Issue #140: Amazon Snaps Up Axio, Robinhood’s Crypto Push Into Spain, and Another Bank Fintech Flop

The week’s biggest fintech news, decoded and delivered to your inbox ✉️

👋 Welcome to the first edition of Fintech Radar for 2025! After a short hiatus, we’re back for another year.

If you’re new, here’s a breakdown of what you can expect from each issue.

If you missed our recent editions, you can catch up here. Some previous issues you might want to check out if you’re new include “A Deep Dive Into The Cash App's Growth Machine”, “The Future Of Payment Initiation”, and “Current: Doing It Differently”.

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Amazon to Acquire Indian Fintech Axio in Credit Push, TechCrunch

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: Amazon is set to acquire Indian fintech Axio, marking a significant move to bolster its credit and lending capabilities in India. Axio, which offers BNPL solutions and personal loans, will enable Amazon to integrate credit offerings into its existing ecosystem, complementing its growing payments and e-commerce operations in one of its largest markets.

🥡 Takeaway: Amazon’s move to acquire Axio in India marks a shift from its usual playbook. In the U.S., Amazon has relied on partnerships—most notably with Affirm—to power its BNPL offerings, giving it flexibility without directly taking on the complexities of lending. But with Axio, Amazon is going beyond partnering and decided it wants to own more of the lending stack.

What’s particularly interesting is where this is happening. India’s BNPL market is expanding rapidly, fueled by increasing digital adoption, e-commerce growth, and easier access to credit for underbanked consumers. This acquisition gives Amazon a more direct entry point into a booming Indian BNPL sector. But does this mean Amazon will take a similar approach elsewhere, like the U.S., when its exclusive Affirm deal expires in 2025? Maybe. Or maybe this is just an opportunistic move in a high-growth market. I’d be guessing it’s the latter.

Ramp Expands Into Treasury With New Cash Management Product, Finextra

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: Ramp has launched a treasury solution aimed at helping businesses maximise returns on idle cash. The new product allows companies to manage cash reserves, access high-yield savings accounts, and optimise treasury strategies directly within the Ramp ecosystem.

🥡 Takeaway: Ramp’s treasury launch is a perfect example of the “wallets to workflows” shift happening across SME neobanking. It’s no longer just about holding funds—it’s about embedding financial services deeper into a company’s daily operations.

By adding treasury management, Ramp moves further up the financial stack, giving businesses more reasons to keep their money (and workflows) within its ecosystem.

This play mirrors moves from Brex and Mercury, all racing to become SMEs' all-in-one financial control centre. 2025 is shaping up to be the year this thesis really pays dividends—expect to see more fintech companies double down on products that don’t just store money but actively help businesses manage and grow it.

HSBC Shuts Down Zing App a Year After Launch, The Paypers

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: HSBC last week announced it’s decided to shut down Zing, its payments app targeted at freelancers and small businesses, just one year after its launch. Initially marketed as a streamlined solution for invoice management and instant payments, Zing was part of HSBC’s effort to capture a share of the growing gig economy and small business market. However, despite initial promise, the app failed to gain significant traction, leading to its closure as HSBC shifts its focus back to its core offerings.

🥡 Takeaway: Zing’s rapid shutdown is yet another lesson that just because a bank can launch a fintech-style product doesn’t mean it should. Deep pockets and brand recognition help, but fintech moves fast—and unless you’re willing to iterate, market aggressively, and commit for the long haul, these types of forays tend to fizzle out—case in point.

Breaking into the SME and gig economy space isn’t just about slapping a logo on an app. Competing with the likes of Wise takes more than just money. And speaking of money—HSBC reportedly spent $150m on Zing before pulling the plug. Ouch.

Robinhood Crypto Expands to Spain, The Paypers

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: Robinhood Crypto has launched in Spain, allowing users to trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin via the Robinhood app. This expansion marks Robinhood’s continued push into European markets following its previous rollouts in the UK and Germany. Spanish users will also gain access to Robinhood’s commission-free trading model, which has been central to its appeal in other markets.

🥡 Takeaway: Robinhood’s European expansion continues, and after snapping up Bitstamp last year, it’s no surprise that they’re leading with crypto as they head to the home of paella and pintxos.

The challenge? This isn’t a blue ocean. Europe already has many well-established crypto exchanges, including publicly traded giants like Coinbase that have spent years building brand recognition across the EU.

