Fintech Nexus Newsletter

The buy-now-pay-later industry continues to grow in popularity. And part of the reason is consumers are starting to understand that most of BNPL stands outside the traditional credit scoring system.

With the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried in the spotlight last month it is easy to forget that there is still the massive FTX bankruptcy that has to be sorted out. The next step in that process has now been revealed in the form of a proposal. At this stage, it is just a proposal that must be approved by creditors before it can go to the bankruptcy judge. But the major creditor and consumer groups have agreed to the plan outline.

The CFPB has just released a 90-page report on the use of overdraft and Non-Sufficient Fund fees and it paints a bleak picture for those consumers that are struggling financially. This is happening even though the CFPB has been attacking these kinds of "junk fees" over the last couple of years.

In Congress, anything that helps small businesses typically comes with bipartisan support. But section 1071 of Dodd-Frank is a little complicated.

HSBC has announced Zing, a new retail-focused service offering inexpensive foreign exchange. The large banks. particularly in Europe, have mainly looked on with envy as startups like Wise and Revolut have built large businesses on the back of offering cheap foreign exchange to tens of millions of retail customers.

Fraud is going to be top of mind for all financial institutions in 2024. Banks and fintechs alike are constant targets of fraud attacks. It was interesting to read this morning about the experience of Regions Bank when it comes to check fraud.

Fraud is going to be top of mind for all financial institutions in 2024. Banks and fintechs alike are constant targets of fraud attacks. It was interesting to read this morning about the experience of Regions Bank when it comes to check fraud.

When the CFPB released their long-awaited proposal on open banking rules in October there was cautious optimism from both banking and fintech groups. Fast forward two and a half months, when everyone has had a chance to fully digest the 299-page proposed rulemaking, there are many suggestions for improvement. With the 60-day comment period ending this week, the CFPB has received over 11,000 comments.

After they famously imploded in March 2023, you could be forgiven for thinking that Silicon Valley Bank's fintech business was done. Not so. This time last year SVB was still the go-to bank for fintech companies, with the vast majority of venture-backed firms as clients. That changed in March.

Small business lending is more complicated than consumer lending. Both have term loans and lines of credit but in small business you also have SBA loans, revenue-based financing, merchant cash advances, venture debt, equipment finance, invoice factoring, asset-based financing and more. This leaves a lot of room for unscrupulous lenders to charge hidden fees on some of these products.