Banks lobby against stablecoins as Wells Fargo registers WFUSD (TWIF 3/13)

Hello Fintech Friends,

Welcome to the new readers who’ve joined us since last week. You’re joining 200,000+ other subscribers. Today's newsletter is brought to you by our friends at Modern Treasury.

In today’s edition, we take a break from the intense lobbying by banks against stablecoin yield and depositor protections to unpack… bank plans for their own stablecoins and the ECB’s proposal to tokenize equities across Europe.

It sure feels like we’re saying two things at once.

Meanwhile, Mastercard unveiled new partnerships this week with a range of players focused on AI and stablecoin payments. Innovators’ dilemma fears their leadership team.

I want to shout-out our friends at Safeguard, who are hosting their inaugural AI Deepdive Retreat for leaders working in fraud, compliance, and identity.

Practitioners get a complimentary ticket and $750 travel reimbursement. May 3–6 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Registration closes April 10th.

There are many fintech gatherings and conferences (we host a lot of them at TWIF!), but Safeguard is specifically focused on and peer-to-peer learning and collaboration for people working in compliance and anti-fraud. You’ve probably seen our recent This Week in Fraud newsletter, which took off. As the world becomes more digital and agents become more autonomous in payments decision flows, the need for strong safeguards in financial services has never been greater.

Hope to see you there 🙌

Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below.

Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm

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Mastercard and Google are collaborating on a new "verifiable intent" framework to secure AI-driven payments. The partnership developed cryptographic standards to ensure that autonomous agents only execute transactions explicitly authorized by the account holder.

AIB, Bank of Ireland, and permanent tsb launched a unified peer-to-peer mobile payment service to rival digital challengers like Revolut. The joint venture, operating under the Synch Payments banner, enabled instant money transfers between customers using only a mobile phone number.

Mastercard assembled a powerhouse coalition including Binance, PayPal, and Ripple to drive a massive expansion into blockchain-based payments. The collaboration focused on integrating stablecoins and digital assets into global merchant networks to enhance cross-border settlement speeds.

Wells Fargo filed a trademark application for "WFUSD," signaling a major move into crypto trading and tokenization services. The filing covered a broad range of digital asset utilities, including a potential stablecoin and institutional payment infrastructure.

The European Central Bank revealed Appia, a comprehensive roadmap to transition wholesale financial markets toward a tokenized environment. The strategy outlined the technical milestones required to integrate central bank money with distributed ledger technology for safer and more efficient interbank settlements.

Lloyds is strategizing to monetize customer data and drastically reduce IT overhead in an ambitious bid to become the UK's largest fintech. The shift aimed to pivot the traditional lender toward a data-centric business model to compete with agile digital challengers.

Mastercard developed a "virtual C-suite" of AI agents specifically designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises. The digital assistants provided automated expertise in areas like financial planning and marketing, lowering the barrier to professional business advice.

Nasdaq and Boerse Stuttgart finalized a partnership to deploy tokenized settlement infrastructure across Europe. The venture sought to modernize the post-trade lifecycle by using DLT to reduce risk and speed up the transfer of digital securities.

Several Banking Groups expressed deep concern regarding the Federal Reserve's potential decision to grant Kraken a master account. The industry lobbyists argued that giving a crypto exchange direct access to the central bank's payment system could undermine traditional banking stability.

The SEC penalized the NYSE with a $9 million fine following a significant trading glitch that disrupted market operations. The regulator found that the exchange failed to maintain adequate business continuity plans and system safeguards during the high-volatility event.

“These days, one has to actively try to remain oblivious to the ways in which stablecoins are being used in real world payments. In 2025 approx $400B in non-trading payments, 60% B2B.” — Jonah Crane

Ramp’s Labs unit launched agent cards, with the ability for agents to spend within transaction limits and merchant controls.

Navan unveiled a specialized AI agent designed to automate the entire expense reporting process. The tool leveraged generative technology to categorize transactions and verify policy compliance, effectively removing the need for manual data entry.

Finix expanded its omnichannel payment capabilities by launching a new iOS application and a proprietary mobile card reader. The hardware and software integration allowed merchants to unify their in-person and online sales data within a single platform.

Finastra introduced "OperatorAssist," an AI-driven solution built to streamline how financial institutions manage complex payment exceptions. The system utilized machine learning to reduce manual intervention and accelerate the resolution of cross-border transaction hurdles.

Finastra collaborated with Fraudaverse to deploy a global, real-time fraud prevention framework. By integrating advanced AI models, the partnership focused on identifying and blocking sophisticated financial crimes before they could impact the banking network.

Gridline launched "AltComply," a platform designed to bring defensible AI to the private markets due diligence process. The software provided investment firms with automated, audit-ready compliance checks to navigate the complexities of alternative asset management.

tx released a comprehensive infrastructure and marketplace for the tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs). The rollout targeted institutional users in the US and global markets, enabling the fractional ownership of traditionally illiquid assets on the blockchain.

Robinhood pivoted its strategy toward becoming a "super app" for family finance by introducing multi-user accounts and educational tools. The expansion aimed to capture a larger share of household wealth by moving beyond retail trading into holistic wealth management for all ages.

Upstart applied for a national bank charter to expand its AI-driven lending platform's capabilities. The move signaled the company's intent to reduce reliance on partner banks and gain more direct control over its funding and regulatory oversight.

“Agents can now pay for things online without the risk of sharing your card details. create one-time Visa cards from Claude Desktop just by saying 'create a card'.”

Plaid integrated its digital asset verification tool directly into the Encompass loan origination system. The partnership with ICE Mortgage Technology streamlined the borrower journey by replacing manual document uploads with secure, real-time account linking.

Nasdaq partnered with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to advance a new framework for tokenized stock trading. The initiative targeted the automation of corporate actions like proxy voting and dividend payments while offering 24/7 trading capabilities for digital securities.

Susquehana-backed BlockFills is pursuing a formal restructuring plan to navigate a series of intensifying legal challenges and financial pressures. the digital asset liquidity provider aimed to stabilize its operations and protect its core business model through the strategic reorganization.