Payments

Amid troubling news of tariffs and layoffs, dropping delinquencies offer a rare sign of consumer health.

In comments to reporters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., underscored what she said was a conflict of interest between Elon Musk's DOGE's actions at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and his business interests with X Money.

CEO Richard Fairbank told analysts executives have their "microscopes" out for any signs of trouble, but consumers remain "in a great place."

Affirm partners with Sixth Street to sell its buy now/pay later loans to the investment firm; Associated Banc-Corp promotes Steven Zandpour to deputy head of consumer and business banking; Visa Direct speeds up its money transfers; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

About $2 billion changes hands daily for the sale of new motor vehicles in the U.S., making auto dealers a prime use case for faster payments. So why aren't more using it?

There is a three-year revolving period when the transaction will not make any principal payments to the notes unless an early amortization event occurs.

The buy now/pay later company beat analysts estimates on revenue and net income and is trying to get more frequent usage out of its customers.

A reserve account is initially 0% at closing. The target will shift between 1%, 2% and 3%, depending on whether the three-month average excess spread falls below certain thresholds.

The trust features early amortization event triggers, including excess spread percentages falling below the required amount for that period or principal payment rates falling below 10%.

The company, which helped consumers strategize their credit card payments and pivoted to a B2B model earlier this year, has sold its intellectual property two months after it folded.

Those metrics were merely a return to solid pre-pandemic levels and do not suggest a deterioration, says Moody's. Yet a broader, and more weakened employment picture is emerging, SMBC Nikko Securities says separately.

Since July 21, 2021, the cutoff date before its last deal, Avant's active credit card accounts increased 388%, to its current 1 million accounts.

The Swedish institution is adding savings accounts to its signature buy now/pay later service as it plots an IPO. Analysts say it will be a struggle to go against U.S. institutions.

The class A and class B notes benefit from credit enhancement levels of 12.50% and 8.75%, respectively, and the class A notes benefit from the subordination of class B certificates.

Investment banking fees shot up at the nation's largest bank, thanks to rebounds in M&A and the equity capital markets segment. And despite higher credit costs in the company's card business, a top bank executive expressed confidence in the health of U.S. consumers.

The deal benefits from excess spread, overcollateralization, and senior/subordinate enhancements.

Initially, the reserve account starts at 0.0%, but it will be funded to either 1.00%, 2.00% or 3.00%, depending on the level of the notes' three-month average excess spread.

A proposal from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to extend the same protections as credit cards to the fast-growing BNPL industry aims to protect consumers, but it could also stunt the nascent industry's growth, experts say.

A federal judge in Texas is locked in a back-and-forth with an appeals court over whether the industry's challenge to a cap on credit card late fees should be moved to Washington, D.C.

The number of borrowers who are at their credit limits is approaching its pre-pandemic level, and the percentage of balances that are sliding into delinquency has hit its highest rate in more than a decade, according to new research. Still, card companies are generally expressing optimism about their credit outlooks.