This FAQ examines why the brand-versus-performance tension is intensifying, what the data reveals about budget shifts, and how marketers can prove brand marketing's value in an era of heightened accountability.

This FAQ covers how incrementality testing works, where it fits alongside attribution and marketing mix modeling, and how marketers can build effective testing programs in 2026.

Subprime consumers appear increasingly fragile with 90+ days delinquencies rising.

Querying vast troves of financial data is getting easier.

PayPal rolled out Transaction Graph Insights & Measurement at CES to gives advertisers and merchants a clearer, cross-merchant view of how people actually shop and purchase—and early results suggest meaningful impact.

The share of rental applicants who are more than 90 days delinquent on student loans increased from 15% in January 2025 to 32% in May, according to a just-released TransUnion report. Credit score data reflects these delinquencies, with lower-scoring consumers faring the worst. Consumers’ struggles with student loan repayments highlight a problem for financial institutions (FIs) on the hook for private-loan defaults. And as consumers delay expensive financial decisions like buying a house in favor of reducing student loan debt, demand for credit like mortgages and auto loans will suffer.

Block will pilot a real-time credit scoring model called Cash App Score, per a press release. Users’ Cash App Scores are based on financial behaviors within the Cash App ecosystem: deposit frequency, spending habits, savings activity, and repayment history, and other metrics. Cash App’s micro loans have acted as a proof of concept for its proprietary underwriting model, which it now likely wants to expand into larger-value (and more lucrative) lending. Giving consumers a visible—and highly manipulable—score can boost loan value and overall engagement.

TransUnion has introduced new pricing for credit scoring for mortgage borrowers, undercutting the pricing of FICO’s new mortgage credit scoring model: FICO charges resellers $10 per score, while TransUnion charges $4. The market for consumer credit data and how it’s packaged is hotly contested, and the government has helped facilitate competition. In addition, the fintech Plaid, a newcomer to credit reporting, just introduced a cash flow–based scoring model. This competition is good for consumers, because it creates more ways for them to access credit. And it should also be good for data buyers, including banks, because it will mitigate prices and encourage the development of more sophisticated scoring models and data products.

FICO introduced a new model for pricing and licensing its score for tri-merge resellers—vendors that consolidate credit reports and provide reporting to mortgage lenders, per The Wall Street Journal. This is another shot in the protracted war between FICO and the credit bureaus. VantageScore is a credible threat to FICO’s dominance, but the bureaus will lose the markup on the FICO scores that they were distributing. In addition, margins will get squeezed as they lose the markup from resales.

Federal student loan borrowers may be prioritizing student loan repayments ahead of their credit cards and personal loans as the threat of wage garnishment creeps closer, per a TransUnion survey. Issuers need to offer products to help mitigate additional stress for embattled younger consumers, through expanded card-linked installment options that help cardholders avoid lofty interest rates as they pay down debts.

The news: Klarna and Afterpay will not share the majority of their consumers’ loan information with credit bureaus until they can receive confirmation that their customers will not be penalized for seeking buy now, pay later (BNPL) plans. Our take: Affirm’s early plunge into credit reporting has been blunted against its competitors’ refusal to participate in the system, but it still takes the reputational lead in terms of being a “trustworthy” provider.

The news: FICO will release credit scores that incorporate buy now, pay later (BNPL) reporting this autumn, per a press release. Our take: Reporting BNPL data to the credit bureaus would be a solid step toward combatting BNPL’s “phantom debt” criticism.

The BNPL provider is taking the lead on credit reporting as the industry waits for regulatory clarity

An increasingly fragmented retail media ecosystem has made it difficult for advertisers to track campaign performance across multiple retail media networks (RMNs), said Liz Roche, vice president of measurement and media at Albertsons Media Collective.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss how finserv digital marketers are incorporating credit marketing, even in top- and mid-funnel campaigns. • In our “Headlines” segment, we chat about the role of marketing as a revenue generator in banking—specifically, an article we published in August with results from an American Banker Association survey that stated 72% of marketing execs don't believe revenue generation is a part of marketing’s role. • In “Story by Numbers,” we examine the results of digital campaigns that revolve around credit marketing and the ROI in creating a unified, full-funnel marketing strategy. • In “Pretend CMO,” our guests have to thread together a multifaceted digital-only marketing campaign and discuss how it attributes ROI to the campaign's different digital channels. Tune in to the discussion with host Rob Rubin, our analyst Tiffani Montez, and Aundra Thompson, director of product strategy and strategic planning for marketing solutions at TransUnion.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the challenges the credit card industry is looking at over the next year. • In our “Headlines” segment, we focus on an Insider Intelligence article published at the end of August about Macy’s private label credit card sales and consider if it’s a harbinger of problems in the credit card industry overall. • In “Story by Numbers,” we center the conversation on what will happen to consumer credit card spending if—or when—there’s a recession. • And in “For Argument’s Sake,” we take up sides to discuss whether there will or will not be a recession, which is a critical issue for the credit card industry. Tune in to the discussion with host Rob Rubin and our analyst David Morris.

Major banks still draw CFPB’s scrutiny: Under Chopra, the agency has brought fewer cases but won larger settlements—even as it faces legal questions on its funding mechanism.

On today’s episode, we discuss what bank CMOs want, the types of customers they are looking for, and if the marketing teams they lead are shifting focus from brand messaging and corporate communications to the middle and lower marketing funnels their product teams target. In our "Headlines" segment, we discuss how bank marketers are building campaigns to reach Gen Zers across the digital ecosystem. In "Story by Numbers," we review bank CMOs' acquisition strategies and their focus on the marketing funnel. And in "What’s Next," we chat about banks strategies to acquire new customers. Join the conversation with host Rob Rubin and Joseph Pagano, vice president of marketing solutions consulting services at TransUnion.

With some legacy identifiers already in the history books and the rest on the chopping block, the digital ad industry is finally getting serious about adopting targeting and measurement practices that don’t rely on cookies and mobile IDs.

This second installment of the “Payments Ecosystem” collection unpacks how point-of-sale (POS) hardware, software, and payment gateway services are becoming increasingly intertwined as merchants adapt to economic turmoil and consumer payment changes.