Today's Banking Pulse
Mortgage refinance demand falls 18% as rates climb to 6.65%
Refinance applications dropped 18% week-over-week, with the average 30-year fixed rate rising to 6.65%, the highest since August 2025. Refinance filings now represent just 38% of total mortgage applications, the lowest share since June 2025, while purchase‑loan volume edged down 0.4% and average loan size hit $473,600.
Fraud Rising in Auto Finance as Lenders Question Effectiveness of AI Tools
Fraud in auto finance is accelerating, with lenders reporting a sharp uptick in sophisticated schemes. A recent InformedIQ survey of over 2,500 industry executives revealed growing skepticism about the ability of current AI‑driven detection tools to keep pace. While many firms have invested heavily in machine‑learning platforms, a majority admit that false‑positive rates and model drift remain problematic. The findings underscore a widening gap between technology expectations and real‑world fraud mitigation outcomes.
UK Banks Wary as Contactless Payment Limits Are Lifted
The UK is scrapping the £100 ceiling on contactless card payments, theoretically allowing unlimited tap‑to‑pay transactions. However, many banks are signaling they will retain their own limits due to heightened fraud exposure. Contactless already dominates UK in‑store spending, with 94.6%...
UPI Tightens Grip on Global Instant Payments Market
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) now processes more than four‑fifths of all real‑time transactions worldwide, accounting for 81% of global instant payments. Transaction volume surged from ₹7,176.9 crore in FY22 to ₹22,167.9 crore in FY25, a 35% year‑over‑year increase. The system’s expansion...
Regional Banks Are Lending on Hotels Again: What Middle-Market Borrowers Need to Know
Regional banks are re‑entering hotel financing, offering mid‑6% coupons and up to 70% loan‑to‑value on stabilized middle‑market assets. Deposit growth of roughly $900 billion since 2023 has restored banks' funding capacity, prompting a selective but aggressive lending approach. Compared with CMBS...
U.S. Financial Regulatory Week Ahead
Congressional activity this week is dominated by a major banking reform vote, as the Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC plan to adopt the final phase of Basel II on Thursday, modestly reducing capital requirements for large banks and eliminating duplicate...
Close Brothers Shares Sink as Infamous Short-Seller Warns of Motor Finance ‘Wipeout’
Close Brothers' shares fell up to 12% after short‑seller Viceroy Research accused the FTSE 250 bank of systematically misrepresenting its exposure to the FCA’s motor‑finance redress scheme. Viceroy warned that provisions may need to double, potentially eroding the bank’s CET1...
Inside Trump’s Economic Strategy, with EXIM Bank’s John Jovanovic
In a March 2026 Atlantic Council podcast, EXIM Bank chairman John Jovanovic outlined how the Trump administration’s economic strategy hinges on resilient, "free, fair, and functioning" supply chains. He highlighted the bank’s role in financing U.S. exporters amid heightened geopolitical...
Bank of England: We Can’t Eliminate Bias in AI
Bank of England compliance chief Jem Davis warned that artificial‑intelligence systems will never be completely bias‑free, urging firms to adopt a bias‑aware approach. He highlighted the need for robust governance, diverse data testing and continuous monitoring across organisational units. At...
US Treasury Publishes AI Risk Guidebook for Financial Institutions
The U.S. Treasury has released a Financial Services AI Risk Management Framework (FS AI RMF) guidebook, created with input from over 100 financial institutions and regulators. The guidebook adapts the NIST AI Risk Management Framework with 230 sector‑specific control objectives organized into...
Iran Conflict Sparks Risk, And Opportunity, For Egypt: CIB CEO Hisham Ezz Al-Arab
The Iran‑Israel conflict has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil above $100 per barrel and unsettling regional markets. In Egypt, the turmoil has sparked capital outflows, weakening the pound to a historic low of about 53 EGP per dollar....
Fintechs Push 36% State Rate Caps
Fintech firms are urging state legislatures to adopt a uniform 36% interest‑rate cap on consumer loans, echoing the long‑standing ceiling used by traditional credit‑card issuers. The American Fintech Council, representing buy‑now‑pay‑later and earned‑wage‑access companies, is actively lobbying in states such...
