Hey Toaster Readers,
Another lighter one this week.
We’re 20 days away from the Summit and nearly every working hour is going into operations.
So we’re running last edition’s format again. Below are the stories that caught our eye over the past two weeks, listed out rather than written up. A couple of these (Experian and Synchrony, together) deserve a full write-up, and they’ll eventually get one.
Back in full force after the Summit.
Recent Stories That Caught Our Eye
Experian launches a Credit Cards app on ChatGPT: consumers compare partner-lender offers (annual fees, intro bonuses, rewards rates, APRs) inside the chat, then get routed to Experian for the offers they’re eligible for. Credit One Bank is the first partner quoted [Experian]
Synchrony announces a partnership with OpenAI: a ChatGPT plugin that brings Synchrony Marketplace promotional financing and partner offers into the conversation [CNBC]
Advent and Stripe abandon their $50 billion pursuit of PayPal after the board passed on $60.50 a share [Bloomberg]
Affirm Card active cardholders more than doubled to 5.2 million (attach rate about 19%) and Card GMV grew 124% to $2.8 billion. Cardholders average almost $4,000 in GMV, more than twice the average active consumer [Affirm]
Fifth Third launches the Truly Simple card: 0% APR for 18 months on purchases and balance transfers, $0 annual fee, and debt consolidation inside the app [Fifth Third]
Google improves the Preferred Sources button for publishers; 600,000+ sources have been selected, triple the count from May [Search Engine Roundtable]
The OCC approves Itaú’s national bank charter for a Miami bank serving wealthy clients tied to Brazil and Latin America [American Banker]
Sponsored by Fintel Connect
Free Report - The 2026 Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) Guide to Affiliate Customer Growth
CPA benchmarks shift every year, and many brands are still asking the wrong question: “What are other brands paying?” The better question is “What business outcome are we optimizing for?”
Fintel Connect’s 2026 CPA Guide draws on proprietary benchmarks and market intelligence from thousands of financial affiliate campaigns across the U.S. and Canada, giving banks, credit unions, and fintechs a clear read on what’s driving CPA and how to build a program that performs.
What you’ll learn:
U.S. and Canadian CPA benchmarks by product category
The internal and external drivers actually moving your CPA
A framework for determining the right CPA for your business, not just the market average
Three principles for sustained affiliate performance in 2026
20 Days Left Until The Affiliate Marketing Summit!
The Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders & Publishers is September 23 and 24 in San Francisco: Day 1 at the Exploratorium, Day 2 at Ridge Vineyards.
We announced more speakers over the past two weeks.
We have fewer than 30 tickets remaining.
Catch you next week,
The Free Toaster Team
Carlos Caro, Founder at NMG, Co-Founder of The Free Toaster Nick Madrid, Co-Founder of The Free Toaster and Uncovered Media
P.S.: If you’d like to sponsor or host an event in the consumer lending community, we’d like to hear from you. Reply to this email or write us at info@thefreetoaster.com.