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What is the average wage in the US?

The average wage was $1,283 per week in April 2026, 0.2% lower than a year before. The average weekly wage, the typical earnings that employees bring home for one week of work, is a valuable indicator to assess economic conditions, labor market health, and wage trends.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases monthly statistics tracking the wages of all non-government employees. In April 2026, the average weekly wage was $1,283. That represents the average wages of 135.4 million workers in different industries (excluding the government) and parts of the country.

Wage levels are dependent on several factors, including labor demand and supply, inflation, and changes in workforce composition. Since the Great Recession, which ended in July 2009, the average weekly wage has generally increased, with a spike in 2020 at the start of the pandemic when a large number of low-wage workers lost their jobs. Higher-wage workers were less likely to be laid off in that period, causing the average weekly wage to jump.

Read more at USA Facts

Federal Reserve has a message for Americans on inflation, economy

Inflation is running at 3.8%. The Iran conflict is pushing energy prices higher. Markets have priced out rate cuts entirely through at least 2027.

It would be easy to assume the Federal Reserve is preparing to raise interest rates.

One governor just said that assumption could be wrong. She said it at a conference in Iceland, far from the Washington noise, which made it land differently.

What Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said and where she said it

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman spoke at a conference in Reykjavík, Iceland on May 29 and cautioned directly against raising interest rates in response to the current inflation spike, according to CNBC.

Read more at The Street

Validate consumer and business bank accounts, confirm ownership, detect fraud, and assess risk 

To Streamline Complex Lending Processes, Small and Mid-Sized Banks Must Modernize

Traditional lending operations carry a tax that rarely appears on any line item: the accumulated cost of re-keyed data, paper forms, disconnected systems, and manual document validation.

Reality check: For community banks and credit unions, this isn’t a legacy curiosity; it’s an active drag on growth. For example, at some banks, customers applying for mortgages still fill out lengthy, complex paper forms, which a staff member must then re-key into systems to perform evaluations, risk analysis and more.

As banks pursue growth, these inefficient processes hold them back. In other words, modernization is no longer an option, but an imperative.

Read more at The Financial Brand

States of Affordability: A series on where and why US households struggle to make ends meet

On Election Day this November, voters will head to the polls to elect 36 governors and hundreds of state lawmakers. For these voters, the economy—and, specifically, how to afford the rising cost of living—remains their top concern.

The issue is clear: When costs exceed incomes, families are forced to make painful tradeoffs. They postpone critical medical care, forego healthy food or skip meals, and go further into debt. What remains less clear—for families on both sides of the poverty line—is a path to solving the affordability crisis given all its dimensions, from stagnating incomesand declining upward mobility to rising costs for everyday necessities.

To help state and local policymakers understand the unique mix of affordability challenges in their communities—and develop more informed, targeted, and structural solutions to address them—this report introduces a standardized measure of affordability that can be applied across place and race. 

Read more at The Brookings Institution

Have a tax law question?

Our #IRS Interactive Tax Assistant has answers.

Watch this short video to learn more:

https://youtu.be/y6HkaBkdKdU

Jose L. Santiago

Public Affairs Specialist

Tax Outreach, Partnership and Education

Email: jose.l.santiago@irs.gov

Consumer Finance Alert - Default Judgments in Virginia Consumer Debt Collection in 2027

On April 8, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger approved House Bill 444, establishing the Uniform Consumer Debt Default Judgments Act (the “Act”) as § 8.01–465.26 through § 8.01–465.34 of The Virginia Code. Under the Act, creditors bringing consumer debt collection actions will face new requirements to (1) disclose specific factual information in their pleadings; and (2) provide a separate consumer notice before seeking a default judgment in such proceedings.

Consumer finance practitioners should prepare to comply with the Act by the effective date of July 1, 2027, by updating pleadings to include the required information and providing a consumer notice consistent with the provisions outlined herein.

The Act’s Scope – What and Who is Impacted?

