Brex and AI accounting platform Puzzle announced Tuesday a partnership that reduces startup accounting setup from a weeks-long process to a single click, addressing what executives describe as a critical but often overlooked barrier to startup success. The integration, available immediately to Brex’s more than 30,000 customers, allows founders to establish complete accounting systems directly within their existing Brex dashboard without switching platforms or manual data entry. The partnership marks Brex’s evolution from a corporate credit card provider to a comprehensive financial operating system for growing businesses. The partnership addresses a persistent pain point in the startup ecosystem: while founders can quickly establish banking relationships and obtain corporate credit cards, setting up proper accounting systems has remained a complex, expensive process that many defer until it becomes critical for fundraising or compliance. Traditionally, startup accounting setup required founders to interview multiple bookkeepers, navigate sales processes, obtain quotes, and grant access to financial credentials across various platforms — a process that typically took four to six weeks and cost upward of $5,000 monthly just to get started, according to Puzzle CEO Sasha Orloff. The timing problem proves particularly acute because accounting becomes essential precisely when startups need it most urgently — during fundraising rounds, tax season, or acquisition discussions. The technical foundation for the partnership rests on APIs that Brex developed specifically to enable such integrations — infrastructure that previously didn’t exist in traditional banking. When a Brex customer clicks the accounting tab in their dashboard and selects Puzzle, the system automatically creates a Puzzle account, maps expense categories to the appropriate general ledger accounts, and begins syncing transaction data in real-time. The integration includes metadata like receipts, memos, and transaction context that enables AI-powered categorization and compliance checking. Puzzle’s AI system can provide what Orloff calls different “modes” of financial analysis — including “Steve Jobs mode” for direct feedback, “VC mode” for investor presentations, or “friendly mode” for positive reinforcement during challenging periods. Brex generates more revenue as companies grow and spend more, while Puzzle’s automated accounting becomes more valuable as transaction volumes increase. The integration launched to early access users last week, with Mok reporting 21-22 signups within the first 24 hours through organic adoption alone. Unlike traditional accounting software that requires companies to migrate between platforms as they grow — from Excel to QuickBooks to NetSuite — both Brex and Puzzle are designed to scale with companies from incorporation through significant revenue milestones.
MANTL processes $3B in deposits from existing customers in six months through real-time core integration, automated KYC/KYB workflows and omnichannel 3-minute account opening technology
MANTL, an Alkami solution team and leading provider of loan and deposit account opening technology, announced that its clients raised over $3B in deposits with existing banking relationships in the first half of 2025. This achievement highlights the significant opportunity financial institutions have to achieve low-cost, sustainable growth by strengthening customer and member relationships and driving banking primacy with omnichannel account opening technology. In just six months, MANTL clients opened nearly 130,000 deposit accounts from existing customers and members, with an average funding amount exceeding $24,000. Notably, nine institutions generated more than $100 million in deposits each from existing account holders in the first half of 2025, demonstrating how banks and credit unions can leverage MANTL to activate existing banking relationships and drive sustainable growth at scale. MANTL Deposit Origination streamlines the process for existing banking customers and members to open new accounts in just a few clicks. Powered by real-time data and actionable insights, MANTL enables financial institutions to activate their banking relationships, increase lifetime value, and achieve a more cost-effective path to deposit growth than traditional acquisition strategies.
Mortgage lender Rate launches first fully-integrated Spanish app processing 20,000+ digital applications, targeting 60 million Latino users with native language loan processing and bilingual professional connectivity
Mortgage lender Rate launched the Rate App in Spanish, which the company says makes it the first U.S. lender to offer a fully integrated mobile mortgage experience entirely in Spanish. The app allows users to search for homes, apply for a mortgage, track loan status, connect with bilingual professionals and access educational content entirely in Spanish. Rate says the launch underscores its commitment to removing language barriers and expanding access to homeownership. Rate CEO Victor Ciardelli said, “Now with the Rate App in Spanish, we’re giving Spanish-speaking buyers the same high-performance mobile experience that’s helped millions of homeowners, because language should never be what holds someone back.” Unlike partial translations, Rate’s in-language platform covers applications, servicing, interface and communication, loan disclosures and now mobile. Spanish-speaking users can download the Rate App from the App Store and Google Play. They can immediately access the Spanish version by updating their phone settings to Spanish. Rate expects to generate more than 30 million impressions as part of this broader effort to engage the 60 million Latinos in the U.S., who represent one of the most powerful economic engines in housing today.
