Battle Lines Being Drawn on Illinois Interchange
When Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed The Interchange Fee Prohibition Act into law in late June, it was already clear the legislation’s impact would radiate well beyond the state’s borders. The speed and intensity of the national reaction has nonetheless been surprising- reaching a peak (for now) with last week’s amicus brief by the OCC blasting the law as “unworkable.”
Big CU Energy on Display at FinovateFall
It didn’t take a futurist to predict that artificial intelligence would be the most visible technology on display at FinovateFall. But AI’s progress was not the main story at the annual conference that recently wrapped up in New York City. For me the key takeaways were the healthy cohort of up-and-coming companies, and an apparent tipping point in credit unions’ prominence in the fintech ecosystem.
A State of Confusion- Interchange Battles Move Closer to Home
The tension between federal and state-level banking legislation is a never-ending source of heartburn. Businesses naturally crave less regulation, in order to limit compliance costs and avoid barriers to innovation. Given the choice, however, they’d nearly always prefer a single federal standard to a patchwork of state edicts that can make compliance difficult-verging-on-impossible.
Artificial Intelligence, Intellectual Property, and Missing the Point on “Her”
Let’s start with the presumably obvious: Generative AI is a transformative technology. It’s not going away, and it’s poised to alter countless business processes- in mostly constructive ways, if we play our cards right.
Exploring the Issuer Aspect of the Visa/Mastercard Settlement
Media coverage of last week’s Visa/Mastercard settlement predictably- and appropriately- focused on the impact to merchants and the card network behemoths. Fortunately most news outlets avoided the dubious claim that consumers would somehow benefit from the estimated $30 billion fee concession (there were exceptions- looking at you, New York Times).
First Mover Advantage? The EU’s AI Act Sets the Legislative Tone
(PSD2) to govern open banking. US legislators are finally getting to it now, with a framework rather similar to PSD2.
The Capital One/Discover Deal- A Test of Typical Battle Lines (and a Credit Union Angle?)
In a sector that’s seen no shortage of fascinating recent deals (PSCU/Co-Op, Fiserv/First Data, the aborted Visa/Plaid combination, the “never mind” FIS/Worldpay merger), this one may be the most fascinating yet.
Detangling OpenAI’s Palace Intrigue
In a world where personal privacy has essentially vanished, it’s ironic that we may never know the full story of OpenAI’s mid-November boardroom coup. John Best and I attempted to detangle the saga’s various threads on a wide-ranging episode of The BIGCast. As a companion piece, here’s a somewhat tidier synopsis of the complex and mysterious path leading to CEO/Co-Founder Sam Altman’s brief exile.
The History of Money 20/20 – In Three T-Shirts
When Money 20/20 launched in 2012, its name referred to a deep dive into the payments future… eight years out. Perhaps the brand mavens had already planned for the conference’s success, but as the decade drew to a close a slash was added to its title, shifting the meaning to perfect vision into an ever-evolving future.
Hold onto Your Wallets- Debit Interchange under Scrutiny
We at BIG have been advising credit unions for some time not to become overly reliant on revenue from interchange fees. The Credit Card Competition Act, currently winding its way through Congress, is a prime example of the persistent threat. But now there’s an even more clear and present danger.