TLDR Fintech 2025-11-13

Siloed systems and manual processes are still slowing many services organizations down. A commissioned Forrester study found that 37% of professional services leaders struggle with conflicting operational insights and 39% lack visibility into planning. These challenges often stem from fragmented tools that create inefficiencies, reporting gaps, and unnecessary administrative work.

On the flip side, high-maturity organizations using dedicated professional services automation (PSA) solutions with full lifecycle support see significant gains, including a 74% reduction in time spent on administrative activities. Breaking technology silos isn't just operational improvement; it's strategic growth. Where does your organization land? See how a unified PSA delivers better efficiency and client outcomes.

Visa is introducing a 'trusted agent protocol' to protect merchants from malicious bots when transacting with AI agents. The company's Intelligent Commerce suite currently incorporates features like tokenization, authentication, payment instructions, and transaction signals, allowing AI-powered agents to shop and pay on behalf of consumers.

Visa and Mastercard have agreed to cut interchange fees, typically around 2–2.5%, by a tenth of a percentage point over several years and let merchants reject certain card categories like high-reward or commercial cards. The change gives smaller businesses more control and could lower costs by easing long-standing rules on card acceptance.

SoFi is launching a cross-border payment feature that lets members send money abroad using Bitcoin's Lightning Network and the Universal Money Address system. It is the first US bank to adopt this technology. The rollout starts in Mexico and aims to cut transfer times and fees while keeping transactions transparent within the SoFi app. Powered by Lightspark, the system converts dollars to Bitcoin and back into local currency in real time, positioning SoFi to compete in the $740 billion global remittance market alongside players like Coinbase and Brazil's Nubank, who have also adopted Lightning.

“Remember when your browser said 404 Not Found? Well, now it might just say 402 – Payment Required.” This tongue-in-cheek greeting belies a serious development: x402, Coinbase's new open payment protocol, injects native stablecoin payments directly into web traffic. It's as if every HTTP request could carry a paywall of its own – one that AI agents and browsers could clear automatically.

AI will reshape bank work unevenly across departments. Front-office roles like investment banking and sales are expected to grow as AI boosts client engagement, while the middle office — covering risk, compliance, and controls — will gain productivity from automation. The back office faces the steepest cuts as AI streamlines IT, HR, and settlements. JPMorgan executives forecast a 10% reduction in operations staff as automation deepens across large banks.

Software reduced paperwork but spawned tool sprawl. The breakthrough now is subtraction, not speed - eliminating back-office work rather than accelerating it. We're moving from “do it yourself/with you” to “do it for you”: agentic AI handles clear, time-consuming tasks (e.g., W-9 collection and receipt categorization), while humans handle only exceptions.

Live selfies, database checks, cryptographic verification — how much of it is really necessary? Depends on where you are. If your business is expanding into new markets, you'll need a flexible IDV strategy that delivers the right level of assurance to your customers — and regulators. Download the Persona guide to verifying identities around the world.

Coinbase unveiled an end-to-end token sales platform to help projects distribute tokens transparently while deepening exchange liquidity. The system replaces “first-come, first-served” models with an algorithm that favors broader participation and long-term holders, penalizing early sellers. It also introduces full issuer disclosures, a six-month lock-up, and no user fees. US retail traders can now join public token sales for the first time since 2018, with the inaugural sale set for November 17–22. Coinbase plans to host about one token sale per month.

Square is enabling over four million merchants to accept bitcoin payments across all hardware devices starting November 11, using the Bitcoin Lightning Network for near-instant, low-cost transactions. Customers can pay by scanning a QR code, while merchants can choose to hold bitcoin or auto-convert to USD. Block will waive all bitcoin transaction fees through 2026, with a 1% fee thereafter — still below typical card processing rates — marking one of the largest real-world rollouts of crypto payments to date.

Ireland's central bank fined Coinbase Europe €21.5 million after discovering major lapses in its anti-money laundering monitoring systems, which left over 30 million transactions worth €176 billion unchecked. The regulator said it took Coinbase nearly three years to review and report 2,700 suspicious transactions linked to potential crimes like fraud, drug trafficking, and cyberattacks. Coinbase blamed three coding errors for the oversight and said it has since fixed the issues, upgraded its systems, and strengthened internal testing to prevent future failures.

Currently, Alipay+ GlassPay applies multi-modal biometric verification measures, including an AI-powered voice interface with intent recognition and voiceprint authentication technology. Iris authentication is viewed as being more resistant to the spoofing attacks that can plague other biometric methods, such as voice, face, or fingerprint recognition, thanks to a larger number of distinguishing feature points.

Coinbase has pulled out of a proposed $2 billion deal to buy payments and stablecoin infrastructure platform BVNK.

Charles Schwab will acquire Forge Global for $660 million, purchasing all outstanding shares at $45 each in a deal expected to close in H1 2026.

Revolut is joining the stablecoin revolution, offering 1:1 fiat conversion on US$ stablecoin trades at zero cost.