Square’s AI, Amazon’s card workaround land in the UK
Block’s merchant unit is deploying a virtual assistant to sweeten its offer to merchants, while Amazon pushes Pay by Bank. Plus, Zelle reaches a milestone and more in American Banker’s global payments and fintech roundup.
Upstart CEO to step down; stock dips 15% on earnings report
The lender beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates but warned that a strategic shift toward auto and home equity loans will compress near-term profits.
Illinois judge rules in favor of swipe fee ban on sales tax and tips
In a major setback for banks and credit card networks, a federal judge upheld an Illinois law that bans the collection of swipe fees on sales tax and tip portions of credit card transactions. Banks are expected to appeal the ruling.
Fannie Mae g-fee gains outweighed by loss provisions, valuations
Adjustments related to higher credit risk weights for new acquisitions and rate shifts offset increases in the government-sponsored enterprise’s core earnings.
U.S. adds 130,000 jobs in January; unemployment rate falls
The Bureau of Labor Statistics issued its delayed January employment report Wednesday morning, showing the economy added 130,000 jobs in January. But the agency also sharply revised its estimates for total jobs created in 2025 to 181,000 from 584,000.
AI will ease the home-price crisis, if state lawmakers will let it
The federal government should step in to prevent an emerging patchwork of state regulations from stifling the benefits of applying the tools of generative artificial intelligence to the mortgage market.
Before shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet, Warsh has other work to do
An immediate effort to unload some of the central bank’s assets could do more harm than good. Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh should first turn his attention to problems affecting banks’ liquidity.
Bank riders have murky future as housing bill heads to Senate
Bank-favored provisions that were included into the House’s version of a bipartisan housing bill threaten to derail Senate passage, but Senate Banking Committee moderates seem skeptical of the combination.
Brazil fintech Agibank scales back IPO before US debut
The digital bank slashed its share volume and pricing the day before its public debut and following a mixed U.S. public debut for fellow Brazil fintech PicPay.
Developer Colony Ridge to pay $68M in DOJ, Texas settlement
Houston developer Colony Ridge Development agreed to resolve allegations that it operated a bait-and-switch scheme targeting Hispanic immigrants that led to massive foreclosures.