iSAP Exchange FZCO

Are Banks Becoming Super Apps—Or Are Super Apps Becoming Banks? The lines between banking, super apps, and embedded finance are disappearing. In Brazil, financial institutions are integrating shopping, travel, telecom or mobility. Their focus is full on monetisation. - Itaú Unibanco offers 12x interest-free shopping installments. - Nubank includes 10GB of international data with its premium card. - C6 Bank expanded its marketplace to 60,000+ products. - All major banks integrated Shell Box for embedded fuel payments. Why? Follow-the-money features drive engagement and revenue. Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, Grab and GoTo took the opposite approach. They started with ride-hailing and food delivery. Now they run fully licensed digital banks, holding $1.2B in deposits and $2.2B in loans. In Europe, banks and fintechs are experimenting, but adoption is slow. Services are limited, fragmented, and expensive compared to specialized players. Loyalty points offer incentives, but the ecosystem isn’t fully there yet. It’s a fight for who owns the most customer interactions and the revenue streams that come with them. Credit: Brazil insights – Sanjeev Kumar (WhiteSight), Grab analysis – David Jimenez Maireles,

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 Expanding globally? Accepting international card payments isn't as simple as flipping a switch. Many businesses underestimate the costs, fraud risks, and approval rate challenges that come with cross-border transactions. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲? 🔹𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝘀 → Cross-border transactions often trigger "cross-border assessment fees" from Visa, Mastercard, and issuers. These can be 1-2% higher than domestic transactions. 🔹𝗙𝗫 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 → If a business charges in a currency different from the cardholder’s, either the merchant or the customer pays an extra conversion fee. 🔹𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 & 𝗙𝗫 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝘂𝗽𝘀 → Card networks, acquiring banks, and payment processors often add their own FX spreads on top of raw exchange rates. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 Banks are more likely to decline cross-border payments because of fraud concerns. Why? ▪️𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 → Issuers may flag transactions from foreign countries as unusual spending behavior, leading to declines. ▪️𝗟𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 → Many fraud detection systems work best within a country’s financial ecosystem. A transaction from a US-based merchant hitting a European bank lacks local data points, leading to conservative decline decisions. ▪️𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 → Cross-border transactions typically have higher chargeback rates, making banks and payment processors wary of approvals. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 Merchants can leverage the below strategies to overcome costly mistakes: 🔹𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 → Businesses can work with local acquiring banks to process transactions within the customer’s region, reducing cross-border fees and boosting approval rates. 🔹𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗠𝗖𝗣) → Allowing customers to pay in their native currency avoids FX conversion surprises and increases trust. 🔹𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 (𝗔𝗣𝗠𝘀) → In markets like Europe, Latin America, and Asia, customers often prefer local payment methods over international credit cards (e.g., SEPA, Pix, Alipay, UPI). 🔹𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗧𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 → Using a payment processor with smart transaction routing and network tokenization can improve approval rates and reduce fraud-related declines 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 Leveraging local acquiring, alternative payment methods, and smart processing strategies can help merchants scale globally without losing revenue to hidden inefficiencies. Source: Clearly Payments, Checkout.com, PaymentsJournal 🚨Follow Jason Heister for daily #Fintech and #Payments guides, technical breakdowns, and industry insights.

12 Phrases That Kill Work Conversations (and what to say instead) You hear them every day. They seem innocent. Until you realize they destroy work relationships fast. 🚨 Time to flip these conversation killers into something better. Here are the worst ones, and how to turn them into trust-builders: "You don't understand" ❌ "Maybe I can explain better..." ✅ "I already told you..." ❌ "Let me explain this another way..." ✅ "You should have..." ❌ "Next time, let's try..." ✅ "That's not my problem" ❌ "Let's find who can help..." ✅ "You're being too sensitive" ❌ "This sounds important to you - tell me why" ✅ "I'm just being direct" ❌ "Here's my perspective..." ✅ "As per my previous email..." ❌ "To recap the key points..." ✅ "No offense, but..." ❌ "Can I share some thoughts?" ✅ "Do what you want..." ❌ "Here's what I recommend..." ✅ "Fine, have it your way" ❌ "Let's find middle ground..." ✅ "Just deal with it" ❌ "How can I support you?" ✅ "Yeah, but..." ❌ "I hear you, and..." ✅ The pattern? Toxic phrases shut people down. Safe phrases help them open up. Next time you're about to use one of these: Breathe. Choose words that build bridges not walls. ____ Inspired by my friend, Will McTighe P.S. What's a phrase that helps you at work? 💬 ♻️ Follow me and share this to help others 📌 Save this post for future reference!⁣⁣⁣⁣ If you want a copy of my top 60+ infographics (free): 👉 Like, Repost, then Signup here: www.PeakProtocol.co

