Fintech

President Trump and Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., visited the Federal Reserve Board headquarters Thursday afternoon to inspect ongoing renovations whose cost overruns have heightened scrutiny of Fed chair Jerome Powell.

Flagstar Bank wants to merge its holding company into the bank, which would cut $15 million in annual expenses and eliminate regulatory oversight by the Federal Reserve, leaving the OCC as its primary regulator. The bank's CEO, Joseph Otting, is a former comptroller of the currency.

Bread Financial continues to keep its eye on the potential inflationary impacts of the Trump administration's trade policies, despite the fact that its delinquencies and losses declined in the second quarter.

The fintech has made its core payment app interoperable with Venmo and will connect 2 billion users through partnerships in India, China, Brazil and other major digital commerce markets.

The credit card issuer renewed and extended its 15-year partnership with Amazon and touted fresh partnerships with Walmart and PayPal as wins, but lowered its full-year guidance due to lower purchase volumes and higher payment rates.

Kate Luft, a former chief of staff for Citi CEO Jane Fraser, is now running the company's U.S. retail banking business. In her first interview since getting the job, Luft discussed what banks can learn from airlines and the advantages that incumbents have over fintechs.

Bank earnings have been largely positive in the second quarter despite concerns that tariffs would increase inflation and stifle economic activity. Payment divisions at banks reaped the rewards, too.

The U.K. fintech's shares fell about 5% in London, partly due to international currency volatility. It hopes a U.S. listing will improve the company's ability to raise capital.

Monetary policymakers have held off on lower interest rates for months, citing the risk of tariff-induced inflation. Several now say this week's CPI and PPI reports confirmed their suspicions.

After the rapid rise of interest rates, election uncertainty and tariff policies stymied borrower demand, some banks' second-quarter results suggest that loan growth may be on its way back.