Hello Fintech Friends,
The OCC gave two fintech challengers a path into the U.S. banking system this week. Global neobank Revolut received conditional approval to establish a U.S. national bank. Meanwhile, OpenReserve, founded by former MoneyLion executives, received preliminary conditional approval.
Several major IPOs advanced. India’s National Stock Exchange received regulatory clearance for an estimated ₹300 billion ($3.18 billion) offering, while GCash parent Mynt won approval for a ₱92.32 billion ($1.48 billion) listing that would be the Philippines’ largest ever.
Deal activity also sustained momentum. First National of Nebraska agreed to acquire InBankshares for an estimated $200 million to $204 million, while Equity Bancshares struck a $123.8 million deal for Lincoln Bancorp.
This week’s deep reads examine how AI could make digital payments nearly invisible, the latest on stablecoins and digital assets, and what fintechs must demonstrate to win U.S. bank charters.
Photo: Monica Volpin via Pixabay
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Reads of the Week
IPOs & SPACs - Fintech
India’s National Stock Exchange received regulatory approval for its estimated ₹300 billion ($3.18 billion) IPO, with a listing reportedly planned for later this month.
GCash parent Mynt received regulatory approval for a ₱92.32 billion ($1.48 billion) IPO.
RainRock Acquisition filed to raise $150 million through an IPO, with the SPAC targeting cryptocurrency, Web3 and AI-powered financial-services companies.
Manipal Payment and Identity Solutions set a ₹8.05 billion ($85.2 million) IPO for Sept. 9, valuing the payments-card provider at up to ₹78.58 billion ($832 million).
Kraken parent Payward reportedly postponed its IPO until at least the second quarter of 2027 as the crypto exchange expands its tokenization partnerships with major stock exchanges.
Indian online brokerage Zerodha received approval for a merchant-banking license that will allow it to manage IPOs and other capital-markets transactions.
M&A - Fintech
Crypto trading app Fomo acquired on-chain data provider Mobula’s technology and team for $17 million.
Payments processor TabaPay announced plans to acquire OCC-chartered Transact Bank and rename it TabaBank.
Payments software provider ACI Worldwide agreed to acquire Cranium Ventures’ card-switching technology, intellectual property and commercial relationships.
Secured-finance software provider Solifi acquired cloud-based lending technology company Inovatec Systems.
Payment-verification fintech Eftsure acquired U.S. invoice-processing and vendor-data platform Relish.
Banking and payments infrastructure provider OpenPayd integrated sister company MSB USA, bringing 43 state money-transmitter licenses into the group.
Saudi e-commerce platform Salla acquired payments fintech Paylink, expanding its online, in-store and cross-border payment capabilities.
Nasdaq completed its acquisition of investment-technology provider Dasseti, adding AI-powered due-diligence and monitoring tools to Nasdaq eVestment.
M&A - Banks and Financial Institutions
First National of Nebraska, parent of FNBO, agreed to acquire $1.4 billion-asset InBankshares for an estimated $200 million to $204 million in cash.
Equity Bancshares agreed to acquire Lincoln Bancorp, the $1.7 billion-asset parent of Lincoln Savings Bank, for approximately $123.8 million in cash and stock.
Kenya’s central bank approved Nedbank’s proposed acquisition of approximately 66% of NCBA Group, a deal previously valued at R13.9 billion ($856 million).