𝐀 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 by Thunes 👇 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: ► Cross-border payments refer to transactions where the sender and recipient are located in different countries. These payments often involve multiple intermediaries, currency exchanges, and various payment networks. ► Traditional methods such as correspondent banking and Swift transfers dominate the landscape but come with challenges like high costs, slow settlement times, and limited transparency. ► Emerging fintech solutions and alternative payment methods (APMs) are reshaping the industry, making cross-border transactions faster, cheaper, and more accessible. — Swift 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 👇 ► Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is the backbone of international payments, providing a messaging network that enables financial institutions to communicate securely. ► Established in 1973, Swift is used by 11,000+ financial institutions across 200+ countries to facilitate global money movement. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬: 1️⃣ Bank A (Sender’s Bank) initiates an international payment request. 2️⃣ Correspondent Bank acts as an intermediary to facilitate the transfer. 3️⃣ Intermediary Bank processes the transaction, ensuring compliance and exchange rate adjustments. 4️⃣ Beneficiary Bank (Bank B) receives the funds and credits the recipient’s account. — 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 — 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲? ► Retail, Commercial & Neobanks — JPMorganChase, DBS Bank, Equity Bank Limited ► Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) — Ria Money Transfer, Rocket Remit ► Payment Service Providers (PSPs) — Worldpay, Stripe, Braintree ► Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) — M-PESA Africa, bKash Limited ► Platforms & Marketplaces — Airbnb, Grab, Booking.com ► Fintech Companies — PayPal, Thunes, WeChat Pay — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: ► 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬: Companies like Thunes are reducing transaction costs by up to 90-95%, bypassing traditional banking models. ► Swift 𝐆𝐏𝐈 (Global Payments Innovation): Enhancing transparency, tracking, and settlement speed across the SWIFT network. ► 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: Innovations in blockchain, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and instant payment schemes are improving transaction efficiency. ► 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Efforts to connect bank accounts, wallets, and alternative payment systems will drive greater financial inclusion. — Source: Thunes — ► Sign up to 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬: https://lnkd.in/g5cDhnjC ► Connecting the dots in payments... and Marcel van Oost

Why some beginners quickly become experts. (While others stay stuck.) What others see vs what you see: ↳ expertise requires natural talent ↳ mastery takes decades of experience ↳ professionals never struggle The reality is: ✅ Consistent practice beats raw talent [dedication outperforms ability] ✅ Deliberate repetition creates expertise [focused work accelerates growth] ✅ Small daily improvements compound [tiny gains build remarkable skills] ✅ Professionals struggle differently [experts face harder problems] ✅ Feedback loops determine speed [criticism shapes excellence] Here's what most miss: You don't need to be gifted... You need to be committed. Grok Prompt: "Help me identify the three highest-leverage activities in my field that would accelerate my expertise. Show me what separates the top 5% from everyone else in terms of practice habits, learning approaches, and feedback systems." ---- ♻ Repost this and help spread the word! 👋 Get longer. in your inbox - 5-minute longevity insights to help you perform at your best. 🎥: via social

Success is tough no matter how you slice it. Entreprenuership isn’t for everybody, if u are not ready for the pain, take on at 9-5 job and there is nothing wrong with that...

7 Lessons from Nubank’s CEO on Scaling Digital Banking to 114 million users in LATAM. Nubank is proving that digital banking can be both massive and profitable. Here’s what stood out from CEO David Vélez’s latest insights: 💰 1. The lowest-cost acquisition engine in banking. Less than $5 per customer. That’s all Nubank spends to acquire users—mainly because of word of mouth. When you have an 84 NPS score, your customers do the marketing for you. 📈 2. Scale means nothing without engagement. Adding 20M customers in a year sounds impressive. But the real metric? 83% of them actively use their accounts. Scale is only valuable if people actually engage. 🛠 3. More products = deeper relationships. The average Nubank user holds 4.2 products. That’s because the bank keeps expanding—travel, telco, and everyday payments—so customers have fewer reasons to leave. 🏦 4. The real battle of banks is with complexity. Banks make $40 ARPU per customer, Nubank makes $10.5—but Nubank’s cost to serve a customer is under $1. Why? No complexity, no hidden fees, no friction, no need for branches. 🚀 5. The fintech share of banking profits is still tiny. The global financial services market generates $7T in annual profit. Only 3% of that belongs to digital-first companies. That means 97% of the profit is still offline. The next decade will change that. 🔄 6. Banks charge fees because they can, not because they need to. Some banks still charge $2 for an SMS alert, $1 to check a balance, even fees to access online banking. These micro-charges are why traditional banks are more profitable—but also why their customers are open to leaving. 🤖 7. AI will redefine what “premium” banking means. Vélez believes AI can democratize the private banking experience. A top-tier banking relationship manager—at scale, for every customer. That’s where the real disruption will happen. Nubank is still only at 3% market share in Latin America. Imagine where they’ll be in five years.

