#nordic-banking

#nordic-banking

Monzo's decision to exit the US market is framed as a deliberate, strategic choice to focus on scaling in the UK and Europe, rather than a retreat.

Credit cards can be very dangerous from a financial well-being perspective, if used irresponsibly. The temptation to use one to fund a big holiday or a new sofa that you can't afford can be seriously tempting.

The result was a vote of no confidence in a centrist government led by the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen. Her administration was, in the Danish context, an unusual political construction.

Reports suggest that Stripe is considering a PayPal acquisition, although negotiations on the subject are in early stages with no guarantee of going through.

The slower, grounded pace of everyday life in Scandinavia felt like a stark contrast to life back in the British metropolis, as if someone had hit the pause button.

I am excited to get stuck into my new role in such an innovative and fast-growing media company. Adverty provides unique ad formats, and its potential is huge - despite a challenging trading environment as we start the new year. Adverty is genuinely setting a new standard for generating revenue and we anticipate many high-value deals and strategic long-term partnerships in the pipeline.

BankID is used to quickly and securely identify yourself and access a wide variety of basic services in Sweden, from online shopping checkouts to appointment bookings in the 1177 healthcare service system. The challenge for foreigners in Sweden is that a BankID can only be obtained by opening a bank account and opening a bank account is one of the services usually done via a BankID.

According to new analysis from the British Business Bank, challenger banks accounted for 60 per cent of SME lending in 2025, unchanged from the previous year. The figure marks only the second time in more than a decade that their market share has not increased, raising questions about whether the post-financial crisis disruption of the SME lending market has reached a plateau.

Nscale has now raised over $4.5 billion across equity rounds in less than six months. The capital funds Nscale's vertically integrated AI infrastructure, consisting of GPU compute, networking, data services, and orchestration software, with expansion planned across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Launching our UK bank has been a long-term strategic priority for Revolut and marks a significant moment in our journey. The UK is our home market and central to our growth. We look forward to introducing a full suite of banking services to our millions of UK customers, bringing the same innovative experience we already provide across the rest of Europe.

The new battleground in banking is intelligent operations and scalable execution. In 2026, banking is about moving money smarter, faster, and with fewer humans in the middle. Across corporate finance and global retail operations, banks are experimenting with technology and operational design in ways that challenge long-held assumptions about scale, speed, and control. Three recent developments exemplify what's happening in money movement: Goldman Sachs deploying AI agents, Truist automating corporate receivables, and Nubank expanding abroad with a lean digital model.

A week's hiking in Jotunheimen national park (230 miles north of Oslo) last summer brought me tranquillity and peace. During four days of challenging hiking and wild camping through the area we saw hardly anyone else, having entire lush green valleys and still glacial lakes to ourselves. We were fortunate to have stunning weather throughout and, despite it being July, still had a reasonable amount of snow to traverse.

After a nine-year break, South Korea is set to reintegrate corporations into its cryptocurrency market. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has established new protocols allowing listed entities and professional firms to resume trading, effectively terminating the 2017 prohibition. This move is part of the government's ambitious "2026 Economic Growth Strategy," which aims to transform the nation into a premier digital hub by introducing stablecoin laws and paving the way for spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Global-E posted $220.8 million in revenue, up 25.5% year-over-year, with gross margins at 45.1%. The company generated $13.2 million in net income, but profit margin remained razor-thin at 0.83%. Operating margin reached 7.7%, showing the business model works operationally, but capital efficiency remains a problem. Return on equity sits at just 0.81%, meaning the company barely generates returns on deployed capital. That's the core issue Wall Street keeps circling back to.

Denmark-based Danske Bank will now allow customers to invest in cryptocurrency-linked products tied to Bitcoin, marking a shift for Denmark's largest lender after years of resistance to the asset class. The bank said customers using Danske eBanking and Danske Mobile Banking can now gain exposure through exchange traded products, or ETPs, that track the performance of Bitcoin or Ethereum. The offering includes three products at launch, with two linked to Bitcoin and one linked to Ethereum.

But if you dig deeper into how businesses in this industry are actually approaching AI deployments - if you ask questions like how they are governing their data, how they are ensuring data quality, and how easily are they connecting AI tools directly to data platforms - you'll soon realize that claims about AI adoption in financial services don't always align with reality.

According to Li Mandri, ING's centralised approach to AI development has resulted in a high success rate for pilot projects, with 90% moving to production compared to the industry average of 30. The bank has standardised on cloud-hosted AI models from preferred partners, which are then made available globally, allowing ING to scale. He says the platform is centrally managed with risk controls, guardrails and real-time monitoring.

The Amsterdam-based neobank Bunq has reapplied for a U.S. banking charter, two years after withdrawing its previous attempt. The Dutch digital bank, a competitor of the U.K.-based fintech in Europe, announced on Wednesday that it formally filed for a U.S. de novo banking license with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Bunq, a subscription-based service that allows users to manage multiple international accounts and currencies in one application, is aiming to reach European "digital nomads" residing in the United States.

There was a time when banks and fintechs competed mostly on bells and whistles: smoother apps, faster checkout, appealing rewards. But in the world of public markets and quarterly earnings, functionality gives way to fundamentals.

There was a time when banks and fintechs competed mostly on bells and whistles: smoother apps, faster checkout, appealing rewards. But in the world of public markets and quarterly earnings, functionality gives way to fundamentals. At the intersection of traditional banking and modern fintech lies a simple but growing question: what actually drives sustainable value for banks today? Is it the buzz‑worthy growth of payment volumes and new revenue streams - or the old‑school strength of deposit balances and net interest income?