A newish employee perk | FinTok gone wrong | The bank displaying all three credit scores

??Why hello.??

Welcome to fall and to the end of the month. It's been a blur. One standout: Going to Michigan for a credit union-fintech event. The trip marked the first time I went to my home state for work and I got to spend some time with my parents. They picked me and my partner up from the conference and sat in on the final panel – the one pictured above.

In fintech, here's what caught my eye in September:

1. That Detroit event: I spent a couple of days at the Reseda Summit, getting to know a range of financial health companies and other firms offering tech to credit unions. One debate brewed there: Whether or not there's a point to financial literacy. The pendulum appears to be swinging toward deploying tools that help consumers take specific actions versus preaching to them in paragraphs. Another takeaway from the demos: There's an opportunity for credit unions to partner with local influencers to create snappy personal finance content. Something now on my radar: Nickels, a NerdWallet for credit union products.

Two of my favorite things said during the summit (and I am paraphrasing):

• Large language models are like Swiss cheese: There are still lots of holes in them. Henry Vaage Iversen
• Financial literacy is BS Frida Leibowitz ????

Coming soon: I talked with Benjamin Maxim – the COO of the Reseda Group – about some of the summit's trends in this week's episode of Money isn't Everything. It drops October 3 and it's fun. We chat about how value in financial services is changing (or still needs to change).

2. Here’s a potential new low moment for financial advice on TikTok (or FinTok): Check fraud went viral on TikTok as a personal finance tip. These videos showed people writing checks to themselves, depositing them and withdrawing the funds from ATMs before Chase could detect that there wasn't enough in the accounts. This move does not end well for anyone who actually committed the crime. But, as Mashable reports, some social media acting could have been involved:

"It's entirely possible that people are creating fake screenshots or skits to take advantage of the viral moment, which seems more plausible than them believing they could scam the largest bank in the U.S. out of thousands and get away unscathed. We can only hope that the majority of people are just joking around, and that they didn't actually commit bank fraud based on a TikTok.”

Either way, my takeaway: More financial experts – including bankers – need to create financial advice content for TikTok. People go there for money advice and could benefit from some solid tips.

3. Shame in debt (and overcoming it) – and a cool retirement perk!: In 2024, a policy shift allowed for employers to match contributions to employees’ retirement plans when their employees make student debt payments. It’s part of SECURE Act 2.0.

On Money isn’t Everything, Candidly 's Laurel Taylor , chats about how that perk helps a wider group of people build their long-term savings, while also helping employers (like banks) improve their talent retention. In the episode, we also explore ways to reduce shame around debt and the joy felt when accomplishing something big.

Also on the pod: Rodrigo Suarez , the chief banking officer Piermont Bank , chats about why diversity matters at a bank, reflects on small-biz banking innovations and opines on how added regulatory scrutiny is influencing the way the bank pursues fintech partnerships.

Other things that happened this month:

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

• An emerging trend: Cards offering discounts on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
• Bunq, an intriguing Dutch neobank, is hiring all kinds of talent right now and one of the company's markets is the U.S.
• Hot damn. Monzo, a U.K. bank, is making all three credit scores available to customers in its app.
• Preventing another Synapse: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. proposed new rules addressing the high-stakes problem.
• My conversation with Tom Shen in written form.
• A look at how some Gen Zers are launching trade businesses instead of attending college.
• My Gen Z chitchats: Find them on the On Purpose series and also on Fintech Takes with my buddy, Alex Johnson.
• This brought a big smile to my face – a podcast episode examining Ron Shevlin or, as the hosts call him, “the analyst’s analyst.”
• Next month, find me at Glia Interact in San Antonio. Say hi. Or rather, line dance right over. I'll be the one in pink boots with flowers.
• Right now, find me at Fiserv Forum in Vegas. I'm partnering with Fiserv to create video interview content throughout the event.

Let’s get where we ain’t,

Mary