According to the Intuit QuickBooks Entrepreneurship in 2024 Report, solopreneurs are increasing in numbers as more people leap to work for themselves. Nearly a quarter of U.S. consumers said they plan to start a new business in 2024, and two-thirds believe that starting a business is a better path to building personal wealth, even when compared to buying a house.

“Many solopreneurs are at that critical phase where they need to better understand their business to chart a path to financial stability,” said Michael Hitchcock, vice president, Accounting and Tax, QuickBooks. “QuickBooks Solopreneur is designed specifically for one-person businesses who crave simplicity and don’t yet require an advanced accounting solution. It enables them to get a holistic view of their finances, manage daily operations, and be ready for tax time so they can grow on their own terms.”

QuickBooks Solopreneur includes a suite of intuitive tools and features. With QuickBooks Solopreneur, business owners can:

• Manage books, all in one place: Access transaction management tools that automatically separate business and personal transactions into categories for easy review, and connect bank accounts, and import spreadsheet data for a full view of operations. Plus, customers can seamlessly track mileage, create and send customized invoices and estimates, view reports, and more.
• Utilize tools and insights to drive business decisions: Easily view income, expenses, and profit with simple reports and dashboards to stay in control of cash flow in real-time. Customers can also set up trackable goals, view insights, and see recommended actions to help them to make smarter business decisions and achieve goals.
• Make tax time less taxing: Stay tax-ready year-round with tools that auto-track miles on the go through the QuickBooks mobile app, and easily categorize business trips for accurate tax time deductions for business expenses. Customers can also move seamlessly from books to taxes to easily prepare and file tax year returns directly in QuickBooks, and access expert help through QuickBooks Live Assisted Tax, powered by TurboTax, to help them file with confidence.

Adding to the growing solopreneur community are side-jiggers, who currently run their own business in addition to working a day job. These individuals have set clear financial goals before they plan to commit to solopreneurship full–time. More than half of America’s side-giggers said they won’t quit their day job until their side business earns $50,000 - $100,000, and one in three (33%) say their business is currently making less than $25,000. QuickBooks Solopreneur can help both aspiring and current solopreneurs reach these financial goals, wherever they are in their business journey.

“Being able to seamlessly navigate the features has made a tremendous impact on the financial health of my business,” said Dr. Brenda Sacino PT DPT, owner of Playful Progress in Bedford, NH and a QuickBooks Solopreneur beta customer. “Having started my business less than a year ago, I was worried about having to account for everything myself, but QuickBooks Solopreneur has kept me organized and made the financial management painless!”

Built on the expertise gained from serving self-employed business owners with QuickBooks Self-Employed, which launched in 2015, ​​QuickBooks Solopreneur provides an elevated experience with added flexibility and productivity tools designed for the needs of one-person businesses, to help them set financial goals and further grow. Additionally, QuickBooks Solopreneur will soon offer a more seamless experience across the QuickBooks ecosystem to meet a solopreneur's growing needs, including upgrading to QuickBooks Online and accessing other QuickBooks tools and services.

Klarna, the AI-powered global payments provider and shopping assistant, has revealed UK consumers paid off 97.4% of Black Friday orders on time or early, an increase of 2% compared with last year. The data comes as Bank of England boss Andrew Bailey declared yesterday that the UK’s recession may already be over. Klarna’s Buy Now Pay Later products are always interest-free and, if paid on time, incur no fee.

Over half (51%) of purchases were paid off early, ahead of their due date. In stark contrast, a third of consumers in the UK(1) did not think they would be able to pay off their Christmas credit card bill in full, at a time when credit card interest rates are at their highest in 27 years according to Bank of England data, while banks continue to report their biggest annual profits since the 2007 financial crisis. 

In 2023, Klarna processed a record number of Black Friday orders, as consumers shun predatory credit cards in favor of interest-free BNPL options. Klarna continues to grow, with over 18 million UK customers and its fastest-growing age group being the over-60s, showing that all generations see the benefits of BNPL as a healthier credit option to credit cards. 

The data rebuts numerous warnings from media and campaign groups around the dangers of BNPL and correlates with a recent report published by Experian. Unlike most reports on BNPL, Experian’s is based on real-world transactional data. The report found that those who use BNPL are 13.4% less likely to be over-indebted or behind on all credit payments than people who don't use BNPL.

