Inconsistent Bailouts Fueled 2008 Market Panic
(1/2) I recall an interview after the 2008 crash where the late economist Anna Schwartz said she thought the market threw up its hands in confusion and crashed because the government was so inconsistent about which bank they saved and which they let fail (Lehman)
Agent Payments Defy Human Fraud Models
I hadn’t thought about this until @robbiepetersen_ said it: agent behavior looks nothing like human behavior. So card network fraud models may be useless for agentic payments. https://t.co/ouC5FjfUrY
RBI Caps Banks' USD Exposure at $100 Million
RBI has directed banks to reduce their holdings of Dollar (USD) positions. • RBI has set a maximum Net Open Position (NOP) limit of $100 million for banks. • This means banks can now hold no more than $100 million...
UBS Secures US Bank Charter to Boost Wealth Management
UBS Receives OCC Approval for U.S. National Bank Charter The move is a strategic milestone to strengthen its wealth management platform and compete directly with U.S. incumbents for deposits and lending. https://t.co/1RV5wrV7wp
Generative AI Turns Transactions Into Human‑Centric Loyalty
Engagement drives loyalty. Generative AI allows financial institutions to move beyond transactions and deliver proactive, human-centered experiences. https://t.co/QeRC2HMzbF
German Retail Deposits Top €3 Trillion, €13bn Added in February
Good Morning from Germany, where retail deposits have surpassed the €3TRILLION mark. In February alone, more than €13bn flowed into these accounts. https://t.co/cvLzWCwiTi
Banks Still Lag Behind on Tokenization Readiness
Yep, this survey pretty much comports with our experience with how the banking industry views its readiness for tokenization: https://t.co/Rtd28tJIrS
Digital Transformation: Continuous Rethinking of Experiences, Not a Single Project
The biggest shift? Realizing digital transformation isn’t about one initiative. It’s about rethinking how you build, deliver, and evolve experiences over time. https://t.co/MZDOKozuGf
FTC Forces Visa to Police Banks' Account Closures
"IOW, the FTC isn't just telling Visa not to debank people; it's telling Visa to police its bank customers' individual account-closure decisions—decisions Visa has no visibility into and no practical ability to control."
Human Social Structures, Not Payment Rails, Limit Commerce
I talked with @nlevine19 and @robbiepetersen_ about the future of commerce, and why the real bottleneck isn’t the payment rails. It’s human social structures. That shifted how I think about what agents actually need to solve for. Timestamps: 🔧 01:02 Why Noah thinks...
Lock‑in Effect Keeps Sub‑3% Mortgages Alive, ARMs Plummet
Update on the “Lock-in Effect” in the Housing Market: Below-3% & 4% Mortgages Fade Very Slowly. Share of ARMs originations fell further and is at historic lows: FHFA’s National Mortgage Database https://t.co/ZUvlUdW3RE https://t.co/bqPa12CUrs
AI Takes Over Finance as UX Vanishes
Neobanks gave us better UX Agentic finance gives us no UX The AI just handles it That's the shift
7% Mortgage Rates Trap Sellers in Negative Real Yield
Mortgage interest rates are hitting 7 percent and sellers are locked into COVID era mortgages that are in negative real interest rate territory. More charts and graphs featured on today's Chartbook Top Links in the comment below. https://t.co/jUHCvyVvDx
Walmart's OpenAI Exit Signals AI Model Battle for Finance
Walmart dropping OpenAI is hitting the headlines. What does this reveals about Agentic Commerce and what every Bank, Insurer, and Fintech should take from it? Which model will financial institutions choose when AI agents start selecting and purchasing financial products on...
Megabanks Still Free to Acquire Solvent Banks Under Deposit Rule
I forget that there are still megabanks who aren't yet barred from this kind of M&A (banks can't buy another solvent bank if they already control at least 10% of national deposits)
Stablecoins Fail to Escape Bank Balance‑Sheet Limits, Worsen CIP Distortions
Fascinating new paper from Iñaki Aldasoro et al which argues that stablecoins don’t get around existing bank balance sheet constraints. Exacerbate the CIP distortions if anything. https://t.co/p5y5qOA4kX
Stablecoin Yield Talks Remain Complex, Senate Chair Says
LATEST: 🇺🇸 Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott says the stablecoin yield debate is complex, with banks and crypto firms like Coinbase still at the table negotiating https://t.co/guK3dR2LRR
Only Half of APAC Banks Harness AI’s 70% Value Potential
A survey of APAC’s banks in 2025 found that four functions—customer relationships, customer service, innovation, and IT—were so important that they were expected to contribute more than 70% of AI value. The problem, however, is that while half of APACs are...
