Scott Simpson, the president of America’s Credit Unions, called a recent ABA survey "deliberately deceptive" and said it casts credit unions unfairly. The study’s conclusions play a tiny part in an endless war over credit unions’ tax-exempt status and federal disclosure requirements. The ABA survey was designed to prove a point, but the threat to the banking industry is real: Credit unions may compete more effectively with banks because of a lower regulatory and tax burden than banks. The fight will intensify as credit unions get bigger.
Cryptocurrency valuations plunged across the board from frothy October highs, per Coinmarketcap data. Crypto volatility scares consumers and dampens consumer interest even in relatively safer types of crypto like stablecoins, which have practical applications for cross-border payments. Stablecoin services need to educate their consumers about the safety of their products, especially as other non-fiat-backed tokens hemorrhage value, to assure clients that their crypto-powered remittances are a safe choice for sending loved ones overseas money.
Personalization remains one of the most reliable attention drivers, but recent data shows consumers are still uneasy about how brands achieve it. People across age groups feel more negative than positive toward personalized ads—even though they pay more attention to content that feels relevant. The result is a widening gap between consumer expectations and marketer behavior. To unlock personalization’s upside, brands must apply AI to improve relevance and transparency, not just scale output.
Digital health tech funding continues to rebound in 2025, bolstered by AI deals. Funding reached $3.9 billion in Q3, already surpassing last year’s total, per PitchBook. AI is driving a new wave of digital health investment, and both healthcare systems and providers will feel pressure to adopt AI-assisted tool, not just experiment with them.
House Democrats introduced a new healthcare bill on Thursday aimed at expanding prescription drug price negotiations and extending Medicare benefits to consumers covered by private insurance. The proposal is unlikely to advance out of the House, but it adds fuel to the ongoing debate over drug pricing, and increases the pressure on pharma companies.
Starting next year, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly will sell their weight loss shots directly to employers, cutting out pharmacy benefit managers, per Bloomberg. This move further signals drugmakers’ push into direct sales, both to consumers and employers. More businesses will likely cover obesity drugs for their workers if they can achieve greater cost control of their offered benefits. And pharma supply chain middlemen could feel mounting pressure to shift further away from the prescription drug rebate model that so many in the industry decry.
Lab testing company Function Health raised a $298 million oversubscribed Series B funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $2.5 billion. Consumer adoption of cash-pay wellness services is surging, though offerings exceeding $1,000 all-in may see constrained demand. Companies entering D2C lab testing should avoid overpromising the value of testing hundreds of biomarkers, ground their claims in solid science, and be transparent about pricing—including add-on costs.
Netflix, Comcast, and Paramount have all submitted acquisition bids for some or all of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), sources told Deadline, starting a bidding war that would fundamentally reshape the media landscape. Regardless of the outcome, a restructuring of WBD will impact marketers by unlocking the ability to increase audience reach, run integrated campaigns across premium properties, and simplify media buying.
Gap’s viral campaign featuring Katseye helped the retailer regain its fashion credibility and drive shoppers to stores. The campaign delivered “significant traffic and double-digit growth in denim,” Gap CEO Richard Dickson said on the company’s Q3 earnings call. In total, the ad generated 8 billion media impressions and 500 million views, making it one of the brand’s most successful campaigns of all time. The ad’s success is a clear indication that Gap Inc.’s playbook is working. By delivering both on-trend products and culturally relevant marketing, Gap is attracting more Gen Z shoppers while keeping its existing customer base engaged.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Amazon in Q3 and beyond: What Amazon's corporate layoffs tell us about how AI is actually affecting the broader job market. Is Amazon’s new “Help Me Decide” feature a significant stepping stone toward agentic AI? And could Amazon’s AI smart glasses for delivery workers be a Trojan horse for broader smart-glasses adoption? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Rachel Wolff. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
OpenAI is rolling out a group chat option for ChatGPT to all logged-in Free, Go, Plus, and Pro users globally. The company said in a blog post that the feature is intended to help users collaborate with one another in the same conversation—such as working with friends, family, or coworkers on plans, decisions, and brainstorming. To capitalize on this new engagement tool, marketing leaders should start experimenting with group-based AI workflows and prepare for new discovery channels.