“Our BNPL products offer a fairer alternative to predatory credit cards, with short-term payment cycles and no ability to revolve. It’s not in our interest to lend to those who can’t afford to repay, which is why we make a new lending decision on each transaction, and restrict the use of our products if repayments are missed. By publishing this data, we hope to show that our consumers are smart and responsible shoppers,” said Raji Behal, Head of Western and Southern Europe at Klarna.

To discourage late payments, in March 2023 Klarna launched a £5 late fee for payments made after a seven-day grace period and a minimum of four friendly reminders. Each fee is capped at 25% of the order value and there will be no more than two fees per order, meaning the maximum fee would be £10. In May 2023, Klarna launched the industry’s first Credit opt-out feature, giving consumers the power to switch off access to Klarna’s credit opt-out products at checkout. These innovations, in addition to the other safeguards, mean that Klarna’s default rate remains below 1%, 30-40% lower than credit card companies. 

Green Dot Corporation, a leading digital bank and fintech providing seamless banking and payment services to consumers and businesses, announced a new partnership with Dayforce, Inc.. Through this partnership, Green Dot will serve as the U.S. banking provider for Dayforce Wallet, the HCM company's on-demand pay solution. Dayforce Wallet is leveraging Green Dot’s BaaS platform – which delivers end-to-end embedded finance solutions for a wide range of partners – to provide employers and their employees a feature-rich suite of services that includes access to earned wages on demand via mobile app, linked prepaid cards for making purchases, and cash withdrawals at a growing network of fee-free ATMs, with more to come.

“At a time when employees crave more wellness support from employers, on-demand pay is a critical benefit that will soon become the norm for many employers and employees across all industries,” said Deepa Chatterjee, COO, Dayforce Consumer Services, Dayforce. “Through innovations like Dayforce Wallet, we’re helping to make work life better for our customers and their people – and we look forward to partnering with Green Dot as our new banking partner for our award-winning on-demand pay solution.”

On-demand pay is an employee benefit and a financial wellness tool offered by employers that gives employees access to their earned wages on demand versus relying on a traditional pay cycle. Providing on-demand pay has proven to be an effective driver of employee engagement and retention based on a survey of Dayforce Wallet users:

• 65 percent said on-demand pay is an employer benefit that is very important to them.
• Respondents said on-demand pay is nearly as important to them as retirement/401(k) (83 percent) and life insurance (79 percent).
• Respondents said that Dayforce Wallet helps them pay most of their bills on time (84 percent), pay off some credit card debt (67 percent), and put money into savings monthly (57 percent).
• Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) say that on-demand pay has had a positive impact on their perception of their employer.

“Today’s workers want flexible, seamless access to their earned wages along with tools that can help with understanding and managing cash flow,” said Simran Singh, Head of Enterprise Business Development, Embedded Finance, Green Dot. “We’re thrilled to partner with Dayforce to better support employers and their employees in making on-demand pay embedded banking and finance solutions available to the huge population of Americans that need and want that flexibility.”

With this new partnership, Green Dot will facilitate banking services for Dayforce Wallet users in the United States, continuing to free up access to earned wages for employees who have access to this benefit. Existing and new Dayforce Wallet users will continue to have access to their earned wages at no cost through the Dayforce Wallet app.

Western Union and Mercado Pago today announced growth in their existing relationship, allowing United States and Canadian customers to send money from Western Union’s mobile app, website, or one of its retail locations to Mercado Pago wallet accounts in Mexico.

"The new capability not only extends the geographic reach and level of choice for the companies’ customers, but also provides speed and convenience. Once sent, the money is credited in Mercado Pago accounts without leaving the comforts of home.

“The growth of our relationship confirms that we are improving a vital transaction for millions of families in Mexico. Our goal is to become the best banking app to receive remittances in Mexico and now with this development, we can also become the simplest option for those who send remittances from the United States and Canada,” celebrated Pedro Rivas, General Manager, Mercado Pago Mexico.

The agreement with Mercado Pago reinforces Western Union’s leadership role in helping Mexicans conveniently send money worldwide over digital and retail channels.

“Western Union and Mercado Pago collectively share a mission to increase customers’ access to digital and traditional financial services,” said Claudia Reyes, Vice President and General Manager, Western Union Mexico. “As we build on growth and innovation across Mexico and its key corridors, we are excited to continue our work with Mercado Pago while providing choice across digital and physical channels for our customers.”

Once customers send money using the Western Union app, Mercado Pago wallet account holders in Mexico can easily withdraw cash for free with a debit card in thousands of ATMs and stores, use the funds to pay for services directly through the Mercado Pago application or transfer funds to others.

Market-leading payment services and data enrichment platform, Tink, has entered the official register to become one of the first participants of the European Payments Council’s newly launched SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme. 

SPAA aims to unlock the opportunities of open data access while ensuring that banks are sufficiently incentivized to invest in maintaining application programming interfaces (APIs) and (real-time) payments infrastructure.

Tink has been a founding member of the SPAA Multi-stakeholder Group (SPAA MSG) since 2019. Five years in the making, the launch of the SPAA Rulebook and Scheme Default Fees in November 2023 represented a watershed movement for account-to-account (A2A) payments in the European Union. The rulebook sets a standard for an industry-led approach to build upon the twin opportunities of open banking and instant payments. 

Andrew Boyajian, Tink’s VP of Payments and Customer Experience said: “Having played a key role in shaping SPAA to this point, it’s brilliant to be among the first participants to join the scheme. 

“From the very first industry discussions five years ago to create SPAA, Tink has been convinced that a sustainable and commercial model that benefits all parties was key to realising compelling and competitive A2A payment solutions. But this is just the start. We encourage banks and other third-party Providers to join us in SPAA and help bring about a new era in A2A, delivering choice and innovation to European payments.” 

The FICO UK Credit Card Market Report for December 2023 reflects the usual season trends in spending and payments. However, it also reflects the impact of continued high prices on card balances. This latest report shows the highest levels of both average spending and average balances since 2006 when FICO first analysed credit card use and payments.

FICO Comment

Increases in spend always occur in December, and 2023 was no exception with a 5.9% month-on-month rise, taking the average spend to £850. This is the highest spend since FICO records began in 2006.

The average balance continued to trend upwards, as expected in the lead-up to Christmas. December 2022 saw record average balances. In December 2023 that record was broken with average balances up 2.2% month-on-month and up 7.2% year-on-year. The average balance now stands at £1,780. It is anticipated that this trend will fall post-Christmas, however with prices remaining high lenders will want to monitor closely how much it will fall, and for how long it will remain lower.

Another pattern typical of December was the amount paid off credit card balances as shoppers focussed their cash flow on Christmas spending. In December 2023 the average balance paid off dropped slightly, by 0.16%, month-on-month. However, this measure has been trending down since July.

Pre-COVID, the average payment compared to the overall balance was approximately 30%, but with lockdown and increased savings, this rose to 42%. The FICO data now shows this dropping back, although it is currently still 6% higher than before the pandemic.

Another sign of pressure on finances was the number of customers missing one, two, and three payments. This increased from November to December 2023, with the largest increase seen for those missing one payment: a 14.8% increase month-on-month and a 0.5% increase compared to 2022. Again, seasonality influences results with similar volumes expected in January due to the post-Christmas spending hangover. Lenders will also want to be mindful that more customers missing one payment in December will likely roll over into two payments in January.

Issuers should note that established customers – those who have had their credit card for between one and five years – are the most likely to miss payments. This group contains customers whose 0% offers have expired, and they are now paying off balances at the standard rate. FICO recommends monitoring this group for signs of vulnerability and indebtedness. Now is a great time to review existing collections strategies and examine whether anything more can be done to identify and assist financially distressed customers proactively.

Griffin, the API-first UK bank and full-stack Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform, has announced that it is accepting applications for its early access programme, Foundations. This comes after a successful pilot programme for its first set of customers. Foundations are designed for companies in the UK who want to offer financial products to their customers and build directly on a full-stack BaaS provider.  

As a licensed UK bank offering vertically integrated infrastructure and cutting-edge risk management via simple, modern APIs, Griffin is helping companies embed banking products like savings accounts, safeguarding accounts and accounts for holding client money, and creating value for industries that previously struggled with finding the right BaaS partners. 

