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Recent action from The Clearing House to increase the transaction limit on real-time payments from $1 million to $10 million is fueling new use cases in business-to-business payments among Bank of America clients. The bank is one of the first financial institutions to enable its corporate customers to send payments up to the new transaction limit. As one of the owners of The Clearing House, Bank of America played a significant role in developing the RTP® network in consultation with peer banks, technology firms and the U.S. Federal Reserve. “Our clients have been using RTP to pay vendors, employees and customers, but the larger cap has opened up use cases for different kinds of transactions, such as real estate and deal closings and other corporate activity,” said AJ McCray, head of Global Payments Products, Global Payments Solutions (GPS) at Bank of America. In the first six weeks since the transaction limit was raised, BofA corporate clients have increasingly taken advantage of the limit increase, with transactions over $1 million now accounting for more than half the value of all U.S. real-time payments the company is processing. “The instant nature of real-time payments is a huge advantage for optimizing working capital and cashflow,” said Jay Davenport co-head of GPS Global Corporate Sales at Bank of America. “RTP payments embody some of the most commonly requested features from our customers – convenience, transparency and resiliency.”

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Whether splitting the bill when eating out, or sharing costs on grocery shopping, 67% of consumers polled in the Chase Digital Banking Attitudes survey reported they have used person-to-person payments, or P2P, up from 40% in 2020. Additionally, 39% expressed strong interest in adopting AI for financial management in the future. Also, 85% would prefer to manage all their banking activities in one app. Now in its fifth year, the survey of 2,000 participants has been examining consumer banking behaviors since the pandemic. Millennials are driving adoption trends, using all online banking features more than other generations. The survey shows that many consumers are also ready to explore the future of digital banking with new and emerging technologies. Millennials again stand out as most willing and interested in exploring new technologies in their digital banking experiences, followed closely by Gen Z. Nearly half of all Millennial (49%) and Gen Z (45%) respondents said they would like access to AI assistants to help manage their finances and provide real-time solutions to their needs. Younger consumers also are interested in integrating other technologies over the next five years, led by Millennials and Gen Z Some highlights include:

• 75% said they are aware of and have used P2P payment methods, a 21% increase from 2020, leading the way in adoption and moving away from traditional cash transactions.
• 79% use credit monitoring tools.
• 78% of consumers use banking apps weekly and 62% can’t live without them.
• Credit score monitoring adoption has jumped to 52%, up 11% since the first survey.
• One-third (34%) use digital budgeting tools and half use them weekly.
• About one-half (48%) of respondents said they would use mobile banking features that automate their savings.
• More than two-thirds (68%) find digital tools (texts, emails, fraud alerts) helpful in notifying about potential fraud on their accounts.

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Jason Bressler, chief technology officer for United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), is trying to change the narrative around AI being integrated into the mortgage industry and lending solutions. “What we need to understand is that AI is not some experience at the end of the day … it is a predictive analyst,” he said. “But everything, as you look at that, boils down to one thing: data. It’s all about the data, and having reliable data and confident data, in what we’re doing and the decisions that you’re making possible.” To AI naysayers, Bressler warned that resisting the integration of AI chatbots and solutions is akin to 1990s mortgage companies that resisted the internet. This could lead some companies to fall behind. The same root Bressler alluded to is technological intimidation. “You don’t need to come up with a giant strategy. AI does not have to be expensive. … There is always a way to improve or change the manufacturing process. It could be operationally, it could be getting leads,” he said. “Remember, AI doesn’t have an NMLS. It can’t do everything.” As the CTO for the largest mortgage company in the U.S., Bressler discussed toeing the line of developing in-house technology — what he refers to as a build versus buy mentality — and keeping that technology from replacing any of UWM’s several thousand employees. The company claims it has never had to lay off any team members. “Technology should work to enhance the job that you do, that loan officers do, that real estate agents do. It should never replace everyone. It should take away the tedious, laborious tasks,” he said. Bressler’s example was UWM’s AI-powered loan assistant, MIA, which makes outbound calls, asks and answers questions, takes messages, collects callback info, and even follows up with borrowers for refinance opportunities.

