Hey Fintech Friends!: Recent Episodes
ThisWeekInFintech
We discuss fintech news, fintechionary (a dictionary definition for every fintech word that affects banks and financial services), lighthearted conversation with a special guest, events, and thought leadership in our monthly podcast!
- In this episode, Nik Milanović interviews George Kurdin, co-founder of Monk, a company focused on automating accounts receivable processes using AI. George shares his unique career journey from professional poker player to fintech entrepreneur, discussing the lessons learned along the way. He highlights the significant problem of accounts receivable, valued at $3 trillion, and explains how Monk aims to address this issue. The conversation delves into the role of AI in automating the contract to cash workflow, the challenges faced in current AR processes, and the key metrics that define success in this space. In this conversation, George discusses the evolving landscape of finance solutions, emphasizing the need for financial rigor among founders and VCs. He highlights the challenges posed by fragmented systems in accounts receivable and the importance of leveraging agents for collections and reporting. George also shares insights on customer needs as businesses grow, the significance of effective reporting, and the company's future roadmap, including cash flow predictability and contract intelligence. He reflects on the early days of customer acquisition and the importance of adapting pitches for different business sizes. The conversation concludes with a focus on hiring for growth and the vision for a more efficient accounts receivable process.
Check out Monk.com to save time on accounts receivables and get paid faster
"Buckle up because...the cuffs are off."
In this conversation, Nik Milanović interviews Mike Cagney, co-founder and CEO of Figure, discussing the company's recent IPO, its innovative product Democratized Prime, and the implications of the Genius Act on capital markets. Cagney shares insights on the evolution of Figure, the role of blockchain in financial services, and the potential for decentralized finance (DeFi) to disrupt traditional banking models. The discussion highlights the importance of regulatory changes and the future landscape of financial markets as they adapt to new technologies.
00:00 Introduction to Figure and Mike Cagney
04:23 Understanding Figure's Corporate Structure
05:57 Inspiration Behind Figure's Founding
11:37 The Value of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
14:31 The Genius Act and Its Implications
26:27 The Future of Banking and Capital Markets
31:55 Democratized Prime: A New Lending Paradigm
46:16 The Role of Blockchain in Future Financial Systems
This podcast is brought to you by Figure, the platform to Earn and Borrow.
Need liquidity without selling your crypto?
Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin or Ethereum with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties.
They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event. Your BTC collateral is protected by decentralized MPC custody. You can always see your BTC ownership in your FM account and verify holdings in your personal BTC vault on chain.
Unlock your crypto’s potential today. Visit their app to apply for a Crypto Backed Loan today!
DisclaimerFigure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender. NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information.
Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figuremarkets.com/borrow for more information.
In today’s episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Kate Earle Jensen, Head of Americas for Anthropic. Kate joined Anthropic in 2023 after 8 years helping scale GTM at Stripe.
Over the last 2 years, she has had a front row seat to the AI revolution at one of the fastest-growing companies in history. In this episode, Kate dives into how Claude is being used by major enterprises to revolutionize their businesses, the state of Anthropic’s products and MCP, why they built in the application layer for financial services, what key blockers remain for enterprise adoption, why AI’s market size allows them to approach partnerships in a unique way, transitioning from Stripe to Anthropic, why siblings make great leadership teams, and much more.
Takeaways: The AI market is unquantifiably large, which helps you play non-zero sum games in GTM, partnerships, and product. It helps breed greater collaboration because you know there is more than enough revenue opportunity to share. Hackathons, though not new, have proven to be one of the best sources of discovering novel AI applications in the enterprise. We host them internally and encourage our clients to do host them to get employees experimenting and uncover the art of the possible.Financial Services + Healthcare are proving to be the best industries for AI. They have huge data sets, antiquated technology systems, and manual workflows that make them prime candidates. AI is only as good as the quality of data and context that you feed it. It is as important as anything you choose, which is why MCP became so popular. Siblings often make the best cofounding teams. The Collisons and Amodeis both have very strong working styles that allow them to be brutally honest with each other while not breaking relationships.
Hello fintech friends,
Last week, I sat down with Doug Rickett, the founder and CEO of Payjoy.
If you work in fintech and you don't know Payjoy, well, you should. The company's tagline is "finance for the next billion." And they're well on their way: As of 2025 they have brought 3 billion dollars in credit to 16 million customers, doubling in the last two years while remaining strongly profitable and sustainable for the long term.
PayJoy is a mission-first financial service provider dedicated to helping under-served customers in emerging markets to achieve financial stability and success.
They lend through their patented technology that turns a smartphone into digital collateral. Their cutting-edge machine learning, data science, and anti-fraud AI allow them to offer the lowest cost and qualify the most customers in the industry.
This year, the company celebrates its 10th anniversary, with projected 2025 revenue of over $650 million and $110 million in profit.
Doug and I discussed how his time at Stanford Business School led him to Africa to manage logistics – an area he admits he knew nothing about – for solar lighting company D.light, and how that in-turn inspired him to found Payjoy in 2015. It's one of the most fascinating CEO stories that I've heard in fintech. Well worth listening to his whole journey from start to finish.
Enjoy!
This episode dives deep into the evolution of blockchain-powered lending and marketplaces in the FinTech sector, with guest Michael Tannenbaum, whose career has spanned senior roles at SoFi, Brex, and now Figure.
Host Julie Verhage-Greenberg and Michael discuss how Figure’s vision—originally designed as one company with a strong blockchain backbone—has matured amidst regulatory and market shifts.
Check out Figure Markets here: figuremarkets.onelink.me/Plnq/TWIF
This episode is brought to you by Figure Markets, the platform to Earn and Borrow.
Democratized Prime lets you earn 9% by lending your money against real-world assets like home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) which only banks were able to do prior. Lend like a bank!
Need liquidity without selling your crypto? Figure offers Crypto-Backed Loans, allowing you to borrow against your Bitcoin or Ethereum with 12-month terms and no prepayment penalties. They have the lowest rates in the industry at 8.91%, allowing you to access instant cash or buy more Bitcoin without triggering a tax event.Unlock your crypto’s potential today.
Download their app and start earning your 9% today or taking out your Bitcoin-backed loan at industry low rates!
DISCLOSURES: The 9% rate referenced is not guaranteed and subject to change as new offers are placed. Democratized Prime uses a Dutch auction method for its borrowers/lenders. There is an inherent risk due to interest rate volatility in a Dutch auction interest rates in the auction may rise rapidly. At the time of acceptance, your loan may be filled with a different or higher interest rate than offered at the time of selection. The interest rate is only fixed at the time of loan approval and not at the time of loan acceptance.
Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. Equal Opportunity Lender.NMLS 1717824. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figure.com for more information.
Figure Markets Credit LLC. 650 S. Tryon Street, 8th Floor, Charlotte, NC 28202. (888) 926-6259. NMLS ID 2559612. Terms and conditions apply. Visit figuremarkets.com/borrow for more information.
This week, Nik Milanovic sits down with Sandeep Pyapali, Founder and CEO of Mesta, a global cross-border payment network combining traditional rails with stablecoin systems.
Mesta allows sending USD and stablecoins in over 50 currencies, cutting international payment costs by over 50%. Pyapali, with 17 years in payments – including Uber's $100 billion payment network – founded Mesta in 2024.
Pyapali emphasized the importance of stablecoins for efficient international payments and predicts the growth of non-USD stablecoins. Mesta aims to disrupt traditional Fiat-to-Fiat payments with blockchain technology. Pyapali's vision for Mesta was informed not only by his time building payments systems at Uber but also by his international travel on a sabbatical afterwards, and the difficulty of converting currencies for international payments.
You can learn more about what they're building at mesta.xyz
While stablecoins are one of our favorite topics to discuss, it's important to note that this episode was sponsored by Mesta.
Welcome back to This Week in Fintech and another episode of the Fintech OGs! Today, I’m joined by two incredible voices who have helped shape the future of financial technology from both the founder and investor perspective.
First up, Jillian Williams, co-founder of Field Ventures, a new seed-stage fund focused on vertical software and fintech. Jillian has spent her career investing in the sector, from Anthemis to Cowboy Ventures, and now building her own firm.
Joining her is Dimitri Dadiomov, co-founder of Modern Treasury. After serving as CEO for the first seven years, Dimitri recently shifted into the President role to focus on product innovation while continuing to drive one of the most important infrastructure companies in fintech.
Together, we cover how fintech has evolved from the early days of Lending Club and marketplace lending, to today’s rebundling wave and AI-driven change. We talk about the future of money movement, risk and compliance, embedded financial products, and where they see the biggest opportunities ahead.
Huge thanks to Persona for sponsoring today's episode! Persona is the adaptable identity platform helping businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust from the very first interaction. Check them out at withpersona.com/thisweekinfintech.
This week, I sat down with Eli Wachs, the Co-Founder and CEO of Footprint, a company building the identity infrastructure of the internet.
It was a far-reaching conversation – Eli's an interesting guy – and we touched on everything from his deep-dives into identity in the Stanford library to working with economist Raj Chetty to philosophy and what it means to be authentic to yourself.
Footprint provides automated onboarding that solves identity, security, fraud, and auth in 5 lines of code, building the identity layer to the internet.
The company offers end-to-end onboarding solutions, including verification, storage, and re-authentication, aiming to create a centralized database of good actors. They emphasize reducing false negatives and improving conversion and compliance. Eli talked with me a bit about Footprint's unique approach using device fingerprinting and vaulting to enhance security and portability.
We covered some recent product launches, including bank-linking and their new decision engine. Eli also discussed the company's evolution from a KYC point solution to a broader identity network built around preventing identity theft and fraud in any online situation, from buying a house to joining a community.
You can find Footprint online at onefootprint.com
Welcome back to another episode of Fintech OGs with This Week In Fintech!
Today, I’m joined by two incredible founders who have each redefined their corner of the financial world:
- Jack Zhang, Co-founder & CEO of Airwallex, the global payments and banking platform powering 150,000+ businesses
- Leif Abraham, Co-founder & Co-CEO of Public, the next-gen investing platform helping the top 20% of millennials build long-term wealth
In this episode, we explore their journeys from coffee shops and olive oil to building billion-dollar fintechs, why they both value first principles thinking over traditional industry experience, and their candid takes on hot topics like stablecoins, AI in finance, and tokenized assets.
They share career highs, the lows of early struggles, and the unconventional advice they’d give to anyone starting in fintech today.
Huge thanks to Persona for sponsoring today's episode! Persona is the adaptable identity platform helping businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust from the very first interaction. Check them out at withpersona.com/thisweekinfintech.
Nik sits down for 10 minutes with Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas to talk about the company's 2025 performance and where they are headed.
Overview
- Coinbase is at inflection point, with strong Q2 performance including custody volumes and derivatives trading hitting all-time highs, and the USDC market cap exceeding $60 billion.
- Stablecoin revenue of $332 million in Q2 represents 12% growth quarter-over-quarter, driven by market cap expansion via Circle collaboration.
- GENIUS Act signed into law enables Coinbase to lead the $30 trillion B2B cross-border payments market, targeting financial revolution in the US.
- Payment APIs launched with Shopify; Coinbase business account product in development with a waitlist of thousands of businesses.
- Acquisition of Deribit for $2.9 billion positions Coinbase to enter the options trading market, capturing a significant share of global derivatives trading.
- Newly launched perpetual futures contracts have seen week-over-week volume doubling, aligning trading hours with crypto spot market.
- User base expanding beyond retail to include payment-focused users and institutional traders seeking hedging and leveraged exposure.
- New Base app in beta testing, alongside the launch of Coinbase One Basic service tier to enhance user offerings.
- USDC payments integration with Shopify completed, with additional partnerships on the horizon and increased service offerings planned.
- 10x intraday leverage available on newly introduced 24/7 futures products, enhancing trading capabilities for users.
Welcome back to FinTech OGs! This week, I’m joined by two leaders whose careers have shaped the evolution of modern financial technology: David Haber, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and co-lead of their AI Apps Fund, and Owen Jennings, an executive officer and Block’s Business Lead.
From early ventures like Bond Street and the first days of Cash App to today’s frontier of AI in finance, David and Owen share how FinTech continues to evolve—what’s working, what hasn’t changed fast enough, and the massive opportunities they see ahead. We cover everything from consumer financial health to small business challenges, AI-driven automation, and the next wave of credit innovation.
This is a masterclass in FinTech past, present, and future.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with PayPal President & CEO Alex Chriss.
Alex took over as PayPal CEO in September 2023 after a nearly 20-year run at Intuit.
Today, Alex (and PayPal) are at the epicenter of some of the most disruptive trends in global technology & commerce.
Since joining PayPal less than two years ago, his tenure has turned several heads in the industry. PayPal seems reinvigorated and on the offensive, working to take advantage of the several platform shifts we're seeing in global technology and commerce. We've seen new hires, a company reorganization, startup-like release cycles, Will Ferrell branding campaigns, and so much more.
Alex comes on the show at the perfect time as he approaches the 2-year mark in his tenure and bold vision for PayPal is turning into reality.
Highlights
01:58 Alex's rallying cry 'Customer Back' and how he's reorganized the company to think customer-first
06:28 Tactical advice for implementing transformative change at a major global enterprise
09:15 His and PayPal's Top 5 strategic priorities for the coming years
11:42 How agentic commerce will disrupt global commerce (especially merchant data) and how PayPal is positioned to help serve consumers and merchants
17:25 A deeper look at initiatives like Quantum Leap, PayPayl's Remote MCP, and Agent Toolkit
20:47 PayPal's build / buy / partner approach in agentic commerce to date
22:41 The most successful AI initiatives at PayPal, including payment method recommendation, multi-modal customer service, next-gen fraud detection, and 'EVA'
27:55 Why orgs need to get flatter and empower smaller + leaner teams to run farther with AI
29:40 Where PayPal is focusing on crypto/stablecoins on the consumer and merchant side
32:44 His aggressive approach to PayPal's innovator's dilemma and why 'innovator's dilemma is a mindset'
35:30 Regulatory changes and what it has unlocked for PayPal
37:28 Why Intuit has become a breeding ground for so many top executives
39:30 Making the leap to join PayPal from Intuit
40:39 A fun rapid-fire round including his most important criteria for executive interviews, hanging with Will Ferrell, his workouts, his dream guest on the pod, and more
Enjoy the show.
--
Alex Chriss has spent more than two decades harnessing the power of technology to help individuals and small businesses solve their greatest financial challenges. Having successfully founded and sold two start-ups and led a fast-growing division of financial software company Intuit, he is committed to helping customers compete and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Alex brings deep expertise in leading high-growth businesses, global product strategy, and customer-driven innovation to his role as PayPal’s President and CEO.
Prior to joining PayPal, Alex held various roles of increasing responsibility at Intuit. He most recently served on Intuit’s executive leadership team as the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intuit’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group where he led a global organization responsible for delivering QuickBooks and Mailchimp to millions of customers. Throughout his 20-year tenure with the company, Alex also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Intuit’s Small Business organization, managing the full suite of QuickBooks products, including payroll and payments platform segments.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is a private markets investor at OMERS Ventures, the investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with $130Bn+ in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
Welcome back to this week in FinTech and another episode of the FinTech OGs. This week I'm joined by two guests whose careers have helped shape. The evolution of modern wealth management. We have Charles Birnbaum partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, and Cynthia Loh, who is a senior vice president at Capital One.
Charles and Cynthia first crossed paths in the early days of Betterment. This is back when robo-advisors were just starting to redefine how everyday consumers invest and have spent, over a decade building in, investing in and advising some of the most influential FinTech companies out there. It's a great conversation and I'm excited for you to dive in!
I also want to take a moment to send out a special thanks to our sponsors this week. 100% of what we got in ads for this episode is going towards Texas Flood Relief. Those of you that know me know that I am based in Austin, Texas, and while thankfully my daughter is too young to go to a sleep away camp, it hits close to home with friends having kids that go to camps that were hit along the river.