Foundations participants will receive access to Griffin’s platform, along with dedicated support from a team of banking and tech experts. See how Griffin worked with LettsPay.

Speaking on the programme, Garrett Foxon, CEO and Founder of LettsPay, said: “We found Griffin at the point where it felt like there was no solution to the banking problems we faced in the proptech industry. Griffin worked with us to provide a solution that not only works for our business but potentially solves some of the major issues around holding client money for the industry.”

Only a small number of companies who meet the set criteria will be accepted for the first phase of Foundations. If not selected initially, companies will be added to a waitlist and notified of future opportunities as Griffin scales. Companies can also sign up to a free, all-access sandbox to start testing Griffin’s products immediately.

Those selected for Foundations will get the following benefits: 

• Pioneer advantage: Unlock new revenue streams and reduce costs by skipping the BaaS middleware and building directly on an API-first bank.

• Dedicated support from experts: Our banking, compliance and tech experts are on hand to support your team. 

• Streamlined banking operations: Griffin can help simplify banking for companies with complex business models or niche regulatory requirements.

• Influence on the product roadmap: A unique opportunity to provide feedback and influence the development of Griffin’s future products.

David Jarvis, CEO and co-founder of Griffin, commented: “We're looking for mission-driven companies who share our conviction that finance should be contextual, relevant and seamlessly integrated into products that businesses and consumers are already using every day.  Foundation is an invitation to companies that want to make their customers’ lives easier with embedded finance: we’ve built a bank to help you do just that.”

Zilch, the ad-subsidized payments network (ASPN), today announces the launch of a new credit payment product, allowing its customers to spread interest-free repayments for larger purchases over three months. The new ‘Pay over 3 months’ product will provide more flexibility to customers and drive up Zilch’s market-leading wallet share. 

The new ‘Pay over 3 months’ product has already been made available to around 100,000 Zilch customers in a trial. Eligible customers from Zilch’s more than 3.6 million registered users will be offered the new product from April 2024 onwards. The launch will provide Zilch customers with even greater choice when paying, enabling them to go into the app and seamlessly choose between ‘Pay over 3 months’, the shorter-tenor ‘Pay over 6 Weeks’ or, for day-to-day purchases, Zilch’s reward-earning ‘Pay Now’ debit product where they earn up to 5%. 

When opting to ‘Pay over 3 months’, Zilch customers will pay 25% up-front and spread the remaining purchase price over three installments, just like they currently do when making interest-free credit repayments over six weeks. They will benefit from the same industry-leading consumer safeguards given that Zilch will offer this as a regulated product under its FCA consumer credit licence. This product will allow customers to build their credit scores each month, through Zilch’s reporting agreements with the UK’s leading Credit Reference Agencies.  

With a higher minimum spend threshold of £75 during beta testing, ‘Pay over 3 months’ empowers consumers to spread the cost of larger purchases over a longer timeframe and better manage the impact of bigger and less regular expenses on their cash flow. It represents one of the longest-duration loans provided by any major UK fintech offering zero-interest regulated credit payments. Customers’ three-month borrowing will be capped at personalised and dynamic affordability limits.  

Philip Belamant, CEO and co-founder of Zilch, said: “In the past three years Zilch has successfully delivered more than 50 million customer transactions and £2 billion in customer spending, yielding us extensive behavioural datasets. This is because customers today use Zilch on average more than 100 times annually to manage their day-to-day spending across debit and credit. Today’s product launch moves Zilch closer to our end game of capturing total share of wallet. This new payment option is tailored for significant purchases or emergency moments, such as buying electronics, car tyres or home repairs like when the boiler breaks. As Zilch is FCA-regulated, customers can spend with the confidence that every payment over £100 is covered under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. It’s simply the best way for any adult to pay - especially in today’s economic climate.” 

Based on the evidence of how the new product drove commerce and helped customers to finance larger purchases during beta testing, Zilch has partnered with a diverse range of leading UK merchants where customers can Pay over 3 months, in-store or on the app, with no fees.  

