Rackspace Technology announced a strategic alliance with enterprise AI agent innovator Sema4.ai (“Sema4”). This collaboration integrates the Foundry for AI by Rackspace (FAIR™) services and Rackspace’s application management expertise with Sema4.ai’s advanced ‘SAFE’ AI Agent Platform, combining the strengths of both companies in artificial intelligence, cloud and systems integration to accelerate the adoption of secure, enterprise-grade AI solutions. The partnership will enable the rapid deployment of scalable, production-ready AI agents across enterprise functions with robust governance, transparency, and security protocols as their core foundational elements. Through this new collaboration, businesses can design and deploy custom AI agents tailored to specific use cases, with seamless integrations across key functions such as HR, finance, customer support, sales, and operations. Customers will also gain access to full AI lifecycle management, including built-in observability and a centralized control plane, enabling scalable, secure, and efficient deployment. These agents can: Operate independently or collaboratively, offering shared functionalities such as natural language understanding, workflow automation, and advanced document processing. Help streamline and enhance the automation of high-value tasks. Automate existing business processes, which interpret standard operating procedures (SOPs) and runbooks, eliminating the need for complex prompt engineering.
OpenPayd to integrate Circle’s stablecoin infrastructure with its financial platform to offer enterprises a unified layer for making seamless cross-border transfers using both traditional fiat rails and DLT-based networks
OpenPayd and Circle have partnered to offer global businesses a unified fiat and stablecoin infrastructure layer. This collaboration brings together OpenPayd’s financial infrastructure and Circle Wallets’ stablecoin infrastructure to enable OpenPayd’s enterprise clients to use both traditional banking rails and blockchain-based networks to move and manage money globally. By offering seamless conversion between fiat currencies and Circle’s regulated stablecoin, USDC, this solution will provide OpenPayd’s clients with faster access to liquidity, lower settlement costs, and the ability to develop new use cases across payments, treasury and digital asset services. This addition expands the capabilities of OpenPayd’s platform that enables businesses to embed payments, accounts and trading into their own products. The platform currently processes over 130 billion euros (about $150 billion) annually. “By expanding access to USDC across our platform, we’re extending our vision of becoming the universal financial infrastructure for a truly digital global economy,” OpenPayd CEO Iana Dimitrova said.
Fnality is partnering DTCC to simulate cash on-chain delivery versus payment (DvP) and payment versus payment (PvP) transaction with instant settlement using central bank reserves for institutional purposes
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.
TikTok-alternative Own to enable creators to earn revenue without any minimum requirements for follower count and receive fully tradeable tokens in rewards based on engagement regardless of location
Own is the latest alternative to TikTok to emerge, featuring a swipeable feed for not just short videos but also text posts and images, as well as other features you’d expect, like direct messaging. However, the new app aims to disrupt the market by utilizing blockchain technology and a token economy. Most notably, content creators on the app can earn revenue without any minimum requirements for follower count or post count. Key highlights include the $OWN Token, which is rewarded to creators based on video engagement and is fully tradeable. Own operates on Base Layer 2 blockchain, ensuring secure transactions and content ownership. This will be a game-changer for creators, especially since they earn tokens regardless of their location. A portion of the platform’s cash revenue is used to buy $OWN Tokens from exchanges for distribution to creators. The app promises that creators can earn up to 50% more than on other platforms. Specifically, in the case of tipping, Own takes only 20% of the revenue, whereas TikTok takes 50%. For sponsorships, creators retain 90% of the earnings, with only 10% going to Own. Creators benefit most from Own Shops, keeping 95% of the revenue while Own takes just 5%. Viewers have the ability to interact with content by pressing the up or down arrows to cast their votes — upvoting or downvoting posts in a manner reminiscent of platforms like Reddit. Creators who receive a higher number of upvotes can climb the leaderboard, gaining greater exposure.
Card issuance platform Highnote partners BVNK to enable customers around the world make stablecoin-based funding for US-based card programmes in real-time and 24/7 basis
Card issuance and embedded finance platform Highnote has enlisted BVNK to launch real-time 24/7 stablecoin-based funding for card programmes. The partnership means that Highnote subscribers around the world can fund US-based programme accounts instantly in USD, without being constrained by standard banking hours. This, says the firm, streamlines a critical operational step for global fintechs and enterprises that need to move fast, letting them transfer programme funds using stablecoins, automatically converted to dollars, and deposited in sponsor bank accounts in real-time. “Our subscribers are building real-time financial products for a global user base, and until now, they have had to operate within the limits of U.S. banking hours,” says John Macilwaine, CEO, Highnote. “This new capability eliminates that barrier, giving them true around the clock control over how and when to move money.”
IBM offers unified security and governance risk solution for agentic AI use cases that validates compliance standards against 12 different frameworks and includes automated red teaming to help enterprises detect and fix vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
IBM is announcing the industry’s first software to bring AI security and AI governance teams together and provide a unified view of enterprises’ risk posture. The new capabilities enhance and integrate watsonx.governance and Guardium AI Security to help clients keep their AI systems, including agents, secured and responsible at scale. Watsonx.governance is IBM’s end-to-end AI governance tool and Guardium AI Security is IBM’s tool for securing AI models, data, and usage. IBM is enhancing the integration of IBM Guardium AI Security and watsonx.governance, providing enterprises with the first unified solution to manage security and governance risks associated with AI use cases. The integration supports users’ processes to validate compliance standards against 12 different frameworks. IBM is also introducing new capabilities to Guardium AI Security through a collaboration with AllTrue.ai, including the ability to detect new AI use cases in cloud environments, code repositories, and embedded systems –providing broad visibility and protection in an increasingly decentralized AI ecosystem. Once identified, IBM Guardium AI Security can automatically trigger appropriate governance workflows from watsonx.governance. IBM watsonx.governance can now monitor and manage AI agents across their entire lifecycle, from development to deployment. Evaluation nodes can be built directly into agents, allowing users to carefully monitor metrics like answer relevance, context relevance, and faithfulness – and help identify the root cause of poor performance. IBM watsonx.governance Compliance Accelerators provide select pre-loaded regulations, standards, and frameworks from around the globe, enabling users to identify relevant obligations and map them onto their own AI use cases. IBM Consulting Cybersecurity Services is introducing a new set of services that brings together data security platforms, like IBM Guardium AI Security, with deep AI technology and domain consulting.
