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.
Main Street Capital Corp (MAIN) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Main Street Capital reported a GAAP net loss of $14.4 million for Q4 2025, but generated adjusted distributable earnings of $0.15 per share, bringing full‑year adjusted earnings to $0.64 per share. The loan portfolio expanded 13% to $2.7 billion, driven by 32 new loans and a record $416 million of Q4 originations. Management resolved significant watch‑list and REO assets, closed a $955 million CRE CLO, and repurchased 1.1 million shares. Outlook focuses on growing the loan book to $3.5 billion and restoring full dividend coverage by year‑end 2026.
Goldman Sachs BDC Inc (GSBD) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Goldman Sachs reported a 27% rise in annual earnings per share to $51.32, driven by record $41.5 billion global banking revenue and strong performance across investment banking, FICC, equities, and asset‑wealth management. Return metrics improved, with quarterly ROE at 16% and...
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund (MSDL) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Morgan Stanley delivered record 2025 results, posting $70.6 billion in total revenue and a historic $10.21 earnings per share. Total client assets rose to $9.3 trillion, while wealth management generated $31.8 billion in revenue and attracted $356 billion of net new assets. The firm’s...
Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp (NCDL) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Nuveen Churchill Direct Lending Corp reported Q4 2025 results, posting net investment income of $0.44 per share and a slight dip in total investment income to $50 million. Gross originations surged to $59.4 million, while leverage remained at the upper end of...
Oportun Financial Corp (OPRT) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Oportun Financial Corp reported a fifth straight quarter of GAAP profitability, posting $25 million net income for 2025 and an 89% jump in adjusted EPS to $1.36. Credit quality improved, with the annualized net charge‑off rate at 12.3% and secured personal...
The Philippines: Enabling Direct Digital Payouts for TESDA Scholars
Landbank and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) have signed a memorandum of agreement to digitise scholarship payouts for more than 335,000 scholars across the Philippines. The partnership uses Landbank’s ATM Payroll Facility to credit allowances directly into...
The Executive Guide to Lending: What CPAs Need to Know About Today’s Capital Market Shift
Traditional banks are tightening underwriting standards, prompting middle‑market firms to explore alternative financing. Private credit has surged, offering faster, more flexible structures that align with cash‑flow volatility and complex capital stacks. Lenders now focus on free cash‑flow coverage, collateral liquidity,...
Why Banks See Opportunity in Advising Art Collectors
Bank of America has launched a dedicated art‑consulting service, joining other major banks such as Citi, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in expanding wealth‑management offerings to include art advisory. The move reflects rapid growth in the sector, with wealth‑manager participation...
Singapore Sees Cyber Scams Soar 61% as Global Taskforce Warns of Widespread Crime
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) warned that cyber‑enabled fraud is now a top money‑laundering threat in 90% of the jurisdictions it assessed. Singapore alone saw a 61% jump in scam cases over the past two years, while the United...
The US and Mexico Need Stronger Financial Cooperation to Disrupt Illicit Financial Flows
The United States and Mexico have launched a new financial‑intelligence partnership to curb the money that fuels drug cartels, highlighted by the recent killing of Jalisco New Generation leader El Mencho. Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit and banking regulator have shifted toward...
Mambu Expands Its Payments Hub Beyond Europe Into Asia and Latin America
Mambu is rolling its API‑first payments hub out of Europe into additional EMEA markets, Latin America and Asia‑Pacific. The move responds to rising demand from banks and fintechs that need unified access to diverse payment schemes and jurisdictions. Built on...
A Return to Pre-2008 Lending Rules? Banks Are Ready to Open the Financial Floodgates to Borrowers
The Federal Reserve is weighing a rule change that would stop banks from subtracting mortgage‑servicing‑rights (MSRs) from core capital, while keeping a 250% risk weight. Simultaneously, banking regulators propose easing the community‑bank leverage ratio from 9% to 8%, giving smaller...
