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Archive · September 3, 2026

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Story 01

TabaPay Raises $155M and Moves to Acquire Denver Bank for OCC Charter

TabaPay secured $155 million in growth financing led by FTV Capital and announced the recent acquisition of a Denver-based bank, aiming for an OCC charter. This positions TabaPay to expand beyond money movement into regulated banking services, directly challenging both neobanks and established regional banks. Fintechs like Brex and Mercury, which have signaled interest in direct banking capabilities, may pursue similar acquisitions as regulatory harmonization increases the complexity of market entry.

Source: Finextra
Also Worth Knowing
№02

X Shifts US Creator Payouts from Stripe to In-House X Money Platform

X has transitioned U.S. creator payouts from Stripe to its proprietary X Money service as of September 2, 2026. This recent change reduces Stripe’s role in the creator economy and gives X direct oversight of payment flows and user data. The move reflects a growing trend of social and content platforms internalizing payments, with companies like Meta and TikTok also exploring in-house solutions to strengthen ecosystem control and data ownership.

Source: PYMNTS
№03

Félix Raises $200M to Expand WhatsApp-Based Remittance Platform Into Broader Fintech

Félix, which enables remittances via WhatsApp, has raised $200 million in equity and debt to expand its financial product suite. With this funding, Félix plans to offer credit and savings products to immigrant communities, directly competing with established remittance firms like Western Union and digital-first banks such as Varo. These incumbents now face a challenger leveraging chat-based distribution and embedded finance to reach underserved users.

Source: Finextra
№04

Amazon Adds Scam Protection to Alexa Shopping Amid Rising Fraud Losses

Amazon has launched a new feature in Alexa for Shopping that verifies the authenticity of messages to combat rising consumer fraud. This enhancement could increase consumer trust in voice-assisted commerce and differentiate Alexa from Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri. Merchants and payment providers may benefit from fewer fraud-related chargebacks as consumers rely more on built-in verification tools, prompting other voice commerce platforms to enhance their security features.

Source: PYMNTS
№05

ACI Worldwide Acquires Cranium Ventures to Add Cloud-Native Card Switching

ACI Worldwide has acquired Cranium Ventures to integrate microservices-based card payment switching into its platform. This strengthens ACI’s technology stack, enabling faster deployment of new card products and improved scalability for banks and merchants. Competing processors like FIS and Fiserv may need to accelerate their own modernization efforts as cloud-native architectures become essential for flexible, API-driven payments infrastructure.

Source: Finextra
The Long Memory
“In 2023, over 60% of global fintech funding targeted embedded finance and payments infrastructure, reflecting a surge in demand for integrated financial services across industries.

Filed under: Payments History · The Long Memory

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