There is much still be to decided at COP29, the global climate talks summit, taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan right now.

Shift4 is continuing its acquisition spree, agreeing a US$180 million deal to take over Australian and NZ point-of-sale provider Smartpay.

Schroders in Singapore has launched an online chatbot operating through Facebook Messenger to answer client queries and fetch and display requested fund management data.

BBVA is making eight of its APIs commercially available to companies, startups, and developers worldwide, enabling the integration of customer banking data with third party products and services.

Three of the largest banks in Japan are joining forces for the launch of a unified stablecoin.

The US state of Wyoming has launched its own US dollar-pegged stablecoin that can be used for real-world payments.

Finextra is returning to Stockholm for the annual NextGen Nordics event. Attendees can expect in-depth conversations on a variety of topics and much more.

Hong Kong-based financial conglomerate ZA Global has led a $40 million Series A2 round in local stablecoin issuer RD Technologies.

ThetaRay has integrated with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to develop a GenAI financial crime detection suite.

Starling Bank and HSBC top the charts for online banking security acording to tests carried out by Red Maple Technologies on behalf of consumer champion Which?, while Virgin Money and TSB brought up the rear.

US-based remittance and international money transfer firm Viamericas has raised $113.6 million in a funding round led by Old National Bank.

Crunchbase is getting an AI-powered makeover, moving away from historical company data towards predictive intelligence that it says will help users forecast with unerring accuracy how private firms are set to grow, what their funding rounds will look like, and future acquisitions.

In an exclusive interview with Finextra, Chris Powell, head of deposits and customer engagement at Citizens, reveals how open finance has powered simpler switching and streamlined mobile payments.

Mohammad Kamal Syed, managing director and head of investment management at Coutts & Co, tells Finextra Research of the ‘root and branch uplift’ in the firm’s investment decision making to address ESG goals.

Indonesia’s Amar Bank has launched an app-only banking offshoot housed entirely in Google Cloud.