U.S. Market Close: 5/19/2025

DOW 30  +0.32%  +137.33  42,792.07

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NASDAQ 100  +0.09%  +19.12   21,447.05

Capital One Acquires Discover, Reshapes U.S. Credit Card Industry

Fifteen months after it was announced, Capital One’s $35 billion acquisition of Discover is official.

The deal, finalized Sunday (May 18), creates the largest credit card issuer in terms of loan volume in the U.S.

“This deal brings together two innovative, mission-driven companies that together are poised to deliver breakthrough products and experiences to consumers, businesses and merchants,” Capital One Founder/CEO Richard D. Fairbank said in a news release, thanking Discover’s board, executives and interim CEO Michael Shepherd for their support.

“Through the efforts of thousands of associates across Capital One and Discover, we are well-positioned to continue our quest to change banking for good for millions of customers,” Fairbank added.

Capital One announced in February 2024 that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Discover. The deal was approved by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on April 18 of this year and by the Delaware State Bank Commissioner last December.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Sending money home? New US bill proposes 5% tax on remittances by non-citizens

A new bill introduced in the US House of Representatives proposes a 5% tax on all remittances sent outside the country by non-citizens, including H-1B visa holders and green card holders. If enacted, the move will directly affect lakhs of Indians living and working in the US who regularly send money back home, according to a report by Lubna Kably published in The Times of India.

The bill, officially titled The One Big Beautiful Bill, was recently released by the US House Ways and Means Committee. Hidden in page 327 of the 389-page document is a provision mandating a “tax equal to 5 per cent of the amount of such transfer.” No minimum limit has been set, which means even small transactions will be taxed unless the sender qualifies as a “verified US sender,” defined as a US citizen or national.

As per Lubna’s report, this tax will be collected at the point of transfer by the remittance provider, such as a bank or money transfer service. The clause does not apply if the provider is a “qualified remittance transfer provider” and the sender is a verified US citizen.

Read more at The Economic Times

CFPB rescinds 67 guidance documents

Contending that policies implemented by guidance represent an unfair regulatory burden and might be contrary to federal law, the CFPB is rescinding 67 guidance documents issued since the bureau began operating in 2011.

“In many instances, this guidance has adopted interpretations that are inconsistent with the statutory text and impose compliance burdens on regulated parties outside of the strictures of notice-and-comment rulemaking,” Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said, in announcing the policy changes.

He continued, “But even where the guidance might advance a permissible interpretation of the relevant statute or regulation, or afforded the public an opportunity to weigh in, it is the Bureau’s current policy to avoid issuing guidance except where necessary and where compliance burdens would be reduced rather than increased.”

Read more at Consumer Finance Monitor

US In-Store Mobile Wallet Use Sees 4.3% Increase Since 2022

While U.S. consumers are rapidly embracing mobile wallets for peer-to-peer payments, their adoption for in-store transactions still lags behind many international counterparts, highlighting a dichotomy in the country’s digital payment evolution.

Data from the PYMNTS Intelligence report, “How The World Does Digital,” indicates mobile and digital wallets are becoming increasingly prevalent across various transaction types in the United States, though progress varies considerably depending on the context. For in-store purchases, the U.S. shows a comparatively low adoption rate, with only 17% of consumers using mobile payments for their last transaction.

This figure positions the U.S. behind leaders like Japan (35%) and Singapore, and is attributed, in part, to factors such as outdated terminal infrastructure, slower technological adoption and persistent consumer ties to traditional payment methods. Despite this lag, the share of in-store payments made with mobile/digital wallets in the U.S. did see an increase of 4.3% between 2022 and 2024, mirroring a broader trend away from traditional cards and cash, which saw declines of 7.7% and 8.4% respectively in the same period for in-store use.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

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Saudi Arabia Loan Origination Software Market Outlook to 2031 Digital Lending Acceleration, Cloud Adoption, and Fintech Innovation Transform Credit Processing for Banks and NBFCs

The Saudi Arabia Loan Origination Software Market is undergoing a significant evolution as financial institutions, fintech companies, and credit unions increasingly turn to digital platforms to streamline loan application, underwriting, approval, and disbursement processes. As the Kingdom pursues its Vision 2030 digital economy goals, the banking and financial services sector is embracing loan origination software (LOS) to drive operational efficiency, improve customer experience, and ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks.

