Fintech

Speculation is swirling that the Boston company will go on a buying spree after raising $1.8 billion, though some investors are advising caution. This tension makes CEO Bob Rivers one of our community bankers to watch in 2021.

Finance teams can cut down their workload significantly and free up time to analyze data and make more strategic decisions towards improving customer experience and business growth, says RecVue's Amit Chaudhry.

As the pandemic accelerates a broad business shift away from cash payments, Pablo Martinez, marketing leader at startup Pay Theory, recalls hearing how his Puerto Rican father and Guatemalan mother struggled for years to enter the U.S. banking system.

Nearly 70% of consumers surveyed said they were confident in their ability to pay their full monthly statement in December, up 5 percentage points from November, according to monthly data from the online lending marketplace LendingTree.

The switch to Thomas Cangemi from longtime CEO Joseph Ficalora could foreshadow a push to curtail the company’s reliance on multifamily lending and the pursuit of a bank acquisition that lowers funding costs.

Chris Maher recently unloaded loans hurt by the coronavirus shock, convinced he was freeing the New Jersey company of baggage that could impede a large M&A deal. This assertive move makes him one of our community bankers to watch in 2021.

Eleven Democrats on the Financial Services Committee have asked the heads of the Treasury Department and IRS to eliminate service charges tied to debit cards used to distribute COVID-19 relief.

The motivation behind JPMorgan Chase's purchase of rewards company cxLoyalty is clear — travel spending and rewards have suffered greatly during the pandemic — but another problem Chase is tackling with this acquisition is the need to wean people off cash rewards.

Michael Moeser, senior analyst at PaymentsSource, talks to Jennifer Philo, group vice president of U.S. commerce at Blackhawk Network, about the ways the global pandemic has transformed the use cases for gift cards, prepaid cards and loyalty products the company supports.

JPMorgan Chase is buying cxLoyalty, a major credit card loyalty platform, in a bid to enrich its own card loyalty programs when travel resumes after the global pandemic.