Аsia
VEON’s Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Operations in Pakistan
VEON Posted December 17, 2025
VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator, announced today that its financial services subsidiary, Mobilink Microfinance Bank Ltd., has launched Islamic banking operations in Pakistan, expanding access to Shariah-compliant financial services in in response to growing customer demand.
Mobilink Bank inaugurated its first dedicated Islamic banking branch this week in Karachi, Pakistan’s economic hub. A second Islamic banking branch is scheduled to commence operations in Peshawar later this month, followed by a phased rollout of Islamic banking services across additional locations nationwide. Mobilink Bank received its Islamic Banking licence from the State Bank of Pakistan earlier in 2025.
PayNearby secures NPCI licence, unveils Saathi UPI platform
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 26, 2025
PayNearby has received Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) approval from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), enabling the company to directly participate in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ecosystem. Alongside the approval, the FinTech has launched PayNearby Saathi, an assisted digital payments and financial services platform aimed at expanding UPI access among first-time and underserved users across semi-urban and rural India.
India’s FinTech sector shifts focus to credit in 2026
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 24, 2025
India’s financial system is entering 2026 without the drama that once accompanied every new FinTech milestone. There are no breathless launch announcements, no declarations of disruption. Instead, there is something more telling: digital finance has started to feel ordinary. And that ordinariness signals a far deeper shift underway.
Payments, once the headline act of India’s FinTech story, are no longer the destination. They are the foundation. The real transformation now lies in how credit is being layered onto this payment-first economy, quietly reshaping how Indians borrow, spend, and participate in the formal financial system.
Finastra expands global presence with new U.S. and India offices
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 23, 2025
Finastra expanded its global footprint with the opening of new offices in the United States and India, alongside an expansion of its existing facility in Pune, as the financial services software provider scaled its engineering and product development capabilities to meet growing demand for cloud- and AI-driven solutions.
The company opened a new U.S. office in Atlanta, Georgia, located in the King building at Perimeter, and launched an innovation centre at Technopark in Trivandrum, Kerala. In parallel, Finastra confirmed plans to expand its Pune office, one of its largest global engineering hubs. The moves formed part of the company’s broader growth and modernisation strategy.
Europe
Eurobank to implement Agentic AI with Fairfax, EY and Microsoft
Fintech Futures, Posted December 16, 2025
Eurobank in Greece has formed a new partnership with Fairfax Digital Services, backed by consulting firm EY and technology giant Microsoft, aimed at integrating Agentic AI into mainframe systems.
The Athens-headquartered lender said it will collaborate with EY’s AI and Data Centre of Excellence in Greece to create what it describes as an “automated system to embed Agentic AI into core banking operations” – moving beyond typical AI pilot programmes to deploy autonomous decision-making technology across its entire banking suite.
The project will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, combined with EY.ai’s Agentic platform and computing power from Nvidia, to create what the bank describes as an “AI Factory”.
ViaBill brings pay-later installments to Apple pay in Denmark
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 18, 2025
A new payment option for Apple Pay customers, offering more choice, convenience and flexibility when making a purchase.
ViaBill‘s customers in Denmark can now choose to split up payments for their purchase using ViaBill’s Mastercard and Pay Later solutions on Apple Pay. Eligible customers can now choose to pay in monthly installments when checking out with Apple Pay online and in-app using iPhone or iPad, or in-store using iPhone. This innovative capability delivers even more convenience, control, and transparency to even more customers.
United Fintech secures funding to scale FinTech infrastructure
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 23, 2025
United Fintech has secured a minority investment from Dansk Vækstkapital (Danish Growth Capital), adding the Danish investment fund to its growing roster of institutional backers as the FinTech infrastructure provider accelerates global expansion.
The investment follows United Fintech’s recent announcement that Barclays joined its shareholder base, alongside BNP Paribas, Citi, Danske Bank and Standard Chartered. With the addition of Dansk Vækstkapital, United Fintech now counts six institutional investors, combining strategic bank capital with long-term financial investors.
