October 2025

🤖 OpenAI's acquisition of Roi signals a clear move toward personalisation as the next frontier for AI. Roi's expertise in finance companions could translate into AI systems that learn individual goals and contexts. Roi officially ended operations on 15 October 2025, carrying forward the belief that everyday products will no longer be static or predetermined but adaptive, deeply personal companions that understand us, learn from us, and evolve with us. Roi was a bright startup I noticed earlier this year, and now they will work for OpenAI.

📱 Atom bank has launched its crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, offering secondary shares to retail investors. As of 31 October, the total raised has reached nearly £1 million. The campaign allows early participants to indicate their investment amount, reflecting continued interest in Atom bank's path toward a potential future IPO.

💰 Revolut is nearing completion of a $3 billion fundraising round valuing the company at $75 billion, with investors now being briefed on their share allocations following strong oversubscription. The scale of this valuation reinforces Revolut's position as one of the highest-valued fintech firms globally. Meanwhile, Tax Policy Associates highlighted that founder Nikolay Storonskiy has changed his tax residence from the United Kingdom to Dubai (United Arab Emirates), potentially saving over £3 billion in capital gains tax. An interesting read.

🛒 PayPal shares jumped more than 10% after the company announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate its wallet into ChatGPT using the Agentic Commerce Protocol. The deal enables millions of ChatGPT users to complete instant checkouts via PayPal while linking OpenAI's merchant ecosystem to PayPal's global network. At the same time, PayPal launched its own agentic commerce services, a suite of AI-powered solutions enabling merchants to attract customers and operate in the emerging era of automated, AI-driven shopping. Like we stopped Googling or visiting Wikipedia today, we will stop visiting e-commerce sites very soon.

💻 Nvidia has become the first company to reach a $5 trillion market capitalisation. The milestone highlights the sustained acceleration in demand for AI infrastructure and computing capacity.

🚗 During Tesla's Q3 2025 earnings call, Elon Musk suggested that idle Tesla vehicles could form a massive distributed AI network, potentially generating up to 100 gigawatts of compute power across 100 million cars. He described the idea as a "giant distributed inference fleet" using each vehicle’s onboard hardware when not in use. While the concept highlights Tesla's ambitions to extend its technology beyond mobility, using cars as computing nodes is a radical and complex idea. What will the ownership model look like? A big question mark.

🌏 Revolut is expanding its footprint in Asia with plans to strengthen its presence in Japan, following recent moves in India and market assessments in China. The firm is hiring a regulatory affairs manager in Tokyo to manage relationships with local authorities and support compliance as it scales operations. Japan remains a key part of Revolut's regional strategy as it builds local teams and adapts its product model to new regulatory frameworks. The push aligns with its broader global plan to invest £10 billion, reach 100 million customers, and enter more than 30 new markets by 2030.

📈 ZA Bank has introduced Hong Kong stock trading to its investment platform as its user base surpasses one million customers and the bank posts its first-ever profit in H1 2025. ZA Bank is the first Hong Kong digital bank to offer trading in local Hong Kong stocks directly through its own app. This new service completes a multi-asset offering that already includes U.S. equities, mutual funds and even cryptocurrencies. To drive adoption, the bank is offering zero trading fees and cash rewards for new users.

🤖 Starling Bank has launched Scam Intelligence, the UK's first in-app AI tool designed to detect online purchase scams. Built with Google Gemini and hosted on Google Cloud, the tool analyses marketplace ads, images and messages in seconds to identify signs of fraud and provide tailored guidance. It follows the bank's earlier Spending Intelligence feature, marking its second AI-powered product for customers. Starling Bank positioning AI as a proactive defence layer in digital banking security for their customers.

💰 Wealthsimple has secured up to CAD 750 million in a Series E round at a CAD 10 billion valuation, doubling its worth in just a year. The financing includes both primary and secondary components, backed by Dragoneer, GIC, CPP Investments, and other existing shareholders. The Toronto-based fintech now manages CAD 100 billion in assets, three years ahead of its target, and is profitable with over 3 million customers. The new funding will accelerate its product roadmap across investing, spending, and credit, while supporting strategic acquisitions as it advances toward building a full-service financial platform and prepares for an eventual IPO.

📊 OpenAI is reportedly preparing for an IPO as soon as 2026, potentially valuing the company at $1 trillion and setting up what could be the largest public listing in history. The maker of ChatGPT is said to be in early discussions with regulators, though no official confirmation has been issued. Investor demand remains intense as OpenAI continues to drive innovation and capital flows across the AI sector, with Microsoft's 27% stake positioning it as a major beneficiary. As a backstory, before Microsoft's initial investment in OpenAI, Bill Gates cautioned CEO Satya Nadella that the move could "burn a billion dollars". Apparently, Gates was wrong.

🏦 Monzo has appointed former Google and Standard Chartered executive Diana Layfield as its new CEO, succeeding TS Anil, who will step into an advisory role after five years leading the UK digital bank. Layfield will assume the position in February, pending regulatory approval. Under Anil's tenure, Monzo grew to over 12 million retail customers and 700,000 business clients, reached profitability, and achieved a £4.5 billion valuation in 2024. The leadership transition comes as the bank prepares for a potential IPO in 2025, targeting a valuation between £7 billion and £10 billion. Layfield's experience in scaling global businesses and applying AI-driven growth strategies signals Monzo's intent to expand internationally while strengthening its core UK operations.

💵 Barclays has agreed to acquire US-based personal lending fintech BestEgg for $800 million, marking a significant expansion of its US consumer banking footprint. Founded in 2013, BestEgg has facilitated over $40 billion in loans for more than two million customers and currently services around $11 billion in active loans.

💳 Saudi-based BNPL firm Tabby has lifted its valuation to over $4.5 billion following a secondary share sale involving new investors HSG and Boyu Capital. The transaction involved no new capital raised, with shares acquired from existing shareholders. Headquartered in Riyadh, Tabby now serves around 40,000 corporate clients across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. The valuation increase underscores continued investor confidence ahead of the company's planned IPO in 2026, following rapid regional expansion and strong demand for digital payment services.

📊 The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has unveiled its open finance strategy, introducing a Smart Data Accelerator and two tech sprints to test practical applications. The initiative, supported by research from KPMG and Europe Economics, aims to expand the benefits of open banking across broader financial services. The Smart Data Accelerator, launched in September, extends the FCA’s sandbox by enabling firms to trial real-world data-sharing models with support from tech partner RaidiamLink. Upcoming tech sprints will focus on mortgages and SMEs, reflecting the regulator's intent to promote innovation while maintaining strong consumer protection standards.

🔐 Ubank (direct bank division of National Australia Bank and previously acquired 86 400) has become Australia's first bank to extend passkey authentication to both its mobile app and online banking platforms. Following the initial rollout in August 2024, 90% of active app users have already adopted passkeys, replacing passwords and SMS codes with secure biometric and device-based login. The expansion enables customers to use the same passkey for web access, enhancing convenience and security. Ubank's move strengthens protection against phishing and impersonation scams while setting a new digital security benchmark for Australian banking.