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Capital One will retain its existing Walmart credit card portfolio following an announcement from Synchrony and OnePay, predominantly owned by Walmart, of a new credit card initiative set to launch this fall. TD Cowen has indicated that Synchrony will not acquire the current Walmart card assets from Capital One. Consequently, the new program will need to be developed from the ground up, which initially may lead to a short-term negative impact on earnings as reserves are established. OnePay, a financial technology firm backed by Walmart, picked Synchrony to issue both a co-branded card that can be used outside Walmart as well as a private-label card that will be available just for purchases at the retailer. OnePay will begin offering the cards in the U.S. later this year. Synchrony issued the Walmart credit card for nearly two decades until 2018, when it lost the partnership to Capital One Financial. The latest deal does not include the balances tied to Walmart’s existing credit card program. The move is the latest sign that Walmart is looking to weave itself into the financial lives of millions of its shoppers, and it’s betting that OnePay, which is structured as an independent company, is its best shot at doing so. While the fintech is majority owned by the retailer, it is also backed by investment firm Ribbit Capital. Synchrony is best known as one of the largest issuers of co-brand credit cards, counting the likes of JCPenney, Lowe’s, Amazon.com and PayPal as partners. It also renewed its 30-year relationship with Walmart-owned Sam’s Club last year. Those five partnerships accounted for more than half the interest and fees the bank earned on its loans in 2024, according to a regulatory filing. Co-brand and private label credit cards are a crucial way that many merchants and card issuers use to monetize a customer’s loyalty to a certain brand or store. To that end, the new card will be the latest avenue of growth for OnePay, which already offers a variety of banking, lending and payment products. Walmart’s so-called Money Centers allow customers to cash checks, get their taxes prepared, pay their bills and access money orders. In some ways, with more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., the company already operates a network of branches that would rival those of JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. But Walmart executives have long been vocal about the need to digitize the array of financial services the company offers shoppers.

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Charles Schwab’s asset-management unit said it will cut fees on four index exchange-traded funds and it announced another method to lower costs for investors—it is splitting shares (comparable to a stock split, so the funds will cost less per share) on six Schwab mutual funds. The moves may help Schwab attract more customer dollars as the cost-savings on ETFs will help it compete with other low-cost funds and the share split will make shares more affordable. The fee reductions, which will be effective June 10, are between 0.02 and 0.04 percentage points (or two and four basis points) for each fund. Schwab says the cuts will reduce the cost of all Schwab equity and fixed income market cap-weighted index ETFs to less than 10 basis points. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percentage point. The operating expense ratio for the Schwab 1000 Index ETF will fall to 0.03% from 0.05%; Schwab International Equity ETF’s expense ratio will decrease to 0.03% from 0.06%; Schwab International Small-Cap Equity ETF’s expense ratio will drop to 0.08% from 0.11%; and Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF’s expense ratio will be reduced to 0.07% from 0.11%. The company’s cost-cutting moves come amid ongoing pressure on asset managers to reduce fees to attract investors’ dollars. Earlier this year, Vanguard unveiled sweeping fee cuts on dozens of funds. In that set of cuts, Vanguard lowered the expense ratio for the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF, an index fund that owns growth stocks, to 0.07% from 0.10%, comparable to some of the Schwab cuts. “Today, we’re taking another important step in advancing our commitment to providing investors with low-cost, high-quality building blocks for a well-diversified portfolio,” says John Sturiale, head of product management and innovation at Schwab Asset Management. Schwab’s forward share splits will increase the number of shares outstanding for certain mutual funds and decrease the net asset value per share, potentially making the funds more accessible to investors. For example, the planned 10-for-one share split for the Schwab 1000 Index Fund will return it to a NAV more closely aligned to its initial share price of $10, according to Schwab. Shares of the fund currently trade around $129. The fund has a total expense ratio of 0.05%. The splits are scheduled to occur Aug. 15 and, in addition to the Schwab 100 Index Fund, include the following funds: Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Growth Index Fund, Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund, Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund, Schwab U.S. Mid-Cap Index Fund, and Schwab U.S. Large-Cap Value Index Fund.

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Apple Wallet is getting a bit more travel-friendly, Apple announced at WWDC 2025. The app will soon be able to hold a digital version of your passport, and boarding passes will gain new features that promise to make traveling a little bit easier. The new passport feature is “not a replacement for your physical passport,” Apple said, but it can be used in apps that need to verify age and identity and at supported TSA checkpoints. Digital passports could help procrastinators who have yet to get their Real ID. Boarding passes have long been stored in the Wallet app, allowing for quick access from the lock screen. But with iOS 26, they’re getting a host of new features. Boarding passes will now include links to terminal maps so it’s easier to find your way to the gate or to baggage claim.  

Once at the claim, Wallet’s new link to Find My should come in handy, allowing users to check the boarding pass to track the progress of their AirTagged luggage.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/09/apple-wallet-gains-new-travel-friendly-features-in-ios-26/