U.S. Market Close 5/14/2025

DOW 30  -0.21%  -89.37  42,051.06

S&P 500  +0.10%  +6.03  5,892.58

NASDAQ 100  +0.57%  +121.51  21,319.21

Why 74% of Banking Customers Are Ready to Leave

Capgemini's new research shows most banking customers are indifferent or dissatisfied with their current banks, leading to "silent attrition" as they gradually shift to digital-first alternatives that offer more personalized, seamless experiences.

In a world where customer loyalty is increasingly rare, traditional banks face a critical challenge: a vast majority of customers are indifferent or outright dissatisfied with their current banking experiences. On a recent episode of the Banking Transformed podcast, host Jim Marous spoke with Kartik Ramakrishnan, CEO of Financial Services at Capgemini, about the eye-opening findings from their 2025 World Retail Banking Report and how institutions can attract, engage, and delight customers in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Q: Your report shows that a majority of customers are indifferent or dissatisfied with their banking experiences. What’s driving this widespread dissatisfaction?

Kartik Ramakrishnan: Our report indicates that 74% of customers are either indifferent or unhappy. Now, 50% of the 74% are indifferent, and 24% are unhappy. So, over the years, you’ll see that indifference slowly evolves into unhappiness, and then unhappiness progresses to attrition. That’s the way we see it.

Read more at The Financial Brand

CFPB seeks to rescind registry of nonbank repeat offenders

The NBR rule is “not necessary as a tool to effectively monitor and reduce potential risks to consumers from bad actors,” according to Acting Director Russ Vought.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to rescind a rule that requires nonbank financial firms to register with the agency if they find themselves in the cross-hairs of any court order or regulatory enforcement order.

The registry, adopted last year, was meant to “help the CFPB, the law enforcement community and the public limit the harms from repeat offenders” who violated consumer laws, former CFPB head Rohit Chopra said when it was proposed in 2022.

But it was added to the Federal Register for proposed rescission Wednesday, and the CFPB is now seeking comments on the proposal, as well as any “non-speculative and methodologically rigorous” analysis of the so-called NBR rule’s costs and benefits.

Read more at BANKINGDIVE.COM

How Fintech Is Revolutionizing Access To Capital For Startups And Entrepreneurs

With consumer prices having climbed 2.4% in the past year, the cost of running a business also is on the rise. This mounting financial load will likely lead to more entrepreneurs and startups seeking loans.

Consequently, banks are now under immense pressure to provide access to loan programs across every business and consumer touchpoint. As traditional banking models struggle under the complexity of multichannel loan delivery, fintech startups are stepping in to redefine accessibility in financial services.

Which fintech innovations can businesses adopt to stay ahead of their growing need for fast, seamless and competitive financing?

Whether purchasing wholesale goods or investing in employee training, today’s businesses want — and expect — quick and easy access to finance options at their precise moment of need. Traditional lending channels often cause friction and delays, making for a frustrating customer experience.

Read more at CRUNCHBASE.COM

CFPB won’t prioritize BNPL enforcement: Ballard Spahr LLP

The CFPB will not make enforcement of its Buy Now, Pay Later rule a priority, according to a recent statement.

“The Bureau will instead keep its enforcement and supervision resources focused on pressing threats to consumers, particularly servicemen and veterans,” CFPB officials said in a statement. “The Bureau takes this step in the interest of focusing resources on supporting hard-working American taxpayers, servicemen, veterans, and small businesses. The Bureau is further contemplating taking appropriate action to rescind [the] Buy Now, Pay Later [rule].”

The Bureau went further in a status report and joint motion to stay that it submitted in March in a suit filed by the Financial Technology Association (FTA) challenging the rule, specifically saying that it “is planning to revoke” the interpretive rule. As a result, Judge Ana Reyes of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia issued a stay in April and required a joint status report by June 2.

Read more at JD Supra, LLC

Have a tax law question?

Our #IRS Interactive Tax Assistant has answers.

Watch this short video to learn more:

https://youtu.be/y6HkaBkdKdU

Learn to identify common scams: Don’t reply to fake #IRS emails

asking you to give up personal or financial information:

https://ow.ly/nVAm50VPm2g

Jose L. Santiago

Public Affairs Specialist

Tax Outreach, Partnership and Education

Email: jose.l.santiago@irs.gov

Major Bank Closing 'Nearly 40' Branches by June

The tenth largest bank in the United States will be closing 38 branches by June 5.