Reddit and mobile apps were the fastest-growing US ad channels in Q3, showing their emerging importance to advertisers. Ad spend on Reddit increased 46% YoY, per Sensor Tower’s Q3 Digital Market Index report, and mobile app ad spend grew 42%. Reddit is becoming a high ROI opportunity for early movers. Its growth suggests that highly engaged micro-communities (subreddits) are offering more precise targeting and less competition. That makes Reddit a strong testing ground for community-based and brand awareness campaigns for consumers who are actively looking to discover new content and products.
Walmart raised its full-year outlook again as its strong value proposition and fast-growing ad business drive broader consumer spending. It now expects net sales growth of between 4.8% and 5.1% this year, and EPS between $2.58 and $2.63. Q3 comps rose 4.5% YoY, with higher traffic and ticket size, and gains were strongest among higher-income shoppers. US ecommerce sales jumped 28%, supported by faster delivery, rising Walmart+ signups, and 33% growth in US ad sales (excluding Vizio). Walmart is also expanding to emerging channels, including ChatGPT. Its focus on value, convenience, and tech has strengthened its position, helping it compete with Amazon and capture more holiday and online spending.
LevelField Financial, a crypto-friendly “bank” without a bank charter, has obtained conditional state approval to acquire Burling Bank, a state-chartered Chicago community bank with $206 million in assets. Crypto-friendly and crypto-native banks are increasingly operating like traditional banks. That would be a mistake: As crypto firms acquire banks or receive bank charters—and as banks build crypto-related businesses—the lines will blur between legacy and decentralized financial systems. Banks must eventually be prepared to do it all.
TD Bank will finally offer Amazon Shop with Points in the US for its credit cardholders, per a press release. Earning consumers’ loyalty requires delivering on competitive rewards. While perks like fraud protection and Amazon rewards are seen as default credit card features, issuers trying to impress should incorporate at least 2% cash back, rewards for paying off balances, and payment flexibility at checkout, per our 2025 US Cash-Back Credit Card Emerging Features Benchmark.
FICO has partnered with Plaid to incorporate cash flow data from consumers’ checking, savings, and money-market accounts into its UltraFICO Score. The updated scoring model is designed to give lenders a more comprehensive view of a customer’s creditworthiness than legacy credit files indicate. Consumers who have credit products can access more, but those who don’t are less likely to be approved. Yet in a short time, scoring has evolved to better reflect consumers’ everyday financial behaviors and their willingness and ability to pay. This should get more credit products into more consumers’ hands.
Cash App will offer Afterpay on the Cash App Card powered by a new Visa Debit Flex Card, per a press release. Expanding BNPL offerings helps encourage spending from consumers who can’t access a credit card under tightening underwriting conditions. While the Cash App card is already geared toward underserved and underbanked consumers, rewards or features for young parents could help capture their hunger for credit: Two-thirds of caregivers hold three or more BNPL loans at once, per a Lending Tree survey.
Shoppers are spending about 10% more on gifts this year, even if they’re feeling less confident. New insights from PMG show how that mix of caution and momentum is shaping a holiday season built on smart pacing and steady engagement.
28% of B2B buyers worldwide have AI review boards or steering committees review AI products during evaluation, making it the least common internal review method, according to a July 2025 Responsive survey.
Speaking with EMARKETER at Web Summit, Vast chief astronaut and former NASA commander Drew Feustel described how the company’s Haven 1 station is designed to shift low Earth orbit from a research environment to a commercial manufacturing platform. Building on decades of ISS science, Vast aims to serve industries like biotech, pharmaceuticals, and advanced materials that benefit from microgravity’s unique conditions. With the space economy expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, Feustel says the next leap is scaling production—from artificial retinas to specialty crystals—into repeatable, revenue-generating processes. For brands and investors, orbit is becoming a legitimate industrial supply chain.