The holiday weekend put a speedbump in artificial intelligence and financial services news this week, but we still have a lot of AI & Finance headlines to share with you.
We’d like to start this week by continuing to think about some of the consequences of the expanding use of artificial intelligence in highly regulated, trust-based industries like financial services, and what it might mean for society in the future.
Today, we’d like to talk about an issue that goes beyond artificial intelligence, that is attached to all of the technology we adopt—what happens to us when we lose the ability to choose, and not just to choose, but to make the wrong choice.
What I’m alluding to here is the adoption of processes and software that are “compliant by design,” eliminating the possibility of actions or behavior that break or bend the rules.
Let me dip into my universe of metaphors. Since I was young, I’ve always loved trains (and it runs in my family), and many people believe that trains or train-like transportation are the future of humanity. Trains are a fixed form of transportation—rails only go a certain way, train speeds and sizes and the spaces between trains are controlled, and you can’t deviate and go your own way like you can in a personal car. The cars of the future may be more like trains, automatically traveling at fixed speeds, with fixed following distances between cars, on fixed, optimal courses in optimized traffic flows with the chaotic human element largely taken out of the equation.
I love cars, too. I love the sensitivity of brakes, accelerators, the steering wheel and the clutch. I love controlling my own climate and media, choosing my own course, going at my own pace (however fast or slow that may be) and having the option to just pull over at random to see something and/or stretch my legs if I want, when I want.
The more automation seeps into our vehicles and our traffic systems, the more we become mere passengers in someone else’s vehicle, and the more art and humanity is taken out of our experiences. Yes, art. Art isn’t just something that is played on instruments or hung on a wall, I would argue that it’s also in everything we do with intention in our lives, and the more we automate our lives and our thinking, the less potential for art we have in our lives.
So we come back to the idea of strict technological guardrails around the behaviors of knowledge professionals. Businesses have very good reasons to put them there. But some of the art of financial professions is in finding ways to subtly bend or break rules to the benefit of the client, or the community, in order to create a better outcome. Innovation is more likely to happen when people are permitted to ethically challenge or break rules and bend their guardrails—rules are more likely to change for the better when people are given the ability to break them. Also, recall that humans, especially creative and effective ones, tend to push against their boundaries no matter how they’re applied.
To me, to some extent, “compliant by design” might imply stagnation by design. It also implies surrender, that we’re accepting that we can’t trust our professionals to act in an ethical and compliant manner, so we have to design technology that forces them to do so instead of trying harder to hire ethical, reliable people and to instill the values of ethical behavior and reliability in our businesses and workforce.
Maybe free will is too much of a risk, a bother, for the businesses of the future.
I’d much rather live in a world where knowledge and trust professionals are using software that gives them the ability to steer any available course, but the professionals themselves have the necessary values to choose the right course for their clients and themselves, every time.
If that’s not the world we live in, then these industries deserve to be automated.
Let’s get to your headlines...
1. AEON
AEON, the next-generation crypto payment framework, has integrated Mesh, the first global crypto payments network, into its full suite of crypto payment solutions. This partnership allows users to seamlessly spend crypto directly from their exchange accounts and personal wallets across both online and offline merchants within the AEON payment network.
With Mesh’s API integration, users now can leverage the balances in their accounts on platforms like Coinbase and Binance, or from wallets such as MetaMask, Phantom, and Trust Wallet, using the crypto they already hold as a direct payment method, without transferring funds or converting manually. The connectivity is powered by Mesh’s secure technology, which links hundreds of exchanges, wallets, and payment service providers into a single, unified network.
This functionality is available across AEON’s product lineup, including AI Payment, Online Web3 Payment, and AEON Pay, its Web3 Mobile Payment solution live as Telegram Miniapp and dApp in popular wallets, significantly expanding the payment options available to its users.
2. Algebrik AI
Algebrik AI Inc., a Delaware-incorporated company headquartered in New York City pioneering the world’s first cloud-native, AI-powered, digital-era Loan Origination Suite (LOS), today announced a strategic partnership with Kinective, a leading provider of digital connectivity, document workflow, and core integration solutions for the banking sector.
This partnership brings together Algebrik AI’s intelligent loan origination system with Kinective’s Gateway™ platform to offer credit unions and community lenders seamless, real-time connectivity between their LOS, core systems, and e-signature workflows.
This partnership positions Algebrik AI as the single command center for lenders—intelligently coordinating loan origination, decisioning, and e-signatures in one seamless flow. With Kinective’s Gateway™ embedded into Algebrik’s platform:
3. AlphaSense
AlphaSense, the AI platform redefining market intelligence for the business and financial world, today unveiled a new brand evolution and redesigned website – marking a significant milestone in the company’s evolution into the global standard for intelligent business decision-making.
