The Weekly Wrap: all you need to know by Friday COB | Feb 13th

By Puja Sharma

The Weekly Wrap is published every Friday and recaps the week’s main stories and deals, as well as upcoming events and announcements for Prime subscribers only.

The Big Story

Goldenpay has partnered with Fimple to launch fully digital lending services, as part of its expansion beyond payments and into credit under its electronic money institution licence. The collaboration is aimed at meeting rising demand for technology-enabled financial services and strengthening Goldenpay’s position in the country’s rapidly evolving FinTech landscape.

Azerbaijan’s digital financial services sector has been gaining momentum, with payment companies and FinTech firms increasingly diversifying into adjacent banking and lending offerings. Against this backdrop, Goldenpay plans to introduce accessible, secure and end-to-end digital lending solutions for both individual and corporate customers.

To support this strategy, the company has selected an API-driven digital lending platform built on a flexible architecture. The solution provides full end-to-end digital infrastructure and integrates with the Fimple Core Banking platform, while also allowing connectivity with other core banking systems used by financial institutions. This modular approach is designed to enable scalability and faster deployment.

The move reflects a broader regional trend in which licensed payment institutions are leveraging digital infrastructure to enter the lending space, signalling the growing maturity of Azerbaijan’s FinTech ecosystem and increasing convergence between payments and credit services.

Deals of the week

• Landkreditt Bank taps Profile Centevo to enhance fund operations
• Tesselate buys Gateway 2 Finance to expand corporate banking
• Olyv Secures $23m to scale multi-product FinTech platform
• DTB taps Aurionpro to expand regional banking platform
• UiPath buys WorkFusion to strengthen AML and KYC automation
• Ingenico unveils AXIUM Range with 360 payments platform
• AMINA Bank taps Notabene to enhance digital asset compliance
• LHV Bank secures PRA approval for consumer credit in UK
• Atome enables Singapore users to shop in Malaysia via BNPL app

Be on the lookout for

UK FinTech funding experienced a significant downturn in 2025, dropping 21% compared to the previous year. This decline pushed investment levels to their lowest point since 2020, reflecting broader challenges in the global venture capital environment, according to Bloomberg. Despite the contraction, the UK retained its position as Europe’s leading FinTech hub, attracting more capital than France, Germany, Belgium, the Nordics, Ireland, China, and Brazil combined. Analysts suggest that while the slowdown highlights investor caution amid economic uncertainty, the UK’s FinTech sector continues to demonstrate resilience and international competitiveness.

London remains a central hub for innovation, with strong infrastructure, regulatory support, and talent pools that keep it ahead of other European markets. However, the funding dip underscores the need for startups to adapt to tighter capital conditions, focusing on sustainable growth and profitability rather than aggressive expansion. The report also points out that global FinTech investment trends mirror the UK’s trajectory, with many regions experiencing similar declines due to rising interest rates and cautious investor sentiment. Overall, while the UK FinTech industry faces headwinds, its comparative strength suggests it will remain a dominant player in shaping the future of financial technology.