The news: In February, we covered Bankrate’s 2025 Emergency Savings Report. It has since updated its survey results, which highlight Gen Z’s lack of savings. Gen Zers as a whole are living in the moment and setting their financial goals and woes aside. Our take: To attract these young consumers, banks should develop tailored, accessible, user-friendly savings products and educational resources that resonate with them. Such resources should encourage small, automatic, and consistent savings while acknowledging the generation’s desire for flexibility. Offering gamified savings challenges or linking savings directly to short-term, aspirational goals could also motivate this generation to build a financial safety net.
The news: TikTok is reportedly exploring a US-only version of its app amid ongoing discussions of a US ban and selloff, per The Information. Known internally as “M2,” the app will reportedly launch in September and require users to download a new version to use TikTok in the US—though users will have several months to make the switch. Our take: We will continue to monitor closely for further developments, particularly the specifics of user data and algorithm migration, which will directly dictate the app's future efficacy for bank marketing. For now, FIs should maintain their Gen Z outreach strategies on TikTok with a high degree of adaptability.
The news: Seventy-one percent of US parents with children ages 1 to 17 give them an allowance, averaging $37 per week, per a recent Wells Fargo study. But not all are confident that they’re able to teach their children about banking or savings. Banks have a clear opportunity to support parents in teaching their children about money—and by doing so, they’re strengthening their ties with their next generation of customers. They should develop engaging, age-appropriate digital tools and educational content that simplify complex concepts and encourage responsible money management. Additionally, banks can offer resources and workshops for parents to equip them with the confidence and knowledge to guide their children's financial journeys.
The news: Amazon has partnered with delivery firm Gopuff to bring ultra-fast delivery to several UK markets, including Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, London, and Manchester. Our take: Amazon’s focus is crystal clear: Get orders to shoppers’ doors as fast as possible. In the US, it has pushed next-day delivery as the new standard—even as it rapidly expands same-day service. In some cases, delivery happens within hours (for example, a Prime Day order we placed at 6 am today arrived at our door by noon.) To extend that promise beyond urban hubs, Amazon is investing over $4 billion through 2026 to triple the size of its rural delivery network. By year-end, it expects to bring same- or next-day delivery to more than 4,000 smaller cities and rural communities. Speed isn’t just a perk. It is the key component within Amazon’s growth strategy. The faster the company delivers, the more frequently consumers turn to Amazon for their everyday needs—and the harder it becomes for competitors to keep up.
The eye-catching headline: “Amazon Prime Day Spending Down 14% in Early Hours From 2024” blared from one report, citing early data from Momentum Commerce, which manages Amazon sales for brands like Crocs and Beats that total roughly $7 billion in annual volume on the platform. Our take: Prime Day is on track to become the biggest sales event in Amazon’s history. While early-hour softness and lower per-day comparisons may raise some eyebrows, the full picture tells a different story: Total revenues will shatter records thanks to a powerful mix of deal-hungry shoppers, tariff-driven urgency, and a high-margin advertising engine firing on all cylinders.
The news: Gen Z’s share of private label spending will overtake that of baby boomers by 2026, according to a Numerator report. Our take: Gen Z’s affinity for private labels is part of a broader behavioral shift—one that retailers are making the most of. To encourage loyalty among this notoriously fickle cohort, companies will need to stay on top of emerging food trends, foster exclusivity and a sense of urgency with limited-edition releases, and make sure they satisfy Gen Zers’ desire for attractive packaging, transparent labeling, and sustainability.
The news: Prime members approved for the Prime Visa credit card will receive a $250 Amazon gift card as a welcome bonus during Amazon’s Prime Day multi-day promotional sales event. Our take: Amazon is trying to optimize its utility for the everyday consumer to deepen its dominance in the American market.
The news: 82% of travelers are interested in using points from non-travel loyalty programs to book trips, per a report from Expedia—including 43% who are extremely interested. Our take: Capturing expensive travel purchases is critical to reinforcing issuers’ card volume as economic anxieties make consumers spend less.
The news: Mastercard and Fiserv will offer Clover hardware rental fees for just $0.01 per month to the first 1,000 merchants who sign up for the network’s US Small Business Navigator platform, per a press release.Our take: Mastercard and Clover both want to secure small business market share.
As Walmart celebrates its 63rd birthday this year, the retail giant continues to differentiate itself through data capabilities, technological innovation, and a willingness to experiment with new strategies.
