Obligo has launched its end-to-end deposit management solution. Obligo’s API-first platform integrates seamlessly with property management and financial systems, earning recognition for its scalability, security, and flexibility. Cash deposit handling has long been a costly and cumbersome process for property managers. Traditional manual steps – from certified checks to ledger updates and refund compliance – drive up operational costs, increase compliance risk, and provide an antiquated renter experience. Obligo renters enjoy a seamless move-in with digital payments and refunds – no checks, no snail mail. Alongside the full deposit option, renters can choose from Obligo’s existing products to best fit their financial needs, including No Deposit, Reduced Deposit™ or Deposits-in-Installments. “Deposit management solutions are not a new concept, but they’ve always come with a clear compromise,” said Roey Dor, CEO of Obligo. “It’s understandably difficult for property managers to trust new entrants in the deposit space – especially when those solutions aren’t embedded into their property management systems. Our approach delivers what the industry has been waiting for: a fully embedded, flexible, and trusted solution that truly rids both properties and renters of the burden of security deposits.”
Oura smart ring’s fastest‑growing segment is women in their early twenties, as the company emphasizes sleep, stress and women’s health over gym‑centric metrics
Health tech company Oura’s fastest-growing user segment isn’t tech billionaires or wellness-obsessed execs. It’s women in their early twenties. The question isn’t whether Oura is winning right now – with 80% of the smart ring market, clearly, it is. The question is whether it can maintain that lead as the wearables market splinters across demographics and use cases, and behind that, whether Oura even needs to capture every demographic to succeed. At Airbnb, 90% of the company’s revenue ties directly to people raving about their vacations, she suggested; at Oura, it’s people raving about their sleep scores. That organic enthusiasm is particularly strong among so-called corporate athletes, or high-performing professionals trying to optimize their health to stay sharp. These are people who’ve realized that running on fumes isn’t actually a sustainable career strategy or, as founder Dorothy Kilroy described them on stage, “people who are trying to be the best at their game. They want to make sure their sleep is dialed in. They want to know how to exercise. They want to look after their metabolic health.” It’s a demographic – largely millennials and Gen Xers with disposable income – that has made Oura wildly successful. The company has said it doubled its revenue last year and is on track to double it again this year. More impressive, says Kilroy, Oura’s retention at the 12-month mark hits the high 80s, while other wearables languish in the low 30s. Kilroy shrugs off the concern that Oura will lose customers to price-sensitive buyers. “Our members are getting a lot of value from [our product] and [are] happy to continue to pay.” In fact, Kilroy doesn’t seem particularly worried about capturing every demographic. Instead, she’s focused on keeping Oura’s core users happy while organically attracting new segments. And young women are becoming part of that core market – a trend that she credits to a broader shift, though Oura is also mindful of the opportunity it presents. It’s a smart play. The market for people wanting to optimize sleep, manage stress, and generally not feel terrible is arguably a lot bigger than the market for athletes obsessing over training load.
Walmart gives “Golden Tickets” to more than 100 entrepreneurs at its Open Call 2025; giving small businesses a path into Walmart and Sam’s Club stores and online
More than 500 entrepreneurs showed up to pitch their products at Walmart’s 12th annual Open Call, which was held last week at the retailer’s new headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. More than 100 small businesses received “Golden Tickets,” which gives suppliers the opportunity for their products to be sold in Walmart and Sam’s Club stores and online — joining the more than 60% of Walmart U.S. suppliers that are small businesses. In addition to product pitches, Open Call 2025 included presentations from 13 companies developing technologies that support U.S. manufacturing. These innovations ranged from shelf-life extension and yield optimization to alternative materials and advanced production techniques aimed at improving efficiency and reducing costs. Open Call also equips small businesses with practical tools to grow, compete and deliver for customers across the country. Entrepreneurs took part in intensive training and mentorship sessions focused on scaling production, improving packaging and strengthening financial and operational readiness — hearing directly from Walmart and Sam’s Club merchants, sourcing experts and past Open Call alumni about what it takes to succeed at national scale.
Zilch launches Intelligent Commerce using first‑party spend data and AI agents to deliver real‑time retail personalisation, boosting ROAS 20–50% and driving 55% higher average spend in beta
Zilch has launched two product innovations, Zilch Intelligent Commerce and Zilch Pay, marking the next phase of its rapid, data-driven growth, to gain full visibility across the customer journey, both online and offline. Leveraging one of the most comprehensive sets of first-party spend data in the market, the platform transforms customer engagement into actionable, real-time insights. Customers interact with the Zilch app more than 25 times a month and make payments almost 60 times a year, providing retailers with a rich and continuous flow of data. By harnessing this insight, Zilch Intelligent Commerce allows brands to target the right customers at the right time with personalised offers, dramatically improving Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) while reducing wasted media spend. Early results from the platform’s beta launch have demonstrated its transformative potential, with one major grocer reporting a 55% increase in average customer spend, another retailer growing market share by more than 15% in just 30 days, and a global travel brand achieving nearly 52% of new-customer conversions powered by Zilch, almost meeting its annual acquisition targets in six months. Across participating brands, the platform has driven 20 to 50% improvements in ROAS, all automatically optimised by Zilch’s AI agents. Alongside this intelligence platform, Zilch is preparing to launch Zilch Pay in the first half of 2026, offering a seamless one-click checkout that integrates the app, digital wallet, and card. The innovation is designed to enhance the consumer experience, reduce friction at payment, and improve conversion rates while lowering cart abandonment for retailers, ensuring a smoother and more efficient path from engagement to transaction.