Will Prosser, Director of Digital Marketing and CRM at TUI UK & IE, said: “The launch of ‘Pay over 3 months’ is fantastic news for Zilch customers and consumers everywhere, giving them the option to spread the cost of larger purchases over a longer period. It’s a great tool for supporting people in managing their finances when buying bigger-ticket items like a holiday and it’s important to us that we provide our customers with choice. Partnering with Zilch, who offer zero interest or fees, is one way we’re adding value and peace of mind for our customers.” 

Other merchants choosing to fully subsidise customers’ cost of credit through their advertising spend include Lego, Nike, and Morrisons. Alternatively, customers can Pay over 3 months, for a small and clearly stated up-front fee starting as low as £2, at any of the 38 million merchants who accept Mastercard worldwide. 

KPMG UK and Blue J announced today that they will launch a new generative AI-powered product to answer challenging tax research questions in seconds. KPMG will have exclusive access to the tool, Ask Blue J, among the big four accountancy firms in the UK for the first three years.

This expansion builds upon KPMG’s existing alliance, which sees the firm use Blue J’s AI technology to predict tax scenario outcomes with 90%+ accuracy for employees to then review. For example, working out whether a worker is employed or self-employed for tax purposes. This dramatically reduces the time spent searching for and analyzing tax legislation and case law. This enables KPMG’s tax experts to spend additional time advising clients on more complicated and urgent issues, rather than on the more administrative aspects of tax cases. The tool is now available in the firm’s 3,000-strong tax and legal function.

Ask Blue J will accelerate the adoption of generative AI by using OpenAI's GPT models, which have been fine-tuned for tax, and accessing Blue J’s curated database of current tax content. This new tool will allow the firm to not just predict tax outcomes but also ask detailed questions related to tax, building on the work already being done since the first link-up with KPMG and Blue J in 2022.

Stuart Tait, Partner and Chief Technology Officer, Tax & Legal at KPMG UK, said:

“Being one of the first adopters of Blue J’s technology in the UK has already yielded great results, so we’re pleased to be building on this with Ask Blue J. Generative AI will drive a seismic change in the tax profession, and we’re excited to be able to deepen our Blue J alliance to accelerate our adoption of this technology. Their database of curated tax content will give employees a significant head start on creating other generative AI tax solutions and we’re looking forward to this next phase of our alliance.”

Benjamin Alarie, CEO of Blue J, added:

“With the launch of Ask Blue J in the UK, we are introducing a new approach to tax advisory services. Combining KPMG’s tax expertise with Blue J’s advanced AI creates a powerful tool that will forever change how tax advice is formulated and delivered. Our strategic alliance is about providing tax professionals with reliable, fast, and precise tax insights, directly informed by authoritative sources. We’re not just incrementally improving existing tax research practices; we are leading the industry towards greater efficiency and enhanced client value in tax advisory with the adept use of AI.”

Finastra’s Filogix team has unveiled new generative AI (Gen AI) capabilities in its Expert Pro Canadian Mortgage Point of Sale (POS) solution. The function automates the creation of borrower narratives (notes) that aids in lender underwriting – streamlining processes, saving time and minimizing errors for brokers.

With just a single click, users can generate a comprehensive summary of the mortgage deal, covering all the relevant criteria. The content can be reviewed, edited and then sent for underwriting much faster, as compared to the traditional manual process. Content can be auto-composed in English or French, and brokers can choose the format and which elements of the mortgage application to include for a more tailored and personalized experience.

Jonathan Wootten, Head of Filogix at Finastra said, “We’re very proud of this significant milestone. As a leader in financial technology solutions, we are committed to harnessing the power of Gen AI to enhance our own business processes, as well as to bringing exciting innovations to our customers. In our recent annual survey, 83% of financial services professionals said that their institution is interested in Gen AI. This mirrors the enthusiasm we see in the marketplace for the new functionality in our Expert Pro solution for brokers. We look forward to continuing to bring our customers opportunities to tap into the innovative and transformative technology that is Gen AI.”

The auto-compose functionality has a secure private model at the core, which stands out from other systems built around public models.

Filogix Expert Pro allows mortgage professionals to centralize their business through workflow optimization, resulting in improved consumer experience, more time to manage new opportunities, and funding deals faster.