The Act applies to actions to collect (i) unsecured consumer debt; (ii) secured consumer debt if the action is brought only to obtain a money judgment; or (iii) a deficiency remaining after disposition of property that secured a consumer debt.

Read more at JD Supra, LLC

White House issues order on illicit finance red flags and lending risks tied to ‘non-work-authorized borrowers’ by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

On May 19, President Trump issued an executive order to safeguard the U.S. financial system from illicit activity, strengthen customer identification requirements for financial institutions, and address purported credit risks tied to extending financial services to “non-work authorized populations.”

The order directs: (i) the CFPB to consider within 60 days clarifying that “potential deportation and loss of wages are factors that could adversely affect a non-work authorized borrower’s ability to repay an extension of credit” under Regulation Z’s “ability-to-repay” standards, and that lenders may consider these when making “reasonable and good-faith” underwriting determinations; (ii) each “Federal functional financial regulator” (i.e., the Fed, the OCC, the FDIC, and the NCUA) to issue guidance within 60 days on managing credit risks posed by the non-work authorized population; and (iii) Treasury to issue within 60 days a formal advisory to financial institutions on red flags associated with the purported “exploitation of the U.S. financial system by non-work-authorized populations and their employers,” including payroll tax evasion, concealed account ownership, structuring schemes, labor trafficking, and the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers by applicants lacking “verified lawful immigration status.”

Read more at JD Supra, LLC

Loved by collection agencies, debt buyers, and lenders handling diverse portfolios. cf

What's Next in State Enforcement for Fintechs: Trends and Strategies: By Michael A. Johnson Meredith Osborn

With federal enforcement agencies pulling back from contested regulatory cases, state attorneys general and securities regulators are stepping in through enforcement, rulemaking, and legislation. Key takeaways from the discussion include:

Federal preemption cuts both ways. Recent Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau actions have shielded fintechs from some state regulation, but the same logic removes state-level consumer protections, giving state AGs added motivation to act.

Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act opt-outs are expanding. Colorado, Oregon, D.C., Minnesota, and Rhode Island have all moved to cap interest rates on loans to in-state borrowers. Tenth Circuit rehearing en banc is pending. Fintechs are relying on bank partnerships to export rates above state caps and should be monitored closely.

Read more at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Stop Ignoring Imperfect Credit Customers and Start Competing for Them

Steve Min, Chief Credit Officer at Credit One Bank, has spent his career working in credit risk and portfolio strategy at multiple financial institutions. At Credit One, he oversees lending and product decisions for a customer base that largely falls outside traditional prime segments. His approach centers on expanding access to credit while equipping consumers with the knowledge and tools to improve their financial standing over time.

In a recent Banking Transformed podcast episode, Min argues that serving customers with less-than-perfect credit is both a viable business model and an opportunity that many large banks continue to overlook due to risk aversion and outdated assumptions about profitability.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Payliance enables organizations to streamline

payment acceptance, minimize processing costs,

and reduce the risk of fraud.

Are wages keeping up with inflation?

No. From April 2025 to April 2026, wages grew 0.24 percentage points slower than inflation. Nominal wages — the literal dollars earned regardless of cost of living — increased by 3.6% while inflation stood at 3.8%. When wage growth trails inflation, it indicates that workers are experiencing a decrease in purchasing power from the previous year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has published average weekly wage data for more than 20 years, since March 2006. Looking back, average wages outpaced inflation 72.5% of the time. Most recently, wage growth was slower than inflation in every month since April 2026.

A number of factors influence the nominal wage growth and inflation rates, including labor costs and the labor market itself. In May 2020, wages increased 7.6% over the previous year while inflation was at 0.2%, a record-high gap of 7.4 percentage points. This spike was attributed to pandemic labor market disruptions that disproportionately affected lower-wage jobs.