Shift4 Adds AI Ordering to Its SkyTab POS System
Shift4 Payments has partnered with Maple AI to embed the startup’s AI‑driven phone‑ordering system into its SkyTab POS platform. The integration pulls live menu data from SkyTab, routes orders directly to kitchen displays and receipt printers, and supports payments, reservations...
Nayax Scores Another EV Payment Processing Win
Israel‑based payments firm Nayax announced a new partnership with E‑Plug to handle payment processing at an estimated 2,200 charging stations across the United States. The deal follows recent collaborations, including a January agreement with Autel Energy to embed Nayax technology...
Stress Test on SRTs Could Help Shed Light on Risks, BIS Says
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) recommends that synthetic risk transfers (SRTs) be incorporated into system‑wide stress tests to expose hidden vulnerabilities. SRT usage has expanded fivefold since 2016, covering roughly €800 billion of loan portfolios and delivering about 43 basis...
Broker’s Call: Federal Bank (Buy)
Axis Securities has upgraded Federal Bank to a Buy, setting a target price of ₹290 against a current market price of ₹260.85. The broker highlights the bank's focus on net interest margin (NIM) improvement through a shift toward higher‑yielding loan...
Orca Strengthens Fraud Detection for Africa’s Digital Payments
Orca, a fraud‑detection platform focused on Africa’s burgeoning digital payments market, has closed a new funding round to accelerate product development and regional expansion. The company’s real‑time analytics layer scans transaction streams across banks, fintechs, and payment providers, flagging suspicious...
AI Adoption Soars, Governance Lags Behind in APAC Finance
Adoption Accelerates but Governance Lags: 61.2% of APAC Finance Firms Run AI in Production @Money2020 data: 61.2% live deployments, 35.3% exploring, 3.5% not adopted. Generative + agentic AI moving beyond chatbots into unstructured data analysis, customer conversations, autonomous tasks. Risk: bias...
DTI Too High for a Mortgage? Can a Personal Loan Help?
A personal loan can improve a mortgage‑to‑income (DTI) ratio only when it replaces higher‑cost debt with a lower required monthly payment. Borrowers must calculate the "DTI gap"—the exact payment reduction needed to meet lender thresholds, typically 36‑43%. Timing is critical;...
South Korea’s Hana Financial Partners with Standard Chartered on Digital Assets
Hana Financial Group has signed a strategic agreement with Standard Chartered to cooperate across global finance and digital‑asset services, including investment banking, money markets, foreign exchange and crypto‑related offerings. The deal builds on Hana’s recent collaborations with Circle and Crypto.com...
Bank Loans Hit Record; Deposits Surge, Trading Revenues Soar
H.8 bank loans rose for the 18th week in 21 to a record high w C&I up for the 7th week in 8. Deposits up for 6 straight weeks for the 1st time since mid 2024 to a near...
Fino Payments Bank Shares Slump Over 17% On Report Of Potential ED Probe
Fino Payments Bank’s shares tumbled 17% to a 52‑week low after a report that the Directorate General of GST Intelligence may recommend an Enforcement Directorate probe into online‑gaming related transactions. The bank refuted the claim, labeling it speculative, while its...
UK Financial Regulation Faces Overhaul Calls in APPG Report
The All‑Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services released a 250‑page report declaring the UK’s financial‑conduct regulatory framework fundamentally broken. Drawing on a decade of parliamentary debate, a nationwide consumer survey and testimony from victims and whistle‑blowers,...
Visa and Fiserv Expand European Payments Partnership
Visa and Fiserv have broadened their European partnership by integrating the Visa Acceptance Platform into Fiserv’s merchant acquiring and processing solutions. The API‑first, cloud‑based acceptance layer consolidates multiple connections into a single integration, aiming to boost authorization rates, cut fraud...
The Consent Deficit: RBI’s Draft RBC Directions Turn Mis-Selling Into A Proof Problem
India’s RBI is set to tighten Responsible Business Conduct rules, requiring banks to prove product‑by‑product consent rather than merely collecting signatures. The draft, effective July 1 2026, bans compulsory bundling, bans dark‑pattern UI tricks, and mandates refunds when mis‑selling is proven. It...
