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Mortgage servicer complaints surged in 2025, with the CFPB receiving 24,616 filings, up from the previous year. Trouble‑during‑payment complaints rose to 12,652 and struggle‑to‑pay complaints reached 5,962, reflecting growing borrower stress. Industry experts link the uptick to higher delinquencies, especially on FHA loans, and to payment‑process disruptions caused by recent servicer mergers. At the same time, enforcement is shifting toward state regulators, while the CFPB may regain momentum under new housing policy directives.
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a final technical amendment to the standardized approach for operational risk, clarifying the treatment of rental income from investment properties. The amendment, published on 23 March 2026, will be mandatory from 1 April 2029 and is incorporated...
On 23 March 2026 the FCA released a guidance document outlining good and poor practice for firms that design consumer segments for targeted support. The guidance builds on the FCA’s February 2025 policy statement and provides concrete examples on segment granularity, data use,...
A bunq survey of 1,000 Irish consumers reveals that 36% feel more honest discussing money with AI than with people, and another 37% are equally candid. Nearly half (49%) have already used AI to guide personal finance decisions, and one‑third...
Thirteen years after merchants gained permission to surcharge credit‑card transactions, the practice remains tangled in divergent rules from card networks and state regulators. Visa limits surcharges to 3% while Mastercard allows up to 4% but typically mirrors Visa’s cap, and...
PayPal has linked its Venmo service with its global PayPal network, enabling Venmo users to send and receive money in 90 countries. The integration comes with a promotional waiver of international transfer fees through August 24, 2026. PayPal says the move...
The SEC’s Post‑Quantum Financial Infrastructure Framework (PQFIF) has highlighted the four‑month deployment of QuSecure’s QuProtect platform at Banco Sabadell, executed with Accenture, as the first real‑world implementation precedent for post‑quantum cryptography in banking. The case study demonstrates that large financial...
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told CNBC he could envision the Federal Reserve raising interest rates if inflation accelerates amid the Middle‑East conflict, while also acknowledging the possibility of multiple rate cuts if price pressures ease. The Fed left policy...
Seneca Mortgage Servicing sued Homespire Mortgage for refusing to fund a $376,147.06 Fannie Mae loan repurchase after a July 2025 put‑back notice. Seneca paid the agency on Homespire’s behalf in November 2025 and now seeks reimbursement, interest, and legal fees. The underlying...
JPMorgan Chase announced it will charge fintech firms for access to its customer data, upending a long‑standing practice of free data sharing that powered many digital‑banking services. The move reflects a broader shift as banks seek to monetize APIs and...
CRED iQ’s loan analytics platform has recorded 1,249 CMBS loans receiving maturity extensions, representing roughly $115 billion of outstanding principal. Extensions now dominate workout activity, especially in the office sector, which accounts for 64% of the identified extension balance. Forbearance agreements...
Payments fraud surged 89% year‑over‑year, propelled by a 3.6‑fold rise in AI‑driven attacks such as deepfakes and impersonation. Criminals are exploiting executives' personal digital lives, using cloned voices and videos to bypass traditional controls. The report from Veriff stresses that...
Interchange fees have long been the backbone of fintech revenue, offering a low‑friction, volume‑driven income stream that scales with every card transaction. Recent filings from Block, PayPal and Shopify reveal a strategic pivot: interchange is now treated as baseline infrastructure...
The European Banking Authority’s Q4 2025 Risk Dashboard confirms that the EU‑EEA banking sector remains well‑capitalised and liquid despite heightened geopolitical risk from the Middle East conflict. Direct exposure to the region totals €132 bn, less than 0.5 % of banks’ assets, while...
Financial institutions are deploying AI‑powered tools to augment call‑center agents, delivering real‑time information, response suggestions, and automation of routine tasks. This technology addresses the sector’s regulatory complexity and product personalization demands, enabling faster, more accurate, and tailored customer interactions. While...
Small businesses increasingly make financial decisions within daily workflow platforms, pushing banks to a reactive role. As banks remain product‑centric and slow, they lose influence despite holding accounts. The article defines "relationship sovereignty" as embedding banking services early in these...
