Stop Chasing Youth: Why Aging Americans Are Key to Banking Success

Banks and credit unions are overlooking a powerful demographic with far greater immediate potential: older Americans. Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation control over 65% of U.S. wealth, and by 2034, older adults will outnumber children for the first time. This "silver tsunami" represents not just a commercial opportunity but a potential driver of industry transformation. Financial institutions can capitalize by embracing the complex needs of older clients through specialized financial wellness programs, omnichannel experiences that blend digital and in-person service.

In recent years, many banks and credit unions have treated younger customers — Gen Z and Millennials — as a strategic imperative.

The business case sounds compelling: By attracting young customers with a combination of physical presence and digital experience you can start a profitable relationship that would last for many years. But in courting youth, financial institutions may overlook a powerful, underserved demographic: older Americans.

Read more at The Financial Brand

37% of Consumers Highly Concerned About Credit Card Fraud

A recent report, “Consumer Credit Economy: Credit Card Fraud,” a collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence and i2c, reveals a substantial level of consumer concern surrounding this issue.

It shows 28% of consumers having already fallen victim to credit card fraud within the last year. Moreover, 37% express being very or extremely worried about the prospect of unauthorized access to their credit card accounts.

This pervasive anxiety underscores a fundamental expectation among consumers: that banks will take a leading role in both preventing and resolving fraudulent activity. The findings suggest that financial institutions face a growing imperative to actively monitor and intervene in cases of suspected fraud to maintain customer trust and satisfaction.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Have a tax law question?

Our #IRS Interactive Tax Assistant has answers.

Watch this short video to learn more:

https://youtu.be/y6HkaBkdKdU

Still missing a document needed to prepare your tax return? Avoid filing an incomplete return by using Form 4852 to estimate your wages or payments made to you and any taxes withheld. For details, check out this #IRS tax tip: https://ow.ly/MzHR50VtPZ1

Jose L. Santiago

Public Affairs Specialist

Tax Outreach, Partnership and Education

Email: jose.l.santiago@irs.gov

5 Essential Elements of Financial Services Marketing Automation

How to navigate the maze of marketing engagement tools

If you’ve ever researched marketing technology (martech), you know it can feel overwhelming. With more than 14,000 tools on the market—growing nearly 28% year-over-year—it’s easy to get lost in the options. But just like every car comes with essential components (engine, wheels, brakes), every financial services marketing automation stack needs key elements to run efficiently. Let’s break down the five must-have components to help you build a high-performance marketing engagement engine.

1. Data Aggregation and Standardization

The first step in any strong financial services marketing automation strategy is consolidating data into one unified system. Just as a car needs a chassis to serve as its framework, your martech stack requires a solid base in the form of a unified database. To create the foundation of your database, you need to extract data from third-party systems and your first-party transactions and standardize it for consistent analysis and application. This step eliminates data silos and ensures all subsequent actions and decisions are based on a holistic view of your data.

Read more at ALKAMI.COM

Merchants Make the Sale When Consumers See Preferred Payment Options

Consumers are less confident about economics — on a macro and a personal level — than they have been for quite a while.

They’re mulling where they can throttle back spending, and in other cases they may be shifting how they want to pay, using credit, or buy now, pay later (BNPL) options to stretch payments out over time.

For merchants, it’s more critical than ever to make sure that they are offering end users the payment methods they want to use, when they want to use them.

Friction at the Point of Sale

In the PYMNTS Intelligence report “What Consumers Do When Their Go-To Credit Choice Is Unavailable,” we found that there are a number of scenarios in which a retail payment hits a speed bump. A consumer may be nearing their credit limit or may find that they want to use a card that has rewards tied to the purchase. When the friction is in the mix, consumers may be tempted to switch to another payment option, which takes time, or they might opt to walk away from the purchase altogether — which has a dual, negative effect. The customer does not get what they wanted, and the merchant, of course, loses out on incremental revenue.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

AI Won’t Replace You, But Bank Marketers Who Master It Will

Like most disruptive technologies, AI in marketing will start out as revolutionary, but quickly become commoditized. And when everyone has access to the same tools, marketers will have to focus on fundamentals – differentiation, data quality – and human creativity to stand out.

