Pix and Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Brazil and India’s respective instant payment systems, provide two key lessons for governments interested in implementing new fast or immediate payment systems. First, the significant effect that government-led instant payment systems can have on citizens and the financial market transforms financial inclusion and market structures. Second, decisions made during the early stages of the process, such as system pricing and ownership structure, shape the power dynamics between local and international players, as well as incumbent and new entrants. These lessons are shaping an emerging framework governments can use to evaluate their need for central bank-led immediate payment systems, their potential structure, organizational features, and trade-offs involved in implementing a similar approach. The framework is composed of a three-step approach, including prerequisite weighting (i.e., “do we need this system”), the preparations needed to hit the ground running, and the process of setting up new immediate payment systems.
OPAQUE Systems integrates confidential computing with popular data and AI tools, to process fully encrypted data from ingestion to inference by enforcing cryptographically verifiable privacy, secure code execution, and auditable proof of compliance
OPAQUE Systems, the industry’s first Confidential AI platform, announced the availability of its secure AI solution on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. By integrating confidential computing with popular data and AI tools, OPAQUE lets enterprises process sensitive data fully encrypted, from ingestion to inference, without costly code rewrites or specialized cryptographic skills. Most confidential computing solutions focus on encrypting data in use and verifying the basic infrastructure, such as applications running in Confidential Virtual Machines. However, OPAQUE goes significantly further by enforcing privacy, security, and compliance policies from data ingestion to inference. OPAQUE capabilities provide comprehensive coverage, which means customers safely deploy classic analytics/ML and advanced AI agents on their most valuable, confidential data, without compromising on sovereignty or compliance. By keeping sensitive information encrypted even during analysis and inference, organizations gain cryptographically verifiable privacy, protection against unapproved agents or code execution, and auditable proof of compliance at every step. This robust coverage frees enterprises to innovate at scale by using its differentiated, proprietary data while minimizing regulatory risk on a single platform. OPAQUE is the only platform that meets these needs in three critical phases.
Ripple Ledger is to support a prime broker’s post trade settlement, data reconciliation, and collateral movements lowering settlement times to just 3 to 5 seconds
In a significant move, Ripple recently confirmed that XRPL will play a core role in powering Hidden Road’s post-trade processes, marking a potential turning point for how trades are settled in prime brokerage. Ripple’s UK and Europe Managing Director, Cassie Craddock, has revealed that XRPL will manage the post-trade infrastructure for Hidden Road, a prime broker handling over $10 billion in daily cleared volume. According to Craddock, the ledger will support trade settlement, data reconciliation, and collateral movements. This integration is expected to drastically cut settlement times, from the standard 24 hours to just 3 to 5 seconds. Craddock added, “We also see that there is an active audience of 300 institutional clients. We are very much focused on building our business, developing new cases and utility for digital assets, and enabling and solving customer problems for our banking and institutional customers.” Beyond infrastructure, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin will serve as the core collateral for Hidden Road’s trading services. Craddock confirmed this role, saying RLUSD enables the bridging of the digital asset space to TradFi, highlighting Ripple’s broader ambition to integrate stable digital value into traditional financial ecosystems. “The XRP Ledger will be used as post-trade for all of Hidden Road’s Prime Brokerage Services,” Craddock mentioned. “We will use RLUSD as collateral to enable the bridging of digital assets to tradfi.”
CompoSecure’s hardware wallet to allow users to deposit cash at MoneyGram locations and receive Circle USDC on the Stellar blockchain, and withdraw local currency from their digital USDC holdings
Payment card and security solutions provider CompoSecure announced the integration of its Arculus Cold Storage Wallet with MoneyGram Access. The move lets users convert physical cash to digital USDC stablecoins and withdraw cash at MoneyGram locations worldwide. This integration allows users to deposit cash at participating MoneyGram locations and receive Circle USDC on the Stellar blockchain, which can be managed within the self-custody Arculus crypto wallet. Users can also withdraw local currency from their digital USDC holdings at over 440,000 MoneyGram retail locations across more than 200 countries and territories. Adam Lowe, chief product and innovation officer at CompoSecure and Arculus, said this could be particularly appealing to those who lack access to traditional banking services. “This integration enables people to convert physical cash into digital dollars on the highly performant Stellar blockchain and store those digital dollars securely, giving them complete autonomy and control over their assets.” Additionally, Arculus announced a grant from the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization supporting the development and growth of the Stellar network, to enable payments over traditional payment card rails directly from self-custody crypto wallets via smart contracts.
