Lending Briefing: Embedded lending in a platform economy and Square dominating SMB financing

Member Exclusive, Opinion

The new fintech moat is ‘boring’

• What does a fintech moat look like today?
• The new measure of a fintech moat is the capability to handle complexity without pushing the burden onto customers or costs. It isn’t only about keeping competitors out but it's also about getting better as the system gets more complicated.

Lending, Member Exclusive

How Figure turned a lending business into a financial network

• Figure reported second-quarter results, showing that its platform had reached a $1 billion weekly run rate for loan applications by early July.
• The firm has come a long way since it was founded in 2018, building a more structured lending and capital markets system while increasingly making it intelligent and programmable.

10-Q, Member Exclusive

Is it time for AI to enter the payback period and show its ROI?

• If AI is changing the economics of how businesses operate, where do we see its payoff?
• Block’s Q2’26 results suggest AI’s payoff may start showing up in familiar financial metrics. Whether the usual metrics are enough remains an open question.

Member Exclusive, SMB Finance

Why banks’ trusted-advisor pitch isn’t landing with SMBs right now

• For small business owners, banks still have a long way to go: just 7% view their bank as a true strategic partner, according to Grasshopper Bank’s recent survey.
• A major problem, says Grasshopper's Danielle Kane, is that many banks still see small-business banking as a product category rather than an operating environment with distinct needs.

Member Exclusive, New banks, Policies & Playbooks

Fintechs want to become banks. Bunq just found out what the OCC expects in return.

• For fintechs seeking U.S. bank charters, the OCC is asking: Do the management, capital, risk, and compliance infrastructure hold up? And is the institution ready to operate as a bank, not just alongside one?
• The OCC may be widening the path to a charter, but it’s also raising the bar for proving readiness.