Apple expands Tap to Pay 🤳, Block to enable Bitcoin payments 🪙, Neobank metrics comparison 🏦

Apple has rolled out Tap to Pay on iPhone to eight additional European countries, including Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Sign Up |Advertise|View Online TLDR Together With TLDR Fintech 2025-05-29 Free expert-led course: Learn how to spot and stop KYB fraud (Sponsor) Business fraud is a growing problem. In the U.K. alone, 4,000 new businesses are registered each day, and roughly 1 in 5 are fake. Is your KYB process catching these fakes? This expert-led course breaks down how to catch and stop business fraud using an adaptable KYB strategy, without slowing down onboarding for legitimate businesses or creating unwanted friction. Enroll now to learn about: The 4 biggest misconceptions about business fraud How fraudsters pull off business impersonation schemes Building a signals-based KYB strategy to detect impersonation, uncovering fraud rings, and monitor ongoing risk 🙋 The course is delivered by Persona's Know Your Business (KYB) product lead. 👉 Enroll now (free) 👈 📱 News & Trends Apple expands Tap to Pay on iPhone to eight more European countries (3 minute read) Apple has rolled out Tap to Pay on iPhone to eight additional European countries, including Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The feature allows merchants to accept contactless payments directly on iPhones without additional hardware. Apple is partnering with major payment platforms like Adyen, Revolut, and Stripe to support the expansion. Block to enable Bitcoin payments on Square terminals (2 minute read) Block will roll out Bitcoin payment support across its Square point-of-sale terminals starting later this year, with full availability in 2026 pending regulatory approval. Customers will pay by scanning a QR code, using the Lightning Network to complete transactions. This builds on Block's broader Bitcoin strategy, which includes Cash App crypto features, the Bitkey wallet, and the Proto mining initiative. Stablecoin issuer Circle, holders seek $624 Million in IPO (3 minute read) Investors in Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, are planning to sell up to $624 million worth of shares in a long-awaited IPO. The offering could value Circle at about $5 billion, significantly less than the $9 billion valuation from a previously scrapped SPAC deal. This move comes amid renewed interest in regulated crypto infrastructure, with Circle positioning itself as a more transparent alternative in the wake of past industry turmoil. 🚀 Deep Dives & Reports Cash flow underwriting: The key to small banks' small business lending ambitions (10 minute read) Community banks and credit unions have been losing ground to online lenders due to slower processes and reliance on traditional credit scores. Online lenders win business by providing faster decisions and funds, which is crucial for small businesses facing cash flow gaps, even if it means accepting less favorable terms. Community banks can regain market share by leveraging open banking and cash flow underwriting, allowing them to quickly and accurately assess risk using real-time bank data rather than just credit scores. Bankers view: Stablecoins, deposits, and the future of payments (10 minute read) While stablecoins present novel tech, the notion that they will supplant established retail banking relationships is a bunch of "hooky". Big banks aren't just watching from the sidelines - they are best positioned to integrate this new rail, much like they've absorbed countless payment innovations before. From the bank's perspective, stablecoin functionality looks like just another payment type that can be integrated into their existing secure infrastructure. How AI is reshaping accounting (38 minute podcast) This podcast episode explores AI in accounting and how automation is reshaping the finance function, from ERP integrations and auditability to real-time data for CFOs. It discusses why accounting is more complex than it seems, what makes it uniquely suited for AI, and how founders are building defensible products in a competitive space. 💻 Launches & Products Visa wants to let AI agents pay without showing a checkout page (2 minute read) Visa's CEO said enabling AI agents to complete purchases autonomously is now the company's top strategic priority. The idea: users will give spending instructions to AI agents, who will transact using pre-authorized "tokens," eliminating traditional checkout steps. This shift could redefine e-commerce by making payments invisible, faster, and agent-driven. Adyen enables Tap-to-Pay on iPhone in seven new European markets (2 minute read) Adyen has officially enabled Tap to Pay on iPhone in seven new markets: Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Malta. The functionality allows businesses to enable iPhones to accept contactless payments without the need to purchase or manage additional hardware. Tink and Adyen bring Pay-by-Bank to Vodafone customers in Germany (2 minute read) Tink, a Visa Solution, and Adyen, a global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, have announced a partnership with Vodafone, a leading telecoms company, to offer their customers in Germany the option to pay their prepaid tariff and outstanding postpaid balances using Pay by Bank. 🎁 Miscellaneous Neobank comparison - who's leading and why (5 minute read) The neobank race is heating up. Based on the latest metrics - customers, revenue, profitability, and valuation - each player is taking a distinct path. Nubank leads in customers (114M), Cash App posts the highest revenue ($16.2B), and Revolut has scaled fast (50M users, $4B revenue). Apple stopped over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions in 2024 (2 minute read) Since launching in 2008, the App Store has been a safe and trusted place for users and a vibrant marketplace for developers to grow their businesses around the world. European Commission looking into Visa and Mastercard fees (2 minute read) The European Commission is reportedly looking into fees charged by Visa and Mastercard in a move that could lead to a formal probe. The competition regulator sent requests for information to market participants last week, asking about fees they impose on financial institutions that provide services to retailers using the Visa and Mastercard networks. ⚡ Quick Links CFPB's Move to Rescind Rule 1033 Creates Uncertainty in Open Banking (5 minute read) CFPB's potential reversal could reshape open banking and data-sharing practices. JPMorgan overhauls wealth unit, merges U.S. and international businesses (3 minute read) JPMorgan Chase is merging its U.S. and international wealth management divisions under Kristin Lemkau to unify strategy and drive growth across geographies. Love TLDR? Tell your friends and get rewards! Share your referral link below with friends to get free TLDR swag! https://sparklp.co/328608df/12 Track your referrals here. Want to advertise in TLDR? 📰 If your company is interested in reaching an audience of fintech professionals and decision makers, you may want to advertise with us. Want to work at TLDR? 💼 Apply here or send a friend's resume to jobs@tldr.tech and get $1k if we hire them! If you have any comments or feedback, just respond to this email! Thanks for reading, Rachita Kumar, Matt Cheung & Gabriel Sundaram Manage your subscriptions to our other newsletters on tech, startups, and programming. Or if TLDR Fintech isn't for you, please unsubscribe.