Stay up-to-date on all the latest FinTech news and information from around the world in the BFC FinTech Monitor.
Global
#Reports and Research
- Fintech industry shifts from experimentation to scaling AI, digital assets and regulated business models, according to Wolters Kluwer’s The Fintech Landscape in 2026 report. »»»
#Payments & Neobanking
- Visa agrees to acquire BioCatch for $2.4bn to strengthen its fraud prevention capabilities using behavioural analytics of users’ devices. »»»
- PayPal enables US travellers to pay Chinese Weixin Pay merchants via QR codes through its PayPal World service. »»»
- Revolut secures a full banking licence in France and plans to gradually migrate customers in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain to the new structure. »»»
- N26 launches Wero instant payments in Germany and France, based on SEPA Instant. »»»
#Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Nearly half of large global companies have scaled back or paused AI agent deployments, as costs rise beyond expected benefits, according to KPMG’s Global AI Pulse research. »»»
- Corpay launches an AI virtual assistant for UK finance teams, automating queries and selected corporate payment operations. »»»
- AI venture funding reached a record high in Q2 2026, while the number of new unicorns hit its highest level since 2022, according to CB Insights. »»»
- Alibaba and DeepSeek release new AI models. »»»
- Cloudflare unveils Cloudflare Wallets, enabling AI agents to autonomously pay for APIs and digital services using stablecoins. »»»
- Microsoft unveils MAI-Cyber-1-Flash AI model and Perception agent platform for cybersecurity. »»»
- Personetics and Plaid combine AI and open banking data to help banks personalise customer offers. »»»
#Crypto, Blockchain & DeFi
- Stablecoin market capitalisation contracts for the first time in four years, despite transaction volumes reaching a record $1.79tn. »»»
- Kraken launches US stock trading for customers in the European Economic Area. »»»
- Revolut partners with Stripe’s Bridge to launch MiCA-compliant EURR euro stablecoin for 80 million retail customers across Europe. »»»
- X explores stablecoin payments for content creators and influencers. »»»
- AI audit identifies more than 700 security vulnerabilities across 390 Bitcoin repositories in 27 hours. »»»
- BlackRock and JPMorgan launch tokenised money market funds in three currencies on the Kinexys platform. »»»
- Binance becomes the first centralised crypto exchange to launch commodity options on gold and silver, settled in USDT. »»»
- Coinbase receives regulatory approval to establish an international securities tokenisation centre in Abu Dhabi Global Market.
- BIS, JPMorgan, Citi and UBS complete the pilot phase of Project Agorá, testing tokenised cross-border payments. »»»
- Western Union, Visa and Rain launch a digital wallet and Stablecard powered by Western Union’s USDPT stablecoin on Solana.
- Mastercard completes its acquisition of payments infrastructure company BVNK to expand stablecoin and tokenised asset settlement capabilities. »»»
- Japan’s JCB to test stablecoin payments for corporate settlements and retail transactions. »»»
- Around 30 major global banks, backed by five regulators, complete the BIS Agorá cross-border tokenised settlement pilot, with transactions processed in around 80 seconds. »»»
- Nigeria’s central bank opens applications for the second cohort of its regulatory sandbox, focusing on crypto companies and open banking. »»»
- Morph launches a non-custodial platform for stablecoin payments. »»»
#Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
- A study by independent expert Furug Odinaozoda for FinTech & Retail EURASIA compares CBDC development across 10 Eurasian countries. »»»
- BRICS countries discuss linking national instant payment systems and CBDCs to reduce the cost of cross-border transactions. »»»
- People’s Bank of China adds eight banks to its list of digital yuan operators to expand CBDC infrastructure and cross-border settlement capabilities. »»»
- Central Bank of Cyprus research finds cash remains the country’s most widely used payment method, while 61% of respondents know nothing about the digital euro. »»»
- Standard Chartered and the Anchorpoint consortium launch HKDAP, a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, with HashKey Exchange and OSL Group acting as authorised distributors. »»»
- BRICS countries discuss linking national instant payment systems and CBDCs, according to Reserve Bank of India governor Sanjay Malhotra. »»»
- Bank of England moves to the second phase of digital pound testing, focusing on cross-border payments and trade finance for SMEs. »»»
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China completes its first cross-border digital yuan payment to Singapore, worth around RMB10m, via the CBETS platform. »»»
#Other
- Verifone patents wireless technology for detecting payment terminal skimmers without the need for additional sensors. »»»
MENA Region:
- PayPal and stc pay Bahrain launch a cross-border money transfer service. »»»
- Legaline deploys automated KYC and AML checks from iDenfy in the UAE. »»»
