Today's Banking Pulse
Mortgage refinance demand plunges 18% as rates climb to 6.65%
Refinance applications fell 18% week‑over‑week, dropping to 38% of total mortgage filings—the lowest share since June 2025. The average 30‑year fixed rate rose to 6.65%, while purchase‑loan volume edged down 0.4% and the average loan size hit $473,600.
Also developing:
By the numbers: OakNorth acquires Monite to boost business banking
Fed Needs Policy Clarity to Preserve Independence, G-30 Report Says
The Group of 30, led by former New York Fed chief William Dudley, issued a report warning that the Federal Reserve must sharpen its policy execution and communication to safeguard its independence amid political attacks. The think‑tank outlined eight recommendations, including a transparent balance‑sheet roadmap, limited forward guidance when rates are near zero, and an external review of the Fed’s framework. The report pushes back on nominee Kevin Warsh’s push for tighter speech controls, arguing that open communication remains vital for transparency. Warsh, a Trump‑nominated chair candidate, has pledged a sweeping overhaul of the central bank’s balance sheet and inflation strategy.
Mortgage Document Fraud Ignored Despite Budget Commitment
Mortgage Document Fraud Is Clearly NOT A Priority To The Federal Government Because the Finance Department announced they would shut Fraud down 2 years ago But CRA told the Government they were too busy & couldn't bother doing anything about Fraud You can't...
Fiserv Faces a Difficult Reset Amid Revenue Declines
Fiserv reported first‑quarter adjusted revenue of $4.68 billion, down 2.4% year‑over‑year and missing analyst expectations. Both its Merchant Solutions and Financial Solutions divisions saw revenue declines, 1% and 6% respectively, reflecting weaker merchant growth and rising attrition in core banking. The...
Anthropic Launches 10 New Claude Agents
Anthropic introduced ten ready‑to‑use Claude agent templates for financial institutions, covering research, client coverage, and back‑office operations such as KYC screening and ledger reconciliation. The agents are embedded as add‑ins for Microsoft 365 apps, allowing users to build models in...
CASS 15: A Practical Guide to the New Safeguarding Rules
On 7 May 2026, the FCA’s new CASS 15 rules will overhaul how payment institutions, e‑money firms and credit unions safeguard client money. The regime raises the bar by requiring annual audits by registered audit firms, monthly FCA reporting, daily...
American Express Charles Schwab & Morgan Stanley Platinum 150,000 Points Bonus
American Express Platinum cards co‑branded with Charles Schwab and Morgan Stanley are offering a 150,000 Membership Rewards point bonus after $12,000 of spend within six months, the largest bonus for these cards to date. The cards carry a steep $895...
Colorado Advances a Measure to Eliminate Interchange Fees on Sales Tax
Colorado's legislature has passed a bill that would remove sales‑tax amounts from the interchange fee calculation for credit and debit card transactions. The measure, which mirrors aspects of Illinois’ Interchange Fee Prohibition Act but limits its scope to banks with...
CIT Bank (First Citizens Wealth) Up To $750 Brokerage Bonus
CIT Bank, via its First Citizens Wealth platform, is offering a tiered bonus of up to $750 for new self‑directed investing accounts. To qualify, customers must fund the account with at least $1,000 and maintain the balance for a 60‑day...
Fed to Launch Roundtable to Fight Payment Fraud
The Federal Reserve, the FCC and the U.S. Treasury are creating a public‑private roundtable to tackle the growing threat of payment fraud, Vice Chair Michelle Bowman announced. The forum will review fraud‑prevention efforts, data‑sharing practices and cross‑sector solutions, drawing on...
Shift4 Shrugs Off Disruption From War in the Middle East
Shift4 Payments told investors that travel disruptions from the U.S.-Iran conflict had limited effect on its business. The company posted a 24% year‑over‑year rise in processing volume to $56 billion, driving gross revenue up 49% to $549 million, while net income fell...
Here’s Why Mastercard Is Betting Big on BVNK — and Stablecoin
Mastercard announced it will acquire stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK for a potential $1.8 billion, with the deal expected to close by the end of 2026. BVNK brings a portfolio of hard‑to‑obtain licenses and a network of liquidity providers that will allow...
