The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Sept 29th

By Puja Sharma

The Monday Roundup sets the scene for the week’s biggest news stories, industry deals, and upcoming events. For Prime subscribers only.

Smart Credit Revolution

EvoluteIQ has raised $53 million minority growth capital round, led by global private investment firm Baird Capital. This investment will empower EvoluteIQ to scale its international presence, deepen investments in its Bengaluru R&D Centre, and reinforce its leadership in the rapidly evolving agentic AI–powered automation market across multiple industries.

Founded in 2019 by Sameet Gupte, Sanjay Koppikar, Deepak Kinger, Arun Hiremath, and Naveen Prabhu, EvoluteIQ is redefining the automation of complex business processes through its flagship EIQ platform. Underpinned by its proprietary Agentic Mesh Architecture (aMa) and AI Workbench, the platform orchestrates end-to-end business workflows, delivering measurable outcomes in Banking and Financial Services, Insurance, Healthcare, Telecommunications, and Manufacturing. By enabling enterprises to move beyond fragmented AI tools, EIQ establishes a new standard for autonomous, resilient, and future-ready systems.

Lean Technologies has partnered with Synapse Analytics to launch a next-generation Credit Decisioning and Analytics platform for lenders across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the wider GCC.

The collaboration introduces a unified decisioning stack that integrates Lean’s Open Banking data infrastructure with Synapse’s AI-powered credit decisioning engine, enabling banks, FinTechs, and lenders to access and enrich real-time financial data, combine bureau data with cashflow-based insights to underwrite previously underserved segments, deploy Auto-AI/ML models alongside existing credit policies, and build, test, and monitor risk strategies with transparency, efficiency, and speed.

Traditional lending in MENA has long been constrained by fragmented data, manual processes, and slow decision cycles. By delivering granular, transaction-level visibility through Open Banking and powering it with AI-driven risk models, Lean and Synapse are enabling instant, personalised, and scalable credit decisioning for the first time in the region. Synapse Analytics already underpins decisioning frameworks across Egypt, LATAM, and MENA bureau integrations, while Lean operates the largest regulated Open Banking network in KSA and the UAE. Together, they are setting a new benchmark for credit infrastructure across the Middle East.

Quantum Finance Breakthrough

HSBC has partnered with IBM to conduct a groundbreaking trial in algorithmic bond trading using quantum computing, marking the first known application of this technology in the European corporate bond market. The bank utilised IBM’s quantum processors, including the Heron chip, alongside traditional computing systems to analyse real-world bond trading data. This hybrid approach led to a 34% improvement in predicting whether a trade would be executed at a quoted price, outperforming conventional methods.

HSBC emphasised that the results demonstrate quantum computing’s potential to address complex financial challenges and deliver superior solutions compared to classical computing alone. Philip Intallura, HSBC’s head of quantum technologies, described the trial as a tangible example of how current quantum systems can solve large-scale business problems and offer a competitive edge. He expressed confidence that quantum computing is becoming a practical tool for financial services, not just a distant possibility.

Additionally, HSBC and IBM are collaborating with AP+ and PayPal under the Emerging Payments Association Asia to explore quantum-safe cryptography for secure banking communications. HSBC’s quantum initiatives focus on operational efficiency, financial simulations, and machine learning, signalling a strategic commitment to integrating quantum technologies into its core operations.

FIS, a U.S.-based FinTech company, has acquired Amount, a Chicago-based firm specialising in digital account origination and decisioning technology for banks and financial institutions. Amount, originally spun out from online lender Avant in 2020, quickly gained traction and reached unicorn status after raising $99 million from investors like Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and WestCap.

Amount’s platform helps banks streamline account opening processes across lending, cards, and deposits, and has handled over 150 million applications to date. The company also expanded its capabilities by acquiring Linear Financial Technologies in 2022 for $175 million, enhancing its small business banking services. In 2024, it secured an additional $30 million in growth equity funding. FIS plans to integrate Amount’s technology into its digital banking, core banking, and card systems.

What is the Buzz

PayPal has entered a two-year agreement to sell around $7 billion in U.S. buy now, pay later (BNPL) receivables to funds managed by Blue Owl Capital. This move is part of PayPal’s strategy to adopt a “balance sheet-light” model for its credit operations, allowing it to focus more on strategic investments and innovation. Despite the sale, PayPal will continue managing customer-facing aspects such as underwriting and servicing the loans.

The receivables involved are tied to PayPal’s “Pay in 4” product, which lets users split purchases into four interest-free payments over six weeks.

This deal follows PayPal’s previous BNPL expansion efforts, including acquiring Japanese BNPL firm Paidy for $2.7 billion and processing over $33 billion in global BNPL transactions last year—a 21% increase from 2023. In Europe, PayPal had also arranged to sell up to €40 billion in BNPL loans to KKR in 2023 to boost originations while preserving cash flow for other priorities.