|
JANUARY 13, 2026 |
|
Wave goodbye: What percentage of US consumers have switched their financial services provider after receiving an unexpected fee? |
|
A) 10% B) 20% C) 30% D) 40% |
|
|
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. | | | |
|
DIGITAL PAYMENTS |
|
|
|
PayPal and Stripe will integrate their merchant inventory with Microsoft’s Copilot Checkout and process payments for the AI-powered shopping platform. |
|
Customers will be able to ask Copilot to find products for them and complete transactions within the chat interface. |
|
PayPal has been bullish on AI integrations. |
-
It netted a conversational commerce tie-up with Perplexity last May.
-
It integrated Mastercard’s Agent Pay protocol into its wallet to let AI bots process purchases on behalf of PayPal users.
-
PayPal partnered with ChatGPT, bringing its buy button inside the chat interface with Instant Checkout. |
|
|
|
| | | |
|
CREDIT & DEBIT |
|
|
|
Six in 10 US consumers ages 25 to 44 said a checking account that reports rent and bill payments would be more valuable than their current checking account, per a recent Cornerstone Advisors study commissioned by Bloom Credit. |
-
About one in four US adults—including about one in three Gen Zers—have a subprime credit score) per Experian data cited in the study.
-
Nearly half of Gen Zers (46%) and millennials (48%) use credit-building tools, although about two-thirds of Gen Zers (63%) and millennials (69%) said these tools had a limited-at-best impact on their credit scores. |
|
|
|
| | | |
|
CONSUMER SENTIMENT |
|
|
|
A December Harris Poll study commissioned by The Guardian shows widespread pessimism about how people in the US feel about their finances despite a stable economy. |
|
Nearly half of respondents (45%) said their financial security was getting worse versus just 20% who said it’s not. And 57% believed the US was in recession. Income brackets were a dividing line: 59% of respondents earning less than $50,000 said their financial security was worsening versus 37% making more than $100,000. |
|
|
|
| | | |
|
REPORT |
|
|
|
Digital account and credit card openings in the US and Canada are rebounding, thanks in part to smoother onboarding. But tighter credit and saturation are creating strain. Meanwhile, incumbents are holding share as challengers press for growth. |
|
This deck covers: |
-
Forecasts for US and Canada digital account and credit card openings, plus Canada digital account openings, through 2029
-
How traditional and digital-only institutions compete for new openings across both markets
-
The consumer, regulatory, and credit forces shaping digital and credit card account opening growth |
|
(EMARKETER subscription required to read the full report) |
|
|
|
| | | |
|
CHART OF THE WEEK |
|
|
|
Key stat: Saving more money is the top financial resolution among US resolution makers ages 25+ with an annual household income under $100,000, according to Wells Fargo and Ipsos. | | | |
|
