The Monday Roundup: what we are watching this week | Aug 18th

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.

Identity Shapes Digital Trade

InsurTech Gateway, a global incubator for MGA and SaaS startups, has secured a Lloyd’s Broker licence, granting it direct access to the Lloyd’s insurance market. This milestone enables Gateway to support early-stage MGAs by overcoming a major hurdle: access to underwriting capacity. With incubators in London and Sydney, Gateway backs over 45 companies across 98 countries and collaborates with 75 insurance partners.

The Lloyd’s partnership allows Gateway’s portfolio firms to swiftly enter the market, test propositions, and validate business models. Gateway also offers pre-seed and seed funding, product design expertise, fast-track FCA regulation, and a network of progressive reinsurers. Its alumni include Bondaval, Coincover, Kita, Truvi, and Onsi. The new broker status is expected to help founders address global challenges like climate resilience and financial inclusion. CEO Richard Chattock emphasised that formalising ties with Lloyd’s will accelerate innovation and market entry for emerging MGAs

Worldpay has partnered with Trulioo to introduce next-generation safeguards for agent-led commerce. This initiative marks a milestone in advancing digital trust, embedding transparency and accountability into AI-powered transactions as artificial intelligence reshapes the future of global payments.

As AI-driven shopping agents become increasingly integrated into consumer purchasing journeys, the ability to verify agent identities, authenticate authority, and capture auditable shopper consent has become crucial to establishing trust, preventing fraud, and ensuring regulatory alignment. Through this collaboration, Worldpay and Trulioo will deliver advanced digital identity solutions designed to instil confidence across the commerce ecosystem, spanning merchants, payment providers, and consumers.

Digital Rails Reshape Finance

U.S.-based InsurTech firm ePayPolicy has secured strategic funding from LLR Partners, with continued support from existing investor Serent Capital. The investment aims to accelerate the company’s growth in automating insurance payment workflows, particularly accounts receivable and payable (AR/AP) processes. Serving over 10,000 insurance clients, ePayPolicy plans to use the capital to enhance product innovation, expand sales and customer support, and scale operations to meet rising demand.

The company is positioned to lead digital transformation in the $2 trillion insurance ecosystem by making payments faster, easier, and more secure. LLR Partners, known for investing in vertical software and payment solutions, sees strong potential in ePayPolicy’s role in streamlining complex financial operations.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has gone live with Finastra’s Loan IQ platform, marking the first-ever deployment of the solution in Japan. The initiative represents a major step in modernising JICA’s core systems for its expanding Private-Sector Investment Finance (PSIF) operations. Implemented in partnership with IBM Japan, the new platform provides JICA with a scalable, flexible and globally compliant foundation to manage increasingly complex private-sector financing requirements.

JICA’s PSIF scheme provides loans to private projects in developing countries, supporting infrastructure, social development and sustainable growth. With rising demand for private-sector capital in emerging markets, JICA recognised the need for a robust digital foundation capable of managing diverse financial structures while aligning with global standards.

Loan IQ delivers full lifecycle management of international loan transactions, from origination and approvals to disbursement, fee and interest calculations, and repayment. The new system supports multi-currency lending across Japanese yen, US dollars, euros, and local currencies, enabling JICA to operate seamlessly across borders while preparing for the future expansion of PSIF.

What is the Buzz

The U.S. Federal Reserve has officially ended its “Novel Activities Supervision Program,” a framework that had closely monitored banks engaging in crypto and FinTch ventures. This move marks a significant shift in regulatory stance, easing restrictions that previously required banks to notify supervisors before initiating activities involving cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.

The Fed also rescinded guidance issued in 2022 and 2023 that had limited how banks could interact with digital assets. This decision reflects a broader trend in the U.S. toward more flexible oversight of financial innovation, allowing banks greater autonomy in exploring blockchain and fintech solutions, provided they manage associated risks responsibly.