While commission-free trading isn’t unique, bundling it with crypto and savings features will increase the time the UK-based neobank’s US customers spend with it.

The US banking giant will launch its first international retail presence this week. Its resources, market experience, and patience about attaining profitability suggest that it could be a formidable player.

Through our exclusive interviews with heads of digital at 12 of the largest financial institutions and three top neobanks across the US, UK, and Canada, this report illuminates the biggest challenges and opportunities these executives are facing. 

Greenwood’s content arm pushes financial empowerment to pull in customers: The US neobank, which caters to Black and Latino communities, unveiled a studio arm that could help build anticipation for its 2022 launch. Its financial literacy programming could also help Greenwood stand out from similar neobanks.

Issuers’ pursuit of clear value propositions and forays into next-gen credit building services offer a window into their plans to attract customers and combat competition.

The banking giant will build out its buy now, pay later footprint by creating two key roles within its Marcus direct bank—and its ambitions could add prospects for its upcoming checking account.

Digital account opening is on the rise after a pandemic slump.

Digital trust—the confidence that bank customers have in their providers’ digital channels—is a precious commodity for banks. As competitive and cybersecurity threats abound, trust will be their advantage to lose.

After the coronavirus pandemic forced issuers to adapt rewards, enhance forbearance, and build out digital tools to cope with a volume hit in 2020, they’re looking to reimagine their offerings in the future to add new customers and regain primary card status.

Consumers’ growing willingness to get their financial services from non-FI providers is spurring consumer brands to embed financial elements in their products and services. But this new form of finance will mean dramatic changes for incumbent and startup FIs.

Buy now, pay later solutions are quickly gaining adoption as consumers look for new financing options and merchants aim to drive sales. But the industry is still unsettled as a number of firms are battling to lead the space, while card networks and issuers are looking to get involved too.

This annual scorecard, weighted based on responses to a consumer survey, ranks the 25 largest US financial institutions by assets by their mobile banking capabilities. The report presents detailed benchmarking data on the availability of 42 mobile features, selected by analysts based on the features’ propensity to help financial institutions differentiate themselves from competitors.

This year, 81.6% of internet users in the US will access their bank accounts digitally at least once per month, according to our latest estimates. That’s significantly higher than the 72% we previously projected, due in large part to the pandemic. We expect this behavior to continue, and by 2023, we forecast there will be 207.3 million US digital banking users.