Sephora integrates creator-powered storefronts with 200+ brands and 13,000+ products, enabling year-round commission tracking through data analytics and performance insight automation
Sephora is providing content creators with the chance to engage in affiliate sales on its site. The beauty giant, a subsidiary of global retail conglomerate LVMH, is rolling out My Sephora Storefront, an affiliate platform that allows U.S. influencers to build shoppable digital storefronts and share curated product recommendations with their followers. Seamlessly integrated into the Sephora e-commerce site and app, My Sephora Storefront lets content creators include shareable, shoppable links optimized for all major social platforms on their storefronts. They also obtain access to Sephora’s Beauty Insider loyalty program, as well as year-round commission opportunities and full integration with Sephora’s data analytics and performance insights. Brent Mitchell, VP of social media and influencer marketing at Sephora said “My Sephora Storefront is a pivotal next step to building an inclusive ecosystem that empowers creators to authentically connect with their audiences and also enables deeper creator relationships with our brand partners and clients that make it all possible.”
Fintech Jar’s gold micro-investment infrastructure integrates UPI auto payments with localization technology and gamification engines to grow revenue 49x
Jar, an Indian fintech startup that allows users to invest in gold, has turned profitable by helping millions of first-time savers use its app to build digital gold holdings. While many consumer fintechs focus on affluent urban users or credit products, Jar has gained traction by offering a culturally familiar asset — gold — as a low-barrier entry point to saving. The startup targets low- to middle-income users —a segment often underserved by traditional financial institutions—by allowing them to save in gold for as little as ₹10 (about $0.11) a day. That strategy has helped Jar reach over 35 million registered users across 12,000 zip codes, co-founder and CEO Nishchay AG said. About 60% of users are from India’s smaller cities and towns (known as tier-2 and tier-3 towns), and more than 95% are saving formally for the first time, he told. Jar’s operating revenue — primarily from its core gold-saving app — grew ninefold in fiscal year 2024, which ended in March, to ₹2.08 billion (roughly $23.6 million), as disclosed in its latest filing. More dramatically, its total revenue across all business lines during that same period jumped to ₹24.50 billion (approximately $279.3 million), representing a 49-fold jump from ₹500 million ($5.7 million) in the previous financial year (FY24). This total revenue figure includes earnings from digital gold transactions, jewelry sales through its Nek platform, and fees from third-party distribution partnerships. The jewelry component is a sizable piece of this diversified approach. The platform works on a drop-shipment model with zero inventory. By controlling the entire value chain, Jar can now capture a larger share of the gold value chain and even distribute its gold through third-party platforms,including the Walmart-owned fintech firm PhonePe.
Apple’s Liquid Glass is drawing mixed reviews; critics complain about slow animations, poor readability, and a childish appearance, while supporters praise its modern feel, fluid animations and a more vibrant UX.
There are a long list of complaints about Liquid Glass, from the impact on readability to lag caused by animations. Here are some of the main critiques: Animations run slow, and the interface feels sluggish on older iPhones. The constantly changing colors, shapes, and shading are distracting. The animations make no sense. It looks like a Barbie phone with battery wasting features. Basic actions require too many taps. The bubbles and floaty icons are cartoony. The contrast is awful. Some app icons look blurry. The design is inconsistent, and some things are flat while some are glass. Highlights on UI elements are inconsistent. It’s hard to read things like notifications. The effects are too subtle for the system overhead costs. Not everyone hates Liquid Glass, and there are also many positive comments from people who prefer the new design. Some of that sentiment: It makes the iPhone feel faster. It feels modern and clean, and makes a boring smartphone a little more fun. It’s bright, bouncy, and just plain cool to use. Getting notifications is satisfying, and the Lock Screen keypad is like bubbles. It’s fresh and easy to get accustomed to. iOS 18’s flat UI was depressing, so iOS 26 is an improvement. It’s technologically impressive with the light refraction and diffusion of chromatic aberration. The icons are slick and it harkens back to the OG Apple UI design.
Anthropic launches Claude Sonnet 4.5 that leads a benchmark on real-world computer tasks at 61.4%; and introduces Claude Agent SDK which gives the ability to build AI agents with the same infrastructure that powers its frontier products
Anthropic has released Claude Sonnet 4.5, saying it outperforms other artificial intelligence models in coding, building complex agents and using computers. “Claude Sonnet 4.5 is state-of-the-art on the SWE-bench Verified evaluation, which measures complex real-world software coding abilities,” the company said. Anthropic added in the post that Sonnet 4.5 leads a benchmark that tests AI models on real-world computer tasks, OSWorld, at 61.4%. Together with the release of Sonnet 4.5, Anthropic has released upgrades to its products. These include the addition of checkpoints to Claude Code, enabling users to save their progress and roll back to a previous state; the addition of a new context editing feature and memory tool to the Claude API, letting agents run longer and handle greater complexity; and the addition of code execution and file creation directly into the conversation in Claude apps. Anthropic also introduced Claude Agent SDK, which gives developers the ability to build AI agents with the same infrastructure that powers its frontier products. In addition, the Claude for Chrome extension is now available to Max users in the waitlist. “We recommend upgrading to Claude Sonnet 4.5 for all uses,” Anthropic said. “Whether you’re using Claude through our apps, our API, or Claude Code, Sonnet 4.5 is a drop-in replacement that provides much improved performance for the same price.”