ESMA Sets Out Clearing Thresholds Under EMIR 3
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) detailing new clearing thresholds under EMIR 3. The proposal retains five threshold categories, clarifies calculation timing, and enhances the trigger mechanism’s stability. ESMA also suggests higher thresholds...
PCI Council Says Threats to Payments Systems Are Speeding Up
The PCI Security Standards Council published its inaugural 2025 annual report, the first since its 2006 founding, outlining a surge in payment‑system threats and the council’s expanding role. The report highlights accelerated attacks leveraging AI, ransomware incidents such as BridgePay,...
JPMorgan’s $20 Billion Tech Bet Could Shrink FinTech’s Innovation Edge
JPMorgan Chase disclosed a $19‑$20 billion annual technology budget, earmarked for AI, cloud infrastructure, and data integration. More than 80% of its applications now run on modern platforms, with over 70% in public or private clouds, enabling real‑time processing and automated...
Fast Installment Loans Growth: Card Managers Beware
Credit bureaus report a 24.1% year‑over‑year surge in unsecured consumer installment loans in December 2025, reaching 15 million loans worth $62.6 billion, with seven million classified as subprime. Meanwhile, credit‑card balances remain stable around $1.3 trillion, showing typical seasonal bumps but no comparable growth....
RTP Network Marks Record 2 Million Transactions in a Day
The Clearing House’s Real‑Time Payments (RTP) network set two historic milestones, processing 2.05 million transactions in a single day on Feb. 13 and reaching a daily value peak of $8.36 billion on Feb. 18. The surge reflects accelerating adoption among retail users, digital‑wallet transfers,...
Truist Offers Crypto Trading to Private Wealth Clients
Truist’s private‑wealth division is now offering spot Bitcoin exchange‑traded funds from Fidelity and BlackRock, both SEC‑registered. The ETFs give high‑net‑worth clients regulated crypto exposure through advisors or the self‑directed Truist Trade platform. The launch follows regulatory clarity from the GENIUS...
Best 12-Month CD Rates for February 25, 2026: Up to 4.05%
The College Investor lists the top 12‑month certificates of deposit as of February 25, 2026, with yields topping 4.05% APY. Credit One Bank leads with a 4.05% jumbo CD requiring a $100,000 minimum, while Bank of Utah, Live Oak, Navy Federal and...
Guidance for EU IM Model Application for ISDA SIMM®
EU financial and non‑financial counterparties using ISDA SIMM must have filed an initial IM model application with their competent authority or the ECB, and those that have already applied need to submit an updated version by 31 March 2026. The update must reference...
CCLEAR Launches Reg CF Filing Dashboard Providing Transparency on Issuer Compliance
CCLEAR, a unit of Crowdfund Capital Advisors, unveiled a Reg CF compliance dashboard that aggregates filing data for nearly 9,000 crowdfunding issuers. The tool reveals that 31.4% of issuers are non‑compliant and only 4.1% are fully up‑to‑date with mandatory annual...
UWM’s 2025 Loan Volume Jumps 17% on Refinance Surge
The nation's top mortgage lender (UWM) funded $163.4B in home loans during 2025. That was up ~17% from $139.4B in 2024. Interestingly, it was led by refis, which surged to $70.3B from $43.4B, while home purchase lending actually fell slightly YoY.
VAT Threshold Unchanged Since 2009 Hurts Small Businesses
The last time they increased the compulsory VAT registration was circa 2009. Fun Fact: R1 million Rand in 2009 ( the last time they adjusted VAT registration ) is roughly equivalent to R2.2-R2.3 million. Inflation adjusted it’s now about the...
Verifone Expands Its Ties to Unzer; MANTL Partners With MeridianLink
Verifone announced an expanded partnership with Germany‑based Unzer Group, embedding its Android‑based terminals and processing capabilities into Unzer's cloud‑native UnzerOne platform. The joint solution will let merchants run a single payment stack from checkout to payout across in‑store and online...
