Building, Winning, Repeat: Sends' First Half of 2026

The first half of 2026 is a wrap, and honestly? It flew by. Between events and panels, product launches, award shortlists and more networking breakfasts than we can count, the Sends team has been everywhere at once — and we wanted to bring it all together in one place before we look ahead to what's next.

So grab a coffee, and let's walk through it: the events, the recognition, and the product updates that shaped our year so far.

The first six months of 2026 have been transformational for Sends.

From launching new payment capabilities and strengthening our infrastructure to receiving prestigious industry recognition and participating in leading fintech events across the UK and the Middle East, we've continued to build on our mission of making international financial services simpler, faster and more accessible for businesses and individuals.

On the stages and in the rooms: Our H1 events

PAY360: Alona takes the panel

One of the year's biggest fintech gatherings, PAY360 brought our CEO Alona Shevtsova  onto some of its key panels, where she spoke on the topics shaping the future of payments — from regulatory evolution to the practical realities of scaling cross-border infrastructure for SMEs. It's always a good sign when the conversation in the room matches the conversation we're having internally, and PAY360 delivered exactly that.

Gaming, blockchain and the future of digital finance

We also spent part of this year looking sideways — beyond traditional payments and into where the industry is heading next. Conversations exploring the intersection of gaming, blockchain and digital finance gave us a useful reminder that the infrastructure we build today needs to flex for the use cases of tomorrow, even the ones that don't look like "payments" yet.

Solid Hackathon: Financial Pod makes the final

Our team put its money where its mouth is at the Solid hackathon, where the Sends squad was named a finalist with "Financial Pod." Nothing sharpens product thinking quite like a hackathon deadline, and we're proud of what the team pulled together under pressure.

Breakfast Roundtables and Summer Parties

Some of our best conversations this year didn't happen on a stage at all. We joined inspiring breakfast roundtables and networking sessions organised by The Payments Association and Innovate Finance. We caught up with familiar faces (and plenty of new ones) at summer parties across London. If there's one thing the half-year has confirmed, it's that this industry runs on relationships as much as it runs on rails.

Recognition we're genuinely proud of

Raising the Bar for Security

Alona Shevtsova announced one of our proudest achievements of the year: Sends achieved ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certification, covering information security and privacy information management respectively. For an FCA-authorised EMI handling cross-border payments at scale, this isn't just a badge — it's a formal, independently verified commitment to how seriously we take security and data protection, for every client who trusts us with their transactions.

The Payments Power 50

Sends was recognised on The Payments Power 50  list, a recognition that places us among the standout companies shaping the payments industry right now. It's a nice external checkpoint that the work we're doing — on product, on compliance, on client experience — is landing the way we hoped.

Women in Fintech Impact Award — Fluxx Gala

Alona Shevtsova was named winner of the Women in Fintech Impact Award at the Fluxx Gala — recognition for the leadership and impact she's brought to Sends and to the wider industry. It's the kind of award that reflects a whole team's work as much as one person's, and we're thrilled it landed here.

Shortlisted: Great British Entrepreneur Awards 2026

Alona was also shortlisted for the 2026 Great British Entrepreneur Awards — one of the UK's most competitive entrepreneurship recognitions. Fingers crossed for the next stage.

What we shipped: Product updates in H1 2026

A New Partnership with ClearBank

We're collaborating with ClearBank to strengthen how we serve our customers — adding infrastructure depth behind the scenes so that the experience up front stays fast, reliable and easy to trust.

GBP Digital Cards Have Landed

This one's been a long time coming: GBP digital cards are now live on the Sends platform. Previously available in EUR only, our clients can now issue and use digital cards in British Pounds too — one less currency conversion headache for businesses operating across the UK and Europe.

Corporate Virtual and Physical Cards, in GBP and EUR

We've also expanded our corporate card offering: Sends clients can now access virtual and physical corporate cards in both GBP and EUR. Whether it's a virtual card for a subscription your finance team needs to control, or a physical card for a team member on the move, it's now available directly through your Sends account.

Curious how GBP cards and corporate card issuing could work for your business? Take a look at our Business Accounts page.

Sending money across borders? Explore our payout solutions built specifically for SMEs.

Prefer to manage it all on the go? Download the Sends app and take your account with you.

Onwards to H2 2026

The first half of 2026 has been intensive, and honestly, pretty progressive for a team our size. From launching new products and strengthening our infrastructure to contributing to industry conversations and receiving international recognition, the first six months have been both intensive and rewarding. But we're not slowing down. There's more exciting news, more announcements and more product launches already in motion for the second half of the year.

Whether you're already part of the Sends community or are exploring a better way to manage international payments, we look forward to sharing what's next.

Stay tuned for more updates, and if you'd like to learn how Sends can support your business, get in touch with us at [email protected].