale.”

The new payment rails will settle instantly “24/7 across borders” with zero hidden costs. All activity – receiving, sending, or converting stablecoins – will be visible and managed within the Brex dashboard.

In short, the feature effectively treats stablecoins like another currency option: businesses can bring in USDC payments and immediately use or convert them without separate crypto wallets or fees.

Key Features

• Accept USDC with auto-conversion: Brex customers can receive stablecoin payments (initially USDC) into their Brex accounts, which are then converted into USD automatically.
  
  
• Send stablecoin payments: Customers can send payments denominated in stablecoins directly from their USD balances. Each transfer “settles in seconds” and carries no fees or hidden costs.
  
  
• Stablecoin bill pay: Cardholders will be able to repay their Brex card balances using stablecoins, an option managed alongside their normal USD balance.
  
  
• Global, 24/7 settlement: The platform promises round-the-clock settlement across borders, supported by Brex’s 24/7 customer service.
  
  
• One consolidated account: All stablecoin activity is integrated into Brex’s existing business accounts – companies do not need separate crypto accounts to use the feature.
  
  
• Phased rollout (USDC first): The stablecoin payments feature will launch “in the coming months,” with support starting for USDC. Brex is accepting signups to a waitlist for early access.
  
  

Strategic Analysis for Founders

Brex’s stablecoin move reflects a broader industry shift toward integrating crypto-based rails for business payments.

The announcement explicitly cites stablecoins’ role in “cross-border, large-scale business transactions” and positions Brex as a “consolidated financial platform” for both fiat and crypto spend.

From a fintech founder’s perspective, this highlights a key lesson: emerging payment technologies can be incorporated into core products to meet customer demand.

Brex is leveraging stablecoins’ speed and liquidity (instant, 24/7 transfers) while smoothing away complexity with features like auto-conversion to USD and zero fees. This design choice shows that fintech startups should focus on user experience – integrating innovation in a way that hides technical friction.

Serving Multiple Segments

Brex also signals that serving multiple customer segments is important. The release emphasizes support for “both crypto-native companies and those adopting digital assets for the first time.”

In practice, Brex is courting crypto-savvy businesses (names like Figure, Solana, and Alchemy are mentioned in the announcement) while also offering an easy on-ramp for more traditional companies.

For startup founders, the takeaway is to think broadly about who will use a feature. Brex isn’t just targeting blockchain firms; it is trying to make stablecoin payments accessible to any growth-stage business that needs fast, cross-border transactions.

Other Strategic Lessons

Other lessons are evident in Brex’s approach.

The firm touts being the first global corporate card with this capability, highlighting the PR and competitive advantage of early adoption. Founder-led fintechs can similarly look for ways to be first movers in emerging niches.

Brex also partnered with established blockchain infrastructure: a Solana representative is quoted, and Brex mentions a “trusted stablecoin infrastructure partner” backing the system. This suggests a strategy of building on proven crypto networks rather than reinventing them.

Finally, Brex is using a waitlist to manage the rollout – a common fintech tactic that lets them test the feature with early users and scale up gradually.

Key Takeaways for Fintech Startups

• Tap emerging rails: Integrating digital currencies can unlock 24/7 global payments and liquidity.
  
  
• Remove user friction: Automatic conversion to fiat and zero transfer fees lower adoption barriers.
  
  
• Expand existing platforms: Adding crypto capabilities to the main platform increases customer value.
  
  
• Serve diverse markets: Position features to work for both crypto-native and traditional companies.
  
  
• Leverage partnerships: Work with blockchain partners to speed development and reliability.
  
  
• Differentiate early: Being “first” to market can generate buzz and positioning advantage.
  
  
• Roll out gradually: A waitlist or phased approach helps manage risk and user adoption.
  
  

If you’re working on fintech innovations or have a story to tell about your product roadmap, we’d love to hear from you. Contact Your Fintech Story to share your journey and connect with investors, partners, and customers.

Remember early 2020? Visa announced it was acquiring Plaid for $5.3 billion. Everyone called it a win: for open banking, for fintech, for Plaid’s investors.

But then the deal got blocked. Regulators stepped in, claiming Visa was trying to squash a future competitor. By early 2021, the acquisition was dead.

That could’ve been the end of Plaid’s momentum.

Instead, it was the beginning of their real growth story.

The deal that didn’t happen

Plaid’s core product – connecting consumer bank accounts to apps like Venmo, Robinhood, and Coinbase – was already powering much of fintech behind the scenes.

