Fintech Impact

In this 165th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award–winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Meenaz Sunderji, the Executive VP at Zafin. Zafin is a banking software platform that helps financial institutions personalize their services for their customers!

Episode Highlights:

• 0:31 – Meenaz Sunderji introduces Zafin and its services.
• 1:32 – What led to the creation of Zafin?
• 4:31 – Meenaz and Jason dive into what Zafin does for its clients.
• 6:11 – How many different Legacy COBOL systems was Zafin dealing with to create a unified view?
• 8:33 – Did any financial institutions come up with a long–term strategy before Zafin came into the picture?
• 9:50 – Jason and Meenaz explain the difficulties of putting multiple product lines into one framework.
• 15:00 – How has Zafin dealt with financial restrictions and regulations around the world?
• 18:19 – Meenaz breaks down how a large publicly-traded company re-engineers its incentive program for the longer term.
• 20:43 – Jason and Meenaz discuss the opportunities and worries for banks and fintech companies.
• 23:30 – Meenaz explains how focusing on the customer can build lifelong relationships.
• 24:27  – Jason and Meenaz dive into infrastructure and the future of embedded finance.
• 27:19 – What would Meenaz change about the banking industry?
• 28:00 – Meenaz shares Zafin’s biggest challenge to getting where it is today.
• 28:37 – What excites Meenaz about his work today and in the future?

3 Key Points

1. Zafin monitors a variety of financial information to personalize customer pricing and create customized incentive programs.
2. Silos of customer incentive programs are breaking because banks realize that they are going to lose money if they continue to group customers like that.
3. Jason and Meenaz believe that old institutions will provide the infrastructure for new financial institutions to move into the future of embedded finance.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “You are a next–best–action engine that sits over top of their banking system in between the client and their offering.” – Jason Pereira
• “With competition, like we have in our space, it drives to become better, otherwise you won’t survive.” – Meenaz Sunderji
• “The traditional banks stand a chance of losing the customer relationship but still handling the plumbing.” – Jason Pereira

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Zafin.com – Website for Zafin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 164th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Thomas Sponholtz, CEO of Unison, a company that enables equity financing of residential real estate and gives institutional investors access to the world’s largest asset class!

Episode Highlights:

• 0:33 – Thomas Sponholtz introduces Unison.
• 3:16 – What was the impedance for the creation of Unison?
• 6:06 – Thomas explains the consumer experience when working with Unison.
• 7:37 – To what degree is Unison participating in the change in the value of the house?
• 8:44 – What happens if the homeowner sells the property at a loss?
• 9:36 – How long do these deals take to get closed?
• 11:10 – Thomas discusses the return expectations by investors.
• 13:24 – How much attention is paid to regional diversification?
• 16:00 – Jason and Thomas discuss the potential risk for residential homeowners.
• 19:28 – Thomas discusses Unison’s goal of giving people the experience of having a home without the financial commitment of owning.
• 20:25 – What kind of feedback has Unison gotten back from its clients?
• 23:28 – If Thomas could change something about his company and his industry, what would he change?
• 26:09 – What has been the biggest challenge in getting Unison to where it is today?
• 27:24 – Thomas shares the motivations that get him up every morning.

3 Key Points

1. Unison introduced equity financing to residential homeowners while also enabling institutional investors to get access to the world’s largest asset class.
2. By bearing a high percentage of risk than the homeowner, Unison bears a disproportionate percentage of both gains and losses.
3. Investing in a single home brings as much volatility as investing in the stock market while diversifying your portfolio with thousands of properties across the country can lower volatility from 15% to 5%.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “When you retire, your biggest expense is most likely to be housing but you could not invest in housing as an asset class as an institution.” – Thomas Sponholtz
• “Theoretically, this could be closed in a week, in practice because of that coordination between the homeowner and appraiser, it typically takes about 2 or 3 weeks.” – Thomas Sponholtz
• “To date, the only option for investment in residential real estate has largely been residential REITs, in which case you’re dealing with a renter environment, not an ownership environment.” – Jason Pereira
• “A single home has the same volatility as the stock market.” – Thomas Sponholtz
• “Communicating directly to the consumer is a lot easier sometimes than through an intermediary.” – Thomas Sponholtz

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Unison.com – Website for Unison

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 163rd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Clayton Feick (Flinks) to go over the fundamental concepts of Open Banking!

Episode Highlights:

• 1:33 – Clayton Feick gives an update on his role at Flinks.
• 3:07 – Jason and Clayton discuss the leveraging of data with Open Banking.
• 4:01 – What is Open Banking in layman's terms?
• 5:22 – Clayton explains screen scraping as a way to access data.
• 6:45 – Jason and Clayton break down the current barriers to user data.
• 11:10 – Clayton discusses the banks’ struggles to adapt to a new environment.
• 14:01 – Was there anything of note that came up during Clayton’s global panel?
• 16:15 – Jason and Clayton discuss innovation and regulation coming together on a global scale.
• 20:34 – Jayson and Clayton dive into the responsibilities of regulators and legislators surrounding data rights.
• 22:31 – How does the Open Banking framework go about its security?
• 25:54 – If Clayton could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?
• 27:37 – What has been the biggest challenge in getting Flinks to where it is today?
• 28:52 – What excites Clayton the most about what he is working on?