Over 2/3rd of Gen Z respondents are memorizing card numbers to make online shopping easier, while 20% of baby boomers are doing so to specifically avoid using digital wallets
A survey from Western & Southern Financial Group found that nearly a third of Americans surveyed have memorized at least one debit or credit card number. What’s more, 20% of respondents who know their card numbers spend more than $500 per month online, compared to just 13% of those who haven’t. They also carry, on average, 10% more debt than non-memorizers. The survey found a significant generation gap, with almost half of respondents who memorize their card numbers falling into the millennial group. Overall, more than a third of millennials have memorized at least one card number. The reasons people gave for memorizing their numbers also varied across generations. More than two-thirds of Gen Z respondents said they did so to make online shopping easier, while, 20% of baby boomers memorized their card numbers specifically to avoid using digital wallets. Gen Z was also the most likely to feel that knowing their card numbers led to more impulse buying and overspending. In contrast, a third of the baby boomers were the most likely to report that memorizing their card numbers had improved their financial discipline. There is some evidence that memorization goes hand in hand with responsible behavior. A total of 70% of memorizers checked their credit card or bank statements at least weekly, compared to 61% of non-memorizers. However, impulse buying was also slightly more common among memorizers. Roughly 26% made unplanned purchases, compared to 23% of non-memorizers. Memorizers were also somewhat more likely to shop when stressed.
Affirm expands beyond Experian to begin reporting all its pay-over-time loans to TransUnion but transactions will not be factored into traditional credit scores nor visible to lenders in the near-term
Affirm is expanding the credit reporting of its pay-over-time products to TransUnion. All Affirm pay-over-time loans issued from May 1, 2025 onward, including Pay in 4 and longer-term monthly installments, will be reported to TransUnion. Consumers will see details about all Affirm transactions on their TransUnion credit files, though these transactions will not be factored into traditional credit scores nor visible to lenders in the near-term. As more pay-over-time providers report account information to the credit bureaus, lenders who request TransUnion credit reports will also be able to view consumers’ pay-over-time history. In the future, as new credit scoring models are developed, this information may factor into consumers’ scores, with the aim of supporting more informed lending decisions and helping consumers build their credit histories. TransUnion research found nearly 40% of consumers who haven’t used buy now, pay later are likely or very likely to use them in the future. Notably, a higher 53% of non-users would be likely or very likely to use them if it had the potential to have a positive impact on credit scores.
SitusAMC supports originators in the residential real estate market using a globalized network of 3rd party partners to tackle everything from initial and re-distributed disclosures to potential Adverse Actions
SitusAMC — a top-of-the-line provider of investment advice, talent solutions, and digital tools — offers a rare opportunity for lenders and investors. SitusAMC views the primary market through a secondary market lens — and that comprehensive approach is invaluable to originators. SitusAMC’s solutions help lenders and investors handle originations, secondary markets transactions, MSR and portfolio management, and valuations without compromising marketplace agility. Digital tools and technology are only the tip of the spear regarding SitusAMC’s solutions. Lenders and investors can rely on the company for expert-level advice concerning underwriting, investment, securitization, servicing, asset management, and more. Between residential and commercial market professionals, SitusAMC can guide all financiers toward increased profit, efficiency, and sharper analytics. SitusAMC offers several services designed to tackle each task and component via a globalized network of third-party employees and partners. Regarding origination support in the residential real estate market, SitusAMC’s global staffing solutions tackle everything from initial and re-distributed disclosures to potential Adverse Action (HMDA). Pre-underwriting, underwriting, and condition clearing are also key component services that clients can access.
