Fintech Business Weekly

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto. This episode is brought to you by Cross River Bank, the bank behind the bold. In this abbreviated episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss: * The 14,000 or so comments on the CFPB’s open banking do over * Erebor’s conditional charter approval * And, as always, what we just can’t let go of Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify Hey all, Jason here. In this episode recorded live in Las Vegas this Tuesday during Money20/20, I had the chance to talk with Oscilar cofounder and CEO Neha Narkhede. We had the chance to discuss: * Neha’s background as co-creator of Apache Kafka and cofounder of Confluent, which eventually scaled to a $10 billion IPO * How Oscilar is helping both fintechs and banks — including household names like Sofi — to power real-time risk stacks * Thinking about risk as a data and AI problem * Why organizations need to move beyond point solutions and data silos to manage risk effectively * The importance of real-time decisioning across the customer lifecycle, from onboarding/KYC to fraud, credit risk, and transaction monitoring * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Hey all, Jason here. In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Brian Reshefsky, founder and CEO of cashflow analytics platform EDGE, Timothy Li, cofounder and CEO of orchestration platform LendAPI, and Vincent Zhang, chief growth and strategy officer at Braviant Holdings. We had the chance to discuss: * How different stakeholders across the lending value chain are driving change * What goes into transforming raw transaction data into something that is usable in the underwriting process * How cashflow data can be used to help underwrite borrowers across the credit spectrum * How leveraging cashflow data can improve lenders’ bottom line * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Unit21’s head of product Kunal Datta. Kunal and I had the chance to discuss: -The recent guest post Kunal published in Fintech Business Weekly -The new fintech playbook: eliminating work instead of just streamlining it. -How fintechs use AI to differentiate by solving for frequency instead of friction. -How fintechs, banks, and credit unions are using AI to automate financial crime operations. -How to think about AI automating manual work in financial services. -And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I was joined by Charles Calomiris, Henry Kaufman Professor Emeritus of Financial Institutions in the Faculty of Business and Professor Emeritus of International and Public Affairs at Columbia Business School, Stephen Haber, A.A. and Jeanne Welch Milligan Professor, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Professor of History and, by courtesy, of Economics at Stanford University, and Kiah Haslett, bank reporting veteran and creator of the Fintech Takes Banking newsletter. Charles and Stephen are the authors of 2014’s excellent comparative analysis of banking and political systems, Fragile by Design, which informed our discussion and I highly recommend anyone involved in financial services read if they haven’t already. Charles, Stephen, Kiah, and I had the chance to discuss: * The nature of the “Game of Bank Bargains” * Why Canadians love their banks * Some of the underlying reasons behind the growth of the shadow banking system in the US * Charles’ argument that Biden-era regulators were staunchly opposed to innovation in the banking system and why he thinks that former acting Comptroller Michael Hsu was “a complete hack” * Why young people should pay more attention to the fiscal decisions coming out of Washington * The risks of “progressive ideology” and why more government may not be the answer * And much, much more You can find more of Charles’ work here and and Stephens’ here. More information on the Hoover Institution, including the ability to sign up for its newsletter, here. Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

This episode was recorded live during last week’s MX Money Experience Summit in Park City, Utah. During the event, I had the chance to sit down with Brian Reshefsky, founder and CEO of cashflow analytics platform EDGE, and Matt West, chief revenue officer of open banking infrastructure company MX. We had the chance to discuss: * What makes EDGE unique among cashflow analytics platforms, including its ability to help lenders make better use of their first-party data * How EDGE works with open banking data companies like MX to power a variety of use cases across the borrower lifecycle, from customer marketing to underwriting and servicing * How cashflow data helps lenders better understand risk across the credit spectrum * Why EDGE decided to structure itself as a credit reporting agency and what that means for lenders using its data * and more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify Hey all, Jason here. Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto. This episode is brought to you by Fintech NerdCon, the fintech event by operators, for operators. Use promo code FBW20 to save 20% on your ticket! In this episode, Alex and I discussed: * If open banking is prisoners’ dilemma, Plaid defected to JPMorgan Chase. What it means and what comes next. * The FBI is continuing to investigate embattled Evolve Bank & Trust and its bankrupt middleware partner Synapse over as much as $95 million in missing depositor funds. * FICO is an AI company now, I guess. * And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of. Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Hummingbird cofounder and CEO Joe Robinson about the AI-powered compliance platform’s latest product news. Joe and I had the chance to discuss: * The launch of Hummingbird’s new customer screening and transaction monitoring capabilities * How financial institutions can move beyond disparate platforms and siloed data to more effectively mitigate financial crime risk * The explosion of “AI” everything, how Hummingbird actually uses artificial intelligence, and what Hummingbird’s AI-powered capabilities empower its customers to do * The importance of being able to adapt quickly in today’s ever-changing regulatory and threat environment * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Alex and I discussed: * Open banking’s do over: parsing the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking * Rescue ships head for BaaS Island, but what precedent does the first-ever fintech bail out set? * The GENIUS Act, legislation to regulate and license permitted payment stablecoin issuers, is already the law of the land. Why are bank trade groups pushing back now? * And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of. Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Alex Johnson and I discussed: * The revelation that JPMorgan Chase intends to begin charging third-parties, including aggregators like Plaid and MX, to access consumers’ data rocked the U.S. fintech landscape last week. Alex and I unpacked what it could mean. * Since we recorded this last week, a group trade associations, including the Financial Technology Association and the American Fintech Council, sent a letter to President Trump, essentially asking him to reconsider the CFPB’s position to abandon defense of the rule (I covered this on Sunday here.) * In a surprising turn of events, the CFPB filed a motion in the challenge brought against the rule by a small Kentucky bank, the Kentucky Bankers Association, and the Bank Policy Institute, asking the court to pause the proceedings. * The CFPB said it will undertake a new open banking rulemaking and expects to release an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking within the next three weeks, kicking off an “accelerated” rulemaking process. Stay tuned for Sunday, where I’ll unpack the latest developments and what they mean for open banking. * GENIUS is law: what’s next for stablecoin issuers, banks, custodians, and consumers? * And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of. Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Alex Johnson of Fintech Takes and I discuss: * FICO launches new scores that incorporate pay-in-four buy now, pay later data. But will it make a difference? * The CFPB files a statement of interest in the Synapse bankruptcy, potentially setting up a backdoor bailout to make out-of-pocket depositors whole. Does it set a bad precedent? * A brief word on crypto mortgages. * And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of. Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Podcasts Hey all, Jason here. In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Executive Vice President and General Manager of Payments and Financial Services at BILL’s Mary Kay Bowman. Mary Kay’s career has spanned roles at Amazon, Square, Visa, and now financial operations platform BILL. We had a chance to discuss: * BILL’s evolution from accounts payable and receivable tools, to cashflow insights and forecasting, to the wide breadth of capabilities it offers today * Why so many businesses still use checks (really) * Balancing the needs and preferences of payor and payee * The persist challenges of fraud in the payments space * The opportunities presented by AI and “agentic” payments * And more! Enjoying this podcast? Follow, rate it, and leave a review on your favorite podcast app — it really helps others find the show. 💰 Help Keep Fintech Business Weekly accessible to all: in an era where it feels more difficult than ever to parse hype from reality, I've made a conscious decision not to paywall Fintech Business Weekly. But doing the research and analysis to bring you well-informed, deeply-reported stories takes time -- and money (really, you don't want to see my PACER bill, let alone my lawyer's.) Looking to get in front of Fintech Business Weekly's 85,000+ readers and listeners? Get in touch about sponsorship options: jason@fintechbusinessweekly.com To help keep Fintech Business weekly accessible to all, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription if you haven't already! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Luke Voiles, CEO of embedded financing platform Pipe. Luke and I had the chance to discuss: * How Pipe has evolved over time * The kinds of platforms Pipe partners with * Pipe’s embedded card capabilities * Pipe’s relationship with its bank partner * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Trent Sorbe, Chief Payments Officer at First International Bank & Trust. Trent and I had the chance to discuss: * The different waves of bank-fintech partnerships and the popping of the BaaS bubble * What some investors and bankers got wrong about the first wave of BaaS * What’s different about First International Bank & Trust’s payments platform, Kotapay, and banking-as-a-service platform, Kavinu * Kavinu’s first customer: online savings marketplace Raisin * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Alex and I discussed: * Unpacking Chime’s IPO plans * What the hell is going with 1033? * The GENIUS bill advances in the Senate * And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Arad Levertov, cofounder and CEO of buy now, pay later lender Sunbit. Arad started Sunbit 10 years ago — long before BNPL as we know it today exploded in popularity during the early days of the COVID pandemic. Arad and I had a chance to discuss: * What differentiates Sunbit from other BNPL providers in a crowded market * Why distribution is key in lending, particularly in BNPL * Sunbit’s unique approach to underwriting borrowers that allows it to approve 9 out of 10 applicants * How Sunbit stays ahead of emerging macroeconomic shifts * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode Alex Johnson, of Fintech Takes, and Jesse Silverman, of Troutman Pepper, joined me to talk about: * Recent developments in the bankruptcy case (spoiler: Jesse isn’t a bankruptcy lawyer!) * Who’s to blame for the Synapse disaster * Reflections on some of the regulatory response, including former FDIC Chair Gruenberg’s effort to roll back the 2020 brokered deposit rule and the “Synapse” ledgering and reconciliation rule * What lessons stakeholders — banks, fintechs, regulators, VCs — can and should take from this situation * And more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Alex and I discussed: * Alex’s trip to BaaS Island: the founder/CEO of Increase seeking approval to acquire a controlling stake in a bank & the Hatch Bank’s consent order with the California DFPI * Ryan Breslow’s return to one-click checkout / “super app” Bolt * Crypto firms seeking bank charters * And, as always, what Alex and Jason just can’t let go of Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Michele Alt, cofounder and managing director of Klaros Group and a 22-year veteran of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Michele and I had the chance to discuss: * What the opening of the “charter window” means and how fintechs should think about the opportunity * The de novo process vs. acquiring an existing bank * Michele and Klaro’s recent work on SmartBiz’s acquisition of United Community Bancshares and its subsidiary, Centrust Bank * Thinking through when becoming or buying a bank makes sense vs. when it might not * The open letter Michele coauthored alongside many other industry experts advocating for changes the federal bank regulators can make to streamline de novo bank formation * What Michele is keeping her eye on in DC at the moment * And much more! Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, we discussed: * Alex and I recorded this before “Liberation Day” and thus before Klarna chose to delay its IPO; that said, our analysis of Klarna’s F-1 registration statement stands! * A return to BaaS Island: a first-hand account of Mercury and Evolve’s abrupt public parting of ways; what other banks, fintechs, and regulators can learn from the chaotic split. * It’s charter time: a brief discussion of SmartBiz, OakNorth, and OneMain’s progress on charters; prescient, given the news this week that Stripe has applied for Georgia’s merchant acquirer limit purpose bank (MALPB) charter (more on Stripe’s news from me here, including a copy of the public portion of its application.) * And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of. Get full access to Fintech Business Weekly at fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/subscribe