Varo Bank names Asmau Ahmed Chief AI Officer

👀 NEWS HIGHLIGHT

• Mexico’s Klar Catches Up On Race to Bank License With Bineo Buy.

A unit of Mexican FinTech Klar has entered an agreement to buy Grupo Financiero Banorte’s digital bank Bineo, a move that brings it closer to operating with a banking license.

Klar subsidiary Clearscope Holdings will purchase all of the bank’s shares, according to a Banorte statement. The company did not disclose the size of the deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, or the timing for the transaction’s close.

The sale marks an exit for Banorte from its digital banking venture, less than two years after its launch. Bineo was the bank’s only subsidiary to post negative losses in the second quarter of this year, losing 224 million pesos ($12 million). It has not posted profits since it kicked off.

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📊 INFOGRAPHIC

• Revolut dethrones Nubank as the largest neobank in the world by valuation.

NOW, ON TO THE SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S NEWS

🔦 DIGITAL BANKING HIGHLIGHTS

⭐️ Nubank appoints Patricia Whitaker as executive director of NuInvest.

⭐️ Varo Bank names Asmau Ahmed Chief AI Officer to lead responsible AI efforts.

⭐️ SoFi Signs Josh Allen to Commercial Deal.

⭐️ Revolut Taps Former SocGen CEO Oudea as Western Europe Chairman.

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🌎 REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

UK 🇬🇧

Zopa Bank expands payments grip with retail finance acquisition. The FinTech has snapped up Rvvup, a platform designed to streamline businesses’ acceptance, collection, and management of payments. Zopa said the acquisition will treble the size of its embedded finance business in two years, which covers the integration of financial products into non-financial platforms.

FinTech pioneers unite to build a bank for high-net-worth individuals. A group of well-known FinTech pioneers behind the likes of Monzo, Starling, and Nutmeg is launching a bank for high-net-worth individuals. Keep reading

Synapse brokerage executives charged over $100M customer fund freeze. Regulators say inadequate supervision led to two million customers losing access to deposits. They also highlight risks in the FinTech "banking-as-a-service" business model.

Revolut debuts buyback in latest move to stay private for longer. The company debuted a tender offer that allows it to ultimately repurchase as much as 10% of its shares from eligible investors. Revolut prioritized early investors in the offering.

Peter Thiel-backed FinTech Brex plots European expansion in push for IPO. The European expansion will open up a market worth as much as $5bn a year in additional revenue, as Brex closes in on its first-ever period of profitability, according to Chief Executive Pedro Franceschi.

EUROPE 🇪🇺

UniCredit enters the digital banking war in Spain with Aion Bank and launches a competition with ING, Openbank, and Revolut. UniCredit completed the full acquisition of Aion Bank and banking services provider Vodeno, aimed at helping the Italian bank accelerate its journey toward digital banking.

Finom rolls out an AI accountant for German customers. This system streamlines accounting workflows with proactive transaction categorization and reconciliation, receipt and invoice recognition, bookkeeping record creation, preparation of tax declarations, and submission to tax authorities.

SocGen assesses strategy for BoursoBank facing Revolut push. SocGen’s CEO, Slawomir Krupa, is considering slowing a previous plan to focus on cutting client acquisition costs once the 8 million target is reached. Revolut’s recent push is prompting SocGen to reassess its options to defend its leading market position in France.

Kea raises €6M in extended seed round at €40M valuation to scale its crypto-friendly core banking infrastructure. The new capital will power: accelerating licensing applications in the UK, UAE, and EU EMI acquisition, expansion of crypto-processing features, including robust on/off-ramping.

JPMorgan to launch German consumer bank next year in growth push. The digital bank, called Chase, is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of next year, JPMorgan said in a release. As part of the plan, Chase will open its headquarters in Germany’s capital, Berlin, by the end of the current year.

BBVA and SAP forge a strategic alliance to improve corporate and business banking services. The solution will enable BBVA to transform and optimize how financial transactions are carried out for corporate and business banking clients, making the whole process more efficient and agile.

LATAM

LatAm FinTech Kapital raises funds at $1.3 billion value. The funds will help to build out its artificial intelligence capabilities. The profitable company now has 300,000 customers across the US, Mexico, and Colombia, as well as a $3 billion balance sheet.

ASIA

Toss to expand pay-by-face to 1 mil. stores nationwide by 2026. The service, called "Face Pay" by Toss, enables users to make payments at stores simply by looking at a terminal, after registering their facial information and payment method in advance through the Toss app.

AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺

Revolut pays AUSTRAC $187,000 for reporting failures. Revolut Payments Australia was issued infringement notices of $187,000 for “self-disclosed failures to submit international fund transfer instructions within the timeframe stipulated by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism (AML/CTF) Financing Act”.

Westpac to hire hundreds of bankers in business lending push. In an update on its business and wealth unit, the Sydney-based bank said it had hired 135 bankers in the first half of 2025 and plans to add another 350 by the 2027 financial year. Westpac’s digital tool allows faster processing for business loans.