Lloyds Banking Group will acquire Curve, a London-based digital wallet. Acquiring Curve is a valuable first step toward embracing digital wallet payments solutions. However, Lloyds faces a challenge of incentivizing its users to choose Curve over competitors like PayPal and Klarna, which have established rewards systems. Embedding features and perks into Curve could help create a flywheel effect to trap more volume within its ecosystem.
Gen Zers are becoming increasingly financially independent. A Pathward and Mastercard study of Gen Zers found that 70% of post-college respondents are mostly or completely financially independent, up from 37% in college and 44% in a college alternative. According to our June 2025 report “Future-Proofing Banking Through Customer-Centric Journeys,” banks must pivot from a strategic model based on selling financial products and services to one in which the bank guides customers through solutions to their financial needs and different life stages.
A J.D. Power customer satisfaction benchmark ranked Citi No. 1 for US mortgage origination, above Bank of America (BofA). The study suggests that lenders are changing their sales model from a focus on volume over service to one emphasizing consultation and advice to enhance customer trust and deepen relationships. Consumers should feel supported in the mortgage market. How borrowers feel about the origination experience, from awareness through closing, should strongly influence their choice of provider amid frequent negative headlines and interest rate uncertainty.
According to a PYMNTS study sponsored by Block, 42% of scam victims consider changing to a new bank, and 19% have done so. That may be nearly 10 percentage points higher than bank switching in the general population. The financial losses FIs face from compensating customers for fraud and chasing down lost funds may eclipse their loss of business from customers who have been scammed. FIs’ brand value may also fall when they fail to put in place the right protections.
In today’s episode, we explore whether MrBeast’s pivot from giving away money to managing it marks a natural evolution or a red flag and if we looking at the rise of a financial services super-app that competes with banks—or a NerdWallet-style affiliate play that sells Gen Z customers to other financial service providers? Join the discussion with host and Head of Business Development Rob Rubin, and Principal Analysts Tiffani Montez and Max Willens.
Robinhood has partnered with Gopuff to deliver cash that customers have withdrawn from their Robinhood bank accounts. Robinhood is building on its super-app strategy for Gen Zers and millennials to draw them in with entirely new financial products: It recently added trading for nontraditional assets as well as “event contracts” to trade bets with other users. The Gopuff cash delivery partnership blends premium banking services that younger consumers expect with the digital access and convenience they’re accustomed to.
Another data-access domino fell this week as Charles Schwab followed Fidelity’s move to restrict credential-based access for fintechs and other third parties. Open banking for bank accounts has thrived in the private sector as banks, vendors, and trade groups have partnered to enable a rich ecosystem of fintechs and other software providers. Data security and liability are only reasonable excuses for FIs to kick third-parties out of their systems when they don’t have the resources to build alternative access methods.
Block’s latest earnings report revealed strong performance from Cash App, in contrast to Square's disappointing results. Banks once feared that neobanks would usurp them, but it’s now clear that these fintechs primarily compete with each other. After consolidating industry niches, they’ve scaled rapidly—expanding their product offerings as they fight for the same consumers.
PNC said this week that it would open more than 300 new or renovated branches by 2030, nearly 100 more than it had planned as of last year. The expansion is broad-based and includes branch investments in Florida, Tennessee, and Illinois. Branches are a crucial marketing tool for banks, even when their customers have largely migrated to digital channels—like an online retailer that has “showroom” stores with a curated selection of products. It’s not just about how many branches and where they are, but also how they are designed.
Last week, Charles Schwab announced that it will acquire Forge Global for $660 million. Forge is a platform that lets retail investors buy and sell shares in private companies. Legacy financial services firms’ puts alternative assets on step closer to the mainstream. But the impact for retail investors remains to be seen. Companies that offer access to private shares have run into legal and financial trouble before, and the SEC has strict guidelines for who can invest in unregistered securities. Schwab is wise to tread carefully by limiting investments in private shares to the wealthiest investors to start.
This year, media and entertainment brands will spend nearly twice as much on linear TV ads (10.0%) as they will on over-the-top (OTT) streaming services (5.4%), according to MediaRadar data and an August 2025 EMARKETER forecast.
The US Senate is moving to end the government shutdown, but the compromise deal leaves out guarantees to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare tax credits. Without ACA subsidies, younger and healthier consumers will likely drop out of the insurance pool, leaving older and higher-risk enrollees behind. That would drive up premiums and further reduce plan enrollment, putting pressure on insurers and shrinking consumer choice.
In recent regulatory filings, JPMorgan and Bank of America (BofA) said they’re responding to government requests related to policies and processes around “providing, maintaining, or discontinuing financial products or services to certain clients or potential clients.” The fire politicians are stoking introduces reputational and business risks for banks among customers as well as the risk of regulatory action by agencies that have traditionally demanded rigorous screening of current and prospective customers.
Mercury—a fintech that serves startups, VC firms, and small businesses with banking products and services—announced $650 million in annualized revenue for 2025, up 30% from 2024’s year-end $500 million. Some banks have invested heavily in digital for business customers, betting that more sophisticated self-service will support market share growth. These investments mean that the business digital experience is increasingly a differentiator between banks. But it’s a half measure. This approach to growth is fighting the last war to avoid irrelevance—by catching up to where competitors are today.
Seventy percent of banking leaders believe agentic AI will “have a significant or game-changing impact on the banking industry,” according to an American Banker survey commissioned by SoundHound AI. For banks to move agentic AI tools from the pilot stage to wide rollouts, they’ll need a business case, a strategic roadmap, and a plan to promptly address tactical issues. Must-haves include strong AI governance, a modern data layer that unifies access to siloed business information, and a framework for customer trust.
Mark Cuban’s online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drug Company, signed a deal to sell a biosimilar version of Johnson & Johnson’s drug Stelara at a price far below the brand-name list price and lower than competing biosimilars. Starjemza isn’t Cost Plus’ first move into biosimilars, but the drug’s steep discount compared to other Stelara competitors could pose a real challenge to typical pharmacy benefit manager pricing negotiations.
U.S. Bank launched the Split World Mastercard, a credit card that puts every transaction on an installment plan, per a press release.U.S. Bank wants to capitalize on consumer demand for both card-linked installments and BNPL cards. It’s a play specifically for Gen Zers, who tend to gravitate toward installments. These younger consumers can also use the card as a credit-building tool, a sought-after feature. But the Split Card may be a tough sell to prospects.
At Bank of America’s (BofA) investor day, its first in over a decade, the bank said it spent more than $118 billion on technology in the last 10 years. In 2025, its annual spending on new technology initiatives will reach $4 billion out of a total of $12.7 billion. In the AI race, banks that aren’t already ahead will fall even further behind. Increasingly sophisticated automation as well as an AI-assisted jump in employee productivity mean AI investments quickly compound on themselves. Last month, JPMorgan said it had already broken even on its $2 billion AI investments.
Dave reported $150.8 million in revenue in Q3 2025, up 63% YoY, and a net income of $92 million. The neobank reported 843,000 new members, a 25% increase in debit card spend to $510 million, short-term advance loan originations of $2 billion, and a customer acquisition cost (CAC) of $19. Neobanks’ original positioning as scrappy underdogs fighting the good fight against banks has transformed. It is now a story about how neobanks carved out a new niche catering to underserved customers, mostly competing with other neobanks.
Worldwide Gen Z interns at Goldman Sachs favor no AI over AI-only assistance across most categories, with 54% rejecting AI altogether in creative work, according to an August Goldman Sachs survey.