19% of global consumers with an interest in following this summer’s 2026 World Cup plan to place their first ever online bet during the soccer tournament, according to research issued today by leading payments platform Paysafe (NYSE: PSFE).

ACI Worldwide, an original innovator in global payments technology, today announced that JP Krishnamoorthy will lead the company's Global Technology & Innovation organization as Chief Innovation & Technology Officer. Krishnamoorthy joined ACI in December 2025 and assumes full technology leadership as the company accelerates its shift toward smarter payments orchestration, embedded AI capabilities, and faster time to market for banking, biller, and merchant clients processing trillions in annual transaction volume.

Kikin Financial, the UK-based fintech lending platform for SMEs, today announced it has secured initial funding through Percent's platform, with capacity to access up to $20 million as Kikin scales. The funds will be used to provide flexible credit to some of the UK’s most exciting consumer businesses.

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, today released its Global Economic Outlook for 2026, revealing that while headline growth appears steady at 2.7%, the global economy is undergoing fundamental transformation driven by artificial intelligence adoption, evolving trade networks and shifting investment patterns.

Standard Chartered has successfully completed its industry standard API-based bank guarantee transaction for a global energy company via Komgo's Konsole, a leading multi-bank trade finance platform. The landmark transaction adopts the newly launched Industry standard ICC-Swift API standards for bank guarantees.

WeLab, a leading pan-Asian fintech platform, announced the successful closing of its Series D strategic financing, securing US$220 million in funding. This marks the largest digital banking capital raise in Asia for 2025 and the largest funding round since WeLab's inception, demonstrating strong investor confidence in WeLab's vision and scalable growth trajectory.

Stinker Stores, the Idaho-based gas station and convenience store chain, is marking their continued partnership with DailyPay – the leader of On-Demand Pay and financial wellness solutions. Dedicated to providing its employees with “nothing but the stinkin’ best workplace experience,” Stinker Stores first implemented DailyPay’s financial wellness benefit in 2020.

Cowbell, a leading provider of adaptive cyber and specialty insurance solutions for global small and mid‑market organizations, today announced the appointment of Simon Hughes as Chief Commercial Officer. Hughes, who previously served as SVP, Global Distribution & GM, UK, will oversee Cowbell’s global commercial strategy, including distribution, partnerships, international expansion, and market development.

Today, Visa, a world leader in digital payments, announced its support for Chinese Visa cardholders to pay with Apple Pay. Together with Apple, Visa will enable Chinese cardholders to add Visa cards from participating banks to Apple Pay and make payments at overseas Visa-accepting merchants, in-store, in-app and online. Today, 79 percent of in-person transactions globally are made contactlessly with NFC.