What Stood Out in a Review of 25 Banking Apps in 🇩🇪 A study of 25 top fintech and traditional banking apps in Germany, tested by 40+ users, revealed key trends 👇 : 1. Fintech apps dominate with 85 features on average vs. 50 in traditional banking. Meanwhile, Revolut is spinning off its €8.5B investment service into a standalone app. 2. Faster logins—Fintechs take 4.5 seconds, while traditional banks lag at 5.5 seconds. 3. Only 4% of apps leverage gamification, but tools like Revolut’s RevPoints are reshaping user loyalty. 4. SEPA Instant Payments exist in 75% of apps, with fees between €0–€1.50. 5. 40% of users would switch banks for better climate tools, highlighting demand for sustainability features like CO₂ tracking. 6. With 71% of Germans using digital wallets, banking’s future lies in speed, engagement, and personalization. sources: @Optima Consultancy

AI is Transforming Banking - But Are Banks Ready? Official Link: https://lnkd.in/gM-PfqX8 The KPMG 2025 Intelligent Banking Report provides a blueprint for AI-driven transformation, revealing that while banks see AI as critical for competitive advantage, many still struggle to scale adoption and prove ROI. Key Findings: - 80% of banking executives believe AI is a competitive differentiator. - AI spending is rising - 38% of banks plan to allocate 20%+ of their global budget to AI. - 66% have achieved cost savings, but only 26% report revenue growth from AI. - Top AI use cases: Fraud detection, risk management, hyper-personalization, and AI-powered banking assistants. - Biggest barriers: Data silos, regulatory challenges, lack of AI skills, and proving #ROI. The Future of AI in Banking - Banks must move from pilots to enterprise-wide AI adoption - embedding AI into operations, risk management, and customer engagement. - AI agents will drive hyper-personalized banking, predictive finance, and fully automated financial services. - Trust, ethics, and explainability will be the foundation of AI-enabled banking. #AI #banking #fintech #intelligentbanking #AItransformation #futureoffinance #digitalbanking #KPMG

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭-𝐭𝐨-𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 by Visa👇 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐀2𝐀 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: ► Account-to-Account (A2A) payments are rapidly growing, with a forecasted 161% growth between 2024 and 2028. ► The fundamental characteristics of Real-Time Payments (RTP), such as speed, 24/7 availability, irrevocability, and lack of network visibility, contribute to the increasing fraud risks. ► Fraud is evolving with the growth of A2A payments, making it crucial for financial institutions to implement real-time fraud prevention strategies. — 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐈 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? ► 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲: AI enables real-time fraud detection and prevention, essential for instant payment transactions that are completed within 10 seconds. ► 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: AI can recognize patterns and detect irregularities, linked to mule accounts or changed geolocation. ► 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: AI models adjust to new fraud trends in real-time, unlike traditional rules-based systems that require post-loss analysis. ► 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬: AI-enhanced systems provide more accurate fraud detection, reducing the need for manual reviews and minimizing false positives. ► 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤-𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: AI leverages a multi-financial institution (FI) view, enabling a comprehensive view of fraud across payment networks, which is crucial for detecting cross-network fraud schemes. — 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 vs. 𝐀𝐈-𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬: 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: 1️⃣ Transaction Initiated 2️⃣ Massive Volume of Transactions: High volume of transactions are flagged for manual review due to basic rule triggers. 3️⃣ Manual Review: Transactions are manually reviewed, leading to delays and operational inefficiencies. 4️⃣ Transaction Assessed: Risk is evaluated based on pre-set rules. 5️⃣ Transaction Authorized: If no rule is violated, the payment is authorized. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬: High false positives, time-consuming manual reviews, and delays in payment processing. 🆚 𝐀𝐈-𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: 1️⃣ Transaction Initiated 2️⃣ Curated Volume of Transactions: AI intelligently filters transactions, reducing the volume that requires review. 3️⃣ AI-Assisted Review: Transactions are reviewed with AI input, providing real-time risk assessment. 4️⃣ Data & Model Assessment: AI evaluates transactions using data patterns and predictive models. 5️⃣ Transaction Authorized: If deemed low-risk, the payment is instantly authorized. 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬: Reduced false positives, real-time risk assessment, operational efficiency, and improved customer experience. — Source: Visa