- Central Bank of Jordan to introduce BIO-key biometric authentication across the country’s financial sector. »»»
- Emirates begins accepting cryptocurrency payments for air tickets through Crypto.com Pay in the UAE. »»»
- Dubai Duty Free introduces cryptocurrency payments via Crypto.com Pay at Dubai airports and online. »»»
Ukraine:
- Ukraine ranks eighth globally and first on a per-capita basis for cryptoasset adoption, according to Chainalysis. »»»
- Ukraine enters the next technical phase of open banking implementation, using secure data exchange between banks and authorised payment service providers. »»»
- Allpass.ai founder outlines the fintech’s transition from a savings service to an international KYC/AML platform for fintech and blockchain companies. »»»
- Ukrainian-French company Aiffin raises €3.1m to develop a platform automating SME financing and leasing transactions in Europe. »»»
- Ukraine expands financial sanctions against Russian financial platforms, including crypto service providers. »»»
- Raiffeisen Bank joins the Ukrainian Association of FinTech and Innovation Companies. »»»
- Cashless card transactions account for 96% of all transactions in Ukraine, while the country’s POS terminal network reaches 582,500 devices, the National Bank reports. »»»
Kazakhstan:
- Kazakhstan approves strategic digital mining rules, requiring major miners to transfer part of their mined cryptoassets to the state reserve through Astana Hub from 1 August 2026. »»»
- National Bank proposes monthly reporting by banks on potentially fraudulent payment transactions and more frequent reporting on cross-border transfers. »»» The regulator also announces a separate Committee for Digital Assets and Payment Systems to consolidate crypto market regulation, supervision and development. »»»
- Licensed crypto exchange Pax Finance says longer transaction processing times are linked to mandatory KYC and AML procedures. »»»
- Kazakhstan and China agree to integrate QR payment infrastructure by year-end through the National Payment Corporation and UnionPay International, while developing digital tenge and yuan settlements via mBridge and CBETS. »»»
- Nearly half of Kazakhstan’s 23 banks have little or no visibility in responses from popular AI tools, while Kaspi.kz, Halyk Bank and ForteBank rank among the most visible, according to research by Zvonko and Bank.kz. »»»
- Kazakhstan’s financial regulator sets a limit of 5% of capital on banks’ open stablecoin positions. »»»
- China Construction Bank, with more than $6tn in assets, discusses the potential establishment of a subsidiary in Kazakhstan with local regulators. »»»
- Kazakhstan’s instant payment system processes around 1m transactions in its first five days of operation. »»»
- Alatau City Bank and Binance Kazakhstan launch QR-code crypto payments under a regulatory sandbox. »»»
- Kazakhstan and China launch a pilot for digital tenge and yuan settlements and sign a currency swap agreement. »»»
- Kazakhstan expands AI use across public services, with eGov GPT already processing 50 types of services. »»»
Kyrgyzstan:
- Apple Pay card linking becomes available in the mobile apps of several Kyrgyz banks, following an earlier tender by state-owned Eldik Bank for Visa and Mastercard card certification. »»»
- Russia and Kyrgyzstan plan to launch a seamless mobile operator for mobile communications and money transfers, backed by Beeline and the Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund, with plans to expand the project to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. »»»
- FINCA Bank becomes the first bank in Kyrgyzstan to launch a Kyrgyz-language voice AI assistant for its contact centre. »»»
Tajikistan:
- National Bank orders banks to accelerate digitalisation, expand cashless payments and strengthen fraud prevention following its review of the first half of 2026. »»»
- Alif Bank officially launches Apple Pay support for its international cards. »»»
Uzbekistan:
- Uzbekistan to reimburse businesses for up to 50% of the cost of implementing AI-based solutions. »»»
- President Shavkat Mirziyoyev says venture investment in Uzbekistan has increased fivefold and announces a presidential startup competition with a $5m prize fund. »»» He also announces an accelerator programme to prepare 50 Uzbek companies a year for capital markets, with the state covering half of IPO preparation costs. »»»
- China’s CFES discusses local production of ATMs, POS terminals and AI-powered smart cash registers in Uzbekistan with the Agency for Industrial Cooperation. »»»
- Residents of the Besqala Mining Valley special mining zone in Karakalpakstan receive exemptions from cryptoasset-related fees until 1 January 2035 as Uzbekistan develops regulated digital asset infrastructure. »»»
- Poytaxt Bank becomes a participant in the capital market regulatory sandbox, with the right to issue bonds denominated in foreign currencies. »»»
- President Mirziyoyev calls for Central Asia to become a big data hub, combining human capital, AI technologies and data centres. »»»
- Uzbekistan’s National Agency of Perspective Projects proposes fines of up to UZS11bn for unlicensed foreign crypto exchanges following a planned increase in the base calculation amount from 1 September. The agency also presents a draft Capital Market Law introducing futures, options, swaps and Islamic sukuk securities. »»» »»»
