Fifth Third Bank announced that it is surprising families with babies born at certain hospitals in Detroit on May 3 with a special voucher to open a college savings account. Each year, Fifth Third celebrates May 3 (5/3) with community service and giving activities. According to the bank, this year, they are bringing the program to Detroit and partnering with the hospitals affiliated with Henry Ford Health, Detroit Medical Center and McLaren Health. The families that have babies born on May 3 will receive a $1,053 voucher for a 529 College Savings Plan, a DoorDash gift card and baby gifts, the bank says. Local labor and delivery nurses will also receive gifts. The bank will also do the giveaways at hospitals in Fort Myers and Naples, Florida.
Startup Rove’s loyalty program allows users to earn airline miles without credit cards by shopping using the Google Chrome extension through affiliate marketing with over 7,000 merchants
Startup Rove claims to be the first universal mile loyalty program. Rove’s loyalty program allows airlines to expand the lucrative business of miles to millions more consumers, Co founder Max Morganroth said. But instead of allowing airlines to share fees with credit cards, Rove gives them a way to make money through affiliate marketing with over 7,000 merchants through the Rove shopping extension for Google Chrome. That’s a business model that’s similar to Honey and Rakuten. Morganroth explained that the points earned from shopping can be converted into airline miles, which hold more value than their equivalent in cash. In addition to the affiliate marketing scheme, Rove also offers its users miles for hotel bookings. Users can combine Rove miles earned on hotel bookings with miles from the shopping extension and even credit card miles if they have a card that earns airline points. The startup’s elaborate scheme may seem complicated, but Morganroth says that earning miles through Rove is straightforward, as long as users book hotels on its platform or shop using the Rove shopping extension. When users are ready to book flights with their miles, Rove’s travel portal helps them find the best award flight deals. The startup’s users can book award travel on about 140 carriers because it is often possible to transfer miles of one airline company to its affiliates in another region. “Gen Z wants to travel more than any other demographic, yet they have the least access to the tools like this that actually make it cheaper,” he said. “They no longer have to wait until they’re 28, have five years of credit history, and $700 fee to get one of these cards; they can just download a Chrome extension, book any of their existing travel through us, and they’ll immediately be in the game.”
Pinwheel’s 2-click Direct Deposit Switching (DDS) to integrate with nCino’s banking solutions- allowing users to authenticate and execute an instant switch with a simple one-time passcode
Pinwheel, a fintech company, has partnered with nCino, a leading provider of banking solutions, to become a Preferred Partner for Direct Deposit Switching (DDS). The partnership will integrate Pinwheel’s Consumer Banking Solution with nCino’s Deposit Switch, aiming to improve deposit switch conversion rates. Pinwheel’s solution, powered by over 1,800 payroll platforms, covers 100% of U.S. workers paid via direct deposit. The PreMatch authentication paradigm, introduced in late 2023, has transformed the DDS experience, allowing users to authenticate and execute an instant switch with a simple one-time passcode. Pinwheel’s PreMatch authentication paradigm has transformed the DDS experience into a seamless, 2-click process, helping banks and credit unions meet their innovation and growth goals. The partnership will help banks and credit unions modernize their operations and enhance customer experiences.
Panaseer’s tool helps enterprises automate compliance management with pre-built dashboards, each mapped to over 200 control metrics
Panaseer has launched the Cyber Frameworks Catalog, a tool designed to automate compliance management for enterprises operating in regulated industries. The tool provides pre-built dashboards and automated controls to help enterprises monitor and report the performance of security controls against significant cybersecurity frameworks and regulations. Panaseer’s research shows that cybersecurity teams spend close to 60% of their time on manual reporting, leading to inefficiencies, increased operational costs, and an elevated risk of audit failures. The Cyber Frameworks Catalog streamlines these processes by introducing a controls measurement-driven, automation-first methodology. It features over ten dashboards, each mapped to over 200 control metrics connected to various regulatory frameworks. The tool’s analytical capabilities allow teams to investigate the underlying causes of compliance failures, prioritize remediation actions, and potentially prevent regulatory breaches. Panaseer’s Continuous Controls Monitoring platform aggregates and validates security data from various enterprise technology stacks, offering a centralized view for security teams. The company aims to support organizations in continuously measuring the deployment and effectiveness of their security controls, promoting efficient resource allocation and improved prioritization of security actions.
Visa’s 2Q 25: U.S. payments volume grew 6% and international payments volume grew 9%.; 50% of Global eCommerce transactions are tokenized, “tap to everything” strategy continues to bear fruit
U.S. payments volume grew 6% and international payments volume grew 9%. Cross-border volume, excluding intra Europe, rose 13% in constant dollars. Within the U.S., debit volumes were up 9% (in constant dollar terms) outpacing credit volumes of 4%. Ryan McInerney, CEO, said that total credentials were up 7%, and the firm added 1 billion tokens to 13.7 billion. “Nearly 50% of our eCommerce transactions, globally, are tokenized,” he said. Visa’s “tap to everything” strategy continues to bear fruit, McInerney said, adding that tap to phone added 2 million transacting device terminals since the last quarter. Tap to Pay penetration is at 76% globally, he said, with the U.S. passing 60% for the first time. McInerney also pointed to stablecoins as an area of promise as “two important capabilities are interoperability and programmability. We have continued to expand our interoperability, including with our first seven day a week stablecoin settlement, recently surpassing $200 million in cumulative stablecoin settlement volume,” he said. Commercial volumes were up 6% in constant dollars, with Visa Direct transactions up 28% to 3 billion transactions. “To capture the accounts receivable and accounts payable opportunity, we are utilizing product innovations such as embedded finance solutions to meet payers where they manage their business to drive adoption of cards,” McInerney said. Value-added services revenues were up 22%.