Antitrust regulators say they’re interested in data-driven mergers. Intuit’s $7 billion deal to buy Credit Karma will show how serious they are.
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Digital, NEO, Open Banking, Open Finance
Big Data Promises Better Deals. But for Whom?
Wired | | Feb 28, 2020
Antitrust regulators say they’re interested in data-driven mergers. Intuit’s $7 billion deal to buy Credit Karma will show how serious they are.
The announcement earlier this week that Intuit, the financial software giant, would be buying the personal finance company Credit Karma for $7 billion was striking. The tech industry is under more antitrust scrutiny than ever; just a few weeks ago, the Federal Trade Commission announced a broad inquiry into the past decade of acquisitions by the five biggest tech giants, with a focus on mergers that kill off budding rivals. This deal certainly raises that prospect: Intuit and Credit Karma compete on various fronts, and Intuit’s most recent federal filings named Credit Karma’s free tax preparation software as a threat to its dominant offering, TurboTax. Intuit has said it will keep Credit Karma's service free, and probably needs to promise as much to regulators to get the deal approved.
See: The future of fintech: lending + services
But antitrust enforcers, whose core responsibility is to keep markets competitive and protect consumers, are not just watching for mergers that kill off rivals. They’re also starting to look more closely at how tech companies acquire and use data. And that seems to be the main event here. The companies themselves have suggested that a driving force behind the merger is Intuit wanting to get its hands on Credit Karma’s stash of user data. Which raises an important question: Do consumers benefit from deals where the key asset being sold is their own personal information?
We’re talking about a lot of data here. Credit Karma, whose business is built around a free credit monitoring app, boasts more than a hundred million users. While those people don’t pay to use Credit Karma, they do turn over their financial information, as well as the kinds of behavioral and location data that other companies, like Facebook and Google, track. The platform’s algorithms then help lenders microtarget users with offers for credit cards, loans, and other financial products. Credit Karma gets a cut when users sign up.
“There’s no business person on the planet who doesn’t want to get access to consumer financial transaction details—that is a pot of gold,”
said Kristin Johnson, a professor at Tulane Law School and an expert on financial technology.
“The information regarding your purchases and sales, all credits and debits related to your account, really tell a full narrative about you and your life and the things you value and the things you have committed financial resources toward.”
According to Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi, the merger will benefit not just the companies, but also consumers. “What you’re now able to bring together with the two companies is the customers’ complete financial identity so they can get the best loan and insurance products for them,” he said in a conference call announcing the merger Monday, as reported by American Banker. By combining the two companies’ data sets, in other words, Intuit will be able to build more richly detailed dossiers of the financial backgrounds for millions of people. That, in turn, will allow lenders—and Intuit itself—to target offers even more efficiently. (When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Intuit pointed me to smartmoneydecisions.com, a website the companies created about their deal.)
See: Banks, fintech startups clash over ‘the new oil’ — your data
Does this sound familiar? It should. It’s the entire value proposition behind the ad-supported internet. Facebook and Google, two of the most profitable companies in the world, make their billions by monitoring as much of our online (and, increasingly, offline) behavior as possible and selling ads against that data. They, and other websites and apps like them, justify the surveillance by arguing that consumers appreciate having ads that are more relevant to them. Read a privacy policy, and it will probably mention something about “sharing your data with advertising partners” in order to “present offers that might interest you.” It’s not about extracting more money out of us, the story goes; it’s about helping us find what we really want.
It’s true that companies can use data to microtarget users with better deals. If you’ve got great credit, for example, your financial history might indeed lead to you getting better offers: cards with more points, loans with lower interest rates, and so on. But financial data has also been used to benefit corporate bottom lines at the expense of the consumer. This week, the tech publication The Markup published an investigation showing that the insurance giant Allstate has been trying to get Maryland regulators to approve a pricing algorithm for auto insurance that, according to the article, would squeeze more money out of the biggest spenders, rather than pricing strictly according to risk. (Maryland ultimately rejected its proposal.) Intuit itself has been documented steering customers to paid products when they qualified for free ones.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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LatAm in Focus – Podcast: The Future of Fintech in Argentina
AS/COA | Luisa Horwitz | February 19, 2020
In a region where a large portion of the population is underbanked, fintech offers an innovative solution for Latin America, paving the way for wider financial development, competition, and inclusion in the region.
