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.

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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!

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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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

In this episode, I had the chance to talk with Matthew Goldman, a true expert in the card space. Matthew has done stints at Green Dot, AT&T, Bankrate, and Apto Payments, as well as starting multiple of his own ventures. Matthew currently published the CardsFTW newsletter and is the founder and managing member of boutique fintech consultancy Totavi.

We had a chance to discuss:

* Matthew’s thoughts on where fintech debit & credit card businesses stand in 2025, including if interchange alone is a sustainability business model (hint: it’s not)

* Whether or not there’s room for another big consumer fintech out there

* The changing infrastructure space, including the difference between issuer processors and program managers

* Crypto & stablecoins

* and more!

In this episode, I had the chance to speak with ledgering, reconciliation, and compliance startup NAYA’s CEO Sherif Kozman. We had a chance to discuss:

* Why ledgering and reconciliation, especially in fintech-bank partnerships, is so dang difficult (hint: legacy cores, batch payment files & more)

* The consequences of poor ledgering and reconciliation

* Advice for banks and fintechs struggling to manage manual processes

* And more

In this episode, I had the chance to speak Current’s cofounder and CTO, Trevor Marshall, and Cross River Bank’s Head of Strategy and Development, Hillel Olivestone. We had the chance to talk about:

* Why Current decided to build its own tech stack & what it’s enabled the company to do

* How Current and Cross River think about the “buy vs. build” debate

* The “jobs to be done” addressed by Current’s Build Card

* Current’s latest Datos Insight case study

* The beauty and resiliency of ACH flat files (yes, really)

* And more!