Crypto firm Paxos gets OCC's conditional approval for trust charter

In contrast to Anchorage and Protego Trust Co., which are converting their state trust charters to national ones, Paxos will maintain its New York state charter and additionally seek a federal one.

By Anna Hrushka • Updated April 27, 2021

Top ways financial institutions are improving the customer experience

In this time of worry and uncertainty, great customer service is more important than ever.

Dec. 14, 2020

Explore the Trendline➔

M&A

President Donald Trump’s reelection was predicted to yield loosened regulation. But tariff volatility and economic uncertainty has thrown a wrench into an expected boom in mergers and acquisitions.

By Banking Dive staff

Bank of America flags 640K accounts on suspected unemployment benefits fraud

The figure includes 76,000 cards — upon which the bank issues the benefits under contract with the state of California — that were sent to nonadjacent states or filed in the names of infants, children and centenarians.

By Dan Ennis • Dec. 10, 2020

The Banking Dive Awards for 2020

The government turned to banks and fintechs to help facilitate federal relief amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the executives and companies whose leadership stood out during the global crisis.

By Banking Dive Team • Dec. 9, 2020

Deal of the Year: American Express buys Kabbage

The fintech was growing beyond lending. The payment network was building beyond cards. Together, they saw the chance to expand outside of themselves.

By Dan Ennis • Dec. 9, 2020

Capital One halts buy-now-pay-later credit card transactions

The move stands in contrast to fellow credit-card issuers Citi and JPMorgan Chase, which last year launched fixed-payoff options. PayPal and Ally Financial this year announced they were rolling out installment loans.

By Dan Ennis • Dec. 7, 2020

Teen-aimed banking app Step gets celebrity boost

The platform said it raised $50 million in a Series B funding round that included investment from singer Justin Timberlake, music group The Chainsmokers and retired athlete Eli Manning.

By Anna Hrushka • Dec. 3, 2020

Facebook-led digital currency, renamed Diem, could launch in January

"We like the connotation of it kind of being a new day for the project," said the group's CEO, Stuart Levey, referring to the moniker's use of the Latin word for "day."

By Anna Hrushka • Updated Dec. 1, 2020

Behind BNY Mellon's war against B2B checks

Peer-to-peer payments have made consumer transactions cheap and efficient. BNY Mellon wants to do that for business payments, with additional communication, reporting and security measures.

By Suman Bhattacharyya • Nov. 25, 2020

Google revamps Google Pay, adds 3 new partner banks

With a redesigned app and an expanded network of banks that have signed on to offer co-branded accounts, the tech giant continues its push into the consumer financial services space.

By Anna Hrushka • Nov. 19, 2020

Twitter to invest $100M in CDFIs in effort to combat racial wealth gap

The social media giant follows a growing number of corporations, including Netflix and PayPal, that have embarked on similar initiatives to funnel more capital to Black and Latinx financial institutions and businesses.

By Anna Hrushka • Nov. 13, 2020

DOJ challenge to Visa-Plaid deal could change financial services landscape

The outcome will decide how the industry might evolve in an ever-changing world of technology — through acquisition of small, innovative fintechs or organic growth, an antitrust attorney said.

By Anna Hrushka • Nov. 10, 2020

DOJ sues to block Visa's $5.3B Plaid acquisition

The Justice Department cited Visa CEO Al Kelly's description of the deal as an "insurance policy" to neutralize a "threat to our important US debit business" as evidence the deal represents an anti-competitive move.

By Anna Hrushka • Nov. 6, 2020

Visa's Plaid deal faces antitrust scrutiny from Justice Department

The DOJ may be concerned Visa's purchase of Plaid would result in a "killer acquisition" — when a legacy company purchases a smaller, innovative player to preempt future competition, a Bloomberg Law analyst said.

By Anna Hrushka • Oct. 28, 2020

Fed, FinCEN want to make banks report international transfers of as little as $250

Friday's proposal to lower the threshold from $3,000 is meant to catch bad actors using low-dollar cross-border transactions to facilitate terrorist financing and other illicit activity.

By Anna Hrushka • Oct. 26, 2020

PayPal launches crypto payment platform

The payments company will convert consumers' Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin holdings into fiat currencies when they check out. That cuts the risk merchants assume from any volatility in cryptos' value.

By Dan Ennis • Updated March 30, 2021

Fed chair remains cautious on regulator's digital dollar efforts

The central bank's chief, Jerome Powell, told a panel Monday he'd rather the U.S. "get it right" than be first — and that such a currency should aim to complement rather than replace the dollar.

By Dan Ennis • Oct. 20, 2020

Bank of America enters the small-dollar loan fray

Balance Assist, which will launch in January, will offer loans of up to $500 — to be repaid in three installments over 90 days — for a flat $5 fee to customers who have held Bank of America checking accounts for a year or more.

By Dan Ennis • Oct. 9, 2020

Venmo launches its first credit card

After teasing it last October, the payment platform this week unveiled the card, through which users can earn 1% to 3% cash back on eligible purchases, track their spending, make payments and split expenses through the Venmo app.

By Tatiana Walk-Morris • Oct. 6, 2020

Goldman Sachs tops Barclays to buy GM's card portfolio for $2.5B

The deal feeds into Goldman's goal to nearly triple its consumer loans and card balances by 2025. It also marks the bank's second victory over Barclays: Apple phased out a rewards deal with the British lender before Apple Card's launch.

By Dan Ennis • Oct. 2, 2020

With stimulus in legislative limbo, market may see boost in small-dollar loans

Four regulators issued guidance on the products in May, but banks have been slow to roll out offerings. Higher demand may provide the catalyst they need.

By Suman Bhattacharyya • Oct. 1, 2020

OCC's Brooks defends special-purpose charters amid growing 'unbundling'

"Unbundling is not going away," the acting comptroller said Tuesday at a LendIt Fintech conference. "Customers want what they want. The question is, is our platform flexible enough to accommodate that? And I think it has to be."

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 30, 2020

3 ways to reimagine loyalty redemption in a post-COVID world

Providing offers consumers care about is not enough, writes Mastercard executive Jamie Samaha. A clunky, manual redemption process can leave cardholders feeling disengaged or duped.

By Jamie Samaha • Sept. 28, 2020

Crypto exchange Kraken gets Wyoming banking license

The company pulled out of New York in 2015, after executives saw the state's BitLicense as too invasive.

By Ted Jackson • Sept. 21, 2020

Stripe offers $20K bonus — and a pay cut — to relocating workers

About 49% of 6,000 users polled in the workplace forum Blind said they wouldn't take a pay cut for doing the same work, but 44% said they'd agree to lower pay in exchange for better work-life balance and a lower cost of living.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 17, 2020