FinTech Mexico, Stablecon Agenda, & more (TWIF 2/28)

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Hello Fintech Friends,

We had a whirlwind week here in Mexico City.

It was great to get to catch up with founders, meet with a few investors, and get a pulse check on one of the most active fintech markets in the world. Thank you to everyone who came out to our dinners and fintech meetups.

We had a chance to attend the great FinTech Mexico Festival, in its second year, which seemed to bring out the entire community (not to mention a lot of American visitors) for a day of panels, in which the topic of stablecoins dominated.

I think Mexico City might have the highest ratio right now of smart, successful founders to fintech capital providers.

I was also happy to catch up with TWIF's LatAm team:

If you don't know them, our amazing LatAm team includes Ramon Escobar, Lorena Buzón, Elena Cruz, Adrielle Andrade, Daniela Olavarrieta, and Jox Gallardo.

Elsewhere this week, I got a chance to talk with Zach Bijesse about building fintech community...

And we officially released the Stablecon agenda, with speakers from Fireblocks, Ripple, Circle, Stripe, Coinbase, Visa, Citi, and more (ticket prices go up tonight at midnight).

Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news below.

(👍👎 Have feedback for us? Let us know. Find me at @nikmilanovic, @twifintech, and @ndm)

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Franklin Templeton launched its first tokenized fund in Luxembourg, aiming to enhance accessibility for investors through blockchain access to traditional funds.

Equifax introduced a Financed Emissions Calculator to help financial institutions measure and manage carbon emissions associated with their lending and investment activities.

Chase Bank announced plans to block Zelle payments originating from social media platforms starting March 23, 2025, as a measure to combat fraud and scams.

Citadel Securities revealed its intentions to begin trading digital coins on various cryptocurrency exchanges, marking its first foray into the crypto market.

BNY Mellon and OpenAI entered into a partnership to co-development the bank's proprietary AI platform Eliza.

Bank of America's CEO, Brian Moynihan, expressed interest in entering the stablecoin business, contingent upon the establishment of comprehensive U.S. regulations.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott introduced Congressional Review Act resolutions to overturn the CFPB's rule capping overdraft fees, citing concerns over consumer access to financial services.

A UK court approved Mastercard's £200 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit, resolving claims of overcharging consumers through excessive credit card fees.

Orum* partnered with Visa Direct to introduce faster payment solutions, enhancing real-time money movement capabilities for businesses and consumers.

Avalanche unveiled a new Visa crypto card, enabling users to spend their stablecoin holdings in everyday transactions.

Flexa launched Tap to Pay, the first NFC-based hardware wallet payment system, allowing users to conduct retail crypto transactions without a mobile device.

insightsoftware introduced Lineos AI, an AI-powered platform designed to transform finance workflows by providing actionable insights and automating complex financial processes.

Figure Markets announced YLDS, the first SEC-regulated yield-bearing stablecoin, offering investors a secure and interest-accruing digital asset native to the Provenance Blockchain.

Coinbase Wallet integrated with Onboard to expand global access to cryptocurrency, enabling users in countries like Nigeria to purchase crypto using local currency through a peer-to-peer exchange with lower fees and minimal verification.

Skipify introduced Embedded Components, a flexible approach to frictionless checkout, allowing merchants to integrate seamless payment experiences directly into their platforms.

Zest AI unveiled Lulu Pulse, the first module of its Lending Intelligence Platform, providing credit unions with advanced tools to enhance lending decisions and member services.

Digital Asset and Euroclear commenced the first project phase to increase the mobility of collateral assets through the Canton Network, aiming to facilitate regulated exchanges of digital assets and cash as collateral.

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A Message From our Partner

Fintech Predictions 2025 is here! Is AI just hype? What will big banks focus on in 2025? Get ahead this year with expert insights from Plaid’s Co-founder and CEO Zach Perret.

Watch now.

Want to sponsor a newsletter? See our sponsorship information here.

Robinhood announced that the SEC dismissed its investigation into the company's crypto unit. Coinbase revealed that the SEC is also poised to drop its lawsuit against the exchange.

Dave completed its transition to a simplified fee structure, away from tips.

FTX's bankruptcy estate began initial payouts to smaller customers with claims under $50,000.

Crunchbase relaunched as an AI-powered predictions engine, moving away from historical data to provide users with predictive intelligence on private companies' growth, funding rounds, and acquisitions.

Blend and Truework partnered to enhance income and employment verification solutions across home lending and consumer banking sectors.

PayPal collaborated with Verifone to expand in-person payment capabilities.

GoCardless teamed up with Pipe to offer small and medium-sized enterprises access to capital financing directly through the GoCardless platform.

Zepz, the cross-border paymetns unicorn, announced plans to lay off 200 employees as part of its restructuring efforts to streamline operations.

Crypto exchange OKX's operator, Aux Cayes FinTech Co, pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and agreed to pay over $504 million in fines and forfeitures.