Fintech Business Podcast

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with merchant connectivity platform Knot’s cofounder and CEO Rory O’Reilly. Rory and I had the chance to discuss:

* Rory dropping out of Harvard to start his first company

* How Knot became the industry’s go-to solution for card switching

* Expanding from its initial card switching product to building the merchant connnectivity layer, and how Knot complements other core fintech infrastructure

* Hitting a 100 million API call per month milestone

* Knot’s international expansion to Canada and Latin America

* And much more!

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* If there’s one idea fintech founders can’t quit, it’s solving personal financial management. There’s a new wave of AI-powered tools. But can they solve some of the fundamental challenges that have prevented a breakout company from emerging in the category?

* Bolt, the one-click checkout turned financial “super app,” is in headlines, again, with further layoffs and as it struggles to pay its vendors. Why Americans don’t really want a “super app.”

* Congress actually tries to legislate: the bipartisan PACE Act could offer a pathway for non-banks to have direct access to payment rails. But, even if it were to become law (a big if), as a layer on top of existing requirements and at a time when getting a bank charter seems easier than ever, is the PACE Act fit for purpose?

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* Rent rewards and neighborhood loyalty startup Bilt’s rocky transition from Wells Fargo to Column and Cardless

* The “graduation problem” in banking-as-a-service

* The New York legislature’s decision to

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

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with Tyler Allen, the chief operating offier at Unit21. We had the chance to discuss:

* How fintech, financial crimes compliance, and software engineering have evolved since Tyler joined Unit21 back in 2019

* The limitations of addressing compliance challenges by throwing bodies at them

* How regulators are thinking about agentic AI

* What an AI-first approach to compliance looks like

* And much more!

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with S.P. “Wije” Wijegoonaratna, the cofounder and CEO of Aliya Financial Technologies. We had the chance to discuss:

* The challenges different segments of consumer lenders are facing today

* How AI-powered infrastructure is fundamentally reshaping how financial institutions think about making decisions

* How Aliya is thinking about its go-to-market approach

* How Aliya can help banks improve their returns

* What folks who have never worked in lending through a true credit cycle/recession should know

* And much more!

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* Block’s plan to sell access to its proprietary Cash App credit score

* So-called “no KYC” crypto cards

* Stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge’s apparent derisking

* The brewing internecine fights over regulating prediction markets

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

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with Modern Treasury cofounder and CEO Matt Marcus, as well as the company’s recently joined lead counsel, Matt Janiga. We had the chance to discuss:

* Modern Treasury’s newly launched payment service provider offering

* What kinds of companies can benefit from payment orchestration

* Use cases driving the explosive growth of stablecoins

* How Modern Treasury thinks about building in the rapidly evolving stablecoin space

* And much more!

Those wanting to learn more about the payments orchestration space, including stablecoins, can find the Modern Treasury Journal, which Matt Janiga mentions in the episode, here.

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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.

In this episode, Alex and I had the chance to discuss:

* The HBO drama “Industry” tackles banking and fintech and it gets dark (SPOILER WARNING)

* Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong rug pulls crypto market structure legislation

* Are proposals for a 10% credit card cap and the re-emergence of the Credit Card Competition Act mere bargaining chips?

* Affirm applies for an ILC charter

* Capital One to acquire expense management and corp card startup Brex

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

In this episode, I had the chance to chat with Castellum.AI’s cofounder and CEO, Peter Piatetsky about what has undeniably been one of the hottest topics in fintech, banking and compliance: agentic AI. Peter and I had the chance to discuss:

* How compliance leaders should approach evaluating agent-based solutions.

* What regulators are signaling when it comes to adoption of AI agents and how to turn those signals into governance, documentation, and examiner-ready controls.

* How firms should think about model governance as it relates to agents.

* How Castellum.AI’s agents are powering AML/KYC workflows.

* How agents will reshape compliance programs over the coming years.

* And more!

Alex Johnson of Fintech Takes and I had the chance to discuss the WILD story of Y Combinator- and Coinbase-backed Kontigo:

* Some context setting and clarifications on the difference between AML vs. sanctions and the impact of sanctions on the everyday people of the countries they’re enforced against

* Explaining Kontigo’s retail user service and its value proposition

* Talking through what also was happening behind the scenes to make Kontigo’s service possible

* The responsibility of “infrastructure” providers, like Rain, Checkbook, Bridge, and Stripe, as well as underlying bank partners, which include JPMorgan Chase and Lead Bank

* The parallels between “stablecoin infrastructure” and banking-as-a-service, including third-party risk management (TPRM)

* What lessons industry should learn from the Kontigo situation

* And, as always, what Alex and I just can’t let go of (about this story)

This episode is brought to you by Spade. Leading banks and fintechs use Spade’s transaction enrichment API to improve authorization, personalize rewards, and build smarter AI models on clean transaction data. Learn more at spade.com.