Fed Inquiry Into Checks Has Bankers Fearing 'Disaster'
Community bankers are warning that the Federal Reserve’s request for information on the future of its check‑clearing services could lead to an abrupt shutdown of the system, harming elderly, rural customers and small businesses that still rely on paper checks....
APRA to Consult on Enhancements to Bank Capital and Liquidity Frameworks
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has launched a public consultation on a suite of reforms aimed at tightening capital adequacy and liquidity standards for authorised deposit‑taking institutions (ADIs). The proposals introduce a new Pillar 2 liquidity framework for the largest...
Why English-Only AML Monitoring Misses Critical Risks
Many AML monitoring programs rely solely on English-language sources, missing critical risk signals that appear in local media. Real‑world examples from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America show adverse media alerts being overlooked because they are published only in...
Fintech Startup Chaseit.ai Launches AI Agents for Call Centre Loan Servicing
Lithuanian fintech Chaseit.ai has entered live production with AI agents that automate loan‑servicing calls. The agents manage inbound and outbound interactions, verifying identities, reminding borrowers, negotiating repayment plans, and escalating complex issues to human staff. Within seven months of founding,...
NatWest: We're Raising Our Fair Value Estimate as We See Bank's Franchise Value Strengthening
Morningstar lifted NatWest Group's fair‑value estimate to GBX 710 per share, up from GBX 550, after a strong fourth‑quarter 2025 showing 18% return on tangible equity and expanding deposit margins. The firm raised its mid‑cycle profitability assumptions, citing a durable structural hedge...
The Real Cost of Payment Downtime No One Talks About
The article highlights that payment system downtime costs extend far beyond immediate lost sales, affecting customer trust, brand reputation, cash flow, and employee productivity. It details how outages force teams into crisis mode, create communication gaps, and expose operational weaknesses...
UniCredit's €35bn Hostile Bid Meets Commerzbank Resistance
Good Morning from #Germany, where UniCredit has launched a €35bn hostile takeover bid for Commerzbank, offering a premium of just 4% over Friday’s closing price, acc to BBG calculations. Commerzbank's management is likely to rebuff UniCredit's €30.8 per share offer,...
Senate Bill Protecting OFW Remittances Gets 3rd Reading Nod
The Philippine Senate approved Senate Bill No. 1917, the Overseas Filipino Workers’ Remittance Protection Act, on its third and final reading. The law mandates remittance providers to disclose fees and foreign‑exchange rates, and it caps unreasonable charges. It also introduces...
Visa Sees Check Fraud Spilling Into Faster Payment Scams
Visa warns that check fraud now accounts for roughly 30% of U.S. fraud losses in 2024, with checks being 31 times more likely to be fraudulent than real‑time transactions. Criminals are leveraging both traditional methods such as check washing and...
Strong 2025 Results Support Portuguese Banks as They Face a More Uncertain 2026
Portuguese banks posted resilient F2025 results, with profitability bolstered by sizable provision releases, strong fee generation and higher other income that offset declining net interest margins. Asset quality improved, reflected in lower non‑performing loan ratios and higher coverage, while capital...
PawaPay and Deriv Join Forces to Scale Mobile Money Deposits Across Africa
PawaPay has partnered with online trading platform Deriv to enable mobile‑money deposits in eight African countries, with plans to broaden coverage across the continent. The integration gives Deriv users a single, compliant connection to local mobile operators, allowing instant funding...
85% of Banks’ Corporate Clients Plan to Engage with a Non-Bank Financial Institution Within the Next Year as Competition with...
Capgemini’s 2026 World Corporate and Investment Banking Report finds that 85% of banks’ corporate clients intend to work with non‑bank financial institutions within the next twelve months, seeking faster, more transparent services. Only 23% of clients feel current CIBs meet...
