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MARCH 3, 2026 |
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Up and up: By how much did total US bankcard balances increase in Q4 2025? |
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A) 1.1% B) 2.1% C) 3.1% D) 4.1% |
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |
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Block’s gross profit grew 24% YoY to $2.87 billion in Q4 2025, notching its first $1 billion gross profit month in December, per its earnings. |
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Despite Block outperforming its gross profit outlook for Q4, CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company would reduce its workforce by 40%, laying off about 4,000 employees. |
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“We're going to build this company with intelligence at the core of everything we do,” Dorsey wrote in an X post.
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He added that, although Block’s customer count and profits are growing, AI tools and smaller teams are enabling a “new way of work” that changes what it means to build and run a company. |
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DIGITAL BANKING |
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Nu Holdings, the parent company of the Latin American mega-neobank Nubank, reported its Q4 and full-year 2025 earnings, with $16.3 billion in revenue and a $2.9 billion profit in 2025. |
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The company added 17 million customers globally in 2025, with active users totaling about 108.7 million. By comparison, Chime, the largest US neobank, had 2025 revenue of $535 million, a $1 billion net loss, and 9.5 million active members. |
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Nu’s entry into the US market seems inevitable after it appointed its cofounder as head of US operations. Nu has grown rapidly by entering Latin American countries with large-scale consumer and commercial segments inadequately served by legacy financial institutions. |
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CRYPTOCURRENCY |
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Meta will reenter the stablecoin market in the second half of 2026, per Coindesk. |
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The company previously took a stab at a stablecoin project back in 2019, originally named Libra and then Diem. |
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The initial crypto initiative was ambitious: Meta wanted to create a global digital currency backed by a compilation of different national fiat.
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This plan was later revised to develop multiple stablecoins pegged to different national currencies.
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Meta abandoning the project in 2022 due to regulatory headwinds and fallout of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. No token ever launched. |
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REPORT |
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Rising financial stress is exposing gaps in banks’ money management tools. As consumers compare support in high-stakes moments, fintechs are setting the standard with proactive, unified experiences—leaving reactive, fragmented bank offerings increasingly out of step. |
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Key question: How can banks evolve financial wellness tools to better support consumers during periods of financial stress while protecting trust, engagement, and long-term monetization? |
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Key stat: Fewer than half of US adults feel satisfied with their bank during negative life events such as job loss (35%), medical expenses (40%), or health changes (41%), per a July 2025 Jack Henry & Associates survey—underscoring a service gap that could prompt customers to switch. |
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(EMARKETER subscription required to read the full report) |
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CHART OF THE WEEK |
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Key stat: Total stablecoin market capitalization hit $308.55 billion in January 2026, up from $137.39 billion in January 2023, according to DefiLlama. | | | |
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