ECB Warns June Rate Hike if War Continues
ECB’s Wunsch says rate hike likely if war isn’t over by June https://t.co/DfO5yOLNdf via @FerroTV @lisaabramowicz1 https://t.co/rkEFK0fHSo
Half the Market Adopts New FICO Score in Four Years
Here's a fun fact for you: it takes around four years for 50% of the market to switch to a new version of a $FICO score.
China Mulls Loosening Investor Limits to Aid Banks
Reuters: "China is considering easing shareholding restrictions for some major investors, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a move aimed at broadening capital-raising options for commercial banks reeling from an economic slowdown." https://t.co/HCdl6eFRCX
BDC Discounts Suggest Default Rates 5‑10× GFC Levels
Historical recovery rates for middle market direct lending is 65% to 85%. Currently, if one assumes this recovery rate holds, listed BDCs trading at an average -25% discount to NAV imply a 34% to 79% cumulative default rate, which is 5x...
Too Big to Fail Expands, Overwhelming Community Banks
Too big to fail continues to grow. For community banks, it’s everything, everywhere, all at once.
KLAR's Efficiency Gains Outshine Loan Loss Concerns
Investors focus too much on $KLAR loan losses provisions because of strong loan volume growth. They should focus more on $KLAR becoming a more efficient business by improving operating leverage. - Revenue per employee 3.6x from $344K to $1.24M. - The number of...
Stripe MPP vs Coinbase X402: Which Wins?
Stripe’s MPP vs Coinbase’s x402. Two very different visions for agent payments. Which model wins? https://t.co/9SSDq5hVSn
Strategic Thinkers, Not Just Tech, Future‑Proof Lending
Technology alone won’t future-proof your institution. You need strategic thinkers who can anticipate change, not just react to it. Download the State of Digital Lending report: https://t.co/0wah7wPuXN https://t.co/Vo5PYR9wWL
AI Agents Trigger Payment Wars Among Tech Giants
Stripe. Coinbase. Visa. Everyone is building for AI agents. Now LIVE on Unchained, we unpack the battle for the payment layer of the agent economy. https://t.co/meE1SvxnF0
Payments Become the New Battleground in the Agent Economy
The Battle for Payments in the Agent Economy w/ Noah Levine & Robbie Petersen https://t.co/9SSDq5hVSn
Banks Must Measure AI Impact, Not Training Completion
Redesign Work, Realize AI: How Banks Must Measure and Reorganize to Turn AI from Experiments into Durable ROI Stop measuring training completions. Start measuring: cycle time, cost-to-serve, throughput, risk outcomes. Three-dimension framework: capability adoption (role-specific literacy, agent management) + workflow transformation...
Bank Credit Surges 15% Amid Global Crisis, Recovery Expected
Bank credit growth seems to be back big time, with 15% growth at the end of Feb. While we have a global crisis on, the indicators earlier did see good signs. It could suck for a few months, but I...
Norges Bank Signals Upcoming Rate Hike This Year
🇳🇴 Norges Bank hawkish pivot charted. The policy rate is expected to be raised "at one of the forthcoming meetings" assuming the economy "evolves broadly as currently envisaged". https://t.co/3LIbGfEvOW
Big Banks Set to Lead Next Crypto Adoption Phase
🚨 LATEST CEO of the largest custodian bank in the world BNY Global, Robin Vince, says large banks will drive the next phase of crypto adoption, positioning traditional financial institutions as the bridge between digital assets and mainstream finance. https://t.co/T3ACuwzQl0
NAB Slashes 170 Jobs, Moves Roles Offshore, Raises Margin Risk
Macro: NAB cuts ~170 net jobs as it shifts roles offshore; sector cuts persist. Drivers: cost, 237 offshore hires (India/Vietnam). Risks: execution, reputation. Trade: short NAB on margin risk 📉 — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA. More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
Deposit Insurance Expansion Misses Small Business Reality
Expanded deposit insurance for noninterest bearing accounts helps small businesses? What small business keeps over $250k in a zero yield account? If this is how banks think they are going to preserve deposits, the logic needs to be reexamined.
