Intergenerational banking | Bank apps matching their CEOs? | Fintech Meetup...I will be there!

Well, hi:

This has been a strange month and an emotionally expansive one as well. It has also included some lovely paddle boarding, dance cardio and yoga. As the years go on, I find that I am in my most relaxed state when I am outside. Sorry colleagues. ; ) Also, it was fun to see this rendition of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Here’s what caught my eye in fintech in February:

• On Money isn’t Everything, we’re having all kinds of vibrant times.

- In February, Ryan Falvey , co-founder and managing partner at Restive (a venture fund for early-stage fintech companies), joined me on the show to opine on 2025 fintech predictions and talk about how productivity tools are helping fintech founders build products faster than ever before.

- Also on the show: I got to chat with the Cobol Cowboy co-founders, Eileen and Bill Hinshaw. I’ve been wanting to interview them for years. So, it was a thrill to chat with them and learn about their firm and how they are trying to help educate younger people on COBOL. The programming language has endured all these decades and banks are still dependent on it. As Bill told me on the show:

People are finally recognizing, ‘hey, this old...what I call legendary, not legacy, I call it legendary software... is not going to go away and why should it go away? It was written for business.

Interestingly, the COBOL topic also came up in this recent efinancialcareers' article that says: "While AI is thought to be poor at writing COBOL code, there is more promise in using it to analyze existing undocumented code and explaining it to developers who can then work on it more efficiently."

• Bank account for caregivers: American Banker shined a light on something cool that Huntington Bank introduced ... a product called Caregiving Banking, which lets consumers get shared access to someone’s bank account in a read-only mode. A product like this stands to help caregivers verify their parents’ bills are getting paid or catch fraud on behalf of their loved ones, among other things. It highlights one more way a bank is rethinking its value, and well, moving quicker than many of its peers.
• Separately, Carefull (a financial safety service offered to credit union members) has been forming partnerships. For example, it is working with Merck Employees Federal Credit Union (MEFCU) to help the credit union’s members reduce elder fraud. Some features members now have access to include: account monitoring for one other family member, ongoing fraud education and credit monitoring. It’s free for members and another example of adding value into an account. Carefull also announced a partnership with Synovus.

Other things that happened this month:

?? Mystery box of intriguing links, articles and other stuff that may interest you as it did me.

• There is a perfect lead sentence: “Wall Street has not typically been accused of doing too much for women and minority groups.”
• Wow. “By 2027, AI data centres could consume as much water as six Denmarks combined.” Read Theo Lau’s column here.
• RIP pennies? I would miss their good luck status.
• A surprising post that compares bank apps to the look and feel of their CEOs.
• Well, well, well: FICO is planning to incorporate buy now, pay later payments into its credit scores.
• Intriguing: This startup essentially offering a money back guarantee on IVF treatments if one doesn't have a baby.
• Thanks to Tara Schultz for having me on CSI’s podcast, Banking on Community. We talk about consumer trends and have a great time. Catch the episode here.
• Don't sleep on watching the What's Going On in Banking webinar replay either -- it's full of data insights and flair.
• If you are going to Fintech Meetup, come see my panel. It's Monday at 2:30 p.m.

Let's get where we ain't!

Mary

- This is impossible not to share. I've been doing some regular doctor checkups and below are two examples of my recent waiting rooms. Yes, I live in Los Angeles: