Topic
The business of finance
9 articles drawn from The Money Equation, its 24 industry studies and 100 companies profiles.
Guide
Fintech Unit Economics: How to Evaluate a Fintech Business
How to judge a fintech's unit economics: net take rate, contribution payback, CAC, churn, funding and concentration, with Chime, Affirm and Visa as examples.
8 min read
Explainer
How Do Insurance Companies Make Money? Float and Combined Ratio
Insurers earn from underwriting and from investing float, the premiums they hold before paying claims. Here is how the combined ratio and float work.
7 min read
Case study
How Does Visa Make Money? The Business Model Explained
Visa lends nothing and issues no cards, yet kept about $23.5 billion of profit in fiscal 2026. Here is how its take rate, fees and interchange work.
7 min read
Guide
How to Analyze a Bank's Financial Statements: A 7-Step Guide
A practical way to read a US bank's 10-K and call reports: deposits, unrealized losses, NIM, credit, capital and governance, with the lessons from 2023.
8 min read
Comparison
Neobank vs Traditional Bank: How the Business Models Differ
Neobanks like Chime earn mostly from debit interchange through partner banks; traditional banks earn from deposit spread and loans. Here is how they compare.
7 min read
Case study
What Happened to Synapse? The BaaS Collapse That Froze $219M
Synapse sat between fintech apps and their banks. When it failed in 2024, over 100,000 people were frozen out of about $219 million. Here is why.
8 min read
Explainer
What Is Net Interest Margin? How Banks Really Make Money
Net interest margin is a bank's interest income minus interest paid, divided by earning assets. US banks earned about 3.32% in 2026. Here is what moves it.
7 min read
Case study
Why Silicon Valley Bank Failed: The 36-Hour Collapse Explained
SVB put a deposit boom into long-dated bonds at near-zero rates, lost about $15 billion when rates rose, then lost $42 billion of deposits in a day.
9 min read