Visa has launched a partnership with U.K.-based climate FinTech Ample Earth to incorporate sustainability data into digital banking apps and loyalty programs and help banks better segment customers and discover new ways to “engage, empower, and reward sustainability.” “Transactions are a touchpoint people interact with daily. By helping people understand the impact of their spending, we can empower millions of businesses and customers to use their purchasing power as a force for good,” Ample Earth Co-founder and CEO Raja Darbari said. “People don’t have time to fact-check sustainability claims, but they do want clarity and accessible information. We aim to bridge that gap and make sustainability data easy to digest and relatable.” Ample provides merchant-specific sustainability data across “key social and environmental themes,” turning unstructured data into actionable insights with eco-labels and social tags like “Zero-Waste,” “Living Wage Employer” and “B Corp.” The companies say the combination of Visa’s global reach and Ample’s sustainability intelligence can allow sustainability data to be integrated into everyday decision-making, “strengthening the role of financial institutions in shaping customer behavior and incentivizing sustainable business practices.”
BoA card data in August suggests stark and widening differences in income and spending growth across income cohorts; spending growth is weakest amongst GenZ and GenX
Total credit and debit card spending per household increased 1.7% year-over-year (YoY) in August, after a gain of 1.8% YoY in July, according to Bank of America aggregated card data. Seasonally adjusted spending per household rose 0.4% month-over month (MoM), the third increase in a row. We continue to see stark differences in income and spending growth across income cohorts, with the divergence in after-tax wage and salary growth widening again in August. Spending growth is weakest amongst younger generations and Gen X. The weakening labor market appears to be impacting younger people, particularly because changing jobs no longer results in as big of a pay bump. Some relief for the younger generations could come from easing housing costs. Our measure of new rent payments suggests they are dropping back, perhaps as households trade down. If sustained, this may help narrow the gap between the stronger spending growth of homeowners versus renters. Furthermore, the median deposit level of all generations also remains high compared to 2019 levels in Bank of America internal data. So, this would suggest to us that households do not appear to be running down their savings. For now, the recent slowdown in the labor market is not obviously being reflected in households’ overall finances.
Smart Capital Center adds AI‑powered financial analysis for CRE: automated variance detection, likely driver surfacing, and one‑click, audience‑tuned commentary for credit and investor reports
Smart Capital Center, the AI-powered CRE platform driving innovation across commercial real estate investment and finance, announced the launch of its newest enhancement: AI-powered financial analysis. The first application of this capability is automated variance reporting and commentary, designed for CRE lenders, investors, and asset managers. Unlike generic reporting tools, Smart Capital Center’s financial analysis is purpose-built for the complexities of commercial real estate. The variance reporting feature automatically identifies variances, surfaces likely drivers, and generates commentary that can be copied directly into reports—or regenerated in alternate styles depending on the audience, whether a credit committee or an investor memo. Here’s what’s now possible inside the platform: Automated explanations: Variances explained by drawing connections across rent rolls, inspections, appraisals, and market data.Interactive exploration: Follow-up questions like “Why did utilities spike this month?” answered instantly with AI-driven insights. Ready-to-use reporting: Professional commentary instantly available for credit packages, servicing updates, or portfolio reviews. Consistent analysis at scale: Standardized explanations across properties and portfolios, regardless of analyst. Data is analyzed at a scale humans simply can’t match. By synthesizing these diverse signals, the platform detects risks and opportunities far earlier—spotting correlations that manual teams would likely miss.
Bank and municipal programs provide up to $100,000 down payment assistance for cash-strapped homebuyers; however 2500+ nationwide programs remain largely unknown to buyers.
As home prices and mortgage rates continue to stretch budgets, many would-be homebuyers are wondering if they’ll ever be able to make the jump. Industry professionals say that creative financing tools and professional guidance can make homeownership more attainable, but a lack of awareness continues to stand in the way. Three voices from different corners of the housing industry — a former agent turned property inspector, a national housing economist, and the founder of a resource hub for down payment programs — each described to HousingWire how affordability pressures have evolved, what’s available to help buyers and why too few people know where to look. John Obermiller, a former Century 21 agent in North Carolina who now inspects properties for a local municipality, has seen the market both as a professional and as a potential buyer. Even with some recent cooling, he said affordability remains the central barrier. “In my general area, things have slowed down,” Obermiller said. “Houses are sitting on the market for a while. However, there are particular neighborhoods that are (promoted) specifically through the Realtors marketing directly to New York, New Jersey, and they’re drawing people in specifically to those neighborhoods.” Obermiller pointed to builders such as D.R. Horton, which advertise relatively lower per-square-foot prices than competitors. But he said monthly costs remain daunting. “(D.R. Horton) was the last I knew that were building at about $190 a square foot, which is well below $285 and over $300 for the rest of the builders,” he said. “But even then, I figured out pretty quick what the payments are for something like a $350,000 loan with everything tied in. I think it was running about $3,000 a month, just for a starter home.” Cash buyers from higher-cost states make competition harder for locals, he added. But specialized programs offer buyers the chance to rent before buying, allowing time to save. “In essence, what they’re doing is they’re allowing someone to pick out a home that they’re interested in,” Obermiller said. “This company will then purchase the home for them, and it will then rent back for around a year, and then they will allow the person to close if they choose to. If they don’t choose to, then they walk away.” Obermiller said the portability of jobs and influx of work-from-home employees free to move wherever they like that began during the COVID-19 pandemic continues to effect the flow of housing. “People who weren’t able to move and qualify could now move and still qualify for a home at a higher income,” he said. “So they had a higher income from another area. They had higher equity in their home, so now they had greater purchasing power. Of course, bidding wars resulted.” Obermiller also argues that appraisals and lender practices allowed inflated values to stick. “Nothing changed in the industry. It didn’t cost more to build the houses, none of that,” he said. “But they kept pricing higher and higher and higher, and so you keep having this flood of people coming in and higher demand. But the point is that the banks are now being put on the hook. They’re supporting that higher price point. The banks are allowing that loan to support that higher price point.” He said that limiting appraisals to true market values, with buyers covering any excess on their own, could have tempered the surge. Bill Garber, director of communications for the Appraisal Institute, directly refuses that notion. “Appraisers are an easy scapegoat on both sides of this,” he said. “When sellers are trying to sell, they have certain expectations. And when buyers are trying to buy, they have certain expectations.” Garber emphasized that