Anthropic Launches Claude Cowork for Banking with Data Plugins
Anthropic is taking its magic tricks to financial services.... Claude Cowork for banking. - Plugins tailored for investment banking, private equity, equity research, and wealth management. - Integrations with financial data providers like FactSet, MSCI, S&P Global, and LSEG. https://t.co/pRISD6broy
Credit Card Delinquencies Hit Multi-Year Low Despite Consumer Worries
Credit Card Delinquencies, Balances, Burden, Credit Limits, and Collections in Q4 2025. Despite the wailing about tapped-out, struggling and cracking consumers, the credit card delinquency rate dropped to multi-year low https://t.co/gJZVHiZnW4 https://t.co/tWcbzsEi0k
Payoneer Applies for Bank Charter
Payoneer has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a U.S. national trust bank charter, to be branded as PAYO Digital Bank. The charter would let the firm issue, send and receive stablecoins, provide...
Fintech Charters Once Unlikely, Now Industry Standard
About 3 years ago @aleximm said to me, he believes long term fintech companies would apply for charters. At the height of ZIRP, I disagreed. It seemed all downside. Now the world is upside down. Every tech company wants a charter. How times have...
Fed Vice Chair Urges Big Banks Return to Mortgages
Big banks retreated from mortgages after the 2008 housing crash—now this Fed governor wants them back After a decade+ of "migration" toward nonbanks, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michelle Bowman says it's time to reconsider policy My latest for ResiClub: https://t.co/6IY86V9OTy
Crédit Agricole Appoints Quentin Guerineau as Chief Sustainability and Impact Officer
Crédit Agricole has appointed former French cabinet minister Quentin Guerineau as its Chief Sustainability and Impact Officer, succeeding Eric Campos. Guerineau joins the bank’s Management Committee and will report to Gregory Erphelin, head of the newly formed Transformation, Human Resources...
Bank Groups Oppose Crypto Charters, Spare World Liberty
Interesting that Bank Policy Institute and Independent Community Bankers of America pushed back to the OCC on trust charter apps from @coinbase @Ripple @circle -- but *NOT* from World Liberty Financial 🤔
Banking Redefined: Transparent, Fee‑Free, Robot‑Ready Future
The future of banking: - Full transparency - Instant settlements - No fees - Incentives for early adopters But most importantly: A financial system that works for robots
The EBΑ Concludes Work on Legacy Instruments Monitoring
The European Banking Authority (EBA) announced it will cease its dedicated monitoring programme for legacy instruments, reaffirming its long‑standing view that such instruments should be phased out. Legacy instruments, which enjoy grandfathering under CRR‑1 and CRR‑2, can blur subordination hierarchies...
Great Banks Balance Autonomous Innovation with Responsibility
Autonomous intelligence can drive speed and scale. What defines great financial institutions is how they balance innovation with responsibility. https://t.co/Ashs1ZyYcy
Meta Targets 3B-User Stablecoin Launch with Stripe Backing
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Is Planning Stablecoin Comeback in the Second Half of This Year Stripe CEO Patrick Collison joined Meta board April 2025. Bridge (Stripe) got conditional OCC charter Feb 2026. All pieces aligning for 3B+ user stablecoin integration https://t.co/aSVtygrobm https://t.co/BUcPHl2zTM
BMO’s Quarterly Earnings Suggest Truck Credit Might Be Improving
BMO’s first‑quarter 2026 earnings show a modest reversal in trucking‑related credit stress, with gross impaired loans falling to C$563 million and provisions dropping to $39 million. At the same time, allowances for credit losses rose to $77 million and the net transportation loan...
Excessive Reporting Stalls Small Banks Against Digital Assets
The more reporting you put on banks, the more difficult it is to compete w/ digital assets. We report suspicious criminal activity & should be getting BSA relief not further requirements. The lift for small banks is extraordinary & we...
