BNPL debate brews, fintech's next top mobile banking feature, practical AI tips

Hello almost June.

You better believe May included: a sound bath with my parents in the desert, my maltipoo stumbling into a pool and a fair share of cardio dancing.

In fintech, here’s what caught my fancy this past month:

1. This POV: That access to an abundance of resources interferes with getting results as Frida Leibowitz 🇮🇱, who worked at Goldman Sachs’ Marcus, sees it. Now, Frida is the CEO and co-founder of Debbie , an early-stage startup rewriting the rules of rewards. Hear her chat all about her work on Money isn't Everything. It's a candid (and fun) convo.

• Other May podcast episodes: a. Listen to Jim Bruene, founder of Finovate, talk about how he sources ideas. b. Then, listen to the latest episode with Eric Siegel , the author of "The AI Playbook" and founder of the Machine Learning Week conference series. He offers up practical tips tied to the buzziest tech right now.

2. That bank app cancels recurring subscriptions? Or might soon….!:

Think of the feature as what personal financial management of yesteryears wanted to be: Useful for uncovering savings. And, the idea is gaining steam.

Most recently, Atomic announced its latest product, PayLink Manage, which banks can add to their apps. The tech lets a bank customer view recurring payments (streaming services, auto insurance, phone plans, etc.) from inside the bank app, and more importantly, lets the customer do something about it (perhaps cancel a service or move a payment date, for example). San Antonio-based Frost Bank is one of the first customers to commit to deploying the Atomic tech.

Also telling: Mastercard started offering banks the ability to let customers cancel, pause and resume their subscriptions earlier in the year, among other things. Ditto of Visa.

In a world where people are lost in the mess of their recurring (and somewhat invisible) payments, a remote control type feature for subscriptions from a bank app could offer as much allure as early direct deposit or mobile deposit capture IMO.

3. A complicated debate that’s becoming more complicated: Why most buy now, pay later providers don’t provide payment history to credit bureaus. Case in point, Klarna blogged on why it doesn't in the U.S.:

"Logic would dictate that reporting positive repayment rates - like the 96% of Klarna BNPL users that pay on time - would improve a consumer's credit score, but the large credit bureaus continue to use outdated FICO and Vantage models that do not properly account for BNPL data. In fact, if on time BNPL payments were factored into credit scoring today, consumers could see a significant drop in their credit score."

Separately, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that BNPL firms will be classified as credit card providers. Among the things it will require of BNPL providers: providing refunds for returned products, providing bills with fee disclosures and investigating merchant disputes.

Klarna also had something to say about that.

Other things that happened this month:

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

• This mobile bank app now serves up restaurant recommendations (and more) to users based on fellow customers' experiences.
• Majority, a neobank for migrants, raised $20 million in funding. It charges people $5.99 for membership that includes: a checking account with added perks like discounted international calling and community store discounts.
• Pay by text? This startup just secured $110 million in new growth funding to do just that.
• Worried about all that goes into retiring? Same. Check out this illustration as a vision board for things to consider. It’s quite a comforting guide.
• The BNPL provider that gamifies repayment: Sezzle is enticing mobile app users to make on-time payments by rewarding them with monthly giveaway entries, among other things, for the behavior pattern.
• In Mexico, BNPL is viewed as a cash alternative for an underbanked population. That’s how fintech startup, Aplazo, sees it. As TechCrunch reports: “Unlike in the U.S., Aplazo can’t always rely on credit history; according to the company, 40% of its users don’t have any.”
• Ominous: More Americans are going delinquent on their credit card bills 
• This storyline is the highest stakes. Jason Mikula chronicles the banking-as-a-service reckoning that is affecting consumers' ability to make essential payments.

Let's get where we ain't.

🫶🫶,

Mary