Breaking Banks

JP Nicols and Amber Buker continue reporting on the latest from Money 20/20 in Las Vegas. Stuart Cook talks about Valley Bank's bold move into providing services cannabis dispensaries and related businesses and why they see that sector as a growth opportunity (pun partially intended). Then Cindy O'Neill talks about BillGO's launch of BillGo Exchange to simplify and speed up the payments process for billers.

https://youtu.be/ymV4FN_6JS4

In this week’s show we look at emerging ecosystems and marketplaces supporting real-time, embedded finance for small businesses. Joining us are Matt Collicoat and Taira Hall from FIS, Derek Sutton from Autobooks and Chris Tremont from Grasshopper Bank, a neo-bank targeting SMEs. Imagine a near future world where your accounting, payroll, predictive credit and banking access are all woven into one. Then JP Nicols starts our coverage of Money 20/20 from Las Vegas with Cody Barbo, founder of Trust & Will, which is seeking to disrupt the very antiquated processes in estate planning and settlement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5CyHcrGXE

It’s October and just about time for Money 2020 in Las Vegas. We’ll be there next week interviewing some of the speakers and newsmakers, along with some of the attendees to give you a feel for what’s happening in what’s always a whirlwind 4 days. Today Sanjib Kalita, Editor in Chief for Money 20/20 joins us on this special preview episode to give you a sneak peek of what to expect and some perspective on where he thinks we are in the evolution of the fintech ecosystem over the past decade.

Exciting day on Breaking Banks - we have a new regular host - Amber Buker. Now if that name sounds familiar its because she works with JP and I at Alloy Labs as head of insights. Her work is phenomenal and we asked ourselves why we weren't sharing her with the world. Well now we are... in the second half of the show you'll get to hear her first episode. In the first half I talk to Joe Welu, Founder & CEO of Total Expert talk about how picking the right partner is your key to success. Actually, Joe points out that is a myth. Understanding the problems you are trying to solve and investing the energy to evolve what you offer post implementation is what differentiates a partner from a vendor.John Maxfield is a Senior Banking Specialist at The Motley Fool and Executive Director of the Wilmers Integrity Prize. In the second segment, we interviewed John about what he’s termed the fourth era of American banking, what the personal lives of the best leaders have to teach us, and what the analysts get wrong about assessing bank performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUdQZLbzdZs

In this week’s show we talk to head of strategy at Paxos (Walter Hessert) about their newly announced collaboration with Mastercard. Mastercard is currency agnostic, but their new crypto partnership with Paxos brings crypto custody to their global platform. Raj Dhamodharan, EVP, Digital Asset/Blockchain Products & Partnerships, at Mastercard talks about their future plans for Crypto and where stablecoins and CBDCs might fit. When Mastercard joins the fray crypto is definitely going mainstream.

https://youtu.be/NAUCe79cEoo

I'm fortunate to travel the world talking about fintech, banking, regulation and innovation. MX is one of my favorite groups to speak for and not because it usually means a trip to a Utah ski resort, but because of the energy they put into creating an agenda and curating a set of speakers that goes well beyond a trade show or user group. This year's Money Experience was no different. The theme: experiences that power how the world connects, moves, and interacts with money.I did my part to mix things up. Rather than moderating the Great Debate between Ron Shevlin and Jim Marous, the gloves came off and I get to officiate the first ever Fintech Fight Club! After this message, listen to Ron and Jim duke it out. This is just the beginning. Tweet us who you would like to see enter the ring.For more thought provoking content, stay on post-fight club for an engaging interview with Paul Taylor, Thought Machine, about latest news and core replacements here and abroad.

https://youtu.be/Z2UPpdkHTPA

In this week's Breaking Banks we talk to Colin Walsh, Founder and CEO of Varo on their record breaking raise of over half a billion dollars. We also talk to Steven Walcheck, Chief Innovation Officer of FIS and the EVP behind Impact Labs about their successful incubator born during covid, along with the founder of GoCart, Ashleigh DePopas, their latest project.

https://youtu.be/5UawHObcFAo

In this week's Breaking Banks we see Silicon Valley Bank and our old friends Plaid teaming up to try to remove some of the friction of the US ACH bank-to-bank payment rails. Joining us from Plaid are Ian Macallister, and Raja Chakravorti, and SVB's Head of Digital, Shaleen Prakash. We debate how much longer the ACH system will survive and what the smart rails of the 21st century might look like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQN2EtJ1jtU

What is small and what is big? Why do we draw lines and silos in the banking world around small businesses. Small businesses generate 44% of US economic activity, yet are often misunderstood and ping ponged between the consumer and commercial parts of the bank. This week Derik Sutton Vice President of Product and Experience at Autobooks, Allison Netzer, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Nymbus and I talk about the SMB ping pong challenge. In the second half the hosts of BB get together to reflect on the changes in banking as a result of 9/11 and how CoVID might likewise change financial services regulation moving forward.

https://youtu.be/BQC7NWWrJz8

Today Brett and I talk to Nick Elders, fintech provocateur, president and co-founder of SPARK from Ignify Technologie. SPARK is a social mission-driven company whose cloud-based loan origination platform helped them originate $9 billion in aggregate loan activity through over 50,000 loans in the first 2.5 months of PPP. This is not another story of a small business lending platform, however. It is about the power of purpose and the need for intentionality. Networks become powerful amplifiers - of either good or propagating old stereotypes and systemic bias.