Qonto, the leading European business finance solution for SMEs and freelancers, today announces the launch of its first complete payment acceptance solution seamlessly integrated into the Qonto app, enabling businesses to collect payments anywhere and keep all transaction data synchronised in one account. This strategic expansion marks Qonto's evolution from a business finance leader to a complete financial management one-stop-shop, addressing one of the most pressing needs faced by European SMEs today. 

New research and recent industry insights indicate a clear shift in consumer payment behaviour: contactless payments have moved from being an option to becoming the standard. 

At this year’s MPE conference in Berlin, Mastercard’s Acceptance Lead for Europe, Marie Herbiet, noted that over 90% of in-person transactions across Europe are now contactless. This reflects a global trend, as NFC (Near Field Communication) payments grow exponentially worldwide across all  card brands.

In the United States, more than 100 colleges and universities that use Flywire’s 

Worldpay®, a global industry leader in payments technology and solutions, is continuing its expansion into the Latin American market with new domestic acquiring capabilities in Colombia. This expansion further adds to its geographical reach in the region, where it already supports some of the largest merchants across Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.

Fintech Fringe has launched a new Marketplace feature, giving fintechs direct access to trusted expertise and marking the evolution of its community platform, Fintech Fringe Forum, from beta into the go-to platform for scaling within the UK fintech ecosystem.

Marketplace gives fintech founders direct access to trusted experts in talent, fundraising, legal, marketing and compliance - so they can scale with confidence and execute at pace.

Airwallex, a leading global payments and financial platform for modern businesses, has completed a $300 million Series F funding round at a $6.2 billion valuation. The round includes $150 million in secondary share transfers. 

First Federal Bank of Kansas City has appointed Josh Hofer as its new Vice President of Fintech. In this key leadership role, Hofer will lead the bank's efforts to expand into the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space, working closely with internal teams and external partners to drive innovation and build a sustainable and compliant BaaS program for fintechs.

IBM announces its collaboration with Pan Asia Banking Corporation PLC of Sri Lanka to modernize the bank’s digital infrastructure and deliver faster, more secure banking services across Sri Lanka.

Currency.com, a global digital finance provider building the next wave of financial services, has announced the appointment of Carlos Miguel Catarino Martins as its new Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) in Gibraltar.

Swiipr, the payment platform digitally transforming airline disruption payments, has launched a series of new APIs that enable airlines to digitally transform their disruption and compensation payment operations in as little as a few weeks, irrespective of the airline’s legacy systems.