Fintech Nexus Newsletter

Today, a new global report was released from Nasdaq and Oliver Wyman on illicit money flows and the numbers are sobering. The Global Financial Crime Report quantifies the total amount of illicit financial activity and the number is an eye-popping $3.1 trillion. Included in this number is bank fraud covering payments, checks and credit card fraud which is estimated at around $450 billion.

As we hear tell of Mint's demise it becomes clear that the market for personal finance management is evolving beyond just budgeting.

We learned a couple of weeks back that the former head of Marcus, Swati Bhatia, had taken a job at Santander to lead U.S. consumer and business banking. Yesterday, we learned more details about what this new job is going to entail.

This deal was first rumored to be happening in mid-March.  Yesterday, it became official. Private equity firm Advent International has agreed to acquire Nuvei in an all-cash deal valued at $6.3 billion.

Fraud is going to be top of mind for all financial institutions in 2024. Banks and fintechs alike are constant targets of fraud attacks. It was interesting to read this morning about the experience of Regions Bank when it comes to check fraud.

Banking as a Service (BaaS) continues to be in the crosshairs of the federal government. The latest banks to be hit with consent orders from the FDIC are Sutton Bank and Piermont Bank.

The Synapse debacle continues.  Former FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams is the court-appointed trustee managing the bankruptcy process. She was appointed on May 24.

Yesterday, the OCC issued new guidance for banks, addressing the risks of buy now pay later lending. The guidance focused on the popular "pay in 4" segment of BNPL.  Not surprisingly, the national bank regulator recommended tight oversight of third-party servicers, the importance of transparent loan terms and fraud mitigation.

The slow-moving dumpster fire that is the Synapse-Evolve meltdown has turned into a nightmare for many fintech customers. Synapse acted as a middleman between banks and fintechs, but there have been several disagreements between Synapse and these banks and fintechs. Consumers who assumed their money was safe are caught in the middle.

While check usage has been in decline for years, for many businesses it is still a primary method of payment. According to the Federal Reserve we processed over three billion commercial checks in 2023 valued at over $8 trillion.