What’s clear now is that Robinhood has global ambitions. After taking years to launch in the UK, they’re now accelerating across the EU. The big question is: Will their U.S. playbook translate to Europe?

Monzo CEO and Board Reportedly at Odds on IPO Location, PYMNTS

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: Monzo’s leadership is reportedly debating where to take the company public. According to reports, CEO TS Anil favours a U.S. listing while the board leans toward the UK. The challenger bank, which has seen strong growth and a recent valuation boost to $5b, is expected to go public within the next two years.

🥡 Takeaway: I get the argument for listing in the UK—it’s where Monzo’s customer base is (for now), and retail investors know the brand. That might mean a more engaged local shareholder base, but beyond that (fairly flimsy) retail investor angle, why list in a market with lower liquidity and weaker valuations compared to the U.S.?

This isn’t just a Monzo dilemma—it’s part of a broader trend where UK fintechs are eyeing U.S. capital markets for better access to investors and higher multiples. After all the work Monzo, Starling, and Revolut have done to put UK fintech on the map, it’s ironic that their public market ambitions may ultimately lead them all across the pond.

Open Payments Raises $3M to Boost Open Banking Adoption, Finextra

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: Swedish fintech Open Payments closed a $3m round to develop further its open banking platform, which provides businesses with API-based tools to integrate payment initiation and account information services. The round was led by Industrifonden, with participation from previous investors such as Brightly Ventures. Open Payments aims to simplify and accelerate the adoption of open banking across Europe by offering plug-and-play solutions tailored for corporates, fintechs, and banks.

🥡 Takeaway: In the A2A payments space, the EU is leading the charge, with broader acceptance of it as a mainstream payment method steadily playing out. It feels inevitable there, but the bigger question is how this plays out in other markets.

As I’ve noted in previous issues of FR, A2A adoption isn’t just about lowering costs—it’s about getting merchants to see the upside and consumers to feel comfortable with the experience. The real unlock will come when the user experience gets better—right now, linking accounts and overcoming consumer hesitation around entering bank details remain unsolved problems.

That said, the incentives are clear. In markets like the U.S., where interchange fees remain uncapped, the appeal of radically reduced merchant fees could push adoption forward. Expect to see more moves from the likes of TrueLayer, Tink, and Plaid as they race to get ahead of the adoption curve.

Highnote Raises $90M in Series B, Yahoo Finance

🏃‍♂️ The Rundown: Highnote has raised $90m in a Series B funding round led by Coatue Management, with participation from existing investors, including Oak HC/FT, XYZ Venture Capital, and Bill Ackman’s Table Management. Highnote’s platform enables businesses to launch and manage branded payment cards, supporting virtual and physical card issuance. According to reports, the new funding will be used to enhance its platform, expand globally, and accelerate hiring.

🥡 Takeaway: Investor appetite for embedded finance remains strong, and Highnote’s raise proves there’s still plenty of capital flowing into the players left standing. Even after a year of turbulence in BaaS—Synapse’s collapse being a prime example—investors clearly still see the opportunity and are backing the providers that have weathered the storm.

Branded card issuance remains a high-growth space as companies across all of retail look to deepen customer engagement (and topline revenue!) through payments. This was always the core thesis behind the BaaS boom, and that opportunity hasn’t gone anywhere. 2025 will be a big test for who scales—and who stalls.

Crucible Moments: Nubank’s David Vélez on Building a Bank for Millions, Sequoia Podcast

In this episode of Crucible Moments, Nubank co-founder and CEO David Vélez shares how he built Latin America’s largest neobank from the ground up. From battling Brazil’s entrenched banking giants to scaling Nubank to over 100m customers, Vélez dives into the defining moments that shaped the company’s rise. If you haven’t heard the story behind Nubank, this one’s worth a listen.

Orum Founder & CEO, Stephany Kirkpatrick - The $80 Trillion Opportunity To Make Money Move, Wharton Fintech Podcast

In this episode of Wharton Fintech, Orum founder and CEO Stephany Kirkpatrick discusses the opportunity to modernise payments infrastructure. She explains how Orum is attempting to streamline fragmented money movement with API-based solutions in the US, the challenges of being a solo, non-technical fintech founder, and why faster payments will redefine business operations.

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