Аsia
Walmart-backed PhonePe eyes $10.5b valuation in India IPO
Tech in Asia, Posted March 4, 2026
Walmart-backed Indian fintech PhonePe is targeting a US$9 billion to US$10.5 billion valuation in its planned India IPO.
This implies the IPO could raise up to US$1.1 billion, a decrease from its US$12 billion private valuation in 2023. According to the filing, Walmart will trim its stake by 12%, while Tiger Global and Microsoft plan to sell their entire holdings.
India’s Fino payments bank shares drop 14% after CEO arrest
Tech in Asia, Posted March 2, 2026
Shares of Fino Payments Bank, an Indian payments bank, fell as much as 14.1% on March 2 after the lender said Rishi Gupta, managing director and CEO, had been arrested under India’s goods and services tax (GST) law.
The stock later pared losses and was down 5.2% at 182.50 rupees (US$2) as of 9:48 a.m. IST, while the benchmark Nifty 50 traded about 1% lower.
UK fintech firm Revolut opens India waitlist for digital payments
Tech in Asia, Posted March 3, 2026
UK fintech Revolut has opened a waitlist to roll out digital payment services in India.
According to an X post on March 2, by Max Karpis, who claims to be an early investor, Revolut will launch an INR-only prepaid wallet with UPI integration and Visa cards for domestic and international use.
Europe
NatWest hires Starling’s Adeel Hyder to lead business banking
Fintech Futures, Posted March 5, 2026
Starling Bank executive Adeel Hyder has been appointed as the new managing director of business banking at NatWest, effective 1 June 2026.
NatWest says Hyder will work to “strengthen support for small and micro businesses across the UK” and will report to commercial and institutional CEO Robert Begbie.
Hyder has served Starling as managing director of SME banking since August 2024. His career also includes stints at RBS, McKinsey, Banco Sabadell, and six years at TSB Bank, where he rose to business banking director.
Revolut Business rolls out Titan in the UK
Revolut, Posted March 3, 2026
Revolut Business, the global financial platform for businesses with hundreds of thousands of customers, has today launched Titan, its first ultra-premium corporate card to all customers across the UK.
Titan ends the compromise between executive luxury and corporate discipline. The ultimate financial aid for businesses; it incorporates premium executive-travel perks and robust reconciliation tools for finance teams, in the same place they manage their core finances.
Stripe wants to turn your AI costs into a profit center
Tech Crunch, Posted March 2, 2026
Stripe on Monday released a preview of a new feature that could help AI startups (and other companies) solve the problem of passing through the underlying costs of AI model usage to their customers.
Stripe’s feature, however, goes even further than just passing through the costs of the tokens. It allows startups to charge a markup percentage on token usage. So a company can, for instance, charge an automatic 30% above the cost of the tokens that the startup will pay the model maker.
USA
Revolut Files U.S. Bank Charter Application, Names New U.S. CEO
Revolut, Posted March 5, 2026
Revolut, the global financial technology leader serving more than 70 million customers worldwide, today announced that it has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for a U.S. national bank charter [to be called Revolut Bank US, N.A.]. This filing marks a major milestone in Revolut’s strategic expansion into North America and reinforces its mission to become the world’s first truly global banking platform.
Edward Jones secures conditional approval to launch federally chartered bank
Fintech Futures, Posted March 3, 2026
Edward Jones, a US-based financial services firm, has received conditional approval to establish a federally chartered in-house bank. The approval was granted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI).
The new entity, Edward Jones Bank, aims to help the firm “more comprehensively meet clients’ saving, spending and borrowing needs”, according to a company statement.
LatAm
Ualá raises $195M led by Allianz X
LatamList, Posted March 4, 2026
Argentine neobank Ualá raised $195M in a funding round led by Allianz X. New and existing investors also participated, including Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Tencent, TABLE Holdings, Soros Fund Management, and D1 Capital Partners. The round values Ualá at $3.2B.
Founded in Argentina, Ualá operates a fully digital banking platform that offers debit and credit cards, loans, investments, insurance, and merchant acquiring services through a single app.
Ualá will use the new capital to accelerate growth and expand its financial ecosystem across Latin America. Ualá also plans to deepen its partnership with Allianz to scale insurance products in Latin America.
DollarApp raises $70M from Sequoia and Founders Fund
LatamList, Posted March 4, 2026
Mexican fintech DolarApp raised $70M from Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund.
Dollar App is a dollar USDc account where users can receive, send, and pay in pesos or dollars. Through DolarApp, users can also save in USDc and pay with a global Mastercard that offers up to 4% cash back.
With the funds, the fintech will transition its brand from DolarApp to ARQ. ARQ will integrate services including the buying and management of digital dollars and euros, cross-border payments, international cards for travel and online purchases, digital-dollar investment tools, and credit products.
