Loyalty and rewards

TD Bank estimates it hands out 20 million pens every year. Huntington is getting close to offering its 80 millionth pen. It's a way to get a bank's brand to travel with customers across the globe, but is it worth it?

A community bank in Missouri plans to offer fractional stock rewards later this year, while a small bank in Utah is winding down a similar program.

Credit cards with rewards are rewarding only for those who know how to profit from the system, according to a paper released by the Federal Reserve.

The more that stores reinvent the physical point of sale — or remove it entirely — the more they gather insights that go beyond just the payment. This can be extremely valuable to retailers that know how to use this new information, particularly for targeted marketing.

TAB Bank's debit account, which rewards users with partial stock shares, is boosting the company's appeal among consumers who are younger, tech-savvy and underbanked.

A group of unions filed a complaint against Starbucks Corp. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the agency to investigate how the coffee chain accounts for unused money left on customers' stored-value cards and accounts.

Financial institutions have a solid track record of keeping customers for the long haul, but technology firms, fintechs and challenger banks are gaining ground on the incumbents.

Coinbase Global said it's being probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission over its staking programs, which allow users to earn rewards for holding certain cryptocurrencies.

As competition tightens in the buy now/pay later arena, fintechs including Klarna, Afterpay and Zilch are upgrading perks to keep consumers from straying to their rivals.