Groq became an official inference provider on Hugging Face’s platform, potentially exposing its technology to millions of developers worldwide. The Hugging Face integration extends the Groq ecosystem providing developers choice and further reduces barriers to entry in adopting Groq’s fast and efficient AI inference. Groq’s assertion about context windows — the amount of text an AI model can process at once — strikes at a core limitation that has plagued practical AI applications. Most inference providers struggle to maintain speed and cost-effectiveness when handling large context windows, which are essential for tasks like analyzing entire documents or maintaining long conversations. Independent benchmarking firm Artificial Analysis measured Groq’s Qwen3 32B deployment running at approximately 535 tokens per second, a speed that would allow real-time processing of lengthy documents or complex reasoning tasks. The company is pricing the service at $0.29 per million input tokens and $0.59 per million output tokens — rates that undercut many established providers. Groq offers a fully integrated stack, delivering inference compute that is built for scale, which means we are able to continue to improve inference costs while also ensuring performance that developers need to build real AI solutions. The technical advantage stems from Groq’s custom Language Processing Unit (LPU) architecture, designed specifically for AI inference rather than the general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) that most competitors rely on. This specialized hardware approach allows Groq to handle memory-intensive operations like large context windows more efficiently. By becoming an official inference provider, Groq gains access to the vast developer ecosystem of HuggingFace with streamlined billing and unified access. Amazon’s Bedrock service leverages AWS’s massive global cloud infrastructure, while Google’s Vertex AI benefits from the search giant’s worldwide data center network. Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service has similarly deep infrastructure backing. However Groq says, “As an industry, we’re just starting to see the beginning of the real demand for inference compute. Even if Groq were to deploy double the planned amount of infrastructure this year, there still wouldn’t be enough capacity to meet the demand today.”
DTCC is mulling the potential of issuing a stablecoin; a fully-authorized bank subsidiary, limited purpose bank charter and access to central bank account to make execution hassle-free
The DTCC is exploring the potential of issuing a stablecoin. It is “monitoring policy developments in the U.S. Congress and regulatory agencies, and will continue to assess our options, including the potential of issuing a DTCC stablecoin, if needed.” For the DTCC specifically, implementation would be relatively straightforward from an infrastructure standpoint. It already has a bank subsidiary, which unlike Fnality Bank US, has full authorization. The Depository Trust Company (DTC), which is one of its main subsidiaries, operates as a limited purpose trust company under New York State banking law. It has access to a central bank account because it enables huge volumes of settlement using Federal Reserve money. Hypothetically, if the DTCC were to issue a stablecoin it could be a very high quality one, using a similar model to Fnality. In other words, perhaps backed by central bank money. Typically stablecoins are mainly backed by Treasury bills, which are usually very stable. But there have been volatile episodes in the money markets, and central bank reserves side steps this risk.
NiCE-Snowflake partnership to enable enterprises to operationalize customer interaction data at scale through seamless, secure sharing of CX data across the front, middle and back office
NiCE announced a strategic collaboration with Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company, to unlock the full value of customer interaction data by enabling seamless, secure data sharing across the front, middle and back office through Snowflake Secure Data Sharing. This collaboration combines NiCE CXone Mpower’s AI for customer service automation with Snowflake’s easy, connected, and trusted platform, enabling joint customers to seamlessly access and update data to automate customer service at scale. By working with Snowflake, the two companies will be able to deliver immediate value for customers and unlock new opportunities across the enterprise landscape. NiCE selected Snowflake for its ability to power secure, governed data collaboration and its shared commitment to eliminating operational silos. As a core component of every CXone Mpower bundle, Snowflake provides the foundation for the CXone Mpower data lake, centralizing all interaction data from across the platform and enabling that data to be merged with associated data beyond the front office. This extends the depth and breadth of CXone Mpower, enabling customers to leverage reporting, dashboarding, analytics and AI, from a single, trusted and ecosystem-wide source of truth. By expanding the reach of CX data into middle and back-office systems, organizations will be able to automate processes such as service fulfillment, billing, claims handling, and account updates, dramatically improving speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Customers can leverage CXone Mpower’s built-in integration with Snowflake to securely share and activate customer interaction data across their enterprise, either as part of their current CXone Mpower bundle or through expanded enterprise automation initiatives. With CXone Mpower analyzing hundreds of customer attributes per interaction, Snowflake provides the secure, scalable foundation to store, share, and activate this rich data across the enterprise. This collaboration empowers enterprises to operationalize interaction data at scale, integrate it seamlessly into enterprise ecosystems, and accelerate the development of AI-driven CX innovations.
