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The news: Fiserv will launch its own stablecoin, FIUSD, by end of year to complement its existing banking and payments infrastructure. Our take: Reporting BNPL data to the credit bureaus would be a solid step toward combatting BNPL鈥檚 鈥減hantom debt鈥� criticism.

The news: Sezzle debuted a suite of payment and deal-hunting features, per a press release. Our take: Sezzle needs to find any kind of foothold in the BNPL space, as its market share is massively outstripped by competitors like Klarna and Affirm.

While shoppers are stocking up for price hikes, return behaviors haven鈥檛 shifted鈥� yet, according to Johnson. Resale and secondhand shopping are rising as consumers seek affordable options. This could be good news for brands wanting to keep returned items on the market. 鈥淚f you can鈥檛 get it back on the shelf as a new product, you can still sell it on the secondhand market,鈥� said Johnson.

The news: TikTok tweens and teens who make popular 鈥淕et ready with me鈥� skincare routine videos may be harming their skin. The takeaway: Amid the closer social media scrutiny, skincare health brands should be clear about products that are not made for young skin. Social media teams need to be aware and proactive when interacting with tween and teen content creators.

The news: Affirm partnered with Shopmonkey and Xsolla so auto mechanics and video game developers can offer installment plans at checkout. Our take: Affirm has focused on building out its partnership network and the Affirm Card鈥攁nd its fiscal Q3 results (ended March 31, 2025) bear out the strategies鈥� success, with total revenues increasing 36% YoY.

As consumers turn to fintechs and payment providers for timely, solution-based support, banks are losing relevance. Staying in the game means shifting from product pushing to customer-led journeys.

The news: As the 2025 economy tightens under the pressure of tariffs, AI disruption, and shifting global trade policy, brands are embracing adaptability. Retail growth forecasts have been slashed, inflation-wary consumers are scaling back, and even luxury sentiment is weakening. Our take: Resilient brands are leaning into agile planning, reallocating media spend to ROI-focused channels like search and digital out-of-home, and anchoring value in trust and quality鈥攏ot just price. As emotional volatility shapes consumer decisions, marketers who show relevance and reassurance will lead. The brands that win won鈥檛 wait for stability鈥攖hey鈥檒l build strategies that succeed amid constant change.

Credit unions have historically championed white-glove service through personalized customer care, a key differentiator. However, the term's vagueness risks inconsistency and superficiality, potentially neglecting internal staff experience and ultimately harming customer service. To truly excel, financial institutions (FIs) must embed human-centric care into their core culture, beyond just outward presentation. This involves training employees in empathy, rewarding complex problem-solving skills, and redesigning products around customer milestones rather than sales. Ultimately, genuine differentiation for FIs lies in authentic financial partnership and a deep understanding of unique customer needs, which larger, less personal entities cannot easily replicate.

The news: The Trump administration is mulling new policies to make pharma advertising more difficult, per a Bloomberg report. Our take: RFK previously acknowledged the First Amendment hurdles in an outright pharma ad ban. But if he takes an alternate path with new D2C ad regulations, it鈥檚 a win for the industry. Pharma companies can budget for extra media costs of additional TV time and the loss of ad tax deductions, but they get to keep D2C advertising.

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Major financial institutions like Bank of America are exploring issuing their own stablecoins, viewing it as a crucial strategic move. Tokenization, the underlying technology, enables payment transactions to settle in seconds, automating compliance and cutting costs significantly (e.g., 40-60% in bond operations). This transforms static financial instruments into dynamic, programmable assets, appealing to a broader, potentially younger, customer base through innovations like fractional ownership. Failing to lead in tokenization risks U.S. banks losing their global market dominance, especially if retailers develop their own digital currencies, bypassing traditional payment systems. Smaller institutions can participate by partnering or leveraging existing stablecoin services from larger players.

The news: Hotel companies are expanding their upscale offerings to capitalize on strong demand for unique and customized accommodations among affluent consumers. Our take: Luxury and lifestyle brands are weathering economic ambiguity better than economy lodging. This divergence indicates that upscale, experiential offerings will be more resilient, while economy hotels face headwinds from cost-conscious consumers.

Klarna鈥檚 later entry into the US debit card space offers it a pathway to seize more payment volume.