Day 3 of MX FinTech Week Launches with Industry Leaders
Standing room only to see @Puntored_CO, @sumsub, @AWSstartups, and @IMEFOficial kick off Day 3 of @mxfintechweek at the @twifintech House 🔥🔥 https://t.co/BDCOjLBL07
UWMC Lifts 2025 Revenue but Trails Prior-Year Profit Peak
United Wholesale Mortgage’s parent, UWM Holdings, posted 2025 revenue of $3.16 billion, up from the prior year, driven by a record $163.4 billion in loan originations and higher gain‑on‑sale margins. Net income fell to $244 million, reflecting a $435 million mortgage‑servicing‑rights markdown and a...
Mortgage Demand Hits 10‑month Low, Biggest Homebuyer Strike
Mortgage demand to buy houses just plummeted to its lowest level in 10 months. The MBA mortgage purchase index is now at 150. 57% crash from pandemic peak. 40% drop from 2018-2019 levels. It's the biggest homebuyer strike ever. https://t.co/FVB0HYY4bc
FinTech-as-a-Service to Hit $1.82 Trillion by 2035
Fintech as a Service Market Forecasted to Reach USD 1.82 Trillion by 2035 Driven by Rising Demand for Embedded Finance, Digital Banking, and Scalable Cloud-Based Solutions https://t.co/i6QoyzAi7r https://t.co/HwNAWxpkN8
February Global Regulatory Brief: Digital Finance
Recent regulatory developments across major economies highlight growing scrutiny of AI, cybersecurity, and operational resilience in finance. In the UK, the Treasury Committee criticised the FCA and BoE for a reactive stance, urging AI‑specific guidance and stress testing by 2026....
Cyber Resilience Means Business Continuity Amid Failures
Cyber resilience goes beyond stopping attacks. It’s keeping the organization running when systems fail, and data is uncertain. Prevention helps, but resilience ensures the business keeps moving. https://t.co/iRvh9PxW7z
Revolut Among 4 Companies Chosen to Test Stablecoins in UK Sandbox
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has chosen Revolut, Monee Financial Technologies, ReStabilise and VVTX to join a dedicated stablecoin cohort within its regulatory sandbox. The four firms will test issuance, payments, wholesale settlement and crypto‑trading use cases in a controlled...
How the OCC Is Handling Its Charter Application Workload
Bank charter applications surged in 2025, with 18 new OCC filings—equal to the total received in the previous four years combined. OCC chief Jonathan Gould frames the spike as a return to normal, emphasizing that new bank formation signals system...
Fintechs Buzz: Pay
This week in (publicly-listed) fintechs: @PayPal gets takeover interest from @Stripe @RobinhoodApp launches private markets @Remitly beats expectations @Klarna delivers better GMV but margins fall https://t.co/bEeEnaTZ3V
February Global Regulatory Brief: Risk, Capital, and Financial Stability
The February 2026 regulatory brief highlights four major initiatives: the RBI proposes a broader credit‑derivatives framework adding total‑return swaps and index products; MAS seeks tighter liquidity‑risk‑management rules for Singapore fund managers; the ECB releases 17 recommendations to simplify EU banking...
FHFA VantageScore Savings Sized up, FICO Expands in Mortgage
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) plans to adopt VantageScore 4.0 alongside FICO’s 10T score as part of a mandated modernization effort. A Deep Future Analytics study projects that competitive use of VantageScore could cut mortgage credit‑score fees by more than...
Voice AI Revolutionizes Banking, Says Bland CEO
[New Episode] @Bland's CEO on How Voice AI is Changing Banking. Interview with @zaygranet of @usebland. Watch the latest episode now: https://t.co/XXRymkLwFx https://t.co/44oPGvHNn8
Achieve Review for 2026: Terms, Access and Customer Feedback
Achieve’s 2026 review highlights its hybrid lending model that blends unsecured personal loans with secured home‑equity products such as HELOCs and fixed‑rate home‑equity loans. The platform targets borrowers with mid‑600s credit scores, offering flexible credit requirements and a digital‑first application...