Visa saw that. But so did the DOJ. Their case was simple: if Visa owns the pipes, it can shut out rivals and control the future of payments infrastructure.

When the deal fell apart, it left Plaid in an awkward spot. No exit. No massive cash injection. And a spotlight on their business that wasn’t all flattering.

So they pivoted; not in direction, but in depth.

The post-Visa pivot

Instead of chasing another buyer or shrinking to survive, Plaid doubled down.

It focused on strengthening partnerships, building new capabilities, and making itself irreplaceable to the ecosystem.

Some examples:

• RBC (2022): Partnership gave 17 million Canadians secure access to fintech apps.
  
  
• American Express (2023): API integration allowed safe, password-free connections to 8,000+ apps.
  
  
• Finastra (2023): Baked Plaid directly into digital banking platforms.
  
  
• JPMorgan Chase (2025): Renewed data-sharing deal so users could seamlessly use fintech apps.
  
  

That wasn’t just growth. That was infrastructure strategy. Plaid wasn’t trying to win headlines — it was wiring itself deeper into the system.

Where’s Plaid now? (2025)

Five years later, Plaid’s doing better than the deal it almost signed.

In 2025, it raised $575 million at a $6.1 billion valuation — higher than Visa’s original offer.

It’s now approaching profitability, serving more than 7,000 fintechs and connecting to over 12,000 financial institutions across the U.S., Canada, UK, and Europe.

It also expanded beyond account-linking into:

• Payment initiation
  
  
• Income and credit data
  
  
• Fraud prevention
  
  
• Identity verification

Plaid didn’t just survive the breakup. It became one of the strongest standalone platforms in fintech.

Here’s what fintech founders can take from this:

• Your Plan B might be stronger than Plan A. A blocked deal isn’t the end. Plaid’s “fallback” path led to a better outcome; on their own terms.
  
  
• Build deeper, not just bigger. Partnerships, integrations, and infrastructure-level trust create defensibility that fundraising alone can’t.
  
  
• Stick to your mission, then expand. Plaid didn’t pivot away from its purpose; it expanded the ways it delivered on it.
  
  
• Being essential beats being flashy. Plaid isn’t the loudest fintech brand, but it’s one of the most embedded. That’s power.

Want to make your fintech story a success? Contact us, we help founders grow with clarity, strategy, and results.

The Bank of England wants to put a leash on stablecoins. In its recent proposal, it suggested limiting how much individuals and businesses can hold in “systemic” stablecoins; roughly £10,000–£20,000 for individuals, and £10 million for firms.

The stated reason? Financial stability. The BoE fears that, without guardrails, stablecoins could trigger large outflows from traditional banks. That could weaken credit availability and destabilize the system, especially if people rapidly pull money out of deposits and into digital alternatives.

The proposal isn’t final, and the central bank calls it a “transitional” measure. A public consultation is expected later this year.

The pushback has been loud

The crypto industry isn’t buying it.

Coinbase and other industry players argue that this move would leave the UK out of step with the US and EU—neither of which imposes ownership limits on stablecoins. They also argue that enforcement would be a nightmare. Unlike bank accounts, stablecoins are held in wallets that issuers can’t always track. Monitoring balances across wallets would require intrusive systems like digital IDs or constant syncing—expensive, complex, and possibly incompatible with how crypto is designed to function.

Others point out the inconsistency. Why should there be a cap on stablecoins when no such limits exist on cash or bank accounts?

A wider regulatory tension

The proposal also highlights a bigger disconnect. On one hand, the UK government (especially the Treasury) wants to promote digital finance. On the other, the BoE is leaning toward caution and control. These caps would sit at the heart of that tension—between innovation and systemic safety.

Meanwhile, the US is pushing stablecoin legislation focused on issuer regulation and reserve backing. The EU’s MiCA rules also avoid balance caps and instead focus on transparency, risk, and redemption rights. The UK’s more conservative stance may end up isolating it, especially if other jurisdictions are more welcoming to stablecoin-based payments and commerce.

The outcome of the upcoming consultation will tell us which direction the UK chooses. But the message is clear: how a country regulates stablecoins may be just as strategic as how it regulates banks.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

• The BoE’s proposed stablecoin caps could impact startups building in payments, wallets, or digital assets in the UK.
  
  
• Enforcement could add major complexity, especially around wallet tracking, identity verification, or cross-border flows.
  
