Marcel van Oost

Hey Payments Fanatic! When China introduced visa-free entry for South Korean travelers last November, the impact was almost immediate. Airports grew busier, flights filled up, and businesses in both countries felt the shift. For Kakaopay, the effect was clear in the numbers: between November and February, its app users in

Hey Payments Fanatic! Stablecoins are becoming more integrated into traditional finance, with Rain securing $24.5 million in funding to expand its stablecoin-powered card issuing platform. The round, led by Norwest Venture Partners, brings new capital to support Rain’s growing role in digital payments. Alongside the funding, Rain announced

Hey Payments Fanatic! Nearly a month ago, reports surfaced that Flutterwave, Africa’s highest-valued startup, was in talks for an IPO on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The $3 billion FinTech has since made several strategic moves, reinforcing its position as a key player in digital payments across the continent. 🇿🇲 The

Hey Payments Fanatic! The intersection of AI and payments continues to reshape global commerce. Checkout.com’s Intelligent Acceptance engine, designed to optimize transactions at scale, has now driven over $10 billion in additional merchant revenue. Processing insights from more than 20 billion data points, the AI-powered system refines payment

Hey Payments Fanatic! It’s been a big week for mobile payments. Shortly after Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone expanded to nine new countries, Google is rolling out its own update—this time, for younger users. Google Wallet now allows children over 13 to tap to pay in

Hey Payments Fanatic! Ever wonder how WhatsApp carved out its spot in Brazil’s payment scene? It all started with a clever pivot around Pix, setting the stage for something big. When WhatsApp initially entered the payments space in 2020, its launch had to be reworked following the Central Bank