Ally’s insurance deal gives it a shot at cross-selling and loyalty building: The direct bank’s Hippo partnership adds a second insurance product line in home insurance policies that it can cross-sell—and an opportunity to build customer loyalty by making more products available within its ecosystem.
It acquired Say Technologies to facilitate communication between everyday shareholders and the companies they invest in. This should boost its average account size, encouraging other market players to follow suit.
Citi aims to be a matchmaker for SMBs left Citi Branchless: The banking giant is testing a program that pairs small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with local and regional US lenders. It’s a compensatory move for the bank after it reduced in-person lending assistance via branch closures.
HSBC’s redesigned cards put accessibility at forefront: The bank is redesigning its UK bank cards to help disabled people, ranging from those with dyslexia to vision loss. The cards could help HSBC increase the loyalty of existing customers and attract new ones.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) now requires entrants to offer income-producing products, like loans, and to have an exit plan. This will scare off some neobanks—but those that have launched, or are about to, may benefit.
Crypto exchange CoinDCX raised $90 million as crypto investments spike in India, suggesting doubts over future government actions to curtail crypto trading haven’t shaken investors.
Tide’s turndown of SMB program underscores the limitations of not being a real bank: Because it’s not eligible for Bank of England funding reserved for legal banks, the UK neobank has declined to offer a government-backed repayment choice for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) that borrowed under a pandemic-era relief initiative. This may motivate Tide to get its license.
Revolut’s new trading fee fix signals focus on turning a profit: The UK-based neobank’s second commission increase in less than a year and its introduction of a percentage-based cost suggests that its focus is shifting from adding customers to making money from them.