  
• The caps may clash with pro-innovation signals from the UK Treasury, creating regulatory uncertainty in the near term.
  
  
• Other jurisdictions (like the US and EU) are taking a different approach; potentially giving UK-based firms a reason to look abroad.
  
  
• The regulatory environment is still evolving, with a consultation due later this year. Now is the time to shape the conversation.

If your fintech startup is navigating regulation in the UK or beyond, Your Fintech Story can help you translate uncertainty into opportunity. Get in touch.

Belgium-based regulatory technology firm RiskConcile has acquired London-headquartered Fitz Partners, a specialist provider of fund fees and expense data, in a move to expand its offerings across Europe. The deal marks the first step in RiskConcile’s international “buy-and-build” growth strategy since the company received backing from Main Capital Partners in June 2024. By joining forces, RiskConcile and Fitz Partners plan to create a pan-European platform that combines advanced regulatory reporting tools with proprietary fund data capabilities to better serve asset managers in the fund industry.

Fitz Partners: A leading fund data specialist

Founded in 2013, Fitz Partners has built a reputation as a leading provider of fund fee and expense data for the European asset management sector. The firm’s comprehensive databases and reports offer meticulously calculated, independently verified breakdowns of fund costs, enabling asset managers to conduct precise cost reviews and make informed strategic decisions.

Fitz Partners counts over 65 of the world’s largest asset and fund management companies among its clients, reflecting its strong position in the UK and cross-border fund markets. The company is also expanding its coverage to new regions – it plans to extend its fee data and board reporting services to the local French fund market in the coming months. This growing repository of fee data adds a valuable component to RiskConcile’s technology toolkit, which until now has focused primarily on regulatory reporting and risk calculations.

Synergies driven by regulatory pressures

The acquisition comes at a time of intensifying regulatory pressures and rising transparency expectations in the European funds industry. Asset managers are facing ever-stricter reporting requirements and investor demands, from cost disclosure rules to value-for-money assessments. High-quality, granular fund data has become a critical foundation for both compliance and competitive advantage, as it allows deeper insights and faster responses to evolving regulatory mandates.

By integrating Fitz Partners’ rich fee and expense datasets with RiskConcile’s cloud-based regulatory reporting and risk calculation platform, the combined group aims to deliver an all-in-one solution for asset managers who need efficient and reliable tools to meet these challenges. In practical terms, asset management firms could benefit from a more streamlined process – for example, using Fitz’s fee benchmarks alongside RiskConcile’s analytics to quickly ensure their funds meet new transparency standards or investor disclosure obligations.

The leaders of both companies underscored the strategic fit and benefits for clients. RiskConcile’s Co-Founder and CEO Jan De Spiegeleer noted that Fitz Partners’ proprietary fee database and reporting expertise are a strong addition to RiskConcile’s platform, saying the combined entity is “uniquely positioned to help asset managers and fund management companies navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape with greater efficiency, insight and confidence.”

Hugues Gillibert, Founder and CEO of Fitz Partners, echoed this sentiment, expressing that he is pleased to join forces with RiskConcile in a way that allows Fitz to continue its expansion while maintaining its culture of excellence. He highlighted the immense synergies between the firms and looks forward to providing even greater support and market intelligence to their UK and cross-border clients, with an eye toward continued growth and new local market coverage in the years ahead.

Outlook: Building a pan-European regtech leader

Industry observers note that this deal reflects a broader trend of consolidation in financial technology, where firms are combining data analytics with compliance tools to offer end-to-end solutions. For RiskConcile, which is now a Main Capital Partners portfolio company, the Fitz Partners acquisition is a significant step toward its ambition of becoming a pan-European leader in regulatory technology for the fund sector.

Jorn de Ruijter, Investment Director at Main Capital and Chairman of RiskConcile’s board, said the acquisition “perfectly aligns with our strategy to build market-leading software groups” and that the combination creates a stronger, more comprehensive organization. He also emphasized that it reinforces Main’s ability to execute cross-border deals in strategic markets like the UK.

Looking ahead, the integration of Fitz Partners’ data with RiskConcile’s platform could give clients a one-stop shop for regulatory reporting and cost analytics, potentially simplifying compliance workflows. This move is also likely not the last for RiskConcile – as the first acquisition in a planned series, it signals the start of an expansion drive across Europe. With Main Capital’s backing and a stated “buy-and-build” strategy, RiskConcile may pursue additional acquisitions or partnerships to broaden its software suite and geographic reach. Asset managers can expect a more robust suite of tools from the combined company, and the fund industry at large will be watching to see how this newly enlarged group competes in delivering data-driven insights and regulatory technology amid an increasingly complex oversight environment.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here’s what fintech founders can learn from this move:

• Specializing in a narrow, high-value domain like fund fees and expenses can create defensible differentiation and attract major clients.
  
