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Section 1071 whiplash: compliance timelines, stays, and what community banks should do next
How we got here (fast) In March 2023, the CFPB finalized its small-business data collection rule under ECOA/Reg B (Dodd-Frank §1071), requiring covered lenders to collect and report application-level data including demographics on small-business credit. The Bureau’s landing page remains the single source of truth on rule scope and resources. Litigation started almost immediately. In…
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Community Banks Cash-in on Instant Payments
Walk into a community bank boardroom today and you’ll hear a familiar refrain: deposits are harder to hold, small-business clients want their money faster, and fraud feels like it’s evolving by the week. None of those pressures is new. What is new is that the United States finally has two always-on instant rails, The Clearing…
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Monzo’s Second Shot at a U.S. Bank License: What’s Different This Time
Four years after withdrawing its application, Monzo is gearing up to try again for a U.S. banking licence. If successful, the UK neobank would shift from a sponsor-bank model to a fully chartered presence controlling deposits, credit, and economics end-to-end rather than renting access through a partner. The timing isn’t accidental. Monzo is financially stronger…
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UPI International: Can India’s Rail Outcompete Card Networks Overseas?
India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) through UPI International is expanding from a domestic phenomenon into a cross‑border contender. The question now is whether it can pry tourist spend and remittance flows away from the global card duopoly, and on what economics. Why now At home, UPI has become the operating system of everyday money. In…
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N26 Leadership Reset: Ex-Bundesbank Heavyweight Steps In As Chair Amid BaFin Heat
Germany’s most-valuable digital banking fintech is rewriting its org chart in real time, and it’s probably not for the right reasons. N26 has nominated former Bundesbank executive Andreas Dombret to chair its supervisory board and moved current chair Marcus W. Mosen into the co-CEO seat, changes designed to calm investors and address persistent regulatory pressure…
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Open Finance vs. Data Gatekeeping: Who Really Controls Consumer Data Portability in the U.S.?
For a decade, “open finance” in America has been a handshake, not a law. Banks, aggregators, and apps have stitched together thousands of bilateral agreements that mostly work. In 2025, the détente is fraying. Major banks are moving to charge aggregators for API access, payments networks are pulling back from U.S. open finance bets, and…
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RBI Approves Axio Lenders: A Guide to How Amazon Lending works in India
Amazon has long flirted with financial services in India. From wallet integrations on Amazon Pay to co-branded credit cards, the e-commerce giant has steadily embedded finance into its retail ecosystem. But this month marks a new chapter. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted direct lending approval to Axio, a fintech acquired by Amazon…
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Fintech Financials Hit Maturity: Revenues Up 21%, Profitability Skyrockets to 69%
Fintech has spent much of the past decade in its adolescence, characterized by hypergrowth, lofty promises, and equally outsized losses – which meant that fintech profitability was low. But 2025 marks a turning point. According to a new report from Boston Consulting Group, global fintech revenues rose 21% in 2024, and the proportion of profitable…
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Ripple to Acquire Rail: What This Means for Ripple’s Stablecoin Payments
Ripple has long positioned itself as a bridge-builder between two very different financial universes: the fast-moving, experimental world of blockchain and the highly regulated, entrenched world of banks and payment networks. For over a decade, its pitch has been that blockchain can move money across borders more efficiently than legacy rails. But if there was…
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CFPB Relaunches Open Banking Rules – What’s Next for U.S. Fintech?
In a move that could reshape the competitive dynamics of American finance, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has relaunched its long-anticipated open banking rulemaking process. The effort, announced in August, aims to give U.S. consumers greater control over their financial data and the freedom to share it with fintechs and third-party providers without friction.…
