Top 5 Stories of the Week in Fintech

If you missed FinTech Live: London 2025, then catch up on the award winners for the Global FinTech awards in the article below. 

Additionally, banking sees another revolutionary wave with AI from Hexaware in the fight against cyber crime. 

Meanwhile, AI continues to drive transformation in the e-commerce section with news from Microsoft Azure’s partnership with checkout.com. 

AI continues to shake up the world of e-commerce as a new partnership from Klarna and Google Cloud set out to improve customer experience. 

E-commerce faces changes with the deadline for the EU’s Instant Payments Regulation, as Rossana Thomas from Fiserv notes. 

Winners Announced for the Global FinTech Awards 2025

Join us in celebrating some of the most esteemed companies and individuals in their fields, awarded as winners at the Global FinTech Awards in London 2025. 

From AI-driven financial intelligence to digital payment innovation and responsible data practices, this year’s Global FinTech Awards celebrate the organisations and leaders reshaping the future of financial technology.

Congratulations to all winners, highly commended entries and finalists.

Together, these pioneers – from fintechs advancing ethical AI and secure payments to firms embedding sustainability into operational models – demonstrate how ambition, transparency and collaboration are transforming fintech from aspiration to measurable impact. 

How Hexaware’s AI-first Approach is Transforming Banking

Hexaware is helping banks defend against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats while delivering significant automation gains. 

Modern banking has never been more at risk, with malicious actors operating globally to create new scams and methods to con someone out of their money.

Hexaware Technologies, built on the mantra of AI-led, human intelligence-perfected solutions to businesses, positions itself as a trusted partner for core banking transformations. 

The company's AI-first approach and focus on mid-market clients offer a compelling alternative to traditional large-scale providers.

How Microsoft Azure Will Transform Checkout. com Payments

Multi-year agreement sees payments provider Checkout.com adopt Azure infrastructure to enhance transaction performance and prepare for AI-driven commerce. 

Checkout.com has entered a multi-year technology collaboration with Microsoft that will see the payments provider migrate to Azure cloud infrastructure.

 The partnership aims to deliver faster and more secure digital payment processing for enterprise merchants whilst positioning both organisations for the emergence of agentic commerce.

E-Commerce & AI: Inside Klarna & Google Cloud's Partnership

Klarna and Google Cloud partner to enhance online shopping by utilising AI to drive personalisation and creativity for over 114 million consumers worldwide.

Klarna, the global digital bank and flexible payments provider, has announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud.

This collaboration is set to leverage AI to personalise the shopping experience for Klarna's 114 million consumers.

The partnership will see Klarna utilise Google Cloud's full AI stack from infrastructure to models.

This will accelerate the development of consumer-centric products and creative campaigns.

Fiserv and EU Instant Payments: A New Era for European Banks

Fiserv's Rossana Thomas on how the EU's Instant Payments Regulation is forcing banks to modernise legacy systems and focus on customer experience. 

The European Union's Instant Payments Regulation is set to reshape the financial landscape.

As of 9 October 2025,  payment service providers within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) are required to have the capabilities in place to send instant payments having been required to accept them since January.

This regulation mandates that immediate transfers are priced the same as traditional slower credit transfers and banks will be required to offer a ‘Verification of Payee’ service to combat fraud.