Vonage’s Agentforce Identity Insights for contact centers flags recent or multiple SIM swaps, validates number type, carrier, caller ID and auto‑verifies leads to prioritize valid accounts and secure interactions
Vonage announced the launch of Vonage Agentforce Identity Insights and Fraud Detection, which provides insights for contact center agents, leveraging AI to help detect fraud risks, verify customers and validate effective communications channels in real time. With Identity Insights, including SIM Swap check powered by Vonage’s Network APIs, Vonage Agentforce Identity Insights and Fraud Detection helps users mitigate fraud across a number of use cases, such as identifying and flagging numbers that have had their SIM recently swapped as potentially fraudulent; validating mobile numbers before sending outbound SMS or making voice calls; and auto verifying phone numbers during lead creation to ensure lead quality. With this solution, organizations can simplify customer engagement and outreach by ensuring number validity so they can prioritize valid accounts, as well as verify number type to target customers with the most effective channel for communications. This rich phone intelligence – including number type, carrier, validity, caller ID name, and SIM swap status – enables contact centers to: Flag potential fraud risks by detecting numbers with recent or multiple SIM swaps and escalating suspicious transactions; Verify customer identities seamlessly by matching caller ID against CRM records, and securing interactions without added friction; Optimize outbound engagement by automating SMS/WhatsApp for mobile devices, while specialist sales teams call landline-only customers; Enhance lead quality by verifying numbers at lead creation to eliminate invalid or outdated details; Deliver proactive notifications by triggering reminders and alerts only on verified numbers, improving engagement rates
Walmart partners with OpenAI to enable Instant Checkout in ChatGPT; ushering in “agentic commerce” where customers chat, plan and buy as AI learns, predicts and automates everyday shopping
Walmart announced a new partnership with OpenAI that will start with allowing customers and members to soon shop Walmart through ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. Whether planning meals, restocking household essentials, or finding something new, customers can simply chat and buy, and Walmart will handle the rest. Walmart described the collaboration as an example of “agentic commerce,” where AI shifts from a reactive tool to a proactive system that learns, plans and predicts, helping customers anticipate their needs before they do. The concept aligns with OpenAI’s goal of enabling agents to assist users across everyday tasks from organizing information to completing purchases all within one interface. This partnership builds on the multiple ways Walmart and Sam’s Club are already using AI, like enhancing product catalogs, improving customer care resolution times and promoting AI literacy among associates. From enhancing the product catalog to reduce fashion production timelines by up to 18 weeks, to ensuring a more seamless shopping journey and cutting customer care resolution times by up to 40%, the company is applying AI so every shopping experience is more convenient and more rewarding. As Walmart defines what’s next for retail, its approach remains the same: people-led and tech-powered, helping people save money and live better.
Dubai launches world’s first self-service Smart Gold and Jewellery Testing Lab kiosks using AI and IoT to deliver near‑instant purity tests across Gold Souq and major malls; to boost consumer confidence and service quality
Dubai Municipality has introduced the world’s first self-service kiosk, the “Smart Gold and Jewelery Testing Lab,” at GITEX Global 2025. The kiosk uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and IoT to deliver fast and accurate purity test results. The kiosk allows consumers to test gold and other precious metals and receive results via SMS or a printed receipt. The innovation aims to enhance consumer confidence and improve service quality in Dubai’s gold and jewelery sector. The kiosks will be installed in key areas across the emirate, including the Gold Souq and major shopping malls, to make testing more accessible for residents and tourists.