Clients can maintain contact with SitusAMC via dedicated Client Relationship Managers that connect mortgage professionals to the company’s team — allowing for clear, consistent communication. For specific loan types like federal loans, SitusAMC offers advisory and consulting services for originators offering federal loan products, subject to frequent changes over time. These services also include an operational readiness assessment. Overall, component services allow internal loan processors to focus on relationship building. Most processors handle a pipeline of 25 to 30 loans. However, outsourcing can bump that load up to 50 loans and beyond.
Investing.com’s AI researcher can condense months of detailed financial news into summaries, deliver SWOT analysis and run advanced stock screeners, all within seconds using exclusive access to vetted, real-time, data on global markets
Investing.co, a provider of financial news, tools and data to retail investors, has launched an AI-driven researcher called WarrenAI. WarrenAI promises to bridge the gap between Wall Street traders and retail player by combining the ease of ChatGPT with trusted premium market data and raw analytical power. The tool, claims Investing.com, is a personal, devoted financial researcher, with superhuman capacity and expertise, and which can answer just about any question with faster market reactions than a fleet of Wall Street analysts. The technology will launch in over 30 languages. While existing AI software such as ChatGPT source data from the entire web, WarrenAI has exclusive access to vetted, real-time, data on global markets. Investors get access to an array of over 1200 fundamental metrics spanning more than 72,000 companies, ETFs, mutual funds, closed-end funds and REITs, complete with a decade’s worth of historical data. In addition to condensing months of detailed financial news into summaries, WarrenAI can deliver SWOT analysis, provide the bearish and bullish cases for thousands of stocks, gather breaking Wall Street analyst outlooks, and run advanced stock screeners within seconds.
PingPong payments will harness Trulioo’s advanced Business Verification and Watchlist screening, refreshed every 15 mins, to quickly verify entities worldwide
Trulioo, a leading identity platform, has partnered with PingPong, a global provider of cross-border embedded payment solutions. The partnership aims to minimize manual onboarding and deliver fast, compliant payment experiences worldwide. PingPong, with over $250 billion in transaction volume and 32 offices worldwide, is at the forefront of the global payments sector. As cross-border payments grow at an expected 5.9% CAGR to reach $50tn USD by 2032, businesses face hurdles such as country-specific regulations, fraud risks, and onboarding expectations. Trulioo’s Business Verification and Watchlist Screening technology will help PingPong automate verification processes across regions, meeting rigorous Know Your Business (KYB) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance standards. Trulioo Business Verification can verify more than 700 million business entities through an integrated global data network that’s refreshed every 15 minutes. Its flexible, real-time verification capabilities are tailored to meet KYB and AML compliance requirements across diverse markets and provide a holistic view of businesses and their ultimate beneficial owners.
Data governance platform Relyance AI allows organizations to precisely detect bias by examining not just the immediate dataset used to train a model, but by tracing the potential bias to its source
Relyance AI, a data governance platform provider that secured $32.1 million in Series B funding last October, is launching a new solution aimed at solving one of the most pressing challenges in enterprise AI adoption: understanding exactly how data moves through complex systems. The company’s new Data Journeys platform addresses a critical blind spot for organizations implementing AI — tracking not just where data resides, but how and why it’s being used across applications, cloud services, and third-party systems. Data Journeys provides comprehensive view, showing the complete data lifecycle from original collection through every transformation and use case. The system starts with code analysis rather than simply connecting to data repositories, giving it context about why data is being processed in specific ways. Data Journeys delivers value in four critical areas: First, compliance and risk management: The platform enables organizations to prove the integrity of their data practices when facing regulatory scrutiny. Second, precise bias detection: Rather than just examining the immediate dataset used to train a model, companies can trace potential bias to its source. Third, explainability and accountability: For high-stakes AI decisions like loan approvals or medical diagnoses, understanding the complete data provenance becomes essential. Finally, regulatory compliance: The platform provides a “mathematical proof point” that companies are using data appropriately, helping them navigate increasingly complex global regulations. Customers have seen 70-80% time savings in compliance documentation and evidence gathering.