London Tech Week was ‘complacency in conference form’ Tech London Tech Week has been accused of masking some of the biggest structural problems facing Britain’s tech sector and of offering “complacency in conference form”. Adam French, partner at global venture capital firm Antler, said the flagship event highlighted a widening gap between the public narrative around UK tech and the realities facing founders trying [...]
City watchdog probes Mastercard, Visa, Paypal for alleged anti-competitive conduct Regulation The City watchdog has confirmed it is investigating a trio of payments giants over alleged anti-competitive conduct. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will probe Mastercard, Paypal and Visa under the Competition Act 1998 regarding its suspected conduct related to the “funding and usage” of Paypal’s digital wallet. Paypal’s digital wallet is an app-based system that [...]
US giants dominate AI payments race amid Wall Street jitters Tech US giants continue to lead the charge in the payments industry’s AI acceleration even as the sector gets swept up in Wall Street’s tech jitters. Visa led a three-horse race followed by Mastercard, then Paypal in the Evident AI’s inaugural index for the payments sector. The three towered above their peers, thanks largely to consistently [...]
Immigration law firm put up for sale on insolvency market amid visa crackdown January 13, 2026 A London law firm specialising in immigration services has been put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace in an early sign the government’s crackdown on visas has sparked a slump in applications. Woolwich-based A Vincent Solicitors, which employs more than two dozen staff and has a second office in Manchester, offered multi-lingual support services [...]
Klarna and Zilch shrug off buy now, pay later crackdown with card launch June 3, 2025 Klarna and Zilch have shrugged off a government crackdown on by buy now pay later payments after launching landmark partnerships with payments giant Visa to introduce physical cards. Commerce network Klarna has begun piloting “Klarna Card” which aims to offer consumers greater spending flexibility without the pitfalls of traditional credit cards. The card will use [...]
Some UK visa and passport fees set to double from April March 26, 2025 The above-inflation increases in visa and passport fees announced in the Spring Budget have been described as “deeply disappointing.” Visitors to the UK will face a seven per cent increase for immigration and passport fees, the government has revealed. Companies also face a more than doubling in the cost of bringing in skilled overseas workers, [...]