UWM Leads Refinance Market, Rocket Trails Far Behind
Here are the top 10 mortgage refinance lenders of 2025. No major surprises, with UWM taking #1 in both refis and overall, based on loan volume. Rocket came in a distant second, but still within reach of its crosstown rival UWM. Then you...
InvestiFi Brings Investing to Summit Choice Members
Summit Choice Credit Union in Indiana has partnered with InvestiFi to embed investing directly into its digital banking platform. The integration lets the credit union’s 11,354 members buy stocks, ETFs and digital assets straight from checking accounts. A guided‑investing tool...
Bank Of America Surveys Alaska Atmos Business Card Changes
Bank of America has circulated a survey to Atmos business‑card holders probing potential changes, most notably a jump in the annual fee to $195. The questionnaire arrives shortly after BofA and Alaska Airlines announced an expanded co‑branded partnership, signaling that...
![Chase Freedom Unlimited: $200 + 5% Back On Gas & Grocery First Year [In Branch Only]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://www.doctorofcredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/chase123.webp)
Chase Freedom Unlimited: $200 + 5% Back On Gas & Grocery First Year [In Branch Only]
Chase is rolling out a branch‑only promotion for the Freedom Unlimited card that grants a $200 sign‑up bonus after $500 of spending and 5% cash back on gas and grocery purchases up to $12,000 in the first year. The card...
FSB Regional Consultative Group for the Commonwealth of Independent States Meets in Astana
The Financial Stability Board’s Regional Consultative Group for the Commonwealth of Independent States convened on May 5‑6, 2026 in Astana, hosted by Kazakhstan’s National Bank. Senior officials from central banks and regulators across the CIS examined global and regional financial vulnerabilities, foreign‑exchange...
Whistleblower Says Bank Fired Him After He Flagged Alleged Fraud on Fed
A former quality‑assurance associate at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. alleges he was fired after reporting material fraud in the bank’s KYC testing that allegedly masked fails to meet a 90% pass‑rate target. His internal whistleblower complaint triggered an external investigation...
UniCredit Agrees to Sell Parts of Russian Bank to UAE Investor
UniCredit announced a non‑binding agreement to sell most of its Russian banking operations to an unnamed private investor from the United Arab Emirates, while retaining its payments business in the country. The deal value was not disclosed, and the transaction...
Mortgage Rates Hit 6.45%, Driving 4.4% Drop in Applications and First‑Time Buyer Pullback
Mortgage rates rose to 6.45% last week, prompting a 4.4% decline in total mortgage applications and a sharp retreat by first‑time homebuyers. The average purchase loan size jumped to $467,300, the highest since 1990, while refinance activity slipped to its...
Exclusive: NPCI Mandates New MCC for UPI Gift Cards, Caps Per-Transaction Limit at Rs 10,000
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has ordered all UPI and RuPay member banks and payment service providers to re‑classify gift‑card and voucher purchases under a new Merchant Category Code (MCC) 7016, effective by May 31, 2026. Previously, these transactions shared MCC 6540...
Core Deposits Are a Myth—Everything’s Movable
At this year’s Financial Brand Forum, Jim Marous and I did an episode of Pardon the Finterruption. During it, I said, somewhat nonchalantly: “The concept of core deposits no longer holds. There are no core deposits. They're all movable." Here's why: https://t.co/m0uQiifQLE
Anthropic Unveils 10 Bank‑Focused AI Agents and Partners with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs
Anthropic rolled out ten new Claude AI agents tailored for banking workflows at a New York event, partnering with JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, AIG and other financial firms. Executives highlighted the agents' ability to draft pitchbooks, underwriting loans and automate...
Lean Technologies Debuts UAE Pay‑by‑Bank Suite, Saving $100M
Lean Technologies rolled out the UAE’s first regulated Pay‑by‑Bank service, a unified suite that handles deposits, collections, checkout and subscriptions. The platform builds on billions of dollars in transaction volume and has already helped merchants save more than $100 million in...
Circle Presses OCC to Finalize GENIUS Act Stablecoin Rules
Circle Internet Group submitted comments to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency urging the agency to lock in the GENIUS Act framework for payment stablecoins. The firm argues that consistent, ring‑fenced rules are essential to protect consumers and...
