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Visa and Mastercard just agreed to a $38 billion settlement to end two decades of swipe fee battles, but merchants are still pushing back. The deal caps consumer card rates and trims fees for five years, yet many say it still favors the banks. Propel’s new partnership with Column Bank signals a bigger U.S. lending push through its CreditFresh brand, while airlines like United and Southwest are turning debit cards into loyalty engines that tie checking accounts directly to travel rewards.

Beyond that, fintechs are moving fast. U.S. Bank rolled out its Split World Mastercard with built-in pay-over-time features, Rakuten and Bilt joined forces to merge cash back with points, and Robinhood’s Gold Card is setting a new standard for how smooth an application can feel. AI is moving deeper into commerce, with Shopify and Worldpay leading the push toward more automated, personalized shopping experiences.

Earnings season told its own story. Affirm reported record revenue, Adyen and Block both posted double-digit gains, and Sezzle hit the billion-dollar GMV mark for the first time. NerdWallet, Gen Digital, Marqeta, Fiserv, and OppFi also turned in strong quarters, showing how fintechs are balancing credit quality, growth, and profit as 2025 winds down.

Here’s what’s happening across fintech right now.

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Visa, Mastercard Reach $38 Billion Swipe Fee Settlement, Draw Opposition

Visa and Mastercard, the card network giants, just reached a revised $38 billion settlement with merchants who've been suing them for two decades over allegedly excessive "swipe fees". Merchants, who accused the companies and banks of violating U.S. antitrust laws, say they would still pay too much, especially to accept popular rewards cards. The new deal aims to satisfy a judge who rejected a smaller $30 billion accord last year, calling the projected merchant savings "paltry". The new settlement mandates that the card networks lower swipe fees by 0.1 percentage point for five years and caps standard consumer rates at 1.25% for eight years. Merchant groups, however, still oppose the accord, arguing it doesn't give banks an incentive to lower rates or address the issue of accepting all cards, which they say would make them "lose a lot of business". Even so, supporters, like the Electronic Payments Coalition, which includes Capital One, Chase, and Citibank, say the deal would reduce swipe fees more than a proposed Senate bill. Experts hired by the merchant plaintiffs believe ending the "upward spiral" could save merchants $38 billion by 2031. [Reuters]

Propel Holdings and Column Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Access to Credit Across the U.S.

Propel Holdings, a fintech company that facilitates access to credit for underserved consumers, is teaming up with Column N.A., a nationally chartered bank designed to help companies build and fund new financial products. This strategic partnership, operating under Propel's CreditFresh brand and ForwardFlow line of business, will expand the company's presence in the U.S. credit market by bringing unsecured personal loans to new customer segments and additional geographies. The new product, named Freshline and provided by Column, is expected to launch in Q1, 2026. Propel plans to provide servicing and forward flow the loan economics to third-party partners. Propel's CEO, Clive Kinross, noted that Column's national footprint and modern banking platform will "dramatically accelerate" their U.S. growth. Propel has over fourteen years in enabling credit and has already helped consumers access "over two billion dollars in credit". The collaboration will allow the fintech to deepen its specialization in serving the underserved U.S. market. [PR Newswire]

Airlines Turn Debit Into the New Loyalty Engine

Two of the biggest U.S. carriers are giving debit cards a frequent-flyer twist. Southwest Airlines and United Airlines rolled out new reward-earning debit products that let customers collect miles or points on everyday spending without a credit check. Southwest’s Rapid Rewards Debit Card, built with Galileo and Sunrise Banks, lets cardholders earn points toward the Companion Pass and receive annual travel perks, while United’s MileagePlus Debit Rewards Card adds monthly mile bonuses based on account balances.

The timing shows how airlines are rethinking loyalty as a payments strategy. Credit cards still dominate high-spend travelers, but these debit launches target a wider base of consumers who want flexibility and transparency. By tying checking accounts to reward ecosystems, airlines are blurring the line between banking and travel, turning simple debit transactions into year-round engagement tools. [NerdWallet] [Galileo]

U.S. Bank Launches Split™ World Mastercard®

U.S. Bank, the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, just launched a game-changing credit card, the U.S. Bank Split™ World Mastercard®, that automatically converts all purchases into pay-over-time plans. This new card is an alternative to traditional Buy Now, Pay Later options, offering a single solution backed by a major bank that provides consumer protections and the ability to build credit. All purchases are automatically split into a three-month payment plan with "no interest or annual fee". For larger purchases of $100 or more, cardholders can extend the payment plan to six or 12 months for a small, fixed monthly plan fee. Chris Roncari, head of product and experience for consumer and small business payments at U.S. Bank, said the Split Card is designed for consumers seeking "easy and transparent ways to fund purchases of all sizes" and expects it to be a "top choice for Gen Z consumers" who desire financial consistency. Cardholders can shop anywhere Mastercard is accepted and manage all their purchase plans with a simple and transparent dashboard in the U.S. Bank Mobile App and online banking. [U.S. Bank]

Rakuten and Bilt Launch Partnership to Power Smart Rewards

Bilt and Rakuten have teamed up to connect two major rewards ecosystems ahead of the holiday season. The new partnership lets Bilt members convert Rakuten Cash Back directly into Bilt Points, turning everyday purchases into flights, rent credits, or lifestyle perks. For the first six months, members enjoy a 1:1 conversion rate and a 2,500-point welcome bonus for new Rakuten sign-ups through the Bilt app. The collaboration gives Bilt access to Rakuten’s massive retail network while helping shoppers stretch their spending into long-term value without changing their usual shopping habits. The timing positions both brands at the center of the holiday spending surge when consumers are most likely to chase bonus offers. It also reinforces a growing trend in fintech loyalty, where rewards platforms are competing to become the default layer for how people earn and redeem everyday value. [Rakuten]

