GrailPay, a risk and data platform for bank payments, announced $6.7 million in funding to expand its suite of tools that make ACH transactions safer, smarter, and faster. ACH is the backbone of the U.S. financial system—moving over $86 trillion last year alone—but remains riddled with fraud, credit risk, and operational failures. GrailPay is closing that gap with a modern intelligence platform designed to detect and prevent risk across the ACH lifecycle, before a transaction is ever initiated. GrailPay’s platform offers predictive analytics and real-time signals across account enrollment, transaction monitoring, and merchant underwriting. Its tools are used by payment platforms, lenders, fintechs, and software vendors to reduce failed payments, accelerate decisioning, and automate operations. Though GrailPay provides ACH processing, its tools are designed to be modular and standalone—meaning customers can adopt the platform’s intelligence offerings with or without using it for payments. Will Messina, CEO and co-founder of GrailPay said “We’re building the modern intelligence layer to unlock the next growth wave of payments tied to a bank account.”
Ripple claims XRP could capture 14% of SWIFT volume within five years driven by a focus on liquidity rather than messaging infrastructure
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared a bold projection: XRP could capture 14% of SWIFT’s volume over the next five years, driven by a focus on liquidity rather than messaging infrastructure. Garlinghouse’s comments reflect a broader ambition within Ripple to challenge traditional financial rails by leveraging crypto-based liquidity solutions. While SWIFT currently dominates the interbank messaging landscape for cross-border payments, Garlinghouse argued that the true battleground lies in liquidity, the ability to move money, not just send instructions. “There are two parts to SWIFT today: messaging and liquidity,” Garlinghouse said. “Liquidity is owned by the banks. I think less about the messaging and more about liquidity. If you’re driving all the liquidity, it is good for XRP… so I’ll say five years, 14%.” By targeting liquidity, Ripple aims to plug into the critical layer of cross-border finance that determines how quickly and cheaply value can move across borders. Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer also highlighted the potential for rapid growth in the tokenized asset sector. “Hundreds of billions of tokenized global assets [will emerge] fairly quickly,” he said, signaling Ripple’s intent to position XRP as a foundational layer in that transformation.
Stripe buys crypto wallet startup Privy building products on crypto rails; using a single API, clients can spin up wallets rather than use external ones
Payments giant Stripe is acquiring crypto wallet infrastructure startup Privy for an undisclosed fee. The deal is part of Stripe’s aggressive push back into crypto following a six year hiatus, building on its recent $1.1 billion takeover of stablecoin platform Bridge. Privy aims to make it easy for developers to build products on crypto rails. Through a single API, clients can spin up wallets rather than use external ones, sign transactions, and integrate any onchain system. The firm now claims to power over 75 million accounts across more than 1000 developer teams, orchestrating billions in transactions. Among its clients are trading platform Hyperliquid and restaurant app Blackbird. Like Bridge, the startup will operate as an independent product under Stripe.
Xsolla and Defold’s SDK allows developers to easily monetize their titles by implementing end-to-end in-game purchasing functionality directly within their browser games without the complex manual API setup
Xsolla announces a new strategic partnership with Defold, the cross-platform game engine trusted by professionals and indie developers worldwide. This collaboration introduces a seamless integration between Xsolla and Defold-built web games on CrazyGames, enabling developers to easily monetize their titles just in time for the CrazyGames x Defold Game Jam running June 13–15. To address the complexity of in-game monetization, Xsolla and Defold have developed a new SDK that allows Defold developers to implement in-game purchasing functionality without the complex manual API setup required. With Xsolla’s sponsorship and support, this integration removes friction from the monetization journey, allowing developers to focus on building engaging games, not commerce infrastructure. This SDK connects three key players in the expanding browser games space: Xsolla, Defold, and CrazyGames, offering a smooth path from gameplay to purchase. The launch coincides with the Game Jam, allowing participants to integrate in-game purchases easily, extend their reach, and scale monetization beyond traditional app stores. Developers using Defold’s flexible, Lua-based engine can now implement end-to-end monetization flows directly within their browser games, thanks to the powerful toolset provided by Xsolla. This partnership marks a notable advancement for browser-first development and reinforces Xsolla’s role as an innovator in cross-platform game commerce.
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.
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.