In the case of Argentina, fintech startups are sprouting and spreading fast. Pierpaolo Barbieri, founder of the startup Ualá, talked with AS/COA Online’s Luisa Horwitz about what motivated him to make the financial system more accessible in Argentina, a country where more than half of people have never had access to a non-cash payment method. “What we try to do is democratize access to financial services,” says Barbieri, who in this episode also covers the generational divide when it comes to fintech, as well as what the sector looks like across Latin America.
“We don’t want to change the system from within; what we want is a new system.”
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See Fintech Friday Podcast Episodes
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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FCA Report (Feb 2020): Sector Views – Key Areas of Harm Identified
UK FCA | Feb 21, 2020
This analysis also contributes to the decisions we make affecting consumers, market integrity and competition.
Drivers of change
The first chapter describes the common themes across sectors with a focus on those themes that are having the greatest impact on the sectors we regulate. And in the light of EU withdrawal and its impact on financial services markets, we give an overview of our position in the current international context.
The 7 sectors
The remaining chapters cover all the markets we regulate:
- retail banking and payments
- retail lending
- general insurance and protection
- pensions savings and retirement income
- retail investments
- investment management
- wholesale financial markets
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Download the 86 page PDF Report - Sector Views (Key Areas of Harm Identified)
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Why LendingClub’s Acquisition Of Radius Bank Is A Smart Deal
Forbes | Ron Shevlin | Feb 21, 2020
LendingClub, one of the nation’s first peer-to-peer lenders (oops! I mean, “marketplace” lenders—real ”peer to peer” lending lasted all of about a month), announced it plans to acquire Radius Bank, a relatively small Boston-based bank, unknown to most people outside of the industry (and within, for that matter).
The press release announcing the pending deal contained the usual platitudes from the acquiring CEO:
“This is a transformational transaction that allows us to reimagine banking in a way that is free from legacy practices and systems. We will create a category-defining experience for our members that will dramatically enhance the resilience and earnings trajectory of our business.”
Despite the buzzword-laden proclamation, this acquisition makes a lot of sense for both parties for reasons that go beyond what many observers have reported on.
The Short-Term Benefits Aren’t About Radius Bank
Much of the discussion about the deal has focused on the obvious and shorter-term benefits of the acquisition, including a more stable source of funding and a $40 million reduction in bank fees and funding costs, both of which will help boost the spread Lending Club earns on the loans it keeps on its balance sheet.
If that was the only impetus for the acquisition, however, LendingClub could have acquired WebBank, the current issuer of loans through LendingClub’s platform.
Or it could have acquired any number of banks with a bank charter, no?
Radius Bank is a Strategic Acquisition
Lending Club went after Radius for a higher purpose: Its APIs and banking-as-a-service business.
See:
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The future of fintech: lending + services
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Banks, fintech startups clash over ‘the new oil’ — your data
Lending Club’s long-term vision is to become what it calls a “marketplace” bank. In my terminology, that means pursuing a platform strategy: attracting both buyers and sellers (borrowers/savers and lenders/investors) and providing transaction integration and processing capabilities.
Amazon is a great example of a successful platform strategy: It makes money by serving both buyers and sellers, and in fact, there doesn’t seem to be any limit to how much Amazon can make by increasing the services (e.g., AWS) it provides to the merchant side of the coin.
It’s the same with LendingClub.
Yes, LendingClub wants (needs) to expand beyond being just a monoline lending provider. It could have achieved that goal by acquiring any bank willing to sell itself to the company.
With Radius Bank’s APIs—and fintech relationships—LendingClub takes a big step forward towards becoming a multi-line platform, and not just a multi-line bank.
Many banks are falling over themselves trying to partner with fintech companies. In its latest survey, Cornerstone Advisors found that 70% of financial institutions consider fintech partnerships to be an important aspect of their 2020 strategies.
For better or worse, many are focusing their partnership efforts on digital account opening instead of product and service expansion.
LendingClub’s acquisition of Radius leap frogs a lot of those institutions.
See: Citibank to Save $600 Million in 2020 Through Digital Investments
Through its banking-as-a-service offering, Radius brings relationships and integration with firms like Brex, MaxMyInterest, Aspiration, NerdWallet, Stackin’, FutureFuel, and NorthOne.
