The key stat: Roughly 80% of non-Black credit unions in the US offer an informational website and online banking services. That number falls to just about half among Black credit unions, according to an Urban Institute study.
Why the gap? The study offered two hypotheses about why there's such a large tech gap.
The news: LendingTree introduced the Win Card in partnership with card fintech Upgrade, per a press release. The co-brand card is available to select LendingTree customers during a beta launch; a waitlist is open for others who are interested.
Card highlights: The no-annual-fee Visa card is marketed toward LendingTree customers and emphasizes responsible spending.
The news: Wells Fargo will add a financial planning platform for wealth clients to its mobile app, per American Banker.
The data: Block's gross payment volume (GPV) reached $53.16 billion in Q4, per its shareholder letter. The 15% year-over-year (YoY) increase is down from 45% the same period a year ago. Q4 gross profits grew 40% YoY, slowing from 47% the prior year.
The news: UK banks faced unique challenges during Q4 2022 that their US counterparts didn't.
Here's a look at the results—and what set the UK apart from other regions.
Profits were mostly up:
The news: Stripe introduced Tap to Pay on Android for merchants using Stripe Terminal in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, and the US, per TechCrunch.
The stats: Younger borrowers are falling further behind on their loan payments—specifically auto loans and credit card debt—compared to older cohorts, according to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The data: UK Barclays cardholders made an average of 220 tap-to-pay transactions last year, totaling £3,327 ($4,099) per person, per a press release. The total value of contactless payments made with UK Barclays cards increased 49.7% year over year (YoY) in 2022.
Barclays—which oversees nearly half of the UK's card spending—highlighted other contactless payment trends:
The news: US credit card debt reached nearly $1 trillion in the fourth quarter, according to data from the New York Federal Reserve. Debt grew by $61 billion from the prior quarter—the biggest jump since 1999—and by a record $130 billion annually.
By the numbers: Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments provider Zelle posted strong performance for 2022, even amid an economic environment that has taken a bite out of consumer spending overall.
