Commercial banking

Block, which maintains its original Square brand for its business-focused products, is offering easier access to cash advances for small businesses. Also, Amex and Mastercard expand their virtual card strategy; and more in the American Banker global payments and fintech roundup.

The White House working group on digital assets said in a report that regulators should "promote transparency regarding the process for institutions to obtain bank charters or Reserve Bank master accounts."

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during his regular press conference Wednesday that the process of determining tariff-related price increases was always going to be slow, but it has taken longer than he expected.

A report Wednesday detailed Scattered Spider's advanced social engineering tactics and the escalating threat the group poses to financial institutions.

12 states have laws governing earned wage access, also known as on-demand pay, and while many follow similar general guidelines, small – yet critical – distinctions are emerging with each new regulation.

Zorana Milovanovic, MBA, is a senior accountant specializing in ERP implementation, financial systems optimization and compliance in high-growth, regulated environments. She has supported end-to-end system transitions, often acting as a liaison between accounting, IT and audit teams. With business degrees from both the U.S. and Europe, she brings a cross-cultural perspective to internal controls, SOX readiness and policy design.

The largest bank in Missouri, which completed the acquisition of Heartland Financial USA early this year, is on track to switch Heartland's systems over to UMB's systems in mid-October. The conversion should help realize "the next big slug" of expense savings, UMB's CFO said.

Northeast Bank and its fintech lending partner Newity have engineered a surge in 7(a) loans that has helped the Portland, Maine-based bank boost profits as tightened regulatory standards made the loans harder to get.

Many of the 100 banks in the BankTech Ventures consortium have expressed interest in using the data-sharing network.

The GENIUS Act in the U.S. and MiCA in the EU are creating a path to the mainstream for digital assets, while Britain won't have crypto regulation until 2026.