The EBA Consults on Amendments to the RTS on the Assignment of Risk Weights to Specialised Lending Exposures Under the...
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has launched a public consultation on proposed amendments to its Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) for assigning risk weights to specialised lending exposures under the Supervisory Slotting Criteria Approach (SSCA). The changes aim to align the...
The Interplay Between Liquidity and Collateral
J.P. Morgan executives Eileen Herlihy, O’Delle Burke and Michael Wynn discuss how liquidity and collateral management are evolving as institutional investors seek to raise and preserve cash. They highlight the growing importance of intraday liquidity, the shift toward non‑cash collateral...
The EBA Amends Guidelines on the Definition of Default
The European Banking Authority (EBA) released a final report amending its Guidelines on the definition of default. It extends the past‑due period for non‑recourse factoring invoices from 30 to 90 days and confirms that the 1% net present value (NPV)...
Private Credit's Retail Boom Is Making Regulators Nervous
The Financial Stability Board warned that the $1.5‑$2 trillion private‑credit market is becoming increasingly vulnerable as retail investors now own roughly 13 % of assets. Default rates, modest at 1 % overall, rise to about 5 % when selective defaults are counted, matching high‑yield...
NVIDIA Explores Revolut's PRAGMA and Transaction Foundation Models
Watch our dicsussion w/ Georgios Kolovos, #NVIDIA's Payments and Fintech practice in EMEA, on 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭'𝐬 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐌𝐀, 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 & 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠! Full discussion 👉 https://t.co/nJSsfnXgBH https://t.co/aR8XqBtoLW
Simplify Onboarding to Unlock Growth without Bigger Budgets
Growth is not always about new marketing or bigger budgets. Sometimes it is about removing friction. In this episode, I show how simplifying onboarding can transform results. 👉 Watch the full episode: https://t.co/5dcOvVfGgn https://t.co/JP2RsfesqE
Brazil’s Itaú Sees Steady Credit Trends
Itaú Unibanco said its loan‑delinquency ratios are holding steady, with 90‑day overdue loans at 1.9% in Q1, unchanged from the prior quarter and a year earlier. The 15‑to‑90‑day overdue rate edged up to 1.7%, a modest rise from 1.6% in...
U.S. Bank Takes ‘Quieter’ Approach to Branch Expansion
U.S. Bank is pursuing a low‑profile branch expansion, allocating roughly $200 million a year to build or renovate locations rather than announcing large‑scale rollouts. The lender aims to deepen its footprint in markets where it already has brand awareness, targeting top‑depositor...
Beyond Payments: Why SMBs Need Both Contactless Acceptance and Modern Fraud Controls
SMBs must adopt contactless payment acceptance as consumer demand spikes, with Mastercard reporting over 75% of its 2025 transactions contactless. At the same time, credit‑card fraud rose 54% year‑over‑year in Q3 2025, and SMBs experience fraud rates 65% higher than...
LendingClub Rebrands to Happen Bank as Its Identity Catches up to Its Model
LendingClub announced it will rebrand as Happen Bank this summer, reflecting its evolution from a marketplace lender to a full‑stack digital bank. The name change follows the 2021 acquisition of Radius Bank, which gave the firm a banking charter and...
U.S. Credit Card Debt Hits $1.28 Trillion as Delinquencies Climb, Nevada Leads State‑Level Surge
U.S. household credit‑card balances surged to a record $1.28 trillion in Q4 2025, a 5.5% year‑over‑year jump, while delinquency rates ticked up to 4.8% of total debt. Nevada now records the highest credit‑card delinquency rate at 16.3%, underscoring regional stress points...
FCA Updates Guidance on Its Role Under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011
On 7 May 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority issued version 8 of its approach document covering the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. The revision incorporates the latest safeguarding and resolution‑pack rules from CASS 15 and 10A, plus new audit and monthly‑return requirements...
Crypto Guidance Is a Step Forward, but only Congress Can Finish the Job
The SEC and CFTC issued joint interpretive guidance on digital assets in mid‑March, providing a taxonomy and clarifying how existing laws apply. The guidance narrows uncertainty around mining, staking and wrapped tokens but stops short of delivering statutory certainty. Industry...
