Businesses lose billions of dollars to fraud each year, with smaller companies being often the most vulnerable. While technology dominates discussions around security, traditional methods are still dangerous and frequently overlooked. From check fraud to social engineering, these threats persist even as cybercrime evolves. In fact, this past week, over 1,200 bankers gathered at the American Bankers Association National Convention, where CEO Rob Nichols highlighted the increasing prevalence of fraud facing Americans today. He went on to say, “The scale of fraud taking place every day is a massive burden for our country, and for the millions of hardworking women…

I’ve worked as a personal finance writer for seven years, and I’ve picked up some best practices along the way. These lessons come from conversations I’ve had with expert sources, countless hours spent giving star ratings to dozens of banking products and the experiences that readers have shared with me over email. Here are five lessons that I’d like to share with you from my work as a consumer banking writer.1. The best bank accounts have high interest rates, no fees and creative perksThe two things that I always recommend when shopping for a new bank account are to look…

It is no great secret that the auto insurance industry has faced considerable profitability concerns over the past few years, especially dating back to 2022. As more drivers returned to the roads in 2021, troubling trends began to emerge. First, claims severities have been a major challenge, registering six consecutive quarters of at least 5% growth through the first six months of 2023, according to the LexisNexis® Insurance Demand Meter. Second, the availability of automobiles took a major hit coming out of the pandemic, with the annual run rate on newly created vehicles falling from 18 million in March of…

MoneyPass is one of the biggest ATM networks in the U.S. It’s owned by the global payments company Fiserv. About 2,000 institutions, including online banks, belong to the MoneyPass network in order to give their customers fee-free access to ATMs nationwide.What is a MoneyPass ATM?A MoneyPass ATM belongs to the MoneyPass network of about 40,000 ATMs nationwide that are free for customers at participating banks. MoneyPass ATMs are largely used for cash withdrawals, though some also accept cash or check deposits. These ATMs have a MoneyPass logo.Did you know…One ATM transaction can cost you two fees: Your bank’s out-of-network fee…

After being valued at $13.4 billion in 2021, fintech’s data plumber saw growth slow dramatically. Now CEO Zach Perret is moving aggressively into three new lines of business. By Jeff Kauflin, Forbes Staff Zach Perret, cofounder and CEO of 12-year-old Plaid, took the stage at the company’s annual customers conference in June, dressed all in black, his blond hair down to his shoulders, surfer-style. Standing before a backdrop of floating purple, ice-cube-shaped images, the 37-year-old opened with a pitch that evoked fintech’s go-go days of 2021—a time when San Francisco-based Plaid raised $425 million in funding at a $13.4 billion…

NerdWallet’s overall ratings for banks and credit unions are weighted averages of several categories: checking, savings, certificates of deposit or credit union share certificates, banking experience and overdraft fees. Factors we consider, depending on the category, include rates and fees, ATM and branch access, account features and limits, user-facing technology, customer service and innovation. The stars represent ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star. Read the full article here

Over the past few years, fintechs and the banks they partner with have increasingly run afoul of compliance regulations, and Sima Gandhi has seen the issues play out first-hand. In late 2021, she launched Creative Juice, a San Francisco fintech startup that provided creators like YouTube Influencers with digital banking services and funding of up to $500,000. Since Creative Juice lacked a bank charter, it partnered with Charlottesville, Virginia-based Blue Ridge Bank to hold customer deposits. But the next year, the 130-year-old bank was accused by a federal regulator of “unsafe or unsound practices” in areas including risk management and…

Los Angeles-based lending startup Sunbit has raised $355 million in new debt financing led by JPMorgan Chase, Tokyo-based bank Mizuho and private credit firm Waterfall Asset Management. Sunbit offers consumer loans ranging from $50 to $20,000 for in-person payments at places like car dealerships (for auto repairs), dentist offices and eyewear shops in 47 U.S. states. The new line of credit follows another $310 million debt fundraising Sunbit secured from Citi and Ares earlier this year. Sunbit cofounder and CEO Arad Levertov, 47, says he has targeted U.S. brick-and-mortar sales for a few reasons. They comprise a huge market, reaching…

The intersection of financial services and technology, otherwise known as fintech, has increasingly come under federal scrutiny, especially to the extent new firms have attempted to offer traditional banking services without having a banking license. To better understand the impact of today’s presidential and congressional elections on the fintech industry, Forbes spoke with several policy experts and executives. They identified three major areas that could see changes: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the partnerships fintechs have with banks to offer banking services and the CFPB’s new 1033 rule that governs consumers’ control over their banking data. Nearly everyone we…

Donald Trump’s presidential victory and Republicans’ gains in Congress will undoubtedly have implications for the financial technology industry. Forbes spoke with policy experts and executives to discuss four areas that could see big changes: banking regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the partnerships fintechs have with banks to offer banking services and the CFPB’s new 1033 rule that governs consumers’ control over their banking data. On the banking regulation front, “We can assume under Trump a typical pro-business, reduced regulatory burden,” says Michele Alt, a cofounder and partner at advisory firm Klaros and former lawyer at the Office of…