Digital wealth platform Sidekick’s offering to offer mass affluents access to high-growth private companies through a professionally managed fund by investing just £10,000
Sidekick, a new UK digital wealth platform built to serve six-figure earners who’ve outgrown basic financial products but don’t have the millions needed to access private banks, has launched. Sidekick is one of a number of entrants targeting the mass affluent market, using technology to offer products and services once reserved for the super rich. Among Sidekick’s offerings is access to private equity-style investing for just £10,000. Eligible individuals can get access to a regulated Long-Term Asset Fund, which allows clients to invest in high-growth private companies through a professionally managed fund without needing the six-figure minimums usually required. Beyond investments, users get access to an account that automatically spreads deposits across a panel of UK-regulated banks behind the scenes, enabling up to £255,000 of FSCS protection – all through a single interface. And, for higher target returns, its Smart Cash product invests short-term funds into actively managed money market instruments, designed to outperform traditional savings rates while keeping funds accessible.
Ubyx aims to provide a clearing system enabling anyone to easily on and off-ramp between bank accounts and stablecoins supporting corporates that want to use stablecoins for cross border payments
Ubyx announced a $10 million seed funding round led by Galaxy Ventures. Other backers in the round include Founders Fund, stablecoin issuer Paxos, Payoneer and others. Ubyx aims to provide a clearing system enabling anyone to easily on and off-ramp between bank accounts and stablecoins. This is a particular issue for corporates that want to use stablecoins for cross border payments, but might find the accounting for holding them on their balance sheet tricky. This challenge has created opportunities for infrastructure providers to fill the gap. While the likes of stablecoin issuer Circle has the scale to build its own Circle Payments Network, not all stablecoin issuers have that luxury. Plus, numerous other stablecoin infrastructure startups are also duplicating effort in building their own distribution. Ubyx aims to provide this distribution and redemption service for numerous stablecoins. “Stablecoins become ubiquitous when there is a shared acceptance network, just like cards. Traditional banks and fintechs should provide wallets to accept a wide range of regulated stablecoins on many public-permissionless blockchains,” said Mike Giampapa, General Partner of Galaxy Ventures.
NuBank’s feature for paying recurring bills lets users search upcoming bills and choose between automated and approval-based payment while receiving alerts and simple one-click approvals directly in-app
Nubank announces the launch of Automated Pix, a new option to pay recurring bills with convenience and security. The new feature will be accompanied by the ‘Search Upcoming Bills’ feature, which will give customers complete freedom to choose how and when to pay – whether fully automatically or in a facilitated manner, with alerts and simple one-click approvals directly in the app. The “Search Upcoming Bills” feature is ideal for customers who prefer to review their bills before each payment, helping them maintain financial control throughout the month with autonomy. The tool notifies customers about bills that follow the recurring billing model. With Automated Pix, customers can easily set up payments for recurring bills using Pix. The security of Automated Pix follows the high standards already adopted by Nubank for other Pix features, including confirmation via PIN for each manually authorized payment, real-time fraud and suspicious key alerts, Street Mode (Modo Rua), which limits transactions outside secure networks, daily Pix limits controls and a “trusted contacts list” that can be set up. The billing company will provide a QR Code or the option to copy and paste the Pix key for payment. By scanning the code or pasting the key into the Nubank app, the customer will automatically identify if the payment is enabled for Automated Pix. There will be two options: Enable Automated Payment and Pay upon approval.
Tipping platform eTip’s partnership with Visa to help deliver funds directly to participating digital wallets in real-time through simplified workflow and automated payouts
eTip announced a new collaboration with Visa to help deliver funds directly to participating digital wallets in real-time. By quickly and securely integrating into existing payroll and tipping systems, this collaboration helps automate payouts for greater efficiency and enhanced user experience. The simplified workflow ensures faster access to wages and tips while improving employee satisfaction and retention. Nicolas Cassis, co-founder and CEO of eTip said “By removing barriers to financial security, we are helping to ensure that tipping truly serves the people who rely on it most.” eTip’s modern tipping platform is already trusted by some of the world’s most well-known companies in hospitality and beyond. Businesses using eTip report an average 95% increase in tip frequency, with workers receiving tips five times more frequently than before. By integrating with alias-based payments via Visa Direct, eTip is further enhancing financial access and flexibility, ensuring workers can benefit from their increased earnings as quickly as possible. Visa offers streamlined funds disbursements to participating digital wallets in real-time. US-based PayPal and Venmo users can create aliases in their digital wallets and transfer their wages to their designated digital wallet accounts.