that appraisers are meant to remain independent, focusing only on establishing fair market value. “There is a difference between price and value,” he said. “The market dynamics can skew in certain directions, but the appraiser’s job is to just keep their eye on the market value ball.” That role, he added, is critical for lenders that must ensure their loans are safe and sound. “They don’t want to lend on something that’s not worth what people think it is. It doesn’t benefit the borrower. It doesn’t benefit the lender,” Garber said. Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), said agents are increasingly stepping in to guide buyers toward affordability programs. “Realtors are helping their clients understand low down payment options that could be available in their local communities,” Lautz said. “In fact, some agents will make this into a niche, working with first-time homebuyers to really help them understand what programs could be available to help with pointing them in the right direction. “Mortgage brokers are experts in this topic, as well. There’s also FHA loans, VA loans, USDA loans — then you have state and local communities that may have programs as well.” Even with these programs, Lautz said many successful buyers rely on personal sacrifice. “We’ve seen successful homebuyers cut spending everywhere they can,” she said. “So non-essential items go out the window, as well as spending on clothes or going out to eat. Some do take second jobs to be able to save for a down payment. So they’re willing to make that sacrifice, and then others even move in with family before purchasing so that they don’t have to pay rent, which can be very costly in many communities.” A persistent obstacle, Lautz said, is that buyers often don’t realize help is available. “The myth of the 20% down payment is very persistent, even though there are low down payment options,” she said. “So, getting the word out to consumers, I think, is half the battle, and I think homeownership could be much closer within reach if people were aware of these programs.” Lautz noted that falling mortgage rates in recent months have already spurred demand. “Certainly, seeing a change in mortgage interest rates has been very encouraging, and mortgage applications are up this week as a result of that,” she said. She also pointed to a variety housing types — condominiums, accessory dwelling units and adaptive reuse — as ways to broaden affordable supply. Rob Chrane, founder and CEO of Down Payment Resource, leads the largest nationwide database of homeownership programs. His company tracks more than 2,500 initiatives across the country, ranging from grants to affordable mortgage products. “Seventy-five percent of the programs in the database are some type of down payment help or closing cost help,” Chrane said. “You know, they could be grants, they could be repayable, they could be forgivable. But we really are tracking about 11 or 12 different types of programs.” Chrane said eligibility typically combines household income and property limits. “There’s a component that has to do with certain household characteristics,” he said. “And then there’s also the property has to be eligible, because when you think about it, every one of these programs has some sort of specific geographic boundary.” Some programs, he noted, even allow small multiunit properties if the buyer occupies one unit. The database is integrated with multiple listing services nationwide, flagging eligible properties for agents. Between 600,000 and 700,000 agents now have access, Chrane said. The platform also works with consumer-facing search portals such as Realtor.com. “Somebody said to me one time that the problem isn’t coming up with a down payment,” Chrane said. “The problem is understanding that these programs exist. People just don’t know there’s such a thing.” He said early exposure to available help through property searches can reshape buyer expectations well before the purchase occurs. “And our largest MLS customer has a little over 100,000 members,” Chrane said. “I can tell you, there’s still agents out there that have access to our tools that don’t even realize it.” Far from shrinking, Chrane said the number of programs is steadily climbing. “There’s no single silver bullet (to tackle unaffordability), but obviously, down payment assistance can help a lot — and it does help in a lot of situations,” he said. “Hopefully, interest rates come down, but you can’t bet on that. So it’s about increasing supply and helping people.” From Obermiller’s view of inflated prices and cash-rich competition, to Lautz’s emphasis on agent guidance and consumer education, to Chrane’s mission of cataloging thousands of aid programs, the message is consistent: help exists but too few buyers know about it.
Bilt expands its loyalty program that enables members to earn rewards on rent payments for apartments to include condo homeowners association (HOA) fees, student housing payments and mortgage payments
Bilt raised $250 million and expanded its loyalty program to include all housing categories. Launched in June 2021 to enable members to earn rewards on rent payments for apartments, the Bilt program now also includes condo homeowners association (HOA) fees, student housing payments and mortgage payments, Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain said. Beyond the Bilt Card, the platform allows members to use any payment method of their choice, such as ACH, debit cards, credit cards and other options. Bilt’s program allows members to pay with points when they visit local merchants, and its artificial intelligence-powered “neighborhood concierge” introduces members to those merchants and offers personalized recommendations. “What makes Bilt special isn’t just our scale — it’s our flywheel effect,” Jain said. “More properties in our network attract more merchants, which creates more value for residents, which attracts more properties. This virtuous cycle, powered by our AI-driven commerce platform and comprehensive merchant integrations, creates an ecosystem that becomes stronger with each new participant.”
Frontier to back Arbor Energy’s commercial-scale power plant that will use a unique gasifier and run on waste biomass to produce electricity for a data center while also sequestering 99% of CO2 released by combustion for underground storage
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.