In an era of growing business complexity, AlphaSense empowers decision-makers to cut through the chaos with speed and confidence – delivering trusted, verifiable AI-powered insights across every industry and workflow. With more than 6,000 global customers – including 88% of the S&P 100, 80% of top global banks, and all 20 of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies – AlphaSense has become the platform of choice for enterprises seeking clarity in critical moments.
The updated brand signals AlphaSense’s transformation from a powerful search solution to a mission-critical system of intelligence – one that merges enterprise-grade generative AI with a content universe of 500 million verified documents, including earnings transcripts, expert interviews, company filings, premium news, and internal business content. Unlike consumer-grade AI tools that summarize but can mislead, AlphaSense delivers answers with context and confidence, powered by AI that is trained for real business use.
4. Alltius
Alltius today announced the launch of its groundbreaking Voice AI agent platform specifically engineered for financial services institutions. The new solution enables insurance companies, retail banks, and wealth management firms to automate complex customer interactions through natural, empathic conversations while maintaining strict compliance standards and seamless integration with existing systems.
Unlike generic AI solutions or traditional IVR systems that frustrate customers with rigid menus, Alltius Voice AI agents execute account-level actions directly—processing insurance claims, approving loans, and delivering portfolio updates without human intervention—all while maintaining conversational fluidity and emotional intelligence.
Alltius Voice AI represents a paradigm shift in how financial institutions manage customer interactions. Insurance companies can use Alltius to automate first notice of loss (FNOL), process routine claims, and handle policy inquiries, reducing per-interaction costs from $200 to $1.
5. BBVA
BBVA and Google Cloud today announced the deployment of Google Workspace with Gemini across the global operations of the bank. This initiative will empower BBVA’s 100,000 employees worldwide with secure generative AI experiences in tools like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and more. Today, BBVA employees report that automating repetitive tasks with AI saves them nearly three hours per week on average, freeing up valuable time for more strategic, customer-focused work.
BBVA has collaborated with Google Cloud to digitally transform its operations since 2011. Now, BBVA employees will gain a powerful collaborative assistant embedded within Google Workspace’s productivity tools they use every day, further solidifying BBVA’s position as a frontrunner in leveraging technology for business transformation. BBVA employees will use Gemini to help summarize, draft, and find information across emails, chats, and files; create professional documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and videos; and even take notes and collaborate better on calls.
Beyond Google Workspace with Gemini, BBVA employees will leverage the standalone Gemini app and NotebookLM, an AI-powered research and writing assistant, to help with tasks like research, generating audio overviews of complex findings, creating reports, and more.
6. BingX
BingX, a leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 AI company, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Cornix, an automated crypto trading platform that helps users follow expert traders, automate strategies, and manage their portfolios with ease. This collaboration enables users to connect their BingX accounts directly to Cornix, unlocking advanced automated trading tools and providing a new avenue to deliver value to traders.
With Cornix’s intuitive platform, users can automate crypto trading using DCA bots, TradingView bots or signals from leading providers; customize strategies based on risk appetite and trading goals; start in seconds by copying top-performing bots and signal providers; and trade 24/7 while benefiting from the liquidity and security of the BingX platform.
7. Curve
Curve, the ultimate digital wallet, today announced deepening its collaboration with Thales, the global leader in advanced technologies, delivering secure modern payment solutions for financial institutions.
This partnership comes on the back of Curve launching Curve Pay on iOS, marking a watershed moment in mobile payments. This partnership is a significant step to reshaping everyday spending, allowing Curve customers to benefit from NFC payment directly in the Curve App for contactless payments in store for all end-users on iOS and Android.
Curve Pay is underpinned by Thales’ D1 platform on iOS and Android in Europe which allows customers to digitize a payment card through a mobile wallet. The cloud-based D1 platform operates in real time, enabling seamless integration with existing systems to deliver secure, flexible, and instant payment services.
8. Droit
Droit, a technology firm at the forefront of computational law and regulation, launches ‘Explore Mode’ for its Adept Platform using newly patented technology for methods and systems to identify and trace regulatory obligations associated with a set of transactions or scenarios.
Today, global financial Institutions rely on Droit’s Adept platform to drive intelligent decision-making across pre-trade and post-trade controls; it allows users to evaluate the permissibility of transactions and comply with regulatory reporting, with full traceability for each step in the decision process.
Adept’s new, patented ‘Explore Mode’ provides institutions with a new way of interacting with the rules both across Droit’s pre-trade products, which enable financial institutions to understand their commercial possibilities and validate readiness to engage, as well as post-trade, for regulatory reporting.
9. Finvi
Finvi, a leading provider of enterprise workflow automation software supporting a variety of revenue cycle management functions, today announced the launch of its new Denial Intelligence Engine, now available within the, now available within the Artiva HCx® platform for insurance claim follow-up.
The engine leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help healthcare providers and their partners focus follow-up efforts on denied claims most likely to be recovered, thereby streamlining operations and improving financial outcomes.
