The deal is expected to close in Q4 2025, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

Initially founded as Layer2 Financial by CEO Bhanu Kohli and CTO Tarun Mistry in 2021, Rail operates a platform that connects stablecoins with traditional fiat currency systems, enabling cost-effective cross-border payments through a single API. The infrastructure is said to be on track to process around 10% of all global B2B stablecoin payments this year, with use cases spanning accounts payable, accounts receivable, and treasury management. 

Rail maintains a network of 12+ banking partners to ensure redundancy, and also provides virtual IBANs and named accounts that allow businesses to transact with digital assets without needing dedicated crypto bank accounts or wallets. The company, based in Toronto, is backed by the likes of Galaxy Ventures and Accomplice.

With the technology, Ripple says it plans to offer “the most comprehensive stablecoin payments solution available in the market”. This combined solution is to support USD pay-ins and pay-outs across key corridors, new capabilities for third-party payments and internal treasury flows, and digital asset liquidity across various assets.

Ripple has been working to bridge the gap between traditional and decentralized finance (DeFi). Including Rail, the San Francisco-headquartered crypto and blockchain solutions firm says it has now spent over $3 billion on acquisitions and “strategic opportunities” to date, adding that it “remains committed to actively expanding through M&A”.

The post Ripple to acquire payment infrastructure fintech Rail for $200m appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

CEIC returned to support this latest round, which was led by Tether and IDG Capital, with added support from Primal Capital, 1kx, Protein Capital, KX VC, 3KVC, Genting Ventures, Fuel Ventures, and Umami Capital.

The Miami-headquartered company will use the funds to scale its platform, which combines fiat on and off ramps with virtual bank accounts, real-time liquidity routing, and full-stack compliance tools.

The Transak platform is currently used by over 450 applications to offer fiat to stablecoin conversion through local payment methods, bank transfers, cards, and virtual IBANs, and has processed over $2 billion in transaction volume to date. Other core services include a checkout function for purchasing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) directly with fiat currency, as well as multi-level know-your-customer (KYC) solutions.

Web3 onboarding was the initial concept behind Transak, which was founded by CEO Sami Start and CTO Yeshu Agarwal in 2019. The company went on to launch its on-ramp solution in February the following year.

“Stablecoins are no longer just a crypto asset. They are now the rails for global value transfer,” Start comments, stating that a scaled application requires “real infrastructure” over just liquidity. “That’s exactly what we’ve built, and this round helps us scale it globally,” he continues.

Transak currently holds regulatory approvals in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia and India, and states that an expansion into the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia is “actively underway”.

The post Transak raises $16m strategic round to scale web3 infrastructure globally appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

This year’s theme is “The New Frontier” and the week’s events will explore how breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) are unlocking bold new ways to tackle some of the toughest challenges in financial services. This dynamic event will offer attendees a sharp look at today’s rapidly evolving landscape and a deep dive into the transformative technologies that are transforming industries, dissolving borders, and redefining what is possible in fintech.

During Boston Fintech Week 2025, the Fintech Sandbox Innovation Forum, the two-day, ticked main stage conference, will take place on September 16 and 17 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. This forum will spotlight some of the top visionaries and investors who are reshaping the financial services industry.

“Boston Fintech Week presented by Fintech Sandbox is where innovation meets action as we bring together the brightest minds in financial services to shape what’s next,” said Sarah Biller, Co-founder of Fintech Sandbox. “This year’s theme, ‘The New Frontier’ dives us deeper into the changes coming to Financial Services because of artificial intelligence. For a decade, Fintech Sandbox has enabled entrepreneurs from across the globe to access the data they need to innovate in an industry undergoing rapid change. Our partnership with start-ups, leading data companies and industry innovators has put us at the center of the AI revolution, and we are excited to bring all these perspectives together in one place to discuss and debate where we are heading.”

The week will feature a series of fireside chats, masterclasses and networking receptions hosted by various fintech, financial services, startup and investor communities, each requiring individual registration. From its integration with the fintech ecosystem and partnerships with the local community, Boston Fintech Week presented by Fintech Sandbox is unlike any other industry event and prides itself in being a unique, community-driven celebration.

Beginning as a grassroots gathering in 2017, Boston Fintech Week has become a must-attend event in Boston. The event enables collaboration with the local community and broader fintech ecosystem and is an inclusive platform for dialogue among industry leaders and emerging fintechs globally. The 2024 event  was attended by over 3,000 attendees and featured over 125 speakers across 55 sessions, with participants from 10 countries.