California Coast Credit Union CEO Todd Lane is embroiled in a rare, combative merger dispute with San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU). After SDCCU attempted to renegotiate the April 2025 deal and install its own CEO, Cal Coast sued, alleging breach of the...
South Africa’s open‑banking ecosystem is expanding, driven by a market‑led approach that has enabled fintechs such as Yoco, Lulalend and MTN MoMo to reach new customers. A Reserve Bank working paper warns that this model favours middle‑aged, educated users and leaves...
Discovery Bank is transforming its mobile platform into a "super app" that merges banking with health, insurance, investment and lifestyle services across the Discovery Group. AI underpins the experience, delivering a virtual financial assistant, real‑time fraud alerts and personalised nudges...
Santander’s payments arm Getnet has launched its digital payments platform in Colombia, extending its pan‑Latin American network. The service offers a unified API‑based Single Entry Point that lets merchants connect once and operate across multiple markets, while also providing banking,...
A PYMNTS Intelligence study of 15,110 U.S. consumers finds 19% have fallen victim to a financial scam in the last five years. Nearly two‑thirds of those scams result in payments within 24 hours, highlighting the power of urgency. Victims who...
Bridge Data Centres, owned by Bain Capital, is negotiating a loan of up to $6 billion, which would rank among the largest data‑center financings in Asia. The proposed facility is expected to have a 12‑month tenor. Proceeds are earmarked for expanding...
The Central Bank of the UAE approved a five‑pillar Financial Institution Resilience Package to fortify the banking sector amid heightened geopolitical risk and volatile markets. The framework expands access to reserve balances up to 30% of the cash reserve requirement...
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reports that more Philippine banks are integrating ESG into governance and risk management, complying with BSP Circular No. 1085 which mandates environmental and social risk management systems. The rule, issued in 2020, gives banks...
Ghana announced a new policy that will block any Ghana Card linked to multiple mobile‑money (MoMo) fraud cases, effectively cutting offenders off from telecom services and public digital platforms. The move follows a surge in fraud, with the Bank of...
Spain’s Banco Santander chief Ana Botín and Italy’s UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel have turned a former mentorship into a high‑profile rivalry that now plays out across compensation, profitability and market performance. A lingering €43.4 million legal award for Orcel underscores the personal tension,...
BNP Paribas has vaulted to third place in the UK M&A advisory rankings, advising on £25.6 bn of deals this year—already more than its total volume for the entire previous year. The surge is anchored by two marquee transactions: Nuveen’s £9.9 bn...
Singapore’s FinanceAsia named Aster Chemicals and Energy’s $1 billion sustainability‑linked syndicated loan as a Highly Commended Best Syndicated Loan Deal. The facility, led by OCBC and DBS, was upsized by $300 million through a greenshoe option and syndicated to ten additional banks...
Vietnam's VPBank is pursuing a $1.2 billion sustainability‑linked loan, one of the country’s largest ESG‑tied financings. The three‑year facility will be underwritten by more than a dozen banks. Proceeds will be tied to specific environmental, social and governance performance targets. The...
Reports of FCA breaches rose 10 percent in 2024, with filings climbing to 4,224 from 3,843 the year before. The increase reflects both more misconduct and heightened reporting willingness as firms face stricter expectations. New FCA guidance on non‑financial misconduct, covering...
Kotak Mahindra Bank is poised to acquire Deutsche Bank's India retail business for roughly Rs 4,500 crore, after being named the preferred buyer. The transaction covers a loan‑and‑deposit portfolio valued at about Rs 27,000 crore, including personal, home and MSME loans, retail deposits and...
Barclays’ latest study finds that UK borrowers with student loans save roughly £2,000 less per year for a house deposit than peers without debt, with a monthly gap of £163.70. The report shows 44% of loan‑holders say repayments undermine long‑term...
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has finished phase two of Project MindForge, releasing an AI Risk Management Toolkit for the financial sector. The toolkit features an Operationalisation Handbook and real‑world case studies, guiding banks, insurers and fintech firms through governance,...
