Synapse partner banks hit with lawsuit over fund mismanagement

The four banks – Evolve, AMG National Trust, American Bank and Lineage – were sued Friday, after thousands of consumers were left without access to their funds post-Synapse collapse.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Nov. 27, 2024

Trump 2.0 expected to open the ‘regulatory gates’ for chartering

“Fintech had really just become kind of a dirty word during the Biden administration, and that’s going to change,” said Michele Alt, an OCC veteran and co-founder of financial services advisory firm Klaros Group.

By Caitlin Mullen • Nov. 27, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Artificial intelligence

Banks are enthusiastic about AI’s promises. But can they get customers on board, and will regulators let the innovation happen?

By Banking Dive staff

BNPL use may rise this year for holiday shopping

With credit card interest rates at a historic high, consumers are likely to gravitate to lower-cost alternatives, including potentially buy now, pay later options, industry consultants say.

By Patrick Cooley • Nov. 27, 2024

Custodia takes a step back ahead of Trump term

The Wyoming bank, long embattled with the Federal Reserve, aimed to “preserve capital” and its charter before the White House takes a presumably more crypto-positive tone.

By Dan Ennis • Nov. 26, 2024

Blueacorn founders indicted on PPP fraud charges

The Justice Department accused Nathan Reis and Stephanie Hockridge of submitting thousands of fraudulent PPP applications through the fintech in the name of “democratizing access to loan relief.”

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Nov. 26, 2024

DC attorney general sues EarnIn over ‘deceptive’ marketing

The fintech couches its “cash out” product as earned wage access, but it’s a loan that, at times, carries 300% interest with a poorly disclosed fee for “instant” payouts, the AG said.

By Dan Ennis • Nov. 20, 2024

FDIC extends recordkeeping rule comment period

The comment window for the agency’s third-party recordkeeping rule has been extended by 45 days.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Nov. 20, 2024

PayPal CEO pushes beyond payments

After a year as CEO of the digital payments pioneer, Alex Chriss is spearheading an expanded role in commerce for the company.

By Lynne Marek • Nov. 20, 2024

Robinhood buys wealth management platform TradePMR

Ahead of what’s projected to be the largest wealth transfer in history, Robinhood is bringing financial advisers directly to its 24 million customers.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Nov. 20, 2024

Community banks need to step up third-party practices: survey

Community and mid-size banks lack due diligence and rigorous contract negotiations with third-party vendors, including fintechs, leading to potential risks, a Jones Walker survey said.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Nov. 13, 2024

Block recalibrates crypto approach

The payments firm is winding down its bitcoin-focused TBD business and investing in its self-custody wallet and bitcoin mining businesses.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Nov. 13, 2024

Klarna files for IPO

The buy now, pay later company announced Tuesday it had filed confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering.

By Patrick Cooley • Nov. 13, 2024

Evolve offers Yotta, Juno customers pennies

Depositors affected by the Synapse middleware bankruptcy are pushing back against reconciliation payouts they allege barely scratch the surface of what they’re owed.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Nov. 12, 2024

FTX suing Binance, founder for $1.76B

The FTX estate is looking to recoup funds it alleged were “fraudulently” transferred to Binance in 2021.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Nov. 11, 2024

Paze gets new leader amid slow start

Early Warning Services, the bank-owned company that operates Paze, tapped a new leader last month for the digital wallet operation after slow progress in launching the new service.

By Patrick Cooley • Nov. 7, 2024

Cross River drops lawsuit against Fiserv subsidiary

The Fort Lee, New Jersey-based lender dismissed its lawsuit against First Data Merchant Services, which was filed in October 2023, without disclosing a reason. 

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Nov. 6, 2024

Fed aims to make instant payments the norm

“It's going to be up to us to move instant payments from being novel to being normal,” Federal Reserve Financial Services’ chief payments executive told attendees at an industry conference last week.

By Lynne Marek and Patrick Cooley • Nov. 5, 2024

Kraken cuts staff, appoints co-CEO and CFO

The crypto exchange has cut about 400 employees, sources told The New York Times, in an effort to be “leaner and faster.” The move comes alongside changes in the company's C-suite.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Nov. 1, 2024

Singh, fourth FTX exec sentenced, avoids prison

Former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh showed an “eagerness to assist” the prosecution during its case against Sam Bankman-Fried, and a similar energy to help CEO John Ray in FTX's bankruptcy case.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Oct. 31, 2024

AI increases fraud risk, fintechs say

Financial firms monitor for fraud by looking for unusual activity, but an artificial intelligence model can be trained to transact like a real person.

By Patrick Cooley • Oct. 31, 2024

5 lessons learned from Synapse’s collapse

Ledgering issues, bank partner and regulatory lapses and gross mismanagement led to a shortfall of up to $95 million between bank-held funds and amounts owed to fintech end users, a law firm found.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Oct. 30, 2024

Consensys to slash 20% of workforce

The blockchain software firm best known for its self-custodial MetaMask wallet cited regulatory uncertainty and a push toward “rigorous decentralization.”

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Oct. 30, 2024

NC bank to buy fintech BM Technologies in $67M deal

First Carolina Bank's acquisition of the Pennsylvania-based digital banking platform is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

By Rajashree Chakravarty • Oct. 28, 2024

Pay-by-bank to be used for bills, Plaid CEO predicts

Plaid CEO Zach Perret expects consumers to use pay-by-bank services for mortgage and utility payments, but is skeptical they will be used to pay at restaurants or for groceries any time soon, he said.

By Patrick Cooley • Oct. 28, 2024

Kraken to launch its own blockchain

Ink will be rolled out to retail and institutional users early next year, with the aim to offer decentralized finance to a larger audience.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Oct. 28, 2024