3 Key Points

1. In laymen’s terms, Open Banking gives individuals the ability to access and share their financial data for their own benefit.
2. Over the past 12 months, the pace of change in the Canadian banking system has sped up, forcing banks to rethink their business models.
3. Regulators and legislators around the world must focus on staying patriotic and doing what is right for the data rights of their citizens.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “The industry just wants good clean reliable data that they can work with to power new use cases and drive innovation.” – Clayton Feick
• “There’s really a lot of value in moving good clean reliable data from one place to another to eliminate some of those paper processes.” – Clayton Feick
• “I think the innovative banks will start to see themselves more and more as a platform and start to think about their customer base and the services they provide in that way in order to be competitive in this new environment.” – Clayton Feick
• “Innovation has not arisen from legislation; it’s arisen from startups and innovators that are trying to do things differently with tech that’s available today.” – Clayton Feick

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Flinks.io – Website for Flinks

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 162nd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Edward Berks (Xero), Davyde Wachell (Responsive AI), and Chad Davis (LiveCA) on what works and doesn’t work with Open Banking in different countries around the world!

Episode Highlights:

• 1:03 – Everyone introduces themselves and their companies.
• 4:06 – What market has done the best job of moving Open Banking forward?
• 8:44 – Where have we seen the biggest struggles throughout the world?
• 13:40 – David explains how North American banks are actively slowing down the process of Open Banking.
• 17:00 – Everyone weighs in on TD’s current lawsuit against Plaid.
• 21:05 – What is the correlation between market competition and outcomes?
• 27:00 – Jason compares the American financial psyche with the Candian one.
• 28:03 – Everyone discusses streamlining access to capital during COVID in Canada.
• 33:30 – Why does the Canadian government continue to push timelines for Open Banking?
• 37:30 – David discusses the opportunity that exists for financial regulators in Canada.
• 39:30 – What is the timeline in Canada for the next thing that financial institutions should be excited about?
• 41:10 – What would each guest change in the world of Open Banking?

3 Key Points

1. Though Canada has PIPEDA, which guarantees people’s right to their data upon request, the banks have made the process a nightmare for the requester. 
2. Canadian banks colluded to ban Apple Pay in Canada in a manner that would be considered illegal in other countries.
3. In Canada, Fintech was completely boxed out of the situation of providing relief during COVID, something it could have done much quicker than the major banks.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Australia has always been a little further along on the accounting and banking spectrum than Canadians and Americans and the UK. I think they’re going to be pretty well positioned to roll this out right as well.” – Chad Davis
• “Every time we give a password, we’re violating our fraud protection. That’s just a nonsensical stance to take.” – Jason Pereira
• “Whether or not you’re China or whether or not you’re a Canadian bank, the more you try to stop the flow of information, the more that information is going to flow.” – David Watchel
• “I think that there’s a herd instinct in well–established banks in most jurisdictions, and once you get that first domino toppling, it’s difficult for the other banks not to follow.” – Edward Burke

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Xero.com – Website for Xero
• LiveCA.ca – Website for LiveCA
• Responsive.ai - Website for Responsive AI

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 161st episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host is joined by Ben Harrison (Portag3 Ventures), Andrew Moor (EQ Bank), & Daniel Eberhard (KOHO) for part 3 of his series on Open Banking. This one is all about Canada!

Episode Highlights:

• 0:57 – Andrew Moor introduces himself and EQ Bank.
• 2:25 – Ben Harrison gives insight into his role at Portag3.
• 3:58 – Daniel Eberhard introduces himself and CoHo’s mission.
• 6:15 – What is the current state of Open Banking in Canada?
• 9:00 – How does this round of conversations surrounding Open Banking differ from conversations in the past?
• 12:49 – Jason discusses the unprecedented urgency around regulatory reforms in Canada right now.
• 14:19 – What kind of consideration is Canada’s advisory committee taking from markets that have already implemented Open Banking?
• 18:12 – Everyone discusses the lack of data rights for consumers in Canada.
• 23:28 – What does Open Banking mean to the future of KOHO, EQ Bank, and Portag3?
• 30:39 – Who will be making the decisions for consumers’ financial lives with Open Banking?
• 32:39 – Is there a concern about focusing on solely quantitative data and ignoring qualitative data surrounding consumer lives?
• 38:30 – Jason explains how quality goes down every time a company adds a new product.
• 40:48 – What is the one thing that everyone needs to know about why we need Open Banking?

