Conference season is in full swing, and it’s been a whirlwind of networking and insights. We’ve been seeing familiar faces and meeting new friends at Fintech South in Atlanta, Finovate Fall in New York, and MTRA in Philadelphia. As we look forward to upcoming conferences, we’re excited to continue these conversations. Check out our calendar below to catch the team at future events.

We’re thrilled to announce that FS Vector sponsored the launch of the Coalition for Financial Ecosystem Standards (CFES), an industry-led organization aimed at setting operating standards for nonbanks in financial services. Founded in partnership with industry leaders, CFES addresses the challenges in bank-nonbank partnerships, aiming to promote innovation while ensuring regulatory compliance and risk management. The CFES launches at a crucial time as regulatory scrutiny of these partnerships intensifies, potentially reshaping the landscape of financial innovation. To learn more about this initiative, be sure to read the Network Spotlight below.

On the regulatory front, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a proposed rule aimed at strengthening recordkeeping for bank deposits held by nonbank companies on behalf of their customers in certain custodial deposit accounts. While targeted at FDIC-insured depositories, the effects may be felt by nonbank companies offering innovative payment products. The proposal would require investments in recordkeeping and reconciliation systems, enhanced compliance and risk management programs, and increased oversight by bank partners. This move comes in the wake of the Synapse bankruptcy earlier this year, which highlighted vulnerabilities in some current practices.

Banking deal oversight is set for a major revamp as the FDIC, OCC, and Department of Justice issued updated standards for bank mergers. The collaborative alignment efforts these included considering concentrations beyond deposits in evaluating competitive effects, requiring merged institutions to pose less financial risk than separate entities, and applying additional scrutiny to transactions resulting in institutions with $100 billion or more in total assets. 

JPMorgan Chase is in advanced talks with Apple to take over the tech giant’s credit-card program, currently issued by Goldman Sachs. This deal would further strengthen the ties between America’s largest bank and one of the world’s biggest tech companies. The move comes as Goldman Sachs exits its consumer finance initiatives. For JPMorgan, this deal would expand its already large card business and provide access to Apple’s customer base. 

In the payments space, we saw partnerships aimed at driving innovation and addressing evolving market needs. Walmart and Fiserv are collaborating to launch a real-time payment service for online purchases next year, allowing consumers to pay directly from their bank accounts using U.S. real-time payment rails. This system aims to offer faster settlement and potential cost reductions for retailers and consumers. Trustly, an open banking payments provider, partnered with Newline by Fifth Third to develop new payment solutions in the United States, facilitating transactions via ACH, Real Time Payments networks, and Trustly’s pay-by-bank ecosystem. Additionally, Cross River Bank partnered with Forward to address SaaS providers’ payment challenges, offering payouts-as-a-service including same-day ACH payouts. 

The industry saw several strategic acquisitions. Mercury acquired Teal, a seed-stage startup specializing in accounting products, intending to develop a “Stripe for accounting” and transform banking into a comprehensive financial tool for ambitious companies. Hummingbird acquired LogicLoop, a no-code data integration and automation platform, positioning itself as a core operating platform for financial crime fighters. In a significant move within the payments sector, Visa agreed to acquire Featurespace, an AI-driven payments protection firm, for a reported £700 million ($935.06 million). This acquisition aims to strengthen Visa’s financial crime and fraud detection capabilities, allowing it to offer real-time fraud management solutions to its clients using Featurespace’s AI-enabled technologies.

On the fundraising side, Oyster, a payroll and HR platform for distributed workforces, secured a $59 million Series D round, reaching a $1.2 billion valuation. Meanwhile, Comun, a digital bank for Latino immigrants in the United States, raised $21.5 million in Series A funding, citing a 50x increase in monthly revenue in early 2024.