The two guests this week, Charles and Cynthia, also both have kids, and it's just unimaginable what these parents are going through. I ask all of you to keep these families in your prayers.
With that, I'll also tell you a little bit more about our sponsors. I have a feeling you guys are very familiar with all of them but just in case you're not.
First up is Lithic, who is a modern payments infrastructure provider that enables technically ambitious teams to build better payments products. Lithic's cutting edge technologies cover issuing and processing, end-to-end fraud prevention, dispute management, and cardholder support implemented as either fully managed offerings or self-service tools.
Learn more at lithic.com.
Next up we have Rho, which is the all-in-one banking platform for startups and the accountants who support them. Thousands of startups switching to Rho because they don't have time to wait days to open an account or the patience for email support queues when they just need real help.
Rho is building a new standard for business banking. With Rho, you get fast banking setup, up to 2% cash back on cards and yield on idle cash. Everything you need all in one platform from day one. Every client gets real dedicated support from a team that goes to the end of the earth to help you win.
Head to rho.co/startups to learn more. That's rho.co/startups. Rho is a FinTech company, not a bank or an FDIC. Insured depository institution checking account and card services are provided by Webster Bank NA member FDIC. See rewards terms for complete cash back details.
Last but not least, we have Spade. It’s 2025 and fintechs can spin up cards in minutes and move money in real time. But we still can’t decipher the transactions on a bank statement. Most still show up as a jumble of letters and numbers — no clear name, no location. Just noise and guesswork.
That’s why so many fintechs and banks are turning to Spade. Spade’s API maps messy transaction strings to verified businesses — returning real merchant names, categories, and store locations in real time. So if you want reliable transaction data across cards, ACH, and more, head to spade.com.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Firdaus Bhathena, CTO of FIS.
FIS is one of the world's largest financial technology companies, building solutions for leading financial institutions, businesses, and developers. Their scale is incredible...Over $16Tn moves through their systems annually. They process $75 billion of transactions globally, serve tens of thousands of clients, and employ over 50,000 people worldwide.
In today's episode, Ryan and Firdaus discuss:
2:44 - Firdaus' long path from venture-backed startups and F500 healthcare to CTO of FIS.
5:53 - Managing innovation at a global giant like FIS and his trusted adage for the Build Buy Partner debate.
12:31 - How FIS balances hiring industry insiders vs. outsiders to best serve their customers (some of whom they've served for 50+ years).
15:15 - A deep dive into The Harmony Gap, an in-depth report from FIS and Oxford Economics exploring the use of AI by businesses to combat the sources of financial, operational and technological disharmony.
30:35 - His thoughts on the great COBOL migration problem facing institutions today, and where AI can and cannot help.
32:46 - A rapidfire round including his first job, CTO role model, and more.
--
This episode was brought to you by Capchase. You know how B2B payments feel like they're stuck in 2005? Capchase is changing that, fast. Capchase is where contract financing meets digital payments. It lets your customers pay for software or hardware, monthly, quarterly, or even extend net terms while you still get the full contract value upfront. That's right - more flexible terms for them, but immediate cash flow for you. If you are in sales or finance, you already know long sales cycles and rigid terms kill deals and stall growth. Capchase fixes that - no discounts, no collections, no friction. Over 2000 SaaS companies are already using it to pay flexibly, close faster, boost TCVs, and make the buying process feel way more modern. Bottom line, Capchase helps you sell like it's 2025, not 2005. Check it out now and see how smarter payments can power your growth.
Firdaus Bhathena serves as FIS’ Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Firdaus is responsible for driving the company’s technology and infrastructure initiatives across the enterprise. He is also responsible for leading the company’s digital transformation efforts to advance FIS’ global solutions portfolio while also leveraging technology investments to drive profitability.
Prior to FIS, Firdaus spent 25+ years driving innovation and large-scale digital, business, and cultural transformations across technology startups as well as Fortune 50 corporations. Recent roles include general manager at Noom (the fastest-growing pre-IPO consumer digital health company), enterprise chief digital officer at CVS Health; and chief digital officer at Aetna. Firdaus also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Tufts Medicine, where he is the chair of the Digital Transformation Committee.
Firdaus holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has been granted eight patents for software and distributed systems.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with $130Bn+ in net assets. OMERS Ventures focuses primarily on Series A through C direct investments in Software, Fintech, and AI. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
You know you’ve found true fintech OGs when your guests were almost roommates before “fintech” was even a buzzword. That’s exactly the case with today’s guests, Sheel Mohnot and Amit Kumar—two longtime friends and collaborators who’ve not only seen the fintech industry evolve over the last decade-plus, but have helped shape it.
In this episode, we dig into their early startup days—FeeFighters, CardSpring, and Twitter M&A tales—plus what it was like building before infrastructure existed, the bets they wish they’d made sooner, and why they believe fintech is still one of the most promising sectors to build in today.
We also get into:
- What Apple Pay did accomplish—and what it still hasn’t replaced
- Why a modern global Venmo still doesn’t exist
- What Sheel looks for in the next 10 years of fintech innovation
- And why Amit advises CS students to do their “master’s degree at Stripe”
Whether you’re a founder, investor, or just love hearing two friends go deep on the evolution of a category they’ve helped pioneer, this episode is packed with insights and reflections.
🎙️ Welcome back to Season 3 of the Fintech OG series on This Week in Fintech!
To kick things off, we’re joined by two of the most influential voices shaping the future of financial infrastructure: David Marcus, CEO of Lightspark and former head of Libra at Facebook, and Dan Kimerling, founding partner at Deciens Capital and early pioneer in banking-as-a-service.
We cover everything from the rise—and regulatory fall—of stablecoins, to why Bitcoin might just be the TCP/IP of global money movement, to what it really takes to endure the emotional highs and lows of building in fintech.
And before we dive in, a big thank you to our sponsor Persona, the adaptable identity platform helping businesses fight fraud, meet compliance requirements, and build trust from the very first interaction.
Let’s get into it.
"It's going to be a great decade to be a banker. But probably a better decade to be a customer of a bank."
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk is joined by Junta Nakai, Global Vice President at Databricks. Junta leads the Financial Services, Cybersecurity, Sustainability, and Public Sector Go-To-Market (GTM) for one of the world's largest and most exciting startups at the beating heart of AI.
Databricks has become a household name in tech, with 60% of the F500 and well over 10,000 customers worldwide, plus a robust open source suite. They recently raised an unprecedented $10Bn Series J financing at a $62Bn valuation - The round was led by a who's who of investors including Thrive, a16z, DST, GIC, ICONIQ, and more.
But did you know that financial services is their largest business line? Databricks has become critical to some of the world’s largest financial institutions, insurance firms, and fintechs helping power their AI, cloud, machine learning, and big data initiatives. Some clients include Capital One, S&P, Mastercard, Coinbase, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, KPMG, and more.
Episode Timeline
- 3:04 - Junta's path to Goldman Sachs and how he gained the conviction to join Databricks
- 7:45 - What exactly Databricks does and how it helps global enterprises scale
- 12:45 - How Junta and his team think about GTM
- 16:20 - How Databricks works with the world's largest financial institutions
- 23:35 - Junta's role, how he tracks his team, and the importance of training his salesforce for a technical sale
- 29:05 - A few quotes from prior interviews that Junta extrapolates on, covering AI governance, security, deployment, and macro
- 32:30 - AI's potential effect on the global economic future. Trends in population decline and productivity gains and how they may affect the macro environment
- 39:27 - His passion project, Brooklyn Kura, a Brooklyn Sake brewery
- 42:23 - Rapid fire round including his must-try restaurants, his news diet, the value of your network, the startup that caught his eye, and more
Enjoy the show.
Junta Nakaiis a Global Vice President at Databricks, leading the Financial Services, Cybersecurity, Sustainability, and Public Sector Go-To-Market (GTM). In this role, he is responsible for the global adoption of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform across capital markets, banking, insurance, and federal, state, and local governments. Additionally, he oversees the GTM strategy for sustainability and cybersecurity solutions across all industry verticals. Before joining Databricks, Junta spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs, holding various leadership positions within the Equities Division. Junta has a B.A. in Economics & International Studies from Northwestern University.
Databricksis the Data and AI company. More than 10,000 organizations worldwide — including Block, Comcast, Condé Nast, Rivian, Shell and over 60% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform to take control of their data and put it to work with AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe and was founded by the original creators of Lakehouse, Apache Spark™, Delta Lake and MLflow. To learn more, follow Databricks on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with $130Bn+ in net assets. OMERS Ventures focuses primarily on Series A through C direct investments in Software, Fintech, and AI. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets across technology. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
In the final installment of our AI series, we explore one of the most unexpected yet explosive areas for AI innovation: accounting. Julie and Jillian sit down with Alex Hagerup, CEO and co-founder of Vic.ai, and Chris Sluty, co-founder of FloQast, to discuss how automation is reshaping the finance function—from ERP integrations and auditability to real-time data for CFOs.
We unpack why accounting is more complex than it seems, what makes it uniquely suited for AI, and how founders are building defensible products in a competitive space. You'll hear about the challenges of ERP integration, the shift from preparers to reviewers, and the growing importance of finance transformation roles. Whether you're thinking about AI's short-term wins or long-term potential, this episode offers a candid look into the future of finance operations—and why trust, nuance, and accuracy matter more than ever.
Thanks to Capchase for sponsoring this episode! Capchase is where contract financing meets digital payments. It lets your customers pay for software or hardware, monthly, quarterly, even extended net terms while you still get the full contract value upfront. Check it out at Capchase.com/thisweekinfintech and see how smarter payments can power your growth.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk is joined by Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder & CEO of Vanta.
Ryan and Christina recorded this episode live at Newcomer's Breaking the Bank Summit in San Francisco. The Summit was an invite-only, one-day summit for fintech founders, builders, and investors to explore the future of finance and technology.
Breaking the Bank was a phenomenal event, with speakers including Jackie Reses, Zach Perret, Eric Glyman, Matt Harris, Josh Reeves, William Hockey, Annie Lamont, and many more.
And if you're looking for more fintech events, check out Stablecon in NYC coming May 29th.
Now back to the episode...
Vanta has been a "center of the valley" company for years now, becoming one of the fastest companies to hit $100M ARR.
Christina is at the heart of this great success story and was a phenomenal guest. She shared a lot of insight (and laughs) talking through lessons scaling from $0 to $100M ARR as well as how Vanta helps companies turn compliance into a competitive advantage.
In this episode, Christina and Ryan discuss:
- 0:58 - What sparked her journey to technology and startups
- 4:03 - What exactly Vanta does, how it serves startups, and how they can quote a 526% ROI over 3 years for clients
- 10:13 - Why auditors, consultants, and lawyers can be friends instead of foe for Vanta
- 11:33 - Vanta's differentiation in a hot market
- 14:12 - Why shipping quickly is critical to staying relevant in software and the AI wave
- 16:43 - Vanta's in-house AI use and what her engineers love (and really don't love)
- 18:06 - Her top advice for founders facing hypergrowth and her views on Silicon Valley hyperscale lore
- 21:30 - The forever 'human' aspect of selling (and buying) software
- 22:38 - Hiring their first "Founder in Residence" and why it may be the new hottest job in the AI era
- 24:42 - Where differentiation will still exist in the AI era
- 26:45 - Raising from Sequoia and her advice to founders on how to vet your VCs (and why it's so critical to diligence them back) + the one thing founders really want from VCs at the early stage. It's simple, but not easy!
- 30:44 - A fun rapid fire round including the origin of the Vanta llama, favorites of her Ohio roots, their craziest marketing stunt attempt, her favorite books, a startup she's most excited about, and much more.
Enjoy the show.
--
Vanta is the leading trust management platform backed by Sequoia, Craft, YC and Crowdstrike Ventures. Over 10,000 companies, including Atlassian, Omni Hotels, Quora and ZoomInfo rely on Vanta to build, maintain and demonstrate their trust—all in a way that's real-time and transparent.
Christina Cacioppo is the Co-Founder & CEO of Vanta. Prior to founding Vanta, Christina led product management for Dropbox Paper and was a member of the investment team for Union Square Ventures. Christina received her B.A. in Economics and M.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter
Welcome back to our weekly fintech podcast!
This week, I had the chance to sit down with Sumant Shringari, the CEO and Co-Founder of Pontus, and Sandeep Sood, the Founder and CEO of Kunai.
Pontus was established in 2023 to automate the large, difficult, and often fragmented back-office operations critical to large enterprises – such as the Global 2,000 banks that they count as customers. It was interesting to hear Sumant's perspective from his time working with banks about the difficulty in automating regulated workflows and breaking down data silos. For all the hype around generative AI, the risk is real when it comes to financial services use cases, and it speaks to the necessity for strong partners that can provide dependable implementation.
It's worth taking a look through Pontus' outcomes library as well. Fintech founders will recognize a lot of the solutions here, such as Automated Account Reconciliation, Predictive Budget Forecasting, and Enterprise Risk Assessment. All of these functions today either require massive internal teams or significant vendor integration. Pontus' goal is to replace the need for both.
You can find both companies here:
- https://www.pontus.so/
- https://kunaico.com/
KYB might not be the buzziest acronym in fintech—but maybe it should be. In this episode, we’re joined by Will Lawrence, CEO of Greenlite, and Kurt Ruppel, CTO and Co-founder of Middesk, two leaders rethinking how financial institutions identify and monitor business customers. We cover the evolution from manual checks to AI-powered automation, the difference between KYC and KYB, and why ongoing monitoring is the next big frontier. Plus, Will and Kurt share how they’re navigating risk, regulation, and real-world AI implementation—from OCC audits to sanctions alerts—and where they see the biggest opportunities for innovation in compliance and fraud prevention.
And thanks to our sponsors, Newline by Fifth Third and Wolf & Company!
Backed by a leading financial institution, Newline empowers enterprise companies to effortlessly launch and scale payment, card and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank. And if you're looking for a partner who really gets fintech, Wolf & Company is a national accounting & advisory firm with over 100 years of experience working with financial institutions and decades scaling tech companies from startup to IPO.
Welcome back to our weekly fintech podcast!
This week, I had the chance to sit down with Peter Hazlehurst, Co-Founder and CEO of Synctera, and Matt MacDonald Financial Technology Service Leader & IT Assurance Senior Manager at Wolf & Company.
The conversation was wide-ranging, starting with Wolf & Synctera's partnership to build a compliant bank-fintech partnership model that Synctera has scaled for their customers. We spent a lot of time talking about compliance and regulation not as a restraint, but as a strategy, and as a driver of growth. In light of the last couple years, in which the BaaS model has come under stress, we also spent some time talking about the future of the bank-fintech partnership model, and what changes Matt and Peter wish that startup founders would make.
Any fintech builders and founders will find the conversation interesting – I easily could have gone over the hour!
Before getting into it, here is a little more background on Wolf & Co. and Synctera themselves.
Wolf & Company P.C. is a national CPA and business consulting firm with a regional feel offering clients a wide range of services custom-tailored to suit their industry's unique needs. Since 1911, Wolf has provided clients with industry-leading assurance, tax, risk management, business consulting, and WolfPAC Integrated Risk Management services. They pride themselves on delivering customized solutions with deep involvement by their team of dedicated professionals and leaders.
Synctera’s platform gives companies of all sizes the technology infrastructure, sponsor bank connection, and compliance framework they need to launch FinTech or embedded banking products. With a single set of powerful APIs, companies are able to quickly launch and scale products such as debit cards, bank accounts, charge cards, lines of credit, and money movement. Whether you are a FinTech company or an established business wanting to embed banking into your existing product set, Synctera can help you bring your vision to life.
