What if you could settle card transactions on weekends and holidays, reduce working capital requirements by orders of magnitude, and give fintechs global reach without the traditional banking infrastructure headaches? In this episode, I sit down with Farooq Malik, CEO and co-founder of Rain, a company that's quietly rewriting the rules of payment infrastructure by bridging traditional fintech and stablecoin technology.

Farooq isn't a crypto evangelist, he comes from traditional banking and international development, but when he saw his first stablecoin transaction settle instantaneously, he had an "aha moment" about the future of money movement. Now Rain is a Visa Principal Member (a status typically reserved for banks), enabling companies to sponsor card programs directly, settle 24/7 using stablecoins, and serve customers across multiple continents from a single API. We dive deep into how this actually works, why traditional fintechs are ditching their BaaS partners for Rain's infrastructure, and why this isn't about crypto replacing fintech, it's about the next evolution of financial infrastructure that solves real operational problems.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How Farooq first got interested in stablecoins.
• How he describes Rain to a fintech audience.
• Why they chose to start with stablecoins for card transactions.
• How they were able to become a Visa Principal Member.
• Where they can issue cards globally.
• How they can help their clients launch internationally.
• Why most new customers they are signing up are tradfi programs.
• Why a company like Rain is a good alternative to BaaS banks.
• How the flow of funds work for a Rain-powered card transaction.
• How Rain is able to work with capital providers directly on the blockchain.
• What is involved in getting a new program up and running with Rain.
• Why Rain is agnostic to the number of new stablecoin issuers.
• How they work with banks looking to offer tokenized deposits.
• The biggest opportunity in the future of financial infrastructure.

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