Senior UK banking executives are preparing to meet to discuss the creation of a national card payments alternative to Visa and Mastercard, in a move aimed at reducing reliance on US-owned networks and strengthening payment system resilience.

According to a report by The Guardian, the initiative would involve a group of major UK banks and payment firms, with support from the government, to establish a domestic payments company capable of operating alongside or independently of the existing global card schemes.

Nexi Group, the European PayTech, today announced the international launch of Nexi Ready, a new category of fully managed, plug-and-play digital issuing solutions. Nexi Ready alleviates a significant burden for banks, corporates and fintechs, enabling them to quickly deploy modern, compliant and scalable digital issuing services without having to build and operate their own infrastructure.

Banks have invested heavily in onboarding new clients, yet legacy KYC records often remain a blind spot. This creates unknown risk exposures that can emerge during audits, regulatory inspections, or remediation programs, and can also negatively impact client experience through unnecessary outreach, repeated verification requests, or delays in service. 

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE’s global bank and one of the world’s largest and ‎safest financial institutions, today announced significant progress in scaling the ‎deployment of Artificial Intelligence across the Group, driven by the rapid maturation of its ‎AI Innovation Hub and a strong focus on building future-ready talent and capabilities. ‎‎

Fintech Week Awards, Dubai recognise Marija Solovjova for innovation and dedication to tackling fraud

Marija Solovjova, Head of Fraud AML Transactions & Disputes Department at inclusive global payments platform, Ecommpay has been recognised as an outstanding professional in the category of Women in Risk & Compliance Award at the 2026 FinTech Week Awards Fintech Week Awards in Dubai.

Tangible, a fintech platform that enables hardtech companies to access and manage debt financing, has raised a $4.3M seed round led by Pale Blue Dot, with participation from MMC, Future Positive Capital, Unruly, SDAC, Prototype Capital, and Aperture.

NoCFO, the AI-native financial management platform built to eliminate the manual burden of financial administration for entrepreneurs and small businesses, partners with Salt Edge, a leading open banking solutions provider. The collaboration integrates Salt Edge’s payment initiation capabilities directly into the NoCFO platform, transforming the user experience by enabling complete financial workflows, including Pay by Bank, without users having to leave the app.

Caption, the France-based regulated investment infrastructure, has chosen Mangopay to power payment flows for both its own investor base and professional distributors, bringing private market products to their clients. 

Mangopay provides Caption with a wallet-first payment infrastructure, including pay-ins, instant payouts, and KYC services, supporting the management of complex investment flows.  

Optimized investment workflows 

Ericsson and Mastercard today announce a collaboration to reshape how money moves across the world. By integrating the Ericsson Fintech Platform (Mobile Financial Services) with Mastercard Move - Mastercard’s portfolio of money movement solutions - the collaboration will empower telecom service providers, banks, and fintechs to expand digital wallet capabilities, launch new payment services, and reach unbanked or underbanked communities.