Payments
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Aggregator MX to expand reach of 'money experiences' as it angles toward IPO
The company has quadrupled its value in the past year in a field that, amid the Visa-Plaid deal's disintegration, has room for "co-opetition," one analyst said, as some banks use multiple data aggregators.
By Suman Bhattacharyya • Jan. 20, 2021 -
Plaid sees 'opportunity' after $5.3B Visa deal ends
The data aggregator's biggest priority now is getting 75% of its traffic dedicated to application programming interfaces by the end of 2021 — a prospect John Pitts, Plaid's head of policy, calls an "immense challenge."
By Anna Hrushka • Jan. 19, 2021 -
Visa terminates $5.3B acquisition of Plaid after DOJ antitrust suit
The abandonment of the deal won't keep Visa from pursuing partnerships with Plaid or other fintechs, CEO Al Kelly said Tuesday during a call with analysts.
By Anna Hrushka • Jan. 13, 2021 -
Permission granted by Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Banks can use stablecoins, blockchains for payments, OCC says
The move follows a letter the agency issued in July clarifying national banks are allowed to provide cryptocurrency custody services, and hold unique cryptographic "keys" associated with cryptocurrency on behalf of customers.
By Anna Hrushka • Jan. 05, 2021 -
SEC sues Ripple, top execs over sale of XRP cryptocurrency
The company's CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, criticized the timing of the suit and vowed to challenge it. The coin lost 60% of its value in the week after the court action, which one Twitter user called a "kill shot."
By Anna Hrushka • UPDATED: Jan. 4, 2021 at 7:54 a.m. -
Getty
Crypto firms Paxos, BitPay apply for national bank charters
The OCC has taken a series of crypto-friendly actions under acting Comptroller Brian Brooks as lawmakers and trade groups continue to push back.
By Anna Hrushka • Dec. 14, 2020 -
Anchiy via Getty Images
Sponsored by Early Warning ServicesTop ways financial institutions are improving the customer experience
In this time of worry and uncertainty, great customer service is more important than ever.
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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 -
Kendall Davis/Banking Dive
Dive Awards
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. 09, 2020 -
Courtesy of Kabbage Media
Dive Awards
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. 09, 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. 07, 2020 -
Permission granted by Step
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. 03, 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 at 11:11 a.m. -
Valadi, Sam. (2012). "Empire State - New York City" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr.
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. 06, 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 to let users pay for purchases with cryptocurrency
A New York regulator gave the payment company a conditional BitLicense allowing U.S. account holders to buy, sell and hold digital coins from four platforms in their PayPal digital wallets.
By Dan Ennis • Oct. 22, 2020 -
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. 09, 2020 -
Courtesy of Venmo
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. 06, 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. 02, 2020
