News
Tuesday, October 13
the stack
Fintech
AI underwriting, data rails and the software eating deal flow.
AI agents handle 80% of Bluevine customer inquiries, Valley says
Details from Valley Bank's acquisition call show how Bluevine uses AI in support and engineering, and why it bundles business software into its banking account.
Valley Bank CEO discusses Bluevine acquisition on CNBC
Ira Robbins appeared on CNBC after Valley announced its deal for Bluevine, taking questions on the acquisition of the small business banking fintech.
Meta's Muse AI agent bought a B2B Finance Expo ticket with one tap
A reporter's test of Meta's Muse showed an agent registering for a Las Vegas conference on a site not built for agents, then editing the ticket afterward, with one payment approval.
Factoring executive blames MCAs, fintech and state laws for industry's squeeze
Greg Salomon, a California financing firm president, argues in the IFA's Commercial Factor magazine that MCAs, supply-chain finance, embedded credit and disclosure laws are cutting into factoring.
Upstart says Q2 delivered growth, credit performance and wider margins
CEO Paul Gu told analysts the AI lender no longer has to trade growth against credit quality or profit; Upstart also holds conditional OCC approval for its own bank.
Figure says business loan brokers are driving home equity volume
CEO Michael Tannenbaum told analysts that business-purpose home equity loans have grown within a year, and that Figure launched an SMB pool on Democratized Prime in July.
NerdWallet CEO says LLM visitors are few but highly motivated to transact
On the Q2 call, Tim Chen said AI answers are changing how people research money questions, and that a trusted brand matters more in marketplaces and high-stakes guidance.
LendingTree CEO plans AI agents to vet leads before routing them to lenders
Scott Peyree said an AI agent could talk with a consumer first, learn what matters, and send the lead to one or two suitable companies rather than five brokers.
LendingTree calls Q2 the trough for its SMB business, flat to down for 2026
The CEO cited soft merchant sentiment and lender pullback tied to Middle East tension and energy prices, and says July showed signs of recovery in a unit that grew 40% a year.