Read more at USA Facts

The proof that a generation was misled over student loans

The inquiry into graduate debt found that a staggering 57 per cent of students did not understand the terms they signed up for

Amassive response to the graduate debt inquiry has suggested that millions of students did not understand the long-lasting financial consequences of their loans.

More than 50,000 graduates responded to the Treasury select committee’s call for evidence over the student debt crisis, which was launched in the wake of The Sunday Times’s End the Graduate Rip-Off campaign.

The results were published on Wednesday, revealing that 57 per cent of graduates who responded said they did not understand the terms of the loans they were taking on, while 51 per cent said they would not have taken on the debt if they had known what they did now.

Read more at The Sunday Times

Are you looking to grow your portfolio?

Top Global Fintech Trends in 2026

Agentic commerce, tokenization, and neobanking are among the top global fintech trends of 2026.

In 2025, the global fintech industry demonstrated increased maturation, revenue growth, and improved profitability.

According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG)’s 2026 Global Fintech Report, global fintech revenues surpassed US$500 billion in 2025, growing 22% year-over-year (YoY) and representing more than four times the rate of incumbent financial services firms. Fintech now accounts for roughly 4% of global banking and insurance revenues, up from 3% from the year prior.

Trading and investments, along with deposits, were among the fastest-growing segments, expanding 38% and 30%, respectively, in 2025. The payments vertical remained the dominant fintech category, with revenue accounting for 44% all fintech revenue.

Read more at Fintech News

How has recent immigration enforcement impacted employment across US cities?

Shock, awe, and economic fallout

The employment effects of ICE enforcement in US cities

• The enforcement surge cost 668,000 jobs. Across the cities with the sharpest rise in ICE arrests, employment fell 0.73% below what they would have seen absent the surge, and 1.48% in the 51 cities observed at least six months out.
• Job losses far exceeded the number of people arrested. Across 86 surge cities, ICE made roughly 52,000 excess arrests, yet each excess arrest, as a proxy for the broader enforcement shock, is associated with 13 jobs lost overall. Of the 668,000 jobs lost, an estimated 51,000-297,000 would have been held by American-born workers.
• Losses concentrated in immigrant-intensive sectors but spread well beyond them. The deepest direct hits fell on construction and on accommodation and food services, but industries with very few immigrant workers—such as arts and entertainment—also contracted sharply.

Read more at Brookings Institution

Our Vision is to become the leading

PAYDAY + ALTERNATIVE LENDER in NORTH AMERICA

Financial Literacy Moving in the ‘Wrong Direction’: TIAA

According to findings from the 2026 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index), financial literacy has reached its lowest level in a decade, but it also points to a path forward for reversing this trend.

According to findings from the 2026 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index), financial literacy has reached its lowest level in a decade, but it also points to a path forward for reversing this trend.

The P-Fin Index found that Americans correctly answered less than half (only 47%) of the index's 28 questions on average, which TIAA noted is a statistically significant decline from the prior year and the lowest result in the survey's 10-year history.

The decline is largely driven by an increase in the proportion of individuals with very limited financial knowledge, a trend that has steadily lowered overall financial literacy levels. Consider that the share of adults with very low financial literacy has grown from 20% in 2017 to 25% in 2026, with the most pronounced gaps among Gen Z, who correctly answered only 38% of questions on average.

Read more at National Association of Plan Advisors

Global Fintech 2026: From Recovery To Resurgence

Global fintech revenues surpass half a trillion dollars, growing four times faster than traditional banks

Boston Consulting Group and FT Partners’ Global Fintech Report 2026 finds sector in full resurgence, with $504 billion in revenues and 22% growth. View the full report here.

BOSTON, June 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The world’s largest fintechs are now more profitable than at any point in the sector’s history, with 74% of the biggest public players turning a profit and average EBITDA margins rising 400 basis points to 20% in 2025. The sector attracted $58 billion in equity funding, up 53% year over year, while global fintech revenues surpassed half a trillion dollars, growing 22% and more than four times faster than incumbent financial institutions.

