Fiserv Appoints New Executives
Fiserv announced three senior hires this month: Lia Cao as chief revenue officer for enterprise and platforms, Robert Clarkson as chief revenue officer for small‑business and Clover POS, and Adit Gadgil as global head of business development. All three are external recruits, with Cao and Gadgil coming from JPMorgan Chase and Clarkson from Stripe. The appointments come as Fiserv struggles with earnings that missed Wall Street forecasts and faces multiple investor and merchant lawsuits. Executives say the new team will expand the customer base and strengthen technical infrastructure.
Triple-A and Mastercard Move Join Forces to Speed Up Global Remittances for Banks and Fintechs
Triple‑A has integrated Mastercard Move’s cross‑border money‑movement network into its remittance‑as‑a‑service platform, enabling near real‑time payouts for European banks, fintechs, and telecom operators. The partnership lets institutions launch branded global remittance services without building costly infrastructure, while also opening a...
Home Improvement Loan Applications Moderate as Borrower Profile Gradually Ages
Home‑improvement loan applications peaked at 1.49 million in 2022 and have moderated to 1.20 million in 2024, remaining above pre‑pandemic levels. The borrower age profile is gradually aging, with the 65‑74 and 75+ cohorts expanding modestly. Meanwhile, the 45‑54 group stays the...
ACI Revenue up 13% and Other Digital Transactions News Briefs From 2/26/26
ACI Worldwide reported fourth‑quarter revenue of $253.2 million, a 13% year‑over‑year increase, pushing full‑year 2025 revenue just above $1 billion. NCR Voyix posted a 6% Q4 revenue rise to $720 million but saw full‑year revenue dip 4.6%, while turning a $201 million loss into...
Capital Plan Tests Nerves in Brasília
The Federal District government has introduced a bill to inject up to BRL 6 billion into BRB Banco de Brasília following the Master Bank fraud, allowing borrowing from the Credit Guarantee Fund or other lenders. The proposal also reduces the number of...
UK’s First Online Fintech Platform Launched to Help SMEs Manage Debt and Avoid Borrowing Pitfalls
Leeds‑based fintech Debeo has launched what it calls the UK’s first purpose‑built online platform to help small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) understand and manage their debt. The service aggregates loans, overdrafts and asset‑finance agreements into a single, real‑time view, enabling...
US Regional Banks Build Tokenised Deposit Network
A consortium of five US regional banks—First Horizon, Huntington Bancshares, KeyCorp, M&T Bank and Old National Bancorp—has announced the creation of the Cari Network, a permissioned blockchain platform for tokenised deposits. The pilot will launch in the third quarter with...
How Embedded BNPL Optimizes Cash Flow for SMBs: Inside the Intuit-Affirm Partnership
Intuit has teamed with Affirm to embed a Buy‑Now‑Pay‑Later (BNPL) option directly into QuickBooks invoices, letting small‑business owners split customer payments while receiving the full amount upfront. The move turns QuickBooks from a bookkeeping tool into an actionable financial operating...
Hong Kong Banks’ Collateral Asset Valuations to Continue Declining in 2026: S&P
S&P Global Ratings warns that collateral values backing Hong Kong banks' commercial property loans will keep declining through 2026, reflecting a market that has yet to find a bottom. The Bank of East Asia disclosed a HK$723 million valuation loss in...
Novel Banking Licence in Latvia Could Pave the Way for New Market Entrants
Latvia introduced a new specialised credit institution licence, lowering the initial capital requirement to €1 million and granting deposit‑taking rights and EU‑wide passporting. The amendment to the Credit Institutions Law took effect on 6 January 2026, creating a hybrid category that operates like...
What’s Next for China’s Yuan Payment System? Adviser Banks on Close Trade Partners
Former ICBC chairman Chen Siqing urged China to embed its Cross‑border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) into bilateral trade frameworks, especially with Belt‑Road and RCEP partners, as geopolitical tensions heighten reliance on non‑US payment networks. He highlighted CIPS’s rapid growth, processing...
Financial Statements of the ECB for 2025
The European Central Bank posted a €1.3 billion loss for 2025, a sharp improvement from the €7.9 billion deficit recorded in 2024. The turnaround stems mainly from a dramatic reduction in net interest expense as liability remuneration rates fell and TARGET balances...
Banks – and Google – Open to Gemini-Powered Exfil via Public API Keys, Researchers Say
Security firm Truffle Security revealed that publicly exposed Google API keys can be upgraded to full‑access Gemini credentials, enabling data exfiltration from any organization using them. A November scan uncovered 2,863 such keys, affecting major banks, security vendors, and even...
Guidance: Money Laundering Advisory Notice: High Risk Third Countries
The UK Treasury’s Money Laundering Advisory Notice was updated on 26 February 2026 to reflect the latest FATF decisions on High‑Risk Third Countries (HRTC). The revision aligns the UK’s list with jurisdictions identified by FATF as having weak anti‑money‑laundering and terrorist‑financing controls....
Wio Bank and Kibsons Partner to Bolster UAE Food Supply Chains and Reward Grocery Shoppers
Wio Bank PJSC has teamed up with UAE fresh‑food retailer Kibsons to embed digital banking services into the grocery ecosystem. The deal provides supply‑chain finance that improves liquidity and cash‑flow visibility across Kibsons’ import, distribution and e‑commerce operations. From now...
Singapore Tourism Board Renews Digital Payments Partnership with Ant International
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has renewed its multi‑year strategic partnership with Ant International, extending the Alipay+ unified wallet gateway across the island. The expanded deal adds joint marketing campaigns for key source markets and introduces new digital tools such...
Banks Snap up Bonds as Holdings Approach Regulatory Floor
Indian banks are accelerating purchases of government bonds as their sovereign‑debt holdings edge toward the RBI’s 18% regulatory minimum. In February, state‑owned lenders bought a net ₹225.8 billion ($2.5 billion), the largest monthly purchase recorded since Bloomberg began tracking in 2006. Their...
Kenya, Uganda in Race to Change Sacco Rules as Losses Hit Members
Kenya and Uganda are overhauling Sacco regulations after a series of collapses and fraud that have eroded member confidence. In Kenya, the Kuscco scandal exposed a $103 million loss, prompting a committee to recommend raising the minimum membership to 100 and...
Bloomberg: Leveraged Lending Insights – 2/23/2026
US institutional leveraged loan issuance slowed sharply in February 2026, with only $22.85 billion priced to date and $9.54 billion expected by month‑end, far below January’s $164.1 billion. The month‑over‑month drop reflects heightened market uncertainty and tighter credit conditions. Analysts attribute the slowdown...
Recent Changes in Credit Markets and Their Implications for Monetary Policy
The February 2026 bulletin outlines three post‑pandemic credit‑market shifts that have eased financial conditions: bank‑funding cost spreads fell about 70 basis points, variable mortgage‑rate spreads narrowed roughly 65 basis points, and business‑credit supply expanded with non‑bank lenders gaining market share. These...
On the Road to Better Cross-Border Payments: How Is Australia Travelling?
Australia is gradually aligning with the G20 Roadmap for cross‑border payments, having met the universal access target but still falling short on cost, speed and transparency goals. Bank‑based transfers to advanced economies cost about 4 % for a A$1,000 payment, while...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Germany’s Retirement Savings Shake-Up: What Banks Need to Know
Germany is set to replace the legacy Riester pension with the Altersvorsorgedepot (AVD) from 1 January 2027, ending all new Riester contracts. The reform retains a state allowance of up to €480 per year and expands eligible assets to include ETFs, stocks...