AI will drive the biggest disruption the marketing industry has ever seen. But wow is there a lot of hype and noise. There is so much time, money, and focus going to the short-term, low-hanging tactical fruit and not nearly enough to the long-term strategic opportunities (and risks). The smart marketers and brands will recognize this is a 10-year marathon, not a 1-year sprint.

Think of it like the internet in 1999 — yes, it will be huge, and your business and entire career will be fundamentally disrupted and transformed. But the hype is propping up a huge amount of value and attention that won’t be realized anytime soon. Where will you and your business be when the bubble bursts? And how can you position yourself, your teams, and your brand to be the Amazon of this new marketing AI era and not the Pets.com?

Read more at The Financial Brand

Affirm and Shopify Expand Pay-Later Pact to Canada

Affirm and Shopify have expanded their pay-later offering beyond U.S. borders.

The companies announced Wednesday (April 9) that Shopify merchants in Canada who have signed up for early access can begin offering the Affirm-powered Shop Pay Installments program, marking its first availability outside the U.S. 

“We’re thrilled to launch Shop Pay Installments in early access to Canada as our first step beyond the U.S.,” Kaz Nejatian, Shopify’s chief operating officer, said in a news release. 

“Our partnership with Affirm expands our global reach, giving shoppers the flexibility to pay over time, and drives higher conversion rates for merchants worldwide.”

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

From Data Hoarding to Data Deployment: Making Your Data a Profit Center

The institutions that succeed in 2025 and beyond will be those that approach data not as an operational necessity — but a strategic asset. This means building the right infrastructure, investing in the right talent, and embedding a data-first culture across the organization.

In 2025, financial institutions face a stark reality: Those without a comprehensive data strategy are operating blind in an increasingly competitive landscape. As margins compress and efficiency demands intensify, the gap between data-driven institutions and traditional banks is on the brink of becoming an insurmountable chasm.

The Imperative for Transformation

The hard truth facing financial institutions today is that most lack the fundamental building blocks needed to compete in a data-driven world. The vast majority of lenders and banks operate without intelligent intake systems to capture clean, structured data, without modern data lakes to aggregate and standardize information, and without the sophisticated models needed to derive actionable insights. This trinity — intelligent intake, unified data storage, and advanced analytics — forms the foundation of modern banking, yet most institutions are still struggling to catch up.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Fintech companies caught up in tariff turmoil

(Reuters) -Financial technology companies like Robinhood (HOOD) and buy now, pay later provider Affirm (AFRM) have been caught in the whirlwind of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, sending shares sharply downward amid fears about worsening consumer finances.

Global markets have been battered since Trump last week introduced a new baseline 10% U.S. tariff on goods from all economies. Investors fear that the duties could lead to higher prices, weaker demand and potentially a global recession.

That could spell trouble for fintech companies, many of which rely heavily on consumers to be able to repay loans and deploy extra income toward stocks and other investments.

Read more at REUTERS

Whether as a standalone store or a kiosk inside your current location/s,

El Vecino provides a turnkey solution with a strong brand, built-in provider network, and all the support you need.

Background Checks: What Job Applicants and Employees Should Know

Some employers look into your background before deciding whether to hire you, or before deciding whether you can keep your job. When they do, you have legal rights. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces a federal law that regulates background reports for employment, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws against employment discrimination. This publication explains these laws, and how to contact the FTC and EEOC if you think an employer has broken the law. There might be other rules in your city or state, so it's a good idea to check with someone who knows the laws of your area.

Questions About Your Background

An employer may ask you for all sorts of background information, especially during the hiring process. For example, some employers may ask about your employment history, your education, your criminal record, your financial history, your medical history, or your use of online social media.