In this episode, we sit down with Lukas Haffer, CEO and Co-founder of Casca, and Ryan Hildebrand, Chief Innovation Officer at Bankwell, to explore how AI is transforming small business lending—starting with SBA loans. They discuss the challenges of building on top of legacy banking systems, the stress-test of the COVID-19 PPP era, and how a human-in-the-loop approach is key to deploying AI responsibly in financial services.
You’ll hear how their partnership evolved from a small pilot into a full-stack platform that slashes loan processing times from 90 days to 3. We also dive into fraud prevention, the reality of deploying AI agents in banking, and why trust—not hype—is the foundation of true innovation.
Thanks to Fundbox for sponsoring this week's episode. With over a decade of experience, Fundbox delivers customizable credit solutions including invoice financing, lines of credit, term loans, payroll protection, and more.
We hosted an insightful live conversation and podcast at New York Fintech Week, hosted by This Week in Fintech and PingPong.Key Topics:
- Real-Time Payment Rails: Exploring the latest innovations in real-time payments and how they’re reshaping cross-border transactions.
- Cross-Border Money Movement: Analyzing the challenges and opportunities in facilitating smooth cross-border B2B payments.
Speakers:
- Nik Milanovic: Founder of This Week in Fintech
- David Messenger: CEO, Global Businesses at PingPong
About PingPong:PingPong was founded in New York in 2015 to solve the immense challenge of scaling enterprise businesses globally. Fast-forward to today, and PingPong has become one of the world’s leading global cross-border payments platforms, processing more than $250 billion USD. Our API-first cross-border payments solution integrates with enterprises to send, manage, and receive money faster on a global scale.PingPong currently has 37 offices in 15 countries and over 1,000 employees. Our international presence helps businesses solve complex payment needs in every major economy across all time zones.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk is joined by Art Levy, Chief Business Officer at Brex.
Brex is the modern finance platform that empowers growing companies to spend smarter and move faster in 120+ countries. Brex combines global corporate cards, expense management, banking, and travel. Their platform is trusted by 30k+ companies including ServiceTitan, DoorDash, ScaleAI, and Wiz.
In this episode, Art & Ryan discuss:
2:23 - The exact decision making framework he uses (and we all probably should) to assess career opportunities in tech, including the "Five F**k Ups Rule"
4:50 - The 3 things that gave him confidence in Brex after assessing hundreds of companies as a VC...and the role Michael Tannenbaum + Sam Blond played
8:29 - His definition of what a CBO does, how he tracks himself, and his 'CBO Role Model'
10:39 - Brex's specific positioning in this massive, ultra-competitive global market and the types of customers Brex serves
14:54 - How his team balances product decision-making tactics across building their own roadmap, responding to competitor products, and listening to customers
16:25 - His Partnership Playbook and why "Rabbits, Deer, and Elephants" help him focus. How to think about value maximization vs. long-term partnership.
23:56 - What it would take for Brex to buy (or partner with) your startup
30:48 – Brex, Pedro, and Henrique going 'Founder Mode' and why it was the perfect movement for Brex in 2024
35:20 - Filling your team with 'spikes'
36:48 - Why you must always get on the plane
39:18 - An all-time rapid fire round including who he would box, why he invested in Bridge.xyz (acq by Stripe), his favorite apps, Brex team shoutouts, and more.
Enjoy the show.
--
Art Levy is the Chief Business Officer of Brex leading business development, strategic partnerships, and M&A. Over the past six years, Art has led Brex's key partnerships with companies like Navan, Coupa, Apple, AWS, Zoom, and JetBlue and its M&A deals across the US and EMEA. Arthur started his career at Centerview Partners in tech investment banking and has spent the last 15 years operating and investing. Art is a cum laude graduate of Princeton University.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
Newline™ by Fifth Third - Are you ready to grow your fintech with scalable, API-enabled payments? Backed by a leading financial institution, Newline empowers enterprise companies to effortlessly launch and scale payment, card and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank. Drive your fintech forward with the embedded finance platform designed for enterprise fintech. Discover how Newline can transform your financial services. Learn more at Newline53.com.
Credit products are subject to credit approval and mutually acceptable documentation. Deposit and credit products offered by Fifth Third Bank, National Association. Member FDIC.
Wolf & Cois a national accounting & advisory firm with over 100 years of experience working with financial institutions and decades scaling tech companies from startup to IPO. They take a risk-based approach to everything they do, focusing on what matters most at each stage of your growth journey. From assurance, advisory, and tax services to cybersecurity and data management, Wolf helps you scale smart and stay secure. They’re deeply involved in fintech, crypto and blockchain, and they’re trusted by banks throughout the country. Plus, they’re PCAOB registered – so when it’s time to navigate high-growth milestones, they’ve got you covered. If you’re ready to grow with confidence, check out Wolf & Company at wolfandco.com.
In this episode of the This Week in Fintech podcast, hosts Julie and Jillian are joined by Rex Salisbury (Founder of Cambrian Ventures) and Erica Dorfman (Head of Financial Products at Brex) for a wide-ranging conversation that sits at the intersection of AI, fintech innovation, and practical applications across startups and scale-ups.
From agentic AI to OCR replacements, from startup go-to-market strategies to the rebundling of consumer financial services, Rex and Erica unpack the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence—what's hype, what's real, and what it means for operators, investors, and builders alike. Whether you're navigating new tools inside your fintech product or simply trying to keep up, this episode is full of sharp insights, tactical examples, and honest takes.
This Week in Fintech is brought to you by our friends at Solda.ai and Fundbox.
Putting your sales process on autopilot with AI phone agents that sound just like the real thing. Thanks to Solda.ai for supporting the show and helping leading FinTech teams drive revenue with smarter, scalable customer engagement.
And with over a decade of experience, Fundbox delivers customizable credit solutions including invoice financing, lines of credit, term loans, payroll protection, and more.
TWIF host Nik Milanovic sat down with Prashant Fuloria, CEO, and Anchit Singh, CBO, of Fundbox, a pioneer in embedded finance for SMBs since 2013.
Fundbox has partnered with platforms like QuickBooks and FreshBooks to provide fast access to over $5 billion in capital to 125,000 small businesses.
Prashant, Anchit, and Nik discussed the evolution of embedded finance, emphasizing the importance of data integration and innovative underwriting methods, such as cash flow underwriting.
They also highlight the potential for future partnerships with banks and other platforms to enhance small business lending.
[This is a sponsored episode]
Welcome back to the Fintech AI Series!
Today’s episode dives deep into one of the most critical topics in both Fintech and AI—Compliance. We’re joined by two amazing guests: Reggie Young, Chief of Staff at Lithic, and Jesse Reiss, CTO and Co-founder of Hummingbird.
Between Reggie’s legal background and Jesse’s technical expertise, this episode offers a unique and practical look at how regulated companies are approaching AI, from internal tooling to external regulation, and everything in between.
Whether you’re building in Fintech, managing risk, or just trying to make sense of your company’s AI policy, you’re going to get a ton out of this one. Don’t forget to rate, follow, and share wherever you get your podcasts. Let’s get into it!
Thanks to And thanks to Paddle and Fundbox for sponsoring this episode!
Paddle operate as the Merchant of Record (MoR) for digital products, managing payments localization, fraud prevention, retention logic, customer billing support, and complying with every local privacy law and sales tax rule on your behalf.
And with over a decade of experience, Fundbox delivers customizable credit solutions including invoice financing, lines of credit, term loans, payroll protection, and more.
In March, we traveled to the inaugural HumanX conference in Las Vegas to meet founders, builders, and investors at the bleeding edge of AI. The conference was a great success, and we're excited for it to relocate to San Francisco next April.
While at the conference, I had the chance to sit down with Shannon Scott, SVP and Global Head of Product at Airwallex. Airwallex is the global payments and financial platform for modern businesses. Founded in Melbourne in 2015, Airwallex has become a dominant global player in financial infrastructure, serving some of the world's largest cross-border companies like Canva, Brex, Navan, Rippling, SHEIN, and more. Airwallex was last valued at $5.6Bn in 2022 and is backed by investors such as Sequoia, Index, Tencent, Salesforce Ventures, Lone Pine, Greenoaks, Mastercard, and more.
In this episode, Shannon and I discuss:
- His transition from Palantir to Airwallex and lessons learned from Silicon Valley culture
- Airwallex's global product suite and vision for building a global financial platform through products like multi-currency wallets and the new 'Airwallex Spend'
- Airwallex's use of AI in fraud management, customer onboarding, and process automation
- Scaling great teams in fintech
And much more. Enjoy the show.
--
Airwallex is a leading global payments and financial platform for modern businesses, offering trusted solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, treasury, and spend management to embedded finance. With our proprietary infrastructure, Airwallex takes the friction out of global payments and financial operations, empowering businesses of all sizes to unlock new opportunities and grow beyond borders. Proudly founded in Melbourne, Airwallex supports over 150,000 businesses globally and is trusted by brands such as Brex, Canva, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more.
Shannon Scott is SVP, Global Head of Product at Airwallex. Shannon is responsible for product strategy and delivery across all Airwallex domains including card issuing, online payments, business accounts, and platform infrastructure. He was an early employee of Palantir Technologies, where he founded Palantir's international operations in both Australia-New Zealand and Europe. He was responsible for building out the initial business development and delivery teams in both regions, where clients spanned both government and large commercial enterprises. Shannon has a combined degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University or Melbourne and has focused on the intersection of software engineering and technical business development throughout his career, including in an advisory capacity to numerous Australian startups.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area. You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
In March, we traveled to the inaugural HumanX conference in Las Vegas to meet founders, builders, and investors at the bleeding edge of AI. The conference was a great gathering of AI leaders, and we're excited for it to relocate to San Francisco next April.
While at the conference, I had the chance to sit down with May Habib, Co-Founder and CEO of Writer. If you've been around AI x FS over the last few years, or drive the 101, you've likely come across Writer.
Writer is the leading Gen-AI platform for enterprises, and has been one of the few AI companies to find repeatable, scaled success with the enterprise. They help large enterprises deploy secure + reliable AI applications and agents that transform mission-critical workflows.
Writer’s platform is supported by Palmyra – Writer’s state-of-the-art family of LLMs – alongside its industry-leading graph-based RAG, customizable AI guardrails, and suite of development tools. Palmyra LLMs include one of the world’s highest-benchmarked frontier models, topping leaderboards for natural language understanding and generation, as well as top specialized models in finance and healthcare.
Their customer list speaks for itself, including household names like Vanguard, Salesforce, Qualcomm, Accenture, Franklin Templeton, Intuit, Dropbox, Hubspot, Prudential, L'Oreal, and the list goes on...
When you meet May, you can see why. She is a phenomenal leader, communicator, and executor who lays out why Writer's full-stack technology and deep appreciation for how large enterprises function allow them to have such success.
Writer is fresh off a $200M Series C valuing the company at $1.9Bn. They are supported by investors including ICONIQ, Radical, Premji Invest, Adobe Ventures, B Capital, Citi Ventures, IBM Ventures, Workday Ventures, Insight, Vanguard, and others...quite a long list of strategics.
Enjoy the show.
- --May Habibis the CEO and co-founder of Writer, the full-stack generative AI platform delivering transformative ROI for the world’s leading enterprises. May is an expert in natural language processing and AI-driven language generation. She has led Writer to become one of the world’s fastest-growing generative AI companies, securing its position as a Forbes 50 AI company and inclusion in the World Economic Forum's Unicorn Community. May graduated with high honors in Economics from Harvard University. She is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and a recipient of Inc.'s Female Founder Award.
Writeris the full-stack generative AI platform delivering transformative ROI for the world’s leading enterprises. Its fully integrated solution makes it easy to deploy secure and reliable AI agents that automate mission-critical work. Writer’s suite of development tools is supported by Palmyra – Writer’s state-of-the-art family of LLMs – alongside its industry-leading graph-based RAG and customizable AI guardrails. Hundreds of customers like Accenture, Intuit, L’Oreal, Salesforce, Uber, and Vanguard trust Writer to transform the way they work. Founded in 2020, Writer is backed by world-leading investors, including Premji Invest, Radical Ventures, ICONIQ Growth, Insight Partners, Balderton, B Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Adobe Ventures, Citi Ventures, IBM Ventures, WndrCo, and others.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor at OMERS Ventures, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area.
You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
TWIF founder Nik Milanovic talks to Bits About Money writer Patrick McKenzie, on topics ranging from agentic payments, to generative AI-enabled fraud, to deposit insurance and the banking crisis of 2023, to the epistemology of synthetic IDs.
The intersection of AI and traditional finance (TradFi) is an angle we haven't explored yet in our AI series. Today, we change that by taking a deep dive into how AI is transforming large financial institutions. Jillian and I are joined by two experts shaping the future of AI in finance:
Stevi Petrelli – Head of Blackstone Innovations Investments, where she leads early-stage strategic investments in cutting-edge financial technology.
John Nay – Founder & CEO of Norm Ai, a company pioneering the use of AI in regulatory compliance and policy automation.
Together, they discuss the real-world applications of AI in financial services, what it takes to successfully sell AI solutions to financial institutions, and why workflow integration, compliance, and data infrastructure are critical to adoption.
They also tackle common misconceptions, explore overhyped vs. underhyped AI trends, and share their insights on where the fintech and AI landscape is headed in 2025.
This is an episode you don’t want to miss. Let’s dive in!
On March 4th, This Week in Fintech had their debut event in Canada, bringing together hundreds of people across the tech ecosystem for an evening of networking, food and drinks, panels from local leaders, and even a magician working the crowd. We had nearly 500 people register when it was all said and done, showing the enthusiasm and depth of the Toronto tech ecosystem.
We don’t know how it took us this long to get to Canada, but we’re glad we did. This will be the first of many…
This episode is the recorded version of our panel featuring Rasha Katabi, Founder & CEO of Brim Financial.
--
Brimis a leading fintech infrastructure company transforming the credit card platform and payment automation space. Brim's modular platform and highly scalable product suite fully empowers financial institutions, fintechs, and large international brands to run / evolve their product platforms to meet their customer and market needs. Brim Financial is one of the fastest growing enterprise technology companies, according to Deloitte's Technology Fast 50 in North America. Brim's Credit-Card-as-a-Service platform has been recognized as best-in-class for product capabilities by Aite-Novarica Group in their analysis of global CCaaS providers.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor on the Ventures team at OMERS, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area.
You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
On March 4th, This Week in Fintech hosted their debut event in Canada, bringing together 150+ people across the tech ecosystem for an evening of networking, panels from local leaders, and even a magician working the crowd.
We had nearly 500 people register, showing the enthusiasm and depth of the Toronto tech ecosystem.
We don’t know how it took us this long to get to Canada, but we’re glad we did. This will be the first of many…
Headlining the event was a live podcast with Adyen’s Head of Canada, Sander Meijers, and Notch CEO Jordan Huck.
Sander, Jordan, and I discussed their rich product offerings for Canadian businesses, how Adyen’s platform has provided Notch with unique structural advantages, how each leader balances local and global perspectives when scaling teams, and more.
--
Adyen is a global financial technology platform helping the world’s leading businesses achieve their ambitions faster. Since its founding in 2006, Adyen has built one of the world's leading platforms to help enterprises accept payments, protect revenue, and control their finances. Adyen processed ~$1Tn in transaction volume last year across for companies like Microsoft, McDonalds, Uber, Loreal, Spotify, eBay, Gap and more.
Notchis an accounts receivable automation software, designed to simplify managing invoices and payment collection. With Notch you can automate the entire AR process from invoice creation to payment processing speeding up payment collection (up to 3x faster) and improving cash flow.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor on the Ventures team at OMERS, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area.
You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
In my latest interview, I spent some time with North's SVP of Product, Preet Patel, to talk about his journey from Citi to AmEx to North, what's changed in the company since he joined (hint: they were previously known as NAB), and how he takes a consumer products mentality to his merchant payments product work at North.
Preet Patel has served as the Senior Vice President of Product Management at North since September 2019, after previously holding the position of Vice President of Product Management.
