Americans started 2021 with nearly $900 billion in credit card debt. And that amount is projected to increase by $60 billion by the end of the year, according to WalletHub, a personal finance website.

To determine the states with the highest and lowest amounts of credit card debt, WalletHub looked at average credit card balances and payments made since September 2020, using data from credit reporting agency TransUnion, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Census Bureau.

After compiling the typical monthly payments Americans across all 50 U.S. states make toward their debt, WalletHub estimated how long it would take for an individual to pay off their remaining credit card balance, including finance charges, using the site’s own credit card payoff calculator.

Some states, like Montana, Colorado and New Hampshire, seem to be more prone to debt than others.

Roughly 27% of American families couldn’t cover an unexpected $2,000 expense within a month, and 33% were struggling to make ends meet in January 2020.

Since the Great Recession, certain groups — including women, Black and Hispanic Americans, and those with less education — have shown lower financial resilience.

Solutions to fill the gaps may include boosting income, reducing debt, expanding risk protection and increasing financial literacy.

Citigroup employees in New York City, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia must get vaccinated before they are asked to return to the office on Sept. 13, Sara Wechter, the bank's head of human resources wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.

"For other corporate offices across the U.S., we continue to monitor data and are not bringing more people back at this time," she wrote. The bank is not extending the vaccine mandate to branch workers, according to Wechtel's post, but will "strongly encourage them to get vaccinated and will require rapid testing and wearing of masks for all colleagues." 

"Given the increased number of employees returning to these buildings, and the delta variant in the U.S., we are taking this approach to ensure a safe workplace," she wrote.

Every state grew more diverse in the last decade, according to new census data released Thursday.

Almost every state saw its largest changes come from both a decrease in the White non-Hispanic population and an increase in residents who chose the “some other race” category, a catch-all for people who don’t see themselves in other census race categories.

It was the first time in American history that the White non-Hispanic population shrank, by about 5 million people or 2.6%.

Also, as predicted by a Stateline analysis of U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the nation’s growth was concentrated in cities and suburbs, with rural areas shrinking overall, census officials said.

While census officials said the reported increase in diversity came, to a small degree, from the new ways census questions asked people about their race, it mostly reflected real changes in the nation’s population.

"You shouldn’t need a big bank to get an SBA loan," said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-CO, who introduced the legislation alongside Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, on Wednesday.

Sens. Tim Scott, R-SC, and John Hickenlooper, D-CO, introduced legislation on Wednesday that would allow fintech lenders to participate in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship loan program by lifting a nearly four-decades old moratorium on issuing new Small Business Lending Company (SBLC) licenses.

The SBLC program, which was capped at 14 licenses in 1982, allows non-depository lending institutions, such as fintechs, to participate in the SBA’s 7(a) loan program.

"Our bipartisan bill will modernize the SBA’s primary loan program to help underserved small businesses grow and thrive," Hickenlooper said in a statement on Wednesday. "You shouldn’t need a big bank to get an SBA loan."

Emerging from the pandemic, businesses still face a variety of challenges, especially when it comes to hiring and retention. Industries hit the hardest during the pandemic include restaurant, retail, and leisure and hospitality — and now they are engaged in a war for talent. Many are offering perks such as signing bonuses and unique hiring rewards to attract the right candidates. One McDonald’s restaurant reportedly offered a free iPhone following six months of employment, while hotel management has offered free hotel rooms for summer employees at select locations.

Meanwhile, the pandemic has created new financial barriers for many working Americans, with roughly half of workers surveyed by Pew Research Center reporting that achieving long-term financial goals has become more difficult due to the economic fallout from the pandemic. As the U.S. recovers, businesses need a way to attract motivated employees to rebuild a talented workforce, and employees need solutions that support their financial well-being. And as the co-founder of an on-demand pay provider, I believe prioritizing employee financial wellness by offering customized benefit solutions can support the goals of both the employer and worker.

Over the next quarter-century, $68 trillion in assets will be transferred from baby boomers to younger generations, according to a report from Cerulli Associates. With more money becoming available to millennials — and eventually Gen Z — these new generations will have more opportunity to invest, and the ways they invest will be different from prior generations thanks to all the diverse options now available.

GOBankingRates spoke to Shoshana Winter, U.S. managing director at premium real estate investing platform iintoo, about the ways in which the new generation of investors is flipping the script on traditional investing as they look for new means to capitalize on their funds.

Investing Will Be Even More Digital Than It Is Now

Robo-advisors and online investing have grown in popularity over the years, and Winter believes this will become the norm.

"The next generation [of investors] is composed of digital natives," she said. "There's a level of expectation of having digital access and being able to interact 24/7/365. This is the generation that not only expects to be able to access everything from their phones but demands it. When it comes to investments, even though that may seem like a higher-authority purchase, there will [have to] be a digital, seamless aspect to it."

The retailer posted a job description for a crypto product lead, while the bank partnered with fintech Figure.

A job posting Sunday indicates that Walmart is looking to hire a blockchain technology expert to develop the company’s digital currency strategy and product roadmap.

When you’re the world’s second-largest retailer, there’s bound to be intrigue tied to your corporate maneuvers. But for whatever reason, developments at Walmart sometimes seem to take the shape of a paper trail.

Perhaps it’s because the company sometimes keeps its burgeoning revenue streams close to the vest.

Walmart has been tight-lipped about the fintech startup it announced in January in partnership with Ribbit Capital. Little more than a month later, that venture poached two leading executives from Goldman Sachs’s digital bank Marcus.