Kris Kovacs sits down with Mark Majeske, Senior Vice President of Faster Payments at Alacriti, to explore how instant payment technologies like RTP, FedNow, and emerging payment rails are transforming the future of credit unions. Powered by Curql, this episode dives into member expectations, fraud prevention, cross-border payments, payment orchestration, and why offering faster payments has become a strategic advantage for institutions looking to grow deposits and improve member experiences.

Kris Kovacs sits down with Alec Crawford, Founder and CEO of Verapath, to discuss how credit unions and community financial institutions can safely adopt AI while staying compliant and secure. From AI governance and regulatory requirements to AI agents, workflows, cybersecurity, and risk management, Alec shares practical insights from decades in banking, technology, and artificial intelligence. If your institution is exploring AI, this conversation provides a roadmap for doing it responsibly while unlocking real business value.

Kris Kovacs sits down with Deep Varma, CTO of Alkami, for a deep conversation on the future of AI-powered digital banking. Deep shares lessons from decades in Silicon Valley, including his work at IBM, Yahoo, startups, and Varo Bank, and explains how Alkami is helping credit unions and community financial institutions innovate faster through open architecture, AI-driven experiences, digital identity, and extensible banking platforms. From hackathons and developer culture to AI agents and the future of consumer banking, this episode explores what financial institutions must do now to prepare for the next era of fintech transformation.

Kris Kovac sits down with Austin Carroll, founder and CEO of Warrant, to discuss how AI is transforming marketing compliance for banks, credit unions, and fintechs. Austin shares her journey from leading marketing at companies like Brex, Mercury, and Capital One to building Warrant — a platform designed to help financial institutions streamline approvals, reduce regulatory risk, and move at startup speed without sacrificing compliance.

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The Fintech Combine is Produced and Edited by Anson Beckler-Jones

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In this episode of the Fintech Combine, Kris Kovacs sits down with the team behind Sway Stack to unpack one of the biggest hidden challenges in banking today: what happens after a new account is opened. With acquisition costs rising and engagement lagging, they explore why so many new members go inactive in the first 30 days—and how credit unions can fix it. From smarter onboarding to driving real activation and long-term relationships, this conversation breaks down how financial institutions can turn new accounts into truly engaged members.

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Wade Arnold, founder and CEO of Moov, to discuss how modern payments infrastructure is reshaping what credit unions and fintechs can deliver to their members. Wade explains why legacy payment rails create friction, how Moov connects to every major payment network, and what it means to build always-on, real-time payment experiences. They also explore developer-driven innovation, personalized member experiences, and how partnerships with Curql are helping progressive credit unions bring new payment capabilities to market faster.

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The Fintech Combine is Produced and Edited by Anson Beckler-Jones

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In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with David Metz, founder and CEO of Prizeout, to discuss how credit unions can finally bring meaningful rewards to everyday debit card spending. David shares the story of pivoting from a trivia gaming company to fintech, and how Prizeout helps credit unions deliver cash back through digital gift cards, merchant-funded offers, and personalized member incentives. They also explore onboarding engagement, debit card loyalty, and why modern rewards programs need to move beyond points to create real financial value for members.

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In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Shawn Malamed, co-founder and CEO of Spiral, to discuss how credit unions and community banks can build more heart-centered digital banking experiences. Shawn shares his journey from building fintech companies and leading innovation at Morgan Stanley to launching Spiral, a platform designed to help members save money, reach personal goals, and give back to their communities through everyday banking activity. They explore why personalization, financial wellness, and community impact are becoming essential for deposit growth and retention—and how credit unions can use modern fintech tools to compete while staying true to their mission.Subscribe for more fintech insights! 🚀Follow the Pod:https://twitter.com/fintechcombineFollow Kris Kovacs:https://twitter.com/ManagementByteshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kriskovacs/https://www.instagram.com/kriskovacs/The Fintech Combine is Produced and Edited by Anson Beckler-JonesFollow Anson Beckler-JonesInstagram - @ansonandcoYoutube - @ansonandco______________________________________________________00:00 – Welcome to The Fintech Combine with Kris Kovacs00:17 – Introducing the Powered by Curql Series00:45 – Meet Shawn Malamed, Co-Founder & CEO of Spiral01:22 – From Entrepreneur to Morgan Stanley Innovation Leader03:20 – Why Shawn Left Wall Street to Start Spiral04:32 – The Mission: Building Heart-Centered Financial Services05:23 – How Spiral Transforms Checking & Savings Accounts06:20 – Roundups, Saving Goals & Giving Back to the Community07:25 – How Spiral Integrates Into Mobile Banking Platforms08:19 – How Fast Credit Unions Can Launch Spiral08:52 – Member Adoption: Who Uses Spiral the Most?09:43 – Using Charitable Giving to Strengthen Local Communities11:53 – The Inspiration Behind the “Upward Spiral” Concept13:03 – Why Credit Unions Are a Perfect Fit for Spiral16:16 – Banks vs Credit Unions: Spiral’s Customer Base17:53 – How the Curql Accelerator Helped Spiral Grow20:12 – Lessons From Building a Neobank22:20 – Why Most Neobank Models Struggle Long-Term25:00 – Why Fintech Innovation Still Needs Credit Unions27:14 – Advice for Chief Innovation Officers at Credit Unions29:00 – Personalization: The Future of Member Engagement31:27 – Generational Differences in Saving Money33:07 – Building Fintech for Credit Unions vs Big Banks36:23 – Lessons From Starting Three Fintech Companies38:38 – How to Connect With Spiral39:05 – Closing Thoughts from Kris Kovacs

Kris Kovacs sits down with Colin Phillips, CTO of Lodestar, to talk about how credit unions can stop relying on spreadsheets and start treating data like a strategic asset. Colin breaks down what a modern data journey really looks like—pulling information out of core and other systems into a single source of truth, building a practical data strategy with quick wins, and putting smart governance (like a clear data dictionary) in place so teams can trust what they’re seeing. They also dig into near real-time reporting, what success looks like for small vs. large credit unions, and how AI will change analytics next—without replacing the need for clean, well-defined data.

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The Fintech Combine is Produced and Edited by Anson Beckler-Jones

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On this episode of The Fintech Combine, Kris kicks off the new Powered by Curql series with the founder and CEO of Uptiq.ai to explore how their AI platform creates an “intelligent operating layer” on top of a credit union’s existing systems of record. They discuss why so much real work still happens outside the core and LOS, how AI agents can cut across multiple systems to automate manual tasks, and what it looks like when staff shift from doing the work to reviewing it. The conversation also covers faster time-to-value, adaptable policy-driven agents, and why this approach could help credit unions free up time to focus more on member experience and personalization.

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The Fintech Combine is Produced and Edited by Anson Beckler-Jones

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