Credit risk stories

Affirm extends Wayfair buy now, pay later to UK and Canada, offering instalment plans on higher-ticket home purchases amid tighter scrutiny.

Grab Finance taps FICO data tech to automate credit checks across six Southeast Asian markets and boost eligibility by nearly 50%.

Fico says by 2026 banking AI will be standard infrastructure, heightening fraud risks and putting CIOs and human cyber oversight centre stage.

Prophet appoints data scientist Rachel Scott as Head of Marketing Science to lead customer-facing decision science and marketing effectiveness.

India’s Union Budget backs tech infrastructure, data centres and MSMEs, signalling policy continuity and long-term digital growth plans.

Mentalist Oz Pearlman will headline FICO World 2026 in Orlando, anchoring an AI-focused summit on customer behaviour and financial services.

Lenders clinging to legacy payment rails are losing borrowers to fintechs that can approve, fund and collect on loans in near real time.

Zepz has bought fintech Pomelo to bolt credit cards and lending onto its remittance brands, deepening its push into cross-border finance.

Australian subscription brands are turning to hyper-automation to replace clunky billing, scale complex pricing and stay ahead of rivals.

Berlin’s Cloover secures USD $1.222bn to scale AI-powered financing for home solar, batteries and heat pumps across Europe.

Bizcap Canada relaunches under global Bizcap brand with new broker portal, revamped pricing and faster finance approvals for SMEs.

YouLend teams up with Teya to launch flexible cash advances of GBP £1,000-GBP £2 million for more than 30,000 UK SMEs, ahead of EU rollout.

SAS predicts agentic AI will run core banking by 2026, reshaping trust, fraud defences, climate risk and quantum-powered decision making.

DTCC and BNY unveil Collateral-in-Lieu cleared repo service, aiming to cut double-margining and boost buy-side access before 2027 rules.

Rapid Loans names Kane Jones CEO and Lois Zhang CFO as founder Russell Birse becomes executive chair amid tighter lending regulation.

UK firms step up FX hedging as sterling’s sharp swings hit earnings, with more businesses extending hedge lengths and raising cover.

UK credit card spending fell 4.7% in October, but missed payments edged higher, signalling mounting strain before Christmas.

Finance leaders hail AI as core to strategy, yet fewer than half have scaled it beyond pilots amid legacy, skills and leadership hurdles.

Fintech and healthcare prepare to tame quantum-era unpredictability, as firms plan AI guardrails and quantum-safe security by 2026.

Bizcap appoints long-time executive Rebecca del Rio as Deputy CEO for APAC, expanding her leadership as the lender accelerates global growth.