Mike Walters, Form3 – How can banks stay competitive in the payments ecosystem?

Adyen, the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses, has announced its partnership with AS Colour, a designer and wholesaler of premium "blank" apparel, to streamline its global payment infrastructure and enhance the digital customer experience. Since partnering with Adyen in October 2025, AS Colour has consolidated multiple legacy payment providers into one global commerce platform, connecting its payments across all operating regions.

Nuvo Technologies, the AI-native customer-to-cash platform, today announced an integration with Avalara, the agentic AI leader in global tax and compliance. The integration connects Nuvo’s AI-powered onboarding with Avalara’s exemption certificate management and real-time tax calculation capabilities—enabling B2B suppliers to handle credit applications and tax compliance in a single, unified experience. The result is a single workflow where suppliers can approve customers and ensure tax compliance at the same time.

Lumin Digital, the Compounding Growth Platform for banks and credit unions, today unveiled Lumin Solaire, an AI-native intelligence layer embedded across its platform. The announcement was made at Lumination, the company’s annual client conference, where Lumin is showcasing its platform strategy and product roadmap.

Alkami Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKT) ("Alkami"), a digital sales and service platform provider for financial institutions in the U.S., today announced a new partnership between MANTL, an Alkami solution team and leading provider of loan and deposit account opening technology, and Sturgis Bank, a community bank serving Michigan through 16 branches, to transform its account opening experience for business and retail customers. Through this partnership, Sturgis Bank will modernize onboarding across all physical and digital banking channels, reinforcing its commitment to delivering a seamless, efficient, and customer-centric experience while expanding accessibility and accelerating digital growth.

Digital Asset Clearing Center (DACC.HK), a next-generation financial market infrastructure for the tokenized economy, today announced US$10 million in funding from strategic partners including Conflux, Transaction Technologies Limited (“TTL”) and Global InfoTech. Traditional bank transfers continue to dominate the US$214 trillion cross-border payments market, but tokenized finance offers an alternative to slow settlement cycles, high transaction costs, fragmented data systems and regulatory barriers. Digital Asset Clearing Service offers seamless connections to the world's leading payment systems including Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), blockchain networks and compliance infrastructure delivering end-to-end Clearing-as-a-Service (CaaS) for financial institutions.

Apex Group Ltd (“Apex Group”) a global financial services provider with over $3.5 trillion in assets serviced, today announced that it is providing transfer agency services to Fidelity International in support of the launch of its first tokenised product, which offers institutional and professional investors 24/7 liquidity. The capabilities are designed for on‑chain markets and real‑time processing environments.