Fintech Business Podcast

In this episode, Alex and I discussed:

* Open banking’s do over: parsing the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking

* Rescue ships head for BaaS Island, but what precedent does the first-ever fintech bail out set?

* The GENIUS Act, legislation to regulate and license permitted payment stablecoin issuers, is already the law of the land. Why are bank trade groups pushing back now?

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

In this episode, Alex Johnson and I discussed:

* The revelation that JPMorgan Chase intends to begin charging third-parties, including aggregators like Plaid and MX, to access consumers’ data rocked the U.S. fintech landscape last week. Alex and I unpacked what it could mean.

* Since we recorded this last week, a group trade associations, including the Financial Technology Association and the American Fintech Council, sent a letter to President Trump, essentially asking him to reconsider the CFPB’s position to abandon defense of the rule (I covered this on Sunday here.)

* In a surprising turn of events, the CFPB filed a motion in the challenge brought against the rule by a small Kentucky bank, the Kentucky Bankers Association, and the Bank Policy Institute, asking the court to pause the proceedings.

* The CFPB said it will undertake a new open banking rulemaking and expects to release an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking within the next three weeks, kicking off an “accelerated” rulemaking process. Stay tuned for Sunday, where I’ll unpack the latest developments and what they mean for open banking.

* GENIUS is law: what’s next for stablecoin issuers, banks, custodians, and consumers?

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

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, Alex and I discussed:

* Unpacking Chime’s IPO plans

* What the hell is going with 1033?

* The GENIUS bill advances in the Senate

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

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, Alex and I discussed:

* Alex’s trip to BaaS Island: the founder/CEO of Increase seeking approval to acquire a controlling stake in a bank & the Hatch Bank’s consent order with the California DFPI

* Ryan Breslow’s return to one-click checkout / “super app” Bolt

* Crypto firms seeking bank charters

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