Headless browser platform Browserbase can automate webpage interactions and spin up thousands of browsers in a fraction of a second by combining traditional scripts with AI agents in the same workflow
Browserbase Inc., a startup focused on automating tasks that involve interacting with webpages, has closed a $40 million funding round. Browserbase provides a so-called headless browser specifically designed to automate webpage interactions. According to the company, it’s optimized for use by scripts and artificial intelligence agents. The browser is available through a serverless platform that removes the need for customers to manage the underlying infrastructure. According to Browserbase, its platform can spin up thousands of browsers in a fraction of a second. Each instance is assigned four virtual central processing units to ensure that web page interactions are completed quickly. To further boost performance, the platform hosts browsers in data centers around the world. Developers can send requests to a web server from the nearest data center to reduce latency. The platform is compatible with Puppeteer and Selenium, two popular open-source tools for creating browser automation scripts. As a result, developers don’t have to change their existing scripts to use the software. There’s also support for Browserbase’s own Stagehand automation tool, which it touts as a more capable alternative to Puppeteer and Selenium. It allows developers to combine traditional scripts with AI agents in the same workflow. Agents are used when adaptability is needed while scripts automate tasks that require a high degree of reliability.
BBVA’s private bank is advising wealthy clients to invest 3% to 7% of their portfolio into cryptos, specifically in bitcoin and ether
BBVA is advising wealthy clients to invest up to 7% of their portfolio into cryptocurrencies, an executive said on Tuesday, in the latest sign some banks are warming to a sector long avoided by mainstream finance because of its risks. BBVA’s private bank advises clients to invest 3% to 7% of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies depending on their risk appetite, Philippe Meyer, head of digital & blockchain solutions at BBVA Switzerland. “With private customers, since September last year, we started advising on bitcoin,” Meyer said. “The riskier profile, we allow up to 7% of (portfolios in) crypto.” Meyer believes BBVA was one of the first large global banks to advise its wealthy clients to buy cryptocurrencies. It had been executing on client requests to buy them since 2021, he said. The 3-7% advice currently applies to bitcoin and ether, but BBVA plans to expand the advice to other cryptocurrencies later this year, he said. Meyer said that clients had been receptive so far to the advice, and dismissed concerns the asset was too risky. “If you look at a balanced portfolio, if you introduce 3% you already boost the performance,” Meyer said. “At 3% you are not taking a huge risk.”
LendingClub’s new checking account targets individuals with high income of about $125,000 to $130,000 and high FICO score and offers 1% cash back for everyday spending with debit card; allows customers to pay all their credit card debt from a single interface
LendingClub’s newly launched LevelUp Checking is designed to help consumers move away from reliance on credit cards, especially given record-high credit card debt, by incentivizing the use of debit. The target customer for LevelUp are individuals with a high FICO score, typically around 725, and a high individual income of about $125,000 to $130,000. It gives members 1% cash back for everyday spending with a LevelUp debit card on grocery and gas, among other key categories. Members who have LendingClub personal loans can also receive 2% cash back for making on-time loan payments from the LevelUp accounts. Additional features include early paycheck access. The goal of the LevelUp Checking product is to help reward members for responsible financial habits through the use of debit rather than credit. LevelUp Checking accounts will also integrate with DebtIQ, a feature accelerated by LendingClub’s acquisition of Tally. This allows customers to pay all their credit card debt from a single interface, eliminating the need to log into multiple bank accounts. The integrated nature of the product portfolio creates a flywheel effect, as LevelUp Savings users engage with LendingClub almost twice as often as customers with standard high-yield savings accounts. He expects the same, if not more, engagement with the LevelUp Checking product, which he views as part of a broader ecosystem play.
Online gambling platform Playbook Engineering sees open banking solution grow rapidly to handle up to 20% of Pay by Bank deposits within just three months of launch
Playbook Engineering, a leading iGaming platform provider, says an increasing number of players are choosing to deposit via Open Banking. Playbook Engineering, which powers 10 UK-licensed brands including PricedUp, Planet Sport Bet and NRG Bet, added Open Banking to its payment gateways earlier this year after agreeing a partnership with Yaspa. Yaspa provides instant payments and identity services, using Open Banking and AI to help iGaming platforms build trust through smarter payments. Playbook says Yaspa’s Open Banking solution has quickly grown to handle up to 20% of all deposits within just three months of being made available to players. The platform provider also noted that players who start using Open Banking tend to stick with it, indicating its effectiveness as a retention tool. Luke Cousins, commercial director at Playbook Engineering, said: “We’re up to 15% to 20% of all deposits going through Yaspa, which within two to three months is incredible and I see that only growing. “Once customers use it, they don’t seem to be going back to the card options – they remain with it. It’s much simpler to use that process for them and it automatically suggests it’s a very good retention tool for us. Playbook was also beginning to leverage Yaspa’s Intelligent Payments capabilities, which combines Open Banking technology and AI to provide real-time financial risk checks to support responsible gambling by helping operators assess affordability and identify risk indicators – all at the point of deposit. “We see a huge opportunity to bring our Intelligent Payments platform to operators in North America, helping them deliver smoother player experiences, while meeting growing regulatory and commercial demands.