Palantir has landed a high‑profile contract with the UK Financial Conduct Authority, extending its AI‑driven data analytics into the heart of Britain’s financial services sector. The deal gives the Miami‑based firm access to terabytes of FCA data to enhance detection...
Mastercard has outlined five core principles to defend its role in Europe’s payments‑sovereignty debate, emphasizing stability, standards, security, seamlessness and success. The company highlighted processing €3 trillion in cardholder activity last year and announced a €250 million investment in new French data...
African banking giants from Nigeria and South Africa are accelerating acquisitions and greenfield launches in East Africa, drawn by Kenya’s role as a regional financial hub and the trade‑finance potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The Central Bank...
Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) services are rapidly expanding in Malaysia, with users jumping from 2.6 million in 2023 to 7.5 million in 2024. Young consumers, especially those under 30, account for roughly 40 % of BNPL transactions and many allocate over 60 % of their monthly...
South Korea announced Shin Hyun Song, a veteran BIS official and financial‑stability scholar, as its next Bank of Korea governor. The nomination comes as the BOK faces heightened uncertainty from the Iran conflict, rising oil prices and a delicate balance...
SoFi Technologies has evolved from a student‑loan refi platform into a full‑stack digital‑banking supermarket, now offering checking, savings, loans, mortgages, credit cards, trading and a proprietary stablecoin. The company posted $3.61 billion in 2025 revenue, a 35% YoY increase, with deposits...
Axis Bank has entered a strategic partnership with Tesla to become the automaker’s preferred financier in India. The collaboration offers fully digital auto‑loan products with ten‑year tenures and flexible repayment structures, aiming to simplify the purchase journey for premium electric‑vehicle...
HSBC has demanded that a Hong Kong mother repay more than HK$126,000 in charges incurred after thieves used her stolen credit card. The card was taken on November 15 and the victim reported the loss the following day, but the...
Rhino.fi has introduced a “Stablecoin 1:1” product that guarantees a fixed one‑to‑one conversion rate for USD‑pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC across more than 25 blockchain networks. The service eliminates hidden spreads and routing inefficiencies, offering transparent fees for neobanks...
Kenya has launched a public consultation on its draft Virtual Asset Service Providers Regulations for 2026, aiming to operationalise the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act of 2025. The proposals require crypto firms to obtain licences, disclose ownership, meet capital and...
The CFTC released FAQs on March 20, 2026 clarifying how registered firms can use cryptocurrency as collateral in futures, swaps and clearing activities. FCMs may accept qualified non‑security crypto—primarily Bitcoin, Ether and payment stablecoins—subject to haircuts, a three‑month limitation, and weekly WinJammer...
Kaspersky’s GReAT team has detailed the GoPix banking Trojan, a Brazilian‑origin threat that has logged roughly 90,000 infection attempts since 2023. The malware spreads through sophisticated malvertising on Google Ads, impersonating services like WhatsApp and Correios to lure high‑value victims....
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has broadened digital access to the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) through its Open Finance for PERA Pilot. Customers of GCash operator G‑Xchange, UnionBank, Philippine National Bank and RCBC can now open PERA...
Absa has issued a broad warning about phishing scams that distribute fake e‑statement links and counterfeit account‑security alerts. The messages mimic the bank’s branding, use spoofed email addresses and unrelated URLs such as pouiyt.tech, and lure customers into entering login...
The Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC) affirmed that the Philippine banking system remains resilient, backed by strong capital and liquidity. However, the council warned that rising corporate debt, expanding consumer credit, and growing exposure to large conglomerates could heighten systemic...
The FCA reminded regulated firms to conduct proper due diligence when dealing with unregulated lenders, safe‑custody providers, money brokers and financial leasing companies, known as Annex 1 firms. About 1,200 Annex 1 firms are registered solely for anti‑money‑laundering (AML) purposes and are...
China's central bank will add twelve new banks to the e‑CNY programme, expanding the roster from ten to twenty‑two institutions. The new participants include major joint‑stock banks such as China Everbright and city commercial banks like Bank of Ningbo. The...
