CFPB Seeks Comment on Reinstating Mortgage Advertising and Land Sales Information Collections
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has opened a public comment period to reinstate two information collections: the Mortgage Acts and Practices—Advertising (Regulation N) and the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (Regulations J, K, and L). Regulation N requires lenders and advertisers to retain mortgage advertising records for 24 months, while the land‑sales rule obligates developers of 100‑plus lot subdivisions to register with the CFPB and provide buyers with property reports. Comments are due by April 20, 2026. The reinstatement seeks to strengthen enforcement against deceptive mortgage advertising and improve transparency in large‑scale land sales.
BetMGM Is the Latest Gambling Platform to Move Away From Credit Cards
BetMGM announced it will no longer accept credit‑card payments for its online sportsbook, following a Pennsylvania regulator‑imposed settlement over fraud and inadequate identity verification. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board fined the operator $100,000 after uncovering schemes where fraudsters opened hundreds...
Fed Chair Powell Sees No Threat of Private Credit 'Contagion,' Says Interest Rates Are in a 'Good Place'
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a Harvard audience that private‑credit markets are experiencing a correction but pose no immediate contagion risk to the broader financial system. He said the Fed is closely monitoring any links to banks and finds...
Abu Dhabi Power Play: L’Imad Emerges As $300 Billion Sovereign Force
Abu Dhabi has merged its state‑owned fund ADQ into the newly created sovereign wealth fund L Imad, boosting the latter’s assets to roughly $300 billion. The consolidation places the fund under the direct supervision of Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed bin...
UK Regulator Cuts £2bn From Car Finance Redress Costs for Banks
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a reduction of roughly £2 billion (about $2.5 billion) from the car‑finance redress costs that banks must pay. The cut applies to the collective settlement aimed at compensating consumers mis‑sold car loans and leasing products....
BSP to Expand Credit Exposure Reporting
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced plans to broaden its Comprehensive Credit and Equity Exposures Report (COCREE) to cover non‑bank financial institutions, including savings‑loan associations, credit‑card firms, and government‑linked lenders. Reporting for the newly covered entities will begin for...
A Federal Office Designed to Stave Off the Next Financial Crisis Is Being Dismantled by the Trump Administration
The Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research (OFR) is slated to shrink from 196 employees to roughly 70, a 64% reduction announced by its director in early March. Created under the 2010 Dodd‑Frank Act to gather data and issue early...
German CRD VI Implementing Act Published in the Federal Gazette
On 30 March 2026 Germany published the Banking Directive Implementation and Bureaucracy Relief Act (BRUBEG), transposing the EU’s CRD VI into national law. The act introduces new market‑access rules for third‑country credit institutions, tighter notification and approval thresholds for bank M&A, and enhanced...
CRD VI Implementation – Germany Video
The European Union’s Capital Requirements Directive VI (CRD VI) is now being harmonised across the EEA, reshaping how third‑country banks access the EU market. Germany’s existing BRUBEG regime is already stringent, and the new rules will curb individual waivers that conflict with...
Wirex Teams With Crossmint to Enable Easier Spending Via Stablecoins
Wirex has deepened its partnership with Crossmint to fuse its card‑issuance platform with Crossmint’s smart‑wallet and stablecoin‑orchestration layer. The integration lets fintechs and consumers spend stablecoins directly from digital wallets without juggling separate wallet and card providers. Crossmint will manage...
Zelle Renews Its Outreach to Minority Deposit Institutions
Zelle is renewing its outreach to minority deposit institutions by expanding partnerships with Velera and Jack Henry, making integration easier for community banks and credit unions. A survey of 250 banking executives shows 99% feel pressure to move money faster,...
Visa’s Stablecoin Ally Falls for Mastercard
London‑based stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK, which earlier announced a strategic investment and partnership with Visa to power Visa Direct stablecoin pilots, is being acquired by Mastercard for approximately $1.8 billion. The deal, announced on March 17, marks Mastercard’s biggest bet on on‑chain...
