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Smaller teams equipped with AI tools can now match or exceed the productivity of larger developer groups. AI assistants reduce the need for outsourcing, lower development costs and help maintain in-house ownership of code. But it’s important for SMBs to understand the limits of today’s AI coding assistants or risk wasting their AI investment. That’s the experience of Mike Stone, co-founder of customer web and mobile development firm The Gnar Company, whose clients include the state of Massachusetts, Grubhub and AARP. With AI coding tools, Stone said the playbook has changed to this: Hire two exceptional senior developers; Equip them with AI tools; Watch them outperform entire teams; Ship product code from ‘Day One.’ Particularly salient is the latest trend called “vibe coding,” which is a new, more intuitive way for people to write computer code using natural language — like how one would talk to a friend. Instead of writing complex code in a particular syntax, users just need to describe what they want the software program to do, and an AI model helps turn that into working code. This speeds up the creative process and lets users focus more on ideas and less on technical details. Santiago Nestares, co-founder of DualEntry, told that his company was able to build an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system like NetSuite despite being told that they would need at least $100 million, which was out of reach. The company used ChatGPT daily to pressure-test its system designs, validate architectural decisions and explore edge (or one-off) cases. It used Cursor to write and refactor code with LLMs embedded into its development workflow. It also used AI to help run automated code reviews and maintain quality without adding management layers or quality assurance processes. “With a team of just 11 people and nine months of focused work, we’ve built a fully capable ERP that has feature parity with NetSuite,” Nestares said. “AI made that possible. If we had to hire for all the knowledge we now get from AI, we’d need a team two to three times the size,” Nestares added. “AI is the great equalizer.”

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Mastercard said that nearly half of all its online transactions in Europe are now tokenized. The payment giant unveiled the milestone exactly one year after outlining its plan to phase out manual card entry and achieve 100% tokenization by 2030. The process lets consumers avoid exposing their sensitive account details, preventing a fraudster from using your credit card for nefarious purposes. Mastercard said that tokenized transactions in Europe, encompassing methods like Secure Card on File (SCOF), Click to Pay and digital wallets, have seen a one-third increase in the past year. The company’s strategy of driving the adoption of safer transactions is gaining ground as growing numbers of eCommerce marketplaces, food delivery services and financial institutions across the continent embrace new standards and solutions. A major component of this growth is merchant tokenization, specifically known as Secure Card on File (SCOF). By replacing static card numbers stored by merchants with dynamic, merchant-specific tokens, SCOF helps to reduce fraud and improve approval rates. The result: Enhanced security for shoppers and fewer fraud-related losses for businesses. Another tokenization method, Click to Pay, is also playing a crucial role in simplifying the online checkout experience. This service, now used in 26 European markets, allows consumers to make purchases online without manually entering their card details each time, often using pre-saved, tokenized credentials. Mastercard said that consumer signups for Click to Pay have more than doubled over the past year.

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Deposit networks enable customers to diversify their deposits across a network of banks and to receive protection for deposits that, in the aggregate, are over the FDIC standard maximum of $250,000. Networks give depositors access to millions in aggregate FDIC insurance at network banks, all with the simplicity of doing so through just one bank relationship. And importantly, most such networks offer banks the flexibility to move deposits on and off the balance sheet as needed, thus enabling much needed optimization on the liability side of the balance sheet. A key feature of deposit networks, reciprocal deposits enable banks to maintain usage of such deposits for loans and other investments while at the same time enabling depositors to have access to millions in aggregate FDIC insurance across network banks. Importantly, these depositors are no different than any other depositor that has walked through their door and with whom they have developed a relationship. Reciprocal deposits are relationship-based deposits of the bank.  An additional benefit of reciprocal deposits—appreciated by bankers and depositors alike—is that the full amount of funds placed through reciprocal deposit services can stay local to support community lending. Reciprocal deposits help keep locally sourced deposit amounts in local institutions, which in turn helps drive economic growth in communities of all sizes and types throughout the U.S., including some of the most underserved locales. Deposit networks not only help banks bring deposits on balance sheet with a reciprocal option, but also enable selling deposits to other network members—allowing banks to “store” deposits off balance sheet for a future need.  By participating in a deposit network, a bank can immediately address a new or existing customer’s concerns about protecting their large cash balances. Participation in a network helps banks attract and retain large deposits (six, seven, eight, or even nine figures at a time) from loyal, local safety-conscious customers, such as businesses, nonprofits, government entities and high-net-worth individuals. Influential community members, such as CPAs, financial planners and estate lawyers, are also quick to recognize the benefit of deposit safety and may welcome outreach about deposit placement network services. As their name implies, deposit networks come with a network effect—they can help your bank strengthen connections with depositors and with knowledgeable industry participants. Joining a network can provide access to professionals with deep expertise in banking and banking technology that can smooth your bank’s onboarding process and help maximize its use of network offerings. A deposit network can be a powerful tool for banks to retain and grow key depositor relationships while ensuring their customers’ large deposits are protected. By leveraging a deposit network, banks can enhance customer loyalty, optimize their balance sheets and ultimately help drive community growth and economic stability.

