Credit unions lean on rewards to compete with banks  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
Banking & Payments
SEPTEMBER 1, 2026
Today's Banking & Payments is sponsored by AtData.
About how much did pay-later purchases total in the US in 2025?
A) $20 billion B) $70 billion C) $150 billion D) $300 billion
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EMARKETER SUMMIT
Apply to attend for free
Here’s what our Sept. 15 The Future of Digital event offers:
✅ EMARKETER’s annual The Future of Digital forecast
✅ AI and agentic commerce with Horizon Media, VML, and JPMorgan Chase
✅ Commerce media’s role in the media mix with SharkNinja and Nanit
✅ Where video budgets are headed with Thorne and Bar Keepers Friend
✅ Intimate conversations with Gotham FC/She Pivots the Podcast and Ogilvy
Seats are going fast. Qualified brands attend free. Agencies discounted.
PAYMENTS
Affirm wants to capture everyday payments to drive volume growth
Affirm is pushing deeper into consumers’ everyday spend alongside financing major purchases, per its fiscal Q4 (ended June 30, 2026) earnings release.
  • Affirm’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 36% YoY to $14.1 billion—but total transactions increased even faster to 53 million, or 41% YoY.
  • At the same time, average order value (AOV) decreased by 4%.
  • Affirm attributed both the uptick of total transaction and decline in AOV to Pay-in-X’s 41% growth YoY, largely driven by lower-value purchases.
BANKING
Local rewards can help credit unions compete with bigger banks
Credit unions and community banks should lean on local rewards and exclusive experiences tied to their credit card program to boost their brand image.
Sixty-one percent of credit union members count their credit union as their primary banking institution, but that hasn’t translated into credit card loyalty.
Credit unions’ credit cards tend to offer weaker rewards than bigger banks. Credit unions instead need to flip issues of scale into an opportunity by focusing on local rewards, per the Financial Brand. By focusing on the specific region that they serve, credit unions can strengthen ties with local merchants and connect rewards to SMBs frequented by their members.
CONSUMER TRENDS
Gen Z bets on crypto and prediction markets as Schwab struggles to keep up
Charles Schwab intends to make Solana, Chainlink, and Avalanche available for trading. It currently offers Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. Solana is 16.8% the size of Bitcoin, Chainlink is 1.0%, and Avalanche is 0.2%, but each is extremely liquid.
In April, Schwab announced that it would roll out spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading to clients, starting with a phased release in May.
REPORT
How banks create value beyond products
Fragmented financial relationships and guidance from AI channels are weakening banks’ hold on customer decisions. To maintain relevance in the next era of banking, they’ll need to evolve from generating insights for customers to executing financial decisions on their behalf.
Key Question: How can banks become more central to customers’ financial lives as financial relationships fragment?
Key Stat: Just 34.3% of mortgages, 24.9% of retirement accounts, and 23.8% of investment accounts are held exclusively through consumers’ primary banks, per an October 2025 EMARKETER survey—underscoring how much of customers' financial lives sit outside their primary banking relationship.
(EMARKETER subscription required to read the full report)
CHART OF THE WEEK
Key stat: Rising prices/inflation surged from 30% to 39% of US consumers' top concern between March and May 2026 This is a 9-point jump in just two months while overtaking "global conflicts, disruptive tech" as the dominant worry after briefly trailing it in March, per Numerator.