At its core, earmarking just means setting money aside for a specific purpose—like rent, payroll, or taxes—so it’s only used for that. It’s a simple concept, but when combined with automation, it could be the budgeting upgrade many people and businesses have been waiting for. That’s where programmable payments come in. These are payments that happen automatically based on rules you set. Through banking apps, digital wallets, or budgeting platforms, consumers choose or create spending categories and assign rules—like percentages, spending limits, or triggers. It’s like having a personal money assistant organizing your finances, paying your bills, and keeping you on budget without you having to think about it. For businesses, this brings new efficiency to managing payroll, vendor payments, and escrow accounts. The upside of earmarking with programmable payments is clear: automation takes the work out of budgeting, real-time visibility helps track your money, and flexible rules let you customize how it all works. It’s also useful in more regulated settings like distributing aid or managing shared accounts because it adds accountability. Earmarking with programmable payments is a smart, modern take on a tried-and-true budgeting technique. Used intentionally, it can bring clarity, control, and purpose to the way money flows. In a complex financial world, that’s something both individuals and experts can benefit from.
New crypto regulations signal a structural shift toward a unified financial market model pushing banks to launch integrated platforms that merge tokenized assets and native crypto trade, offering access to multiple services via blockchain-based wallets akin to ‘super app’
Last week was a watershed in the evolution of the U.S. digital asset ecosystem, with two high-level official statements on next steps for the regulation and development of its market structure. Lifting the lid and peering more closely, however, reveals that it was more than that. Going beyond just digital assets, last week marked an inflection point in the traditional banking business model. Last Wednesday, the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets, or PWG, finally published the road map President Trump requested upon its creation back in January. The report adds 166 pages of detail to the administration’s promise to recover U.S. leadership in financial innovation by creating clear and supportive rules for the adoption of blockchain technology. The more than 100 proposals include a clarification as to what extent banks can participate in crypto asset activity; modernizing the payments infrastructure to support stablecoins; setting new capital rules for crypto assets held on bank balance sheets; increasing transparency around master account and bank charter applications; updating anti-money-laundering rules for decentralized services; and a whole lot more. Then, just one day later, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins delivered one of the more astonishing speeches in crypto history: He outlined Project Crypto, specifying four policy areas for his staff to focus on in their efforts to create a crypto framework. These include asset issuance, custody, licensing and the use of decentralized applications in financial markets. Both proposals came laden with detail as to intentions, a refreshing change. But even more surprising was the scope of the ambition. The initiatives are not just about creating new rules for crypto assets: They’re also about an overhaul of U.S. securities and banking regulation. As such, they impact all market participants, traditional and new. Essentially, the aim of the PWG report and the SEC’s Project Crypto is to blur the boundaries between traditional and blockchain-based markets and financial services. This may sound terrifying to many, as the structure of global finance is a complex web and any profound change will of course give birth to unforeseen risks.
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing is named Best Online Brokerage by REAL SIMPLE women’s lifestyle magazine
J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing was named Best Online Brokerage in REAL SIMPLE’s 2025 Smart Money Awards. With J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, clients enjoy unlimited commission-free online trades on thousands of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and treasuries in the Chase Mobile® app and on Chase.com. REAL SIMPLE is the leading women’s lifestyle magazine, both at newsstands and on Apple News+. The Smart Money Awards recognize innovative financial products and services that simplify money management for consumers. “J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing continues to shine in the industry and is a great place for people to get started on growing their money,” said Kristin Lemkau, CEO of J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. REAL SIMPLE highlights that JPMorganChase clients can seamlessly manage their investments, bank accounts, credit cards, auto loans and mortgages – all within the Chase Mobile® app and on Chase.com. In addition, clients have access to J.P. Morgan’s retirement desk, which connects them with specialists who can walk them through retirement accounts rollovers and answer in-depth questions. J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing customers can open an account in a few quick steps and invest on-the-go. New customers can earn up to $700 when they open and fund an eligible account with qualifying new money. All customers have access to thousands of investments.
