The Green Sheet Online Edition
August 10, 2026 • 26:08:01
Industry Update
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Alchemy Pay expands U.S. licensing with Michigan approval
Alchemy Pay received a Michigan Money Transmitter License, expanding its U.S. regulatory footprint to 19 states. The license authorizes the company to provide money transmission and related payment services, including digital wallet, payment processing and crypto-related activities, in Michigan. Alchemy Pay said the approval strengthens its ability to support compliant fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat transactions while advancing its stablecoin strategy and Alchemy Chain blockchain infrastructure.
The company said the license is part of its broader investment in regulatory compliance, which also includes approvals and registrations in Australia, South Korea, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
CNBC names Payward, Riskified among world's top fintechs
CNBC named Payward and Riskified to its World's Top Fintech Companies 2026 list, compiled in partnership with research firm Statista. The annual ranking recognizes companies shaping the future of financial technology across segments including payments, digital assets, enterprise fintech, wealth technology and regtech.
Payward, the financial infrastructure company behind Kraken and related digital asset businesses, was recognized for its unified platform spanning trading, custody, tokenized equities, payments and institutional services. The recognition comes less than a year after the company introduced the Payward brand and corporate structure.
Riskified earned a spot in the Payments category for the second time, following its inclusion in 2024. The company said the recognition reflects its continued focus on helping ecommerce merchants increase approvals, reduce fraud and improve profitability through its AI-powered risk intelligence platform, which provides real-time fraud prevention and risk management for merchants worldwide.
Daon receives third patent for agentic AI security
Daon received a U.S. patent covering technology designed to control how autonomous AI agents access protected systems in regulated industries. The patent describes an authorization process that evaluates whether an AI agent should be permitted to perform a specific action based on its connection to the authorized user, the integrity of its behavior and the context of the request.
According to Daon, the patent is the third in a series addressing agentic AI security and governance. Together, the patents establish a framework for verifying agent identity, monitoring behavior and authorizing individual actions while maintaining auditability and policy controls, Daon added.
Lifted Payments releases free statement-audit resource
Lifted Payments released a free, processor-neutral statement-audit resource designed to help ISOs, developers and merchants analyze merchant processing statements using a standardized structure. Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, the resource includes a JSON Schema, CSV template, synthetic sample data, validation tools and documentation for normalizing monthly volume, transaction counts, fee categories, credits, effective rates and reconciliation without collecting cardholder data.
Version 1.1.3 is archived with a permanent DOI and preserved through multiple repositories. Lifted Payments said the resource is intended as a normalization and comparison tool, not a pricing, accounting or legal opinion.
Juniper names i2c CEO Amir Wain Fintech Leader of the Year
Amir Wain, founder and CEO of i2c Inc., was named Fintech Leader of the Year in the Juniper Research Future Digital Awards for Fintech & Payments 2026. The award recognizes his leadership in building i2c's unified banking and payments platform, which supports credit, debit, prepaid, core banking and money movement through a configurable architecture, Juniper noted.
Under Wain's leadership, i2c has expanded its platform to serve financial institutions and fintechs in more than 216 countries and territories. The company said its unified architecture, AI-powered fraud detection and emphasis on scalability and operational resilience have helped distinguish its platform in the global payments market.
RESEARCH
Chargeback costs increasingly passed on to consumers, report finds
The cost of chargebacks and dispute fraud is increasingly affecting consumer prices, according to Chargebacks911's 2026 Chargeback Field Report. Based on merchant surveys in the United States, United Kingdom and other global markets, the report found that 38 percent of merchants now factor chargeback-related costs into pricing, up from 32.5 percent in the previous study.
Merchants reported losing more than $4 for every $1 disputed after accounting for fees, lost inventory and operational costs. The report also found that 62 percent of merchants have seen dispute volumes increase over the past three years, with friendly fraud contributing significantly to the trend.
FPC report examines stablecoins for cross-border payments
The U.S. Faster Payments Council published a report examining how GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins could improve cross-border payments. Developed by the FPC Cross-Border Payments Work Group in collaboration with the Digital Assets Work Group, the report evaluates direct stablecoin transfers and stablecoin-based settlement models used by financial institutions and fintechs. It outlines potential benefits, including faster settlement, lower costs, reduced reliance on correspondent banking and greater transparency, while also addressing implementation challenges such as regulatory compliance, interoperability, liquidity management and integration with legacy systems.
The report is available at fasterpaymentscouncil.org/New-Knowledge-Center.
House report outlines frameworkfor combating financial fraud
Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee released a report examining the growing threat of financial fraud and scams and recommending strategies to strengthen prevention efforts. Fighting Back: A Policy Framework for Combating the Rise of Financial Fraud & Scams is the result of a year-long committee investigation that included input from banks, social media companies, telecommunications firms, law enforcement agencies and federal regulators.
