Citi's pending purchase of the rewards fintech is a pivot in the way the $2.9 trillion-asset bank thinks about its points program and comes at a time when interchange is under fire.

At a time of rapidly rising prices, a number of credit-card companies are offering perks for buying gas, groceries and other basic necessities. The cards represent an opportunity for issuers, but also potential pitfalls.

Bread Financial's point-of-sale installment loans, called Bread Pay, helped drive the lender's credit sales amid a wider earnings beat.

Capital One Financial executives on Tuesday provided updates on the company's integration of its recent acquisitions of Discover Financial Services and payments-focused fintech Brex.

Synchrony Financial joined the chorus of banks that were enjoying the healthy credit cycle as consumers maintained discretionary spending despite ongoing affordability concerns and persistent inflation.

The U.K.-based bank renewed its longest tenured co-brand program, which has been running for more than 20 years, for another decade. The renewal will help the bank expand its consumer banking portfolio.

A breakout month by the company's newly acquired investment banking subsidiary, BTIG, added nearly $100 million of revenue during the second quarter.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is preparing to request information from credit-card issuers about their late fees. The renewed interest in late fees is a surprise, given the agency last year sided with the banking industry to kill a Biden-era rule that would have dropped the charges from $32 to $8.

Multiple states are testing the ability of federal banking regulations to preempt state laws. If they succeed, a core pillar of the U.S. economy — the dual banking system — could begin to crumble.

Arbitrary financial regulation "cliffs," such as the one imposed by the Durbin Amendment, create incentives that distort decision making. Congress should step in and reform the various measures that rely on such imprecise triggers.

The brokerage fintech launched agentic trading and an agentic credit card today that will allow AI agents to trade equities and make credit card purchases on customers' behalf. It comes just weeks after OpenAI rolled out its own personal finance tool.

Given new government rules on payment processing, giants like Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo would benefit immensely from acquiring proprietary debit card networks. Why they haven't done so already is a mystery.

The 90-day-plus delinquency rate on student loans hit 10.3% in the first quarter, and New York Fed researchers warn that a second wave of defaults could be coming. Evidence is mixed regarding the likely impact on other consumer-lending segments.

Parker Group unexpectedly ceased operating last week, then filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a few days later as sponsor banks and customers were left scrambling.

The measure, sent Thursday to the governor's desk, would mark the second state ban on interchange fees and could inform an ongoing bank-led legal challenge to a similar Illinois law.

The company reached an inflection point for loan growth and posted its sixth consecutive quarter of improving credit. But CFO Perry Beberman cautioned that higher fuel prices and depressed consumer sentiment could eventually pressure its outlook.

The McLean, Virginia-based company continues to tout its willingness to invest in longer-term opportunities. Executives declined to provide a shorter-term expense forecast, and its stock price fell in after-hours trading.

The credit startup is seeking a limited-purpose charter from federal regulators through the Competitive Equality in Banking Act's credit card bank carveout.