Credit Firms Report Risk Management Gaps Among Hong Kong SMEs
CollectForU Expert and Debt Hunter released a joint report revealing that over 70% of Hong Kong SMEs lack basic credit defense mechanisms, exposing them to severe liquidity risk as supply‑chain payment cycles lengthen. The study highlights a growing gap between...
AI in Finance and Banking, March 15, 2026
The latest semi‑monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici surveys AI’s rapid penetration of finance, highlighting six research strands. It examines how large language models influence bargaining games, maps AI‑driven fiscal actions across 64 countries, and cites Anthropic’s warning that hedge‑fund...
US Banks Hold $300B Private Credit Exposure, Wells Fargo Leads
⚠️US banks have ~$300 billion in exposure to private credit: Wells Fargo leads with $59.7 billion in loans to private credit funds. JPMorgan, which recently marked down software-linked loans and curbed lending, has $22.2 billion in exposure.👇 https://globalmarketsinvestor.beehiiv.com/p/us-stocks-posted-the-worst-week-since-october-amid-surging-oil-prices-weekly-market-recap-trading-we
Machine Economy Relies on Crypto, Not Traditional Payments
When your AI agent needs to pay another AI agent Venmo won't work PayPal won't work Wire transfers won't work Crypto is the only rails that make sense The machine economy runs on machine money
FinVolution Group (FINV) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
FinVolution Group reported fourth‑quarter net income of $3.9 million, a 26% year‑over‑year rise, driven by $1.6 billion in loan originations that beat guidance. Credit‑enhanced loan balances climbed to $118 million, lifting net interest margin to 11.42% and boosting non‑interest income. The quarter saw...
Crypto Powers AI: Robot Money for Autonomous Workers
We're building: • AI that can think • AI that can create • AI that can decide But we're using: • Banking systems from the 1970s • Payment rails that require humans • Financial infrastructure that assumes flesh This is the gap crypto fills Robot money for robot workers
Co‑operative Bank IT Collapse Exposes Governance Failures
Digital Hubris and the £349 Million Mirage — The Collapse of the Co-operative Bank’s IT Transformation A Masterclass in Governance Failure - Five Lessons to Learn Great read by Frank Schwab https://t.co/sKpx4mOYMF https://t.co/KUTIUvoGyT
Small Firms Face High Finance Costs
The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee warned that micro‑SMEs are facing soaring finance costs as nano‑finance loans jumped 56% year‑on‑year to 94.5 billion baht, with interest rates hovering near the 28‑33% regulatory ceiling. Although traditional bank rates have fallen following...
Fed and FDIC to Vote on Trump-Era Basel Proposal Thursday
ICYMI: The Trump-era Basel bank capital proposal is coming Thursday, and the Fed and FDIC are having open board meetings at the same time to vote on it https://t.co/u34TWtDk8w https://t.co/TlK4sinLwp
Banking's Gravity Shifts to Smartphones, Not Branches
The branch is no longer the center of gravity. Smartphones and the Internet define where banking lives today. Adapt or become irrelevant. https://t.co/13Zq2pzn3j
Malaysia: New Risk Policy Ensures Digital Payment Resilience
Bank Negara Malaysia has issued a new Technology Risk Management Policy for payment service providers, consolidating existing tech‑related requirements into a single framework. The policy introduces a tiered, proportional approach that aligns security and resilience obligations with the size and...
Mark‑to‑market Loans Inflate Fund Equity, Lower Risk Weighting
Funds typically mark to market their loan portfolios and their debt, likely resulting in a significant difference in reported values and actual equity. As a reminder, loans to funds from large banks typically have a lower risk weighting than if...
UK Banks Surrender over a Third of Market to Fintechs
UK banks have lost at least a third of market share to fintechs - https://t.co/Rr47lI3LqE
AI Redefines Asian Wealth Management for Clients and Advisors
The Private Banker in the #AI era – impact for clients, and advisors: How AI is reshaping #WealthManagement in #Asia, key themes emerging so far and the questions clients and bankers should be asking. @WealthBriefing, @WBAsia: https://t.co/qwZEmz6tnc #WealthTech #SoutheastAsia https://t.co/uoVx1NCzNB