MultiChoice spin-out Moment raises $22m for Africa payments
Moment, the MultiChoice payments spin-out, has closed a $22m Series A led by AlphaCode Venture Partners, with Canal+ backing the rails billing its own DStv base.
Rick Steves
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011. He holds a degree in Business Administration and has experience producing real-time news, from both buy-side and sell-side, as well as for retail traders, brokers and service providers. Steves' work has appeared in a variety of online publications including FX Street, NewsBTC, FinanceFeeds, and The Industry Spread. Rick has great interest in the dynamics of the trading industry. The never-ending clash between technology, economics, regulation, and more importantly, the people.
August 2026
Maximum raises $30m seed to rebuild core banking with AI
Maximum raised a $30m seed led by CRV to build an AI-native bank core the same week 10x Banking took £40m in debt and equity after turning profitable.
Decade raises record $85m seed for AI wealth advice in Brazil
Decade's $85m seed, led by Greenoaks, is Latin America's largest. It lands as Brazil's Selic falls to 14%, resetting the economics of retail wealth advice.
Kraken parent buys Magic’s embedded wallet arm behind 60m wallets
Payward, Kraken's parent, buys Magic Labs' embedded wallet arm behind 60m wallets and 200,000 developers to sell wallets-as-a-service B2B. Terms undisclosed.
How EU, UK and Singapore converged on frontier-AI ICT risk
MAS and the three ESAs both routed frontier-AI risk into existing operational-resilience supervision within three days. That raises exposure, not lowers it.
Mastercard closes $1.8bn BVNK deal for $30bn stablecoin rail
Mastercard has closed its $1.8bn BVNK acquisition, buying a $30bn annualised stablecoin rail outright - more than four times Visa's organic run rate.
10x Banking raises £40m in debt and equity after turning profitable
10x Banking took £40m from AshGrove in debt and equity after its first profitable year. The structure, not the size, is the core banking reset.
Ambrook raises $30m with half its users new to software
Ambrook's $30m Series B is read as a QuickBooks challenge. Half its 8,000 customers never used accounting software at all — a market-expansion story.
The EU’s Retail Investment Strategy traded a ban for benchmarks
The EU dropped its inducements ban in the December 2025 RIS deal and replaced it with a value-for-money product gate that gives supervisors more leverage.
FNZ sells €155bn-custody German bank to Advent consortium
FNZ agrees to sell FNZ Bank and its €155bn of assets under custody to an Advent-led consortium, framing as focus what the balance sheet calls capital relief.
Dubai’s two-regulator problem: VARA vs DFSA licensing in 2026
VARA covers Dubai outside the DIFC, the DFSA covers the DIFC, and the CMA replaced the SCA federally. A decision framework for crypto and FX firms.
Deluxe Acquires Celero for $625 Million in B2B Payments Consolidation Push
Deluxe closed its $625m Celero Commerce deal at roughly 11x EBITDA, richer than Worldpay's 8.5x. What that says about B2B payments consolidation in 2026.
Visa to buy BioCatch for $2.4bn to stop fraud before payment
Visa is buying behavioural biometrics firm BioCatch for $2.4bn in cash, moving fraud detection upstream of the payment as AI scams cost banks $1trn a year.
Finfluencer regulation hardens: licences, charges, takedowns
From the FCA's criminal charges to the UAE's mandatory licence, finfluencer rules hardened fast - five rulebooks now split the UK, Australia, France, UAE and US.
Natural rolls out agentic payments rails after $30m round
Natural begins rolling out payments infrastructure built for AI agents after a $30m Series A led by Forerunner - a direct bet against retrofitted card rails.
New York’s Kalshi suit tests the Third Circuit’s shield
New York sued Kalshi on July 31 seeking treble fines, defying the Third Circuit's preemption ruling.
Stripe’s first employee turns Increase into an FDIC bank
Increase launches an FDIC-member bank from a $75m Washington lender — the clearest post-Synapse verdict on banking-as-a-service: own the charter.
Also filing this week: Karthik Subramanian and Abdelaziz Fathi.