The report examines emerging fraud trends and recommends improved coordination among government agencies, financial institutions and the private sector, along with enhanced consumer protections and tools to help detect and prevent fraud.
Survey highlights growth of informal lending economy
More than half of UK adults have lent or borrowed money from friends or family during the past year, according to research commissioned by Pebblio. The survey of 2,000 adults found that 54 percent participated in informal lending, with 28 percent of recent loans used to bridge a cashflow gap before payday. Nearly 40 percent of respondents reported a repayment misunderstanding, while almost half of the loans were for £250 (about $337) or more.
The findings suggest families and friends are increasingly helping one another manage short-term financial pressures, often relying on verbal agreements rather than written repayment terms.
Survey finds AI-enabled fraud outpacing industry response
AI-enabled fraud is increasing faster than many financial institutions can respond, according to the UK Financial Crime Pulse 2026 from The Payments Association. Among respondents that have encountered AI-enabled fraud, 76 percent said the threat is growing faster than their organizations' ability to address it.
The survey of 100 senior UK financial services executives also found that authorized push payment fraud is viewed as the industry's most significant financial crime challenge, while insider fraud is the most common. Despite rising concerns, only half of respondents identified AI fraud prevention as an investment priority.
PARTNERSHIPS
Emburse, Direct Travel to unify travel, expense management
Emburse and Direct Travel formed a strategic partnership to integrate travel management with expense management through Direct Travel's Avenir platform, powered by Spotnana, and Emburse's AI-driven expense intelligence. The companies said the collaboration will enable travel, payment and expense data to flow continuously between the platforms, helping automate expense reporting, improve policy compliance and provide real-time visibility into travel spending.
By combining travel and financial data, the partners aim to deliver a more personalized traveler experience while giving finance and travel managers better insights, stronger governance and more efficient expense reconciliation across the business travel lifecycle.
MassPay expands global reach through two partnerships
MassPay announced two partnerships aimed at expanding its global payout platform and accelerating business growth. Through a collaboration with Finexio, the company will provide embedded cross-border payment capabilities for accounts payable customers, enabling vendor payments in more than 180 countries and 80 currencies directly from existing AP workflows. MassPay said its infrastructure handles payment routing, verification and local payment rails, with general availability expected in late summer.
Separately, MassPay revealed it built a scalable demand-generation program using ZoomInfo's sales and marketing intelligence platform. The company said the initiative has improved engagement by targeting buyers before sales outreach begins and is providing market intelligence as it expands into new customer segments and markets.
Newland, Futurex partner on remote key injection
Newland Payment Technology partnered with Futurex to provide a hosted remote key injection service for payment terminals across the United States and Canada. The service enables cryptographic keys to be securely delivered to terminals after deployment, eliminating the need to inject keys before shipment and helping reduce deployment time and costs.
The offering supports processors, ISOs, ISVs, merchants and distributors and complements Newland's Android SmartPOS terminals, PayExplorer payment application and terminal management platform. The companies said the partnership strengthens payment security while simplifying large-scale terminal deployment and management.
Onramp, Margus Capital partner to expand ecommerce funding
Onramp Funds partnered with Margus Capital to expand working capital financing for small and midsize ecommerce businesses. Under the agreement, Margus will provide a recurring source of capital that Onramp will deploy through its existing financing products.
The companies said the partnership will enable larger advances, faster funding decisions, loan terms of up to 18 months and broader eligibility for online merchants selling through platforms such as Amazon, Shopify and Walmart. Onramp said the additional funding capacity will help merchants better manage inventory, seasonal demand and multi-channel growth while allowing founders to retain ownership of their businesses.
TSG, Stripe aim to help software firms grow payments revenue
TSG (The Strawhecker Group) formed a strategic partnership with Stripe to help platforms, software providers and their investors use payments to drive growth and improve business performance. The companies said they will combine data, strategy and execution to help organizations strengthen payment monetization, streamline compliance and onboarding, improve customer activation, increase payment attachment rates and enhance margins.
The partnership will place particular emphasis on SaaS platforms and independent software vendors, with the goal of aligning payments strategy with broader business objectives. TSG said the collaboration builds on its benchmarking and market intelligence capabilities to help clients maximize the value of their businesses.
ACQUISITIONS
Circle acquires IBM blockchain patent portfolio
Circle Internet Group acquired key assets from IBM's blockchain patent portfolio, adding more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents worldwide. The portfolio covers blockchain technology, banking, financial services, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification and secure cloud operations.
Circle said the acquisition makes it the largest holder of blockchain patents in the United States and strengthens the intellectual property supporting its USDC stablecoin, Circle Payments Network and other onchain financial products. Circle and IBM said they also plan to explore additional commercial opportunities related to the portfolio.
