APIs – More Banks to Follow JPM – Pricing Implications

As I stated in my Monday blog, Open Banking is dead in the US. Pay by Bank (and open banking) is effectively dead in the US. This follows JPMorgan’s move to push out its new API pricing structure to data aggregators and other third parties in the first week of July. This development comes as the “new” CFPB seeks to vacate its Section 1033 rule.

The latest is that we can expect most other major banks to roll out their own pricing within the next two weeks. These banks will have different pricing, as there was no coordination among banks. JPM has always been the most forward in protecting consumer data. A new pricing floor for data access has been established. Now that other analysts have weighed in, I can recap the pricing framework. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Open Baning is Dead in the US

Last week, I shared the news that JPMorgan has started charging for API access, a move that many see as a death blow to pay-by-bank and open banking in the US. While this might sound dramatic, I believe it’s a necessary reset. The truth is, the current model was never sustainable, and with the CFPB’s recent move to vacate its unlawful 1033 rule, the writing is on the wall. Open banking as we know it is dead in the US.

Continue reading

Retail Banking and Stablecoins

Friction, Float, and the Future

As a Banker, Founder and Payment Historian who has spent too long watching icebergs melt, I’ve seen many technologies promise to upend the banking industry. Most have been evolutionary, not revolutionary. But the advent of digital dollars, particularly consumer-facing stablecoins, are unique. Payments are the core of retail banking and profitability. Payments are a networked business, not just in card but in every consortium and association. As I outlined in The Power of Bank Networks, these networks are the engines that drive economies and how banks connect to the environment. For my colleagues in banking and payments, understanding how (or if) stablecoins impact payments is very important.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Stablecoins: Bank Strategy – Just Another Rail

Bankers View: Stablecoins, Deposits, and the Future of Payments

Summarizing my 20 odd tweets yesterday. Note that I don’t necessarily agree with the banks’ strategy, but I do understand it. Given that most of the press is focused on how Stablecoins will destroy banking, I thought a banker’s view would be a useful counterbalance.

The buzz around stablecoins continues, often painting a picture of banks demise. As a former banker I thought I’d share my view on the topic and explain the bank strategy (as I see it). While stablecoins present novel tech, the notion that they will supplant established retail banking relationships is a bunch of “hooky”. Big banks aren’t just watching from the sidelines; they are best positioned to integrate this new rail, much like they’ve absorbed countless payment innovations before.

Continue reading

Capital One’s Acquisition of Discover – Set to Reinvent Retail Banking?

An Update on the Future of Retail Banking – April 2025 By Thomas Noyes

With the conditional approval from the OCC on April 17, 2025, Capital One’s (COF) acquisition of Discover Financial Services (DFS) marks one of the most transformative events in U.S. retail banking in over a decade. While prior large-bank deals often focused on scale, this one signals a strategic reinvention. Capital One, long admired for its technical prowess, is poised to blur the traditional boundaries between credit, savings, and checking—challenging the conventional “retail bank” construct. This merger represents not just an expansion of balance sheet or customers, but a redefinition of what banking can look like in the age of AI, embedded finance, and consumer control.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

CapOne Buys Discover

Quick Take

Discover has been looking for a buyer for some time. Back in 2012 they were the launch partner for the Google Plastic card and positioned the opportunity with Google. While Google was interested in the network, there was no interest in taking on banking licenses and credit risk. Finding a buyer for the BUNDLE of Discover was their ongoing problem, with many BigTechs interested in the network only. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

PayPal Innovation Opportunity – “All In” on the Consumer

I’m usually just a cynic. Today, I’m constructive with specific suggestions for PayPal’s new executive team. Note that about 80% of your large institutional investors will read this.. 

