It's stablecoins *and* cards (TWIF 3/6)

Hello Fintech Friends,

Today's newsletter is brought to you by our friends at Modern Treasury.

It was never stablecoins vs. cards.

The true opportunity for stablecoins to become a mainstream consumer payments option was always stablecoins and cards. We discussed this in our Q1 State of Stablecoins and this week, Visa and Bridge announced they’re expanding their collaboration, with plans to bring stablecoin-backed cards to 100+ countries, India’s Pine Labs announced that they are launching stablecoin prepaid cards in 9 countries, and Wirex launched agents to enable AI-driven stablecoin cards and autonomous micropayments.

Stablecoins are the right form-factor for seamless, international card payments. It was never about replacing cards, it was about supercharging them.

Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below.

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

A Message From our Partner

Modern Treasury has launched Payments, an integrated payment service provider (PSP) built for both fiat and stablecoins. With a developer-first API, multi-rail support (ACH, wire, RTP/FedNow, push-to-card, stablecoins), and real-time reporting powered by a single, immutable ledger, teams can go live in days—not months. Supporting companies of any size, you can start with the PSP and scale forever on the same platform trusted to process $400B+ in payments.

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U.S. Banks are constructing a collaborative tokenized deposit network to modernize internal settlement systems and defend their market share against emerging fintech competitors.

Northern Trust Asset Management launched a new tokenized money market fund share class, utilizing blockchain technology to enhance liquidity and transparency for institutional investors.

CaixaBank deployed a specialized AI agent within its mobile application to guide customers through seamless in-app purchasing journeys.

Kraken secured direct access to the Federal Reserve's core payments system, marking a historic regulatory milestone as the first crypto firm to bypass intermediary banks.

New York regulators prepared new oversight rules for Buy Now, Pay Later providers to ensure consumer protections and transparent lending practices across the state.

Barclays consulted with technology vendors to develop a proprietary blockchain platform aimed at increasing the speed and efficiency of institutional payments.

JPMorgan explored innovative financing structures for leveraged buyouts to navigate shifting market conditions and optimize capital deployment for private equity clients.

Mastercard and Visa broadened their support for stablecoin settlements, further integrating digital assets into their respective global merchant networks.

JPMorgan, Barclays, and Fifth Third are facing lawsuits from investors alleging the banks ignored significant "red flags" related to the Tricolor investment scheme.

“I have a high risk tolerance for betting on myself. Most people pretend they’re good at it, but they’re not.” - Column and Plaid founder Will Hockey

Pine Labs expanded its digital payment capabilities by launching stablecoin acceptance for merchants in markets outside of India.

Eltropy introduced the first agentic AI platform specifically designed for credit unions to automate complex member service and operations tasks.

Onevest expanded its wealth management by launching an AI-native operating system designed to eliminate manual processes through autonomous agentic workflows.

Robinhood debuted its high-end Platinum Card, offering premium travel benefits and cash-back incentives to compete with established luxury credit providers.

Eco unveiled programmable addresses, allowing users to automate financial logic and permissions directly within their digital wallets.

Stripe launched new monetization tools designed to help businesses transform their AI operational expenses into revenue-generating profit centers.

Dfns launched a new payouts engine that enables developers to automate and secure high-volume global distributions of digital assets via API.

GradBridge teamed with Hatch Bank to provide a "second look" private student lending program aimed at increasing access to education financing.

MoonPay deployed an infrastructure platform to simplify the issuance and management of stablecoins backed by PayPal USD.

Revolut targeted the luxury corporate market by releasing an ultra-premium business card designed to rival American Express in travel perks and spending power.

CoinDesk reported that the SEC officially approved the first spot Solana ETF, marking a major milestone for institutional crypto adoption in the U.S.

Western Union and Sasai Fintech released a new mobile application to streamline international money transfers across the African continent.

A Message From our Partner

Modern Treasury has launched Payments, an integrated payment service provider (PSP) built for both fiat and stablecoins. With a developer-first API, multi-rail support (ACH, wire, RTP/FedNow, push-to-card, stablecoins), and real-time reporting powered by a single, immutable ledger, teams can go live in days—not months. Supporting companies of any size, you can start with the PSP and scale forever on the same platform trusted to process $400B+ in payments.

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.

USA₮ published its inaugural reserve report verified by Deloitte, confirming that its stablecoin is fully backed by cash and U.S. Treasury-collateralized assets under federal oversight.

Revolut applied for a U.S. national bank charter to gain direct access to payment rails and offer insured deposits as part of its aggressive North American expansion strategy.

Crossmint integrated with Visa and Stripe to enable seamless stablecoin-to-fiat conversions, allowing developers to build apps where users spend digital assets as easily as traditional currency.

Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge expanded their stablecoin-linked card program to over 100 countries, enabling users to spend digital assets at 175 million merchant locations.

SoFi and Mastercard partnered to integrate the SoFiUSD stablecoin as a formal settlement option, aiming to accelerate cross-border remittances and B2B transactions across the global payments network.

Klarna and Stripe collaborated to bring buy-now-pay-later options to autonomous AI agents, ensuring flexible financing remained available within the emerging "agentic commerce" ecosystem.