Bank ATM pooling, Girl Math, and a slice of hacker house life

Hello out there:

This month, I got back to some yoga on a paddle board, which is my happy place – one of many. We’ll see if I make it to headstand territory next time. And, NPR included my shoutout to my dad for a short father’s day audio story. Yay.

In fintech, the shocks keep coming with Synapse and Evolve Bank and Trust. Who suffers? Consumers who are trying to improve their finances. Will more regulation follow? Feels likely. Beyond that high-stakes drama, here’s what caught my eye in fintech:

1. Pause payment for safety: The neobank for the 62+ launched something cool: Charlie will hold money transfers for 6 hours when those transfers involve customers sending money to new payees and phone numbers. The big idea is to avoid fraud by eliminating that rush factor people can feel if and when a criminal is trying to swindle them (been there, done that with a fake locksmith). As Efi Pylarinou labeled it in a comment: "The anti-instant gratification culture." I could see banks and credit unions wanting to emulate a similar feature.

2. Flip flopping – payment style: Reverse ATMs at retailers, restaurants and stadiums are accepting cash but charge a toll. Sure, we’re heading to ever-more digital transactions. But this marks a notable change. Paying in cash used to lead to discounts (and still does at my vet’s), but now it’s costing people something. The Steve Williams’ take: “I do NOT want a cashless society but in a free market I think it’s okay for merchants to design their payment preferences and charge commercially reasonable fees for the friction cash presents in operations.”

3. TikTok trends and personal finance: On the Money isn't Everything pod, Sophia Goldberg , co-founder and CEO of Ansa and author of “The Field Guide to Global Payments,” and I chatted about digital wallets, the psychology behind payment decisions and Girl Math, which started trending on social media last summer. 

Wondering what that is? Girl Math is when you think something is free if it’s less than $5 or if you use a gift card to pay for it. That kind of thing. Sophia sees the act as a joyful justification for something. We get into what it means (even for bankers).

Also on the pod this month: Michael Broughton , CEO and founder of Altro. In our chat, we get into what hacker house life is like and explore one of the biggest stereotypes about credit scores: that good scores are only for the wealthy.

Other things that happened this month:

💫 Mystery box of intriguing links, articles and other stuff that may interest you as it did me.

• Chime acquired Salt Labs, a startup that offers rewards to workers.
• Jamie Dimon slams America's schools, businesses and cities for not helping young workers land well-paid jobs.
• Another Gen Z fintech product is getting attention for its attempt to help the age group build credit.
• Hmm. Wells Fargo fired a dozen employees for “simulation of keyboard activity.” Wouldn’t their managers notice they weren’t working?
• Now in the U.K.? Multi-bank deposit ATMs. The idea is to reach people in areas where some bank branches don’t exist anymore, and at the same time, make cash acceptance more efficient for banks by letting one machine accept deposits from multiple banks. It’s called pooling.
• On the ups and downs of Well Fargo’s credit card partnership with Bilt Technologies – a pairing that led to more than one million activated accounts within 18 months at a loss of as much as $10 million every month, per the WSJ. Wow.
• Separately, the big bank launched a credit card that rewards members for self-care purchases, like pet care, spas and gardening as well as floral stores.
• In South Korea, friends save in a “gyemoim,” a financial planning group where participants make monthly contributions and decide how the money will be used as a group. Interestingly, it’s also viewed as a way to bond.
• On GonzoBanker, I blogged on why it’s so important for the industry to pursue creative endeavors even now.

Let's get where we ain't,

Mary

P.S.: I have been on the podcast circuit:

🫶 I had the pleasure to join Theodora Lau and Barb MacLean for an episode called "Do we want banking to be spicy or boring?"

🐠 And Efi Pylarinou took me on a fun adventure: We spoke about fintech, yoga and mental health in financial technology. I had the best time. 

🌴 And on mogul Live, I had the chance to talk about my career and how fintech has grown up since I started covering it in 2008.