Sweden urges payment system to prepare for war in Europe
The country’s central bank cited geopolitical uncertainty and the increased reliance on digital payments as a reason to focus on offline payments as a backup. Also, a look at U.K. bank outages and other news in American Banker’s global payments and fintech roundup.
Crypto exchange Binance receives $2 billion from MGX
The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund-backed AI investment company initiated the largest investment ever paid in crypto.
Truist adds New Jersey team as part of targeted growth push
The regional bank, which hired a commercial banking team away from Citizens Financial Group, has identified growth opportunities not only in the Garden State, but also in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Credit union strikes deal to acquire suburban Chicago bank
NuMark Credit Union said it would buy Lemont National Bank. After a record-setting 2024, it’s only the second such credit union-bank combination so far this year.
CFPB’s Vought ends agency DEI policies and activities
Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought said all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies “will cease immediately,” adding that employees may be investigated if they go against the order.
U.K. seeks to overcome banks’ reluctance to use AI
The Financial Conduct Authority is summoning industry professionals to weigh in on potential regulatory updates to make British institutions more competitive with the U.S.
Fed staff met Treasury’s DOGE team in January, filing shows
The court filing contradicts Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s statement to Congress in February that the central bank has had “no contact” with DOGE.
Evolve Bank says documents reveal Synapse inconsistencies
The latest development in the Synapse saga provides a few new clues but leaves many questions unanswered about missing customer funds.
Trump to announce Bowman soon as pick for Fed’s top bank cop
The president is likely to nominate Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman to be the central bank’s next vice chair for supervision, a post vacated by Michael Barr.
A centralized defense against payments fraud is essential, and urgent
The question is no longer whether the financial services industry needs a unified approach to combating instant payment fraud but who will take the lead to make it happen. The onus is on the biggest players in the market to show the way forward.