Attendees from last year’s Boston Fintech Week presented by Fintech Sandbox praised the event, saying:

•  “A must-attend event for those interested in how technology is altering finance.”
• “Excellent events and amazing organization. Small team delivered world-class speakers and an active audience.”
• “An event not only for Fintech professionals but also for anyone interested in the future of global economy.”

The post Eighth Annual Boston Fintech Week Spotlighs Breakthroughs in AI and Impact on Financial Services appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

This deal means Klarna will show up as a buy now, pay later choice on Bolt devices. Merchants using Bolt can offer Klarna’s Pay in 4 or monthly financing options to shoppers in physical stores, and shoppers can choose that option with a single click. The integration is set to go live later this year, first in the U.S. and then in other markets around the world.

Ryan Breslow, co-founder and CEO of Bolt, stated that the partnership was “so much bigger than two companies working together.” “It’s a clear sign that commerce is moving in an entirely new direction,” he said, adding that this will not be another buy now, pay later option but, rather, “an entirely new model that offers best-in-class, flexible customer experience with no new contracts or technical lift required.”

Klarna, describes the partnership as a means to drive long-term loyalty for itself and merchants.“By embedding Klarna into thousands of Bolt merchants, we’re scaling our U.S. footprint and making Klarna available everywhere consumers shop,” a Klarna spokesperson said.

This latest partnership is a big deal for Bolt for other reasons. The fintech has struggled in recent years with legal challenges and upset investors. In March, Bolt founder Breslow returned as CEO after having stepped down in early 2022.

In August, Bolt was reportedly attempting to raise $450 million at a potential $14 billion valuation. There have been no updates on that apparent deal, but Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Breslow was once again looking to raise. This time, he’s looking for at least 600 million, half of which would go to Bolt, while the other half would go to his other startup, Love.

Earlier this month, Bolt also announced a partnership with Palantir to launch an AI-powered personalized checkout that remembers the shopping habits of consumers. It wants to expand this checkout across its merchants and within Bolt’s new SuperApp, a “one-click crypto and everyday payments” app, as he described.

Adding two big names as partners, Klarna and Palantir, is the kind of step that could help clean up Bolt’s reputation as it seeks to raise again.

The post Fintech Bolt lands Klarna as a partner appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

The post Carlyle teams up with Citi to invest in fintech lenders appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

Walmart’s majority-owned fintech startup OnePay said Monday it was launching a pair of credit cards with a bank partner for customers of the world’s biggest retailer.

OnePay is partnering with Synchrony, a major behind-the-scenes player in retail cards, which will issue the cards and handle underwriting decisions starting in the fall, the companies said.

The post Walmart uses own fintech firm to provide credit cards after dumping Capital One appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

As global commerce becomes increasingly digital, fintech is no longer just a sector—it’s an infrastructure, and trade agreements are becoming its enabler. To a country like India, focusing on a viable strategy on the digital highway could mean more enterprises exporting services, ability for more financial organizations to provide capital elsewhere. Besides financial and diplomatic benefits, this is an immensely rewarding opportunity to innovative start-ups, fintechs and even Indian citizens to leverage. But, when money flows faster through the click of a button there are an equal number of challenges. And the global architecture of trade needs to reflect such economic realities and the associated solutions to such challenges.

FTAs Tailored on Digital Aesthetics for Economic Diplomacy

Free Trade agreements (FTAs) have been a way that countries have leveraged to improve their trade numbers. Digital economy focused trade agreements such as UK–Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) or UK–Australia Free Trade Agreement, or India-UK FTA, and scores of multilateral initiatives such as DEPA have been used as a stepping-stone towards a smarter and forward-looking approach. What makes such agreements particularly relevant is their capacity to unlock the potential of innovation, improvement of financial technology (fintech) and accessibility of digital finance. Several governments and businesses have sought resilience and inclusivity and perceive such trade agreements as viable tools to better their fintech cooperation, data interoperability, and even regulatory alignment. A classic example is the India-UAE CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) that includes dedicated chapters on digital trade, online consumer protection, and even digital identities allowing smoother regulatory alignment for Indian services platforms to offer value in the Gulf. The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), signed by Singapore, Chile, and New Zealand, is another example that goes further by introducing modular approaches to digital trade governance. What makes this deal strikingly unique are the chapters on fintech collaboration, digital identities, and data innovation – making it one of the first trade pacts designed from the ground up for a digitized economy. As a blueprint, DEPA shows how nations can align on principles while allowing flexibility for local regulations.

