TLDR Fintech 2025-11-27

Revolut hit a stunning $75B valuation in a new share sale led by Coatue, Greenoaks, Dragoneer, and Fidelity. Investors included NVentures, a16z, and Franklin Templeton. The neobank, now one of Europe's most valuable private tech companies, will continue aggressive global expansion while boasting strong financials.

US users exploring Perplexity's new shopping experience can now seamlessly transition from research to purchase by leveraging PayPal's identity verification, Purchase and Seller protection, and trusted payment processing without leaving the answer engine.

Klarna is rolling out its own payment stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, in a bid to overhaul how it moves money globally and reduce the cost of international transfers. Built on a blockchain developed by Stripe, the token is expected to streamline Klarna's internal payment flows first. Klarna plans to expand the token to merchants and eventually consumers as a cheaper alternative to networks like Swift. The move marks a sharp strategic pivot as Klarna pushes beyond BNPL toward full digital banking, positioning itself amid growing competition from neobanks and crypto-native payment companies.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition urged the OCC to reject Stripe's application for a national trust bank charter, arguing it would let the company sidestep key banking rules and gain “unearned legitimacy.” Stripe's acquisition of Bridge, a $1.1 billion stablecoin infrastructure firm, is central to its plan to launch Bridge National Trust and issue and custody stablecoins under a federal framework. Critics cite prior compliance lapses, while Stripe argues that regulated stablecoin infrastructure is essential for tokenizing trillions in assets.

Adyen is approaching agentic commerce with a clear mantra: keep merchants in the driver's seat. It published a “merchant-first agentic commerce” framework that outlines four key principles to ensure AI shopping adds to merchants' business instead of subtracting from it.

AI will hollow out middle-income knowledge work, collapsing consumer purchasing power and forcing a shift away from the consumption-driven economic model of the last 70 years. As AI commoditizes high-margin services, businesses will move from selling goods to delivering outcomes. AI platforms will evolve past ads and commerce into models aligned with “Gross Domestic Flourishing,” where agents optimize for user health, wealth, and well-being rather than driving purchases.

Asset managers are expected to form significantly more fintech partnerships over the next five years. According to a PwC survey of 300 asset managers, institutional investors, and distributors, two-thirds of institutional investors said they would allocate more capital to firms building new tech capabilities, especially those leveraging AI to launch new products and improve front-office functions. Partnerships, not just M&A, will be essential as firms pursue tokenised funds, a market projected to grow from 90 billion dollars today to 715 billion dollars by 2030.

Mollie announced that it is ready to support secure AI-driven payments through OpenAI's ACP, making it one of the first European payment providers prepared for agentic commerce. The company built a full conversational purchase flow using ACP's Delegated Payment API, enabling merchants to accept AI-initiated payments the moment the protocol launches in Europe. Mollie is also collaborating with Google on the Agent Payments Protocol and aims to unify emerging standards so European merchants can participate in AI-driven commerce without managing technical complexity.

Public is rolling out a new AI-driven brokerage designed to help investors research, build, and manage their portfolios more intelligently. The move signals a push to make investing simpler and more engaging as brokerages lean deeper into automation and personalized insights. It also ups the competitive pressure in a crowded market where AI-powered tools are quickly becoming table stakes.

Monzo surpassed 14 million customers after adding 2 million individuals and businesses in six months, a year-over-year increase of about 40%. The bank now serves more than 800,000 business customers, equal to one in seven UK SMEs, and nearly 70% of all Monzo users are active each month. Over one million personal customers subscribe to paid plans. Monzo has expanded its product set with tax filing, under-16s savings accounts, home insurance, curated ETFs, and a new “undo payments” feature that strengthens safety and engagement.

Tidalwave, an agentic AI mortgage point-of-sale platform, raised a 22 million dollar Series A led by Permanent Capital. The company automates end-to-end mortgage tasks such as verification and underwriting, integrating directly with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Plaid, Argyle, and Truv to cut processing times and reduce lender costs. With the new funding, Tidalwave aims to power more than 200,000 loans annually, or roughly 4% of projected 2026 US mortgage originations.

Shoppers increasingly value speed, trust, and flexibility at checkout. 61% of BNPL users are more likely to shop where BNPL options are available. Meanwhile, 88% of merchants are not currently offering BNPL, and 90% of merchants are not currently offering POS finance but say they would do so if backed by a regulated bank. This highlights a growing appetite for responsible, bank-led solutions that complement the in-store experience.

Fraudsters are adopting AI and industrial-scale tactics ahead of the holiday shopping season.