Checkout.com and Microsoft Team Up for the AI Commerce Era

Hey Payments Fanatic!

When Big Tech meets FinTech, things move fast.

Checkout.com just inked a multi-year deal with Microsoft, moving its global payments engine onto Azure’s cloud — a major play to boost performance, security, and scalability for enterprise clients like eBay, Klarna, and ASOS.

The partnership isn’t just about smoother payments. It’s about building trust into the infrastructure of digital commerce — and preparing for what both call the next wave: agentic commerce, where AI agents buy, pay, and optimize transactions autonomously.

Now let’s dive into the rest of today’s payments headlines. 👇

Cheers,

Marcel

PODCAST 

🌍 Bizum’s Vision and the Future of European Payments. In this episode, Arthur speaks with Fernando Rodriguez Ferrer, Chief International Business Officer at Bizum, to discuss the company’s strategic vision for digital payments in Europe over the next three to five years. The conversation highlights how Bizum aims to leverage its strong local presence in Spain while contributing to a more integrated and unified European payment ecosystem. You can also listen to us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

NEWS

🇬🇧 Microsoft and Checkout.com unite to elevate enterprise payments performance and build trust in the digital economy. Alliance will improve digital payment experiences and help prepare businesses for the rise of agentic commerce. Collaboration reflects a joint ambition to embed trust at the heart of today’s and tomorrow’s digital and agentic economy.

🇺🇸 Airwallex Celebrates Dual Milestones. Airwallex hit two major milestones this week: acquiring billing platform OpenPay to advance its global, multi-currency solution, and winning the 2025 Pledge 1% Impact Award for its boosted volunteer efforts and $62M in community support.

🇬🇧 How network tokenization can help fix failed subscription payments by Ecommpay. Ecommpay highlights that 7% of subscription payments fail on the first attempt, leading to costly involuntary churn, despite customers not intending to leave. Their network tokenization solution automatically updates payment information, helping merchants reduce churn and increase renewal success rates by up to 3%.

🇪🇸 New era of instant Payments. Are you ready? by PagoNxt. In Episode 3 of PayTalks by PagoNxt, Susana Delgado (Swift), David Hurtado (Microsoft), Mattia Gamberoni (Stripe), and Francisco Huerta (PagoNxt) discuss how instant payments are reshaping global commerce. They explore the shift in customer expectations, the role of AI in security and efficiency, and the need to offer preferred payment methods in a world where speed is no longer optional.

🇬🇧 Solidgate releases VAMP enforcement guide to help merchants avoid fines and manage fraud thresholds. Merchants flagged for enumeration or hitting "Excessive" levels face per-transaction fees, with stricter thresholds coming in April 2026. Risk leaders should monitor their VAMP ratio, strengthen fraud tools, and prepare proactive remediation plans. Download the full VAMP guide here

🇺🇸 AI-powered, real-time decisioning: A complex retailer’s success story with ACI Worldwide. A leading omnichannel retailer partnered with ACI Worldwide to combat rising fraud while maintaining real-time transaction speed. Using AI-driven risk scoring and global threat intelligence, ACI’s platform automates approvals and defenses, cutting manual work and boosting revenue without compromising security.

🇺🇸 FinTech Ramp launches fraud-fighting and bill payment AI agents. The agents help catch fraudulent invoices by evaluating 63 pieces of data. In addition to the fraud piece, the agents aim to automate tasks like confirming bank account numbers or coding the invoices to the proper expense category.

🇩🇰 Pleo launches multi-currency accounts to simplify global spending and help businesses tackle billions lost in FX fees. Designed to eliminate the hassle and expense of cross-border transactions, the new feature streamlines global business spending by automatically detecting the transaction currency and withdrawing funds from the corresponding account.

🇮🇳 PayPal’s focus will remain on connecting India to the world rather than competing in the domestic payments market, Alex Chriss, CEO, said. He said India is playing a defining role in the global FinTech ecosystem, from remittances to commerce to technology, calling it a “critical market” for the company’s international strategy.

🇮🇳 India to roll out biometric authentication for instant digital payments. India will allow users to approve payments made through the popular domestic payments network, the Unified Payments Interface, using facial recognition and fingerprints. Authentications will be done using biometric data stored under the Government of India's unique identification system - Aadhar.

🇮🇳 India to launch digital currency. India is set to launch its own RBI-backed digital currency, aiming for simpler, faster, and traceable transactions while reducing paper use. Union Minister emphasized that the nation discourages cryptocurrencies lacking sovereign or asset backing, imposing heavy taxes on them due to inherent risks and lack of accountability.

🇩🇪 vobapay integrates Mastercard Open Finance to enable A2A payments. As part of this collaboration, vobapay will integrate Mastercard’s Open Banking technology into its platform. This will enable companies working with vobapay to offer their customers secure and fast account-to-account (A2A) payments directly at checkout.

🇨🇴 EBANX brings Bre-B, Colombia's new instant payment system, to global companies from day one. To facilitate this access, the FinTech has partnered with MOVii, which provides a complete issuing and acquiring payment infrastructure for individuals and businesses.

🇲🇦 Morocco moves closer to launching a central bank digital currency. Morocco is advancing plans to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-Dirham, as part of a broader push to modernize its financial system and boost financial inclusion. Continue reading

🇮🇳 Zoho boosts its FinTech offering with POS and QR devices, along with a range of payment solutions including payout capabilities, virtual accounts for collections, and marketplace settlements. The launch enhances the company's footprint in the FinTech landscape, with innovative, end-to-end payment solutions.

🇲🇾 UAE's Fasset secures provisional banking license for stablecoin-powered Islamic bank in Malaysia. The firm said in a statement that the license completes its ability to provide full-service digital banking to its existing global user base of 500,000 within a regulated sandbox for Islamic FinTech innovations, establishing Fasset as the world’s first stablecoin-powered Islamic digital bank.

🇫🇷 TerraPay adopts stablecoin-native flows, powered by Fipto. This partnership enables Terrapay’s clients to fund directly in stablecoins and payout partners to receive them, where supported, in regions where stablecoins are allowed by regulators.  The shift is already delivering treasury benefits and has helped reduce prefunding requirements.

🇮🇳 Banking Circle and EbixCash to simplify cross-border payments for Indian students and travellers. Banking Circle will enable EbixCash World Money ('EbixCash') to offer faster and more transparent international money transfers. Keep reading

🇮🇳 India’s Raise Financial becomes a unicorn after $120m series B. The round also saw participation from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, BEENEXT, Ramesh Damani, DSP Family Office, JM Financial Family Office, Aashish Somaiyaa, and other investors. Read more

🇺🇾 Akua raised US$8.5 million and accelerates its expansion in Latin America. With this capital injection, the company will seek further growth in the region. It currently operates in Colombia and Uruguay and is in "advanced discussions" with major regional banks.

🇺🇸 BNY Mellon explores tokenized deposits and blockchain payments. The new initiative is part of BNY Mellon’s broader plan to modernize its infrastructure, support instant cross-border payments, and improve overall financial transfer methods using digital assets and blockchain technology.

🇵🇭 HitPay partners with Ingenico to launch a payment solution to drive digital adoption for Filipino SMEs. The collaboration equips local merchants to seamlessly accept all major payment types, from credit cards to popular local e-wallets. The partnership’s initial deployment has already begun for businesses in key industries.

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