Monoup News Digest: Main Updates from Fintech Industry
It's been a busy week, and despite the variety of stories, a common thread runs through all of them: the industry continues to rethink how payments should work and who should be trusted to process them. Monoup has all the news.
The UK is betting on account-to-account transactions as an alternative to card rails, launching the first commercial scheme for account-based recurring payments that could become a genuine rival to the familiar card subscription. More on how this unfolds further in the article.
Meanwhile, Belgium has opened a criminal investigation into Wise, centered on half a billion euros in suspicious transactions and an AML compliance history stretching back to 2021. The company is under close scrutiny, as its accounts have a habit of surfacing in fraud and scam cases across Europe.
All the details in today's digest.
UK Launches Open Banking Subscriptions
After years of pilots and consultations, the UK has done what the industry has long been waiting for: the UK Payments Initiative officially launched a scheme for commercial automated recurring payments — announced at Money 20/20 on June 2nd. The scheme is backed by a coalition of 31 companies, including all major UK retail banks.
In the first wave, the technology is available for payments to charities, government bodies, financial services, utilities, and a number of other categories. E-commerce is still in the queue — its integration has been designated as the next wave, with the commercial model already being developed with the involvement of UK Finance and Deloitte.
The mechanics mirror card subscriptions, but link the merchant directly to the payer's bank account with no card in the middle. This fundamentally changes the economics for both sides: merchants are freed from interchange fees and the headache of expired cards, while users get transparent subscription management directly within their banking app. According to Open Banking Limited, account-based recurring payments already account for around 16% of all open banking transactions in the country — and that's before a full commercial launch. The FCA, for its part, plans to introduce a long-term regulatory framework for this market by the end of 2026.
Wise Faces Criminal Investigation in Belgium
The Brussels prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into Wise's European subsidiary, accusing the company of possible violations of AML legislation linked to inadequate identification of customers and scrutiny of their activities. The trigger was systematic appearance of Wise accounts in hundreds of legal assistance requests in criminal proceedings from more than 30 countries across Europe, with the total volume of suspicious transactions reaching $582.5 million.
Wise confirmed the investigation and stated it is cooperating with the prosecutor's office, emphasizing that responding to law enforcement requests is routine operational practice and not indicative of any wrongdoing.
The AML problems at Wise have been building for some time. Back in 2021, the National Bank of Belgium required the company to carry out a remediation programme following identified deficiencies in customer documentation. In 2023, the UK Treasury flagged sanctions violations related to Russia. And in July 2025, regulators in six US states issued a $4 million fine for anti-money laundering shortcomings. The current investigation is criminal rather than administrative, and could have a significantly more serious impact on the company.
PayPal Gains Access to 80 million Merchants in China
Tencent has launched an integration between TenPay Global and PayPal World as part of an initiative to simplify inbound payments for international visitors. US PayPal users can now pay at WeChat Pay merchant locations by scanning a QR code — with no need to download additional apps or open a local bank account.
The settlement mechanics are straightforward: the merchant receives payment in Chinese yuan through WeChat Pay, while the user's account is charged in their local currency. To encourage early adoption, Tencent has introduced temporary fee waivers: transactions up to 200 yuan (~$28) are automatically fee-free, and for the first 90 days, a daily limit of 1,000 yuan is also commission-free through the end of 2026.
For PayPal, this is a meaningful breakthrough: the company spent years unable to find a foothold in China's domestic market, which is firmly dominated by WeChat Pay and Alipay. The integration allows PayPal to bypass the need to build its own acquiring infrastructure in the country and immediately access a scale that would be unachievable through an independent market entry.
UK Sanctions HTX, EXMO, and Other Crypto Platforms
The UK has imposed sanctions on 18 companies and individuals, designating them as part of the shadow financial infrastructure Russia uses to circumvent Western restrictions. The list includes exchange HTX (formerly Huobi), EXMO, platforms Rapira, Aifory, Bitpapa, ABCex, companies Arvix and Trace Road, and Kyrgyzstan's Eurasian Savings Bank. Among the individuals are Garantex founder Sergey Mendeleev, A7 group executives Igor Gorin and Irina Akopyan, and Israeli national Liran Cohen.
The centerpiece of the package is the A7 network: according to the UK Foreign Office, more than $90 billion flowed through it into Russia last year. HTX was caught up as a suspected service provider for both A7 and Garantex, with British authorities estimating that around $1.5 billion was channeled through the exchange.
The sanctions are practical in nature: they provide for asset freezes, bans on correspondent banking relationships, disqualification of company directors, and blocking access to their platforms within the UK — internet service providers and app stores are required to comply. This marks the first time London has applied to crypto exchanges measures previously reserved for traditional financial institutions. Other exchanges have also been caught in the crossfire, scrambling to distance themselves from sanctioned assets and warning users that even old transactions may now resurface in an uncomfortable light.
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