Joey Pizzolato

Executives at the New York bank said that strategic activity has started to pick up over the last month. Morgan Stanley also reported second-quarter revenue and earnings that beat analysts' expectations.

The U.K. challenger bank would follow London fintech Wise in emphasizing New York over London in an effort to boost valuation and establish a foothold in the U.S. Plus, Lloyds is in talks to buy all-in-one card fintech Curve; and more news in the global payments and fintech roundup.

Increasing community bank and credit union adoption is a key pillar of the P2P payment network's strategy as it looks to increase its network effect and penetrate into small-business payments.

Connecticut has set strict new rules for EWA providers; Louisiana's regulation is more aligned with existing state laws.

Regulators from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York and Texas levied the fine for anti-money-laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations, which comes as Wise seeks a banking license in the U.S.

U.K. regulators said Monzo didn't properly vet new customers, while Vocalink was dinged for risk management lapses. Also, Paxos launched a dollar-backed coin in the European Union; and more news in the weekly global payments and fintech roundup.

Joe Heck, Zip Co.'s U.S. CEO, spoke with American Banker about recent criticisms of the BNPL industry as more consumers turn to it for purchases both big and small.

Carvana and Plaid, with the help of Cross River Bank, have launched Request for Payment, which combines billing with The Clearing House's RTP Network. The option has been slow to gain traction, but the companies are betting large-ticket purchases, such as for an automobile, will be popular.

The government's instant processing rail hopes to enable new use cases, while Klarna adds to its network.

Citigroup is on a quest to modernize its global payments stack and be the go-to financial institution for cross-border payments and international corporations. Debopama Sen, head of payments at Citi's Services business, spoke with American Banker about the divisions' progress since its Services Investor Day in June 2024.