Monday, November 2, 2026 · Issue No. 10 · 3 min readDownload PDF
Bank conduct and payment fees lead a busy week
Bank conduct and payment fees lead the news, with fintech earnings, the midterms and a jobs report ahead this week.
Top 3 if you read nothing else
- Sen. Warren asked the Justice Department to open a criminal probe of Bank of America and its executives, calling the bank's $1.21 billion anti-money-laundering penalty "a slap on the wrist."[1]
- The FTC and eight states sued Toast over hidden fees and hard-to-cancel subscriptions; the payments company reports earnings Tuesday.[2–3]
- The Fed has 45 days to seek a rehearing of the Eighth Circuit ruling that vacated its 21-cent debit interchange cap, or it can go to the Supreme Court.[4]
Market open In the first minutes of trading, stocks are higher: the S&P 500 is up 0.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%, and the VIX is down 1.8% to 19.1. Card and fintech names lead, with Affirm up 4.4%, Sezzle 4.0%, Capital One 2.9% and Amex 2.7%, while regional banks (KRE) gain 1.3%. The 10-yr yield is down about 4 bp to 4.89%, oil (USO) is down 6.0%, and ISM manufacturing (forecast 54.7) is out this morning with Apple results after the close.
Markets · 7:52 a.m. MT, Nov 2
- SPY+0.58%
- QQQ+0.57%
- VIX-1.75%
- 10-yr-3.7 bp
- Capital One+2.87%
- Synchrony+1.62%
- Affirm+4.40%
- Block+3.32%
+0.5%
S&P 500
first minutes of trading
54.7
ISM manufacturing
forecast, out today
Nov 3
Block, Upstart, Toast
report Tuesday
+63K
October payrolls
forecast, Friday
Banking
BofA AML
Sen. Warren asked Attorney General Blanche last Thursday to open a criminal probe of Bank of America and its executives, calling the $1.21B FinCEN, OCC and OFAC penalty "a slap on the wrist." The bank admitted willfully failing to report over $5B in suspicious activity from 2019 to 2023; she wants an answer by Nov 12.[1]
Charter rush
Galaxy Digital applied last Thursday for an OCC national trust bank charter, days after Ripple's charter won final approval. American Banker's tracker, updated Friday, lists near-prime card issuer Mission Lane (conditionally approved in September) and installment lender Avant (applied in September).[5–6]
MDI contest
Triad Business Bank has made four competing offers for Durham-based M&F, a Black-owned bank, to derail its planned merger with Optus. M&F's board has rejected all four; shareholders vote on the Optus deal Wednesday, Nov 4.[7]
Cards & payments
Debit cap
The Eighth Circuit vacated the Fed's 21-cent debit interchange cap on Oct 26; the Fed has 45 days to seek a rehearing by the full court or can petition the Supreme Court. A parallel case is pending in the Sixth Circuit, and the ruling conflicts with a 2014 D.C. Circuit decision.[4]
Toast suit
AI agents
Holiday BNPL
About half of consumers in a TSG survey plan to use pay-later this holiday season, and 20% plan to use it more than last year. Urban Institute research finds about 1 in 10 working-age adults buy groceries with BNPL.[10]
Company watch
Block
Reports Tue Nov 3 after the close; consensus is about $1.03 EPS on $6.65B revenue. Watch Cash App lending and Afterpay volumes.[3]
Upstart, Oportun
Both report Tue Nov 3: reads on AI underwriting and near-prime installment credit.[3]
Worth a read
Honor all cards
Lynne Marek (Payments Dive, Oct 29) argues that letting merchants refuse some Visa and Mastercard cards may change little: turning cards away adds checkout friction, and premium cards often bring bigger, more profitable sales despite higher fees.[12]
EWA tipping
Jason Mikula (Fintech Business Weekly, Oct 25) on EarnIn's suit claiming Maryland's ban on earned-wage-access tips violates free speech, a test of how far states can go in regulating tip-based pricing.[13]
Card disputes
Fintech Business Weekly's podcast (Oct 28) with Decisionly CEO Pallavi Kuppa-Apte covers dispute rules, agentic commerce and auditing AI decisions; useful for anyone running chargebacks.[14]
Market recap as of 7:52 a.m. MT, Nov 2
| Rates & alternatives | Last | Day | 30d | 1y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-yr Treasury | 4.56% | -5 bp | -25 bp | +108 bp |
