Late Friday, we learned that Synapse has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and that its assets will be acquired by payments infrastructure company TabaPay. This will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following the slow-moving Synapse saga for the last 12+ months. The company had done multiple rounds of layoffs and had an ongoing dispute with Mercury. The press release provides few details, but according to Forbes, the deal includes Synapse’s lending, brokerage, and credit and debit card issuing platforms. Synapse has lending licenses in 44 states. TabaPay has been focu ..read more

Revolut, the British-born unicorn, with a whopping 40 million clients globally across 50 countries and a prized banking license for the European Economic Area, has just clinched approval from Mexico’s banking regulator to officially become a bank in the country. Joining the ranks of digital neobanks, Revolut’s endeavor comes amid a wave of expansion among online lenders in the country and increasing competition. Now, it will have to comply with certain requirements in order to officially launch operations soon. Nikolái Storonski, CEO and co-founder of Revolut. Founded in 2015 in Great Britain ..read more

It has been a lean legislative session in Congress for fintech. But this week some progress was made on earned wage access. But on Wednesday we learned that the Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act advanced in the House Financial Services Committee. This bill aims to provide a federal regulatory framework for companies offering this product. The states have taken the lead when it comes to earned wage access regulation with Nevada, Missouri and Wisconsin all adopting new regulations. But there has been little movement at the federal level until now. The new bill is str ..read more

As artificial intelligence (AI) provides new tools to criminals, Incognia has the antidote, with tools that are 17 times more effective than facial recognition. Incognia, which recently closed a $31 million Series B, combines GPS, Wifi, bluetooth and network signals to pinpoint devices with department-level accuracy to combat fraud.  Co-founder and CEO Andre Ferraz said the original idea for Incognia was ahead of its time. Initially designed as an authentication system for IoT devices and to drive retail traffic, the technology tackled the problem of users accessing multiple devices simul ..read more

Since 2013, we have been closely following the lending space. In the past 11 years, there has been an incredible amount of innovation, much of which we have reported on here. After a few years of being more about evolution than revolution, lending is poised for another wave of change. New underwriting models, new lending products, the explosion of new data, and instant money transfers are bringing us into the next era of lending. With that in mind, we would like to hear from you. We have created a brief survey to understand your most pressing challenges and what you want to learn. All particip ..read more

Enjoying our podcasts? Don’t miss out on future episodes! Please hit that subscribe button on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform to stay updated with our latest content. Thank you for your support! Liza Landsman, CEO of Stash One of the many challenges for low and middle income (LMI) consumers is building wealth. If you are living paycheck to paycheck with no savings you are more focused on financial survival and likely don’t feel you have the capacity to build wealth. This is where Stash comes in. My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is L ..read more

Salt Labs, which helps lower-income workers but does not subtract from their earnings, has recruited Ted Benna, the father of the 401(k), as an advisor. Often hourly employees and frontline workers have nothing extra to put aside for a special purchase, college funds, or investments. Salt Labs founder and CEO Jason Lee knew that from his experience as founder and CEO of Daily Pay, an earned wage access provider. Many folks couldn’t wait for Friday to get their wages if the car needed a repair on Wednesday. Salt is a savings option for lower-income workers Along the way, Lee learned that many p ..read more

Thin-file consumers can make a good credit bet ..read more

Digital banking leader Nubank is venturing into Latin America’s travel sector by introducing a new Global Account product together with Wise. Tailored to cater to the financial needs of the bank’s affluent customer base, known as “Ultraviolet,” this initiative marks a strategic foray into the high-income market segment. Nubank’s iconic purple-coloured debit cards have achieved widespread popularity in the country, where the fintech boasts roughly 90 million customers. With the Global Account, Nubank seeks to pursue one of its key strategic objectives in 2024: extending its footprint in Brazil ..read more

In 2023, the SEC adopted strict new cybersecurity disclosure requirements. The rules require public companies to disclose “material” cybersecurity incidents within four days; to periodically disclose cybersecurity risk management, strategy and governance in annual reports; and to describe the company’s oversight of cybersecurity risk by the board of directors, including management’s role and expertise. While these new rules only affect public companies, they serve as a reminder that thorough cybersecurity plans are critical to protecting investors from the expense and downside risk a cybersecu ..read more