Prior to his tenure with North, Patel worked at Yapstone, where he led product strategy for significant marketplace partnerships, most notably with HomeAway, enhancing client relations in Austin, TX.
His career also includes high-profile roles with American Express, where Preet held the position of Senior Manager of Product Development, focusing on the development of consumer co-brand card relationships while leading partner negotiations. Additional prior employers also include Elavon and Citi.
Founded in 1992, North builds frictionless payment processing designed to simplify and grow business. They offer comprehensive solutions, from the front door to the back office, that include point of sale (POS) hardware, a fully integrated payment platform, and comprehensive merchant services to manage inventory, employees, and more.
North is re-imagining the payment experience. As a leading payment technology innovator, North has a diversified product platform that provides a modern end-to-end infrastructure to enable globally-preferred payment types. North’s superior solutions deliver seamless payments experiences in mobile, ecommerce, and in-store environments. Serving hundreds of thousands of businesses and with over $100 billion per year in electronic transaction volume, North delivers functional, feature-rich, and frictionless solutions for the evolving merchant economy.
Enjoy the conversation!
In this episode of our Fintech and AI series, Julie and Jillian dive into the evolving world of lending with two industry leaders shaping the space. Tim Li, CEO of LendAPI, and Justin Potts, CTO of Canopy Servicing, break down AI’s impact on everything from underwriting and fraud detection to loan servicing and borrower experience. They explore the regulatory shakeups affecting fintech, the rise of cash flow-based lending, and where AI is still underutilized in credit decisioning. Plus, they share insights on the future of lending, from data portability to fractionalized assets.
And thanks to Method Financial and Fundbox for sponsoring this episode!
Method is an account connectivity solution that powers seamless checkout and loyalty experiences. Visit methodfi.com to learn more!
And with over a decade of experience, Fundbox delivers customizable credit solutions including invoice financing, lines of credit, term loans, payroll protection, and more.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with global fintech legend Oliver Hughes, Chief International Growth Officer at TBC Bank Group, a London-listed financial + banking services provider in Georgia in Uzbekistan.
Before TBC, Oliver was the CEO of Tinkoff and Head of Russia for Visa. He is also on the Board of Tabby, a leading shopping and financial services player in the Middle East that is allegedly eyeing an IPO after a $160M Series E.
After 25 years at the cutting edge of international fintech, Oliver is taking on what he hopes is his final fintech chapter - scaling TBC Bank Group internationally, starting with Uzbekistan.
I'm sure many of our readers + listeners may be scratching their heads...a fintech pioneer who could choose anywhere in the world to work...chose to dedicate the next decade of his life to TBC Bank Group and Central Asia?
However, as shown throughout his career, Oliver can spot and act on massive trends early. So what does he see here?
TBC Bank Group's momentum in recent years has been remarkable, and the market opportunity in Uzbekistan is much larger than it appears from afar.
Let's take a brief look at the company before getting to the episode:
TBC is the parent co of TBC Bank Georgia and TBC Uzbekistan (where Oliver focuses).
In Georgia, TBC is the leading financial services group, with almost 40% market share for customer loans and deposits.
Kind of like the traditional bank that helps fund the Uzbekistan story...
Uzbekistan is where the fintech story emerges. In just ~2 years since launch, TBC Uz has reached:
- 50% of the Uzbekistan population
-
100% loan portfolio growth for 2 straight years
- Strong profitability with $41M(!) in net income in 2 years (nearly unbelievable for US fintech)
- A rich product ecosystem (debit card, credit card, MSME banking, etc.)
- Eyes on a third market in the future
- Is fresh off a $37 million raise to continue its push into AI and new product development. The investment came just months after it raised $38.5 million in July
The profitable growth is stellar - one that you don't see replicated elsewhere.
What really interested me was a crude TAM comparison to another notable fintech in the region, Kaspi, which had a major US IPO on the NASDAQ in 2024.
Kaspi is a superapp from Kazakhstan and in 2024 produced roughly $4Bn in revenue growing 30% YoY with 40% net income margin. Those are numbers and scale few companies in the world can manage...and Kazakhstan is a country of only 20 million people.
Uzbekistan's population is nearly 40M people, and Georgia's around 11M - when combined are well over double Kazakhstan's.
As Oliver points out in the episode:
“I'm someone who believes in the thesis that there are overlooked, underloved countries that deserve a lot more attention - You can build viable, scalable businesses with the right execution. It's all down to execution. It's not down to the number of people in the country.”
I think the stage is set...I'll let Oliver share the rest.
Episode Highlights
3:48 Oliver's background and path from Visa to Tinkoff to TBC
6:41 The problems Tinkoff was solving, why it got so large, and the key lessons he learned from scaling it
8:50 An overview of TBC Bank Group: What it does, how it operates, and its key products
13:51 Why Uzbekistan has probably the greatest open banking system in the world, and a fun fact about Uzbekistan's most popular messaging app
20:19 The complementary nature of the 2 Uzbekistani apps: TBC Uz and PayMe
24:20 The near-unbelievably high NPV his team uses to underwrite projects and why it's so effective
27:03 His thoughts on the new wave of mobile sim card efforts / MVNOs by firms like Nubank and Revolut, and infrastructure players like Gigs
31:20 The "Fintech Perplexity" idea and other creative ways his team is experimenting with + deploying in AI
34:17 What their 3rd market might be, and what's ahead for his great team
37:15 Rapid fire round
In this episode of our Fintech and AI series, Julie and Jillian sit down with two leading voices in fintech to explore how AI is revolutionizing the payments landscape. Alexis Zhu of Stripe and Yunyu Lin of Ramp break down AI’s role in fraud prevention, workflow automation, and financial decision-making. From personalized checkout experiences to the future of real-time payments, this episode is packed with insights on where fintech and AI are headed.
And thanks to Method Financial for sponsoring this episode! Method is an account connectivity solution that powers the checkout experience for e-commerce and loyalty-driven businesses. Visit methodfi.com to learn more!
This week, I managed to grab some time in the (very busy!) schedule ofNeha Narkhede. Neha is an Indian American technology entrepreneur who is the founder & CEO of Oscilar, co-founder and former CTO, and current board member of Confluent (CFLT NASDAQ).
As a software engineer atLinkedIn, she helped develop the open-source messaging systemApache Kafka, now used by more than 80% of the Fortune 500. In 2014, she co-foundedConfluent, which helps organizations process large amounts of data to create transformative real-time products and was listed on the NASDAQ in 2021.
Neha has been listed as one of America’s Top Self-Made Women by Forbes, Forbes’s Top 50 Women In Tech, MIT Tech Review’s Innovators under 35, and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People. Neha has a Master in Computer Science degree from Georgia Tech.
We talked about everything from the founders' journey to the rise of AI to building a multinational financial risk org atOscilar.
Hi everyone!
Jillian and I are thrilled to be kicking off our podcast series on all things AI. In our premier episode, we're joined by Naftali Harris, CEO and Founder of Sentilink, a company that stops fraud for over 300 banks and financial institutions, including 10 of the 15 largest in the U.S. as well as Aman Abraham, Co-founder & CEO of DeepTrust, which focuses on protecting voice and video communications from deepfake-driven social engineering attacks.
In this episode, we cover:
✅ How fraud has evolved over the past decade
✅ The double-edged sword of AI—both as a tool for fighting fraud and as a weapon for fraudsters
✅ The surprising ways synthetic fraud works
✅ Why basic security measures still matter more than you’d expect
✅ Real-life examples of scams—including a jaw-dropping $25 million fraud case
And yes, we even get into some fun personal stories (who knew Naftali didn’t graduate high school and Aman has some serious soccer skills? 🥅⚽).
If you’ve ever wondered how AI is reshaping the fraud landscape—or just want to hear from two brilliant minds tackling one of fintech’s hottest topics—you don’t want to miss this episode.
Thanks for Fundbox for sponsoring this episode! If you are a platform looking to provide your small business customers with seamless access to working capital, Fundbox offers embedded lending solutions that integrate directly into your platform, providing a full suite of capital products tailored to your customers cash flow needs.
Hello Fintech Friends,
👋 Welcome to the 1,679+ new readers who’ve joined us since last week. You’re joining 157,000+ other subscribers. Today's newsletter is brought to you by our friends at Fintech Meetup.
📢 We're looking for great Fintech Freelance Writers! If you would be interested in writing for TWIF, let me know by replying to this email. This year, we're building up our writing team on a lot of new projects.
🎟️ Quick reminder that Stablecon prices go up tonight at midnight, will we see you there?
One Big Thought
This week, I was planning to make the big story of newsletter about the US Executive Order on digital currencies and stablecoins.
And then the President of the United States launched his own fintech company...?
And then X announced that it's working with Visa on its 'everything app' with the goal of becoming a fintech company.
And then global neobank Revolut rolled out a new commercial real estate lending arm.
If there's one rule of the 2025 timeline, it's this: There will be surprises.
I'm sure I'm missing a few other massive announcements this week, but one big thought: 2025 feels very different from the past few years. It's invigorating to see companies taking risks again. Capital markets are rewarding companies again for healthy growth. After the easy-money days of 2020/2021, fintech spent the past couple years growing up, and now when a neobank moves into CRE, it's a credible move. Will this year see Klarna, Circle, or Stripe go public? How many users will Revolut and Nubank have by EOY? How many countries will TBC operate in? Will Affirm buy a card network? Will Brex and Ramp bury the hatchet and join forces to become Bramp (or Rex?)
One guarantee: There will be surprises.
Also, while I have you here, a few thoughts on the digital currencies EO:
- The EO doesn't actually change anything so far, in that banks, fintechs, and crypto companies can't take direct guidance from the EO and change their operations accordingly. But what it does mean is that this administration's posture will be much less hawkish towards new financial products.
- The EO establishes a digital currency working group with the remit of proposing a regulatory framework governing digital assets in 180 days (!) with initial findings due in 30 days (!) This is not a long, meandering '5 year plan.'
- The EO expresses a direct preference for privately-issued stablecoins over central bank digital currencies. Not surprising, given the pro-markets orientation of this administration, but it brings up some interesting questions about how private coins will be regulated, whether they'll be treated differently than tokenized deposits, and how other countries' CBDCs will interact with US stables. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a great technical primer (yet) on the product distinctions between CBDCs and stables – just a lot of consulting firm marketing docs – but I'd love to share one, if someone can find one and forward it to me.
This month, I spent some time with Nova Credit founder and CEO Misha Esipov to talk about his company, one of the original innovators in alternative consumer credit, underwriting, and financial data.
Misha has been running Nova Credit since 2016, when he and his co-founders graduated from Stanford Business School. He founded the company predicated on the insight that – even for well-qualified graduate students – it was impossible for people to move to the US and apply for credit. The company has grown far beyond its initial product set, and recently celebrated their $45 million Series C in late 2023 from Kleiner Perkins, General Catalyst, Index Ventures and Y Combinator.
Misha Esipov is the co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit. Before founding Nova Credit, Misha was a private equity investor at Apollo Global Management, a $232 billion global alternative asset manager. Misha started his career at Goldman Sachs, where he helped execute more than $10 billion in corporate financing, mergers, and acquisitions. Misha holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Finance from New York University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
You can find him here on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Nova Credit is a credit infrastructure and analytics company that enables businesses to grow responsibly by harnessing alternative credit data.
The company is a CRA that leverages its unique data infrastructure, compliance framework, and credit expertise to help lenders fill in the gaps that exist in traditional credit analytics. Nova Credit provides access to the fragmented universe of consumer financial data and transforms it into compliant, actionable risk analytics through a suite of solutions designed to increase conversion through expanded coverage, speed, and reliability.
Leading organizations, such as American Express, Verizon, HSBC, RBC, SoFi, Scotiabank, Appfolio, and Yardi, work with Nova Credit to make smarter credit decisions through cash flow underwriting with Cash Atlas™, quickly and accurately verify income with Income Navigator, and reach new-to-country consumers with Credit Passport®.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with fintech pioneer Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade Founder & Former LendingClub CEO.
Some say LendingClub kicked off the modern fintech era with its digital lending solution, and Renaud has had a front seat to this industry every step of the way through their IPO in 2014. Renaud has been recognized on Bloomberg Markets’ Most Influential List, won the Economist Innovation Award, and was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative for expanding access to affordable credit.
After LendingClub, Renaud co-founded Upgrade. Upgrade is a fintech platform providing affordable and responsible credit, mobile banking, and payments products to over 6 million customers in the US and Canada, and has issued over $35 billion in credit since its founding in 2017 - $8 billion just in the past year.
Upgrade raised $280M Series F at a $6Bn valuation in 2021, led by Coatue and DST, and other investors including Ribbit, Dragoneer, and more.
In a challenging era for consumer fintech, Upgrade has found a way to break the mold and continue growing, expanding products, making acquisitions, and more.
Ryan and Renaud recorded the episode at Upgrade's beautiful SF HQ on a foggy day in San Francisco. They cover the acquisition of his first company by Oracle + how LendingClub came to be, a deep dive on Upgrade's funding model and how it translates into savings for their customers(they work with over 250 loan buyers), the Uplift acquisition and lessons learned, the importance of culture, how he structures his day, his love of sailing, and how Upgrade is utilizing AI.
Episode Highlights
1:30: LendingClub founding story and Renaud's entrepreneurial origins
4:08: Why he founded Upgrade
6:17: Upgrade's target market, products, and diverse customer base
7:48: A deep dive on Upgrade's funding model and how it translate into savings for their customers
11:37: The rise of private credit and using high cost of capital funding at the other end of the market
13:45: Tactical advice to founders raising their first-ever credit facilities and warehouse lines
16:37: Acquiring Uplift, what drew Renaud to them, and key lessons/guiding principles for M&A he's learned over his career
26:15: His growth as a leader and the hardest part of his job
27:54: His lifelong love of sailing and how it has helped him as a leader
29:28: How Upgrade is deploying AI internally
31:36: Rapid fire round (managing VCs, sailing memories, fintechs he's watching, what retirement might look like)
--
Renaud Laplanche is the co-founder and CEO of Upgrade. Prior to co-founding Upgrade, Renaud founded LendingClub, a Fintech pioneer that quickly became America’s largest provider of personal loans. In recent years Renaud received multiple awards and nominations. Among other distinctions, Renaud was recognized on Bloomberg Markets’ Most Influential List, an annual ranking of the World’s top 50 most influential leaders across technology, finance, and politics. Renaud also won the Economist Innovation Award, and was recognized by the Clinton Global Initiative for expanding access to affordable credit. Renaud holds the Newport-Bermuda sailing record, with the only crossing ever achieved under 24 hours. He received an MBA from HEC and London Business School and a law degree from Montpellier University in France.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor on the Ventures team at OMERS, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets.
You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
Hey everyone! Julie Verhage Greenberg here with the final episode of Season Two of the Fintech OGs series. We’re closing things out with Emmalyn Shaw, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Flourish Ventures, and Satya Patel, Co-Founder and Partner at Homebrew.
Together, they’ve helped shape the future of financial technology, investing in companies like Chime, Gusto, and Alloy.
In this episode, we dive into their origin stories, explore the highs and lows of their careers, the challenges of investing in emerging technologies like AI, and their perspectives on the evolution of embedded finance and real-time payments.
Whether you’re a founder seeking inspiration, an investor curious about what’s next in FinTech, or simply a fan of good conversation, this episode has something for you.
Let’s dive in!
Hey everyone! Julie Verhage Greenberg here with your final episode of the FinTech OGs of 2024.
Today, we have a conversation that dives deep into the origins and evolution of FinTech through the lens of two people that were shaping the space long before FinTech was even a thing. I'm joined René Lacerte, the founder of BILL, and Frank Mastrangelo, co-founder of Bancorp and PayAmigo.