The Denial Intelligence Engine, natively integrated into Artiva HCx, combines industry-wide data as well as client-specific insights to offer a more intelligent way to prioritize denied claims. The result is a dynamic, evidence-based scoring model that evolves over time to reflect both broad trends and local realities, providing empirical data through different scoring algorithms on the denials most likely to yield positive outcomes through human intervention.
10. Golden
Golden, a leader in volunteer management technology, today announced a major update to its flagship mobile app, introducing AI-driven features designed to combat declining volunteer and donor engagement rates across the nonprofit sector.
Designed to enhance a volunteer’s experience with cutting-edge AI capabilities, the enhanced app helps streamline volunteer matching, personalized engagement strategies, and optimized program effectiveness for nonprofits, community organizations, and corporate volunteer programs.
By being in the individual supporter’s pocket, the Golden app helps earn their trust and permissions, coaching them into active and sustainable volunteers. Golden’s globally-awarded and category-defining mobile app turns volunteers into donors.
11. Lemonade
Lemonade (NYSE: LMND), the digital insurance company powered by AI and social impact, today announced the launch of Lemonade Car in Indiana, marking the latest step in the company’s expanding U.S. footprint. Drivers across the state can now access Lemonade’s full suite of insurance products—all built for the digital age.
As laid out in recent quarterly results and at Investor Day, Lemonade Car is a key growth driver in the company’s strategy. Q1 2025 marked the first quarter where Car’s sequential in-force premium (IFP) growth outpaced the rest of Lemonade’s book—underscoring its accelerating momentum.
Following the recent launch in Colorado, Indiana is the next step in a series of state rollouts planned for 2025. With this addition, Lemonade Car is now available in states representing approximately 42% of the U.S. car insurance market. Hoosiers spend an estimated $5 billion annually on car insurance, and Lemonade’s existing customers in the state already account for hundreds of millions in annual premiums—making Indiana a natural fit for the company’s expanding car product.
12. Liberate
Liberate, the leading conversational voice AI platform for insurance, has announced a strategic partnership with Five Sigma, the AI-native claims management technology innovator, to deliver a fully automated, end-to-end claims experience for insurers and their policyholders.
This collaboration brings together Liberate’s cutting-edge voice and digital AI intake capabilities with Five Sigma’s integration-friendly claims technology, including Clive™, the insurance industry’s first AI Claims Adjuster, and Five Sigma’s AI-Native Claims Management Platform (CMS). Together, the two companies are redefining how insurance claims are handled, creating a seamless experience from first notice of loss (FNOL) through resolution.
In moments of crisis, such as accidents or property damage, policyholders often experience heightened stress, making it challenging to articulate details through written communication. Voice interactions offer a more natural and immediate way for claimants to convey information, facilitating quicker and more accurate claims processing.
13. NiCE
NiCE (Nasdaq: NICE) today announced that Staysure, the UK’s leading travel insurance provider, is accelerating its mission to become Europe’s largest travel insurer by transforming its customer service operations with NiCE’s AI-driven platform, CXone Mpower. This deployment reinforces Staysure’s commitment to delivering seamless, personalized, and trustworthy digital travel insurance experiences. CXone Mpower was chosen through a competitive tender process for its ability to fast-track digital transformation and deliver a modern, AI-powered customer experience.
CXone Mpower enables Staysure to seamlessly integrate digital channels, including WhatsApp, SMS, and chat, alongside voice, delivering a truly fluid omnichannel experience that bridges online and offline interactions while elevating digital engagement. CXone Mpower’s Copilot and Expert capabilities will also provide real-time, AI-driven support to Staysure’s exceptional human service team, centralizing the organization’s knowledge base through CXone Mpower Expert and delivering intelligent guidance at every interaction with CXone Mpower Copilot. This unified, platform approach will help Staysure’s agents navigate the complexities of travel insurance, from diverse policies and healthcare nuances to individual customer needs. As a result, Staysure can accelerate agent training, reduce onboarding time, and consistently deliver higher-quality service through the power of AI and automation.
To further enhance service quality, Staysure is also leveraging NiCE’s AI-powered automation for Quality Management and sentiment analysis. By automatically reviewing 100% of customer interactions, Staysure gains critical insights into customer sentiment, call drivers, and service performance. This data-driven approach streamlines both compliance and complaints.
14. Nymbus
Nymbus, a full-stack banking platform for U.S. banks and credit unions, today announced a new agreement with Bud Financial (“Bud”), a leading provider of transaction data enrichment and AI-driven insights for the financial services industry.
Nymbus will integrate Bud’s market-leading suite of personal financial management (“PFM”) widgets. These capabilities will be embedded directly into the Nymbus Banking Platform, enhancing the digital banking experience and enabling smarter, more contextual customer engagement.