Exec Summary

  • Wallets are a core battlefield for Issuers, BigTech, marketplaces, and governments.
  • PayPal’s previous “super app” strategy failed because there was no clear consumer value proposition.
  • The most significant consumer value proposition to be unlocked is the unbundling of financial services, with the wallet providing the common UI to manage the complexity. In this future state, a “super wallet” would enable bank competition for every account and every transaction.
  • PayPal is well positioned to execute on a super wallet, but it must go ALL IN on a consumer-focused value proposition without regard for issuer relationships. 
  • For example, Curve is the best-in-class Wallet providing aggregation, transaction, loyalty and analytics across all account types, networks, POS, eCom, P2P and banking services. 

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Short Blog – US Paze and RTP – Consumer Terms

New consumer terms rolled out at several banks this week. As the former head of online and payment services at Wachvoai (40%+ of Wells) I had managed these agreements. Changes are a very big deal, usually less than once per year. Given my history with Wachovia I chose to review the Wells Fargo below agreement (JPM, BAC, and COF all have similar).

https://www.wellsfargo.com/online-banking/online-access-agreement/

Continue reading

Settlement – The Core of Banking – Part 1 

© Starpoint LLP, 2022. No part of this site, blog.starpointllp.com, may be reproduced or retransmitted in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner.

Given that 80% of my payments thoughts over the last month have been on identity it is time to move on to settlement. Understanding the process of settlement is key to understanding both payments and banking. 

Today’s blog hopes to address 4 questions

  • What are the fundamental innovations in settlement?
  • How will innovations change competitive dynamics?
  • How will innovations change political dynamics?
  • What flows will be impacted?

Nobel economists Coase/Williamson demonstrated how transaction costs shaped the Nature of the Firm. Settlement systems define the transaction costs of finance. Thus settlement system design shapes the organization of financial services. Settlement is in the midst of a revolution as many parties seek to remake settlement as the “base” platform capable of unbundling financial services.

Settlement provides the legal structures and operating rules required to clear $USD Trillions per day are 95% across multiple parties. Banking is a connected business, if the world was in a single account there would be no settlement issues as everyone would be on the same ledger. 

As with all networks increasing scale results in increased network rigidity and existing participants consider how changes impact the value they receive and their unique competitive dynamics. For example, many of the proposed changes to settlement will impact correspondent banking. While some see opportunities to reduce the “cost” of correspondent banking, others providing the correspondent services see change as a reduction in revenue.  While the tech of settlement is fascinating, at the end of the day one counterparty has to trust the netting process to permit funds to flow from their account. 

While there is no near-term cliff, settlement innovations may result in a dramatic shift of payment volume. Today V, MA, SWIFT, EFT, … ALL run on the same settlement process. As most of you know, there is over $4T of market cap driven by networks residing on TOP OF settlement.  For example, card networks do not move funds, but rather are messaging networks. While the legal and operational structure of settlement may not change, a change in technology can have significant implications for how messages operate between trusted parties and the DIRECT ACCESS of non-banks (ex PSPs, non-banks, …etc.).  

This is a HIGHLY POLITICAL undertaking, with many change advocates working to reduce the power of US/EU banks and sanctions controls. Changes in settlement have the potential to unbundle banking, payments drive changes to central bank power and FCY reserves. Where open banking breaks open the FRONT END, settlement remakes the back end. For example, if risk in settlement can be managed by specialists commercial/retail banking (and payments) could move toward a model which resembles modern financial markets (clearing process is a commodity).

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please . Not a Member? Join Us

Wallets, APIs and Trust

6 Page Blog

Top of mind today are Wallets, Identity and Application Program Interfaces (APIs). APIs are the core concept behind many new business models investors must decipher:

  • Software as a Service (SaaS)
  • Payments as a Service (PaaS)
  • Banking as a Service (PaaS)
  • Open Banking – PISP, AISP, ..etc
  • Account Aggregation – FDX, Plaid, Akoya, … etc
  • Payment Service Provider (PSP) – Stripe, Adyen, PYPL/Braintree, … etc

Previously, I’ve covered this topic in Open Banking and Open Payments and Trust Networks (2020)  Part 3 – Internet 2.5 (2022), Modularity and Trust (2022) and Evolution of V/MA – Moving Beyond Cards (2021). Summary points from these previous blogs:

Continue reading