Any bank can provide a charter. Not any bank can provide those relationships. And not any bank can bring to the table the APIs that Radius has already developed. With the exception of the largest banks, most banks are playing catch up on the API front.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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N26’s UK Customers Scramble After Bank’s Exit
Pymnts | , 2020
Online bank N26‘s decision to exit the U.K. has customers feeling left behind, CNBC reported.
The Berlin-based digital bank said it would not be able to operate in the country anymore in the wake of Brexit, as it will no longer have a license to do business there. The startup will shutter all of its U.K. locations on April 15.
N26 made its entry into the U.K. in October of 2018 — more than two years after the U.K. made its decision to leave the European Union, but six months before Brexit was officially planned.
However, the fact that N26 used Brexit in its reasoning to leave the U.K. hasn’t sat well with some.
One customer in London told CNBC that he was “outraged” that the company had used Brexit as an excuse, calling it “fake news.” He said N26 needed “an excuse” for investors, and had found in Brexit a convenient scapegoat so that it wasn’t N26’s own failure.
Others said they were disappointed in the closure, enjoying the extra bonuses that come with accounts.
See: Majority of London FinTechs not prepared for no-deal Brexit
N26 is one among a new breed of branchless banks, looking to gain favor with consumers through a parade of slick marketing and eye-catching slogans. The entry in Britain pitted N26 against challengers like Monzo and Revolut, which were trying similar things.
The competitors, meanwhile, have pounced on the exit of N26 as a way to attract more customers to their own brands.
Starling Bank, posted in a Tweet on Monday (Feb. 17), “Just found out your bank’s making a swift Brexit? Don’t worry — we’re here to stay.”
Monese tweeted, “If you’re in need of a Brexit-proof GBP account, we can be your perfect match.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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HSBC launches Treasury APIs for business clients
Bank Innovation | Rick Morgan | Jan 22, 2020
HSBC is improving payments for its business clients through a suite of tools launched last week called Treasury APIs, which are designed to speed up payments for small businesses and large corporate clients alike.
HSBC’s Treasury APIs embed payment capabilities into other workflows. According to the bank, this allows treasurers to make payments from their own workstations without logging into a proprietary bank platform. Clients receive confirmation that a payment request has been received and can track payments from their accounts to recipients.
Nadya Hijazi, head of digital, global liquidity and cash management at HSBC, said clients using the tool include e-commerce platforms, treasury teams and mutual fund teams.
The new products let HSBC business clients pay suppliers more quickly; Hijazi said payments that used to take anywhere from one or two days in the past now take about 10 or 20 seconds.
HSBC, which is headquartered in London, has $2.7 trillion in assets. Treasury APIs are now available in 27 markets throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. The bank piloted the tools in India last summer.
See: HSBC Canada Breaks from Big Six Banks in Call to Encourage Fintechs
In addition to paying suppliers, HSBC business customers can also issue refunds to customers with speed and efficiency. In the past, e-commerce platforms would have to wait until the next day to refund customers, but HSBC’s new tools allow clients to refund customers in real time. Treasury APIs connect business clients’ banking data directly to back-office systems and clients can also view their liquidity positions in real time, without having to wait until the end of the business day.
Other banks are also working to improve the payments experience for business clients. In September, BNP Paribas partnered with Kantox to help corporations automate foreign exchange transactions. Meanwhile, Citibank recently partnered with HighRadius to speed up cross-border payments for its corporate clients. And last summer, American Express acquired business-to-business payments company Acompay to eliminate pain points for its corporate clients.
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The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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HSBC Canada Breaks from Big Six Banks in Call to Encourage Fintechs
The Logic |By Zane Schwartz | Feb 12, 2020
While Canada’s Big Six banks urge caution about the introduction of open banking, the Canadian subsidiary of U.K.-based multinational HSBC wants the federal government to require banks to share information with the fintechs trying to compete with them.
In a February 2019 submission to the finance department’s advisory committee looking at open banking rules, recently made public, HSBC Canada CEO Sandra Stuart requested the government introduce legislation mandating “open banking.”
The call comes as the Big Six banks are urging caution on open banking. HSBC Canada is the only foreign bank or subsidiary to make public its submission to the committee.
Download HSBC Canada's response to Finance Canada's open banking consultation --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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