Fintech Business Podcast

In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Michael Nicklas, Managing Partner at Valor Capital Group, a Brazil-based cross-border venture fund. Valor’s fintech and crypto portfolio companies include cross-border payment and trade finance network Hamsa, crypto exchanges Bitso and Coinbase, and stablecoin infrastructure company Circle, among many others. Michael and I had the chance to talk about:

* Unique aspects of Latin American that shape the market for financial services

* The role the Brazilian central bank plays in fostering progress and innovation in financial services in the country (yes, that includes Pix)

* What Valor means when it describes its investing strategy as being “cross border”

* How Valor takes into account evolving geopolitical risks as it considers its investing approach

* And more!

In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Kelly A. Brown, Chairman and CEO at deposit management startup Ampersand. Previously, she spent 13 years at the American Deposit Management Company. Kelly and I had a chance to talk about:

* What inspired Kelly to get into banking

* The sudden attention paid to deposit insurance in the wake of SVB’s collapse

* How FBO and deposit insurance pass through models should be structured

* Consumers’ misapprehensions about what deposit insurance does and doesn’t cover

* And more!

Frank Rotman of QED, Jason Henrichs of Alloy Labs, and I discussed “Balancing Growth With Risk In The Post-ZIRP Era,” including touching on:

* How the extended low-interest rate environment impacted venture capital and fintech

* How the evolving regulatory climate is shaping fintechs’ and banks’ risk appetite and strategies

* What the next 12 months will look like

* And more!

Regular programming will resume next Sunday, August 4th.

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In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Wade Arnold, cofounder and CEO of Moov, a fintech infrastructure company that enables and simplifies push and pull card payments. Moov also puts on the Fintech Devcon conference, which is August 7th-9th in Austin — more info and tickets here. We had a chance to talk about:

* What to expect at (and what I should wear to) Fintech Devcon

* Payment and core banking infrastructure in the US

* Implications of and lessons from the Synapse bankruptcy

* Reasons to be optimistic about the future of fintech

* and more!

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In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Rhett Roberts, cofounder and CEO of API-first lending and credit platform LoanPro. Rhett and I had the chance to talk about:

* LoanPro’s recent announcement of integrating with Visa DPS (and some background for folks who might not know why that’s important!)

* LoanPro’s journey from homegrown software to powering some of the biggest lenders in fintech

* How LoanPro helps its customers stay ahead of evolving legal and regulatory issues

* How LoanPro structures its organization to ship code quickly

* and more!

In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Stuart Sopp, CEO and cofounder of Current. Stuart and I had the chance to talk about:

* What’s change in fintech and banking since the last time we talked in 2023 (hint: a lot)

* Current’s new products and features, including its credit builder card and an EWA-style offering

* The challenges of state-by-state licensing and importance of compliance

* Balancing the need for growth with profitable unit economics

* What’s on the road map for Current

* and more!

In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Nicolas Benady, the CEO of French embedded finance platform Swan, live at Money2020 Europe earlier this month. Nicolas and I had the chance to talk about:

* embedded finance and banking-as-a-service in Europe vs. the US

* what being licensed as an emoney institution enables Swan to do and how it’s different than being or partnering with a bank

* why Swan is confident in its ability to effectively oversee its third-party partners

* how Swan’s clients leverage its capabilities

* and more!

Special thanks to the entire Money2020 crew for hosting us in the MoneyPot podcast booth and putting on another great event!

In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with John Stuart, the general manager of fintech and international at Apex Fintech Solutions, an investing and wealth management infrastructure platform. John and I had the chance to talk about:

* What the capabilities Apex provides, including custody, clearing, and execution, enable its customers to build

* How Apex scaled its platform across 150 countries

* What Apex has learned and how its refined its offering over 10+ years in market

* Some novel use cases for the infrastructure Apex has built

* And more

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 month we had the chance to talk about:

* Latest on Synapse bankruptcy and what it may mean for banking-as-a-service & fintech (this episode was recorded May 29th)

* Visa’s new “crebit” credential

* The CFPB’s interpretative guidance on buy now, pay later

* And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of

If you enjoy listening to this podcast and find value in it, please consider supporting me (and finhealth non-profits!) by signing up for a paid subscription. It wouldn’t be possible to do what I do without the support of listeners like you!

In this episode, I had the chance to sit down with Neepa Patel, cofounder and CEO of Themis, a compliance collaboration tool for banks and fintechs, on stage at last month’s Empire Fintech Conference in New York. Neepa and I had the chance to talk about:

* What “fintech people” misunderstand about regulators

* What fintechs should think about when selecting a bank partner

* Whether or not tech is (and should be) a competitive differentiator in banking-as-a-service platforms

“Many banks are still utilizing manual controls, processes and even spreadsheets to manage compliance and governance. We've been impressed with Themis’ collaborative and centralized modules to increase efficiency, and reduce complexities and internal costs while helping to streamline compliance controls.”

— Candice Antinori, VP Compliance Management & CRA Officer at FinWise Bank

Themis is a user friendly, collaborative compliance platform to help financial institutions manage complex relationships across internal control groups and to help fintechs’ level up their own governance, risk, and compliance cultures.

The platform provides a centralized compliance collaboration suite of purpose-built workflows and tools that seamlessly integrate risk, communications, documents and so much for internal teams and external partnerships between banks and fintechs. 

With Synapse entering into bankruptcy proceedings in the last few weeks, with knock-on impacts to Evolve Bank and Trust, Lineage, and multiple fintech programs, one could easily be forgiven for thinking fintech categorically is facing a regulatory reckoning. But, current turmoil notwithstanding, the bank-fintech partnership model will endure, with the players that prioritize compliance best suited to navigate the fallout.

Learn more about how Themis banks are Elevating Governance, Risk and Compliance Cultures here.

If you enjoy listening to this podcast and find value in it, please consider supporting me (and finhealth non-profits!) by signing up for a paid subscription. It wouldn’t be possible to do what I do without the support of listeners like you!