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Fed’s Powell has had no contact with Trump after president said he’ll demand rates drop

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Fed Chair Powell on President Trump's interest rate comments: I've had no contact with the president

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday he has not spoken to President Donald Trump since last week’s remarks by the president when he said he would demand the central bank lower interest rates.

Speaking after the central bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady, Powell said he has had “no contact” with Trump since the remarks, which came during a virtual appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“I’m not going to have any response or comment whatsoever on what the president said. It’s not appropriate for me to do so. The public should be confident that we will continue to do our work as we always have, focusing on using our tools to achiever our goals and really keeping our heads down and doing our work,” Powell said Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve is designed to make interest rate decisions independent of pressure from elected officials. However, Trump in his first term was unusually vocal with his opinions on what the central bank should do.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.

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Walmart taps own fintech firm for credit cards after Capital One exit

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A Capital One Walmart credit card sign is seen at a store in Mountain View, California, United States on Tuesday, November 19, 2019.

Yichuan Cao | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Walmart‘s majority-owned fintech startup OnePay said Monday it was launching a pair of new credit cards for customers of the world’s biggest retailer.

OnePay is partnering with Synchrony, a major behind-the-scenes player in retail cards, which will issue the cards and handle underwriting decisions starting in the fall, the companies said.

OnePay, which was created by Walmart in 2021 with venture firm Ribbit Capital, will handle the customer experience for the card program through its mobile app.

Walmart had leaned on Capital One as the exclusive provider of its credit cards since 2018, but sued the bank in 2023 so that it could exit the relationship years ahead of schedule. At the time, Capital One accused Walmart of seeking to end its partnership so that it could move transactions to OnePay.

The Walmart card program had 10 million customers and roughly $8.5 billion in loans outstanding last year, when the partnership with Capital One ended, according to Fitch Ratings.

For Walmart and its fintech firm, the arrangement shows that, in seeking to quickly scale up in financial services, OnePay is opting to partner with established players rather than going it alone.

In March, OnePay announced that it was tapping Swedish fintech firm Klarna to handle buy now, pay later loans at the retailer, even after testing its own installment loan program.

One-stop shop

In its quest to become a one-stop shop for Americans underserved by traditional banks, OnePay has methodically built out its offerings, which now include debit cards, high-yield savings accounts and a digital wallet with peer-to-peer payments.

OnePay is rolling out two options: a general-purpose credit card that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted and a store card that will only allow Walmart purchases.

Customers whose credit profiles don’t allow them to qualify for the general-purpose card will be offered the store card, according to a person with knowledge of the program.

OnePay didn’t yet disclose the rewards expected with the cards, though the general-purpose card is expected to provide a stronger value, said this person, who declined to be identified speaking ahead of the product’s release. The Synchrony partnership was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

“Our goal with this credit card program is to deliver an experience for consumers that’s transparent, rewarding, and easy to use,” OnePay CEO Omer Ismail said in the Monday release.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Synchrony to launch a program at Walmart that checks each of those boxes and will help serve millions of people,” Ismail said.

Read more: Klarna, nearing IPO, plucks lucrative Walmart fintech partnership from rival Affirm

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