Carlyle expands its reach on student loans as banks back out

The private-equity firm bought a $415 million portfolio, reportedly from Truist, and invested in student loan specialist Monogram.

By Dan Ennis • Jan. 25, 2024

Novo rolls out an embedded payroll tool for small businesses

Powered by Check, the new tool, Novo Payroll, aims to help small businesses manage their finances from a single platform.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Jan. 24, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Compliance in banking

A trio of fintech execs share their thoughts on partnerships with banks. This collection also explores the most pressing issues faced by three banks — TD, Capital One and Citi — heavily invested in compliance.

By Banking Dive staff

ModernFi raises $18.7M in Series A

“Faced with fundamental shifts in the behavior of deposits, institutions benefit from modern tools to manage and grow their funding,” said Paolo Bertolotti, ModernFi CEO, who cofounded the fintech with a Columbia University chum.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Jan. 24, 2024

Brex cuts workforce by 20% in profitability push

The company’s chief tech officer, who is transitioning to an advisory role, shared on LinkedIn a spreadsheet of employees impacted by the job cuts. Nearly 175 opted in, and 71 had “software engineer” in their title.

By James Pothen • Jan. 24, 2024

Klarna adds subscription plan

With an IPO on the horizon, the BNPL firm is offering customers a subscription service for $7.99 per month.

By Caitlin Mullen • Jan. 24, 2024

Figure eyes SEC approval for interest-bearing stablecoin

The company’s token would be redeemable at 1 cent per certificate, rather than $1, and interest would accrue daily and be paid monthly to the user, according to paperwork filed with the agency.

By Dan Ennis • Jan. 23, 2024

BaaS to require strong commitment, investment in 2024, experts say

While demand for embedded banking services will continue to propel the BaaS space, experts say regulatory scrutiny will likely separate committed banks from those with a casual interest in the model.

By Anna Hrushka • Jan. 22, 2024

Neobank Arc looks to fill SVB gap with venture debt platform

Arc Technologies CEO and co-founder Don Muir likened Arc Capital Markets to Uber Black, describing the platform as a dedicated concierge service that meticulously vets its lenders.

By Anna Hrushka • Jan. 17, 2024

Varo rolls out free tax prep and filing tool with Column Tax

All Varo Bank customers can access the tax filing service, which uses pre-filled data based on user information and helps to file taxes in less than 15 minutes, the lender said.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Jan. 17, 2024

Visa picks fintech startups for accelerator

A debt repayment app startup and a small business lender are among the U.S. startups selected by the card network and its partner this year.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Jan. 17, 2024

Fiserv seeks special-purpose bank charter

The designation would allow the payment processor to own transactions from end-to-end, removing the need for a bank partner.

By Caitlin Mullen • Jan. 12, 2024

X plans payments launch for this year

“I would be surprised if it takes longer than the middle of [2024] to roll out payments,” X owner Elon Musk said during a conversation last month with Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood.

By James Pothen • Jan. 10, 2024

FTC slaps $3M penalty on fintech FloatMe

The federal agency alleged the cash advance app company charged users without consent and misled consumers on eligibility requirements.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Jan. 10, 2024

Revolut hit with biometric ID class action in Illinois

Several tech companies have been hit with lawsuits under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act in recent years.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Jan. 10, 2024

Remitly taps ads to woo new clients

The cross-border payments company has boosted marketing to build up its remittance clientele.

By Lynne Marek • Jan. 10, 2024

5 banking trends to watch in 2024

Banking observers will watch this month’s earnings for clues as to whether 2023’s crisis can return. The capital-requirements debate and a CFPB-focused Supreme Court case also warrant attention.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery , Rajashree Chakravarty , Anna Hrushka , Dan Ennis • Jan. 9, 2024

Bank groups flag concerns with CFPB’s open banking proposal

The Bank Policy Institute and The Clearing House want the consumer watchdog to take a tougher stance on screen scraping, and allow banks to charge fees to cover the cost of enabling data sharing.

By Anna Hrushka • Jan. 3, 2024

Biden vetoes lawmakers’ efforts to roll back CFPB data collection rule

“If enacted, this resolution would harm all those that stand to benefit from expanded transparency and accountability,” the president said Tuesday.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Dec. 21, 2023

Fintechs have opportunity to grow, leverage partnerships with banks in 2024

With high interest rates still floating in the market, fintechs can drive profitability through technology and partner with banks to curb costs and fuel growth, experts say.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Dec. 20, 2023

Neobank Bunq rolls out customer-facing gen AI tool

The new tool, called Finn, replaces the search function on Bunq’s app, allowing consumers to plan their finances, budget, navigate the platform and find transactions.

By Anna Hrushka • Dec. 20, 2023

Visa leans on fintech partners

Teaming with emerging fintechs is “a way of staying very, very relevant,” said Jim Schinella, Visa’s global head of digital partnerships.

By Caitlin Mullen • Dec. 20, 2023

Don’t know what a digital wallet is? We’ve got you covered.

This primer fills in the gaps on how digital wallets work, what companies compete to provide such payment tools and what to expect from them in the future.

By James Pothen • Dec. 20, 2023

Neobank Dave’s new chatbot achieves 89% resolution rate, CEO says

The neobank and personal finance app this month launched DaveGPT, a gen AI-driven chatbot that can respond to customer inquiries in real-time.

By Anna Hrushka • Dec. 13, 2023

Payitoff teams up with fintechs to lower student loan payments

The debt guidance platform provides borrowers access to federal repayment plans as student loan payments resume after over three years.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Dec. 13, 2023

Sen. Warren draws more support for crypto crackdown bill

The bill, which would extend Bank Secrecy Act requirements to crypto players, has five new co-sponsors, days after Warren found a rare moment of common ground with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Dec. 12, 2023