Fintech Hype Proved Wrong as Synapse Collapses
Isn’t this just a paraphrasing of @astrange’s “every company will be a fintech” thesis? Which not only didn’t come true, but saw thousands of consumers lose millions of dollars when Synapse, which Strange was a board member of, catastrophically collapsed.
Mortgage Rates Surge, Home Purchase Applications Plummet 35%
There Goes the Spring Selling Season: Mortgage Rates Jump, Mortgage Applications to Purchase a Home Drop. Mortgage purchase applications are down by 35% from the same period in 2019 in a housing market that remains frozen https://t.co/sR0N0Jznl0 https://t.co/Hkfy4IziDs
Tokenized Money Market Funds Extend the Bank Walk
My friend @biancoresearch used to call it the bank walk from checking accounts to money market funds. From firsthand experience, paying all my bills via a tokenized money market fund, the bank walk is destined to continue IMO even if most...
Banks Fear Profit Flight, Not Deposit Flight, Over Stablecoins
With stablecoins, the banks aren't worried about deposit flight. They're worried about profit flight. These numbers are embarrassing. https://t.co/JZICGB5MWv
Banks Reclassify Private Credit Loans to Slash Capital Requirements
Big banks hack their risk weighted assets by treating loans to private credit funds as securities, reducing the weighting from 100% to as low as 20%. Proposed capital rules look to further decrease this to 15%, encouraging more of this...
Invesco Acquires Superstate Tokenized MMF, Marking Trad
BOOM: Invesco to Acquire Superstate's USTB Tokenized MMF Management One of first acquisitions of a crypto-native fund by TradFi asset manager. TradFi now majority of top 10 tokenized MMFs $2.2T asset manager Invesco acquiring management of $USTB ($950M AUM, 5th largest tokenized...
Earn $400 Bonus with High‑Yield Savings & Checking
What's that number for you? 👇🏾 Whatever it is, the right account makes it easier to get there. My favorite High Yield Savings + Checking account combo just bumped their welcome bonus to $400 for new members. That's $400 closer on...
Happy Pay Secures $5M Seed to Expand BNPL Across Africa
𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 “𝗕𝘂𝘆 𝗡𝗼𝘄, 𝗣𝗮𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿” 🇿🇦 South African fintech Happy Pay has raised $5 million in seed funding, in a round led by global venture capital firm Partech, 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀...
Teen Banking App Urges Kids to Research Dogecoin
Apparently teen banking app Step, an Evolve Bank & Trust partner, also encouraged kids to "do their own research" before considering investing in DOGECOIN https://t.co/HKioRJQbyq
Fixed‑rate 30‑year Loans Stabilize Debt as Wages Climb
30-year fixed loan. Fixed debt cost and rising wages, even with more people with 6% plus mortgage rates vs 3% and lower. https://t.co/fLDxpBRw15
Mortgage Applications Up YoY, Weekly Demand Drops
#Mortgage purchase application data remains positive year over year, but weekly demand declined last week. @housingwire @sarahteresa6 #realestate #economics #mortgagerstes #chartdaddy
Questioning FDIC Expansion; Call for Data-Indexed System
With the floodgates open for industrial bank charters & private equity & crypto owned banks, I’m extremely suspect on why there’s such a drive to dramatically increase FDIC insurance in zero interest yield deposits. A data driven, indexed system is...
Amex's $295 Cash‑Back Card Beats Free Alternatives
Amex Launches A 2% Cash Back Business Card — Charging $295 For What You Can Get Free - View from the Wing https://t.co/QPkU0Fb3qH
Stripe, Affirm Merge BNPL with Agentic AI, Klarna Joins
Affirm and Stripe Team to Combine BNPL and Agentic AI SPTs let ANY merchant offering Affirm accept transactions in agentic flows (even without direct Stripe integration). Stripe direct merchants get capability now, non-Stripe merchants later 2026. Stripe also announced parallel Klarna...
Join the 5% Who Truly Master Small Business Deals
The 5% who know what they’re doing- So says this SBA lender. How can you get into their ranks? https://t.co/CswqhSpjGO #SmallBusiness & Deal Making #SMB https://t.co/hg5fTEhEoj
AI Banking Success Requires Region‑Specific, Production‑Scale Deployments
AI is not “one-size-fits-all,” and we need to recognize that use cases that work in SEA won’t work in LatAm. While the AI spend in banking is projected to surge over 10x from $35 billion in 2023 to $368 billion by...