Revolut hits $115 billion valuation as it becomes the first global fintech with an Australian banking licence
Revolut hits $115 billion valuation as it becomes the first global fintech with an Australian banking licence

Revolut confirmed on Tuesday that a secondary share sale has valued the digital bank at $115 billion, a 53 percent jump from the $75 billion it reached in November 2025. The sale priced shares at $2,017 each, according to Bloomberg. The valuation makes…

A 25-year-old just raised $180M to build a US bank from scratch
A 25-year-old just raised $180M to build a US bank from scratch

Augustus has raised $180 million at a $1 billion valuation. Tiger Global led the round, the company announced on Tuesday. Hummingbird, QED, and the founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle and Deel joined in. The startup has now raised $210 million in total. A…

Apple is launching a Klarna-backed device leasing program called Apple Upgrade on July 28
Apple is launching a Klarna-backed device leasing program called Apple Upgrade on July 28

Apple is preparing to launch Apple Upgrade, a device leasing program backed by Klarna that will mark one of the biggest changes to how the company sells hardware, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The service is planned to go live on July 28 and will suppo…

Natural raised $30M to build a Stripe for AI agents, before Stripe gets there
Natural raised $30M to build a Stripe for AI agents, before Stripe gets there

The next big customer for a payments company may not be a person at all. It may be an AI agent, and a startup called Natural has raised $30 million to serve it. The Series A was led by Kirsten Green at Forerunner Ventures, and closed when Natural was j…

Ant International raises $1.2bn to fund its payments push beyond China
Ant International raises $1.2bn to fund its payments push beyond China

Ant International, the overseas affiliate of Chinese fintech group Ant Group, has raised about $1.2 billion in a fresh equity round to fund its expansion into markets beyond its home turf. The company confirmed the raise, describing it as capital to sp…

Samsung launches its first US credit card with Barclays, its deepest move into finance yet
Samsung launches its first US credit card with Barclays, its deepest move into finance yet

The Galaxy Card pays 5% back on Samsung purchases and lives entirely inside Samsung Wallet, as the company signals plans that run beyond a single co-branded card. Samsung has launched its first credit card in the United States, the Samsung Galaxy Card,…

The EU just fined AliExpress €550M, its biggest DSA penalty yet
The EU just fined AliExpress €550M, its biggest DSA penalty yet

Alibaba’s AliExpress has been hit with a €550 million ($629 million) fine from the European Union. Brussels says the Chinese shopping platform failed to keep illegal, unsafe and counterfeit products off its site. The penalty, announced on Monday, is th…

PayPal board rebuffs $53bn Stripe and Advent bid as too low, sources say
PayPal board rebuffs $53bn Stripe and Advent bid as too low, sources say

PayPal’s board reckons that a $53bn (£39bn) joint takeover approach from Stripe and the private-equity firm Advent International sells the payments pioneer short, the latest twist in a fast-moving round of payments consolidation. People familiar with t…

Visa launched a stablecoin platform that sent Circle shares tumbling six percent
Visa launched a stablecoin platform that sent Circle shares tumbling six percent

Visa launched the Visa Stablecoin Platform on Thursday, a new infrastructure product that lets banks and payment processors issue, manage, and settle stablecoin transactions through Visa’s network. The platform launches with native support for Open USD…

OpenAI is showing Kalshi’s World Cup odds inside ChatGPT, its first prediction market deal
OpenAI is showing Kalshi’s World Cup odds inside ChatGPT, its first prediction market deal

OpenAI has begun displaying prediction market odds from Kalshi inside ChatGPT search results, marking the first time the company has partnered with a regulated betting exchange. The integration, first reported by the New York Times, shows real-time odd…