This comprehensive market report provides in-depth insights into the current and future landscape of the loan origination software sector in Saudi Arabia. The study includes segmentation by component, deployment model, enterprise size, and end user, along with detailed vendor analysis and strategic forecasting up to 2031.

Read more at TAIWANNEWS.COM

IRS Opens Grants to Boost Free Tax Help for Seniors and Underserved Groups

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that applications are now open for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) grant programs. Eligible organizations can apply for annual funding through May 31, 2025, via Grants.gov to offer free federal tax return preparation assistance.

Both programs play a pivotal role in aiding underserved and aging communities. Last year, grant recipients helped taxpayers prepare and file over 2.7 million federal tax returns nationwide.

The TCE program, launched in 1978, focuses on providing tax counseling and preparation services to individuals aged 60 and older. It supports senior communities with in-depth training and technical resources. Meanwhile, the VITA program, initially launched in 1969 and bolstered with a formal grant program in 2007, aims to expand tax assistance to underserved urban and rural areas. VITA emphasizes electronic filing, enhanced volunteer training, and ensuring the accuracy of returns.

Read more at MSN

We advise financial technology companies at the

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

This Fintech Is Building an AI-Powered Bank on the Cheap -- and Trades for Less Than Book Value

Key Points

• LendingClub has been scooping up the technology of bankrupt AI fintech startups.
• These startups have promising AI technology, but suffered in the rapid interest rate rise since 2022.
• LendingClub is building a modern, digital AI-powered bank, and its stock is dirt cheap.

In the wake of all the economic and interest rate turmoil since the pandemic, some promising young AI fintech start-ups went bust. However, one of the older and established fintechs, LendingClub (LC -0.94%), has been scooping up several bankrupt start-ups' intellectual property on the cheap.

LendingClub is using this IP in addition to its own investment to build a potentially powerful financial ecosystem with lots of growth potential in the years ahead. Investors should take note.

Read more at The Motley Fool

Bank of Canada says one-third of payday loan users struggle with ‘self-control’

A significant portion of Canadians turning to payday lenders are not just financially desperate — they also struggle with impulse control, according to a new Bank of Canada report that raises questions about how to regulate high-interest credit markets.

Blacklock's Reporter says the report, High Cost Consumer Credit: Desperation, Temptation And Default, found that roughly 33% of payday loan borrowers fall into households with “self-control issues,” suggesting that for many, the problem isn’t only a lack of funds but also poor financial discipline.

The rest were driven by necessity, the authors noted.

“Borrowers may be willing to borrow at high interest rates during bad times or they might be tempted to consume more in the present than is desirable for them in the long run,” the report explained.

Read more at WESTERNSTANDARD.NEWS

US Regulators Reportedly Scaling Back Bank Capital Requirements

The U.S. is reportedly preparing to make substantial cuts to banks’ capital requirements.

That’s according to a report Thursday (May 15) by the Financial Times (FT), which notes that the cuts would be the largest in more than a decade, and the latest in a series of deregulation efforts by the Trump administration.

Sources familiar with the matter told the FT that regulators in the coming months would reduce the supplementary leverage ratio, which requires big banks to have a set amount of high-quality capital against assets like loans and things like derivatives.

The rule was established in 2014, part of a series of reforms born out of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The banking industry, the report adds, has lobbied against the rule for years, arguing it lessens their ability to extend credit, penalizes lenders for holding lower-risk assets like U.S. Treasuries, and curbs their ability to take part in the government debt market.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Finance Monitor podcast ranks in top 25 in Million Podcasts’ top 25 among hundreds of financial services podcasts

We are very proud to report that podcast database service Million Podcasts has ranked Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Finance Monitor podcast in the top 25 among hundreds of financial services podcasts nationally. The service recently published a list of the top 100 financial services podcasts.

Consumer Finance Monitor also ranks as the top law firm podcast among the top 100 financial services podcasts, as well as the only one focused on consumer financial services. Million Podcasts ranks podcasts across industries based on key factors, such as review count and ratings, topic relevancy, consistency of fresh episodes, and total number of episodes. For its rankings, Million Podcasts leverages its extensive database of more than 2.5 million podcasts from various industries.