J.D. Power 2025 Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study- TD Auto Finance ranks highest in Non-Captive National—Prime, Huntington in Non-Captive Regional—Prime and Ally leads in Non-Captive Sub-Prime
According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Dealer Financing Satisfaction Study, national banks (780) have significantly outperformed regional banks (713) in overall satisfaction and dealer intent for a third consecutive year. While regional banks have narrowed the gap, they still trail national banks in all five of the metrics evaluated in the study, an indication that progress is not happening quickly enough to shift dealer preferences or behaviors. “National banks continue to demonstrate the resilience and adaptability that set them apart in today’s economic climate,” said Patrick Roosenberg, senior director of automotive finance intelligence at J.D. Power. “If regional banks want to stay competitive, they must clearly differentiate their value proposition and show dealers how their services are superior in meeting their needs. Without that, they risk losing relevance—and market share.” Study Rankings
- Captive Premium—Prime: Maserati Capital USA ranks highest in overall dealer satisfaction with a score of 927, followed by Porsche Financial Services (879) and Jaguar Land Rover Financial Group (874).
- Captive Mass Market—Prime: Southeast Toyota Finance ranks highest in overall dealer satisfaction for a third consecutive year with a score of 874, followed by Subaru Motors Finance (866) and Honda Financial Services (775).
- Non-Captive National—Prime: TD Auto Finance ranks highest in overall dealer satisfaction for a sixth consecutive year, with a score of 864. Ally Financial (847) ranks second and Capital One Auto Finance (820) ranks third.
- Non-Captive Regional—Prime: Huntington National Bank ranks highest in overall dealer satisfaction for a third consecutive year, with a score of 759. Santander Auto Finance (736) ranks second and M&T Bank (726) ranks third.
- Non-Captive Sub-Prime: Ally Financial ranks highest in overall dealer satisfaction for a fifth consecutive year, with a score of 835. Capital One Auto Finance (807) ranks second and Chase Auto (773) ranks third.
Institutions boost mainstream crypto adoption via tokenization, cross-chain connectivity, and regulatory clarity—transforming finance with integrated platforms, Ethereum staking, and blockchain-enabled innovation
1) Mainstream crypto adoption gains momentum: The path to mainstream crypto adoption is accelerating as institutions embrace tokenization, cross-chain connectivity and real-time verification to modernize financial systems. Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink Labs, sees regulatory clarity, global liquidity and blockchain-based infrastructure driving this shift into the next era of on-chain finance. 2) Institutional-grade crypto integration: Talos Global Inc. is transforming institutional access to digital assets through its one-stop platform, connecting clients to exchanges, OTC desks, custodians and post-trade services in a single integration. With its recent Coin Metrics Inc. acquisition, Talos strengthens its data capabilities while accelerating global adoption, said Anton Katz, co-founder and chief executive officer of Talos. 3) Incubating innovation at the intersection of Web3, AI and biotech: At YZi Labs, mainstream crypto adoption is just one part of a bigger vision that blends blockchain with AI and biotech to create transformative, mission-driven companies. 4) Ethereum staking advantage for institutions: Andrew Keys, co-founder and chairman of The Ether Machine, sees a massive gap in how institutional investors can fully capitalize on Ethereum’s yield potential. By enabling 100% staking capacity, layering in restaking and engaging in DeFi, his approach aims to outperform ETFs and offer a cleaner, more flexible vehicle for Ether exposure. 5) Innovation fueling the next wave: Momentum for mainstream crypto adoption is accelerating as institutions, enterprises and even global brands explore tokenization, custom L1 blockchains and blockchain-enabled economies. 6) Blockchain meets AI in a new data economy: OpenLedger is redefining how AI models are built by creating a transparent, blockchain-powered marketplace for proprietary, domain-specific data. This “payable AI” approach rewards contributors whose data improves models, enabling decentralized intelligence to flourish across industries, explained Ram Kumar, core contributor at OpenLedger, a blockchain AI company. 7) Entrepreneurship surges as clarity fuels crypto’s next wave: With regulatory clarity restoring confidence, innovation in digital assets is accelerating, drawing top founders and investors back into the fold. Diogo Monica, co-founder and executive chairman of Anchorage, the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Anchor Labs Inc., and general partner at Haun Ventures Management LP, says mainstream crypto adoption is now propelled by stablecoin growth, strategic M&A and renewed institutional engagement. 8) Institutional crypto security and expansion: Ledger SAS is evolving from its roots in consumer crypto wallets to delivering enterprise-grade security, governance and trading solutions for the institutional wave reshaping digital finance. With integrations for custody, payments, staking and multi-chain treasury management, the company is meeting global demand, says Sebastien Badault, vice president of enterprise at Ledger. 9) Decentralized infrastructure powering the next wave of adoption: As digital assets evolve on decentralized infrastructure, mainstream crypto adoption is accelerating with powerful new platforms enabling developers to build at scale.