Digital Nuances of Economic Diplomacy

Focusing on digital nuances offers more opportunities to fintechs, financial enterprises and even countries. Fintech today is more than just a sector—it is a means of scaling financial inclusion, improving transparency, and enabling seamless business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-client (B2C) commerce. Trade agreements prioritising on fintech do more than promote commercial interests; they help build the financial plumbing of the future. Conversations hence around open finance frameworks, digital wallets, and interoperable payment can do more than just reduce friction for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Countries that evaluate trade on such parameters enable their SMEs and organizations to participate meaningfully in the global economy. Smart trade agreements also realize that the game is not only about reducing tariffs but removing regulatory fragmentation, inconsistent cybersecurity standards, and even opaque cross-border data policies. However, addressing such issues requires more than goodwill—it also demands harmonized frameworks.

Hence, provisions that support e-invoicing, electronic signatures, secure digital authentication, and real-time payment systems are not only technical footnotes but competitive advantages. Doing these may seem like too much. But the pursuit of such exercises creates a multiplier effect. It reduces transaction costs, increase access to credit for underserved businesses, and enables transparency that benefits regulators and participants alike. Smart trade architecture is therefore, not just pro-growth, it’s also pro-governance.

DNAs of a Modern Trade Agreement

The most forward-looking trade deals share a distinct set of traits: they treat data as a tradable asset, digital infrastructure as a public good, and fintech as a strategic growth lever. The UK–Singapore DEA exemplifies this shift. It ensures the free flow of data with strong privacy protections, removes unjustified data localization requirements, and encourages cooperation in fintech and regtech. These aren’t symbolic add-ons—they’re foundational elements that enable real-time cross-border payments, digital identity verification, and compliance automation, which in turn reduces the cost of doing business internationally. Similarly, the UK–Australia FTA includes an innovation chapter—an uncommon but powerful feature. This dedicated space for dialogue on emerging technologies fosters collaboration in digital payments, open banking, and AI regulation. It recognizes that trade today is as much about trust in digital standards as it is about trust in goods and services.

Building a Digital Trade Commons

As more countries prepare for next-generation trade agreements, the opportunity lies in building a shared digital trade commons—open, secure, and inclusive. Multilateral initiatives like SADEA (Singapore Australia Digital Economy Agreement) or the DEPA (Digital Economy Partnership Agreement) show that it’s possible to design agreements that are agile, modular, and deeply attuned to the digital age. The next phase of global trade will be driven less by the movement of containers and more by the movement of code, artificial-intelligence, or even compliance standards and capital flow. To policymakers therefore, the choice is clear: integrate fintech and digital finance as central pillars of trade policy, or risk creating agreements that are out of sync with economic realities. Those countries that embed digital economy thinking into their trade frameworks will hence not only future-proof their economic strategy but will emerge as new hubs of economic power. As the digital economy expands, aggregators and technology would become pivotal — not just in connecting services, but in shaping how countries, companies, and consumers participate in the global financial system. This is not just an opportunity for growth; it’s a responsibility to help build the backbone of a more open, agile, and inclusive global economy.

The post Modern trade agreements are impacting fintech and the digital economy appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

The post Citi to sell wealth alternatives unit to fintech firm iCapital appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

MainStreet, a San Jose, California-based startup founded in 2019, built a business around helping startups uncover research and development tax credits. The startup generated revenue by taking a cut from the pool of credits. MainStreet had some success in its first year, crossing the $1 million ARR run rate threshold and helping the average client save $51,000. In 2021, MainStreet’s revenue crossed $15 million, per industry newsletter Not Boring. Signs of potential trouble appeared in 2022 when MainStreet laid off about 30% of its staff, citing “an incredibly rough market.” At its prime in 2021,

MainStreet was valued at $500 million. The company was said to have closed on a financing in 2022 at a $200 million valuation. It’s unclear what MainStreet’s balance sheet looked like immediately prior to this acquisition, although Tinsley told TechCrunch in an interview the company was profitable. In total, MainStreet raised about $75 million in known venture capital from investors such as SignalFire, Tusk Ventures, Shrug, Moxxie Ventures, Weekend Fund, Gradient Ventures, Sound, and SV Angels.

One of MainStreet’s investors introduced the company to Employer.com, according to Tinsley. MainStreet’s 15-person team will be joining Employer.com as part of the transaction, which has about 500 employees across all its companies. With the acquisition, Employer.com is valued at just north of $700 million, Tinsley said.

The post Employer.com acquires fintech key player MainStreet.com appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.

The post AI in Fintech Market predicted to Reach USD 61.6 Billion by 2032 appeared first on FINTECH MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA.