I’d like to see some policy and regulation to stop this shit because it stinks of scams and leads to harm.
Economic Policy Oct 3, 2025 Bankification Nation From tech giants to airlines to health care providers, every company is becoming a bank — and that’s bad news for the rest of us. Luke Goldstein Starbucks holds nearly $2 billion of customers’ money in its rewards program. That’s more than the total deposits managed by 85 percent of chartered banks, making the coffee chain one of the biggest financial institutions in the country. Conversely, Capital One, one of the world’s top banks, now operates its own cafes on city street corners. Airlines are now little more than flying banks, given that they make more money from selling frequent flyer points to credit card companies than they do flying passengers. More Americans than ever are in debt to their nearby grocery store due to predatory “buy now, pay later” loans offered during checkout. As you’re wheeled into an emergency medical procedure, the nurse may ask if you’d prefer to pay on a deferred-payment loan plan, an increasingly common way to finance health care expenses. And if you can’t pay your rent on time, it could soon become common for your apartment building owner to lend you the money, putting you in debt to your landlord. These are snapshots of the new wave of financialization sweeping across the country, where the lines between finance and commerce are being blurred.
It’s all hopped up on nothing. Maybe turning it into a bank is one of the many reasons Starbucks sucks these days.
AAA Rated Junk: What Tricolor and First Brands Reveal About Credit Markets! – Patrick Boyle Oct 4, 2025 Tricolor – Like many dealerships, earned more from the loans it made to its customers than from the cars themselves. According to Bloomberg – they regularly charged interest rates above 20%. Those loans were bundled into asset-backed securities and sold-on to investors. First Brands was built up through acquisitions – which were financed by borrowing. Its owner, Patrick James, expanded the company by stitching together smaller manufacturers – he then layered on further leverage by borrowing against invoices and inventory—tapping private credit funds and specialist lenders. Their business models weren’t inherently flawed. Tricolor served a niche market with limited access to traditional credit. First Brands built scale through acquisitions and supply chain finance. But each was exposed to pressures that have intensified in recent years: immigration enforcement, rising tariffs, inflation, and a consumer base stretched by higher interest rates and elevated vehicle costs.