StoneX, Pathfinder Team up to Deliver Institutional-Grade Cross-Border Payment Capabilities for Financial Institutions
StoneX Group announced a partnership with The Pathfinder Group to embed its institutional‑grade payment infrastructure into Pathfinder’s WITS™ platform. The integration enables financial institutions, including community banks and credit unions, to access StoneX’s global payments network without intermediary banks, delivering...
Glia Wins Excellence Award for Safer AI in Banking
Glia, the AI‑powered customer‑service platform for banks, won the 2026 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award in the Banking and Financial Services category. The company’s solution automates up to 80 % of routine interactions while embedding safeguards against hallucinations and prompt‑injection attacks. Industry...
Next Steps on a Much Improved Basel III Endgame
The revised Basel III endgame proposal released this month marks a major step toward finalizing U.S. capital reforms. It introduces a suite of improvements, including the removal of the output floor for internal market‑risk models, enhanced cross‑product netting under SA‑CCR,...
The State Of Stablecoin In Japan
Japan’s first regulated yen‑pegged stablecoin, JPYC, launched in October 2025 after the 2023 revision of the Payment Services Act. Operating under a Type II funds‑transfer license, JPYC can issue and redeem up to ¥1 million (≈US$6,700) per user daily and targets roughly ¥10 trillion...
How Amex Exploits New AI Tools
American Express is rolling out artificial intelligence across its operations, from engineering to sales and customer service. The company reports that roughly 11,000 engineers using AI have reduced coding time by more than 30%, while travel advisors in 19 countries...
FNB CEO Harry Kellan Steps Down After Just Two Years
Harry Kellan will step down as FNB CEO at the end of 2026 after a two‑year tenure, making way for long‑time executive Lytania Johnson. The leadership change is part of FirstRand’s broader simplification strategy, which reorganizes FNB into three distinct...
EBA Streamlines Supervisory Approvals for IRB Model Changes
On 30 March 2026 the European Banking Authority published a final report containing draft regulatory technical standards that amend Delegated Regulation EU No 529/2014, which governs the materiality assessment of Internal Ratings‑Based (IRB) model changes. The revisions align the regulation with the recent CRR 3 amendments,...
Regulators Launch Joint Taskforce to Crack Down on Poor Practice in Motor Finance Claims
On 30 March 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority announced a joint taskforce with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Advertising Standards Authority to curb poor practice in motor‑finance claims. The collaboration will enable regulators to share intelligence and...
The Five Controls Driving Good Outcomes in Collections
In 2026 collections teams face higher complaint volumes and tighter regulatory scrutiny, making auditability as critical as repayment rates. The industry shift is from adding more tools to building disciplined controls that ensure consistent, explainable actions across channels. Five essentials...
PayPal Doesn’t Have a Growth Problem – It Has a Positioning Problem
PayPal’s Q4 2025 results show modest top‑line growth but a stalled premium checkout segment. Net revenue rose 4% to $8.7 billion, while total payment volume jumped 9% to $475.1 billion. Branded checkout – the high‑margin engine – grew only 1% year‑over‑year, far below...
François-Louis Michaud to Take up His Role as Chair of the European Banking Authority
François‑Louis Michaud has been appointed Chair of the European Banking Authority, taking office on 16 April 2026 after a Council selection on 26 February and European Parliament confirmation on 10 March. He previously served as the EBA’s Executive Director since September 2020, bringing supervision experience...
IMF Chief Visits Philippines to Deepen Collaboration Amid Asean Chairship
The International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva visited Manila from March 11‑13, 2026, to deepen collaboration with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The trip coincides with the Philippines’ chairmanship of the ASEAN summit, positioning the country as a regional...
The Best Savings Accounts for Retirees to Maximize Your Cash
Retirees seeking low‑risk cash growth are urged to evaluate high‑yield savings accounts, money‑market accounts, standard CDs, and jumbo CDs. High‑yield online accounts can offer APYs that outpace inflation, while money‑market products add debit‑card access at a modest rate trade‑off. For...
