Frontier, supported by Stripe, Google, and Meta, has partnered with startup Arbor Energy to remove 116,000 tons of carbon dioxide by the end of the decade. This agreement provides Arbor with $41 million to construct its first commercial-scale power plant in southern Louisiana, which will run on waste biomass to produce electricity for a data center while also sequestering CO2 for underground storage. The facility aims to generate 5 to 10 megawatts of electricity. Arbor has developed a unique gasifier, as off-the-shelf options were inadequate. This gasifier uses supercritical CO2 from the plant itself to process biomass, producing syngas, which is then burned to generate electricity. Most of the produced CO2 will be sent to a pipeline for permanent storage, with some redirected back to the gasifier. Arbor co-founder and CEO Brad Hartwig has previously, aptly described the power plant as a “vegetarian rocket engine.” The entire system captures 99% of the CO2 released by the combustion, far higher than competing methods. And because it’s burning biomass, the process removes carbon from the atmosphere. Frontier estimates there is between 1 to 5 gigatons of waste biomass available every year. Even if only 1 gigaton meets those standards, there’s still a lot of potential for BiCRS and its close cousin, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), to make a significant dent in future energy needs. For Frontier, Arbor will only burn biomass, ensuring the power plant will remove carbon as required by the deal.
Nymbus core system integrates Bud Financial’s transaction data enrichment and AI-driven insights tech supporting real-time affordability checks and dynamic risk profiling by analyzing actual income and spending behavior
Nymbus, a full-stack banking platform for U.S. banks and credit unions, has announced an agreement with Bud Financial, a leading provider of transaction data enrichment and AI-driven insights for the financial services industry. Nymbus will integrate Bud’s market-leading suite of personal financial management (PFM) widgets into the Nymbus Banking Platform, enhancing the digital banking experience and enabling smarter, more contextual customer engagement. The integration will provide customers with a clear and intuitive view of their finances, deliver proactive content and financial tools through Bud’s widgets, and tailor experiences across digital channels with categorized, contextual data. Nymbus Engage, a new customer engagement solution, will help community banks and credit unions activate data in smarter ways and drive more meaningful, long-term relationships. Bud has been a pioneer in applying AI to financial data since 2015, helping institutions turn raw transaction streams into structured, actionable insights. Engage – Personalized PFM: Banking clients embed Bud’s enriched data into their apps via widgets to deliver real-time, hyper-personalized financial experiences. Use cases include “left-to-spend” balances that account for upcoming bills, visualizations of spending habits such as weekend spikes or predicted future spending, and personalized nudges or actions like suggesting savings transfers or setting budgets around overspending categories. These insights are powered by Bud APIs combined with large language models (LLMs) to provide contextual, automated intelligence tailored to each customer journey. Drive – Portfolio Analytics & Marketing: Drive aggregates individual-level insights across the entire customer base, enabling banks to perform behavioral segmentation, detect deposit activity triggers, and identify churn risks. These insights integrate seamlessly with CRM systems such as Salesforce or Braze to enable data-driven marketing and relationship management. Assess – Credit & Cashflow Underwriting: Bud’s technology supports real-time affordability checks and dynamic risk profiling by analyzing actual income and spending behavior. This enables more accurate credit decisions and reduces default rates by grounding assessments in real cashflow data rather than static credit scores.
Survey finds 67% of push payment investment fraud cases stem from social media platforms, which account for 71% of all investment fraud losses at an average loss of £3,706 per case
TSB found that 42% of 16–24-year-olds reported having used social media to access financial advice in the past 12 months, followed by 37% of 25-34-year-olds – and this declines to 11% for over 55s. Of those that had seen financial advice on social media platforms, 53% trusted the content – with 25-34-year-olds the most trusting (70%), followed by 62% of 16-24s, and 27% of over 55s. In addition, 83% have seen financial advice content on social media that they weren’t searching for. 51% said they had either acted on advice or planned to do so – with 25-34s the most likely to act or have acted (73%), compared to 27% of over 55s. Alarmingly, 55% of those who acted on advice said they had lost money as a result. TSB found that 90% had seen an investment opportunity on social media, and 43% would consider investing as a result. 25-34-year olds were the most likely to invest (69%), followed by 16-24s (68%) – and just 18% of over 55s. However, 42% said they did not know how to check the credibility or credentials of online content and offers. TSB’s internal customer data shows that 67% of push payment investment fraud cases stem from social media platforms, which account for 71% of all investment fraud losses – at an average loss of £3,706 per case. 36% of these social media cases started on Facebook, followed by TikTok (17%), Telegram (17%), Instagram (14%) and WhatsApp (14%). However, Facebook and WhatsApp accounted for by far the biggest losses at 36%, and 35% respectively. Polling also revealed that 43% felt worse about their finances after seeing posts about wealth on social media. 16-24-year-olds felt the worst (67%), followed by 25-34s (61%) – and this reduced to 22% of over 55s. 53% of 25-34-year-olds felt compelled to take out a product, or invest as a result; followed by 49% of 16-24s. Just 13% of over 55s felt the need to change behaviours and act.