  
• Strategic acquisitions work best when the companies are complementary; in this case, data meets delivery platform.
  
  
• International presence adds acquisition value. Fitz’s UK and cross-border exposure made it a strong fit for a pan-European expansion strategy.
  
  
• Proprietary, clean data is becoming a key differentiator in regtech. It enables insight, not just automation.
  
  
• The right capital partner doesn’t just provide funding; it enables faster growth, stronger positioning, and more ambitious moves.

Need help growing your fintech or positioning for expansion?

We help startups grow from strategy to execution. Let’s talk.

Startup founders across Europe are still running into the same financial roadblocks: slow account approvals, fragmented tools, and hours lost to manual admin. Dublin-based fintech Seapoint has raised a $3 million pre-seed round to tackle these problems head-on, launching a platform it calls the “financial home” for startups.

Founders Caught Between Legacy Banks and Neobanks

Seapoint’s founder Sean Mullaney, a former Stripe executive, points to a growing gap in startup financial services. Traditional banks often view young, pre-revenue companies as risky. Neobanks, designed for the masses, offer automated accounts but little support. Founders report waiting months for basic banking access or dealing with robotic support teams.

This forces startups to patch together a messy stack of tools. Mullaney found that most juggle 4–6 providers just to manage money. Founders waste hours on payroll, invoice approvals, and tax prep. Some even forget to pay staff or rely on spreadsheets for visibility. For early-stage teams, this “financial overhead” is costly and distracting.

A Platform Designed for Founders

Seapoint aims to eliminate that burden. Its product combines multi-currency accounts, corporate cards, international payments, and treasury tools in one interface. It connects to founders’ existing banks, accounting platforms, CRMs, and even Gmail to deliver a real-time financial overview.

Routine tasks are automated. Gmail invoices become one-click payments. Payroll runs in bulk. VAT and expense categorisation happen in the background. What used to take hours is handled in minutes.

Crucially, Seapoint offers real human support. Each customer gets a dedicated relationship manager who understands startup structures, venture capital, and scaling. Not a chatbot – a person who knows your business.

Backed by Leading Fintech Angels

The $3 million round was led by Frontline Ventures, with participation from Tapestry VC, Andrena Ventures, Angel Invest, Nomad Capital, and fintech angels like Claire Hughes Johnson (ex-Stripe), Laurence Krieger (ex-Revolut, Tide), and Colm Long (ex-Tines).

The team includes engineers and operators from Stripe and Tide, many of whom have been founders themselves. Seapoint is currently in private beta with early-stage companies in the UK and Europe. A public launch is expected later this year.

Longer term, the company plans to expand into serving mid-sized tech firms that have outgrown neobanks but still find traditional banking rigid and inefficient.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here’s what other founders can learn from Seapoint’s approach:

• Start with a sharp use case: Seapoint focuses tightly on venture-backed startups, avoiding the bloat of one-size-fits-all banking.
  
  
• Integrate before you replace: Instead of requiring startups to abandon tools, Seapoint integrates with Gmail, CRMs, and accounting platforms.
  
  
• Automate the boring stuff, not the relationship: The product handles repetitive tasks but still offers high-touch support.
  
  
• Founders are users, not buyers: Targeting them means building for usability, not just compliance.
  
  
• Fixing infrastructure is back in vogue: Fintechs solving operational pain points are seeing renewed investor interest.

If your fintech startup is tackling a real pain point and wants help shaping the story, Your Fintech Story is here to support you. Let’s talk.

Anthropic’s latest update to its AI assistant, Claude, allows users to generate and edit Excel files, Word documents, PowerPoint decks, and PDFs directly from chat. Instead of simply responding with answers, Claude can now produce actual outputs: structured spreadsheets, formatted reports, and polished presentations in minutes.

This might not sound radical at first glance. But for anyone building, managing, or streamlining fintech operations, it signals a subtle but important shift in how AI tools could reshape core workflows.

Claude Moves From Chat to Creation

Until now, Claude (like most general-purpose AIs) mostly generated text-based responses or in-chat summaries. With this update, Claude steps into file creation — producing multi-sheet Excel models with formulas, turning PDFs into slide decks, or organizing notes into formatted documents.

