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SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 |
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At a loss: True or false? Small businesses estimate an average annual loss of $15,000 due to late payments. |
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DEMOGRAPHICS |
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US consumers overall will slash their holiday spending about 5% this year, while Gen Zers expect to cut it 23%, per Inkl. This move is driven by a shift in spending toward experiences and entertainment, leaving less for holiday shopping. |
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Why this should matter to banks: We’ve seen this trend among Gen Zers in other areas of spending—such as prioritizing vacations over saving—meaning their habits are consistent. In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, financial institutions (FIs) can tap into this to demonstrate a deeper level of understanding of their Gen Z clientele. |
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FINTECH |
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Fiserv acquired CardFree, expanding Clover’s hospitality offerings for merchants, per a press release. |
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CardFree’s mobile ordering and payments platform gives merchants customized ordering, payment, and loyalty solutions—everything from drive-through software to kiosk and sub-inventory enablement—that integrates into nearly all POS systems and payment processors. |
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DIGITAL PAYMENTS |
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PayPal and Venmo users can receive early access to Perplexity’s new browser, Comet, with a free 12-month trial of Perplexity Pro. With Comet, PayPal stands to pick up significant payment volume—the browser specializes in hyperpersonalized ads. |
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As the designated payment platform for Perplexity, PayPal is trying to gain an early mover advantage in agentic commerce. |
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Perplexity, meanwhile, is trying to tap PayPal and Venmo’s combined 170.1 million US users, per our forecast, to chip away at Chrome’s browser dominance: Chrome controls 67.1% of all internet browser traffic, per StatCounter. |
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REPORT |
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Banks are entering H2 2025 with more freedom—and more ways to get it wrong. Deregulation, stablecoin rules, and emerging tech like agentic AI are opening doors to growth, while mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and expanding access to financial media networks (FMNs) are reshaping the competitive landscape. Success will hinge on seizing these opportunities without sacrificing long-term trust. |
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Key question: How can financial institutions (FIs) adapt their strategies to navigate a rapidly changing competitive and regulatory landscape in H2 2025? |
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Key stat: FMN ad spending will almost triple over the next two years to $1.78 billion, per our forecast. New solutions will let more midsize FIs enter the market, but strong marketing investment will be critical to their profitability. |
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(EMARKETER subscription required to read the full report) |
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CHART OF THE WEEK |
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Key stat: National Bank was the only one of Canada’s big six banks to not beat their expected earnings in Q3 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. | | | |
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