Fintech

OpenAI acquires AI personal finance startup Hiro — its 15th acquisition in past year. Expands into consumer fintech and assistant use cases. Acquisition marks OpenAI's most direct move into consumer financial services.

Flutterwave obtains banking licence in Nigeria, strengthening payments ecosystem control. Comes months after Mono acquisition, building integrated financial services platform. Licence authorizes regional payment bank operations including deposit-taking and digital services.

Agentic AI emerging as next battleground in banking. Financial institutions moving from copilots to autonomous workflow systems in customer service, compliance, and operations. Agentic systems independently execute multi-step processes.

Top fintech news this week features Revolut, Coinbase, and Bolt 鈥?each representing different sector (neobanking, crypto exchange, payments). Fintech convergence continues blurring traditional industry boundaries.

Fannie Mae will accept cryptocurrency as collateral for home loans for the first time, enabling buyers to pledge Bitcoin and USDC without selling, bridging crypto holdings with traditional mortgage financing.