Circle has
The unified Circle/OpenPayd platform is expected to enable OpenPayd's business clients to execute payments using Circle's USDC stablecoin, with conversions between fiat and stablecoins on both ends of the transaction.
That conversion is a key element for stablecoin payments, which can act as a bridge between different currencies on both ends of an international transaction. The London-based OpenPayd processes about $160 billion in payments annually.
By adding Circle's technology, OpenPayd hopes to improve access to liquidity for its clients, lower settlement costs by removing processing steps and expand use cases for payments and treasury management.
"Stablecoins will be foundational to the next era of financial services, and our partnership with Circle positions us, and our clients, at the center of that transformation," said OpenPayd CEO Iana Dimitrova in a release. "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."
Similar to OpenPayd, Circle's partnership with Matera will also use USDC to bridge local currencies to enable near-instant payments directly from banking and fintech platforms that use Matera's real-time ledger.
The integration connects local payment rails, such as Brazil's government-backed PIX network, to global liquidity in USDC, which unlocks faster payment opportunities, according to Matera. —John Adams
Ramp's AI push vaults its valuation to $16 billion
Payments technology firm Vault, which has launched close to 300 artificial intelligence-powered features thus far in 2025, closed a $200 million funding round.
The round increases the company's valuation from about $14 billion to $16 billion, and comes on the heels of successful initial public offerings for
The Founders Fund led the $200 million investment, with other participants including Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, ICONIQ Growth, Khosla Ventures and Lux Capital.
In the case of the New York-based Ramp, the
Ramp also recently
"Every finance professional is being asked how they use AI. And yet, most businesses don't have a single software engineer — let alone one dedicated to finance," Ramp CEO Eric Glyman said in a Ramp internet post. —John Adams
Western Union adds scale in the Middle East
Western Union has partnered with Jingle Pay, a financial services platform that operates in the Middle East and South Asia, a collaboration designed to expand remittances in the region.
Jingle Pay will support the flow of cross-border money transfers to bank accounts and mobile wallets. That addresses a technology strategy for Western Union which, like rival MoneyGram, has spent the past several years
Adding access to mobile wallets also enables the Dubai-based Jingle Pay to reach areas that do not have a traditional financial service network.
"With Western Union's extensive global network and Jingle Pay's cutting-edge technology, we are well-positioned to transform the remittance experience for millions of consumers," Riz Sohail, chief business officer at Jingle Pay, said in a release. "This collaboration not only supports financial inclusion but also opens up scalable opportunities for innovation in international payments."
Western Union did not respond to a request for comment.
The release mentioned the Jingle Pay collaboration is effective in "certain markets," without naming these markets. Remittances from the U.S. are potentially under pressure as the
Interac bolsters real-time B2B tech
Payment company Accept/Pay Global has integrated with Interac, Canada's national debit network, to support business payments that settle instantly.
The service is designed for loan disbursements, earned wage access, claims and other insurance payouts, B2B settlements and vendor payments. Accept/Pay Global envisions high transaction volume payments will be a good fit for the service.
"Real-time payments are table stakes for delivering superior customer experiences — whether you're funding a loan, processing payroll, or settling claims," Gajen Pararajalingam, chief operating officer of Accept/Pay Global, said in a release. —John Adams
FTC settles with UK merchant of record Paddle
The Federal Trade Commission has settled with U.K.-based Paddle.com for $5 million for allegedly processing payments for deceptive tech-support schemes that targeted U.S. consumers,
Paddle allegedly allowed scammers overseas to impersonate known tech brands such as Microsoft or McAfee to access the U.S. credit card system and collect payments, and helped them evade detection by merchant banks and the card networks, the FTC said. It also didn't disclose recurring payments.
Under
"The FTC will hold accountable payment companies that knowingly facilitate payments for scammers or look the other way when faced with red flags about their clients' conduct," Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. —Joey Pizzolato
Alipay integrates QR code payments to AR glasses
Alipay has embedded payments into augmented reality glasses manufactured by Rokid that allow users to pay for products in store by looking at a
Users link their Alipay account with the Rokid glasses and use voice commands to initiate and confirm the payment after scanning the merchant label. Transactions are complete in seconds, compared with 20-30 seconds with phone-based QR code payments, Alipay said. More than 250,000 pairs of glasses have been ordered.
"Equipping Rokid Glasses with payment capabilities brings users a smoother and more intuitive experience, while also ushering the AI glasses industry into the era of payment," Rokid Founder and CEO Zhu Mingming said in a statement. "We believe this will set a new benchmark for the industry." —Joey Pizzolato
Stripe acquires crypto wallet fintech Privy
Stripe has acquired cryptocurrency startup Privy for an undisclosed amount, the companies said. The acquisition comes four months after
Privy specializes in embedded cryptocurrency wallet infrastructure, which allows developers to integrate crypto wallets into their applications.
"We started Privy a little over three years ago to make it easy for any developer to build better products on crypto rails," Privy said in a blog post on its website. "Joining Stripe will accelerate our work to shape this future and provide powerful new capabilities to Stripe and Privy customers alike."
The payments industry is experiencing a surge of interest in cryptocurrency and stablecoins as a result of the Trump administration's favorable regulatory
Klarna customers can now talk to an AI version of its CEO
Klarna is opening a direct line for its customers to talk to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski — well, sort of.
The Swedish
AI Sebastian, as it's called, can also talk about the company's vision, history and mission, according to Klarna.
"For decades, customer feedback has been a dull, tedious exercise with filling out forms, rating experiences on arbitrary scales, and completing surveys no one ever reads," Siemiatkowski said in a statement.
"We're changing that," he said. "Our new approach transforms feedback into a natural, real-time conversation that's both engaging for customers and actionable for our teams. Now, customers can simply speak their minds, and their insights are delivered to the right people internally in real time, for them to fix."
The launch comes after the company used the AI avatar to deliver its earnings last month,