Read more at U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Focus on Access and Culture (Not Tech) to Become Truly Data-Driven

Banks and credit unions are swimming in data. So why do so many institutions struggle to get the right data to the right people at the right time to drive the right decisions? A new report suggests solutions that (surprise) do not rely on more technology.

Why we picked this report: The financial industry is a couple of decades into what was supposed to be a data-driven renaissance. But many institutions still struggle to drive value from their investments in data technology. What are we missing?

Executive Summary

Financial institutions today face unprecedented challenges in leveraging their data assets effectively, with 80% citing data accessibility as a significant hurdle. How can banks and credit unions transform their data strategy without requiring massive technological overhauls? The report emphasizes four critical areas: establishing a solid data foundation through systematic auditing, improving data access and ownership across departments, building stronger reporting and visualization capabilities, and fostering data-driven leadership.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Will money business transactions of $200 or more be subject to federal reporting in some parts of El Paso?

Yes.

Starting April 14, 2025, money service businesses in parts of El Paso must report to the crime enforcement bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department any deposit, withdrawal, payment or transfer between $200 and $10,000, according to a Geographic Targeting Order issued by the department March 14, 2025.

The treasury already requires transactions of more than $10,000 be reported.

The new order affects ZIP codes across the U.S., including in El Paso, Hidalgo, Maverick and Webb counties in Texas. El Paso ZIP codes under this order: 79901, 79902, 79903, 79905, 79907 and 79935 – encompassing South-Central and the Lower Valley near ports of entry.

Read more at ELPASOMATTERS.ORG

Fraud Resolution is Critical to Building Customer Trust

As fraud rises, banks must prioritize trust-building strategies in dispute management. Implementing best practices for quick and effective resolutions is essential for maintaining strong, long-term customer relationships.

Scammers are draining more consumer dollars than ever before.

Consumers lost a staggering $12.4 billion to fraud in 2024, marking a 25% surge from the previous year, according to Federal Trade Commission data. Investment scams accounted for approximately $5.7 billion of those losses, making them the most costly type of fraud, followed by imposter scams.

Banks often serve as one of the first lines of defense against scammers, and many are investing in advanced technologies to better protect customers from threats. However, human error is inevitable, and fraudsters are growing more sophisticated — making it challenging for even the most savvy consumers to determine if something is legitimate.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Watch Your Business Skyrocket.

More Visibility. More Customers. More Loans

Forget the Fancy Digital Tools: To Win New Business Customers, Your People and Reputation Are the Keys

Only one-third of business bank accounts say they have an assigned bank representative. Yet research shows that a strong, personalized relationship is still key to client satisfaction and retention – even more so than industry expertise.

As businesses across the U.S. are looking to grow under rapidly evolving regulations and a new administration, banks and credit unions have an opportunity to draw in more clients to help them achieve their goals.

Based on a recent Rivel Banking Research analysis of commercial and small business clients’ needs, banks should focus on two key areas where banks can enhance services and rethink the ways they interact with clients.

Personalization: The Key to Building Relationships

Read more at The Financial Brand

Your Bank’s Marketing Budget Isn’t the Problem – Your Strategy Is

Marketing today isn’t just about brand awareness — it should be a powerful engine driving customer engagement, digital adoption, and ultimately, revenue. It’s time for banks to stop asking, "How much should we spend on marketing?" and start asking, "How can marketing drive the future of our business?"

Marketing in banking has long been stuck in the past — viewed as a cost center rather than a revenue driver. Too often, marketing is synonymous with billboards, local event sponsorships, and even paper flyers. And while these efforts, in some cases, may help with community presence, they aren’t strategic growth levers. Banks that continue to treat marketing as a supporting function are leaving money on the table. Marketing today isn’t just about brand awareness — it should be a powerful engine driving customer engagement, digital adoption, and ultimately, revenue.

Marketing as a Growth Driver, Not an Expense

Read more at The Financial Brand