The strategy: Starbucks is testing better-for-you products in a bid to win over more health-conscious consumers, per Bloomberg. Our take: Starbucks is making some necessary changes—but there’s still plenty of work to do. Consumers want brands that meet them where they are, and that means prioritizing ingredient transparency and wellness without sacrificing flavor or convenience. For Starbucks, that could mean cutting back on sugar in key drinks, expanding nutritional add-ins, and offering more customizable options. If executed well, this strategy could help Starbucks reassert its leadership in the premium coffee space.
The news: Healthline Media settled with the California Attorney General’s office over allegations that Healthline.com failed to opt consumers out of having their personal information shared for targeted advertising. Our take: State health data privacy laws are new, meaning we will likely see increased scrutiny and more enforcement action against companies that previously went unchecked. Healthline and other health content companies must verify that their opt-out tools work as intended while being transparent with advertisers about the consumer data they can and cannot share with them.
The news: Several leading medical associations representing hundreds of thousands of US clinicians, as well as scientists, researchers, and public health workers, have sued HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other top health officials over the government’s recent decision to make COVID-19 vaccines more restrictive. The big takeaway: Kennedy is running out of allies in the medical and pharma communities. If nothing else, the lawsuit could force Kennedy and his team to adhere to the legal framework in place for making sudden changes that disrupt the public’s access to vaccines.
The news: The newly passed Trump federal budget slashes healthcare spending by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The takeaway: The cascading effect of federal spending cuts to Medicaid and ACA is poised to reshape US healthcare with more uninsured patients, lower payments and higher costs for physicians and healthcare systems, rural hospital closings, and increased costs for insurers. We expect advanced cost-cutting measures and lobbying for concessions as the industry braces for the initial effects next year.
The news: Dr. Kim Boyd, previously the chief medical officer of telehealth weight loss startup Calibrate, joins WeightWatchers as CMO as the company plans to launch perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause treatments and services for women ages 40-60 later this year. Our take: WeightWatchers will compete with several D2C telehealth for the underserved pre- and post-menopausal consumer market. However, we think its brand recognition among women ages 40-60, its long-standing weight loss support expertise and new Novo deal could catapult it ahead.
The news: Sports-centric streaming service Fubo has agreed to pay $3.4 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it illegally distributed customers’ personal data to advertisers without consent. The lawsuit alleged that Fubo went against the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) in 2023 by collecting personally identifiable information (PII), including data on consumers’ viewing history and location, and sharing this information with third party advertisers. Our take: Fubo’s lawsuit echoes growing concerns over how platforms approach data privacy and questions over the legality of using sensitive information to serve personalized ads—requiring that advertisers shift their strategies.
A new Adalytics investigation reveals that YouTube served ads from major brands like Disney, HBO Max, and Hulu alongside thousands of pirated films, live TV broadcasts, and exclusive streaming content—racking up over 250 million views. The report highlights systemic failures in YouTube’s content moderation and ad placement transparency, leaving advertisers with little visibility and minimal recourse for refunds. Worse, some studios may have inadvertently paid to retarget users who pirated their own content. As copyright enforcement lags and automation is gamed, brands and rights holders face financial, reputational, and legal risks in one of digital media’s biggest ecosystems.
The news: Gen Z’s media habits are changing fast—and most brands aren’t keeping up. New data shows Gen Z spends hours on social media daily, but not passively: they’re engaging in participatory, creator-led environments where trust and relatability matter more than production polish. Fifty-two percent say they feel closer to creators than celebrities. Gaming platforms like Roblox are central, with adults 25–34 averaging 100 minutes per session. Our take: legacy ad formats don’t cut it anymore. To earn Gen Z’s attention, brands need to integrate into native experiences, empower creators as collaborators, and measure more than just impressions.
The news: YouTube’s viewing dominance is pushing publishers and media companies to look beyond it as a marketing channel and adopt it as a primary platform for airing TV episodes and original content. National Geographic now airs linear rerun streams on YouTube, and NBCU launched YouTube-centric media brands like Comedy Bites and Family Flicks. Our take: Brands should prioritize YouTube just as they do TV and TikTok, not as a dumping ground for extra assets. Launching campaigns with a YouTube-first media strategy—including original YouTube content and creator-first formats like Shorts—is the new table stakes.
In today’s episode, we talk about how AI has changed finserv’s approach to advertising and which areas of bank marketing will be affected the most. Join the discussion with host and Head of Business Development Rob Rubin, Analysts Lauren Ashcraft and Jacob Bourne.