Omnichannel offerings drive ‘strong’ Walmart Q2- e-commerce increased 25%, led by store-fulfilled pickup and delivery and marketplace, with digital mix up across all segments
Walmart Inc. has issued second-quarter results showing strong revenue growth for each of the company’s business segments. Globally, e-commerce increased 25%, led by store-fulfilled pickup and delivery and marketplace, with digital mix up across all segments. Meanwhile, Walmart U.S. comp sales were up 4.6%,with solid growth in grocery and health and wellness. Other highlights of the quarter included: Revenue of $177.4 billion, up 4.8%, or 5.6% in constant currency; Global advertising business growth of 46%, including Vizio; Walmart Connect in the United States up 31%; Membership and other income up 5.4%, including 15.3% growth in membership income worldwide; Gross margin rate up 4 basis points, led by Walmart U.S.; Operating income decrease by $0.7 billion, or 8.2%, affected by discrete legal and restructuring costs; adjusted operating income up 0.4% in constant currency, due to strong sales and continued execution on the company’s financial framework; growth also affected by about 560 basis points from higher self-insured general liability claims expense; Adjusted EPS of 68 cents, excluding the effect, net of tax, of a net gain of 26 cents on equity and other investments, 5 cents from charges related to certain legal matters and 1 cent from business restructuring charges . E-commerce sales saw 26% growth, with sales through store-fulfilled delivery channels rising nearly 50%. Momentum in advertising continued, including a 31% increase in Walmart Connect sales (ex-Vizio). The gross profit rate rose 26 basis points, with membership income up by double digits. An operating income increase of 2.0% was attributed by Walmart to strong inventory management and improved e-commerce economics, aided by continued improvement in business mix, although largely offset by a 620-basis-point headwind from increased self-insured general liability claims expense.
Ally’s strong second quarter got complicated by tariffs because of less need for loans to dealerships
Ally Financial soared past Wall Street’s expectations in the second quarter. But its auto lending business, the bank’s specialty, still struggled with some tariff-induced hurdles. “Even as things feel like they’re turning a corner,” Brian Foran, an analyst at Truist Securities, told, “it just seems like there’s always something getting in the way.” One obstacle was the chaos over U.S. trade policy, which has been in flux since early April. As tariffs snarled supply chains and delayed imports, car dealers struggled to refill their inventories. Meanwhile, the fear of future tariffs pulled forward consumer demand, with customers racing to buy cars before prices went even higher. The result was that cars spent less time on lots, which in turn meant less need for loans to dealerships — and less profit for Ally. Meanwhile, the bank’s overall earnings surged past Wall Street’s expectations. In the second quarter, net income was $324 million, far outpacing analysts’ average estimate of $242.6 million, according to S&P. It also marked a 70% increase from the same period last year. The results were a far cry from this year’s first quarter, when Ally restructured its balance sheet, putting its quarterly bottom line in the red. Earnings per share for that period were negative 82 cents, and the company reported a net loss of $225 million. This was primarily because Ally sold off $2.5 billion of its investment portfolio, in order to ease pressure on underwater bonds and free up capital to buy more liquid securities. One quarter later, the restructuring appears to have yielded benefits. Much of the growth in revenue during the second quarter, Ally said, was thanks to a $35 million jump in the value of equity securities. “Ally’s focused strategy is working, and you’re starting to see it in our results,” Rhodes said. Apart from auto lending, Ally’s other units showed mixed results. The insurance segment took in $28 million in income, up $68 million from the same period last year. But the company’s corporate finance unit earnings fell $13 million year over year to $96 million.