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Federal regulators moved to lift an unprecedented punishment that had handcuffed growth at Wells Fargo, a milestone in the bank’s efforts to repair its tarnished reputation after its fake-accounts scandal erupted nearly a decade ago.  For the first time in seven years, the fourth-largest U.S. bank will be able to grow its balance sheet and redirect resources it had been pouring into efforts to fix itself. It will once again have the freedom to gather deposits, increase loans to companies and households and grow its Wall Street businesses or even do deals.  The removal of the asset cap “marks a pivotal milestone” for Wells Fargo, said Chief Executive Charlie Scharf. The bank said it would give full-time employees a special $2,000 award. The asset-cap removal “reflects the substantial progress the bank has made in addressing its deficiencies,” the Fed said. Still, other provisions from the 2018 order “will remain in place until the bank satisfies the requirements.” The regulatory work has been all-consuming for the bank. The operating committee has for years started its meetings with sometimes hours long reviews of where the bank stood on its regulatory work. Now, executives will have the freedom to focus on broader operations and strategy. The bank can make more loans and keep them on its balance sheet. It will seek to expand its branded credit-card business and to draw wealth-management clients to other services at the bank. Wells Fargo also has more room to focus on the Wall Street businesses, such as dealmaking and trading, that Scharf has sought to grow. The bank plans to expand head count in the corporate and investment bank, where it has tapped Fernando Rivas as head and hired dozens of senior bankers. It will also likely cut costs. The bank has hired an army of 10,000 employees across its risk and control groups to address the regulatory orders. Last year, it spent roughly $2.5 billion more in those groups compared with 2018.

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Citi’s Services business is enhancing the client experience with its award-winning innovation, CitiService Agent Assist, a generative AI-powered solution designed to help customer service agents deliver faster, more accurate responses to clients. The solution is a part of CitiService, a suite of capabilities aimed at delivering an exceptional client experience through advanced technologies, focusing on AI.   

The CitiService Agent Assist solution has just received Pega’s Innovation award for financial institutions for its achievements in global service excellence, AI-powered automation and operational modernization. The solution enables customer service agents to improve the accuracy and delivery of client queries. Citi Services’ investments in innovative solutions are already delivering greater efficiency for their clients at the intersection of human and machine intelligence. Citi’s current AI capabilities have significantly enhanced decision accuracy, operational efficiency and scalability. With advanced tools and capabilities, Citi will continue to explore opportunities to further automate and streamline processes to better serve clients. Citi continues to innovate by investing in advanced technology, infrastructure, and automation to modernize the future of client service, while ensuring operational soundness and compliance. Citi’s Services AI capabilities are driving greater decision accuracy, operational efficiency, and scalability. CitiService Agent Assist is now live for Citi colleagues in 47 countries, transforming the customer experience. At Citi, we’re harnessing the power of AI to enhance how we serve clients and build the bank of tomorrow. “With solutions like CitiService Agent Assist, we’re eliminating manual processes, delivering faster responses, and creating a more seamless experience around the world. We’re committed to co-developing and innovating with our clients to streamline processes and support with global reach and efficiency”, said Naveed Anwar, Global Head of Platforms and Data Services, Services

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Venmo is supercharging its debit card rewards with new, limited-time cash back offers at some of its users’ favorite brands. Venmo Debit Card users can now earn 15% cash back from Sephora, Walmart, Lyft, McDonald’s, and Walgreens by activating their offers in the Venmo app to earn cash back on their eligible purchases in-store and online.  New brand campaign reinforces accelerated expansion of commerce solutions with enhanced rewards in-store and online. Venmo Debit Card users can also enjoy these added features:

    Tap-to-Pay: Add the Venmo Debit Card to your mobile wallet to conveniently tap-to-pay in-store.

    Automatically add funds: Easily manage and top up your Venmo balance by setting up automatic transfers—either on a preset schedule or when your balance drops below a certain point.

    Pay internationally: Use the Venmo Debit Card for purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted around the world, with no international transaction fees on purchases.

    Pass-through FDIC Insurance: With your Venmo Debit Card, your USD Venmo funds are held in Program Banks, where they are, subject to certain conditions, eligible for pass-through FDIC insurance up to $250,000 at each Program Bank. FDIC insurance protects against the failure of a Program Bank, not Venmo. Venmo is not a bank, does not take deposits, and is not FDIC-insured.

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Morgan Stanley built its in-house AI tool to tackle a difficult coding problem: reworking old legacy code into more updated coding languages. Morgan Stanley introduced the AI tool, which is based on OpenAI’s GPT models, in January. The tool, called DevGen.AI, translates code in older languages, such as Perl into plain English, which developers can then use as a basis for rewriting the code into newer languages like Python. Mike Pizzi, Morgan Stanley’s global head of technology and operations, told WSJ that in the five months since its launch, DevGen.AI has worked through nine million lines of code, saving the firm’s 15,000 developers roughly 280,000 hours of work. Pizzi said that Morgan Stanley opted to build the tool itself because tech companies didn’t have any solutions that could fit Morgan Stanley’s exact specifications. Commercial tools lacked expertise in deciphering older coding languages, especially those specific to a company. Morgan Stanley trained DevGen.AI on languages within its own code base, including languages customized for the company. However, the AI tool still has growing to do when it comes to full translation. Though the tool can, in theory, rewrite code from an older language to a newer one, it doesn’t know how to write the new code efficiently or as well as a human developer, Pizzi said. That’s why Morgan Stanley is keeping human developers involved in the process of translating old or legacy code to new languages. Pizzi disclosed that the firm will not be reducing its software engineering workforce as a result of the AI tool.