We explore their fascinating journeys with how they first met at a dinner, to the highs and lows of taking their companies public, and their shared passion for solving the complex challenges of SMBs and financial services in general. René and Frank brought such a wealth of knowledge and a lot of great stories to the table, so I'm really excited for us to dive into this.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or just someone who loves hearing about how technology transforms industries, you're in for a treat. Don't forget to like subscribe and share on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Let's dive in!
In this episode, I talked with Tomer London, Co-Founder and CPO of Gusto, and Anu Hariharan, Co-Founder of Avra and former partner at Y Combinator.
Together, we talked about the intersection of their personal passions and their professional innovations, sharing insights from their journeys into fintech and their ongoing efforts to solve complex problems in payments, payroll, and beyond.
From Tomer’s mission to support underserved small businesses to Anu’s work shaping the future of fintech through investments in companies like Brex and Monzo, this conversation unpacks the challenges and opportunities in the space. We also discuss the transformative role of AI, lessons learned from setbacks, and the unyielding resilience required to drive growth and innovation in an ever-evolving industry.
Let's dive in!
We're lucky to be joined today by Dave Glaser, CEO of American payments giant Dwolla, one of the first fintechs.
Dwolla is a fintech company that provides businesses with a connection to the ACH Network or RTP Network (The Clearing House’s privately-owned real-time payments network).
The company was founded in 2008 and launched in the United States in December 2010 to a few small banks and retailers. By June 2011, Dwolla had grown to 15 employees, 20,000 users, and $1 million in weekly processing volume.
Today, Dwolla has about 650 clients and about 30 million users. It processed $45 billion in payments in 2022, up from $30 billion in 2021 and $20 billion in 2019. About 80% of its clients are small businesses.
Dwolla provides a white label service consisting of APIs to use the ACH system[9] and white label services expanded from payouts to include instant bank authorization for debiting bank accounts.
Dave Glaser has a long history in fintech: Starting at the turn of the century, he led payment protection and anti-fraud company CyberSource through its 2014 acquisition by Visa, before going on to join Worldpay in the UK as its Chief Product and Marketing Officer for Global eCommerce. Coming back to the US, Dave was brought on by Mastercard as a Senior Vice President for Acceptance Solutions, before being offered the President and COO role at Dwolla and stepping up as CEO in 2023.
💡This is a Sponsored Episode.
Welcome to December's episode of the this Month in Fintech Podcast, recorded live at SF Tech Week with Ramp.
TWIF + Ramp hosted a large group of tech builders, founders, and investors for a happy hour at 620 Jones, headlined by a live interview with Nik Koblov, VP of Engineering at Ramp.
We had one of the highest insight-to-minute conversations I've had, with Nik taking all of us through:
- How Ramp crafted their org structure, product philosophy, and launch sequence to ship product so fast
- How they have become a talent hotbed with folks from so many crazy backgrounds like Minecraft and high school dropouts
- Balancing shipping speed and UX in fintech
- How an ex-Ramp founder got them serious about GenAI
- How to hire your Head of Engineering, and more.
Enjoy the show!
This week's newsletter discusses the emerging trend of AI-powered payment agents, exploring the potential benefits and risks associated with delegating financial decisions to artificial intelligence. Security concerns, such as fraud and liability for disputed transactions, are highlighted alongside authorization challenges. The text also examines how the increasing use of cryptocurrencies could further impact AI-driven payments and briefly mentions recent developments in the fintech industry, including product launches, company news, and regulatory changes. Finally, it promotes a fintech awards ceremony and sponsorship opportunities.
Hey everyone, Julie here. Welcome back to another episode of the FinTech OG Season 2. Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tom Brown of NYCA and Ed Woodford of ZeroHash. In this episode, we get a front row seat to the evolution of fintech from Tom's early days at Visa, where he played a key role in its IPO, and Ed shares his entrepreneurial journey and how it led to him founding Zerohash.
We talk about how financial services are evolving into what Tom calls next gen financial services, and the challenges like regulatory roadblocks and identity security and celebrate wins like how Tap to Pay has transformed payments and earned wage access has cut down on overdraft fees.
They also share some personal stories about career highs and lows, favorite books, and even some fun quirks that they each have. Let's dive in.
Huge thanks to CapitalOS and Prism Data for sponsoring this week's episode!
With CapitalOS, platforms can launch best-in-class spend management within days without the headache of managing compliance, risk, or bank relationships. Visit their website at CapitalOS.com to learn more.
If you're looking for a way to say ‘yes’ to more customers without taking on additional risk and lend more profitably without sacrificing growth, be sure to check out Prism Data. Cash flow underwriting is a game changer in consumer lending, and Prism Data is the modern analytics provider that makes it possible.
Welcome to November's episode of This Month in Fintech, recorded live from the Honey Pot at Money2020.
I'm joined today by Nik Milanovic, Founder of TWIF, as we sit down with Michael Sindicich, CEO of Navan Expense.
Michael, Nik and I launched this episode around Navan's landmark new partnership with (former) rival Brex - BrexPay for Navan. BrexPay for Navan is a seamless integration that directly embeds Brex cards into Navan’s travel management software. Customers can now leverage Brex and Navan to achieve 100% automated travel payment reconciliation on bookings made through Navan. This means receiving a perfect report at the end of the month, where every booking is linked to a traveler and a trip with zero manual effort, thanks to a per-booking virtual card number. Through the direct integration, customers can also instantly activate local currency cards for all their global subsidiaries within one card program, saving countless hours in onboarding and underwriting, besides avoiding all FX fees.
We had a lot of fun in this live conversation talking through Michael's journey to Navan (taking him through insurance brokerages and wild valley hacker houses), the art of mastering a partnership with a rival, the business travel whipsaw from Navan's State of Corporate Travel and Expense Report, and a great rapid fire round.
Navan is the all-in-one travel, corporate card, and expense management solution. Navan makes business travel and expense management easy, giving users visibility, savings, and control with their all-in-one super app.
Their corporate travel and expense solution allows users to easily book, view, and manage business travel and expenses. Navan is reinventing the legacy category of travel and expense with one of the first enterprise technologies utilizing the cloud, mobile, and AI to balance business needs with today's modern standards.
Michael Sindicich is the CEO of Navan Expense. Michael joined Navan as one of its earliest employees in 2016 as an Account Executive and has risen through the ranks to CEO of Navan's Expense business. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science from UCLA.
You can find him on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and Bay Area lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor on the Ventures team at OMERS, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area.
You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
Welcome to the 2,179 new readers who’ve joined us since last week. You’re joining 137,000+ other subscribers surfing the AI wave. Today's newsletter and podcast are brought to you by our friends at Silicon Valley Bank.
📢 We're launching a new podcast: In early 2025, Jillian and Julie will be talking to the biggest names at the intersection of artificial intelligence and financial services. Who do you most want to see as a guest?
(Btw... speaking of AI x fintech, check out the new Stripe launch from this week.)
Please enjoy another week of fintech and banking news in this short pod.
Welcome back to another episode of our Fintech OG series. I was thrilled to be joined by Michael Tannenbaum of Figure and Nicky Goulimis of Tunic Pay. From talking about our kids (5 between the 3 of us ages 4, 3, 2x2 and 1) to their time at fintech giants SoFi, Nova Credit and Brex, this was a conversation that I thoroughly enjoyed and know you will too.
Many thanks to Method and Mesh for sponsoring this week's episode!
Method is the first ever single sign-on for consumer liability and credit accounts, using only identity and consent to authenticate users. They’ve built an extensive network of coverage, supporting over 15k financial institutions to stream real-time data and make direct liability payments. Method helps companies in the personal loans and HELOC space like Figure, SoFi, Upgrade, Happy Money, and Aven incorporate repayment directly into their application flow.
Shift4, a leader in global payments, has joined forces with Mesh to enable merchants everywhere to offer seamless, secure cryptocurrency payments right at checkout. With this integration, customers can pay in crypto just like they would with a credit card, while merchants enjoy peace of mind knowing those payments convert instantly into their preferred currency, reducing conversion risks and eliminating chargebacks. It’s crypto payments made simple.
Today, we go to New York to talk with Nelson Chu, the founder and CEO of Percent.
Percent has created the modern credit marketplace, empowering investors, borrowers, and underwriters with innovative technology to increase the speed and velocity of transactions at a fraction of the cost. The company’s core infrastructure delivers public market efficiencies to the analog private credit market by powering the sourcing, structuring, syndication, surveillance and servicing of private credit transactions from beginning to end. Founded in 2018, Percent’s platform is becoming the market standard for asset-backed and corporate lending, powering over $1 billion in transaction volume in a multi-trillion-dollar private credit industry.
Nelson Chu is a repeat founder who got his start in finance working on the Fixed Income portfolio at Bank of America and then BlackRock. Coming out of banking, Nelson first founded technology consulting business Lumenary, a strategic advisory group focused on bringing innovative and transformative ideas to life. He leveraged his experience at Luminary to become a formal advisor to a few other well-known names in the fintech ecosystem including Recharge Capital and BlockFi, before founding Percent in 2018 (anticipating the currrent private credit boom).
Percent is a platform for sourcing, structuring, syndicating, monitoring, and servicing private credit transactions. The platform recently passed $1 billion in transaction volume, and can be found at percent.com.
In the latest edition of This Week In Fintech's OG series, Julie dives into the UAE and interviews industry veterans Gaurav Dhar (MENA and Marshal), Nameer Khan (MENA and Fils) and Ronit Ghose (Citi).
The three provide an insightful discussion on fintech developments in the Middle East, regional dynamics, and the challenges and opportunities in fintech innovation across the Gulf and North Africa.
Huge thanks to Public.com and Prism Data for sponsoring this week's episode!
With interest rates falling, be sure to check out Public.com's Bond Account, which allows you to lock in a 6% or higher yield with a diversified portfolio of high-yield and investment-grade corporate bonds.
If you're looking for a way to say ‘yes’ to more customers without taking on additional risk and lend more profitably without sacrificing growth, be sure to check out Prism Data. Cash flow underwriting is a game changer in consumer lending, and Prism Data is the modern analytics provider that makes it possible.
Welcome back to the TWIF podcast! We've got a streak of great interviews for you this fall, heading to Mexico today for a conversation with the Baubap co-founders.
Baubap is Latin America's first AI-powered, credit-focused bank.
Baubap was ahead of the AI boom, developing an AI-driven credit underwriting model since 2019. This early adoption allowed them to build a scalable model that consistently improves with data. The company has issued over 8 million loans and served 2 million customers, while maintaining profitability (and 18% month-over-month growth over the past five years) and a $100 million+ revenue run-rate.
Welcome back – this week we're sitting down today with Leif Abraham, the cofounder and Co-CEO of investing platform Public.com!
Public is an investing platform that lets members invest in stocks, ETFs, crypto, Treasury bills, and alternative assets – and recently launched fractional investing in corporate and Treasury bonds in response to the increasing demand for fixed-income products from the platform's 3 million+ active investors.
On this episode, Leif sits down and talks with us about founding Public almost 6 years ago, how running an international company is different from the first two startups he founded, what keeps him coming back to fintech, whether retail investors are ready to 'take the plunge' on AI, working with Tony Hawk, and how they managed to snag that Public.com domain name.
Welcome to October's episode of This Month in Fintech, just ahead of Money2020.
Our guest today is Davi Strazza, President of North America at Adyen. Adyen is a global financial technology platform helping the world’s leading businesses achieve their ambitions faster.
Since its founding in 2006, Adyen has built one of the world's leading platforms to help enterprises accept payments, protect revenue, and control their finances. Adyen processed over $1Tn in transaction volume last year across for companies like Microsoft, McDonalds, Uber, Loreal, Spotify, eBay, Gap and more.
Adyen is a global financial technology platform helping the world’s leading businesses achieve their ambitions faster. Since its founding in 2006, Adyen has built one of the world's leading platforms to help enterprises accept payments, protect revenue, and control their finances. Adyen processed ~$1Tn in transaction volume last year across for companies like Microsoft, McDonalds, Uber, Loreal, Spotify, eBay, Gap and more.
Davi Strazza is the President of North America at Adyen, one of the world’s largest financial technology companies. He began his career at Adyen as a sales manager in Latin America and spent the following 10 years working across the Americas, including serving as President of Latin America, before assuming his current role in January 2023. Davi holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho.
You can find him on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Ryan Zauk is the Host of the This Month in Fintech Podcast and SF Lead for the broader This Week in Fintech platform. In his day job, Ryan is an investor on the Ventures team at OMERS, the direct investing arm of one of the world’s largest pension plans with over $130Bn in net assets. Prior to OMERS, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s Tech Investment Banking team focused on M&A and capital markets. He is based in the Bay Area.
You can find him on Linkedin or Twitter.
Our Sponsor - Fifth Third
Are you ready to scale your fintech product? Introducing Newline™ by Fifth Third! With Newline, you can launch payment, card, and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank.
Newline combines the power of a top 20 bank with an API-first technology platform, unlocking the next generation of embedded finance solutions. Set your product up for success with a reputable bank partner and enjoy the best of both worlds: innovation and financial strength.
It’s time to raise the standard of embedded financial solutions with a platform designed for the enterprise.
Learn more at Newline53.com.
Episode Summary
2:13 How Davi first found Adyen in Brazil in ~10 years ago
3:37 A birds-eye view of Adyen Overview - platform, scale, and services
5:53 The completely unique Adyen tech stack and how it builds enduring competitive advantage in a global market
8:54 How Adyen and Davi stay focused as a product team, sales team, and organization (plus why they'll never do M&A!)
12:53 How Adyen thinks about Go to Market and segmentation with such an enterprise motion
14:17 Crafting / maintaining Adyen's unique culture from interview process through employee retention
17:55 2 traits that contributed to Davi's success, 2 traits that he's needed to develop
21:09 The buzz and potential of Adyen's newest in– person payments solution, SFO1
24:10 His predictions for what in-person payments will look like in the coming decade
24:58 Pay by Bank - how, when, why it will be adopted
29:18 How Adyen is building with AI to help save their customers millions
32:50 Rapid Fire Round
Nik Milanovic sits down to talk with Jesse Mecham, the founder of personal finance app YNAB, about the state of fintech, consumer finances, raising seven kids, and why he hates the word 'budgeting.'
In an exclusive interview, MX's founder and returning CEO Ryan Caldwell opens up about 14 years as a fintech founder, why consumer-permissioned data is integral to MX's DNA, and the future of open banking.
In the podcast, Julie interviews Matt Austin and Ahmed Siddiqui. The conversation dives into their experiences in FinTech, how they got involved, and the lessons they learned along the way. Matt shares his journey from public accounting to FinTech, explaining how he entered the industry through a chance encounter with a VC. Ahmed talks about his accidental entry into FinTech via a connection at Marqeta, where he developed a deep understanding of payment systems. Both reflect on the industry's advancements, where FinTech has exceeded expectations, and where it's fallen short—especially in areas like real-time payments and overcoming traditional banking hurdles. The podcast wraps up with personal stories, touching on the importance of community in FinTech, key challenges they’ve faced, and excitement for the future of financial technology.
Huge thanks to Public.com and Prism Data for sponsoring this week's episode!
With interest rates falling, be sure to check out Public.com's Bond Account, which allows you to lock in a 6% or higher yield with a diversified portfolio of high-yield and investment-grade corporate bonds.
If you're looking for a way to say ‘yes’ to more customers without taking on additional risk and lend more profitably without sacrificing growth, be sure to check out Prism Data. Cash flow underwriting is a game changer in consumer lending, and Prism Data is the modern analytics provider that makes it possible.
Welcome back for Season Two of the Fintech OG series!
We're kicking it off with fintech founders Jason Gardner and Ken Lin, who share their experiences building Marqeta and Credit Karma, highlighting both the challenges and successes they faced along the way.
They discuss industry highs and lows, including regulatory hurdles and unexpected partnerships that shaped their companies. Both founders express optimism about the future of fintech, particularly around emerging markets and AI-driven solutions. They also share personal stories, from navigating stress as founders to unexpected hobbies, giving a candid view of life behind their entrepreneurial journeys.
