Welcome to another edition of CardsFTW, where we break down what’s happening at the intersection of cards, payments, and fintech. This week was packed with announcements, product launches, and regulatory noise. Let’s dive into a quick-hits edition, a card-cuterie board, if you will.

Me, Elsewhere: I’m Speaking at FinTech DevCon

I’m excited to announce I’ll be giving a talk at FinTech DevCon in Denver. “Learn From My Mistakes: Designing Rewards, Algorithms, and Ledgers in Payment Cards” will be a deep dive into everything I’ve learned building rewards ledgers repeatedly over the years. The conference runs from August 4–6, and my talk is on Wednesday morning. You can register at fintechdevcon.io and use code spkr25 to save $150 on your registration.

Buy Now, Pay Later Keeps Looking Like Credit Cards

This is a recurring theme in CardsFTW: the convergence of BNPL and credit cards. The lines are fuzzier than ever. Klarna recently joined Affirm in offering flexible-credential-style cards that support both Pay-in-Four and other transactions with Visa Flex cards. These offerings are beginning to look indistinguishable from traditional card products like Chase or Amex revolvers with fixed payments.

Horizontal AND vertical options. Pretty specific demographic they're targeting with this.

PayPal, which already supports Pay-in-Four and is dominant in online payments, just announced a new physical credit card (issued by Synchrony, their longtime partner and also the issuer of the Venmo card). This PayPal credit card includes a limited-time travel promo: six months of 0% APR on travel purchases with no minimum spend. A BNPL-style incentive wrapped in a credit card.

Today's card hand models all have very long nails.

There’s also a new PayPal + Mastercard One announcement, which I think is for PayPal to launch a Mastercard One Credential card (which is a similar product to Klarna's Visa Flex above). PayPal now has a growing family of cards: personal debit, business debit, business credit, Venmo credit, and now a personal credit card. I'm still waiting on that Braintree card. Too many brands, too many credentials? (Oh, one more PayPal note: Venmo also refreshed its debit card benefits and design.)

Walmart + Synchrony = OnePay

Walmart used to have Synchrony (née GE Money) issue their credit cards. Then they broke up and went to Capital One. That went terribly, as I mentioned in CardsFTW #55 and CardsFTW #100.

At that point, I imagine there was a meeting where someone at Walmart said, “We can do this ourselves.” Working with Ribbit Capital, they formed a joint-venture (OnePay) to build fintech products, potentially to replace the constellation of third-party powered products like their credit card or the Walmart Prepaid Visa (powered by Green Dot). 

It's not you, the chip is on the "wrong" side here. Just feels weird.

You can’t bring everything in-house, though. You still need a bank to issue a card in the U.S. and no one has cheap capital like a bank has cheap capital. So, Walmart is returning to Synchrony to issue their upcoming credit card that will have its experience managed by OnePay. I don’t think this new set of cards (both open loop network branded and private label) will have the same experience and look at feel that the traditional cards from Capital One or Synchrony 10 years ago did. Should be interesting to watch.

Regulatory Crosshairs on Interchange

Meanwhile, on the regulatory front, Senator Dick Durbin continues his campaign to limit interchange on credit cards, somehow intermingling it with stablecoins. Illinois had passed a law banning certain credit card fees on top of taxes, which was scheduled to start July 1, but legislators have now delayed it by a year. Why? The required technology to comply doesn’t exist yet.

Gen Z Habits and the Ongoing Tab Problem

More interestingly, The New York Times highlighted how Gen Z avoids bar tabs. They prefer to close out immediately, and this reflects a broader pain point in card usage: the physical credential still needs to be handed over, especially in bars and restaurants. Despite the proliferation of mobile wallets, it’s rare to see universal support for tap-to-pay. Nobody likes waiting to pay at the end of the night. Union has been playing this game for a long time; I hope my bar starts using it. It’s hard to get people to move on from comfortable ways of paying, like handing over a card.

Checks Are Still a Thing?

Speaking of old ways to pay for things, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta reports that checks are still hanging on. In 2024, about 6% of consumers paid bills by check, and 7% used check bill pay. That’s wild. Most of the folks who read this newsletter probably assumed they’re extinct, but the paper lives on.

Checks: Down, but not out.

Wells Fargo Is (Almost) Back

Also on the regulatory front, and with some potentially big implications: Wells Fargo got the green light from regulators to lift its cap on deposit growth. This consent order had constrained the bank since its scandals years ago. Now they’re ready to grow again, and plans to add capacity with new co-branded credit cards. That could stir things up.

Post-Merger Bad News

Capital One: Yay, we bought Discover! Everything will be great!
Also, Capital One: Your VentureX card is getting worse. 

If you venture to the airport lounge, you better venture alone, or pay up.

Starting February 1, 2026, additional cardholders will lose complimentary lounge access unless the primary cardholder pays $125 annually per person. That includes access to Capital One Lounges, Landings, and Priority Pass. That’s a significant shift for a premium travel card that initially made family access a key perk.

Foreign Exchange Arbitrage

In geopolitics meets payments, Visa, Mastercard, and dollar-based rails are reportedly being used to bypass sanctions and fund militias in Iran. This is a reminder that card networks are not just tech infrastructure—they’re geopolitical levers.

Phew! Thanks for reading! If you’re enjoying CardsFTW, consider sharing it or forwarding to a friend in fintech.

CardsFTW

CardsFTW, released weekly on Wednesdays, offers insights and analysis on new credit and debit card industry products for consumers and providers. CardsFTW is authored and published by Matthew Goldman and the team at Totavi, a boutique consulting firm specializing in fintech product management & marketing. We bring real operational experience that varies from the earliest days of a startup to high-growth phases and public company leadership. Visit www.totavi.com to learn more.

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