Ramp raises $750m at $44bn as AI rerates corporate spend
Ramp's $750m Series F at a $44bn valuation re-rates the corporate-spend leader on an AI-spend thesis even as the broader fintech index stays weak.
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.
June 2026
Flutterwave adds Stripe’s Tempo as a stablecoin rail for Africa
Flutterwave is integrating Stripe-backed Tempo as a stablecoin settlement layer for African cross-border payments — a tell about where stablecoins actually work.
MiCA’s July 1 cliff meets the GENIUS Act’s July 18 deadline
MiCA's July 1, 2026 cutoff and the GENIUS Act's July 18 rulemaking deadline lock in incompatible stablecoin regimes, forcing issuers into region-specific coins.
Perk lands $300m credit line to take spend platform to US
Perk, formerly TravelPerk, has secured a $300m private credit facility — not equity — to fund the US launch of its AI-native spend management platform.
Why the FCA’s retail crypto-ETN reopening splits from US and EU
The FCA reopened retail access to crypto ETNs on Oct 8, 2025, charting a third UK path between the US spot-ETF model and the EU’s MiCA-governed market.
Adyen wins GOV.UK Pay deal, displacing Stripe on 1,000 services
Adyen wins the GOV.UK Pay contract, displacing Stripe across 1,000 public sector services and adding pay-by-bank to government payments.
Riverty secures Luxembourg bank licence for embedded finance
Bertelsmann's Riverty has won a Luxembourg banking licence from the CSSF and ECB, turning its BNPL and credit unit into a deposit-funded EU bank from July 2026.
How the CLARITY Act carves crypto between the SEC and CFTC
The CLARITY Act would give the CFTC spot digital-commodity markets and leave investment-contract assets with the SEC, diverging from MiCA, the UK and Singapore.
Slash hits $1.4bn as corporate-spend fintechs split paths
Slash raised $100m at a $1.4bn valuation to stay independent just as Capital One closed its $5.15bn Brex buy — the corporate-spend category is splitting in two.
Why EMIR 3.0’s active-account rule targets London euro clearing
EMIR 3.0's active account requirement forces EU firms to clear euro rate derivatives at EU CCPs from 2026, targeting the 80% that still sits at London's LCH.
PFOF’s June 30 cliff ends Germany’s carve-out as EU, UK, US split
From June 30, 2026 Germany's PFOF carve-out expires, making the EU a uniform no-PFOF bloc — and splitting it from the UK ban and the US disclosure regime.
Airwallex launches billing, escalating its Stripe rivalry
Airwallex has launched a billing product, taking on Stripe's decade-old turf — the clearest sign yet of 2026's payments-platform land-grab.
May 2026
Japan’s FIEA shift pulls crypto into securities law from 2027
Japan's FIEA amendment reclassifies crypto as financial instruments, importing insider-dealing bans and a flat 20% tax — and diverging from MiCA and the US.
Outmarket AI raises $17m as AI dominates insurtech funding
Outmarket AI's $17m Series A lands as AI insurtechs capture two-thirds of sector funding, signalling capital is flowing to broker automation, not risk.
AMLA’s single rulebook splits EU AML from the US and UK
From July 2027 the EU's AMLR and Frankfurt-based AMLA replace 27 national AML regimes with one rulebook and direct supervision — diverging from the US and UK.
Revolut eyes $100bn secondary as Storonsky pushes IPO to 2028
Revolut is weighing an H2-2026 secondary share sale above $100bn while delaying its IPO to 2028 — the clearest case of fintech's stay-private valuation staircase.
JPMorgan’s Chase enters Germany with a 4% savings rate
JPMorgan's Chase launched a digital bank in Germany on May 20, 2026 with a 4% intro savings rate, taking the neobank playbook to N26 and Trade Republic.
Basel’s crypto capital rules split the EU, UK and US in 2026
Basel's SCO60 crypto capital standard took effect Jan 1, 2026 with a 1,250% risk weight - but the EU, UK and US are implementing it three different ways.
FedNow tops 1,600 banks but RTP’s $1.3tn lead holds in 2025
FedNow has overtaken RTP on bank participants (1,600 vs 1,135) but RTP still leads on dollar volume — splitting US instant payments into two distinct networks.
Why UK sterling stablecoins face an FCA-BoE configuration trap
FCA cryptoasset rules effective October 25, 2027 meet a BoE systemic-stablecoin regime that proposes 40% unremunerated reserves and tight retail caps.
Also filing this week: Karthik Subramanian and Abdelaziz Fathi.