Survey shows 45% respondents use a budgeting app or digital tool; 98% agree that budgeting helps them achieve their financial goals
Academy Bank, a family-owned community bank in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri, has released a white paper titled “Budgeting in the Digital Age: The Role of Apps in Financial Wellness.” The report, based on a survey of over 300 U.S. adults, found that 83% follow a budget to some extent, 45% use a budgeting app or digital tool, 98% agree that budgeting helps them achieve their financial goals, and 86% cite overspending or income fluctuations as the most common obstacles to successfully managing finances. The study highlights the greatest potential value of budgeting apps in helping people manage spending and navigate income fluctuations. Over half of the respondents listed “overspending” as their biggest financial challenge, while 30% said “irregular income” disrupted their budgeting. Lack of financial knowledge (28%) also poses a challenge. By addressing these obstacles, budgeting apps can become powerful tools for long-term financial growth. In response to the survey insights and a growing demand for user-friendly, comprehensive digital money management solutions, Academy Bank launched My Finance360, a personal finance tool designed to help clients better understand their spending, build healthy money-management habits, and reach financial goals. The app offers real-time tracking of income, expenses, and debt, smart budgeting and automated savings, the ability to link external accounts for a full view of finances, personalized transaction categorization, goal setting and bill payment reminders, net worth tracking, an easy-to-use interface, bank-level security, and fully integrated with Academy Bank’s mobile and online banking.
Alleviate’s AI dashboard helps people visualize their journey out of debt and toward wealth by offering real-time insights into their account status and progress, upcoming settlements, and action steps through intuitive visuals and curated financial wellness content
Alleviate has launched its new Client Dashboard — a breakthrough AI-powered platform designed to help Americans take control of their debt and chart a smarter path toward lasting wealth. The dashboard gives clients real-time insights into their progress, upcoming settlements, and action steps. It’s designed to increase confidence and engagement through intuitive visuals, helpful automation, and a mobile-first experience — all while reinforcing Alleviate’s core promise: to turn paying off debt into a launchpad for lifelong financial transformation. Michael Barsoum, CEO of Alleviate said “Our Client Dashboard helps people visualize their journey out of debt and toward wealth, one milestone at a time. It’s built to give every client confidence, control, and a real chance to move from debt to wealth. Key features include: All New Client Onboarding – Fast, intuitive and customized with AI; Visual Progress Tracking – Instantly see how far you’ve come and what’s ahead; Live Settlement Updates – Real-time visibility into account status and timing; Integrated Financial Wellness Content – Curated articles, videos, and tools to build lasting money habits; AI-Powered Personalization & Payment Optimization – Smart content and guidance tailored to each user’s journey; Access to Exclusive Financial Products – products built for the debt to wealth journey, every step of the way; and Secure Support Access – Direct communication with in-house support teams, built into the platform. Looking ahead, the Client Dashboard will serve as a gateway to a new generation of exclusive financial products and services – accessible only to Alleviate members.
Fifth Third Bank is surprising families with babies born at certain hospitals in Detroit on May 3 with a special voucher to open a college savings account
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.
Monzo’s new ‘Undo Payments,’ holding window feature offers a configurable delay, ranging from 10 to 60 seconds, before a payment is finalised, during which the sender can halt the transaction
Monzo has started rolling out a new feature that allows users to cancel a bank transfer shortly after initiating it. The tool, known as ‘Undo Payments,’ offers a configurable delay, ranging from 10 to 60 seconds, before a payment is finalised, during which the sender can halt the transaction. The launch follows internal research by the bank showing that around 30% of UK adults have sent money to the wrong person or entered the incorrect amount in the past year. More than three-quarters of those who made a payment error reportedly realised the mistake within one minute. The Undo Payments feature acts as a brief holding window after a transfer is authorised. During this time, users can reverse the transaction directly from the payment confirmation screen, the home screen, or the specific transaction detail page. If the undo option is selected within the chosen time frame, the funds remain in the user’s account and the intended recipient is not notified of the attempted transfer. The default setting gives a 15-second window, though users can adjust this to 10, 30, or 60 seconds, or disable it entirely. According to Monzo’s data, simple mistakes such as typing errors, often involving an extra zero, were responsible for 68% of misdirected payments.