Engine acquires Options Travel for modern corporate travel
Engine acquired corporate travel management company Options Travel as part of its effort to modernize technology for travel management companies (TMCs). Options Travel will continue operating under its own brand and leadership, with all employees joining Engine. The acquisition supports development of Engine's AI-native online booking platform, which combines booking, payments, reporting, customer management and duty-of-care capabilities in a single system.
The companies said the platform is designed to streamline agent workflows, reduce booking times and improve travel management through automation, personalization and real-time insights while preserving the high-touch service TMCs provide.
Mastercard completes acquisition of BVNK
Mastercard completed its acquisition of BVNK, expanding its strategy to connect traditional and digital currencies. BVNK provides infrastructure that enables businesses to hold, move, manage and convert value across fiat and digital currencies while supporting security, compliance and interoperability. Mastercard said combining its global payments network with BVNK's stablecoin and on-chain technology will help financial institutions, fintechs and enterprises scale applications including cross-border B2B payments, payouts, settlement and treasury management.
The company added that the acquisition supports its vision of a multi-money ecosystem in which fiat, stablecoins and tokenized assets work together seamlessly.
Visa to acquire BioCatch for $2.4 billion
Visa signed a definitive agreement to acquire behavioral fraud intelligence provider BioCatch for $2.4 billion in cash. The company said the acquisition will strengthen its cyber, fraud and risk management offerings by helping financial institutions detect and prevent account takeovers, scams, money mule activity and application fraud before payments occur.
BioCatch uses AI and machine learning to analyze behavioral, device and network signals in real time, protecting 1.8 billion devices and serving more than 350 banking clients worldwide. The transaction is expected to close by the end of Visa's fiscal second quarter of 2027.
APPOINTMENTS
BALBOA | CORP expands advisory board
BALBOA | CORP appointed Austin Campbell and Richard Douglas to its advisory board. Campbell is founder and CEO of Zero Knowledge Group and former head of treasury at Paxos, where he managed more than $22 billion in reserves and helped develop the BUSD stablecoin for Binance.
He has also held leadership roles at JPMorgan, Citi and Stone Ridge and serves as an adjunct professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. Douglas is a three-time fintech founder with expertise in payments, blockchain, risk management and regulatory compliance. He has advised high-growth fintech companies and served as an independent director on fintech boards.
Evans, Elder assume leadership roles at Aventiv
Brian Evans was named chief executive officer of Aventiv, while Kevin Elder was appointed president. Evans assumes the CEO role following the company's ownership transition and formation of its board of directors. He brings leadership experience spanning corrections, public safety, finance and operations, with a background in driving organizational growth and operational performance.
Elder, who will continue to work closely with Evans, has played a key leadership role at Aventiv and will focus on advancing strategic initiatives, strengthening customer relationships and overseeing enterprise execution. Together, the executives will lead the company's next phase of growth.
i2c selects Joseph Schmidt, Jason Goldberg
i2c appointed Joseph Schmidt as chief financial officer and Jason Goldberg as chief client officer, strengthening its executive leadership team as the company continues its global expansion. Schmidt brings to the company nearly 20 years of experience in corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, investing and operations. Most recently, he served as CFO of American Banknote Corp. Goldberg joins i2c with more than 25 years of leadership experience in payments, lending and fintech, most recently leading network growth at Zelle. He has also held executive roles at Citi, Mastercard, Elevate, MoneyLion and American Express. At i2c, Schmidt will oversee the company's global finance organization, while Goldberg will lead client engagement, retention and growth, supporting financial institutions and fintechs using i2c's banking and payments platform.
Peter Loo joins Bybit
Bybit appointed Peter Loo as chief legal and compliance officer. Loo brings more than 25 years of legal, regulatory and compliance experience across investment banking, financial regulation and digital assets. Most recently, he served as general counsel and head of sector development at Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, where he helped develop licensing, market conduct and enforcement frameworks for the virtual asset sector. He has also held senior legal and compliance roles at Barclays Capital, MF Global and Amber Group. At Bybit, Loo will lead the company's global legal, regulatory and compliance strategy as it expands internationally.
Illumia taps Eric Schuster
Illumia appointed Eric Schuster as chief product officer, stating he will lead product strategy and development across the company's technology portfolio. Schuster brings more than 20 years of experience in enterprise software and product leadership to the company. Most recently, he served as chief product officer at ADP, overseeing product strategy for the ADP Workforce Now platform and helping advance the company's AI initiatives. Before that, he spent nearly 15 years at Ceridian, now Dayforce, where he led product management during the company's transition to a cloud-based human capital management platform.
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