Huge thanks to our sponsors, Zero Hash and Array!
Zero Hash supports 50+ global platforms and has compliantly onboarded close to 5 million people to crypto and stablecoins, and their platform has processed ~$20bn+ in transaction volume. If you want to design new and better mechanisms of payments and the transfer of value across brokerage, remittance, cross-border payments, payroll and commerce, go to Zerohash.com.
Array offers embeddable tools that integrate seamlessly into your fintech platform, from identity and privacy protection to credit monitoring. Array helps fintechs fast-track their innovation, generate revenue, and enhance user experience. Visit www.array.com/TWIF to learn more.
Welcome to the inaugural episode of This Month in Fintech, a new flagship podcast from the folks at This Week in Fintech.
The show is hosted by Ryan Zauk, who will sit down monthly with some of the world’s most renowned tech and finance leaders, sharing their stories and products while unpacking their secrets to success.
Our inaugural guest is none other than Zach Perret, Co-Founder and CEO of Plaid. Plaid has reached near ubiquity in Financial Technology, building the connective tissue underpinning many aspects of modern fintech.
To give you a sense of their scale today:
- Over 1 in 3 US consumers have linked accounts through Plaid
- 500M+ connected accounts in the Plaid network
- ~15.5M new consumer connections per month, with the average user connecting to 3-5 apps in our network
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this podcast are the speaker’s own and are not the views of This Week in Fintech or any other person or entity. The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or a recommendation, solicitation, endorsement or offering by me or anyone else for the sale, subscription or purchase of securities or for investment advisory services of any kind. There are risks associated with investing in securities including the loss of principal. Past investment performance of any firm, security, or investment strategy is not a guarantee or predictor of future investment performance. I have not independently verified any information obtained from third-party sources. Neither This Week in Fintech nor any entity associated with me or my guests should be viewed as endorsing, approving, recommending or certifying any information, product or organization presented or mentioned in this podcase, including any advertising content.
Welcome to another episode of our payments series. This time we’re diving into all things fraud with Soups Ranjan of Sardine and Liran Amrany of Team8
This episode dives into the evolving landscape of fraud in the payments industry, with guests that are both experts in the space. Soups and Liran share insights on trends such as the rise of fraudsters exploiting loopholes in payments, advancements in security, and the challenges posed by technologies like generative AI. A key takeaway is the increasing sophistication of fraud, as fraudsters innovate rapidly, pushing the need for companies to develop better tools for fraud prevention. The conversation also highlights the importance of improving digital identity and reducing payment costs over time.
Huge thanks to our sponsors, CapitalOS and Array, for making this series possible!
With CapitalOS, platforms can launch best-in-class spend management within days without the headache of managing compliance, risk, or bank relationships. Visit their website at CapitalOS.com to learn more.
Array offers embeddable tools that integrate seamlessly into your fintech platform, from identity and privacy protection to credit monitoring. Array helps fintechs fast-track their innovation, generate revenue, and enhance user experience. Visit www.array.com/TWIF to learn more.
Welcome to another episode of our payments series. This time we’re diving into B2B payments with Brandon Lloyd of Forward, Bo Jiang of Lithic and Wade Arnold of Moov.
These 3 are experts to say the least. We covered everything from the transformation of payments infrastructure, complexity of embedded payments, the regulatory environment, adoption (or lack of) of pay by bank and FedNow, and future innovation predictions.
Huge thanks to our sponsors, Highnote and Array, for making this series possible!
While most issuer processors build small, predefined boxes for their customers to fit in, Highnote has built a game-changing platform that enables unparalleled flexibility for its customers to differentiate their card offerings. On top of that, they can do it across all commercial, consumer, credit, and debit program types.
Visit Highnote.com to learn more about how to take your card program to the next level.
Array offers embeddable tools that integrate seamlessly into your fintech platform, from identity and privacy protection to credit monitoring. Array helps fintechs fast-track their innovation, generate revenue, and enhance user experience. With Array, you’re not just keeping up – you’re leading. Visit www.array.com/TWIF to learn more.
In our third episode, we talked to Sophia Goldberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Ansa, and Eric Rosenthal, Chief Strategy Officer at Rapyd.
These payments experts dove into the key differences in payments around the world, the biggest misunderstandings they see of how money moves, and what they think the biggest innovation in payments will be over the next 5 years.
Don’t forget to rate and subscribe so you don’t miss this series!
Lastly, thanks to this week’s sponsors, Lithic and Array. Whether you're a venture-backed startup or a mature company looking for robust APIs that can reliably handle your card transaction volume, Lithic may be the right choice. Contact their sales team at Lithic.com/contact to learn more.
Array offers embeddable tools that integrate seamlessly into your fintech platform, from identity and privacy protection to credit monitoring. Array helps fintechs fast-track their innovation, generate revenue, and enhance user experience. Visit www.array.com/TWIF to learn more.
Hey everyone, welcome to the This Week In Fintech Payments podcast series hosted by Julie VerHage Greenberg and Matthew Goldman!
In our second episode, we talked to Jeff Adamson from Neo Financial and Heather Ribbans, a UK payments consultant. We discuss Jeff’s transition from Olympic wrestler to fintech entrepreneur, founding one of Canada’s largest fintech companies, and Heather's extensive experience in payments. Topics include global payment systems, the importance of fast payments, innovations in neobanking, and the varying adoption of technologies like Pay by Bank in different regions.
Don’t forget to rate and subscribe so you don’t miss this series!
Lastly, thanks to this week’s sponsors, CapitalOS and Array. With CapitalOS, platforms can launch best-in-class spend management within days without the headache of managing compliance, risk, or bank relationships. Visit their website at CapitalOS.com to learn more. Array offers embeddable tools that integrate seamlessly into your fintech platform, from identity and privacy protection to credit monitoring. Array helps fintechs fast-track their innovation, generate revenue, and enhance user experience. Visit www.array.com/TWIF to learn more.
This week, we're thrilled to host Drew Edwards, the CEO of Ingo Payments, on The TWIF Podcast.
In this episode, we dive into Drew's 25+ year history of founding and running fintech companies, how payments has evolved since the PayPal era, the most interesting challenges to tackle in American payments today, where Ingo sits in the fintech landscape, and whether Drew will ever run a public company again.
This is a Sponsored Episode.
Drew has a long history as a fintech leader, and offers some thoughtful personal reflections on his journey, lessons learned, and where he sees the future of fintech heading.
Don't forget to follow, like, and share the podcast!
Hey everyone, welcome to the This Week In Fintech Payments podcast series hosted by Julie VerHage Greenberg and Matthew Goldman!
In our first episode, we talked to Kiaan Pillay of Stitch and Yele Oyekola of Duplo, both payments companies that have a strong African presence. We cover how different regions in Africa differ from one another, the most common misconceptions, and the latest trends and innovations in the country.
Don’t forget to rate and subscribe so you don’t miss this series!
Lastly, thanks to Zero Hash for sponsoring this episode! Zero Hash supports 50+ global platforms and has compliantly onboarded close to 5 million people to crypto and stablecoins, and their platform has processed ~$20bn+ in transaction volume. If you want to design new and better mechanisms of payments and the transfer of value across brokerage, remittance, cross-border payments, payroll and commerce, go to Zerohash.com.
Special thanks to Canopy for sponsoring this week’s episode. Head over to Canopyservicing.com to learn more about how they’re powering some of the world’s leading fintechs’ and digital banks’ commercial loan programs.
⭐Top 40 Best Financial News Podcasts! ⭐
If you’re looking to expand your network and knowledge of fintech, look no further than the This Week In Fintech podcast. This engaging show brings together thought leaders from finance and technology sectors who share their experiences, insights, and innovative approaches.
In this week's episode, Peter Renton, co-founder of FinTech Nexus/LendIt, and Simon Taylor, head of content and strategy at Sardine, discuss their professional journeys and the evolution of fintech over the past decade. They share insights into the industry's surprises, mistakes and milestones, and whether fintech remains an attractive field for new graduates.
The discussion also delves into the high and low points of their careers and the future of fintech innovations, including AI integration and personal financial management apps.
Both Peter and Simon reflect on their personal highlights from the past year, emphasizing the importance of supportive networks and mentors. The conversation combines professional insights with personal anecdotes, providing a comprehensive view of the fintech industry's past, present, and future.
PS: Don't forget to follow, like and share the podcast!
Lastly, thanks to LoanPro for sponsoring this week's episode! If you’re in the market to streamline your lending processes or if you just want to see what next-gen loan management looks like, go to loanpro.io and book a demo.
In this episode, we cover the latest fintech news, including key events such as Wells Fargo's new rent rewards credit card, Santander's global tech platform rollout, and NatWest's generative AI chatbot upgrade. We also dive into our Fintechionary to explain Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending, highlighting its ease of access, better rates, and societal impact. Plus, our 'Signals' segment reviews the impressive performance of public fintechs in H1 2024, noting key takeaways such as profitability wins, stock market volatility, and standout companies like Dave, Robinhood, and Nubank. Stay informed and ahead in the fast-paced world of fintech with us—all in just 10 minutes!
In this episode we break down the latest news, articles, events, and dive into our Fintechionary—all in just 10 minutes!
Don't miss out—stay informed and ahead in the fast-paced world of fintech with us!
Welcome back for the next episode of the Fintech OG series!
This week I'm excited to have Laura Spiekerman of Alloy and Aaron Frank of Lightspeed on the podcast. With each of them having more than a decade of fintech experience, these two offered incredible insights and advice. From nearly dying to then selling their company to Goldman Sachs and creating the Apple Card, to making the controversial decision to sell to banks (hello long sales cycles, regulation and small pool of customers), we dove in to what has defined their success and what the future of the space looks like.
PS: Don't forget to follow, like and share the podcast!
Lastly, thanks to LoanPro and Lithic for sponsoring this weeks episode! If you’re in the market to streamline your lending processes or if you just want to see what next-gen loan management looks like, go to loanpro.io and book a demo.
And whether you're a venture-backed startup or a mature company looking for robust APIs that can reliably handle your card transaction volume, Lithic may be the right choice. Contact their sales team at Lithic.com/contact to learn more.
In this episode we break down the latest news, articles, events, and dive into our Fintechionary—all in just 10 minutes! In this episode, we explore NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, explaining how it enables secure, fast, contactless payments and revolutionises data exchange. We also cover the latest fintech news and highlight this week's key fintech events. Plus, we dissect the dramatic downfall of Synapse, a once-promising fintech giant, unraveling their partnership troubles, regulatory missteps, financial inaccuracies, and toxic culture. Learn critical lessons from their mistakes to avoid becoming the next cautionary tale. Don't miss out—stay informed and ahead in the fast-paced world of fintech with us!
In this episode, Helen and Jeremy Tsui delve into the intricate challenges of managing debt for startups, particularly the complexities and compliance issues involved. Jeremy discusses how Finley aims to revolutionise corporate lending by applying consumer finance tools to streamline and expedite the process.
Key topics covered include:
- Modernising Debt Capital Management: Jeremy explains how Finley’s platform seeks to modernise debt capital management, making it more efficient and standardised.
- Challenges in the Tech Industry: The discussion highlights the specific difficulties tech companies face in debt management, emphasising the lack of existing tools in this space.
- Innovation and Automation: Both speakers stress the importance of innovation and automation in debt management to improve efficiency and user experience.
- Trends in Business Lending: The episode explores the increasing diversity among business owners and the shift towards non-bank lenders, noting the fragmented nature of the private credit market.
- Standardisation Issues: Jeremy and Helen discuss the ongoing challenge of standardisation in private credit, despite new entrants bringing creativity to the lending space.
- Future of Decentralised Lending: Predictions are made about the continued growth of decentralised lending, with more private and non-bank lenders entering the market.
Jeremy shares personal anecdotes, including a memorable pitch where investors questioned the existence of private credit, highlighting the need for clear communication in this industry.
Welcome back for the next episode of the Fintech OG series!
This week I'm excited to have Dan Rosen of Commerce Ventures and Luis Valdich of Citi Ventures on the podcast. Beyond their professional insights, both of them offered candid reflections on personal growth over their 10+ years in the space, what they thought would have been solved for by now but hasn't, and where fintech is headed next.
Don't forget to follow, like and share the podcast!
Lastly, thanks to Zero Hash for sponsoring this episode! Zero Hash supports 50+ global platforms and has compliantly onboarded close to 5 million people to crypto and stablecoins, and their platform has processed ~$20bn+ in transaction volume. If you want to design new and better mechanisms of payments and the transfer of value across brokerage, remittance, cross-border payments, payroll and commerce, go to Zerohash.com.
This week on the This Week in Fintech podcast, in just 10 minutes, we cover the downfall of brokerage apps post-pandemic, highlighted by Noah Weidner (@noahw) in his article "Signals: The Broker App-pocalypse Is Here," where once-popular platforms like Robinhood have seen a massive drop in active users while established firms like Fidelity and Vanguard continue to thrive. We dive into the fintechionary, remittance, the vital money transfers by foreign workers to their home countries, and how fintech is revolutionising this process by making it faster, cheaper, and more transparent, significantly impacting global economies and reducing poverty. Lastly, we highlight key news, including UK bank fraud losses topping £1 billion and Capchase securing €105 million from Deutsche Bank to support SaaS companies in Europe.
In this 10-minute episode, we explore the latest in fintech from groundbreaking product launches like Wenia's COPW Stablecoin to significant challenges such as Binance's $6M AML fine. We delve into Sophie Vo's insightful article on the globalization era of neobanks, examining how giants like NuBank and Monzo are leveraging international markets to innovate domestically. Our Fintechionary segment demystifies P2P lending, explaining its impact on democratizing finance. Wrapping up, we recommend deep reads on PayPal's optimistic future and Visa's revolutionary One Card. Tune in for a concise roundup of the essential fintech developments this week!
Welcome back for the next episode of the Fintech OG series!
This week I'm excited to have Charley Ma of Exponent Founders Capital and Reshma Sohoni of Seedcamp on the podcast. Beyond their professional insights, both of them offered candid reflections on personal growth and where fintech is headed next. By sharing their professional achievements, key choices (going to work for a tiny company called Plaid even though many told him not to), personal setbacks and times of struggle, there's a lot of great advice for listeners, whether in fintech or not.
Don't forget to follow, like and share the podcast!
Lastly, thanks to LoanPro for sponsoring this episode! I you’re in the market to streamline your lending processes or if you just want to see what next-gen loan management looks like, go to loanpro.io and book a demo.
Tune Into "This Week in Fintech" Podcast: Your Fintech Fast Track!
🚀 What’s Hot This Week:
🌟 Events Scoop: Get the lowdown on must-attend fintech events! Who’s speaking, what’s hot, and why you can't miss out.
📚 Top Reads:
- "Gen Z and TikTok Finance" – How social media shapes financial futures.
- "Corporate Drama Unleashed" – A CEO's wild choices shaking up the banking world.
- "SaaS Payments Decoded" – The real deal on in-house payment processing.
📈 News Breaks:
- "AI Takes Over Investing" – JPMorgan's new AI tool is changing the game.
- "Crypto Meets Mobile" – Vodafone’s bold dive into blockchain tech.
🚀 Sophie Vo’s Signals: Get the inside track on US fintech moves making waves across the pond – from tax tricks to smart investing in shaky times.
🔍 Fintechionary Focus: Open Banking
- What's It? Banks open their data vaults for cool, new app magic.
- Big Impact? More power to consumers, better tools for startups.
📰 Quick Hits:
- Fresh Launches & Deals: The latest products and partnerships shaping tomorrow’s fintech.
Why Listen?"This Week in Fintech" is your go-to for all things flashy and finance. Snappy insights, sharp forecasts, and all the fintech buzz you need, served weekly. Don’t just stay updated, stay ahead. Hit play now!
