In a Which? Survey, the UK neobank tied for the second-highest customer score—much-needed good news that it can capitalize on with consumers and investors.
Tech-savvy small banks bucked conventional lending wisdom with PPP: FDIC researchers found that smaller US banks which invested more in technology fared well with the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) at the pandemic’s onset.
Stripe will be the first company to enable contactless payments acceptance on merchant customers’ iPhones.
Timing could help Tink’s Youtility partnership gain traction: The open-banking provider and vendor are collaborating on money and subscription-management tools that UK banks can offer consumers.
Insider Intelligence spoke to Paul Paradis, co-founder and president of Sezzle. The conversation touched on the state of BNPL, the implications of potential regulation, and other factors that could impact providers—like profitability and long-term expansion.
Chime was the most downloaded US mobile banking app in 2021, with 12.8 million downloads, up 16% from 2020. Other neobanks had a huge year as well: Current posted 67% growth in downloads, and Varo skyrocketed to 10th place with a 529% increase. That said, traditional banks took the rest of the top five positions.
Lightyear gets social, and DriveWealth adds crypto trading. Both firms are adding services to remedy falling trading volume.
Tapping into high-demand sectors lets Amex start a long-term engagement pipeline, grab younger users, and improve competitive positioning.
Banking players may still be able to tie up as planned, but should prepare for heightened scrutiny from Biden Administration regulators.
Amex’s rewards checking could help it weather open banking: The new account’s relatively high interest rate and the ability to earn points may shore up Amex for a future where a nascent payments technology threatens credit cards.
Germany’s pioneering crypto interest could give neobank traction: Vivid Money reported a €100 million ($118.2 million) funding haul, and is growing even as it faces a slew of competitors.
The banks knocked Block and PayPal down to third and fourth place thanks to a stronger digital focus.