PCE Index Jumps; Nissan Withdraws Charter App; Vanguard Acquiring Altruist

The PCE price index jumped 3.7% year over year. Renewed global economic uncertainty amid Iran, Canada situations. Fed Governor Cook fires back. Nissan withdraws charter application. Natural lands $100Mn debt facility. Imprint expands lending capacity by $2Bn. Fasset raises Series C. Vanguard acquiring Altruist.

AI agents are beginning to manage transactions autonomously, and they need programmable money, institutional governance, and clearly defined permissions. Our Head of Financial Crime Risk Management, Melissa Krueger, explains how stablecoins provide the programmable, real-time payment rails that agentic commerce requires. Read the full piece here.

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PCE Price Index Up 3.7% Year over Year

Prices jumped by a seasonally-adjusted 0.2% in July, or 3.7% year over year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics latest personal consumption expenditure report shows. Prices rose slightly faster than analysts had expected. Excluding more volatile food and energy expenses, the PCE price index was up 3.3% vs. 2025, in line with forecasts. The news comes against a backdrop of renewed economic uncertainty, with President Trump promising to unleash an “Economic D-Day” against Iran and reigniting a trade war with Canada. Officially dubbed “Operation Economic Outcast” by the Treasury, the effort seeks to further constrain Iran’s economic activity by implementing additional sanctions, including expanding secondary sanctions. Last week also saw trade tensions flare between the U.S. and Canada, with Trump moving to add 50% tariffs to a variety of Canadian goods. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from negotiations, responding by calling Trump’s move an “attack” and adding tariffs on approximately $20Bn of American goods, to go into effect in September. The renewed trade troubles risk exacerbating persistent inflationary pressures. Boston Fed President Susan Collins acknowledged the risks, writing in an essay last week, “Should evidence of sustained inflation progress not materialize, I believe it will be appropriate to tighten policy soon.”

Fed Governor Cook Fires Back

The drama at the Federal Reserve isn’t over yet. While the Supreme Court pushed back on President Trump’s initial attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook over mortgage fraud allegations, Trump has renewed his effort. Earlier this month, the White House sent Cook a letter informing her that it was “considering” removing her from her position, owing to the unsubstantiated mortgage allegations, and giving Cook 21 days to respond. Last week, Cook fired back. A letter from Cook’s lawyer strenuously denied any wrongdoing, reinforcing that she has not committed nor been charged with any crime. Cook’s lawyer indicated that her listing an Atlanta property as a “primary” residence on a mortgage application was inadvertent and did not result in Cook receiving a favorable mortgage rate.

Nissan Withdraws

Automaker Nissan withdrew its application to charter a Utah industrial bank last week. The company had filed the application last June, with the intention of using the proposed ILC as a captive lender, enabling its dealer network to offer more competitive financing terms. ILCs were largely a non-starter under the prior administration, but, under the current leadership of Chairman Travis Hill, the FDIC has proven willing to grant deposit insurance to newly chartered ILCs. Some critics describe the ILC charter as a “loophole,” as such entities are not treated as “banks” for purposes of the Bank Holding Company Act. This means that non-financial companies, like automakers, can ILCs. Nissan’s lack of success may be tied to its financial performance. The company posted a loss of about $3.4Bn for its most recent fiscal year, which ended in March 2026.

Agentic Payment Startup Lands $100Mn Debt Facility

Natural, an agentic payment startup, has landed a $100Mn debt facility. Natural builds software tools that enable AI agents to hold funds and make payments autonomously. At present, Natural offers wallets and associated payment capabilities, though it plans to expand into offering billing, card issuance, and merchant payment acceptance. The capital facility, provided by Upper90 Capital Management, is a necessary component to scaling the payments business, Natural cofounder and CEO Kahil Lalji says, commenting in a blog post, “Payments isn't purely a software problem. At scale, it's also a capital problem. Every day, trillions of dollars move globally, and much of that movement relies on capital being extended before cash ultimately settles. Agents will need access to credit at a rate that far outpaces any human-led payments vertical.”

Imprint Expands Lending Capacity by $2Bn

Cobrand card issuer Imprint announced it has expanded its credit facilities by $2Bn since April. Imprint said it has expanded its warehouse facilities by $1.5Bn and finalized a new $500Mn asset-backed securitization. Together, the new facilities reduce Imprint’s cost of funding margin by 23%, the company said. A syndicate that includes Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, and TD Bank are providing a new $1Bn warehouse, while Imprint doubled an existing $500Mn facility, adding Citi as a new lender to it alongside Truist, Mizuho, and HSBC. Imprint CFO Colin Groshong commented on the expanding financing, saying, “In under a year, we've significantly grown our funding capacity, doubled our lending partners, and lowered our borrowing costs. Together, that means a greater capacity to support our programs as they scale.”

Fasset Raises Series C

Stablecoin-powered Islamic neobank Fasset announced it has raised a $68Mn Series C. The round was led by Japanese investor SBI, with additional support from Investcorp, Speedinvest, and Arz Portföy. The new financing builds on Fasset’s $51Mn Series B and grows the company’s valuation to $1Bn. Fasset plans to tap the new funding to build out its “Own Network” platform, which connects payment and liquidity providers, banks, mobile operators, and others to enable cross-border transactions. Fasset’s solution operates as an Ethereum “Layer 2” network and is now processing more than $40Bn in transactions on an annualized basis, the company said. Fasset CEO Mohammad Raafi Hossain commented on the fundraise, saying, “The banking system is broken. It’s not enough to build another financial front on current rails. We are investing deeper into the stack, from licenses in emerging markets to enabling agentic payments, to rebuild the way we do banking from the ground up.”

Vanguard Acquiring Altruist

Asset management giant Vanguard is acquiring “AI-forward” wealth tech and custody platform Altruist. Altruist, which will continue to operate as a separate company, offers wealth advisors a purpose-built platform for managing investor relationships and workflows. Vanguard had previously invested in Altruist, in 2020, with the goal of driving more competition in the registered investment advisor space. The companies said the acquisition will enable Altruist to benefit from greater capacity, long-term support, and the ability to tap Vanguard’s broad reach. Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji commented on the acquisition, saying, “We’ve had the benefit of getting to get to know Altruist’s people, platform, and potential over the last several years, and what we saw was a mission-aligned organization building AI-enabled technology around the real needs of advisors and the investors they serve,.”