The update is currently in preview for Max, Team, and Enterprise users. Pro users are expected to get access soon.

Under the hood, Claude runs in a sandboxed compute environment where it can write and execute code — which enables it to transform requests into usable, downloadable files. Think financial forecasts, compliance trackers, budget dashboards — all created through simple instructions.

What This Could Mean in a Fintech Context

Fintech teams already rely on specialized tools to handle many of the tasks Claude now promises to simplify:

• FP&A teams might use Pigment, Anaplan, or Causal to build collaborative financial models.
  
  
• Compliance officers often turn to platforms like ComplyAdvantage or Fenergo to manage AML, KYC, and reporting workflows.
  
  
• Wealth managers lean on Addepar for generating client-ready investment reports.
  
  
• Finance operations teams automate Excel workflows with tools like DataRails or Alteryx.
  
  

Claude doesn’t replace these — at least not today. But it does point toward convergence: instead of using ten different tools for spreadsheet generation, forecasting, and document formatting, some teams might start using a single AI assistant to handle “good enough” versions of those tasks.

Who Gets to Do the Work

The obvious appeal here is speed. Instead of spending hours cleaning data or building a presentation from scratch, teams can delegate the groundwork to Claude.

But there’s something else brewing beneath the surface: accessibility. Someone who isn’t an analyst can now request a revenue model. A founder without a finance hire can generate a forecast. That’s not a replacement for expertise — but it could compress the early-stage startup toolchain.

This also raises questions for fintech vendors: if foundational AIs like Claude start doing 80% of what narrow tools offer, how do standalone products stay competitive? More importantly — should they double down on domain depth, or partner with these AI layers instead?

Caution Still Required

Anthropic has flagged the obvious: giving an AI coding and file-access powers comes with risk. The feature gives Claude a limited form of internet access to fetch tools or packages, which means teams handling sensitive financial data will need to test carefully and keep it sandboxed. For fintechs working in regulated environments, this isn’t a plug-and-play solution just yet.

Still, the direction is clear: tools that generate and format files from context-rich conversation are becoming more capable. And for fintech, that could lower the barrier to experimentation — or raise the pressure on specialized vendors.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here’s what this means for fintech operators and founders:

• Fintech workflows could evolve into more fluid, AI-assisted systems that span departments and functions.
  
  
• The lesson isn’t to drop best-in-class tools, but to ask: what’s the minimum stack that gets the job done well?
  
  
• Strategy may shift from “which tool?” to “which interface enables the best execution for this task?”
  

Want help future-proofing your fintech startup? Contact Your Fintech Story. We help founders adapt, grow, and stand out in a rapidly evolving market.

Global fintech company Revolut (with over 60 million customers) has introduced a “Pay by Bank” option in its online payment gateway as of 10 September 2025 . This new feature allows businesses to accept payments directly from a customer’s bank account via open banking, instead of through card networks. The addition is designed to give merchants and shoppers an easier, more secure way to transact, reflecting a broader industry shift toward account-to-account payments.

Open Banking Payments on the Rise

Revolut’s adoption of Pay by Bank comes amid surging popularity of open banking payments, especially in the UK. Over the past year, monthly Pay by Bank transactions in the UK climbed from 15 million to 27 million, and roughly 14 million people now use this method each month . In other words, nearly a quarter of UK residents are making bank-to-bank payments regularly, marking a mainstream alternative to card payments . This trend isn’t confined to Britain – analysts project global open banking users will exceed 600 million by 2029, up from around 180 million in 2025 . The rapid growth underscores how consumers worldwide are embracing new fintech solutions that connect directly to their bank accounts for payments.

What is “Pay by Bank”? Also known as open banking payments or account-to-account (A2A) payments, Pay by Bank enables customers to pay merchants straight from their bank account via their banking app, without entering card details. It leverages secure APIs that banks provide, letting a third-party (like Revolut’s gateway) initiate a payment on the customer’s behalf once the customer authorizes it through their bank. In practice, a mobile shopper is handed off to their bank’s app to approve the transaction (often using biometrics or a PIN), and then returned to the merchant site. Desktop users can scan a QR code to authorize the payment on their phone. Funds move instantly from the buyer’s account to the seller, enabled by faster payment rails. This technology has been championed by fintech providers and regulators in recent years as a way to increase competition and reduce reliance on card monopolies.