- Central Bank of Uzbekistan launches CBU-GPT, an AI assistant for analysing documents, comparing versions of regulations and organising data in the banking and financial sector. »»»
- Government approves a framework for banks and microfinance organisations to switch to fully Islamic financing principles. »»»
- Senate approves a constitutional law establishing Enterprise Uzbekistan, an international digital technology centre within IT Park operating under English law and offering special tax and customs conditions for investors. »»»
- Fintech company Alif raises $10m from Armenia’s Ineco Group under a mudaraba financing structure to develop its Alif Nasiya instalment service in Uzbekistan. »»»
- Paynet’s investment arm acquires a controlling stake in investment platform GoInvest, expanding the company’s ecosystem into stock trading. »»»
- International technology company Listee begins testing a C2C resale platform in Uzbekistan and opens an office in Tashkent. »»»
- Uzbekistan allows personal data to be stored in 49 foreign countries and territories. »»»
- Justice Ministry allows the issuance of stablecoins backed by government securities. »»»
- Uzbekistan’s Tax Committee launches AI SOLIQ, an AI-powered platform for analysing entrepreneurs’ tax reporting. »»»
Azerbaijan:
- Azerbaijani banks and fintech companies introduce risk-based limits on payment instrument top-ups, capped at five transactions per day and AZN20,000 per month. »»»
- E-banking accounts for 82% of transfers, while the share of cashless transactions in card payments reaches 69.7%. »»»
- Bir partners with UnionPay International to expand acceptance of the international payment network’s cards in Azerbaijan. »»» Bir also becomes the first company in the region to enter the CNBC and Statista ranking of the world’s leading fintech companies in the neobank category. »»»
- Azerbaijan adopts a law creating a legal framework for investment instruments and transaction structures involving domestic technology startups. »»»
- AZCON Holding and Amazon Web Services expand cooperation in cloud technologies and AI in Azerbaijan. »»»
Armenia:
- Central Bank of Armenia simplifies electronic money rules, removing the requirement to hold a bank account or payment card to open an e-wallet. »»»
- Draft regulations implementing Armenia’s Crypto-Assets Law are put up for public consultation, including requirements for cryptoasset service providers and a crypto transaction register. »»»
- Six Armenian financial institutions led by Ardshinbank form a $300m syndicate to finance the first phase of the Firebird AI factory in Hrazdan, which is equipped with NVIDIA accelerators for AI infrastructure development. »»»
- Financial institutions introduce the STOP mechanism, allowing customers to block selected remote transactions or fully suspend remote banking services. »»»
- T-Bank launches QR-code payments in Armenia through its mobile application. »»»
- IDBank presents its fintech ecosystem at the Mantashyants Global business forum, positioning it as a tool for expanding companies’ sales and financial capabilities. »»»
- Armenia moves to enhanced follow-up monitoring following a MONEYVAL assessment, with particular attention to virtual asset service provider regulation and beneficial ownership disclosure. »»»
Georgia:
- National Bank of Georgia receives international recognition for developing open banking and its regulatory sandbox ecosystem. »»» The regulator’s work on fintech, digital money and tokenised deposits is also featured in an international study by Oxford University and Springer Nature. »»»
- Digital bank hashbank named Georgia’s best new digital bank by Global Banking & Finance Review. »»»
- Georgia’s five largest banks agree to adopt the Nasdaq Calypso platform for treasury management and financial market infrastructure development. »»»
- Georgian Prime Minister meets Singapore fintech companies to present the country’s investment potential. »»»
Moldova:
- FinComBank and Moldindconbank become the first banks in Moldova to accept digital documents from the government’s EVO identification wallet when serving customers in branches. »»»
- RunPay receives National Bank authorisation to provide open banking services, becoming the first company in Moldova to receive such approval. »»»
- Moldova begins preparing updated rules for payments and financial instruments, aimed at bringing the framework closer to EU standards. »»»
- Mastercard, maib and Moldindconbank conduct Moldova’s first AI-initiated payments as part of the Agent Pay pilot. »»»
- SEPA accounts for around 80% of euro transactions in Moldova, with citizens and businesses saving €13.2m on cross-border payments. »»»
- maibank digital app surpasses one million users as the bank expands remote banking and payment services. »»»
- Moldova’s MIA instant payment system processes more than 31m transactions worth around MDL28.5bn during its first two years of operation. »»»
- Moldovan parliament approves a cryptoasset bill at first reading, partially aligned with the EU’s MiCA framework. »»»