TD Bank, one of the largest banks in the United States, will be closing 38 branch locations by June 5, according to a spokesperson for the bank. The majority of the banks are located in the Northeast, with Massachusetts and New Jersey leading the list of most branches closing in a single state.

The spokesperson told USA Today that the decision to close nearly 40 branch locations was difficult, but also a normal part of the bank's business practices. According to the spokesperson, TD Bank regularly evaluates the branch operations of existing locations, "which may result in some closures, consolidations, or relocations."

Read more at MENSJOURNAL.COM

Digital wallet popularity in cross-border transfers explodes

Digital wallets are the most popular platform for cross-border transactions, accounting for twice as many respondents as the next best option, a new report has revealed.

A survey conducted by PYMNTS and TerraPay found that consumers are 2.5 times more likely to select digital wallets as their top choice for cross-border transactions than money transfer services and bank accounts, respectively. Overall, 4 in 10 consumers prefer digital wallets, with the U.S. leading at 44%.

Of the surveyed nations, Singapore was the outlier, with 37% selecting bank accounts while 27% chose digital wallets.

Cross-border payments are a gigantic industry. One report found that, in 2024, non-wholesale payments hit $40 trillion, with B2B payments accounting for the lion’s share. Consumer-to-consumer payments hit $2 trillion and are expected to grow by 58% by 2032 to hit $3.1 trillion.

Read more at COINGEEK.COM

We advise financial technology companies at the

start-up, product development, and product evolution stages.

Why the Capital One/Discover Deal Is About Much More Than Payments

The deal is as much a banking milestone as much as a major payments development, with reverberations that could impact everything from deposit generation to small business finance. Up next: Could Capital One make a grab for the Apple Card portfolio?

When Capital One and Discover announced their deal in February 2024, their leaders projected optimism, but some industry observers wondered if it would actually make it through the regulatory gauntlet of a Biden administration that plainly didn’t like major banking M&A.

Within the first 100 days of the Trump regime, the final federal banking regulatory approvals came through, ending that phase of the speculation and sparking a new round of questions: What’s next, now that the deal will be consummated mid-May?

Analysts attacked this theme during the late April first quarter earnings briefings. Noting the long time that the deal was under regulatory review, Capital One’s Richard Fairbank, chairman and CEO, allowed that synergies between the two major card issuers would begin about two years from consummation, six months later than initially projected. He added that some aspects of the synergy will hinge on decisions at the Federal Reserve regarding debit interchange rules.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Three in a Row: Credit Beats Debit

The ongoing race between credit and debit card issuers to claim the title for the most transactions carried out on their payment cards continues. In past years, credit and debit often flip-flopped in a close race.

With an unstable economy plagued by inflation, interest rates, and now tariffs, it turns out that credit has dominated U.S. consumer spending.

According to the Federal Reserve’s recently published Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, here are three factoids for you to know.

1. For 2024, the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice found that the share of transactions made with cash continued to decline. U.S. cash payments now account for only 14%, down from 16%.

Read more at PAYMENTSJOURNAL.COM

Paving the Payments Future

Proven payment technology helps businesses pay and

get paid so they can focus on what matters most.

How Banks and Credit Unions Can Grow Big By Thinking Local

Smaller financial institutions must scale nationally to compete with megabanks and fintechs. Research by Lisa Nicholas at Vericast reveals that consumer financial search behaviors vary dramatically even between neighboring communities, creating opportunities for community banks to leverage their local presence. By analyzing hyper-local search patterns and tailoring thousands of targeted campaigns instead of generic national ones, smaller institutions can turn their local knowledge into a competitive advantage.

For years, smaller and mid-sized financial institutions have been given the same message: Raise your digital game, get bigger, and try to compete nationally. That’s long been the mantra for banks and credit unions that want to compete both with digital-first fintechs and deep-pocketed nationwide banks.

But what if the better advice is to go in the opposite direction?

Read more at The Financial Brand

Trump signs resolution nullifying CFPB overdraft rule: Ballard CFS Group

President Trump has signed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution nullifying the CFPB’s controversial overdraft rule.