A multi-round AI coding challenge K Prize that tests models against flagged issues from GitHub to assess how well models can deal with real-world programming problems sees a top score of just 7.5% versus the industry benchmark of 75%
Nonprofit Laude Institute announced the first winner of the K Prize, a multi-round AI coding challenge launched by Databricks and Perplexity co-founder Andy Konwinski. The winner will receive $50,000 for the prize. The final score set a new bar for AI-powered software engineers; with correct answers to just 7.5% of the questions on the test. K Prize runs offline with limited compute, so it favors smaller and open models. It levels the playing field. Konwinski has pledged $1 million to the first open source model that can score higher than 90% on the test. K Prize tests models against flagged issues from GitHub as a test of how well models can deal with real-world programming problems. But while SWE-Bench is based on a fixed set of problems that models can train against, the K Prize is designed as a “contamination-free version of SWE-Bench,” using a timed entry system to guard against any benchmark-specific training. For round one, models were due by March 12. The K Prize organizers then built the test using only GitHub issues flagged after that date. The 7.5% top score stands in marked contrast to SWE-Bench itself, which currently shows a 75% top score on its easier “Verified” test and 34% on its harder “Full” test. Konwinski still isn’t sure whether the disparity is due to contamination on SWE-Bench or just the challenge of collecting new issues from GitHub, but he expects the K Prize project to answer the question soon.
Waymo partners rental car company Avis to handle general depot operations, including charging and maintenance of its fleet of all-electric autonomous vehicles as it plans to launch robotaxi service in Dallas
Waymo plans to launch a robotaxi service next year in Dallas. Waymo is partnering with Avis Budget Group to manage its fleet of all-electric autonomous Jaguar I-Pace vehicles. Avis will handle general depot operations, including charging and maintaining the vehicles. Users will be able to hail a robotaxi through the Waymo app. Avis is the first rental car company to help Waymo manage its fleet. And it’s a partnership that will likely extend to other cities in the future. Avis will play a large in role helping the company scale its technology to new markets faster and more cost-effectively. Waymo and Avis Budget Group intend to expand to more cities together over time. Waymo took one of its “road trips” to Dallas, where the company used its sensor-laden vehicles to map the city and conduct initial testing. Waymo has started testing its autonomous vehicles on public roads with a human safety operator behind the wheel. As it has in every other city it has launched in, Waymo will progress to fully autonomous testing once its tech has been further validated on Dallas streets. Avis Budget Group CEO Brian Choi said the partnership marks a “pivotal milestone in its evolution, from a rental car company to a provider of fleet management, infrastructure and operations to the broader mobility ecosystem.”
Chase plans to have 31 Financial Centers open by the end of next year expanding its affluent offering and bringing a highly personalized level of service to millions of potential clients
JPMorganChase celebrated the construction of its 1,000th branch since launching its market expansion initiative in 2018, marking a significant milestone toward improving access to financial services across the nation. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Charlotte, North Carolina, JPMorganChase executives joined local community members to officially open the new branch and highlight the positive impact Chase branches have on local neighborhoods. Chase will continue expanding its presence in low-to-moderate income and rural communities with limited access to traditional banking services, as well as markets such as Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Raleigh and Washington, D.C. Over the past seven years, Chase has opened more branches than all large bank peers combined, bringing affordable and convenient financial services to communities in all lower 48 states. Today, Chase covers more Americans than any other bank, with 68% of the U.S. population within an accessible drive time to one of its branches. The bank is on track to meet its goal of 500 new branches by early 2027, contributing to its long-term plans of reaching 75% of the national population within an accessible drive and over 50% within each state. Chase branches are more than just financial service providers; they are vital engines driving economic activity and supporting local communities. JPMorganChase’s internal research highlights the substantial impact these branches have on lending, employment, customer engagement and deposit balances. Annually, Chase branches originate billions in business and home loans, directly fueling local lending activity and fostering economic growth in surrounding areas. With a workforce of around 50,000 customer-facing staff, Chase branches offer significant employment opportunities, bolstering the local economy. Chase branches also play a pivotal role in supporting local economic activity and retail spending, serving approximately 300 million visiting customers each year and handling around 900 million transactions. These findings reveal that new branches have stronger retail activity and marked increases in business activity, mortgage originations and household income in areas with Chase branches compared to matched areas without them. When this expansion is completed, Chase will have added more than 1,100