Consumer Finance Monitor is produced by Ballard Spahr’s industry-leading Consumer Financial Services Group.

Read more at Consumer Finance Monitor

Nearly Half of SMB Lenders Overlook Embedded Opportunity, Study Finds

Many lenders appear to be significantly underestimating the burgeoning opportunity presented by embedded lending, potentially ceding market share and bottom-line growth.

According to a recent report, “Embedded Lending: From the Lender’s Perspective,” commissioned by Visa and produced by PYMNTS, embedded lending involves integrating credit tools directly into a merchant or provider’s platform, allowing borrowers to apply for credit at the point of payment for a product or service. This differs from traditional lending, where consumers use existing credit cards or personal loans. While embedded lending is becoming a prominent feature in both consumer and SMB segments across six major economies surveyed — Australia, Germany, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — a sizable share of lenders, particularly those serving SMBs, have not fully embraced its potential. Roughly 45% of lenders serving SMBs currently do not offer any embedded lending product. Even among those offering embedded options, interest in launching new embedded lending products in the next two years is notably low, with only about 1 in 5 lender respondents indicating they are very or extremely interested.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

Banks are sitting on $500 billion in unrealized losses, and stagflation could cause another Silicon Valley Bank-like crisis

Banks got caught “chasing yield” and took big losses when the Federal Reserve dramatically hiked interest rates to fight inflation. Those losses are still hanging around, and several experts told Fortune many core issues from the 2023 banking crisis pose a continued threat to the system if economic conditions deteriorate.

Just over two years after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, banks are still taking big losses thanks to high interest rates. That’s cause for major concern, several experts told Fortune, especially if President Donald Trump’s tariffs lead to the dreaded combination of “stagflation,” or rising inflation coupled with slowing growth, putting further pressure on lenders.

U.S. banks held $482.4 billion in total unrealized losses on securities investments at the end of 2024, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation data, an increase of $118 billion, or 32.5%, from the previous quarter.

Read more at FORTUNE

Critical measures needed to fight money laundering and terrorist financing: INTERPOL

VIENNA, Austria – Countries need to take critical measures to target the huge illicit profits generated by drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and frauds and scams, international organisations urged today, warning that behind every dollar laundered is a victim – a family destroyed, a life lost, a community damaged.

This was the urgent call to action by leaders from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), INTERPOL and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna today, at a high-level side event on the first day of the 34th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ).

Prioritising an economic and financial crime approach to crime prevention is critical to reduce the harm that crime causes to our societies, and to ensure financial stability and economic growth.

At today’s CCPCJ, FATF, INTERPOL and UNODC collectively called on governments to improve asset recovery efforts to remove organized crime and terrorist groups’ ability to expand value and territory, and to cooperate internationally to make financial investigations more targeted and effective.

Read more at INTERPOL.INT

Wall Street Banks Bet on Emerging Markets After Wasted Years

Wall Street’s emerging-market faithful are finally seeing better returns after missing out for years as US stocks soared.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, AQR Capital Management, Bank of America Corp. and Franklin Templeton are among those betting the tables may finally be turning in favor of developing-market equities.

Bank of America’s Michael Hartnett calls them “the next bull market.” AQR predicts they’ll deliver local-currency returns of almost 6% annually in the coming five to 10 years, outpacing a 4% gain for US shares in dollars.

Despite the S&P 500’s rebound of recent weeks, the gauge was flat on the year as of Friday’s close, while an emerging-market equivalent is up 10%. The gain is kindling hopes that a decade and a half of thwarted promise — in which the US benchmark rocketed more than 400% versus a meager 7% advance for developing-nation shares — could be at an end.

Read more at BLOOMBERG

Still Charging Overdraft Fees? You’re Doing It Wrong

Three years ago, Texas-based Amplify Credit Union took a decision to break with overdraft fee income. Our results challenge conventional wisdom: We have since seen a steady decrease in deposit charge-offs, and now we've expanded fee-free programs to commercial customers, too.

As the CEO of a Texas-based financial institution, I know one thing for sure: If your company is in the news, it’s probably not for the reasons you’d like.

