Clearstream, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), and Euroclear, in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), have published a white paper titled “Building the Path Towards Digital Asset Securities Interoperability”. The paper examines the challenges of achieving interoperability within the decentralised finance (DeFi) ecosystem. It also proposes a framework for industry collaboration on data standardisation, process harmonisation, and consistent role allocation. It identifies five foundational areas necessary for interoperability in digital asset securities. These are: assets and liabilities, ownership recognition, asset lifecycle and movement protocols, ledgers, and legal and regulatory compliance. The paper highlights that industry participants must address…

Temenos has announced that BEA International Bank, the newly established French subsidiary of Banque Extérieure d’Algérie (BEA), has gone live with Temenos Core Banking and Financial Crime Mitigation (FCM) as a cloud-based SaaS solution. The deployment provides a scalable platform to support BEA International Bank’s operations and growth in France. BEA International Bank has opened branches in Paris, Marseille and Saint-Denis, and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) and the European Central Bank (ECB) have approved it. The bank offers a full range of services, including current and savings accounts, mortgage financing, and support for businesses and…

In Switzerland, firms are bullish about the prospects of artificial intelligence (AI) for improving efficiencies and driving innovation. A new study by the IBM Institute for Business Value, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, found that planned AI investments will increase over the next four years. The survey, which polled more than 2,000 executives, including 40 from Switzerland and 100 from Germany, in H2 2025, revealed that 73% of Swiss respondents expect AI to make a significant contribution to their revenue by 2030. German respondents were even more optimistic, with 81% sharing the same expectation. These figures represent a sharp rise…

Klarna has expanded its partnership with Stripe, enabling more businesses to offer flexible payment options to customers worldwide. Founded in 2005 in Sweden, Klarna now serves over 100 million active customers and more than 700,000 businesses, providing buy now, pay later, longer-term financing, and instant payment solutions. “We’re always thinking about the entire customer journey,” said Victoria Watmough, Klarna’s Head of Distribution Partnerships. Since 2019, Stripe has supported Klarna with global payment processing and virtual card issuing. The partnership was extended last year to allow Stripe-powered businesses in 25 countries to add Klarna instantly at checkout. This contributed to a…

Worldline has processed its first Wero online payment in Belgium, making the country the second in Europe, after Germany, to enable eCommerce transactions with the system. The Belgian Red Cross-Flanders (Rode Kruis-Vlaanderen) completed the first Wero online transaction following Wero’s recent eCommerce launch in Belgium. Joachim Goyvaerts, CEO of Worldline Belgium, was the first to use Wero for an online donation to the Belgian Red Cross-Flanders. Several retailers have indicated plans to offer Wero as a payment option on their platforms. “Our priority is to make new payment methods easy to activate and reliable at scale. With Wero for e-commerce,…

Revolut has unveiled the Official Card of the Audi Revolut F1 Team. The limited-edition card coincides with the team’s inaugural season. Revolut customers can join a waitlist to be notified when the card becomes available. The card features an aerodynamic design and is coated in the same high-grade titanium used in the R26 – Audi Revolut F1 Team’s 2026 car, which will be driven by Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. Antoine Le Nel, Chief Growth and Marketing Officer at Revolut, said: “Designed for racing enthusiasts, who value performance, precision and premium craftsmanship, it offers a tangible way to commemorate a…

Nexi, a European paytech, and Google Cloud have announced a MoU to develop infrastructure for next-generation digital commerce. The collaboration focuses on agentic commerce, where AI agents navigate shopping journeys and execute secure payments on behalf of consumers, based solely on their explicit authorisation. Nexi will also use Google Cloud technologies to improve operational efficiency across its platforms. The MoU aims to combine Google Cloud’s AI and data capabilities with Nexi’s European payment network and acquiring expertise. Nexi has committed to supporting open-source commerce standards, including the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), to enable AI-driven shopping…

German media group Axel Springer has acquired Bisnow, a commercial real estate media and events company headquartered in the US. Bisnow, founded in 2005, operates a global platform of news, live events, and targeted B2B solutions, hosting more than 400 events annually across 47 markets in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. The company has built a reputation for combining journalism with professional networking within the commercial real estate sector. Robert Dippell will lead the newly formed Brew Media Group in addition to his role as CEO of Morning Brew, which is based in New York. Both…

G+D Netcetera, the financial software subsidiary of Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), has completed the acquisition of the Payments & Banking Services business of Bank-Verlag. The division’s infrastructure processes around one in four card- and internet-based payments in Germany. Following the transaction, G+D Netcetera expands its role as a provider of end-to-end digital solutions for the German financial sector. Carsten Wengel, CEO of G+D Netcetera, will lead the new business unit on an interim basis, together with Sascha Kraatz, a member of the existing management team. The unit employs approximately 280 people and serves more than 200 banks. “We are starting a new…

finpension has exceeded CHF 5 billion in assets under management as of the end of February, marking a significant milestone for the company. At the beginning of September 2025, assets under management stood at CHF 4 billion. The number of clients has also grown, with around 60,000 now using finpension’s solutions. The Invest product for discretionary assets has seen strong uptake, particularly among Millennials. In 2025, finpension recorded operating income of CHF 16.8 million and a net profit of approximately CHF 7.7 million, representing a 27% increase compared with the previous year. The annual profit raised the company’s equity to…