These are among the findings of the Global Fintech Report 2026: From Recovery to Resurgence, the fourth edition of the annual report coauthored by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and FT Partners, released today.

Read more at LifeHealth

E-Complish, LLC Launches: IntellAgent™, a 24/7

AI Companion for Customer Account Management & Payment Processing

What do Americans think of the economy?

In 2025, roughly one-fourth of adults described the national economy as good or excellent, down 3 percentage points from 2024.

In 2025, 45% of American adults felt that their local economy was in good or excellent shape, down from 46% in 2024. The share assessing the state of the national economy as good or excellent dropped from 29% in 2024 to 26%.

The Federal Reserve produces an annual report on the economic well-being of US households, allowing for comparisons over time.

How have Americans’ feelings about the economy changed?

In 2019, 63% of adults felt that their local economy was in either good or excellent shape, while 50% thought the same of the national economy. In 2022, both sentiments hit low points at 38% locally and 18% nationally.

Read more at USA Facts

Digital Innovation Is Outpacing Cybersecurity at Credit Unions. How to Close the Gap

Digital transformation has unlocked remarkable possibilities for credit unions, including seamless mobile banking, AI-driven personalization, and hybrid member services that were unimaginable a decade ago. But this growth comes with a cost that many credit union leaders are only beginning to fully appreciate—the cybersecurity frameworks they have in place were built years ago and never designed for today’s threat environment. And the gap between their digital ambitions and the reality of their security readiness is widening fast.

Reality check: The numbers tell a stark story. According to the Sophos State of Ransomware in Financial Services 2025 report, 64% of financial services organizations experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, and the mean recovery cost following a ransomware attack now sits at $1.53 million. 

Read more at The Financial Brand

LEND360 is an annual summit for the leaders in online lending

that explores fintech industry trends and new technologies

impacting consumer lenders, small business lenders, service

partners, investors, bank representatives, and more.

It’s Decision Time for Banking Cloud Operations: Adapt to Agentic AI or Fall Behind

Cloud operations in banking are under pressure that traditional approaches were never designed to address. As environments grow more complex, regulated, and interconnected, the tools and processes built to manage them are struggling to keep pace.

To understand how banks are responding, Amdocs commissioned Coleman Parkes to conduct research into how banks are adopting “Agentic AI for Cloud Operations.”

Need to Know:

• In late 2025, 28% of banks were running AI agents in production for cloud operations, a figure expected to reach 71% by the end of 2026.
• Among banks that had completed proof-of-concept trials at the time of the survey, 97% had already moved to full production deployment, indicating that early implementations are proving viable and delivering tangible value inside banking environments.

Read more at The Financial Brand

US Credit Card Delinquency Hits 15 Year High as Financial Stress Deepens

US Credit Card Delinquency Rate Surges to 13.1 Percent, Highest in 15 Years.

A key indicator of financial stress among American households has reached its highest level in more than a decade and a half, as credit card accounts that are 90 days or more delinquent have climbed to 13.1 percent, according to data highlighted by Barchart.

This marks the highest delinquency rate in 15 years and places current levels close to historical records, signaling growing pressure on consumers already facing elevated borrowing costs, inflationary challenges, and rising living expenses.

The development has raised concerns among economists and financial analysts about the overall health of household balance sheets in the United States, particularly as credit card debt continues to rise alongside higher interest rates.

Rising Delinquency Reflects Growing Household Financial Strain

Read more at MEXC

Digital Bank Employees Used to be the Stuff of Science Fiction. Not Anymore

If you ask most bankers how they’re using AI today, the answers are starting to sound consistent: Professionals are using it to write emails faster, summarize meetings, clean up reports, and brainstorm ideas.

But on the horizon is another AI revolution: AI agents acting as digital employees. The foundation to transform the industry is accelerating even faster than what we’ve seen in recent years and we can look at the hype of OpenClaw and its influence on coworking developments to gain important insights.

