Three years ago, Facebook parent company Meta agreed to pay a whopping $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of making users’ data available without their consent (Meta denied wrongdoing). Payments were finally scheduled to start hitting consumers’ wallets this month, but court filings from last week show that the portion of the funds slated to be sent through digital prepaid cards are now under intense legal scrutiny. Forbes estimates those digital payments would total $150 million. The controversy stems from secret rebates that Blackhawk Network, the fintech that issues the digital cards, agreed to make to…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking stakeholders for their input before it reworks an open banking rule governing access to consumer financial data. The battle between fintechs and banking incumbents intensified last month as the nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan, announced it would impose hefty fees for data access, with other banks contemplating similar moves to stave off rising competition by the fintech industry. Just yesterday, the CFPB raised a total of 36 questions in the solicitation document it submitted to the Federal Register’s public inspection division. Under consideration, are questions as to who should have the authority to make…

From Anchorage Digital to BitGo and Morgan Stanley, a growing cast of financial firms are reaping big fees riding the tidal wave of corporate bitcoin buying. A record number of public companies are shoveling crypto onto their balance sheets—ostensibly to diversify their holdings, hedge against inflation and attract new investors. The unstated reason, of course, is management’s desire to boost their stock price. In recent months, just announcing a so-called “crypto treasury” strategy has been enough to add premiums to trading prices. The real bonanza however, is flowing to the picks-and-shovels merchants of this latest gold rush: custodians, brokers, asset…

The Trump administration is teeing up what could be the biggest shakeup in U.S. housing finance since the 2008 crisis—a pair of IPOs that might value Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a combined $500 billion. The plan, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and is still being finalized by the administration, would see the federal government sell between 5% and 15% of each company, potentially raising about $30 billion in what would be one of the largest stock offerings in American history. Yet behind the fanfare lies a precarious gamble on institutions still tethered to taxpayer…

A federal judge on Tuesday granted a last minute motion by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to stay the court battle over the legality of the agency’s “open banking” rule, while it rewrites it in a way that “aligns with the policy preferences of the new leadership.” The regulations, designed to give consumers greater control over their own financial data, were finalized last October under the Biden Administration, and scheduled to take effect on a staggered basis next year. The Biden-era rule allows customers to access and share financial information connected to their bank accounts, credit cards, payment apps…

Americans have more debt than they’ve ever had, making them vulnerable to defaulting on their loans if the economy turns south. New financial results from credit card issuer Synchrony show that U.S. borrowers are holding up fine, but if inflation rises sharply again, all bets are off. Synchrony is a Stamford, Connecticut-based bank that offers co-branded credit cards and point-of-sale loans for customers like Sam’s Club, Lowe’s and PayPal. One in every four American adults has a Synchrony card, the company says, so its financial performance gives us an inside look into consumers’ financial health. The bank manages a book…

JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in America, has been angry for years about being forced to hand over customer data to fintech companies for free. Now its billionaire CEO Jamie Dimon seems to be capitalizing on a moment of deregulation to slap fintechs with new fees, and the coming negotiations will determine how much damage the behemoth inflicts on their businesses. The bank’s aggressive move is a big escalation in the ongoing battle between financial services incumbents and challenger fintechs. Since the start of the fintech industry, upstarts have needed access to consumers’ bank data to perform basic functions like…

Name: Jayshree Patel Firm: New York Life Location: Lincolnwood, IL Total Value of Policies: $6.4 billion Background: Jayshree Patel grew up in a small village in India with her widowed mother and four sisters, facing early hardships after her father passed away. She moved to the U.S. in 1993 after college and joined New York Life in 1997, building her career initially around life insurance—the foundation of financial planning. Over the years, her practice expanded to serve multiple generations, adding retirement planning, estate strategies, and long-term care. Today, she runs a $6 billion assets firm with her husband and two…

Name: Chelsea Maeda Firm: Winged Keel Group Location: New York, NY Total Value of Policies: $105 Billion Background: Chelsea Maeda was born and raised in Hawaii, the youngest of three children. After attending Columbia University, where she studied statistics and music, she interned at Winged Keel and joined the firm full-time in 2008. “I never expected to end up on the sales side,” she says. “But I saw the impact we were having and wanted to stay.” She rotated through analytics and design roles before moving into a client-facing position in 2012. In 2020, she became a principal and joined…

Name: Joshua Waite Firm: Waite Financial Group / Northwestern Mutual Location: Peoria, IL Total Value of Policies: $1.1 billion Background: Joshua Waite grew up in a small farming town outside Peoria, Illinois—just a mile from the family farm where his grandfather, one of his childhood heroes, helped shape his values of hard work, humility, and integrity. After earning a finance degree from nearby Bradley University, he joined Northwestern Mutual in 2003, where his father had long been a policyholder. Although he describes himself as a natural introvert, Waite found success in sales by asking thoughtful questions and listening carefully—traits that…