Credit Card Annual Fees Are Soaring Past $800. Here’s Why People Keep Paying Them—Even as Perks Are Harder to Come...
Premium credit cards are now charging annual fees that top $800, with Robinhood, JPMorgan Chase, American Express, and Citi all offering high‑fee products packed with travel credits, dining allowances and exclusive lounge access. Issuers argue that stacked monthly credits and...
15 Regulatory Transaction Reporting Leaders, Europe – (2026 Edition)
European transaction reporting has moved from deadline compliance to demonstrable data control, as regulators tighten focus on quality, reconciliation and traceability. The EMIR Refit, effective April 2024, raised granularity and validation demands, and by early 2026 regulators are actively enforcing...
Buy, License, or Build? Why Most Firms Struggle to Enter the UAE
Global firms are increasingly targeting the UAE as a financial and technology hub, but many stumble because they treat entry options—buy, license, or build—as interchangeable. The article argues that aligning the chosen route with the UAE's fragmented regulatory landscape (DIFC,...
Transforming the Payment Experience: How Consumers Are Steering Payment Innovation
The Discover Network’s Payments State of the Union survey shows that 91% of U.S. shoppers have adopted digital payments, with 61% using a digital wallet in the past 90 days and mobile‑wallet usage climbing to 69% since 2021. Consumers are...
Standard Bank CIB Global Markets Leads the Field at JSE Spire Awards 2026
Standard Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking Global Markets division captured top honours at the 2026 JSE Spire Awards, being named Overall Best Fixed Income and Forex House. The peer‑reviewed awards, driven by South Africa’s largest institutional investors, also saw the...
Capital A Taps Former CIMB Heavyweight as Deputy CEO
Capital A announced the appointment of former CIMB executive Effendy Shahul Hamid as deputy chief executive officer, effective 6 April 2026. The move follows the group’s recent divestiture of its aviation businesses to AirAsia X, signaling a strategic shift toward its core digital...
European Bank Stocks to Snap Record Quarterly Run on Iran, AI
European bank stocks are set to break a historic 13‑quarter winning streak as the Stoxx 600 Banks Index slides 8.7% year‑to‑date. The rally, fueled by strong earnings and robust capital returns, is now being eclipsed by heightened geopolitical tension from...
Secured Credit’s Next Turn: Unlocking Growth With Dynamic Funding
Secured credit is being reinvented as a growth engine for banks and fintechs through dynamic funding models that lock only the amount actually spent. Traditional secured cards required double funding and separate collateral accounts, creating liquidity friction for underserved consumers....
Gen Z Digital Wallet Use Climbs 21% as Budgets Tighten
A PYMNTS Intelligence survey of 2,108 U.S. adults shows digital wallet usage soaring, especially among Gen Z, where adoption for retail purchases more than doubled to 36%—a 21% increase since March 2024. Consumers experiencing high financial stress are twice as likely...
Why Payroll Is Becoming the Latest Loyalty Product
Instant payouts are evolving from a convenience into core payroll for gig‑economy workers, with the PYMNTS Intelligence report showing that 68% of users who try instant disbursements become regular users. The study highlights that digital wallets deliver the highest stickiness...
CFOs Are Using Stablecoins More Like ACH Than Digital Assets
The latest PYMNTS Intelligence report finds that 88% of firms receiving stablecoins immediately convert them into U.S. dollars, treating the tokens as a fast payment rail rather than a store of value. CFOs are leveraging stablecoins to accelerate cross‑border and...
Tokenization Is Nothing New
The article traces tokenization back to 9,000 BCE clay bullae, the first structured data objects used to record ownership of grain, livestock and other goods. It argues that today’s digital assets and programmable money are not new financial inventions but extensions...
SCCA Wins Major Concessions over Gift Card Laws
The Australian regulator Austrac finalized AML/CTF amendment rules that exempt gift cards up to AU$5,000 (≈US$3,300) from additional customer due‑diligence requirements. The Shopping Centre Council of Australia (SCCA) lobbied for the change, arguing that gift‑card schemes are low‑risk and already...
