Amid fresh competition from newcomers seeking to build brand recognition, banks that sponsor pro sports teams are leaning into content that tells a story about their connections to local communities.

GradFin offers advisory services to Americans who want assistance with their student loans. The acquisition is part of the Cleveland bank’s strategy of adding niche digital businesses.

Increasing numbers of banks are now letting business customers do their banking within their existing accounting and workplace software.

The technology giant is partnering with a fintech firm to deploy $25 million of deposits at minority-owned banks, community development financial institutions and other mission-focused lenders. It’s part of a broader effort by the iPhone maker to combat systemic racism.

Shortly after the reveal of Stripe Financial Connections, the CEO of its longtime partner Plaid took to Twitter to accuse the company of exploiting their relationship to build the new service. At stake is the growing market for digital transactions.

Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures Management is leading a $185 million funding round for Canada’s Neo Financial Technologies, propelling it to a valuation of more than $1 billion as it plans expansion into mortgages.

A new product called Financial Connections links businesses directly to customers' banks, giving the payment technology vendor a feature that makes it a direct competitor to data-fueled fintechs.

Long Game, which Truist acquired for an undisclosed sum, allows consumers to set savings goals and earn extra cash by playing casino-style lottery games.

Genesis Financial will use Nova Credit’s bank account data analysis to approve credit to applicants with little or no credit bureau files.

The U.K. seized 2 million pounds ($2.61 million) from a London-based fintech firm, saying that the funds were linked to a $150 million U.S. wire fraud conspiracy.