In this episode of This Week in Fintech, we cover the latest buzz in finance. Our news segment highlights regulatory actions, product launches, and partnerships reshaping the industry. From bank seizures to new payment systems, each story captures fintech's fast-paced nature.
In Fintechionary, we explore neobanks, the digital disruptors changing banking. With a focus on convenience and inclusivity, neobanks are redefining how people manage their money.
Our featured article, Signals, dives into SNAP EBT acceptance in online retail. Shardendu Gautam examines the history and potential of SNAP, urging greater inclusivity in digital shopping.
Stay tuned for insights on fintech's trends, innovations, and societal impacts.
Welcome back for the next episode of the Fintech OG series!
This week I'm excited to have Jon Stein of Betterment and Alexa von Tobel of LearnVest and Inspired Capital on the podcast. Beyond their professional insights, both of them offered candid reflections on personal growth, the future of personal financial management, and where fintech is headed next. By sharing their professional achievements (selling a company hours before giving birth to their first child), key choices, personal setbacks (getting TechPunched) and times of struggle, there's a lot of great advice for listeners, whether in fintech or not.
Don't forget to follow, like and share the podcast!
Tune into "This Week in Fintech" for a concise 10-minute episode that brings you the latest in fintech news, insights into micropayments, and a thought-provoking discussion on the future of carbon credits. Don’t miss out on understanding these key developments in the fintech landscape.
News Roundup
This week in fintech witnessed a flurry of product launches and strategic collaborations. Highlights include Mercury's dive into personal banking services, Klarna's new credit card with installment payment options in the US, and 1inch's introduction of a crypto-to-fiat debit card. Additionally, BJ’s Restaurants and Ferry teamed up to digitally disburse tips via a new payroll card, while Episode Six and Loop launched a fintech-as-a-service offering in Saudi Arabia.
Fintechionary: Micropayments
In today's Fintechionary, we explore 'Micropayments'—tiny transactions typically under five dollars. These small sums are revolutionizing digital content consumption, enabling creators to monetize and consumers to access content affordably. Micropayments support a vibrant digital economy by emphasizing the value of every small piece of content.
Signals: Review
Our podcast also reviews Sophie Vo's insightful article, "Signals: If a tree falls in the forest...", which delves into the volatile yet promising world of carbon credits. Amidst significant corporate pullback and increased regulatory scrutiny, Vo discusses the $2.3 billion invested in climate fintechs last year, pointing to a potential growth to a $1.1 trillion industry by 2050. This balanced view presents both the challenges and burgeoning opportunities within the carbon credit market.
We're back with our fifth installment of Building The Best, our podcast hosted by the fantastic Jillian Williams of Cowboy Ventures.
In this podcast, we dive deep into the fundamentals of creating and scaling transformative fintech products by interviewing the founders themselves.
In this episode, Jillian is joined by Tony Jamous, the Founder and CEO of Oyster. Oyster is an automated global employment platform that allows businesses to hire talent in over 180 countries. It lets you hire, pay, reward, and manage talent compliantly without setting up an entity in every country you want to employ people from, with an automated hiring system and deep compliance support. Oyster has raised $224 million through its Series C at a $1 billion valuation, and employs 600+ people.
In the News: We kick off with a critical analysis of the top headlines that have shaped the fintech landscape this week. From groundbreaking product launches that promise to revolutionize the way we manage our finances, to strategic mergacies and acquisitions reshaping the competitive terrain, we cover the developments that matter.
Fintechionary: Our popular segment, Fintechionary, continues to demystify the complex jargon of the fintech world. This week, we delve into a word beginning with 'L' breaking down its significance in today's digital economy and its impact on future innovations.
Signals: In Signals, we highlight the trends and undercurrents within the fintech industry, offering insights into emerging technologies and regulatory changes. Understand the dynamics driving the fintech sector forward, and what it means for investors, entrepreneurs, and consumers.
Events: Stay informed about the must-attend fintech events and conferences. Whether virtual or in-person, these gatherings are where the future of fintech is debated, created, and showcased. We'll guide you through the events that offer invaluable networking opportunities and cutting-edge insights.
In episode number five of the Fintech OG series, we talk with Jake Gibson of NerdWallet and BTV, and Nik Milinović of TWIF, who share their extensive journeys within the fintech sector, shedding light on the evolution of financial technology, the impacts on traditional banking, and the unresolved challenges that continue to shape the industry.
Also, huge thanks to our sponsors at FS Vector! Go to fsvector.com/headmaster to learn more about their new compliance training platform and additional services.
In today's quick 10-minute dive into "This Week in Fintech News Briefing," we're cutting straight to the chase with the most pivotal fintech developments from Q1 2024. Here's your espresso shot of fintech trends, innovations, and regulatory updates:
Spotlight on Innovation: Visa's Prism is setting new benchmarks in payment solutions. OpenYield and Neverless are redefining finance with their pioneering platforms. These launches signal a surge in fintech innovation, offering sleeker, smarter financial management tools.
Strategic Movements: From Chase Bank's targeted advertising strategy to HSBC's fintech-boosting alliance in Hong Kong, strategic partnerships are reshaping the fintech landscape. Mastercard's collaborations in Nigeria spotlight a drive towards more inclusive financial services.
Regulatory Updates: The EU's new stance on crypto laundering and the CFPB's investigation into credit card rewards underscore a growing focus on transparency and security. These moves reflect the tightening regulatory framework surrounding fintech.
KYC – The Bedrock of Trust: In our rapid rundown, KYC (Know Your Customer) stands out as a cornerstone of fintech's trust and safety measures. Transforming through AI and machine learning, KYC processes are becoming faster and more user-friendly, balancing security with accessibility.
Takeaway: In just ten minutes, we've covered the crux of Q1's fintech landscape. The sector continues to evolve with a strong emphasis on innovation, strategic collaboration, and stringent regulatory compliance, all while making strides in customer verification processes. Fintech is not just keeping pace with digital transformation; it's leading the charge towards a more secure, inclusive, and efficient financial future.
In episode number four of the Fintech OG series, we talk with Frank Rotman and Nigel Morris, the founders of QED Investors and two of the architects of what became Capital One.
These two dove into how they got into fintech, their personal ups and downs, advice to founders, and what they expect the biggest innovations to be over the next decade.
Also, huge thanks to our sponsors at FS Vector and Empire Startups! Go to fsvector.com/headmaster to learn more about their new compliance training platform, and if you still haven't bought your ticket to the Empire Startup Conference in NYC during New York Fintech week, go to empirestartups.com and use code "FintechOG" for a special discount!
In our next 10-minute episode of the This Week in Fintech (TWIF) podcast, we're diving into a concise but comprehensive overview of the fintech sector's most compelling developments. Here's how we'll line up the episode:
- News Roundup: We'll start with a sprint through the latest fintech headlines. From JP Morgan's groundbreaking introduction of biometric payments to the potential sale of the fintech-friendly CBW Bank, we've got these stories and more. We'll also touch on the innovative steps being taken by central banks using AI for climate risk analysis, tech and healthcare startup boosts by HSBC, and the challenges faced by banks and fintech firms alike, including technical mishaps costing millions and adjustments in the wake of digital transformations.
- Fintechionary - Interest Rate Swap: Next, we'll ease into our Fintechionary segment, where this week's focus is on "Interest Rate Swap." It's a forward contract that plays a critical role in the financial markets for managing interest rate risk. This segment aims to unpack the complexity of financial terms and present them in an easily digestible format, shedding light on how these mechanisms impact fintech innovations and the broader societal financial landscape.
- Job of the Week: Moving on, we'll spotlight the "Job of the Week" from Ampla, which is on the hunt for an Associate Commercial Counsel. This role represents a unique opportunity to shape the future of financial services for consumer brands, reflecting the dynamic nature of career opportunities within the fintech ecosystem.
- Snippet from "Signals": We wrap up with a look into Sophie Vo's article on the post-SVB resilience of small banks, marking the onset of the 'small bank era'. A year after the SVB collapse, this insightful piece delves into how small banks have made a significant comeback, showcasing the evolving landscape of banking resilience and innovation.
Packed into a quick 10-minute listen, this episode promises to deliver a punchy, insightful overview of the fintech world's latest news, educational insights, career opportunities, and thought-provoking analyses. Ideal for fintech enthusiasts looking to stay abreast of the sector’s key developments.
This week’s episode of "This Week in Fintech" is a triple threat, covering the latest in fintech news, deep dives into the personal banking habits of fintech professionals, and an educational segment on cutting-edge payment technology. Here's what we've got lined up:
- News Roundup: We start with a look at some of the most impactful stories in fintech, including BBVA's comprehensive partnership with Cisco to enhance its digital infrastructure, NatWest's strategic exit from the buy now, pay later (BNPL) scene, and the Australian Securities Exchange's penalty for transparency failures. Plus, we discuss Mastercard and MetaMask's collaboration on a blockchain-powered payment card and the financial repercussions following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
- Signals Exclusive with Matthew Goldman: A revealing investigation into where fintech insiders actually bank. Despite being at the forefront of developing innovative financial solutions, a surprising number of fintech professionals stick with traditional banking giants. Matthew Goldman shares insights from his survey, shedding light on this intriguing paradox.
- Fintechtionary: Dive into the world of "Host Card Emulation" (HCE). We explain how HCE technology turns smartphones into virtual debit or credit cards, enabling contactless payments without the need for physical cards. This segment explores the significance of HCE in advancing mobile payment solutions and its implications for both consumers and the fintech industry.
Join us for a compelling blend of news, insider perspectives, and technological exploration, providing a holistic view of the current fintech landscape. Tune in to "This Week in Fintech" for your essential update on the innovations and trends shaping the future of finance.
In episode number three of the Fintech OG series, we talk with Matthew Burton, former Co-Founder and CEO of Orchard and Partner at QED (now working on something new), and Jon Zanoff, the founder of Empire Startups in NYC.
These two dove into how they got into fintech, their personal ups and downs (when each of them thought they were going to fail), and what they expect the biggest innovations to be over the next decade.
Also, huge thanks to our sponsors at FS Vector and Empire Startups! Go to fsvector.com/headmaster to learn more about their new compliance training platform, and if you still haven't bought your ticket to the Empire Startup Conference in NYC during New York Fintech week, go to empirestartups.com and use code "FintechOG" for a special discount!
In this week’s “This Week in Fintech” podcast episode, we zipped through a mix of the latest news, deep dives, and essential insights into the fintech world. Here’s your quick summary:
- News: We kicked off with a spotlight on Deutsche Börse’s crypto platform launch, navigated through global financial updates including regulatory changes and market strategies, and wrapped up with groundbreaking product launches from industry giants like ChargeAfter, Synctera, and PayPal.
- Signals: Our exclusive look into Robinhood’s strategy for navigating life post-PFOF gave us a peek into how fintech firms are pivoting in response to regulatory and market shifts.
- Fintechtionary: This week’s term was “Gateway,” focusing on Payment Gateways' critical role in e-commerce and fintech ecosystems, highlighting their impact on global commerce and financial inclusion.
- Jobs of the Week: We showcased a standout opportunity at Griffin for an Assurance Senior Manager, emphasizing the chance to be part of a team reshaping the future of banking.
- Events: Stay tuned for updates on upcoming fintech events that promise to bring the community together for networking, learning, and innovation showcases.
Short, sweet, and packed with everything you need to stay ahead in the fintech space. Keep your finger on the pulse!
We're back with our fourth installment of Building The Best, our podcast hosted by the fantastic Jillian Williams of Cowboy Ventures.
In this podcast, we dive deep into the fundamentals of creating and scaling transformative fintech products by interviewing the founders themselves.
In this episode, Jillian is joined by Karim Atiyeh, the Co-Founder and CEO of Ramp, a corporate expense management, payments, and accounting company.
In just 10 minutes host Helen Femi Williams provided a concise overview of the dynamic fintech sector, reflecting on an insightful conversation between Benjamin Verschuere, Co-Founder and CIO of Treasure, and interviewer Dez. The dialogue, which spanned topics such as the challenges of distinguishing oneself in the crowded fintech landscape of 2024, modernising the CFO tech stack, and navigating the complexities of Embedded Fintech 2.0, was distilled into a 10-minute segment. This analysis delved into the strategic innovations essential for fintech companies to flourish. Furthermore, the briefing touched upon the concept of fractional investing, emphasizing its role in making investment more accessible and in promoting financial inclusivity by allowing investors to purchase portions of assets.
The briefing also highlighted upcoming networking events, including the TWIF Vegas Happy Hour with Gainbridge and the NYC Fintech Coffee, underscoring the significance of community and connection in the fintech industry. These gatherings are pivotal for professionals eager to delve into the latest industry trends and opportunities, fostering a culture of collaboration and knowledge exchange. Through the summary of the interview and the mention of key networking opportunities, the dynamic nature of the fintech industry was captured, showcasing the efforts to drive forward innovation, inclusivity, and growth within this rapidly evolving field.
In episode number 2 of the Fintech OG series, we talk with Max Levchin, Co-Founder and CEO of PayPal, Affirm, and a number of other companies (Yelp, for instance) and Jackie Reses, best known for her time at Square helping Jack Dorsey's payments company get a banking license. Currently, she's the CEO of Lead Bank and sits on a number of company boards, including NuBank.
These two dove into how they got into fintech, their personal ups and downs (find out what sent Max to the floor in the early days of Affirm), and what they expect the biggest innovations to be over the next decade.
Also, huge thanks to our sponsors at FS Vector and Empire Startups! Go to fsvector.com/headmaster to learn more about their new compliance training platform, and if you still haven't bought your ticket to the Empire Startup Conference in NYC during New York Fintech week, go to empirestartups.com and use code "FintechOG" for a special discount!
In this week's episode of our fintech news briefing, hosted by Helen Femi Williams, we delve into the latest and most impactful developments across the fintech landscape in a concise 10-minute format. We kick off with a roundup of notable product launches, highlighting Visa's significant enhancement of its B2B digital wallet capabilities and an array of innovative fintech offerings, including a dating app for those with good to excellent credit scores, a new savings account by Wealthify, and Revolut's expansion into travel eSIM phone plans in the UK. Our coverage extends to pivotal news stories, such as SEC's increased oversight for hedge funds and high-speed traders, and Standard Chartered's contemplation of splitting its corporate investment bank, showcasing the dynamic shifts within the financial sector.
The episode also features our unique "Fintechionary" segment, where we explore the term "E-Wallet," explaining its role in fintech and its significant impact on the industry, supported by real-life examples like AUB's HelloMoney launch in South Korea, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, and India's central bank's actions on Paytm. We further spotlight upcoming fintech events, including the TWIF Nairobi Fintech Happy Hour and the Vegas Happy Hour with Gainbridge, inviting listeners to network and engage with the fintech community. Rounding off the episode, we share a snippet from our subscriber-only long-form content "Signals," focusing on the article "The lost art of ‘F*ck around and find out’" by Jake Gibson, which delves into the bootstrap journey of NerdWallet and the crucial lessons for today's entrepreneurs. This episode, hosted by Helen Femi Williams, offers a comprehensive and insightful overview of the fintech world, making it a must-listen for anyone keen to stay informed about the industry's latest trends and developments.
The Fintech OG series is finally here! In our first episode, we sit down with Matt Harris of Bain Capital Ventures and Steve McLaughlin of FT Partners. Having worked in fintech since the 90s, Matt and Steve offer valuable insights on where the space has created the most value, where there's room to grow, and if fintech is still a good place to build.
Also, huge thanks to our sponsors at FS Vector and Empire Startups! Go to fsvector.com/headmaster to learn more about their new compliance training platform, and if you still haven't bought your ticket to the Empire Startup Conference in NYC during New York Fintech week, go to empirestartups.com and use code "FintechOG" for a special discount!
