What FIs should know about emerging performance metrics for digital banking 

Banking, Member Exclusive

For U.S. Bank, embedded finance was step one. The self-reinforcing model is step two.

• U.S. Bank is focusing on three levers: speed of integration, intelligence of response, and depth of embedding in decision flows.
• The strategy sets up a self-sustaining cycle: usage grows from integration, data flows from usage, and products evolve in near real time.

Banking, Data, Member Exclusive

What a bank-client relationship looks like when banks control the data behind the UX

• Client–bank relationships have long revolved around a destination model: clients log in, navigate dashboards, export data, assemble insights. Grasshopper Bank is rewriting that dynamic by moving from a destination to a ‘layer’.
• The digital bank has launched its MCP server to bridge a critical gap: letting clients use modern AI tools with their financial data without sacrificing banking security or control.

Banking, Member Exclusive

Why fintechs are transitioning from partners to principals in banking

• The wave of charter filings in the first quarter of 2026 underscores shifts in fintech business and regulatory dynamics.
• Direct supervision by banking regulators is demanding, but fintechs increasingly see it as offering greater operational certainty than fragmented licensing and partner oversight.

Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Banking as a service, Innovation

Truist’s Dontá Wilson: ‘Innovation without empathy is empty’

• Truist's Dontá Wilson leads 20,000 teammates across digital channels and 1,900+ branches, and he's reimagining both.
• He breaks down Truist's insight-driven branch model, real AI deployments, and why innovation without empathy is empty.

BNPL, Creating win-win partnerships, Embedded Finance, Member Exclusive, SMB Finance

How embedded BNPL optimizes cash flow for SMBs: Inside the Intuit-Affirm partnership

• The Intuit-Affirm partnership embeds BNPL directly in QuickBooks invoices, transforming accounting into a real-time decision layer.
• In the new fintech partnership model, platforms manage workflows and customers while specialists handle the decision layer to drive scalable results.