Monoup News Digest: Main Updates from Fintech Industry

In this issue, we discuss how cross-border payments are being reshaped by local networks. Where SWIFT was once the default backbone, we are now seeing a growing number of integrations between domestic systems across different countries — integrations that make it possible to route international payments without relying on traditional intermediaries. Rails built for domestic use are increasingly capable of serving cross-border needs (as we can see). Bank of America joined this trend this week, announcing a solution that will directly connect UPI, Faster Payments, and SPEI to its own CashPro platform. More on that below.

Against this backdrop, the news about Nuvei's potential acquisition of Payoneer can be read as a logical extension of the same dynamic. Building international infrastructure from scratch is becoming an increasingly poor use of resources — it is faster and cheaper to acquire someone who has already built the right routes and client base. Payments M&A market has increased its scale over the past couple of years, and the Nuvei–Payoneer rumors are one more confirmation of that.

These stories and more in today's digest.

Bank of America Launches a Payment Network for Cross-Border Settlements

As early as next quarter, Bank of America plans to launch an international payments solution combining SWIFT, its own CashPro platform, India's UPI, the UK's Faster Payments, and Mexico's SPEI. The target audience is businesses with high volumes of small transactions that make freelancer payouts, contractor settlements, recurring service payments.

This is not a revolution but a clear trend. Similar products have been emerging across different markets for some time. Europe and India have already connected UPI with TIPS, Singapore's PayNow works with Thailand's PromptPay and Malaysian QR networks, and Alipay is steadily expanding into Central Asia. Networks built for domestic use have reached a level of maturity and coverage where they have begun competing with correspondent banking and international card schemes.

The underlying economics are straightforward because direct integration between local payment methods eliminates intermediaries and removes the need for double currency conversions — Singapore dollar converts straight into Malaysian ringgit, without routing through the US dollar. Savings on that conversion alone can reach several percentage points, and when you add the fees charged by each correspondent bank in a SWIFT chain, the gap widens further.

Worldpay Fined for Processing Fraudulent Schemes

On June 9, the Paris Criminal Court found Worldpay guilty in connection with a forex fraud scheme that operated between 2011 and 2014. The scheme followed a familiar pattern: investors were approached through websites and phone calls with promises of high trading returns, afterwards funds were routed through a network of accounts across multiple jurisdictions. Total losses suffered by victims are estimated at a minimum of €35 million.

Worldpay's role in this case is not that of an organizer but of a processor that failed to properly verify its client before onboarding. That client — Dutch company Seroph — was directly linked to the fraudulent network, with €16.82 million passing through it. The court found that Worldpay was obligated to verify what its client was actually doing in the French market. The company was ordered to pay a €200,000 fine in two equal instalments. The scheme's organizers, meanwhile, got prison sentences of up to three years and fines of up to €400,000.

For a company of Worldpay's scale, €200,000 is a not truly meaningful amount — but the precedent matters more than the number. Court clearly established that ignorance of a client's actual activities does not relieve a processor of responsibility for what flows through it. Knowing what clients actually do is precisely what a payment system is there for.

Nuvei in Talks to Acquire Payoneer for $2.7 Billion

According to insider sources, Canadian payment processor Nuvei is in negotiations to acquire Payoneer — an international payouts provider well known in the freelancer and SMB segments. The figure being cited is $2.7 billion, though accounting for Payoneer's own cash on the balance sheet, the effective deal value is closer to $2.3 billion.

Payoneer represents ready-made international payout infrastructure with an established client base — the kind that takes years and significant capital to build from scratch. Nuvei, for its part, is actively looking for growth levers, and acquisition as an expansion strategy is very much in fashion across the industry. ZEN recently purchased a Ukrainian bank to enter a new market, TrueLayer absorbed Zimpler, MBWAY is in talks over ITCARD, and last year's biggest deal was Global Payments acquiring Worldpay itself.

With Payoneer's current market capitalization sitting around $1.7 billion, an offer of $2.7 billion represents a substantial premium — one that reflects not so much current financial metrics as the value of an operational network. The potential market impact of such a deal is significant: a merger of players of this size would create yet another payments heavyweight.

Poland's President Vetoes CryptoBill for the Third Time

Poland's president has blocked the crypto-assets law for the third time, as parliament once again disregarded the objections raised by presidential office — objections that have remained consistent across every iteration. The specific concerns are the same: excessive powers granted to regulator KNF, inadequate consumer protection, and insufficient judicial oversight of the regulator's actions. Under the rejected version of the law, KNF would have been able to independently block accounts and freeze transactions for up to six months without a court order.

For companies that previously held Polish licenses, the situation is fairly critical. The MiCA transitional period ends on July 1, 2026, and Poland is approaching that date as the only EU member state without an implemented national framework. After the deadline, any crypto provider operating without authorization is formally required to stop serving EU clients — and Polish companies currently find themselves in a legal limbo with no clear way out. The issue is not being seriously addressed at the state level, despite the fact that the crypto industry could have been a meaningful revenue driver for Poland, given the number of interested projects that were previously looking at the jurisdiction. The current situation has significantly dampened interest, and most serious investors have already moved to other EU countries. Those still waiting face a real risk of ending up with unfavorable terms whenever a resolution finally arrives.

That's a wrap for this week. Stay on top of fintech developments and keep reading our breakdowns, where we share professional perspective on what these stories mean for the industry today and down the line. Subscribe to our Telegram channel for quick updates.