The rule was issued by the Biden Administration and had attracted opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill and Trump Administration officials. House and Senate Republicans pushed a CRA resolution through Congress, which Trump has now signed, voiding the rule.

If it had been allowed to go into effect as issued, the rule would have limited overdraft fees to $5 at financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets, unless they set a cap that covered their actual costs or they treated the payment of an overdraft as a loan and gave appropriate disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z.

Financial trade groups sued, challenging the rule, which was scheduled to go into effect on October 1, 2025. However, anticipating changes to the rule, Acting OMB and CFPB Director Russell Vought asked for a stay in the lawsuit.

Read more at Ballard Spahr L.L.P.

Customized Payment Processing and

Merchant Service Provider for Your Business

FirstCash to Acquire H&T Group, the Leading Operator of Pawnshops in the United Kingdom

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FirstCash Holdings, Inc. (“FirstCash” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: FCFS), a leading international operator of over 3,000 retail pawn stores in the U.S. and Latin America, today announced that it has reached agreement on the terms of a final* recommended cash acquisition of H&T Group plc (“H&T”), the leading operator of pawn stores in the United Kingdom. Under the terms of the agreement, FirstCash (through a newly incorporated wholly-owned U.K. subsidiary, Chess Bidco Limited) will pay cash consideration of 650 pence for each share of H&T stock. In addition, H&T shareholders will receive a final dividend of 11 pence for each H&T share to be paid on June 27, 2025. The total equity value, including cash consideration for the shares and the final cash dividend, is approximately £297 million or $394 million USD based on the exchange rate as of the close of business on May 13, 2025.

Read more at FirstCash

Bank of America to open more than 150 new branches by 2027

(Reuters) - Bank of America plans to open more than 150 new branches by the end of 2027, it said on Tuesday, as part of the lender's efforts to expand its physical presence across the United States.

The bank will open 40 new branches this year, with an additional 70 sites planned for 2026, it said.

Banks in the U.S. have continued to focus on their branch networks despite the surging popularity of digital banking, as they facilitate in-person meetings important for fostering customer relationships.

While more than 90% of BofA's client interactions take place through digital platforms, its branches can provide more personalized financial advice, it said.

The bank currently has a total of about 3,700 branches, or financial centers, across the country. That figure may come down a little by 2027 as it consolidates branches in more mature markets, said Holly O'Neill, president of consumer, retail and preferred banking at BofA.

Read more at REUTER

The Most Advanced Self-Service Check Cashing ATM

Check Cashing, Money Transfer, Bill Payment, Mobile Reload, ATM and more.

Bank Marketing Leaders Reallocate Dollars in Urgent Search for Performance

Facing tighter budgets and performance expectations, banks are reevaluating how they’re allocating advertising dollars in 2025. Many are shifting spending to high-performing digital channels and focusing on the local strategies that drive measurable results.

Bank marketers are spending 2025 with tighter margins, rising expectations, and a more focused goal: justify every dollar spent. About 39% of financial institutions say their budgets will stay flat in the coming year, and another 7% claim it will decrease slightly or significantly. Sixty percent will allocate 5% or less of their revenue toward marketing.

The days of broad campaigns are going away, replaced by performance-driven strategies and constant pressure to prove ROI. Digital channels now dominate bank marketing budgets over offline channels, as banks focus on what moves the needle to keep and attract customers.

But spending looks different across the industry. Some banks are reallocating towards high-performing digital platforms. Others are testing new formats, automating creative work, or refining local targeting with more traditional tactics

Read more at The Financial Brand

Fintech company Chime files for Nasdaq IPO

Key Points

• Chime is positioning itself as a technology company.
• It has been boosting active members and average revenue per active member.

Financial technology company Chime on Tuesday filed paperwork to go public on the Nasdaq. The company intends to file under the ticker symbol “CHYM.”

“Chime is a technology company, not a bank,” the company said in its prospectus, noting it is not a member of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Still, the company cited Bank of America, Capital One, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank and Wells Fargo as competitors.

Read more at CNBC

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.

Stablecoin Spending is the new Standard for Crypto Debit Cards

Key Takeaways

• Stablecoins have a combined market cap of over $240 billion; USDT accounts for more than half that figure.
• The U.S. is preparing to regulate stablecoins at the Federal and State levels.
• MetaMask has just launched a physical debit card that supports stablecoins, e-money, and Wrapped Ethereum (WETH).

