With the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried in the spotlight last month it is easy to forget that there is still the massive FTX bankruptcy that has to be sorted out. The next step in that process has now been revealed in the form of a proposal. At this stage, it is just a proposal that must be approved by creditors before it can go to the bankruptcy judge. But the major creditor and consumer groups have agreed to the plan outline.

The buy-now-pay-later industry continues to grow in popularity. And part of the reason is consumers are starting to understand that most of BNPL stands outside the traditional credit scoring system.

We are moving to a world of instant payments but how we get there is still uncertain. A blockchain-based payments system designed for central banks has just completed its first live transactions with the Bank of England. Created by Fnality, the system processed live payments from member banks, Lloyds, Santander and UBS.

Upgrade continues to break new ground in consumer fintech. When the Upgrade Card launched in 2019, it was the first credit card ever to marry the benefits of a revolving line of credit with a fixed-rate installment loan.

Today, Google has announced a pilot program with Affirm and Zip to bring BNPL natively into the Google Pay wallet. Consumers continue to choose BNPL as a payment option and its popularity continues to grow, particularly during the holiday shopping season.

Twitter/X has been going state-by-state obtaining money transmitter licenses. The social media platform is now approved in 12 states.

No, you did not wake up back in 2021 but there is news this morning of a €285 Million (over $300m) fintech funding round. Germany-founded but London-based SumUp has closed the massive funding round that is "mostly equity" which tempers our initial enthusiasm somewhat. But even a nine-figure equity round is enough to make the news these days.

Much has been written about the looming end to the Apple-Goldman Sachs relationship (we even produced a cartoon about it). And while this is a big deal for Goldman and Apple, the average Apple Card holder likely does not give it a second thought.