Belarus to Fully Launch CBDC in Late 2026
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 22nd of April 2025
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
TAP Air Portugal has announced a partnership with Klarna, a payment network based on artificial intelligence, to offer Portuguese passengers new flexible payment options when buying tickets.
With this innovation, the airline becomes the first in Western Europe to integrate Klarna's “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) products.
Customers who book flights through the official website can choose to pay for their trip in three equal, interest-free installments, or make the traditional single payment.
📊 INFOGRAPHIC
NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Belarus to fully launch CBDC in late 2026.
⭐️ Veriff reports steady growth in identity checks as demand for secure digital onboarding rises.
⭐️ International grocery chain Spar pilots Bitcoin payments in Switzerland.
Looking for a space where networking meets fitness?🏃♂️💬Join our weekly runs and connect with FinTech Fanatics while staying active! 📅Check out April/May schedule & Sign Up Here to be part of a vibrant community of over 19+ cities.
FINTECH
TS Anil, CEO of Monzo, is joining TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC London lineup. Known for his global leadership background and steady hand at the helm of one of Europe’s most prominent FinTechs, Anil brings a unique perspective on the future of money, trust, and digital innovation.
PAYMENTS
eBay announces global payment acquiring partnership with Checkout.com. The partnership expands eBay’s global payment platform capabilities to enhance customer experience and drive operational efficiencies. Guillaume Pousaz, CEO at Checkout.com, said: “eBay is an iconic global commerce leader which continues to push the boundaries of digital commerce.”
Real-time payments are accelerating through key partnerships and tech upgrades. Orum (with Visa Direct), ACI Worldwide + Ingo, Jack Henry + Mastercard, and Nium (with Interac) are driving faster, broader access to instant transfers in the U.S., Canada, and beyond.
Wise launches ‘Spend With Others’: a new feature for spending with family and friends. The feature allows customers to set up a group of family and friends to spend together straight from Wise, splitting everything from everyday costs to once-in-a-lifetime trips abroad.
Bolt launches SuperApp combining one-click crypto and everyday payments. The app is available for download at the Bolt website. Full access is expected to be granted selectively to iOS users early next week, and Android users will follow in the coming months.
Swift rolls out investigation tool to track late payments. The tool claims could save its member banks millions of dollars in operational costs and significantly reduce the time it takes to identify and resolve issues when international payments are delayed.
DIGITAL BANKING
Allica Bank nearly doubles profits. The growth was driven by significant investment in digital infrastructure, leading to a surge in revenue as the digitally-native bank grew its loan book to over £3 billion and customer deposits surpassed £4 billion.
CRYPTO
Blockchain bank account platform Bleap partners with Mastercard in latest push to take stablecoins mainstream. The collaboration aims to accelerate this growth by leveraging Bleap's proprietary technology to enable other wallet providers to integrate directly with Mastercard's payments network to facilitate more seamless, stablecoin payments.
Solayer launches crypto rewards Visa debit card. The card, called the Emerald Card, will use the Solayer Infini Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) L1 chain. It will be available in over 100 countries, including the US, and it has Apple Pay and Android Pay integration.
PARTNERSHIPS
Thales offers Prime Factors' bank card security system. This collaboration aims to enhance the security and efficiency of payment systems, providing a scalable solution for financial institutions. The partnership underscores a commitment to advancing payment security infrastructure.
TAP announces partnership with FinTech Klarna for the adoption of flexible payments. Customers booking flights through TAP's official website can choose to pay in three equal, interest-free installments or opt for the traditional full payment. This initiative aims to provide travelers with greater control over their travel budgets.
DONEDEAL
Tracxn breaks down where UK FinTech investment is going as it reaches $ 446 million in Q1’25. Despite the UK ranking second for FinTech funding, this was following a 65% decline from the $ 1.3 billion raised in Q1 2024 and a 59% drop from the $ 1.1 billion funds recorded in Q4 2024.
M&As
Payments provider Global Payments Inc. has struck a $24.2bn cash-and-stock deal to buy rival Worldpay from GTCR, less than two years after the private equity group bought a majority stake in the company. As part of a three-way deal, GTCR will receive 59% of the deal value in cash and the remainder in Global Payments stock.
Pliant acquires hi.health, expanding into digital insurance payments. The acquisition enables Pliant to apply its payment expertise to the insurance sector while also gaining valuable industry-specific know-how. Continue reading
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Zen welcomed Andrzej Bassara as their new COO and Lukasz Neska as their new CGO. Bassara will focus on scaling a secure, resilient backbone to support the company’s growing user base and transaction volume. And Neska's focus will include expanding the base of active ZEN Card users, growing the Rewards Zone program, and strengthening the ZEN Deals offering.
Hello Marcel,
I hope this communique finds you in a moment of stillness.
Have huge respect for your work line.
We’ve just opened the first door of something we’ve been quietly handcrafting for years—
A work not meant for everyone or mass-markets, but for reflection and memory.
Not designed to perform, but to endure.
It’s called The Silent Treasury.
A place where conciousness, truth and judgment is kept like firewood: dry, sacred, and meant for long winters.
Where trust, vision, patience, resilience and self-stewardship are treated as capital—more rare, perhaps, than liquidity itself.
This first piece speaks to a quiet truth we’ve long sat with:
Why many modern PE, VC, Hedge, Alt funds, SPAC, and rollups fracture before they truly root.
And what it means to build something meant to be left, not merely exited.
It’s not short. Or viral.
But it’s a multi-sensory experience and built to last.
And, if it speaks to something you’ve always known but rarely seen heartily expressed,
then perhaps this work belongs in your world.
The publication link is enclosed, should you wish to experience it.
https://helloin.substack.com/p/built-to-be-left?r=5i8pez
Warmly,
The Silent Treasury
A vault where wisdom echoes in stillness, and eternity breathes.