Idempotency Is Easy Until the Second Request Is Different
The piece argues that true idempotency goes far beyond a simple replay cache; the real difficulty lies in handling a second request that arrives while the first is still processing or carries different data. It outlines scenarios such as concurrent...
How Banks Can Make Stablecoin Payments Safe & Compliant with Peter Glyman, Founder & CEO at Coinbax | Episode 486
In this episode, Greg Myers talks with Pete Glyman, founder and CEO of Coinbacks, about how stablecoins can be integrated into traditional banking payments safely and compliantly. Glyman explains Coinbacks' unique approach: a smart‑contract‑based controls layer that adds reversibility, escrow,...
Gundlach Warns "Bagholders" Will "Lose Money" In Private Credit As BDCs Slash Asset Values, JPM Faces $500MM Loss In Biggest...
DoubleLine CEO Jeffrey Gundlach warned that retail investors in private credit face losses as BDCs slash asset values. Blue Owl and other BDCs have marked down tech‑focused funds, cut dividends and faced massive redemption requests, highlighting liquidity strain. JPMorgan and...
How Banks Can Decode Crypto Compliance Risks
Banks can no longer ignore crypto exposure as customers increasingly hold digital assets and move funds through traditional channels. Cense has introduced a two‑step methodology—Detect and Decode—to first surface crypto activity and then rebuild a client’s full digital‑asset portfolio for...
The Card That Changed Everything: 60 Years Ago This Year
On June 29, 1966 Barclaycard launched the United Kingdom’s first consumer credit card, initially accepted at 30,000 retailers. The launch broke a banking advertising taboo and sparked a shift in how British consumers and merchants handle money. Over six decades,...
HKMA Launches CargoX Pilot Programme to Expand Data-Driven Trade Finance
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched the CargoX Pilot Programme, enlisting 21 banks to test the use of cargo and trade data in trade‑finance workflows. The pilot will operate on the Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) platform, exploring data‑driven credit...
American Express CEO Stephen Squeri Drives Premium Push to Win Gen Z and Millennials
American Express CEO Stephen Squeri is betting on affluent younger consumers, using high‑fee premium cards and pop‑culture events to spark a 38% spend jump from Gen Z. The strategy helped the firm post Q1 2026 earnings of $4.28 per share,...
Iran War Halts Global Rate Cuts, Fuels Inflation and Slashes India's Growth
Major central banks have frozen interest‑rate cuts as the Iran war pushes oil prices higher, while the U.S. Federal Reserve warns of a lingering inflation shock. S&P Global responded by trimming India's FY27 growth outlook to 6.6%, underscoring the war’s...
Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card vs American Express Platinum Card: Which Fits You Better?
The Capital One Venture X and American Express Platinum are two premium travel cards that cater to different traveler profiles. Venture X carries a $395 annual fee, offers a $300 travel credit, 10× miles on hotels and rental cars, and simple...
FSB Rolls Out Global Framework to Tackle $2 Trillion Private‑Credit Risks
The Financial Stability Board unveiled a tentative action plan aimed at curbing systemic risks in the fast‑growing private‑credit market, estimated at $1.5‑$2 trillion. The framework targets data collection hurdles and seeks to align regulators, central banks and finance ministries worldwide.
Morgan Stanley Starts Bitcoin Trading On E*Trade At 0.5% Fee For 8.6 Million Users
Morgan Stanley has launched spot Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading on its E*Trade retail brokerage platform, targeting its 8.6 million client base. The pilot, announced on May 6, charges a 0.5% transaction fee, positioning the bank against fintech disruptors that offer crypto services....
UniCredit’s Lowball Bid for Commerzbank Causes Consternation
On May 5, 2026 UniCredit announced a bid to acquire the remaining shares of Germany’s Commerzbank, offering shareholders a swap of one Commerzbank share for 0.485 UniCredit shares. The proposal values the entire bank at €35 bn (approximately $41 bn), roughly 8% below...
Temenos Launches Composable Deposits and Lending to Speed Core Modernization
Temenos announced the launch of composable retail deposits and lending solutions, cloud‑native modules that let banks modernize core banking functions one at a time. The move targets large institutions seeking faster, lower‑risk digital transformation, and builds on design‑partner feedback from...