The concept of spending cryptocurrencies on everyday, regular purchases such as groceries and bills has resulted in the launch of several debit cards that let users spend crypto as easily as they would with regular money.

However, there were still points of friction, such as market volatility, fees, and low stablecoin adoption, that have kept crypto debit cards from really taking off.

Read more at CCN

Funds from migrants sent back home help fuel some towns’ economies. A GOP plan targets that

House Republicans want to tax remittances, which would cover over 40 million people in the U.S., including green card and visa holders who send money to families.

WASHINGTON — Israel Vail’s entire life in the small western Guatemalan town of Cajolá is built off the money that his three children send home from the United States.

The money from their construction jobs paid for the two-story white home where Vail now lives — and where his children, who are in the U.S. illegally, would also reside if they ever get deported. Vail, 53, invested some of the money in opening a local food shop, which he uses to keep his family afloat.

In small migratory towns like Cajolá, it is not unusual for the entire economy to be built off remittances, the funds sent by migrant workers back to their home countries.

Read more at NBC

Inside Banking’s New Digital Advertising Playbook

Bank marketers can no longer rely on traditional digital ad strategies. AI-powered automation, first-party data, and platform diversification are changing how banks reach and engage customers.

For years, digital advertising in banking leaned heavily on search, display, and social media ads as primary channels for customer acquisition. But in 2025, the model is evolving.

Spending has shifted toward mobile-first, video-driven engagement, with platforms like OTT (over-the-top streaming), YouTube, and TikTok gaining traction. At the same time, AI-powered targeting, first-party data strategies, and video-driven engagement are changing how banks execute campaigns.

Instead of measuring success through impressions or clicks, banks can optimize for long-term customer value, tracking behaviors like deposit growth, engagement, and conversion across multiple digital channels.

Read more at The Financial Brand

US consumer finance watchdog scraps Toyota settlement, Walmart lawsuit

(Reuters) -The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has canceled a 2023 settlement with the financing arm of Toyota over allegations the auto giant illegally steered thousands of consumers into costly and unwanted product bundles, according to documents published by the agency.

The agency on Tuesday also dropped a federal lawsuit against the retail giant Walmart and the workforce payments firm Branch in which officials last year said the companies had forced more than a million delivery drivers into using accounts that cost them more than $10 million in so-called junk fees.

The decisions continued efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to minimize CFPB oversight of consumer finance. The agency, which Trump has said should be eliminated, accusing it of politicized enforcement, has now ended almost all the enforcement actions that were pending when Trump took over.

Read more at REUTERS

Watch Your Business Skyrocket.

More Visibility. More Customers. More Loans

CFPB won’t make small business reporting rule a priority: Ballard Spahr LLP

The CFPB has announced it will not make enforcement of its rule requiring financial institutions to report their lending to women-owned, LGBTQI+-owned and minority-owned small businesses a priority.

“The bureau takes this step in the interest of focusing resources on supporting hard-working American taxpayers, servicemen, veterans, and small businesses,” the bureau said, in announcing the move. “Even absent resource constraints, the Bureau would deprioritize enforcement of this rule because of the unfairness of enforcing it against entities not protected by the court’s stay but similarly situated to parties that are protected by the stay.”

That stay only applies to plaintiffs and intervenors in a lawsuit challenging the rule. The plaintiffs include, among others, members of the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and America’s Credit Unions.

Read more at Consumer Finance Monitor

CFPB rescinds 67 pieces of guidance

The rescissions are not final and will allow the bureau to evaluate whether each of the items was statutorily prescribed, CFPB Acting Director Russ Vought said.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau withdrew dozens of pieces of prior guidance Monday, according to a document published to the Federal Register on Friday.

The 67 rescinded items include guidance regarding fair lending, overdraft fees, buy now, pay later firms, earned wage access programs and more, in alignment with an internal memo Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta sent last month.

“[T]he Bureau is committed to issuing guidance only where that guidance is necessary and would reduce compliance burdens rather than increase them. Historically, the Bureau has released guidance without adequate regard for whether it would increase or decrease compliance burdens and costs. Our policy has changed,” CFPB Acting Director Russ Vought wrote Monday.

Read more at BANKINGDIVE