Visa vs. Mastercard: Who had a stronger quarter?

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.

10-Q, Member Exclusive

Why Payoneer wants fewer – but much larger – customers

• Payoneer’s leadership is prioritizing sustainable profitability over the industry’s old growth-at-any-cost mindset.
• Fintech is entering its next phase – moving beyond the early race for sign-ups toward a model built on SaaS-like unit economics and deeper customer monetization.

BNPL, Member Exclusive, Modern Marketing

How Zip turned the most pressing BNPL challenge into a brand advantage

• Financial services brands usually treat trust as a given, building campaigns around authority, scale, or convenience. Zip’s latest campaign takes a different route: it makes ‘trust’ the story.
• In a sector long clouded by skepticism and regulatory scrutiny, Zip is confronting one of fintech’s toughest questions by placing the BNPL trust debate at the heart of its brand.

10-Q, Member Exclusive

Q4 2025 in Consumer Finance: Fintechs move from user counts to dollars per engaged customer

• Block’s Q4 2025 earnings drew attention as much for the story behind the numbers as for the numbers themselves. Chime’s Q4 2025 results emphasized growth, credit expansion, and ecosystem depth.
• Block’s structural shift and Chime’s measured ecosystem expansion raise broader industry questions that go beyond individual company performance.

BNPL, Member Exclusive, Who owns the customer

Affirm’s full-stack ambition is bigger than consumer finance alone

• Affirm began 2026 on the front foot.
• The recent moves by the BNPL firm point to an overarching strategy: expanding from consumer checkouts into B2B distribution and institutional control.