Wero Brings Its Digital Wallet to Luxembourg
Weekly news up to Tuesday, 17th of June 2025
👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT
European Payments Initiative (EPI), the European-grown player committed to offering a sovereign payment alternative to all consumers in Europe, announced the onboarding of 5 local Luxembourg banks as members, now preparing for the launch of the Wero wallet and instant A2A payment solution.
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NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS
🌎 FINTECH HIGHLIGHTS
⭐️ Klarna in partnership with “Norway's Swish”
⭐️ ClearScore and Oakbrook Partner on Debt Consolidation Loans.
⭐️ Coinbase and Gemini Quietly Race for EU Crypto Licenses Under MiCA.
⭐️ Threat of FinTech exodus could lose City IPO billions.
FINTECH
Failed FinTech Zing lost $87m before HSBC axed it. The 2024 pre-tax loss for Zing’s holding company, incorporated as MP Payments, reflected a $88.4m impairment charge on its investments in subsidiaries. Zing reported an accumulated impairment loss of $131.7m since its establishment in July 2022.
Banco Santander launches Instant Euro Transfers via Bizum in Spain. According to the bank, customers will be able to receive money "by simply selecting a contact from their address book and with the same level of security and trust that Bizum currently offers between Spanish bank accounts."
Adyen opts for build over buy. Dutch payments processor Adyen plans to keep fueling expansion, including in the U.S., by building its software and systems over buying up other businesses, Adyen’s president for North America, Davi Strazza, said in an interview.
Crypto FinTech Tap Global to list on London’s AIM. The firm, which aims to establish itself as a bridge between traditional assets and the crypto market, said it expects its admission onto AIM to become effective and that dealings in ordinary shares will commence on 27 June.
Bafin imposes a 500,000 Euro fine on FinTech Solaris. According to the statement, Solaris exceeded the large exposure limit on multiple occasions between January 2022 and March 2024, thereby violating the requirements of the European Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR).
PAYMENTS
Yuno selects London as European headquarters to power global expansion. The announcement marks a significant milestone in Yuno’s international expansion and reinforces the company’s commitment to serving its growing base of global merchants and partners from the heart of Europe’s FinTech capital.
FinTech company Silbo Money is opening its WhatsApp payments platform to the public, aiming to reach 30,000 users this year. The Seville-based firm, backed by former BBVA CEO Ángel Cano, completes its testing phase and announces its launch to challenge Bizum.
DIGITAL BANKING
Vivid reaches 50,000 business customers and is ambitiously expanding. New features will be rolled out in the current quarter to further round out its product portfolio. These include a card acquiring service that enables merchants and service providers to easily accept card payments.
Revolut launches eSIMs and global data plans in Portugal. The eSIM allows customers to use the Revolut app without consuming their mobile data, facilitating access to all the app's products and features, even in places where there is no data coverage, highlights the FinTech.
Peymo launches AI-powered digital finance platform that integrates fiat banking, cryptocurrency wallets, tokenized assets, and embedded finance. With this platform, which the company dubbed an “AI-powered multi-hybrid bank,” users can manage British pounds, euros, crypto assets, and branded debit cards
N26 faces new trouble with financial regulators. BaFin has targeted the Berlin-based digital bank's risk management and apparently sees problems with its Dutch mortgage subsidiary, Neo. The irritation comes at an inopportune time for N26 CEO Valentin Stalf, who is currently seeking new investors.
CRYPTO
Coinbase to ‘hire like crazy’ in the UK, as the country moves towards a new era of crypto regulation and increasing mainstream adoption. That expansion comes at a pivotal time, as the UK finalises a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto, which includes consultations on stablecoins and market structure.
PARTNERSHIPS
Webull UK partners with Upvest to offer UK stocks and ETFs. Through this strategic partnership, users will be able to access fractional trading in UK stocks and ETFs for the first time via Upvest’s cutting-edge Investment API. This expansion empowers UK-based retail investors to begin their investment journey with Webull.
Paragon Bank taps Moneyhub capabilities to address major UK savings challenges. By using Moneyhub’s open banking technology, Paragon can connect Spring with a customer’s existing current account. This integration enables customers to view their current account balance in the Spring app and easily move money between accounts, providing users with full control over their savings.
Froda and Mimo launch integrated SME lending in the UK. This collaboration is designed to address one of the most persistent challenges faced by UK SMEs, namely, access to timely and practical financing. Keep reading
Bonprix and Trustly to launch new partnership streamlining payments in the Nordics. Through this collaboration, Trustly's innovative A2A payment solution will be implemented in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. This enables a faster, smoother, and more secure payment experience for Bonprix's Nordic customers.
Trusek partners with tell.money to deliver seamless PSD2 compliance for its clients. This strategic partnership delivers seamless, scalable, and regulation-ready open banking access, ensuring Trusek’s clients can meet compliance demands effortlessly while accelerating their go-to-market strategies.
Greece joins EuroPA through IRIS Payments. Through the IRIS Payments partnership, DIAS will further simplify instant mobile payments within Europe for its active users, contributing to the formation of a unified network expected to serve citizens across 10 European countries.
DONEDEAL
OpenTrade closes $7M as stablecoin yield goes mainstream. The capital will be used to accelerate OpenTrade's go-to-market strategy through expanded product development, engineering capabilities, and operational capacity. Keep reading
Payroll data FinTech Teal closes £1.4m pre-seed round. The new funding will support Teal’s goal of expanding its data infrastructure beyond payroll to incorporate additional income and financial sources for a more complete view of borrowers. Read more
Berlin-based FinTech startup Payrails raises over €27 million for its global payment software. The funds will be used to accelerate product innovation, product roadmap expansion, and support commercial growth across EMEA to meet enterprise demand.
M&As
Argentex shareholders approve acquisition by IFX Payments. The acquisition remains subject to receiving the regulatory approval from the FCA, DFSA, and Dutch Central Bank, the Court sanctioning the Scheme at the Court Sanction Hearing, and the delivery of a copy of the Scheme Court Order to the Registrar of Companies and the Scheme thereby becoming effective.
European FinTech Paynt acquires Canada-based E-xact Transactions to accelerate North American Expansion. The acquisition of E-xact, which processes over CAD 3.5 billion annually across more than 50 million transactions, will add a new operational hub in Vancouver, Canada.
MOVERS & SHAKERS
NatWest appoints Dr Maja Pantic as the Bank’s First Chief AI Research Officer. Maja brings deep AI research expertise and is currently serving as Professor of Affective & Behavioural Computing at Imperial College London, having previously been Founding Research Director of Samsung AI Research Centre in Cambridge.