| 10-yr Treasury | 4.89% | -3.7 bp | -32 bp | +91 bp |
| 2s/10s curve | +33 bp | -4 bp | -7 bp | -17 bp |
| TLT (20+ yr) | $81.96 | +0.56% | +4.1% | -10.8% |
| SGOV (T-bills) | $100.42 | +0.02% | -0.3% | -0.3% |
| Inv. grade (LQD) | $104.19 | +0.31% | +1.6% | -7.7% |
| High yield (HYG) | $77.22 | +0.25% | -0.5% | -4.9% |
| Dollar (UUP) | $28.93 | -0.24% | +0.8% | +3.7% |
| Gold (GLD) | $363.29 | +2.11% | -4.4% | +0.4% |
| WTI oil (USO) | $158.73 | -5.98% | +4.5% | +121.1% |
| Bitcoin | $77,748 | -0.08% | -7.5% | -32.4% |
| Banks & card | Last | Day | 30d | 1y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financials (XLF) | $57.30 | +1.40% | +4.8% | +9.3% |
| Banks (KBE) | $66.59 | +1.35% | +2.2% | +16.7% |
| Regional (KRE) | $72.92 | +1.26% | +2.1% | +19.3% |
| JPMorgan (JPM) | $341.11 | +1.21% | -0.3% | +11.8% |
| Citi (C) | $123.52 | +1.27% | -7.6% | +22.2% |
| Capital One | $210.72 | +2.87% | +5.6% | -5.6% |
| Amex (AXP) | $327.79 | +2.72% | +6.5% | -9.3% |
| Synchrony (SYF) | $76.57 | +1.62% | +5.8% | +2.1% |
| BFH | $105.69 | +2.20% | +3.4% | +58.8% |
| Atlanticus (ATLC) | $96.53 | +3.28% | +4.9% | +65.2% |
| OneMain (OMF) | $57.23 | +1.20% | +0.7% | -0.1% |
| Fintech & BNPL | Last | Day | 30d | 1y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fintech (FINX) | $24.20 | +1.30% | -3.7% | -29.7% |
| Fintech (ARKF) | $42.82 | +1.42% | -7.4% | -26.2% |
| Payments (IPAY) | $50.00 | +1.85% | +5.2% | -11.0% |
| Affirm (AFRM) | $76.70 | +4.40% | +9.4% | -0.5% |
| Block (XYZ) | $78.75 | +3.32% | +4.6% | -1.7% |
| PayPal (PYPL) | $57.84 | +1.46% | +6.4% | -24.1% |
| Klarna (KLAR) | $13.60 | +2.26% | +7.8% | -65.7% |
| SoFi (SOFI) | $17.24 | +2.86% | +5.7% | -45.3% |
| Upstart (UPST) | $22.49 | -2.30% | -4.0% | -55.4% |
| Sezzle (SEZL) | $140.29 | +4.03% | +27.0% | +94.9% |
| Equities | Last | Day | 30d | 1y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,616.72 | +0.48% | -1.3% | +10.4% |
| SPY | $760.11 | +0.58% | -1.1% | +10.6% |
| Nasdaq Comp. | 25,622.71 | +0.73% | -4.9% | +7.8% |
| QQQ | $694.44 | +0.57% | -6.2% | +10.2% |
| Dow (DIA) | $522.53 | +1.04% | +1.6% | +9.1% |
| Russell 2000 (IWM) | $281.47 | +0.77% | +0.4% | +12.9% |
| Semis (SOXX) | $471.04 | -0.10% | -17.2% | +55.3% |
| Cons. disc. (XLY) | $117.98 | +2.25% | +7.7% | -2.0% |
| Retail (XRT) | $90.82 | +2.37% | +10.7% | +7.1% |
| VIX | 19.08 | -1.75% | +18.1% | +19.7% |
Interactive Brokers quotes at 7:52 a.m. MT for ETFs, stocks and Bitcoin; S&P 500, Nasdaq and VIX are delayed about 15 minutes. Day change is vs Friday's close (Bitcoin vs 24h). 30D/1Y compare with the weekly open nearest Sep 28, 2026 and late Oct 2025, price only, excluding dividends. 2-yr is the Treasury close of Oct 30, and the 2s/10s curve uses it with the live 10-yr. Dollar via UUP (Invesco DB US Dollar Index ETF), WTI oil via USO (United States Oil Fund).
Sources
- Banking Dive: Warren urges DOJ to probe BofA's AML issues (Oct 30)
- Payments Dive: FTC, states sue Toast over fees (Oct 29)
- Tickzen: November 2026 earnings calendar
- Bank Policy Institute: BPInsights (Oct 31)
- Banking Dive: Galaxy Digital applies for OCC charter (Oct 29)
- American Banker: Fintech charter tracker (updated Oct 30)
- Banking Dive: Black-owned bank rebuffs offer from upstart (Oct 30)
- Payments Dive: AI agents won't pay the way you do (Oct 30)
- American Banker: Banks are blocking external AI agents (Oct 28)
- Marketplace: More consumers plan holiday BNPL (Oct 29)
- Affirm earnings Nov 5 (Oct 28)
- Payments Dive: Will ditching the 'honor all cards' rule matter? (Oct 29)
- Fintech Business Weekly: Is asking for a tip "free speech"? (Oct 25)
- Fintech Business Weekly podcast: AI-native dispute automation (Oct 28)
- U.S. Treasury: daily par yields
- Interactive Brokers market data, quotes at 7:52 a.m. MT (Nov 2)
Previous issueSun, Nov 1 · BNPL earnings, the midterms and a jobs report aheadNext issueTue, Nov 3 · Bank supervision and fintech earnings on Election Day
Sources are linked in every issue. Confirm figures against the original filings before relying on them.