Bank of America prepares $3 billion significant risk transfer (SRT) on subscription line loans; freeing capital by selling 5-15% default protection via credit-linked notes to institutional investors; Morgan Stanley is reportedly in the process of arranging a SRT associated with a $6bn portfolio of loans to private market funds
Bank of America is planning a $3bn synthetic risk transfer (SRT) linked to loans extended to private equity and other private market funds, as demand for capital relief transactions accelerates across the banking sector. The transaction will reference a portfolio of subscription lines, short-term credit facilities secured by the undrawn capital commitments of fund investors. These loans are used by private equity funds to manage liquidity, bridge capital calls, and enhance returns during active investment cycles. Final terms are still being discussed with investors. SRTs enable banks to transfer default risk to institutional investors, freeing up regulatory capital and reducing exposure to concentrated sectors. Typically, lenders obtain protection for between 5% and 15% of a loan portfolio’s value through credit-linked notes sold to pension, hedge, and sovereign wealth funds. The deal follows Bank of America’s $1bn SRT completed last year and reflects the growing trend among major global lenders to manage balance sheet exposure to private credit. Morgan Stanley is currently marketing a $6bn SRT tied to private credit loans, while Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and UBS have launched similar transactions. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the global SRT market is expected to expand by about 11% annually over the next two years, driven by surging demand from investors seeking yield and banks seeking capital efficiency.Morgan Stanley is reportedly in the process of arranging a significant risk transfer (SRT) associated with a $6bn portfolio of loans to private market funds. The SRT could amount to approximately $750m, representing 12.5% of the overall loan portfolio. SRTs serve as a mechanism for banks to secure insurance against loan defaults. These are often structured as credit-linked notes sold to pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and hedge funds, enabling banks to free up capital otherwise reserved for regulatory purposes. In addition, SRTs help lenders in managing exposure to specific industries or loan types, typically providing default protection for 5% to 15% of loan values, with investors potentially earning double-digit returns. The loans involved in Morgan Stanley’s SRT, known as subscription lines, are credit facilities extended to private equity and other private market funds to aid in liquidity management and enhance returns. Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts an average annual growth of 11% in the global SRT market over the next two years. Financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group, and UBS Group AG are also exploring or finalising SRTs denominated in dollars.
Algebrik embeds Scienaptic AI and its proprietary inclusive decisioning into its cloud-native LOS and all its touchpoints from prescreen and fraud screening to renewals, upsell, early warnings, and lifecycle decisions — ensuring consistency of credit decisions over time
Algebrik announced a strategic partnership with Scienaptic AI, an AI-powered lending platform. Through this integration, Algebrik users can seamlessly access Scienaptic AI signals for credit underwriting, fraud prevention, pre-qualification, onboarding, perpetual offers and early warning—directly within Algebrik’s LOS experience. The result is a streamlined lending workflow that brings intelligent, AI-led decisions to every member touchpoint, without heavy IT lift or additional vendor management. The strategic partnership is designed around real lending operations rather than stand-alone tools. From pre-qualification to funding- and into account servicing- Scienaptic AI decisions can be invoked at the right moments in Algebrik’s workflows to inform approvals, conditions, and review paths. Application data, bureau information, and lender inputs are passed securely for a decision and returned to Algebrik for next-best-action, keeping staff in a single system of record. What lenders can expect with this partnership: Native touchpoints in the LOS
Scienaptic AI signals can be enabled at any stage of the credit decisioning (prescreen, fraud screen, application cross-sell, up- sell, renewals) Decision outcomes where work happens
Results, conditions, and recommended next steps surface directly in Algebrik’s lender views and tasking to move reviews to resolution faster. Algebrik-led configuration
Integration keys, policy mappings, and data pass-through are administered in Algebrik’s console; no bespoke IT builds required. Flexible for your Scienaptic AI footprint
If you are a forward thinking member-centric credit union already using Scienaptic AI, Algebrik connects to your existing models/policies. If you’re new to Scienaptic AI, Algebrik provisions the standard connector and coordinates access setup. Governed data flows
Secure API calls with request/response logging and audit trails for internal oversight.
VantageScore 4.0 is coming but much work needs to be done and analysts suggest it would arrive sometime around the summer of 2026
In the days following the announcement that VantageScore 4.0 was suddenly in play for conventional mortgages, FinLocker‘s Brian Vieaux had to burst some bubbles. Most of the 15 to 20 loan officers he spoke to were ecstatic about being able to use the new credit scoring model. Millions of new prospective borrowers could be scored with VantageScore, they said. That’s opportunity in a down market. “I was like, ‘OK, guys, totally agree. If you can wave a magic wand and tomorrow — in your point of sale and your LOS, and the underwriting engines and all the technologies that that talk downstream — this was there and ready, yeah, I think it would open up some interesting opportunities with borrowers. And it will,” Vieaux said. “The other side of it is talking to the owner-operators of these companies, and they’re like, ‘This doesn’t become reality till 2026.’” For about a week, the mortgage industry operated in confusion about what comes next. It wasn’t even clear whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) wanted both FICO and VantageScore scores, or if they wanted lenders to choose between the two. FHFA Director Bill Pulte on Tuesday afternoon clarified several key points about Fannie Mae‘s and Freddie Mac‘s embrace of VantageScore, which is collectively owned by the three major credit reporting bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. The tri-merge credit report will also remain. Pulte said lenders will be able to choose between FICO Classic, introduced in the late 1980s, and VantageScore 4.0. The GSEs will be working to update their Selling Guide policies, but at the moment they are not currently able to purchase mortgages with VantageScore 4.0 credit scores. The agencies will also need to create a new loan level pricing adjustment (LLPA) matrix before it can purchase loans with VantageScore 4.0 credit scores.