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American Banker announced JPMorganChase’s LLM Suite as the 2025 Innovation of the Year grand prize winner during a live reveal at the annual Innovation of the Year Awards Dinner held at DIGITAL BANKING. LLM Suite, the first generative AI platform deployed at scale across a major U.S. bank, is now used by over 200,000 JPMorganChase employees to streamline tasks across legal, sales, and client services. Developed by Chief Analytics Officer Derek Waldron and his team, the LLM Suite acts as an internal AI portal that integrates large language models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 into daily workflows—reducing costs, boosting efficiency, and transforming client experiences. The system allows the bank’s employees to analyze contracts, draft presentations, prepare client emails, and automate reporting, all while containing costs through a unique, pay-as-you-use compute model. “LLM Suite embodies the bold vision and disciplined execution required to harness AI for meaningful business transformation,” said Penny Crosman, Executive Editor, Technology at American Banker. “JPMorganChase’s approach sets a new standard for large-scale AI adoption in the financial sector, and the impact is clear: thousands of hours saved, smarter workflows, and stronger client engagement.” 2025 Innovation of the Year Honorees:

• Generative AI: LLM Suite – JPMorganChase (Overall Winner)
• AI + Analytics: Truist Client Pulse – Truist
• Cybersecurity + Fraud: Triangle of Fraud Protection – Western Alliance, Digital Disbursements, ClaimScore
• Digital + Mobile-First Banking: Under 18 Financial Empowerment – Nubank
• Embedded Finance: Delivering Embedded Finance to Contract Workers – Starion Bank, Fiserv, Central Payments
• Open Banking + Open Finance: Citizens Open Banking API – Citizens
• On-Chain Finance: Citi Token Services – Citi
• Payments: High-Fidelity ACH – First Internet Bank, Increase
• Regulation + Compliance + Risk Management: Regulatory Inquiries Compliance Platform Automation – Morgan Stanley
• Other Innovation: Faster Payments for a Network of Community Banks – United Bankers Bank, Pidgin

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55% of consumers were open to AI making purchases on their behalf last year, according to Accenture. Now, they are more emotionally invested: 36% active gen AI users – defined as people using gen AI tools at least weekly for personal and/or professional reasons – think of gen AI as “a good friend.” 93% of active gen AI users have or would consider asking the technology for help with personal development goals, and one-in-10 (9%) consumers rank gen AI as their single-most trusted source of what to buy. 72% consumers have used standalone gen AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, or engaged with gen AI through social media or search. Accenture’s new report also detailed consumer sentiment overall. 54% report feeling unusually high levels of uncertainty, a sentiment that has doubled in the past year (24% in Dec 2024) and three times the level reported in 2023 (18%). Consumers are 1.5-times as engaged, 2.3-times as likely to recommend a brand online, and 1.7-times as likely to accept a higher price from a brand or retailer that provides emotionally-engaging experiences. More than one-third (34%) of consumers would switch from a preferred brand to one that makes them feel special. Loyalty programs are key for driving return visits as well. Accenture’s data found that members of loyalty programs are 1.6-times more likely to be experientially or emotionally motivated, more willing to share data and engage with personalized experiences. They are 1.4-times as likely to help brands refine new products and services. “For some time, our view has been that AI will become the most important guide for consumers to decide what and where they buy,” said Oliver Wright, Accenture’s global lead for consumer Industries. “Our findings confirm that this is happening faster than we expected because of the emotional bonds that humans are forming with AI. Retailers and brands now stand at the next inflection point with generative and agentic AI. This technology provides an unparalleled opportunity to steal a march on the competition by providing relatable and relevant experiences tailored to the individual in a more friendly and helpful way.”

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Banks in the mid-sized category can leverage their unique strengths, such as deep client relationships and personalized service to differentiate themselves in a crowded, competitive landscape. 1) One major opportunity for mid-sized banks is the small and mid-sized business client segments. To capture this market, banks need to understand the needs of these clients and tailor their plans accordingly. Offering integrated solutions that address primary hurdles like integration complexity, the need for automation and technology costs can also help mid-sized banks position themselves to deliver value to their customers. These banks should create an integrated financial services ecosystem through payment hub solutions that offer pre-integrated value-added services such as sanctions screening, fraud detection, alternate cross-border payments and integration with ERP systems to drive faster speed to market and innovation. 2) Banks will also need to make a strategic choice of managing payments systems in-house vs. going with a SaaS solution that offers the best outcomes without complexity so that banks can focus on their core competency of delivering customer value. Mid-sized banks need flexibility, reliability, and a foundation to support rapid innovation and seamless scaling. Cloud technology delivers on these fronts.

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