Amazon's BNPL partnership expands; NAFCU-CUNA merger gets yes vote

November 3, 2023 3:08 PM

Amazon's buy now/pay later partnership with Affirm expands; NAFCU-CUNA merger gets affirmative vote from members; the expense-reporting firm Navan rolls out European bank partnerships; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

Amazon expands BNPL partnership with Affirm

Amazon and Affirm will offer buy now/pay later lending at the point of sale for Amazon Business, a business-to-business marketplace. Amazon will gradually roll out the option through Nov. 24 (Black Friday) to sole proprietorships. Merchants register by providing their business name and address, with approval in a few seconds at checkout. If approved, the borrower will select from pay-over-time options of three to 48 months, with the total amount agreed to at the time of the loan. Affirm has been a BNPL option on Amazon for about two years and the new agreement is an early foray by Affirm into BNPL B2B lending for sole proprietorships. BNPL has primarily been a consumer product, though businesses are increasingly using the product to defray higher supply costs. — John Adams

NAFCU, CUNA merger gets affirmative vote

A proposed merger between the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions and the National Credit Union Association, the two most prominent U.S. credit union trade groups, is moving ahead. Members of NAFCU and CUNA voted 86% and 94%, respectively, in favor of joining the two organizations together as America's Credit Unions more than three months after the merger was first announced on Aug. 1. "I'd like to thank our credit union members who have been engaged throughout this merger process — asking tough questions, holding us accountable and helping us plan for the future," Jim Nussle, current president and chief executive of CUNA, said in a press release Thursday. Nussle will lead the combined group; NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger plans to step down at year-end to facilitate the transition to new leadership. —Frank Gargano

Expenses firm Navan rolls out European bank partnerships

The expense-reporting company Navan is expanding its card-linking service into Europe, offering businesses the option to adopt its software but keep their existing corporate cards.

The Palo Alto, California, firm said its "Connect" service, which automates expense reports, will be available on Visa and Mastercard products issued by more than 40 banks in the European Union and the United Kingdom.

"This solution basically changes the game for fintech and corporate card-issuing platforms because we go directly and partner with these banks," Michael Sindicich, Navan's general manager of expense, said in an interview.

Last month, Navan said it was partnering with Citigroup to offer its expense software to the U.S. bank's commercial cardholders. The firm, founded in 2015, was valued at $9.2 billion last year and counts Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed and Greenoaks among its backers. — Aisha S Gani, Bloomberg News

Wells Fargo hires telecom banker David Kase from Barclays

Wells Fargo has hired telecommunications banker David Kase from Barclays as the San Francisco-based lender continues building out its investment banking franchise, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kase has joined Wells Fargo in New York as a managing director in the firm's technology, media and telecommunications group focused on telecom, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. He reports to Jeff Gignac, head of media and telecom within Wells Fargo's TMT business, led by Brian Gudofsky.

Kase was most recently a managing director in Barclays' communications and media group.

Under Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo has been hiring to build out its investment banking franchise to better compete with rivals. — Ryan Gould, Bloomberg News

Bill Gross is buying regional banks, says they’ve hit bottom

Bill Gross believes the "regional bank falling knife has hit bottom," suggesting that it's no longer dangerous to invest in regionals, and deviating from his recent statement that he wanted to wait a little longer before purchasing.

The co-founder and former chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. is buying Truist Financial, Citizens Financial Group, KeyCorp and First Horizon, he wrote in a post on X.

On Oct. 30, Gross suggested that regional banks have "extraordinary long-term value," but was waiting to own some of them at 60% of book value and 7% yields. A week earlier, he said he saw a U.S. recession in the fourth quarter.

In his latest post, Gross added that the best strategy for traders navigating an "uncertain" Treasury yield picture is "to invest in the 2/10 curve continuing to disinvert" and predicted it will go positive over the next six months. — Lara Sanli, Bloomberg News