This announcement follows the recent launch of Nymbus Engage, a new customer engagement solution built to help community banks and credit unions activate data in smarter ways and drive more meaningful, long-term relationships. Bud’s integration directly supports this strategy, providing additional capabilities for financial institutions to deliver hyper-personalized campaigns and experiences that deepen loyalty and boost retention.
15. Options Technology
Options Technology (Options), the leading provider of capital markets infrastructure, today announced its latest expansion into NY3, Equinix’s newest state-of-the-art International Business Exchange™ (IBX) data center in Secaucus, New Jersey, located adjacent to the critical trading hubs of NY4 and NY5.
This strategic move underscores Options’ continued commitment to delivering proximity hosting and ultra-low-latency connectivity at the heart of the US financial markets. NY4 and NY5 have long been recognized as premier electronic trading locations, hosting key exchanges, dark pools, and liquidity venues. As capacity is in such high demand, NY3 represents a critical next step for firms seeking scalable, high-performance infrastructure in the region.
Connected via skybridge to NY4, NY3 offers seamless integration and minimal latency between facilities. Phase one of the facility is now live, with phase two scheduled for 2026 and phase three to follow. Once complete, NY3 will deliver almost double the power capacity of NY4, alongside support for advanced cooling techniques, including liquid cooling and high-density cabinet deployments, opening new possibilities for next-generation trading workloads.
16. Private Client Resources
Private Client Resources (PCR), a premier data aggregation firm serving the financial services industry, is proud to reintroduce itself under new leadership and with a renewed commitment to delivering high-integrity data and managed services. The transformation of PCR into an industry-grade data aggregator enters a new phase of strategic growth. This evolution is led by a seasoned management team with a proven track record of building and transforming global financial services businesses to drive greater accuracy, agility, and insight.
PCR’s new leadership team includes Chitra Baskar as Executive Chairperson, Ranjan Mishra as Chief Executive Officer, KB Venkataraman as Chief Technology Officer, and Sujatha Rajaram as Chief Operating Officer. With decades of experience in high precision operations, the team brings a proven track record of driving operational excellence, delivering high-touch client service, as well as leading large-scale tech transformations for a major corporate and fund solution providers. Their combined expertise positions PCR for accelerated growth in a highly competitive market.
In addition to a new leadership team, PCR has built an operational and delivery center in India, hiring over 70 team members to enhance consistency and offer time zone advantage. The company continues to invest in its technology stack, leveraging innovations in AI and straight-through processing (STP) to address and improve their service quality and capabilities. Additionally, PCR has refined its client focus to serve high-value, high-complexity financial institutions such as wealth tech platforms, private wealth managers, banks, registered investment advisers (RIAs), asset allocators, family offices and trust service providers who are seeking a single-source, institutional-grade data aggregation and managed services provider.
17. Trust3 AI
Trust3 AI, a leading innovator in AI-driven enterprise solutions, has announced the appointment of Alberto Romero as its new Head of AI. With over 15 years of experience at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and data, Romero brings unparalleled expertise in building scalable and innovative AI solutions for global industries.
Romero’s distinguished career includes serving as CTO and Co-founder of InsurTech AI startup Humn.ai, where he spearheaded the development of state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) risk prediction systems for the mobility sector. Under his strategic leadership, Humn.ai grew to become a Series B startup and was successfully acquired by Aon in 2023. Following this, Romero led Citi’s GenAI efforts as Director of Generative AI Engineering, delivering an advanced generative AI platform equipped with production-grade retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines and AI agents, serving over 25,000 daily users.
Over the years, Romero has built and architected low-latency, ML-powered risk prediction systems across industries including finance, insurance, cybersecurity, and mobility. With extensive experience in systematic optimization of AI pipelines and agents through advanced evaluation methods, Romero has emerged as a key thought leader in AI development. He holds an MSc in AI/ML from Caltech and is a celebrated speaker and contributor at global AI conferences.
18. Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting (TAA) today announced significant AI-powered enhancements to its industry-leading CCH® AnswerConnect platform, reinforcing its commitment to firm intelligence and transforming how tax professionals conduct research. The latest update introduces generative AI document summarization and a new dynamic tools directory, enabling users to uncover insights faster, reduce research time, and make more confident decisions.
The latest features make CCH AnswerConnect more intuitive and powerful for today’s professionals. AI Document Summarization with the click of a button, users can instantly generate a summary of any secondary source document, complete with the ability to ask follow-up questions. This GenAI capability helps accountants quickly get to the heart of complex information—without having to read through every word. Tools Directory & Lookup, a first-of-its-kind experience, the new directory makes it easy to discover and access research tools by topic and use case. From Smart Charts and Checklists to Calculators, Flow Charts, and Client Letters, everything is now just a few clicks away—boosting productivity and surfacing resources users may not have even known existed.
