Google's New Trick in India: Just "Ask Google Pay"
Hey Payments Fanatic!
Google just made its biggest move yet to turn Google Pay into a full-blown financial assistant in India.
The company introduced "Ask Google Pay," an AI-powered conversational interface that lets users manage money, check balances, and navigate financial products just by asking.
On top of that, Google is expanding everyday credit access through new lending partnerships, turning a payments app into a personal finance concierge 👀
Scroll down for more Payments news 👇 See you on Monday!
Cheers,
INSIGHTS
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NEWS
🇬🇧 Sokin: In an agent rush, own the infrastructure. Sokin is on track to surpass a $120 million net revenue run rate by the end of 2026 after more than doubling year-over-year growth. The B2B payments company attributes its momentum to its regulated global payments infrastructure, including licences across 36 countries.
🇪🇺 Unlimit secures licence to provide digital-asset services across the EU. Unlimit can now offer crypto-asset services to its clients under a single approval, without a separate licence in each member state. Irene Skrynova, CEO of Global Payments, said, ”This authorisation allows us to expand our digital-asset services across the European Union”.
🇺🇸 Mastercard earnings jump as firm expands beyond its network. Mastercard reported a 21% increase in second-quarter profit, driven by strong payment volumes and continued growth in its value-added services business. The company also highlighted ongoing investments in new payment technologies, including stablecoins, as it expands beyond its traditional card network.
🇰🇪 Heifer, Mastercard and KCB launch digital payment initiative for dairy farmers. The collaboration brings together agriculture, finance, and digital technology partners to help address long-standing payment and financing challenges in Kenya’s dairy sector.
🌎 Google launches Ask Google Pay, a Gemini AI assistant to help users track spending and save smarter. The feature provides spending insights, savings recommendations, personalized financial guidance, and educational information directly within the app.
🇲🇾 Money transfer firm Wise gains access to Malaysia's payments network. The connection will allow Wise app users to scan and pay using Malaysia's national QR standard, DuitNow QR, and introduce simpler ways to transfer Malaysian ringgit , the company said in a statement.
🇬🇧 Ecommpay brings full-stack acquiring to PayControl Orchestration. Through the new partnership, merchants using PayControl's orchestration platform can now route transactions through Ecommpay, gaining access to its payment gateway and acquiring in multiple regions.
🇰🇷 Airwallex appoints Yuna Kwon as Head of SME for South Korea to accelerate growth and global expansion for local businesses. In this role, Yuna will be responsible for leading Airwallex’s Korea operations, building strategic partnerships with financial institutions, strengthening engagement with industry stakeholders and key media, and expanding customer success initiatives.
🇺🇸 Visa and Corpay expand partnership to scale Fleet 2.0 payments. The agreement will bring Visa Fleet 2.0 onto Corpay's fleet card processing platform, expanding the suite of payment solutions available to fleet operators, mobility providers and businesses across the region.
🇿🇦 Onafriq partners with Privy to modernise cross-border payments. The collaboration will enable Onafriq to build embedded digital asset infrastructure capable of supporting stablecoin-enabled payment services for businesses, financial institutions and ecosystem partners, subject to regulatory approvals.
🌍 MoonPay launches PayBox, a payment vault built for AI that lets a person's AI agent transact on the open internet without leaving the conversation. Anyone can now connect PayBox to Claude or ChatGPT via a custom connector, enabling their AI to securely transact over the open internet.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan gears up for Apple Pay and Google Pay launch after recent regulatory changes removed data localization barriers. Local banks are now working with Humo and Uzcard on technical integration, which will allow customers to add domestic and international payment cards to their digital wallets.
🇦🇪 UAE-born FinTech KamelPay secures SVF and RPS licenses from the Central Bank of the UAE. The approvals enable the FinTech to expand its regulated payroll and business payment services, which already support more than 2,000 businesses and 400,000 employees across the UAE.
🇺🇸 Juspay and Recurly partner to accelerate growth in subscription payments. This partnership enables Recurly’s merchants to reduce payment failures, scale with new payment providers, and accelerate go-to-market with greater speed and control.
🇺🇸 Freehand raises $75M to automate enterprise supply-chain spending. The funding will support the company as it seeks to build out its customer base, particularly in industries such as retail. Read more
🇻🇳 TerraPay partners with HDBank to power real-time international payments from Vietnam. Through this partnership, HDBank customers gain access to TerraPay’s global payout network spanning more than 156 countries and territories.
🇬🇧 Ebury has signed a multi-year partnership with Ipswich Town FC. As the club’s official foreign exchange partner, Ebury will support Ipswich’s foreign exchange and international payment requirements, helping the club manage cross-border transactions efficiently.
🇰🇪 Visa appoints Anne Kinuthia-Otieno as head of East Africa. Based in Nairobi, Kinuthia-Otieno will lead Visa's East Africa business across seven markets, overseeing efforts to advance digital payments, strengthen client and partner relationships, and expand financial inclusion across the region.
🇺🇸 Strivve raises funding round. The company intends to use the capital to fund the expansion of its automated card-on-file placement technology, scale integration across global online merchants, and increase card distribution footprints across financial institutions.
🌍 Shopify Payments supports USDC checkout, allowing customers to pay with hundreds of supported crypto wallets without foreign exchange or gas fees. The feature expands digital payment options while offering eligible merchants incentives and customers USDC cashback on qualifying purchases.
🌍 MiFinity to launch PayAnyCoin, delivering global stablecoin payouts enabled by BVNK infrastructure. The new offering enables merchants to send near-instant international payouts through a single API, combining stablecoin settlement with enterprise-grade compliance and payment infrastructure.
🌍 Navro Europe promotes Tracey Gernon to CEO to drive international expansion. Based in Dublin, site of Navro Europe’s headquarters, Tracey will drive Navro’s expansion across Ireland and Europe and oversee the firm’s international compliance framework in her new role.
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