Evicted: Wells Fargo Stops Marketing Bilt
It was a good idea at the time. No issuer made a meaningful play to create a co-brand in the rental industry. With almost 50 million households renting their homes, couldn’t a top issuer come up with a program that rewards all parties to create a leading co-brand franchise? With top issuers offering cobranded cards […]
Visa and Mastercard’s Merchant Settlement Could Imperil Rewards Cards
After decades of contention, Visa and Mastercard are reportedly ironing out another settlement with merchants over interchange fees. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies may agree to incrementally lower credit card interchange fees merchants pay—from current rates of roughly 2% to 2.5% to about 0.1% over several years. While that reduction would […]
Venmo Introduces New Rewards Program
Venmo’s new rewards program Stash lets users earn rewards for activities such as receiving direct deposits or shopping with participating retail partners. However, these rewards don’t apply to the company’s flagship peer-to-peer payments service. The Venmo Debit Mastercard already offers 1% cash back on purchases made from the card balance and 2% with auto reloads. […]
Agentic Commerce Faces Many Hurdles Before It Reaches Maturity
Although artificial intelligence presents much to be excited about, a substantial technical burden remains in building out the ecosystem necessary for the vision of its biggest cheerleaders. Many companies have made agentic commerce a high priority, but the amount of work left to do is substantial, and fitting this into the modern economy is highly […]
Fannie Mae to Drop Minimum Credit Score for Homebuyers
Fannie Mae is lowering its minimum 620 middle credit score requirement for purchases and refinance loans—a move that could broaden access to homeownership for borrowers with thinner credit files or lower scores. Following Freddie Mac’s lead, Fannie Mae is removing the threshold from its Desktop Underwriter (DU) eligibility determination system. While DU may no longer […]
Massachusetts Updates Money Transmission Laws
Massachusetts is the latest state to update its money transmission laws—a move welcomed not just by consumers but also by the fintechs the law is meant to regulate. The primary goal of the new legislation is to strengthen consumer protections for users of services such as Venmo, PayPal, and CashApp, “With this new law, consumers […]
The Challenge of Monetizing Value in Digital Banking
The financial services industry has been increasing the pressure on digital channels to produce revenue, diversify revenue streams, and provide returns on investment. Because digital banking is becoming more expensive, the challenge is to not just save money but also actually create new revenue. For forward-thinking financial institutions, the opportunities are there to turn their […]
Agentic AI Is Still Prone to Human-Type Mistakes
As Agentic AI continues to emerge as a force shaping the future of shopping, Microsoft has conducted an experiment to test its effectiveness—running several AI agents through a simulated marketplace. The study found that these agents are susceptible to manipulation and tend to struggle when faced with too many options—much like humans. The results suggest […]
Amex and Emburse Launch Virtual Card Program for Expenses
The travel and expense reimbursement process is a common pain point for many organizations—an issue American Express and Emburse aim to solve with virtual cards. Within Emburse’s expense management platform, Amex is introducing virtual card issuance capabilities, coupled with real-time transaction data that give organizations visibility into card activity. For example, a customer could issue […]
Deck the Holograms: How AI Is Redefining Holiday Magic
A roaring fireplace radiates warmth and light while a snowstorm rages outside—a classic holiday scene. But these days, it’s just as likely to have been created by artificial intelligence. Perhaps Santa and Mrs. Claus sit in armchairs beside the fire—or perhaps not. It’s all up to the content creator. In today’s hyperconnected world, even the […]