In|Vest 2018 Direct

Borrowing costs have fallen to their lowest level in more than a year as inflation metrics drop to 2021 levels, seemingly vindicating the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain their restrictive monetary policy.

Chatbots and other non-human service options got lower scores in J.D. Power's annual survey on credit card satisfaction, despite years of shifting from call-center agents to software to address client problems.

Jennifer Overhulse is the principal owner of St. Nick Media Services. She is a writer, a content creation specialist, and a public relations (PR) authority with an extensive journalism background and insurance expertise specifically related to trends driving the adoption and implementation of insurance technology (InsurTech), its impact on greenfield and incumbent insurance companies, distribution channels, startup partners, and the industry at-large. Jennifer has over 25 years of writing and editing experience. Her sweet spots lie in identifying issues, niches and opportunities for clients, developing and applying go-to-market strategy, and creating provocative content that resonates with targeted audiences.

Regulators have been working their way steadily down from the biggest players in the industry to regional firms in their quest to stamp out abuses of "off-channel" communications.

A Northwest credit union announced plans this week to buy a community bank, lifting the 2024 total of such deals to 13 and putting the year on track to set a record. The all-time annual high of 16 was set in 2022.

Bill Kirk is a USAF Gulf War Veteran and CEO Co-founder of Weather Trends International. He has been featured on Fox Business, CNBC, ABC 20/20, has been named as inventor/co-inventor on three U.S. and U.K. patents, and published research in hundreds of Wall Street equity reports from JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Cowen, and other industry tech reports. Their weather forecasting technology for predicting the most accurate YEAR-AHEAD weather forecasting with predictive sales analytics for Fortune 500 companies has received 13 national and international business technology awards.

Julian Morris is a senior scholar at the International Center for Law & Economics.

The card brand adds to partnerships that enable data sharing and cross-selling; the U.K. bank is lowering fees based on clients meeting metrics for sustainability; and more.

Krish Swamy, Dan Jermyn and others on a just-released AI 100 list say they expect investment in AI to keep increasing.

The Chicago-area bank closed the fifth-largest deal announced this year in a matter of months. It may bode well for M&A, as several big transactions have been announced in 2024.