1. Top Headlines
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FedNow to enable cross-border payments — Finextra. The Federal Reserve is advancing plans to let FedNow participants support the US domestic leg of cross-border instant payments. The move could give international payroll, corporate payments and time-sensitive disbursements a faster US-side rail while correspondent banking continues to handle the international leg.
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UK banks pilot tokenised deposit transactions — Finextra. Seven major UK banks completed live customer transactions using tokenised sterling deposits, including remortgage and shopping use cases. Programmable money that releases funds only when conditions are met points toward payment infrastructure that can combine settlement with business logic.
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SoFi Bank goes live with stablecoin settlement across Mastercard network — Finextra. SoFi has moved its full $25 billion card programme to blockchain settlement using its bank-issued SoFiUSD stablecoin. The development puts regulated stablecoin settlement into a live card environment rather than limiting it to pilots.
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The Clearing House taps Quant for tokenised deposit network — Finextra. The Clearing House selected Quant to provide infrastructure for an interoperable US tokenised-deposit network connecting digital money with existing RTP and CHIPS rails. The initiative is backed by major banks and is targeted for launch in the first half of 2027.
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Citi and HSBC back IPID Series A — Finextra. Payment intelligence company IPID raised $16 million in Series A funding with participation from Citi and HSBC. Its focus is payee verification, fraud-risk assessment and richer payment data before money moves, addressing a growing problem as transactions become faster.
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IBM integrates digital asset platform with Swift shared ledger — Finextra. IBM is connecting its digital-asset platform clients to permissioned blockchain networks including Swift’s shared ledger. The development reinforces the direction toward interoperability between traditional financial infrastructure and tokenised assets.
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Dtcpay completes $25m Series A with SBI Group backing — FinTech Futures. Singapore-based stablecoin payments provider Dtcpay closed its Series A at $25 million with Japan’s SBI Group joining the investor base. The company is using the capital for product development and international expansion across its stablecoin, wallet and card infrastructure.
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Danske Bank and Mastercard complete Denmark’s first agentic AI payment — FinTech Futures. Danske Bank and Mastercard completed a payment initiated and executed autonomously by an AI agent. The trial adds another live market example of agentic commerce moving from demonstrations toward actual payment transactions.
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Ryft lands £20m Series B to fund EU and US expansion — FinTech Futures. UK payments platform Ryft raised £20 million to expand in Europe and the US. The company is also pursuing a full EU payments licence, highlighting the importance of regulatory infrastructure alongside cross-border payments growth.
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Egypt’s Paymob bags $35m in pre-Series C funding round — FinTech Futures. Paymob raised $35 million to expand its digital payments acceptance business across MENA. The company already serves more than 390,000 businesses across multiple licensed markets and plans to develop products for SMEs and agentic commerce.
2. In-Depth Highlight
SoFi Bank goes live with stablecoin settlement across Mastercard network is one of the week’s clearest signals that stablecoins are moving into mainstream payment infrastructure. SoFi has migrated its entire $25 billion debit and credit card programme to blockchain settlement using SoFiUSD, a stablecoin issued by a nationally chartered bank. Mastercard provides the network environment while SoFi provides the regulated stablecoin settlement asset, creating a model in which merchants do not need to directly hold or manage stablecoins. The potential impact is primarily on settlement and liquidity rather than the consumer checkout experience. If similar models scale, bank-issued stablecoins could become an additional settlement layer underneath established card and merchant ecosystems.
3. Market & Industry Insight
The dominant payments infrastructure theme this week is the convergence of real-time payments and tokenised money. FedNow is preparing to support the US leg of cross-border transactions, while The Clearing House is developing connectivity between tokenised deposits and existing RTP and CHIPS infrastructure. In the UK, seven major banks have already demonstrated live transactions using tokenised sterling deposits. Together, these developments suggest that the next phase of payments innovation is increasingly about connecting new forms of money to established payment rails rather than replacing those rails outright.
The distinction between stablecoins and tokenised deposits is also becoming strategically important. Stablecoins are typically issued by specialised entities and can operate across blockchain ecosystems, while tokenised deposits represent commercial-bank money on digital infrastructure. This week’s US, UK and Canadian developments show banks building programmable settlement capabilities around their own deposit money. Meanwhile, the ECB has launched Pontes, designed to connect distributed-ledger infrastructure with central bank money for tokenised-asset settlement, with broader implementation expected over time. (Eurosystem brings central bank money to tokenised finance)
4. Company & Startup Spotlight
Dtcpay is emerging as a notable Singapore-based stablecoin payments infrastructure provider. Its $25 million Series A, including backing from Japan’s SBI Group, comes alongside regulatory authorisations across several markets and an existing product stack covering stablecoin custody, multi-currency wallets and card products. The company’s expansion illustrates how regulated stablecoin infrastructure is attracting strategic financial-industry capital. (Dtcpay completes $25m Series A with SBI Group backing)
IPID represents another important infrastructure layer: payment intelligence before money moves. Backed by Citi and HSBC in a $16 million Series A, the company focuses on account verification, payee intelligence and fraud-risk assessment. As real-time payments reduce the time available for intervention, decision quality before transaction execution becomes increasingly important. (Citi and HSBC back IPID Series A)
5. Regulatory & Policy Watch
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FedNow cross-border capability: The Federal Reserve is progressing regulatory and technical changes that would allow intermediaries other than Reserve Banks to participate in cross-border FedNow payment flows. (FedNow to enable cross-border payments)
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EU tokenised-finance infrastructure: The ECB has launched Pontes to connect tokenised financial-market transactions with central bank money, with enhanced capabilities and longer operating hours planned progressively toward 2028. (Eurosystem brings central bank money to tokenised finance)
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EU payments licensing: UK paytech Ryft has applied for a full EU licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority alongside its £20 million expansion round, highlighting the regulatory work required for cross-border payments growth. (Ryft lands £20m Series B to fund EU and US expansion)
6. Quote of the Day
“Merchants do not need to hold stablecoins, build new infrastructure or change how they operate.”
Anthony Noto, CEO, SoFi, describing the bank’s approach to stablecoin settlement through Mastercard. Source article
7. What’s Next
Sibos 2026 opens in Miami on 28 September and runs through 1 October, bringing more than 10,000 participants together around the theme “Digital finance for AI-driven economies.” Payments, tokenised deposits, digital assets, AI-driven commerce, real-time payments and the Swift ledger are prominent topics on the programme. (Sibos 2026)
The coming week is therefore likely to produce further announcements around agentic payments, tokenised money, cross-border infrastructure and programmable settlement as banks, payment networks and fintechs use Sibos to move pilots toward production.