The global banking industry has entered an irreversible phase of transformation: the decline of physical branches and the rapid rise of digital-first financial institutions.  Evidence shows that the world reached peak branch in 2015, with G20 economies and the Eurozone marking the turning point. Since then, fintechs have reshaped customer acquisition economics, acquiring customers for…

The financial services sector stands at a pivotal moment where regulation, technology, and customer trust intersect.  At the recent Emerge Conference, new financial health standards were introduced to guide banks, fintechs, and policymakers. Importantly, these standards shift the focus from checking compliance boxes to supporting consumer well-being. In addition, they create a clear way to…

In today’s financial landscape, trust has become the most valuable, and vulnerable, asset for banks.  With a $124 trillion generational wealth transfer underway, community banks face a critical inflection point. They must either redefine their role as trusted advisors or risk being replaced by more agile competitors.  The forces reshaping trust in financial services today…

Fifteen years after the Dodd-Frank Act reshaped the U.S. financial system, a panel of fintech and regulatory experts—Dara Tarkowski, Alex Johnson, and Kia Haslett—sat down with Jason Henrichs and Brett King to dissect its legacy. What emerged was a layered analysis of the Dodd-Frank fintech impact—how legislation born from crisis laid the groundwork for both…

Summary In June, the world of fintech disruption in banking lost one of its brightest lights: Barb MacLean. She wasn’t just a strategist or operator. Rather, she was a connector of people, ideas, and industries. A vital force behind Alloy Labs and a co-host of Breaking Banks, she made complex ideas accessible.Moreover, she brought clarity…

Summary Fraud in embedded finance is evolving faster than most institutions can react, and the consequences are increasingly systemic. Traditional approaches manual investigations, delayed Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), and internal case management are proving too slow and siloed to combat the rise of first-party fraud and synthetic identities. As fintech enters a new maturity phase,…

In a world where digital transactions dominate, the financial sector faces a critical challenge: balancing innovation with robust financial fraud protection. From traditional banks to agile fintech startups, institutions are racing to outsmart fraudsters, combat money laundering, and uphold trust in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. The good news? When applied thoughtfully, technology can be…

Across emerging markets, a quiet revolution is reshaping the landscape of financial services. From Cape Town to Manila, a new generation of digital-first banks is proving that scale, innovation, and access can coexist—and even thrive—in regions often overlooked by Western financial institutions. At the heart of this shift is a powerful catalyst: AI in digital…

The world of fintech is evolving at a breakneck pace—and at the center of this transformation is the rising influence of AI in banking. But this revolution isn’t just about smarter algorithms or advanced data processing. It’s also about the emergence of unexpected leaders—visionaries stepping up across startups and financial institutions to steer innovation in…

Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed a seismic shift in how we understand, build, and experience financial services—a transformation that marks a pivotal chapter in the fintech evolution. What began as a niche sector has rapidly matured, redefining the global banking landscape. This period has not only accelerated technological innovation but also reshaped the roles…