Fintech Business Podcast

This month Alex Johnson and I had the chance to talk about:

* Jason’s special news: I wrote a book! The book, Banking as a Service: Opportunities, Challenges and Risks of New Banking Business Models, will be available toward the end of the year — but you can preorder now, and if you order directly from the publisher here and use promo code “BAASISLAND,” you get 20% off!

* Pirates invade BaaS island: Evolve Bank & Trust, partner to dozens of fintech programs, hacked by Russian ransomware group LockBit

* Elsewhere in BaaS news: Thread’s consent order

* Apple drops Apple Pay Later, will partner with issuers and BNPL firms instead

* Chevron decision drops (disclosure: neither Alex nor Jason are lawyers)

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

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!

This month Alex and I had the chance to talk about:

* “BaaS Island” is heating up: Synapse files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with TabaPay slated to acquire its assets, and Solid settles its dispute with its former investors, FTV.

* Is 2024 going to be the year of “pay by bank”? Alex and I aren’t entirely convinced.

* A federal earned wage access bill is in the works (but unlikely to pass anytime soon).

* VC darling BloomTech’s CFPB consent order.

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

This month we had the chance to talk about:

* BaaS drama continues, with Piermont and Sutton receiving consent orders

* Chime has HOW MANY customers?

* Trade groups vs. Colorado on DIDMCA, or, where is an online loan “made”?

* Quick takes on the Visa/Mastercard settlement

* And, as always, what we 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 Tommy Nicholas, CEO of identity risk solutions platform Alloy, a global, end-to-end identity risk solution for banks and fintechs. Tommy and I had the chance to talk about:

* factors impacting fraud risk today, including the growth of real-time payments and the dawn of the genAI age

* key take aways from Alloy’s 2024 State of Fraud Benchmark Report

* the difference between “frictionless” and “seamless” in financial services UX

* public and private efforts to create digital identity solutions

* what’s on Tommy’s radar in the fraud space in 2024

* and more!