Benefits for Merchants and Customers

By integrating Pay by Bank, Revolut is giving businesses and shoppers a number of tangible benefits:

• Enhanced security & fewer fraud losses: Payments require the customer’s bank to authenticate each transaction, which drastically reduces fraud and chargeback risks . Every Pay by Bank transaction is confirmed through the user’s own banking login, meeting strong customer authentication standards. This level of verification means merchants are far less likely to face unauthorized purchases or disputed charges. Industry analyses back this up: account-to-account payments can significantly cut fraud and charge-backs, since every transaction is approved via secure bank credentials .
  
  
• Real-time settlement & no intermediaries: Funds are transferred in real time directly between accounts, improving cash flow for merchants . Businesses receive money immediately instead of waiting days for card settlements. With no card networks in between, merchants also avoid certain fees – interchange fees charged by card issuers are eliminated when payments go bank-to-bank . Fewer middlemen can mean lower overall transaction costs for the business.
  
  
• Faster, frictionless checkout for users: For customers, Pay by Bank offers a convenient, streamlined checkout. There’s no need to manually type out long card numbers, expiry dates, or CVV codes. A mobile user can simply tap their banking app to approve a purchase, and a desktop user can scan a QR code – a process taking only seconds . This frictionless flow not only saves time but also may lead to higher conversion rates for merchants (fewer customers abandoning their cart), since the payment step is quick and trusted. In an era where shoppers value speed and simplicity, skipping the data entry makes for a smoother experience.
  
  
• Reduced chargebacks & disputes: Because each transaction is authorized by the customer’s bank, chargebacks are largely avoided. Traditional card payments allow buyers to dispute charges and sometimes get refunds via chargebacks, which can be costly for merchants and often stem from fraud. With Pay by Bank, unauthorized transactions are far less likely in the first place, and any necessary refunds can be handled directly by merchant support rather than through card network chargeback processes. This means less operational overhead and uncertainty for businesses, as disputes are minimized at the source .

Overall, the feature brings a win-win: businesses get a secure, instant payment method with lower fees and risks, while customers get a fast, one-step checkout experience. It’s a natural evolution as digital payments mature beyond cards.

Not Replacing Cards, But Expanding Options

Importantly, Revolut’s Pay by Bank addition is about offering more choice to consumers and merchants, rather than rendering card payments obsolete. Card payments still dominate many markets and carry benefits like global acceptance and rewards, so open banking payments will co-exist alongside cards. Even Revolut positions the new feature as expanding the toolkit for businesses to meet customer preferences .

This aligns with a broader industry view: “Pay by Bank isn’t about creating a world without cards, it’s about creating a world with more choice,” as one open banking executive explained . In other words, adding bank-to-bank payments makes checkouts more resilient. If one payment method has an outage or issue, another is available as backup . Recent data shows that nearly 7 in 10 e-commerce brands have encountered card payment outages in the past year . Having alternative options like Pay by Bank can safeguard sales during such disruptions.

For now, Pay by Bank serves as a complementary alternative – a “next generation” option for those who prefer using their bank app or who might not have credit cards. It gives fintech platforms like Revolut a way to cater to changing user habits without forcing a single payment method. Traditional cards aren’t disappearing any time soon, but the rise of open banking payments is expanding the payments landscape to be more diverse and customer-driven.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here’s what founders and product teams should take from this:

• Adopt before you’re forced to – by the time a method is “mainstream,” your customers already expect it

• Track usage trends, not just hype – Revolut added Pay by Bank as the data showed real mainstream traction

• Secure, low-friction UX wins – removing checkout pain points boosts both trust and conversion

• Diversify payments early – relying solely on cards is riskier than ever

Want help making your fintech more scalable, secure, and conversion-friendly? Let’s talk. Your Fintech Story helps startups grow with smart strategy and execution.

Most professionals aren’t drowning in strategy. They’re drowning in emails, meetings, and notes that go nowhere. London-based Fyxer AI spotted that, built a product to fix it, and just raised a $30M Series B from investors including Madrona, Lakestar Capital, and Salesforce’s Marc Benioff.

The idea? An AI-powered executive assistant that anyone can use; not just the C-suite.

But what’s really interesting is how they got here. For fintech founders, especially those thinking about product-market fit, scalable growth, and expansion outside tech bubbles: Fyxer is worth studying.

Here’s the blueprint.

Focus on the 95%, not the 5%

Fyxer didn’t build for tech bros with productivity hacks. They built for the other 95% of professionals; the ones juggling overflowing inboxes, endless meetings, and no assistant in sight.