West Palm Beach Fintech Firm To Lay Off 141 Employees Amid Funding Collapse

The fintech startup MyBambu, which focused on providing digital financial services to underserved communities, is permanently shutting down operations and laying off all 141 employees at its West Palm Beach office. CEO Douglas P. Quay announced the closure, stating the company's "sudden loss" of its primary funding source triggered the shutdown. While MyBambu initiated emergency fundraising to fill the financial shortfall, those efforts "have not yielded sufficient results to continue operations." The layoffs are hitting multiple departments—including customer care, compliance, and marketing—with 100 employees already let go on October 31st and the remaining 41 expected to be terminated by December 31st, when the office will "be fully closed." The company's collapse highlights the volatility of the startup ecosystem, especially for businesses dependent on sustained investor backing. [CBS12]

Sezzle Banks on Subscriptions to Turn BNPL Into a Billion-Dollar Q3

Sezzle, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform, hit a major milestone, clocking its first "billion-dollar" quarter in Q3, with Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) jumping "58.7% year over year to $1 billion" and total revenue climbing "67% to $116.8 million". Executive Chairman and CEO Charlie Youakim is "steering back to its subscription model" after an "On-Demand" option test "diluted lifetime value," believing subscriptions are the better long-term strategy. Management is focused on growth and responsibility, arguing that consumers "prefer to use BNPL over a credit card" and view the service as a "budgeting tool". To support this, Sezzle is exploring an industrial loan company charter, which it sees as "the right long-term path" , and it exercised a "$75 million accordion" to raise its revolving credit facility to "$225 million" before the holidays. Furthermore, management pushed back on lending worries, noting credit losses are "trending toward the lower half of the company’s 2025 target range". The company raised its 2025 profit targets and introduced its 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of "$4.35". [PYMNTS]

PublicSquare to Acquire Assets of Tandym, Adding Virtual & Private Label Credit Cards to its Growing Fintech Ecosystem

PSQ Holdings, Inc. (PublicSquare), a financial technology company, announced its planned acquisition of key software assets from Tandym, Inc., a move expected to cement PublicSquare’s strategic shift into a full-stack fintech platform. Tandym offers consumer brands a white-labeled payment and credit suite, allowing merchants in the PublicSquare ecosystem to launch their own branded cards with "seamless checkout placement" and "zero-dev lift". This acquisition will transform payments into a "high-margin growth engine" by allowing merchants to reduce processing fees to "under 1%" by bypassing traditional payment rails. CEO Michael Seifert noted the new technology will help merchants target loyal customers and unlock "new recurring revenue through interchange participation". PublicSquare plans to acquire the assets for a consideration of Class A Common Stock valued at "$5.75 million" and up to "$1.0 million" in cash, expecting the deal to close in "December 2025". The company believes the private-label credit card offering will reinforce its "mission to build a resilient, values-aligned financial network". [Nasdaq]

Agentic Commerce Moves From Hype to Habit

AI shopping agents are quickly moving from concept to reality. Shopify reports a sevenfold increase in traffic from AI tools and an elevenfold jump in orders tied to AI-powered search since January, showing that shoppers are becoming more comfortable letting digital assistants guide their purchases. The company’s work with OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot reflects how fast AI is being woven into the everyday shopping experience.

That shift is reinforced by new data from Worldpay, which found that nearly half of U.S. consumers would let an AI assistant browse for them, with interest rising to 59 percent among younger shoppers. By 2030, AI agents are expected to drive more than $261 billion in online sales. Together, the findings signal a major turning point where AI-guided buying is evolving from a novelty into a normal part of how people shop online. [TechCrunch] [Worldpay]

Yodlee and JPMorganChase Strengthen Decades-Long Partnership With Updated Data Access Agreement

JPMorganChase (JPMC), a "leading financial services firm" with "$4.6 trillion in assets", and Yodlee, a "leading data aggregation and analytics platform," strengthened their two-decade partnership by amending their existing Data Access agreement. The updated agreement includes "mutual commitments and a pricing structure" and is the latest step in their "long-standing relationship". Together, the companies are focusing on developing "innovative solutions that will shape the future of open finance and financial wellness" for JPMC customers and the wider financial community. Melissa Feldsher, Head of Consumer Payments at JPMorganChase, stated that the collaboration will "help improve financial wellness solutions for our customers and the overall open banking ecosystem". Yodlee CEO Farouk Ferchichi added that the companies are "building innovative financial wellness solutions for millions of U.S. customers". [Yodlee]

From the Inside: What Robinhood’s Gold Card Gets Right About the Customer Journey

I’ve seen a lot of credit card funnels in my career, but Robinhood’s Gold Card experience set a new bar for how clean and intuitive an application can be. From the moment I got the notification that I was off the waitlist, everything moved smoothly. The app brought me straight into the application, filled in almost every field, and ran a soft pull before showing my credit limit. Within seconds, I was approved, my digital card was issued, and it was live in Google Wallet before I even left the app.

Two hours later, I was already paying for lunch with the new card. That kind of flow comes from thoughtful product work and seamless integration behind the scenes. If you work in lending or credit products, go try it yourself. It’s a great example of how a financial process can feel simple, quick, and focused entirely on the user.

— Carlos Caro

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