USA
OnePay joins Google’s Agent Payments Protocol to Define the Future of Agentic Payments
OnePay, Posted December 18, 2025
AI is rapidly reshaping how we communicate, search, shop, travel, and manage money. Tasks that once required tedious research and coordination can now be delegated to a trusted AI agent. But for this future to work, AI needs one critical capability: a safe, reliable, and user-controlled way to transact.
Today, we’re excited to share that OnePay is joining Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to help make agentic payments more secure, transparent, and useful for consumers, merchants, and developers.
Stablecoins in 2025: How Regulation, Banks, and Fintechs Turned Digital Money Into a Global Infrastructure
Fintech Weekly, Posted December 26, 2025
The story of stablecoins in 2025 is not one of sudden disruption but of gradual integration. Over about one year, what began as cautious optimism turned into coordinated policy, market participation, and genuine financial reform. This article follows that evolution as reported through the stories published by FinTech Weekly, recounting how regulators, banks, and fintech innovators worked—sometimes reluctantly—to make stablecoins part of the world’s financial machinery.
LatAm
Altis raises $10M through FIDC
LatamList, Posted December 18, 2025
Altis, a Brazilian fintech focused on credit-as-a-service, raised $10M through a Credit Rights Investment Fund (FIDC) structured by Galapagos Capital.
Altis offers a digital platform that allows businesses to originate credit without building their own infrastructure or hiring specialized teams. The platform handles the full credit cycle, including risk analysis and receivables management, enabling partners to offer financing directly without relying on traditional banks.
With the funds, Altis will accelerate its vehicle financing operation and expand capacity to meet growing demand in the automotive market.
Monet raises $24M Series A
LatamList, Posted December 18, 2025
Monet, a Colombian fintech focused on small-ticket lending, raised a $24M Series A round structured with both equity and a credit facility.
Monet operates a digital lending platform that offers short-term, low-amount loans to users who do not qualify for traditional banking products. Its app serves informal workers, entrepreneurs, and people without formal credit histories.
With the funds, Monet will strengthen its technology stack, expand nationwide coverage, and improve its risk assessment models. Monet will also invest in new products aimed at underserved segments, including Venezuelan migrants in Colombia who often lack credit histories or guarantors.
Plata raises $500M from Nomura
LatamList, Posted December 18, 2025
Mexican fintech Plata raised $500M in financing from Nomura, one of Japan’s largest investment banks. The transaction follows Plata’s $250M round in October 2025.
Founded in 2023, Plata focuses on expanding access to financial services for Mexico’s underbanked population. Plata operates a proprietary, AI-driven, cloud-native core banking system designed to offer transparent and flexible credit products.
JMR Infotech joins Caribbean Bank to drive digital transformation
IBS Intelligence, Posted December 23, 2025
JMR Infotech has joined the Caribbean Association of Banks (CAB) as a Service Member, signalling a deeper push to support digital transformation initiatives across the Caribbean banking sector.
The move comes as financial institutions in the region face rising pressure to modernise legacy infrastructure, strengthen regulatory compliance, and improve customer experience amid increasing competition from digital-first players. By aligning with CAB, JMR Infotech aims to work more closely with regional banks on technology-led transformation programmes tailored to local operational and regulatory requirements.
Juspay Integrates Visa Click to Pay in Brazil, Offering Consumers a Fast, Secure, and Hassle-Free Shopping Experience
Juspay, Posted December 12, 2025
In a move to redefine digital commerce in Brazil, Juspay, a global leader in payment infrastructure, today announced a strategic partnership with Visa for the large-scale implementation of Click to Pay. This collaboration focuses on solving two of the biggest challenges in e-commerce in the country: high cart abandonment rates due to checkout complexity, and the need for robust transaction security.
Click to Pay, based on the global EMV® Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) standard, transforms the online shopping experience. It eliminates the need for consumers to manually enter 16-digit card numbers, expiration dates, and security codes with every purchase. Instead, customers using their Visa cards can complete a transaction with a single click, using tokenized and protected credentials, regardless of the device or merchant where they’re shopping.
