22 Sep 2021

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.

AI Innovation, Artificial Intelligence, Banking, Innovation

Citizens’ CIO on the ethos that led the bank into the cloud and beyond

• Citizens CIO Michael Ruttledge explains how the bank modernized by moving entirely to the cloud.
• Ruttledge discusses cloud migration, AI deployment strategy, and building an innovation-driven organizational ethos.

10-Q, Member Exclusive

Banking: AI, automation, and the rise of digital-first scale

• From AI agents at Goldman to automation at Truist and lean growth at Nubank, the contours of a modern banking model are emerging.
• Banks are rethinking human-machine cooperative roles and new ways to scale.

Member Exclusive, Numbers with Narrative, Policies & Playbooks

Open banking’s paywall era – and what it means for banks, fintechs, and policy in 2026

• Financial innovation doesn’t follow a straight path. When it swerves, the clash between ideals and economics comes into focus.
• With data volumes surging and regulatory clarity still elusive, a harder question is emerging: If access to financial data is commercialized, how “open” is open banking – and who ultimately bears the cost?

Banking, Banking as a service

Affirm’s move to become a bank signals a reconfiguration for the BaaS industry and beyond

• Affirm and major fintechs are applying for bank charters to eliminate sponsor dependencies and improve economics.
• The shift from fintech-bank partnerships to direct competition calls into question legacy institutions' longtime market dominance.