Mercury vs Standard Chartered

Mercury Hits $1B Annualized Revenue, CEO Reveals on Podcast

Mercury, a fintech startup, announced it has surpassed $1 billion in annualized revenue, marking approximately 50% year-over-year growth. The company now serves over 450,000 customers and is launching a new payroll service. CEO Immad Akhund disclosed these milestones during an interview on the Newcomer Podcast. Akhund also discussed broader industry topics, including the potential for AI agents to spend money autonomously, his view that the startup ecosystem is experiencing a bubble, and a cooldown in fintech startups following the pandemic-era boom. The announcement underscores Mercury's rapid scaling in the B2B financial technology space, which could have indirect implications for payment infrastructure and financial operations within the advertising and marketing technology sectors.

• Mercury reached $1 billion in annualized revenue, up 50% year over year.
• The company has over 450,000 customers.
• Mercury is launching a payroll service.

JPMorgan Blocks AI Agents; Mercury Embraces Them

JPMorgan Chase has decided to block outside AI agents, such as Meta's Muse, from accessing customer accounts and initiating money movements, as stated by CEO Jamie Dimon. This move aims to protect its cheap deposit base of $2.7 trillion, which pays only 0.01% on savings. However, the ban does not prevent AI agents from advising customers to switch banks. In contrast, fintech Mercury allows AI agents to connect via a hosted MCP server, and AI assistants now recommend Mercury over Chase by a five-to-one margin. The article analyzes the limitations of the ban, JPMorgan's potential motives, and the implications for the emerging agentic finance ecosystem.

• JPMorgan Chase blocks outside AI agents from customer accounts and money movement.
• CEO Jamie Dimon announced the ban, citing security and protection of deposits.
• Chase has $2.7 trillion in average deposits, with savings paying just 0.01%.

Introducing Mercury Books

Mercury has launched a new product called Mercury Books, a bookkeeping solution, and also introduced exclusive mutual fund products through Mercury Treasury.

Sunrate and TourMind Partner for Travel Payment Boost

Sunrate, a global payments and treasury management platform, announced a strategic partnership with TourMind, an AI-driven travel transaction infrastructure platform, at ITB Asia 2026. The collaboration will integrate Sunrate's payment capabilities, including its Sunrate cards and the new 'Agentic Card', into TourMind's technology ecosystem. This integration aims to help travel companies optimize payment operations, manage cross-currency transactions, and support international growth. By embedding payment services into travel distribution and booking workflows, the partnership seeks to enhance operational efficiency and strengthen financial infrastructure for the global travel industry. Sunrate's CEO Paul Meng and TourMind's CEO Karma Young both emphasized the transformative role of AI in travel and the natural alignment of their companies' visions.

• Sunrate and TourMind announced a strategic partnership at ITB Asia 2026.
• Sunrate will integrate its payment capabilities into TourMind's AI-driven travel platform.
• Sunrate's 'Agentic Card' was introduced as part of the collaboration.

AI Director Sketches F1 Car for Standard Chartered Film

Standard Chartered's 'Move Ahead' film, an AI-generated F1 advertisement, was created by London studio Misideal, led by director Marcello Costa. Since the bank lacks its own F1 team, the car was entirely AI-generated, with Costa hand-sketching the vehicle to maintain control and avoid copyright issues. The film blends AI-generated environments with digital twins of real actors, whose likenesses were licensed. The project aimed to create imagery unattainable during the racing season. Costa discusses the challenges of AI reliability, cost comparisons with traditional production, and the rapid evolution of AI tools like Seedance 2.5. The campaign was produced with agency Leo Singapore, production company Stink, and media handled by Dentsu.

• Standard Chartered launched an AI-generated F1 ad film called 'Move Ahead'.
• The film was co-directed by Marcello Costa of AI studio Misideal and Tino of Stink.
• The car was hand-sketched by Costa and then rendered using AI tools, mainly Magnific.

OKX Raises $25B Valuation with Circle, Ripple, Standard Chartered

Crypto exchange OKX has closed a new funding round at a $25 billion valuation, with Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), and SC Ventures (Standard Chartered's investment arm) joining as investors. The amount invested and equity stakes were not disclosed. The investors are all existing business partners of OKX: Circle issues USDC, Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD is integrated into OKX's order book, QRT provides liquidity, and Standard Chartered custodies BlackRock's BUIDL fund used as collateral. CEO Star Xu framed the round as strategically aligned rather than driven by financial need. The valuation matches the $25 billion from ICE's investment in March, and OKX is considering a US IPO within four years. The company also launched OKX Money to convert local currencies into dollar stablecoins for emerging markets.

• OKX raised new funding at a $25 billion valuation (approx. €22.2 billion).
• New investors include Circle, Ripple, Qube Research & Technologies, and SC Ventures.
• The investment amount and equity stakes were not disclosed.