Bank Holidays April 2026: 14 Days of Closures Across India—Check Full List
India’s banks will observe at least 14 holidays in April 2026, including nationwide closures for Good Friday, the second and fourth Saturdays, and a cluster of regional festivals on 14 April. The most disruptive day is 14 April, when Dr Ambedkar Jayanti, Tamil New...
Standard Bank Moved R164-Trillion in Payments in 2025
Standard Bank processed more than R164 trillion (about $9 trillion) in payments during 2025, confirming its status as Africa’s largest transactional franchise. The bank handled 2.3 billion transactions, a 9% increase, driven by electronic channels, merchant acquiring, and rapid adoption of instant and...
Westpac: Triple Hike Expected to Take Cash Rate to Highest Seen Since GFC
Westpac has revised its outlook, expecting the Reserve Bank of Australia to lift the cash rate to 4.85% by year‑end, the highest level since the Global Financial Crisis. The bank predicts three consecutive 0.25‑percentage‑point hikes in May, June and August,...
UK’s Digital Bank Monzo Reports 15M+ Customers
Monzo announced it has surpassed 15 million customers, marking a major milestone for the UK challenger bank. The growth includes more than one million accounts held by users under 16, reflecting its strong youth‑focused offering. Over half a million customers are...
SadaPay Restored After AWS Bahrain Outage
SadaPay’s mobile app was completely offline on March 25 after a drone strike damaged the Amazon Web Services data centre in Bahrain, a critical hub for the fintech’s infrastructure. The outage halted the app for all users, though debit‑card, ATM and...
Compensation Details for Millions of Drivers Set to Be Revealed
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is set to publish its final rules for a compensation scheme covering 14 million motor‑finance agreements, many of which were sold with undisclosed commission arrangements. The regulator estimates an average payout of about £700 (≈$875)...
Custodia Bank Clarifies Fed Master Account Listing as Hazel Network Partnership Advances
Custodia Bank clarified that its recent appearance in the Federal Reserve’s master‑account database reflects a partnership entry, not a fresh application for direct Fed access. The listing ties to its collaboration with Texas‑based banks in the Hazel Network, which offers...
Congress Proposes Removal of Widely Used Bitcoin Tax Loophole and Giving It to Regulated Stablecoins
Congress introduced the bipartisan Digital Asset PARITY Act, a discussion draft that expands the wash‑sale rule to actively traded cryptocurrencies and related derivatives, effectively closing the long‑standing Bitcoin loss‑harvesting loophole. The legislation applies the same 30‑day replacement window used for...
NAB Is Co-Designing a SIEM with Databricks
National Australia Bank (NAB) has joined four other design partners to co‑design Lakewatch, a new security information and event management (SIEM) platform built on Databricks. The solution, currently in private preview, leverages the bank’s existing Databricks‑on‑AWS data lake, Ada, to...
Cashflows Partners with BDIA to Overhaul Legacy Payments in the UK Dental Sector
Cashflows, a UK‑based fintech payment platform, has announced a strategic partnership with the British Dental Industry Association (BDIA) to replace outdated merchant services used by dental practices. The collaboration delivers a purpose‑built payment suite that addresses complex billing, patient‑prefixed payment...
How Paresh Raja of Collapsed MFS Became the “Disruptor of the Year”
Market Financial Solutions (MFS), a Mayfair‑based specialist mortgage lender founded by Paresh Raja, entered administration in February after creditors including Barclays, Jefferies and Wells Fargo reported an alleged $1.6 billion shortfall and suspected double‑pledging of collateral. The collapse exposed a web of...
SMEs’ Loan Access to Improve
Thailand’s government unveiled a loan‑guarantee scheme to help small and medium‑sized enterprises acquire commercial pickup trucks, including electric models. The Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation will back loans up to 1.5 million baht (≈ $43,000) per borrower, with a total guarantee pool of...