Faster Payments Council delivers practical guidance for banks enabling dual-rail instant payment structure with business continuity frameworks interoperability
The U.S. Faster Payments Council (FPC), announced the release of its latest industry resource, Operational Considerations for Instant Payments Send-Side Guidelines. Produced by the FPC’s Operational Considerations Work Group (OCWG), sponsored by Endava, the resource provides financial institutions (FIs) with best practices and detailed guidance for successfully implementing instant payments sending capabilities. Miriam Sheril, Head of Product – US at Form3 and FPC Operational Considerations Work Group Chair said, “This specific deliverable focuses on helping banks get ready to send payments, with rich detail supported by clear guidelines that make it easy to read and apply for specific purposes.” The new guidelines cover a wide range of operational factors financial institutions must address when enabling send-side functionality, including liquidity management, user experience and interface design, real-time reconciliation, fraud mitigation, compliance requirements, and exception processing. The guidelines also address business continuity, staffing and training considerations, and the critical role of accountholder education and disclosures in ensuring success. In addition to operational details, the guidelines highlight interoperability and routing considerations for financial institutions using both the RTP® network and the FedNow® Service, outlining strategies for managing liquidity, ensuring uptime, and developing fallback options when real-time networks are unavailable. Reed Luhtanen, FPC Executive Director and CEO, “This new resource provides the industry with actionable insights that will help accelerate adoption and ensure instant payments are implemented in a way that prioritizes security, resiliency, and accountholder trust.”
OpenAI’s ‘instant checkout’ lets users shop via ChatGPT from Etsy and Shopify, securely passing information between user and merchant, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) codeveloped with Stripe
OpenAI has added a new eCommerce component to its popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT. “Instant Checkout,” a service that lets American ChatGPT make purchases from U.S.-based Etsy merchants plus some sellers on Shopify. “This marks the next step in agentic commerce, where ChatGPT doesn’t just help you find what to buy, it also helps you buy it,” the company said. “For shoppers, it’s seamless: go from chat to checkout in just a few taps. For sellers, it’s a new way to reach hundreds of millions of people while keeping full control of their payments, systems, and customer relationships.” So far, Instant Checkout supports only single-item purchases, but the company plans to add multi-item carts and expand merchants and regions. Instant Checkout works by showing users who ask shopping questions the most relevant products from around the web, ranked solely according to their relevance to the user. If a product supports Instant Checkout, users can click “Buy,” confirm their order shipping and payment details, and carry out the purchase without ever leaving the chat. Orders, payments, and fulfillment are handled by the merchant using their existing systems. ChatGPT simply acts as the user’s AI agent—securely passing information between user and merchant, just like a digital personal shopper would. The service is free for users, but merchants pay a small fee for completed purchases. This payment doesn’t impact prices or color ChatGPT’s product results.
Okta wraps every non-human agent, cross-app request and digital credential in a single security fabric to remove blind spots of legacy IAM
Identity access management company Okta Inc. announced new capabilities across the Okta Platform and Auth0 Platform designed to help enterprises securely adopt artificial intelligence agents. Up first is the introduction of Okta for AI Agents, a new platform that integrates AI agents into an identity security fabric, enabling organizations to discover, provision, authorize and govern nonhuman identities at large scale. Okta for AI Agents includes Identity Security Posture Management for identifying risky agents and exposed credentials, Universal Directory for agent registration and ownership attribution and Okta Privileged Access for enforcing least-privilege access. The platform is complemented by Okta Identity Governance and the company’s AI-driven Identity Threat Protection to provide continuous monitoring, audit trails and automated remediation. The second announcement sees the introduction of Cross App Access or XAA, an open standard that extends OAuth to secure agent-driven and app-to-app interactions. XAA shifts access control from individual apps to the identity layer, giving enterprises real-time visibility and policy-based enforcement. Okta says the protocol also reduces user friction by pre-approving integrations, minimizing repeated consent prompts. It will be embedded in Auth0 for business-to-business developers to simplify secure integration of AI agents into applications. The final announcement, planned for the company’s 2027 fiscal year, is Verifiable Digital Credentials, an open standard offering that will allow organizations to issue and verify tamper-proof, reusable identity data such as government IDs or certifications. VDCs, when launched, will allow individuals to digitally prove their identity or eligibility across applications while limiting exposure to AI-driven fraud and deepfake threats. An initial digital ID verification capability supporting mobile driver’s licenses is slated for early availability in fiscal 2026.