The industry is building a responsible foundation centered on “copilot” models, tools like Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini, or AI features embedded into existing vendor software. These solutions work with and alongside bankers. This represents real progress, but it also highlights how our industry is trailing the true wave of innovation happening in the broader AI landscape. It’s critical to balance responsible application with the risk of falling behind.

Read more at The Financial Brand

Another fintech giant gets the pink slip from Warren Buffett's Berkshire

A lot has changed at Berkshire Hathaway in 2026.

Warren Buffett, who spent six decades turning the company into one of the most watched investment vehicles on the planet, stepped down as chief executive at the start of this year.

His chosen successor, Greg Abel, officially took the wheel in January.

Investors have been watching closely ever since. When Berkshire's latest 13F filing landed, one name stood out immediately. Mastercard was gone

Read more at TheStreet

The magic number when nearly 60% of recent homebuyers can benefit from refinancing

Analyst says the refinance window is open for more borrowers than most realize

Recent rate increases have likely put a potential refinance boom on hold for now. After rates fell below 6% earlier this year, they have now risen back above 6.5%.

However, that doesn’t mean that a surge in refinances is off the table for 2026, especially with your former customers who bought a home in the last few years.

A new LendingTree study shows just how many borrowers who bought homes in 2023, 2024, or 2025 could still save real money if they refinanced today. For brokers, that is a call list waiting to be worked. The people who bought during the high-rate years are not as far from a beneficial refinance as they may think, and many do not know it.

Read more at MPA Mag

Tax reporting 2026: the cost of doing nothing is rising

The 2026 Tax Reporting & Withholding Conference, held in Washington, D.C., delivered a stark message to compliance professionals: the era of incremental adjustment is over.

The migration from FIRE to IRIS is widely treated as a technical filing change. Comply Exchange’s makes clear that framing understates the challenge considerably. IRIS replaces post-filing error discovery with real-time validation, moves from file-level outcomes to record-level processing, and substitutes continuous monitoring for batch submission cycles.

Organisations will be required to track submission IDs, receipt IDs and individual record-level statuses, and to manage corrections within filing cycles rather than as post-season clean-up. The practical consequence: upstream data quality is now directly linked to the ability to file at all it said.

Read more at FINTECH GLOBAL

Are you looking to grow your portfolio?

Overregulation Helped Drive the Nation’s Surge in Homelessness

Allowing low-cost housing is the only way out

Homelessness is at a record high today in the U.S. It may feel like an intractable problem, but our own history shows that extremely low rates of homelessness are not only possible, but prevailed here just 50 years ago. The reason? Back then, millions of small, cheap housing units were available, but overregulation put in place primarily over the 1950s to the 1970s decimated them. We can bring back a better-quality version of that housing, but only if policymakers cut the unnecessary red tape and take action.

From the late 1940s until the late 1970s, hardly anyone in the nation lacked a home, because even someone living below the poverty line could afford to rent a room, typically with a shared bathroom and kitchen. These rooms were often located in boardinghouses, single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels, or apartment buildings. Much like a college dorm, residents lived in small spaces, sometimes less than 80 square feet, and in those days, the accommodations were often bare bones and lacked modern amenities. But they were homes.

Read more at The Pew Charitable Trusts

Trending Scams and Fraud Prevention for Older Adults: FDIC

In observance of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, the FDIC invites you to a national event focused on protecting older adults and their families from scams and other forms of financial exploitation.

This program will showcase how Money Smart for Older Adults (MSOA) helps individuals recognize and avoid common schemes such as imposter scams, romance scams, phishing, and other emerging threats. Participants will also receive an update on trending scams currently affecting older adults.

Highlights include:

Practical scam‑prevention resources, including tools from Money Smart for Older Adults

Tips to help people spot and avoid online threats, including investment scams

Updated data and insights on scams impacting older adults

Read more at FDIC