In this week’s 10 min briefing, we dive deep into the dynamic world of fintech, bringing you a curated mix of the latest news, insightful events, and groundbreaking developments. From the forefront of innovation, we explore significant product launches by giants like Banorte and Citi, and delve into Mastercard's AI-driven approach to fraud detection. The competitive landscape is further animated by HSBC's Zing app, challenging existing FX fintechs and Wise, alongside their strategic installation of cash pods in bankless towns. In the realm of regulatory actions and market shifts, we examine the implications of a hefty fine on City National Bank and the workforce adjustments by TSB and Société Generale, reflecting the industry's constant evolution.
Our exploration doesn't stop at news. We highlight an exceptional opportunity in our 'Job of the Week' segment, focusing on a role at Outgo that promises to make a tangible difference in the financial management for truckers. In our Fintechionary feature, 'DeFi' or Decentralised Finance takes center stage, unpacking its potential to revolutionize personal finance management. Moreover, we provide a snapshot of vibrant fintech events from NYC to Nairobi, illustrating the global community's zeal for innovation and collaboration. This episode is designed not just to inform but to engage and inspire, offering a comprehensive view into the challenges, triumphs, and transformative potential of fintech. Whether you're an industry veteran or new to the scene, join us for a journey through the intersections of finance and technology, where every story is part of the larger narrative shaping the future of finance.
In this week's captivating episode by Helen Femi Williams, we dove deep into the intricacies of the fintech world, with a thought-provoking discussion on the phenomenon of idea recycling within the fintech industry, highlighted by insights from Nik Milanović's latest piece. We followed up with our educational "Fintechionary" segment, demystifying 'C' for Cryptocurrency and connecting its concepts to recent news, including India's tax stance and Visa's expansion in crypto services. The episode also spotlighted an exciting job opportunity at Coast, a startup revolutionizing the U.S. B2B card payments infrastructure, seeking early sales hires to drive their mission forward. Rounding off with our "Events Segment," we highlighted upcoming fintech gatherings globally, from mixers in Mexico City to networking coffee mornings in NYC and happy hours in San Francisco and Nairobi, offering listeners a gateway to connect with the fintech community. This episode not only informed but also inspired, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the current trends, challenges, and opportunities within the fintech landscape.
In this episode, Julie interviews Daniel Yubi, a fintech entrepreneur from Cancun, Mexico and the founder & CEO of Payable. He started his career as a practicing lawyer, but eventually pivoted to follow his passion in product management. Since then he has spent over a decade developing fintech products in the US and UK, most recently leading product at checkout.com. He was building platform payments for the best known fintech brands (Klarna, Revolut, Mollie) in Europe when he noticed the operational challenges finance teams were facing and saw an opportunity to start Payable. Listed as one of the startups that are disrupting the CFO tech stack, Payable is helping finance teams automate their financial operations at scale.
2:00 Moving to the UK and staying up to speed on payments
6:30 Where Payable fits into the payments space
12:45 Taking the leap and becoming a founder
19:00 High points and low points of his career
28:30 Quick fire questions
In this week's episode of the Weekly Briefing, we delve into the latest developments in the fintech world, highlighting key product launches and partnerships that are shaping the industry. We explore significant news such as JP Morgan's record-breaking profitability, the speculation around an ETH ETF, and the innovative strides companies are making in areas like wealth management for couples, tax preparation services, and B2B financing solutions. The podcast also covers the critical role of luck and serendipity in career paths, as exemplified in our feature interview with Emily Luk, CEO & Co-Founder of Plenty. Join us as we navigate the exciting and ever-evolving landscape of financial technology in 2024.
Welcome to our 10-minute Fintech News Briefing, where we delve into the latest happenings in the fintech world. This week, we explore key events shaping the industry, keeping you informed and ahead of the curve. Dive into the 'Hottest Fintech Jobs' segment for insights into career opportunities that are making waves. Our 'Signals' feature examines the trends of 2024 – what's hot and what's not in fintech. Plus, don't miss our 'Fintechionary' section, where we focus on AI and its transformative impact on fintech. Stay updated, stay ahead – your essential fintech update starts here.
In this episode, Jillian is joined by the co-founders of Cognito, an ID verification and KYC provider to the fintech world, which was acquired by Plaid in 2021.
- Alain Meier, Co-Founder and CEO of Cognito (acquired by Plaid)
- John Backus, Co-Founder and CTO of Cognito (acquired by Plaid)
Building The Best dives deep into the fundamentals of creating and scaling transformative products through interviews with the best founders in fintech.
-
FinTech news, scams, and fraud with a special guest. 0:00
- Helen discusses changes to Hey Fintech Friends podcast now the TWIF podcast,
News, and fintechtionary: with a focus on the difference between scams and fraud. * Fraud prevention and scams in the digital age. 4:47
- Sardine prevents fraud and identity theft by detecting and preventing unauthorized transactions.
- Sardine's API helps financial institutions detect fraud and scams, with a focus on young adults who are frequent online users.
-
Fraud and scams in payments. 8:03
-
Soups clarifies fraud and scam differences: fraud is unauthorized use, scam is authorized but misleading.
- Helen was scammed out of money by someone claiming to be a landlord in Lisbon, who requested additional payment after she had already sent a deposit.
- Helen felt embarrassed and ashamed about being scammed, and struggled to come forward due to the emotional impact.
- Soups explains that the core problem with faster payment methods is that there is no built-in dispute mechanism, making it difficult to determine if the payment instrument matches the identity of the individual on the other side.
- Sardine's long-term vision is to create a database of trustworthy parties for faster payments, allowing for more secure transactions and reducing the risk of fraud.
-
Banking and payment scams, solutions to prevent fraud. 14:14
-
Soups highlights the rapid growth of scams and fraud, particularly in the UK and US, where faster payment systems have led to increased losses due to authorized push payment scams.
- Soups predicts that regulators will soon take a closer look at this issue, potentially leading to changes in how victims of scams are treated.
- Soups explains the core problem of sender verification in online transactions, which is the lack of built-in sender verification in internet protocols like DNS, email, and voice over IP.
- Sardine's solution is to build in signals to detect if someone is being scammed in real time, using tools like screen sharing and remote session detection.
-
Regrets and lessons learned as a founder. 19:50
-
Soups reflects on their experience with Sardine, a startup they co-founded, and shares two key insights: prioritizing health and not hiring a salesperson too early.
- Soups advises other entrepreneurs to prioritize their health and wait until they reach $1 million in ARR before hiring a salesperson.
-
FinTech, fraud detection, and compliance. 23:18
-
Helen and Soups discuss the importance of authenticity and building relationships in sales, with Soups sharing their experience of learning through rejections and following up quickly.
- Soups predicts that in the next 12-24 months, we will see a FinTech story that has not yet been seen, possibly related to the impact of the pandemic on time and its effects on the industry.
- Soups predicts increasing interconnection of faster payment methods worldwide, leading to competition for Visa and Mastercard.
- Soups company aims to provide fraud and compliance solutions for fintechs and banks building new products on faster payment methods.
- Quick Fire, Signals and Events. 29:35
We're excited to kick off a new series for The TWIF Podcast, Building the Best, hosted by the fantastic Jillian Williams of Cowboy Ventures. In this series, we'll dive deep into the fundamentals of building transformative products, by interviewing the best founders in fintech.
Dive into the thrilling world of FinTech with the latest episode of "This Week in FinTech," a must-listen for anyone keen on the intersection of finance and technology. Discover inspiring stories of innovation and partnerships, like Paymentology's collaboration with Visa, and explore the transformative impact of financial inclusion, particularly through prepaid card solutions for underbanked communities. The episode also delves into the challenges and opportunities of creating equitable digital payment platforms, making it an essential listen for those fascinated by the ethical and practical dimensions of FinTech. Packed with insights and expert perspectives, this podcast episode is your gateway to understanding and appreciating the dynamic world of financial technology.
In a riveting dialogue that takes you on a journey through technology, personal evolution, and societal shifts, Simon and Helen delve deep into the transformative power of gamification. From its impact on modern-day dating apps to finance and healthcare, they unpack the pros and cons of this motivational tool. Simon opens up about his personal tribulations, shedding light on how hardships can shape one's outlook and build resilience. But the debate doesn't end there; they also ponder whether adversity is the only path to developing empathy and resilience, or if self-mastery can be achieved through alternative avenues.
Throughout their conversation, expect a cerebral tennis match filled with insightful analyses and thought-provoking debates that promise to challenge your viewpoints on multiple fronts. Don't miss this intellectual feast that leaves you questioning, pondering, and above all, eager for more.
- Intro to the podcast. 0:00
- What is Minerva AI and how does it work? 5:19
- The future of anti-money laundering compliance. 10:18
- Regulation and regulation of crypto. 15:33
- Why do we do what we do? 21:16
- Bringing the human side of compliance to the forefront. 27:28
- Quick Fire? 33:31
-
Intro to the show. 0:00
- Welcome to one of the best news and fintech podcasts out there.
Fintechionary: mpesa, a mobile banking service that allows users to store and transfer money through their mobile phones. + News * Benjamin's background. 5:05
- Benjamin Fernandez, founder and CEO of Nala, and how he got involved in the payments industry in the first place.
- Why Africa is the most expensive region to transact in the world.
- Building African payment routes.
-
The challenges of payments across the continent. 8:11
-
Going to Gambia
- Payments across Africa are going to be built over the next five to 10 years, and there is massive opportunity and challenges.
- The future of the African tech space over the next five to 10 years, and what the future of African tech will look like in the region.
- How African countries will be able to trade with each other more often and more frequently and also make sure the cost of these trades is low.
-
Responsibility of the diaspora to help the continent. 13:23
-
The big question that everyone has been trying to ask themselves since independence is the question of what responsibility the diaspora has to Africa.
- The burden of financial support for African families in the U.K. is a lot of weight, and the burden falls on fellow African citizens.
- The two most popular reasons for sending money home are the health industry and the education industry.
-
How does the diaspora see the country? 18:48
-
The african cross-border trade volume has doubled in the last two years, and there is no other region in the world where that has happened.
- There are many pull and push factors from this. For example, sometimes there was trade happening through cash on planes, and because of covid, a lot of those transactions have become digital.
- The market size is significantly massive. Most people don't realise how big it truly is.
-
How to build trust into a digital product? 23:19
-
One of the things that has worked really well for Nala is transparency. They tell their customers every single thing they're building. They also do customer meetups.
- Nine out of 10 customers after one year still use Nala because of the honesty they are honest.
-
Welcome to this week’s episode. 0:00
- Welcome to the fintech podcast.
- Fintechionary
- News
-
Karta and their mission. 4:41
-
Introducing Karta and his mission.
- The pain point of gift cards.
-
- The need for gift cards in the UK.
- Bringing gift cards into the 21st century in a new way for younger people.
-
What does the big plan look like for Karta? 11:26
-
Partnering with retailers in Australia.
- Gift card sales.
-
Is the focus on brick-and-mortar stores still the best option for gift cards? 15:30
-
Gift cards, brick and mortar, and online.
- The culture of gift cards.
- The worst gift card experience.
- The two-fold effect of gift cards.
-
What’s one fintech story we haven’t seen yet that we’re excited about? 22:02
- Fintech hot takes today.
- Claire shares her regrets as a founder.
- The importance of survival and cash flow.
-
The difference between working for a big company vs a startup? 25:44
-
The oh-shit moment.
- Quick Fire, Signals and Events 30:34
0.55 - Fintechionary DAO
2.13 - News
6.00 Guest Interviews
41.10 - Signals
43.00 - Events
0.55: Fintechionary (Public Key)
1.55: News
5.07: Emily Man Interview
30.28: Emily Man quick-fire session
39.65: Signals 'Why fintech has failed Mexico’s unbanked'
42.05: Events
Timestamps
Intro
1.04: Fintechionary
1.33 News
5.30 Interview
52.39 Signals
55.31 Events
Intro
0:51 Fintechionary
01:49 News
05: 45 Interviews
32:55 Quick Fire
39:55 Signals
42:58 Events
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Fintech (1.20) * News (1.53) * Quick Fire Questions with Rodney and Travis (7.30) * Interview with Rodney and Travis (a deeper dive into SoLo Funds (12.32) * Signals: What Wise Platform tells us about fintech bundling (33.17)
Speakers:* Nicole Stiller, VP Head of Domestic Payments - North America at Visa * Gil Akos, Co-Founder, and CEO at Astra * Helen Femi Williams, Fintech Journalist and Host of Hey Fintech Friends
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Fintech (0.59) * News (2.00) * Interview with Gil Akos (Astra) and Nicole Stiller (Visa) about payments and their current work * Quick Fire Questions with Gil and Nicole (41.29) * Signals: The FTX scandal happened because of centralization, not crypto (49.40) * Upcoming Events (47.10)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Contagion (0.50) * News (1.47) * Interview with Dezzy about their experience and current work at Aku (5.75) * Quick Fire Questions with Dezzy (35.36) * Signals Fintech Founders: Vergo’s Rich Kane on fintech competition & entrepreneurship (38.08) * Upcoming Events (47.10)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: ETFs (1.14) * News (1.57) * Interview with Kiaan about their experience and current work at Stitch (4.25) * Quick Fire Questions with Kiaan (31.55) * Signals: When it rains in crypto (38.08) * Upcoming Events (40:35)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: API (0.52) * News (1.50) * Interview with Kurt about their experience and current work at Pinwheel (5.03) * Quick Fire Questions with Kurt (33.01) * Signals: Business financial management intensifies (41.20) * Upcoming Events (43:07)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Eth Merge(0.55) * News (2.05) * Interview with Kirill about their experience and current work at Conduit (5.41) * Quick Fire Questions with Kirill (31.00) * Signals Q3'22: A macroeconomic vibe check (41.22) * Upcoming Events (43:15)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Alternative Assets (1.00) * News (1.57) * Interview with Christina about their experience and current work at Bain Capital (4.18) * Quick Fire Questions with Christina (40.00) * Signals: Skip the Teller (45.01) * Upcoming Events (46:12)
Timestamps: Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Venture Capital (1.14) * News (1.56) * Interview with Sasha Pilch about their experience and current work at Fin Capital (4.30) * Quick Fire Questions with Sasha (31.28) * Signals: Who gets to regulate crypto? by Sophie Vo*(39.10) * Upcoming Events (40:52)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Point of Sale(1.11) * News (2.05) * Interview with Giorgio Giuliani about their experience and current work at Sum Up (4.47) * Quick Fire Questions with Giorgio Giuliani(32.20) * Signals: Rent is Rising – The Rent-A-Charter Model Just Got More Expensive (39.04)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Moblie Money Pay (1.31) * News (2.27) * Interview with Ray & Michael about their experience and current work at Opareta (5.01) * Ray & Michael Interview each other (26.34) * Quick Fire Questions with Ray & Michael (32.09) * Signals Fintech Founders: Qanlex’s Yago Zavalia on Building Fintech in Inefficient Markets (42.11)
Timestamps: Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Investment Platforms (1.25) * News (2.19) * Interview with Swati about her experience and current work at Propel(x) (5.47) * Quick Fire Questions with Swati and friendly questions(30.00) * Signals Q2’22: You mean a payment* crossed this border? (40.20)
Timestamps:* Intro * ‘Fin-techionary’ of the Week: Cross Border Payments (1:36) * News (2:31) * Interview with Wiza about his experience and current work at Chipper Cash(4:54) * Quick Fire Questions with Wiza and friendly questions (27:46) * Signals: ‘Decimal’s Matt Tait on Fundraising During a Downturn’(35:51)
Timestamps:
- Intro
- News (2:30)
- Interview with Pierre about his experience and current work at FS Vector (4:46)
- Quick Fire Questions with Pierre and friendly questions (37:00)
- Signals: The stock market's Secret Menu (47:30)
Timestamps:
- News (1:40)
- Interview with Rohit about Kanmon and his experience (2:46)
- Quick Fire Questions with Rohit and friendly questions (12:50)
- Signals: Give Alternative Assets to the people (22:07)