Research: Changing consumer preferences are driving evolving SMB payment offerings

Member Exclusive, Payments, SMB Finance

Intuit wants to turn workforce management into a financial operating system

• Intuit is addressing fragmentation by launching QuickBooks Workforce, an AI-native, end-to-end human capital management platform built directly into QuickBooks.
• The firm is building a unified SMB operating system where finance, workforce, AI agents, and operations continuously feed into one another.

10-Q, Member Exclusive

The uneven geography of modern finance: AI, branches, and BNPL

• PayPal wants SMBs to become comfortable operating through AI; JPM is doubling down on physical presence; meanwhile, Klarna is turning payments into a recurring engagement mechanism.
• These approaches highlight a deeper truth, financial relationships don't follow the same playbook anymore. Adapting to a respective customer base seems to be the best way.

Artificial Intelligence, Member Exclusive, Who owns the customer

OpenAI and Plaid take another shot at personal finance 

• ChatGPT can now connect to your bank accounts via Plaid, offering spending insights, subscription tracking, and financial dashboards, marking a revival of personal finance management (PFM).
• Once a category that failed to find sustainable unit economics, PFM is back, and this time, with OpenAI's scale and Plaid's reach across 95% of US banks, it may finally have the right foundation.

Business of Fintech, Member Exclusive, Numbers with Narrative

Capital is flowing again, just not where the consensus says

• US fintech funding jumped 47% in Q1 2026, led by a surge in early-stage capital as investors shift focus to AI infrastructure.
• Massive influxes in Parallel Web and Rogo underline a flow of capital into agentic solutions.

Member Exclusive, Podcasts, SMB Finance

The bank account is the product: Slash’s bet on vertical SMB banking

• Victor Cardenas is the co-founder and CEO of Slash, a $1.4 billion business banking platform built on one thesis: the company holding your bank account should also own all your financial software.
• Slash serves niche verticals like performance marketing agencies, import-export businesses, and more, with workflows no legacy bank has ever built for them.