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Revolut to launch India payments platform, targeting 20 million users by 2030

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Revolut, the London-based digital finance company, will launch its first payments platform in India, marking its entry into one of the world’s largest digital finance markets. The rollout will begin later this year with 350,000 waitlisted users, before expanding nationwide.

The platform will allow users to make domestic and international transactions through partnerships with Visa and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The fintech firm, valued among Europe’s largest, sees India as a central pillar of its global expansion strategy.

Revolut India CEO Paroma Chatterjee said the company will offer prepaid cards and a digital wallet, using a payments license granted by the Reserve Bank of India earlier this year. It also holds authorization to provide foreign exchange services.

The company has invested over £40 million ($53.7 million) to localize its technology and comply with India’s data sovereignty regulations — its only market with such a setup. Revolut aims to onboard 20 million customers by 2030, targeting the country’s rapidly growing “aspirational youth” demographic.

The India launch follows Revolut’s push into banking and credit card services in other major markets, including the U.S. and Europe, as it seeks to become a global payments leader.

AI fintech Optasia to raise $375 million in Johannesburg listing

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AI-driven financial technology company Optasia announced plans to raise up to 6.3 billion rand ($375 million) through a listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The Dubai-based firm said the funds would come from a mix of new shares and a private placement of existing ones.

Optasia, which operates in 38 countries, will raise 1.3 billion rand in its initial public offering and an additional 5 billion rand through existing shareholders. The company is partly owned by Ethos Capital.

CEO Salvador Anglada said the IPO will help Optasia scale operations and “expand financial opportunity where it is needed most.” The fintech provides AI-powered micro-loans and mobile airtime credit to unbanked individuals, processing more than 32 million daily transactions for about 121 million users.

Founded in 2012, Optasia focuses on Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, working with telecom partners such as MTN, Vodacom, and Airtel.

ECB Chooses AI Startup Feedzai to Combat Fraud in Upcoming Digital Euro

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The European Central Bank (ECB) has selected Portuguese artificial intelligence firm Feedzai to develop fraud-prevention systems for its planned digital euro, a project intended to strengthen Europe’s financial independence from U.S. payment networks and dollar-backed stablecoins.

The contract—valued at up to €237.3 million ($278.7 million)—was announced Thursday as part of a broader package of agreements advancing the digital euro initiative. Under the four-year deal, which could extend up to 15 years, Feedzai and its subcontractor PwC will create an AI-powered fraud scoring system capable of analyzing transactions for suspicious patterns based on user behavior, history, and interactions.

This technology will assist payment service providers in determining whether to approve or flag digital euro transactions—essentially, transfers between central bank–backed electronic wallets.

The ECB also awarded four additional contracts, ranging from €27.6 million to €220.7 million, to firms including Capgemini, which will support different technological and operational aspects of the digital currency ecosystem. Under these framework agreements, the ECB will only pay contractors once project implementation begins.

While the central bank continues to await legislative approval for the digital euro, officials describe it as a strategic response to Visa and Mastercard’s dominance in European payments and the rising influence of U.S.-linked stablecoins promoted under former President Donald Trump. If approved by mid-2026, the digital euro could be launched as early as 2029.

Feedzai, headquartered in Portugal, already monitors more than $8 trillion in global transactions annually, serving clients such as Novobanco and Wio Bank in Abu Dhabi. On the same day as the ECB announcement, Feedzai disclosed an additional $75 million in funding from Lince Capital, Iberis Capital, and Explorer Investments, signaling strong investor confidence in its role within Europe’s financial digitization push.

The partnership marks a major milestone in the ECB’s effort to balance innovation with financial security, ensuring that the future digital euro remains as safe as cash—but smarter.