Case in point: Over the past few weeks, banks and credit unions have made national headlines for pushing lawmakers to increase the amount of money they can charge in overdraft fees.

Honestly, I can’t believe this is a hill we’re still choosing to die on.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Digital Wallets Want to Replace Your Apps, Not Just Your Cards

It’s no secret that the world is moving faster. In parallel, the way we move money is evolving just as rapidly.

Over the past decade, digital wallets have gone from niche FinTech novelties to powerful tools reshaping the landscape of global payments. From Gen Z remitting funds to family abroad, to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) tapping into global supply chains, digital wallets are becoming a key bridge across borders.

But what’s really powering this adoption isn’t just flashy UX or third-party integrations. The latest PYMNTS Intelligence research in the Global Money Movement data brief, “Global Money Movement: U.S. Edition,” a collaboration with TerraPay, reveals that the modern engine of cross-border digital wallet growth is centered on three deceptively simple features: speed, security and transparency.

Read more at PYMNTS.COM

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.

CFPB Update: Policy and Leadership Changes Further Belief the Consumer Protection Agency Has Lost (Most of) Its Bite: Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Changes regarding the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), including both the agency's leadership and its policy priorities, have been rapidly announced by the Trump administration.1 While the consumer finance industry had not predicted the leadership issue, the policy announcement reflects a consistent approach to "downsizing" the agency to focus on a limited range of policy objectives.

McKernan Is Out as the President's Nominee to Lead the CFPB

Jonathan McKernan previously served as a director on the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as a Republican participant nominated in 2023 by President Biden. Since his resignation from the FDIC Board on February 10, McKernan had been biding his time as the President’s pick to lead the CFPB. On Friday, May 9, however, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that McKernan would shortly be nominated as President Trump's nominee for undersecretary of domestic finance at the US Treasury.

Read more at JD Supra, LLC

Banking the Unbanked: Adrien Matray on How Financial Access Builds Wealth

When Maria lost her job at a local restaurant, she faced a critical decision. Without a bank account, she couldn’t apply for unemployment benefits via direct deposit. Instead, she received paper checks that cost her $10-15 each to cash at a check-cashing service. Over six months of unemployment, these fees consumed nearly $300 of her limited resources.

Maria’s situation illustrates a challenge faced by many low-income Americans. According to research by Claire Célerier and Adrien Matray, nearly 40% of people worldwide and 30% of low-income Americans are “unbanked” – they have neither a checking nor savings account. This financial exclusion comes at a significant cost, limiting their ability to build wealth and achieve financial security.

“Low-income households without bank accounts are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to building wealth,” explains Adrien Matray, an economist at the Atlanta Fed and co-author of the study. “Our research shows that simply having access to basic banking services can dramatically improve financial outcomes for vulnerable households.”

Read more at FINANCEFEEDS.COM

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New report shows deep disparities in the cost of core household bills

Where you live makes a big difference

• doxo’s 2025 Cost of Bills Index (COBI) Report reveals that U.S. households in the most expensive states pay up to 39% more than the national median for essential bills
• The findings arrive amid the nation’s first economic contraction in three years, amplifying the importance of localized financial data for consumers facing rising costs.
• San Jose, Calif., leads as the most expensive major city (71% above median), while West Virginia ranks as the most affordable state (44% below median).

A new report from bill payment service doxo unveils the sharp divide in what Americans pay for essential household expenses, depending on where they live. The 2025 Cost of Bills Index (COBI) Report highlights vast differences in core cost-of-living burdens across the country, just as American families are contending with inflation, high interest rates, and a slowing economy.

Read more at CONSUMERAFFAIRS.COM

High school financial literacy course can reduce Illinois poverty

Research shows financial literacy boosts economic opportunity. The success of the University of Chicago’s FinEDge program shows it should be expanded.

Making informed financial decisions about budgeting, credit, debt, investing and saving is key to helping about 1.5 million Illinoisans, or nearly 12% of the state’s population, get out of poverty.

A pilot program developed by the University of Chicago is changing that and expanding outside of Illinois.

According to a 2021 survey of Illinois residents, 25% said they lost at least $1,000 that year because they “lacked knowledge about personal finances,” such as by making an expensive purchase without budgeting or taking on debt they could not pay off.

Read more at ILLINOISPOLICY.ORG

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