That meant:

• Automating repetitive admin like email triage, scheduling, and meeting summaries
  
  
• Plugging into existing tools like Gmail, Outlook, Zoom
  
  
• No onboarding or workflow changes required

Fintech founders often design for insiders. But growth comes from products that feel native to non-experts. Usability isn’t a feature but a survival.

Target real pain (even if it’s boring)

According to Fyxer’s survey of 1,000 U.S. workers:

• 59% feel overwhelmed by admin tasks
  
  
• 51% spend more than a quarter of their day on them
  
  
• 72% want AI tools to help them focus on more meaningful work

The problem was everywhere but under-addressed. Instead of chasing hype, Fyxer solved a core friction point that others ignored because it wasn’t exciting.

In fintech, this often means fixing broken processes in compliance, onboarding, billing, reconciliation. It’s not sexy, but it’s where the money is.

Leverage domain knowledge and proprietary data

Before launching the AI product, the Fyxer team ran the UK’s largest virtual executive assistant agency. That gave them:

• Deep operational understanding of the problem
  
  
• A proprietary dataset of 500,000+ hours of assistant workflows

That dataset became the foundation for Fyxer’s memory engine and natural language automation.

For fintechs, this is a reminder: domain expertise isn’t just useful — it’s an edge. Use the data you already have. Build from what you know best.

Nail the fundamentals before scaling

Fyxer’s growth has been fast — but grounded:

• From €1M to €17M ARR in 7 months
  
  
• 180,000+ users
  
  
• 15M+ draft emails, 500k+ meeting notes
  
  
• 90% user retention after 3 months

And they proved it worked in real businesses. eXp Realty expanded from a 40-user pilot to 2,000 users in just eight weeks. Knight Frank did a full internal rollout in the same timeframe.

This is what investors like Madrona and Lakestar bought into. Not just vision — usage, retention, and proof.

Use funding to scale what already works

With their Series B, Fyxer plans to:

• Expand in the U.S.
  
  
• Double team size in 3–6 months, focused on local hires
  
  
• Invest in deeper AI capabilities like contextual chat and proactive suggestions

Notably, they’re not launching a new product line or chasing enterprise. They’re doubling down on what their users already love.

Fintech startups should take note: if it works, scale it. Don’t pivot just because you raised money.

Key takeaways for fintech startups

Here’s what Fyxer AI’s story shows:

• The most scalable products solve boring but painful problems
  
  
• Accessibility beats complexity, especially for non-technical users
  
  
• Industry experience and proprietary data are underrated weapons
  
  
• Growth is nothing without retention; prove you’re building something sticky
  
  
• Partners and pilots help validate early and scale fast
  
  
• Fundraising should follow traction, not precede it

Fyxer didn’t reinvent productivity. They just fixed what everyone hated — and did it well. That’s a lesson fintech founders would do well to remember.

Your Fintech Story helps founders turn insight into momentum. If you’re solving a real problem and want help scaling it, let’s talk.

Revolut’s recent success in securing in-principle approval for key payment licenses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offers a masterclass in fintech expansion. The London-based fintech, known for its global financial super-app serving over 60 million customers, has received initial approval from the Central Bank of the UAE for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category II) licenses. This green light paves the way for Revolut to launch a comprehensive suite of products for retail customers in the UAE. More than just a corporate milestone, this development provides valuable insights for fintech founders on how to strategically expand into new markets.

Collaborate Closely with Regulators

A standout move in Revolut’s UAE entry is its proactive engagement with the country’s regulators. By working in close partnership with the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), Revolut ensured it met local requirements and gained trust. The UAE’s forward-thinking regulatory environment made it an attractive market, but Revolut still had to demonstrate its commitment to local rules and standards.

The lesson: treat regulators as key stakeholders. Early, respectful dialogue with regulators can speed up market entry and build credibility. Compliance isn’t a checkbox – it’s part of your strategy.

Choose Markets with Demand and Momentum

The UAE fits the profile of a high-potential fintech market. It offers a dynamic economy, high digital adoption rates, and a strong appetite for innovation. Revolut called it a “pivotal growth market” for a reason.

Founders should prioritize markets with demand, digital readiness, and regulatory openness. The UAE has a tech-savvy population and consumers looking for better financial tools. If a market has unmet needs and is open to innovation, it’s likely worth targeting.