Payabli is reimagining embedded spend management by enabling software platforms to offer branded expense programs with both physical and virtual cards,”
Payabli, the payments infrastructure platform for software companies, has closed a $28M Series B funding round. This funding comes just nine months after Payabli raised its Series A led by QED Investors bringing the total capital in the company to date to $60,000,000. The Series B is led by Fika Ventures and QED Investors with participation from existing investors TTV Capital and Bling Capital. The new funding will accelerate Payabli’s product development, with a targeted focus on AI-driven features designed to deliver personalized experiences for customers. These innovations aim to enhance operational efficiency, elevate the customer experience, and drive revenue across the platform. Additionally, Payabli will strengthen its customer success, operations, and go-to-market teams to ensure a consistently high-quality customer experience while supporting the company’s continued hyper-growth. As part of this investment, Payabli is exploring AI applications across two primary fronts: first, to streamline operations and drive efficiency across the organization, and second, to enhance its platform with smarter, more personalized customer experiences that ultimately increase revenue and margin. Payabli will also leverage its Series B funding to continue product development and further expand its 3P offering, which includes Pay In, Pay Out, and Pay Ops capabilities. “Informed by direct feedback from existing customers, Payabli is reimagining embedded spend management by enabling software platforms to offer branded expense programs with both physical and virtual cards,” the company said in its announcement.
Fnality is partnering with the DTCC to potentially include its wholesale settlement system as a payment rail in DTCC’s digital asset sandbox
Fnality is partnering with the DTCC to potentially include its wholesale settlement system as a payment rail in the DTCC Digital Launchpad, the DTCC’s digital asset sandbox. The DTCC runs the world’s largest post trade settlement infrastructure processing $3 quadrillion in annual transactions. Fnality is backed by 20 global institutions, including the DTCC, and provides the Fnality wholesale payments system (FnPS), which facilitates the on-chain settlement of central bank reserves for institutional purposes. So far it is live in Sterling, with a US dollar version currently a work in progress. The availability of cash on chain is critical to enabling the full efficiencies of on-chain delivery versus payment (DvP) and payment versus payment (PvP). Institutions favor central bank money to minimize risk, which Fnality can provide. Fnality described the simulated transactions as involving, “earmarking funds in the Fnality testing environment, onboarding the investor’s account onto DTCC’s ledger, and executing a PvP test transaction that settled instantly.” It used Adhara’s DC Commander to integrate with the bank back office systems. Ownera’s FinP2P was used for routing transactions between separate DLT systems for DvP. Hypothetically, if Fnality adopted the Genius act model in the US, then $FnPS could be available to institutions that don’t have central bank access. Either way, within the next 18 months there’s a reasonable chance that tokenized central bank money will be available to institutions in the United States.
Nacha unveils new consumer awareness campaign to highlight the convenience and safety of using Direct Payment to pay bills
Nacha launched DirectPayment.org, a new consumer-focused awareness campaign to highlight the convenience and safety of using Direct Payment to pay bills. Also known as electronic funds transfer (EFT), bank transfer, eCheck, or autopay, Direct Payment enables consumers to replenish account balances, make donations, and pay tuition, dues, premiums, subscriptions, in addition to mobile/internet/cable and other recurring bills. Direct Payment is designed to simplify the payment process and provide consumers with: Convenience and Efficiency: Streamlining finances by setting up payments once for recurring payments. Security: ACH transactions are secure and keep financial information protected. Timeliness: Payments are processed on time so late fees, penalties, or interrupted service are avoided. The campaign includes several real-life subjects who rely on and benefit from Direct Payment. They enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing their bills are paid on time. Nacha has added several new subjects and uses for Direct Deposit to DirectDeposit.org in order to continue to educate and inform Americans on the many ways they can make the best use of Direct Deposit and simplify their lives.