Greetings,
Here at PeerIQ, we would like to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend. We will resume our regular programming next week.
In the News:
- U.S. Added Nearly 5 Million Jobs in June (NY Times, 7/2/2020) The U.S. economy added 4.8MM jobs in June, which is the second month of gains after a loss of more than 20MM jobs in April.
- Treasury Yields Rise After ADP Report Shows Positive May Revision (CNBC, 7/1/2020) U.S. government debt yields ticked higher after an ADP report showed that businesses continued to hire workers in June following the COVID-19 shutdown.
- Second Chance at Covid-19 Aid for Small Businesses Draws Support (WSJ, 6/30/2020) PPP deadline extended to August 8, 2020.
- ‘Flying Blind Into a Credit Storm’: Widespread Deferrals Mean Banks Can’t Tell Who’s Creditworthy (WSJ, 6/29/2020) Lenders are having a difficult time identifying risky borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- We Know How to Beat the Virus. This Is How Republicans Can Do It. (NY Times, 6/29/2020) The Senate should take notes from other market economies around the world that managed to fight the pandemic and safely restore normalcy.
- Supreme Court Orders Restructuring of Consumer-Finance Watchdog (WSJ, 6/29/2020) The Supreme Court ordered changes to CFBP and ruled that the agency’s structure was unconstitutional because its director held too much unchecked power.
- Where FDIC, OCC Chiefs Differ on Post-Pandemic Banking (American Banker, 6/27/2020) FDIC Chair, Jelena McWilliams, and Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks, have articulated their own ideas on postal banking and the use of artificial intelligence in lending.
- Bye Fintech. Hello Techfin. (Forbes, 6/26/2020) TechFins, technology companies who embed financial services to their offerings, are in it for the data.
- Far from Changing Banking, Chatbots Aren’t Keeping Up With Call Volumes in the COVID-19 Era (Tear Sheet, 6/29/2020) More financial institutions are using AI-powered customer service solutions to handle increased customer service loads, but the chatbots aren’t completely up to speed.
- Why the Fed Thinks Goldman is America’s Riskiest Bank (Financial Times, 7/2/2020) An annual capital review finds that Goldman would have challenges in a deep recession.
- What happens if Mastercard and Visa gobble up all the data aggregators? (American Banker, 6/29/2020) Banks can benefit from deals like Mastercard’s agreement to buy Finicity and Visa’s pending acquisition of Plaid because of their close relationship with the card networks.
- Apple Launches Path to Apple Card, a 4-month Credit Worthiness Improvement Program (TechCrunch, 6/29/2020) Apple is launching a new Apple Card program for customers who have their application declined.
- US Challenger Bank Chime Launches Credit Builder, a Credit Card that Works More Like Debit (TechCrunch, 6/30/2020) San Francisco-based challenger bank, Chime, launched their new Credit Builder Visa card, which is designed to help consumers build their credit history by way of everyday transactions.
- How Wirecard Went From Tech Star to Bankrupt (WSJ, 7/2/2020) German prosecutors are investigating if Wirecard used fictitious revenue to increase sales and food investors.
- Personal Capital sells to Empower Retirement in Deal Worth Up to $1B (TechCrunch, 6/29/2020) Empower Retirement will acquire Personal Capital in a deal worth $825MM upon closing, with another $175MM in “planned growth” incentives.
Lighter Fare:
- Here’s How Flying Snakes Stay Aloft (Science News, 6/29/2020) Someone tell Samuel L Jackson this is how snakes really fly.