Banco Santander and Mastercard have completed what they describe as Europe’s first live end-to-end payment executed by an AI agent within a regulated banking framework. Santander carried out the transaction in a controlled environment using Mastercard’s Agent Pay solution and processed it through its live payments infrastructure. The bank designed the test to validate the operational and control framework under real conditions. The system enables AI agents to initiate and execute payments on behalf of customers within predefined limits and permissions, using existing payment networks while maintaining established standards of security, privacy and consumer protection. Matías Sánchez, Global Head of…

US open banking fintech Plaid has reportedly reached a valuation of US$8 billion following its latest funding round, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg cites sources familiar with the matter, who suggest that the company raised the funds to provide employees with liquidity for their shares. Founded in 2013, Plaid enables financial institutions to link users’ accounts to apps and services. With a workforce of over 900, the company facilitates the sharing of data such as account balances and numbers, transaction histories, and personal loan details to support services including lending, underwriting, financial management, payments, and banking. Investors Ribbit Capital and Silver…

Barclays is exploring the development of a blockchain platform to manage processes such as payments, joining global peers like JPMorgan Chase in investigating digital-asset technology for banking services. The UK-based lender has issued a request for information to potential technology suppliers as it considers how to expand its offerings, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity due to the private nature of the discussions. The initiative could encompass payments applications such as stablecoins and tokenised deposits, according to Bloomberg. Stablecoins, typically pegged to assets like the US dollar, are gaining traction in payments and could threaten traditional…

Adnovum announced that CEO Thomas Zangerl has stepped down on 1 March 2026. Following the completion of the acquisitions of IT service providers iSPIN and Koch IT, Zangerl has fulfilled a key strategic mandate and prepared the Group for its next phase of development. After discussions with the Board, Zangerl concluded that it was the appropriate time to hand over operational leadership. “I am proud of what we have achieved together. With the acquisitions completed and a clear strategic direction in place, Adnovum is well positioned for the next growth phase. Now is the right time to pass on leadership…

OpenAI announced US$110 billion in new investment at a US$730 billion pre-money valuation, as demand for artificial intelligence continues to increase across consumers, developers and businesses. The funding round includes US$30 billion each from SoftBank, NVIDIA and Amazon. OpenAI has also entered into a strategic partnership with Amazon and secured next-generation inference compute from NVIDIA. Additional financial investors are expected to join as the round progresses. OpenAI said the partnerships will expand its global reach, strengthen its infrastructure and support balance sheet capacity as it scales its models and products. Product adoption has continued to grow. Codex, OpenAI’s software development…

Statrys, a Hong Kong-based fintech company providing integrated accounting, business accounts, and company creation solutions, has introduced a transaction-based accounting pricing model on 2 March 2026. It is tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups, and entrepreneurs seeking greater flexibility and cost transparency. The new model aligns accounting fees with the number of transactions processed each month. This approach is designed to better support early-stage companies and seasonal businesses whose transaction volumes may fluctuate, so clients can select a tier that reflects what they actually do in a given month. Clients will benefit from a transparent pricing structure that…

Lithuania is emerging as a significant hub for AI development within the European Union. While global AI infrastructure remains concentrated in a few countries, Lithuania offers a combination of policy foresight, technical expertise, and growing infrastructure that positions it as a strategic European location for AI research and investment. The country was among the first EU member states to adopt a national AI strategy in 2018. Since then, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation has directed over €52 million towards AI resource development and product innovation, including the recent €65 million LitAI centre, a regional AI innovation hub. The government…

The Brink’s Company and NCR Atleos have announced a definitive agreement for Brink’s to acquire NCR Atleos in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately US$6.6 billion. The deal includes 13.3 million shares of Brink’s common stock, US$2.2 billion in cash, and the assumption of around US$2.6 billion of NCR Atleos’ debt. The acquisition combines Brink’s global cash management and route-based infrastructure with NCR Atleos’ ATM management expertise and its owned-and-operated ATM network, including its fast-growing ATM as a Service (ATMaaS) solutions. The two companies aim to offer a broader range of services to financial institutions and retail customers…

UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has selected four companies to test their stablecoin services under proposed regulation within a controlled environment. This forms part of the FCA’s commitment to supporting growth and innovation in UK financial services. From 20 applications, the chosen firms are Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise, Revolut, and VVTX. The Regulatory Sandbox programme allows firms to trial stablecoin products in real-world conditions with appropriate safeguards. It will enable the FCA to assess its proposed policy in practice and ensure future rules are clear, effective, and support responsible innovation. Testing will primarily focus on stablecoin issuance. The selected firms’…

Aarau-based startup findependent has become the first pure ETF asset manager to receive approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) as a custodian bank. Clients will now be able to hold accounts and securities portfolios directly with findependent. This change allows for faster processing of transactions in the app. It also gives clients access to an expanded range of services. The company plans to launch Pillar 3a investment solutions in the second half of the year. Since its launch in February 2021, findependent has grown to serve more than 25,000 investors. The company has shown that digital asset…