Build with Local Insight

To lead its Gulf expansion, Revolut appointed Ambareen Musa as CEO of the GCC. Musa is a fintech veteran who founded Souqalmal.com and launched a financial literacy app in the region. Her focus on financial education and consumer empowerment is central to Revolut’s UAE strategy.

The move reinforces a clear principle: local leadership accelerates local relevance. Musa understands the market, the culture, and the gaps in the existing financial system. Her appointment signals Revolut’s intent to solve local problems – not just export a global template.

Stay Flexible in How You Hire

Revolut plans to ramp up hiring in the UAE. As a remote-first company, it can recruit talent across the region without physical limitations. This gives it access to a diverse, highly skilled talent pool and allows it to scale quickly.

Founders should consider hybrid or remote hiring models when expanding. They let you tap into a broader talent base and build regional understanding without the costs of relocation. Hiring should move in sync with expansion milestones.

Think Global, Deliver Local

Revolut operates in over 30 countries and wants to be one of the top three financial apps in every market it enters. It aims to deliver localized solutions while staying true to its core mission of empowering users to take control of their finances.

The lesson here: don’t copy-paste your product into new markets. Adapt to local norms, integrate with regional systems, and consider local preferences. Global vision works best when it’s implemented with care.

Key Takeaways for Fintech Founders:

• Work with regulators early to gain trust and speed up approvals.
  
  
• Target markets with high digital adoption, real demand, and supportive regulation.
  
  
• Bring in local leadership to navigate culture, pain points, and partnerships.
  
  
• Stay flexible in hiring, especially across regions.
  
  
• Localize your product and user experience without compromising your mission.
  

For fintech founders looking to scale globally, this is a playbook worth studying.

Want help building your fintech growth strategy? Reach out to us, where we help startups grow.

Stripe, the $92 billion payments giant, has officially unveiled Tempo, a payments-focused Layer 1 blockchain developed with crypto venture firm Paradigm. Unlike most blockchains born from trading or DeFi culture, Tempo is designed from the ground up to move money; fast, cheap, and at scale.

Tempo aims to handle tens of thousands of transactions per second, settling stablecoin payments with predictable, low fees. Stripe CEO Patrick Collison has said existing blockchains weren’t optimized for real-world payments, which pushed Stripe to build a new rail from scratch.

From Stealth to Spotlight

Earlier this summer, Tempo surfaced via a job posting describing it as a “high-performance, payments-focused blockchain.” At the time it was still in stealth with a small team. Now, Stripe and Paradigm have confirmed the project publicly, with Matt Huang; Paradigm co-founder and Stripe board member – serving as Tempo’s CEO.

The network is Ethereum-compatible, easing developer adoption and ensuring interoperability. What started as a five-person stealth unit has grown into a dedicated team backed by enterprise partners.

Building on Stripe’s Crypto Playbook

Tempo is the capstone of Stripe’s broader crypto push. The company acquired Bridge in 2024 for $1.1 billion, gaining stablecoin infrastructure, and in 2025 bought Privy, a wallet developer. Together with Stripe’s global merchant base, these moves created the foundation for a full-stack stablecoin ecosystem: wallets, compliance rails, and now, a blockchain optimized for payments.

Regulatory and Market Tailwinds

The launch comes just weeks after the U.S. passed the GENIUS Act, the first federal stablecoin legislation, which provided much-needed regulatory clarity. Stablecoins are now processing trillions in annual volume, even surpassing Visa and Mastercard’s payment flows in 2024. Stripe is betting Tempo will ride this momentum and become the backbone for global stablecoin settlement.

The Competitive Landscape

Stripe isn’t alone. Apple, Google, Airbnb, Meta, and X are all exploring stablecoin integrations. Visa and Mastercard are piloting stablecoin settlement. What sets Stripe apart is that instead of just plugging into existing rails, it’s building its own — and bringing partners like Shopify, Revolut, and OpenAI along for early adoption.

Key Takeaways for Fintech Startups

• Stablecoins are here to stay: $27 trillion+ in yearly volume shows they’ve gone mainstream.
  
  
• Regulation can unlock innovation: Tempo launched right after the GENIUS Act clarified the rules.
  
  
• Lean teams can scale big bets: Tempo started in stealth with only a handful of people.
  
  
• Partnerships are leverage: Stripe enlisted Paradigm, Visa, and major tech players from the start.
  
  
• Solve real payment pain points: Tempo targets cross-border payouts and microtransactions — practical use cases with immediate value.

Want sharper fintech strategy? Reach out to us; we help startups grow.