3 Key Points

1. Currently, Canada’s 5 largest banks have the largest revenue to population ratio in the world, largely due to a sheer lack of competition.
2. Unlike past conversations around Open Banking with the Canadian Minister of Finance, this time around there is an actual proposal.
3. The fundamental push for Open Banking has been fueled by a lack of engagement by consumers. The hope is that Open Banking makes financial transactions and banking transparent and simple.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “This is a way to unplug the power of some very large institutions and deliver more value to the entrepreneurial community...everyone should be aligned on this kind of thing.” – Andrew Moor
• “The message that I take from the advisory committee’s work is they strongly believe that government absolutely needs to play an important role in designing the framework from a legislative standpoint.” – Ben Harrison
• “The real gating factor is actually the approval and I think that’s always been the biggest risk to this process. And now we have a framework through which to shape the discussion.” – Daniel Eberhard
• “The general how we’re going to do this hasn’t necessarily been fully addressed yet. It’s more so we need to do this.” – Jason Pereira
• “It is really hard to be good at tons of things.” – Jason Pereira

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Portag3 Ventures – Website for Portag3 Ventures
• EQ Bank – Website for EQ Bank
• KOHO – Website for KOHO Financial

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 160th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Frederik Mennes (OneSpan), John Pitts (Plaid), & Yoseph West (Relay) to discuss the state of Open Banking in the United States! 

Episode Highlights: 

● 0:50 – John Pitts introduces himself and Plaid. 

● 1:32 – Yoseph West introduces himself and Relay. 

● 2:08 – Frederik Mennes introduces himself and OneSpan. 

● 3:22 – What is the state of affairs in the US for Open Banking right now? 

● 5:52 – Frederik addresses the fundamental differences between the US and Europe in their approaches to Open Banking. 

● 7:00 – How has the state of regulations in the US impacted Relay’s growth? 

● 8:30 – What are the incentives and motivations for Plaid’s clients on the bank side? 

● 11:34 – Frederick shares about OneSpan’s client education around security in Open Banking. 

● 13:30 – John explains why he thinks that regulations are not as vital as some might think. 

● 16:47 – What is going right and what needs to be fixed in the US situation? 

● 24:49 – How do US companies regulate the risk of moving to APIs? 

● 27:46 – Is it reasonable to draw a compliance line for customers with a certain value of assets? 

● 29:48 – Jason and Frederick weigh the risk vs. reward of Open Banking for smaller banks. 

● 31:39 – How much pushback does John see from Plaid’s screen scraping guidelines? 

● 36:08 – Where does Yoseph feel constrained in the current system? 

● 41:00 – Everyone shares the one key thing that they believe the US Open Banking system should focus on moving forward. 

3 Key Points 

1. While the US finds itself years ahead of Europe on the practice of Open Banking, it finds itself an equal amount behind Europe on regulations. 

2. Open Banking companies in the US face the challenge of switching over to Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) without risking data and client rights. 

3. Screen scraping, or consumer data extraction for automation of previously-manual actions, is still allowed under PSD2. It has actually been updated in its security measures. 

Tweetable Quotes: 

● “It’s no secret that Europe has been pretty much at the forefront of the Open Banking initiatives around the world through initiatives such as PSD1 and PSD2.” – Jason Pereira 

● “To actually deliver true open banking, the dream that we all think of...I think that’s a dream that will only exist as a result of Challenger or Neobanks.” – Yoseph West

● “At this point, regulation is actually very helpful to create a level playing field for security. Regulation can help to make sure that all the players in the ecosystem...implement the right security technology.” – Frederik Mennes 

● “The key thing that makes the US market special is that it is being driven by consumer demand.” – John Pitts 

Resources Mentioned: 

● Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook 

● LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn 

● JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter 

● Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial 

● Plaid – Website for Plaid 

● OneSpan – Website for OneSpan 

● Relay – Website for Relay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 159th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Hesus Inoma and Daniel Döderlein. As 2 pioneers of Open Banking in Europe, Daniel and Hesus are here to discuss the current movements and innovations of world leaders in European Banking!

Episode Highlights:

• 0:18 – Jason explains why he is hosting a 5–part series on Open Banking.
• 1:41 – Daniel Döderlein introduces himself and what he does.
• 2:29 – Hesus Inoma introduces himself and his professional experience.
• 3:32 – Daniel defines Open Banking for the layperson.
• 9:16 – What is PSD2 and what was its impact?
• 12:20 – Jason and Hesus break down how banks will win or lose with Open Banking.
• 15:36 – Daniel explains how banks have been rotten and spoiled for so long.
• 19:39 – What will happen to big banks in the future with Open Banking?
• 26:46 – Jason, Hesus, and Daniel discuss the shift in innovation that is happening in banking right now.
• 32:52 – What does the customer really want and where does the business lie?
• 37:00 – Jason breaks down the varying bank concentrations in different parts of the world.
• 39:45 – Hesus and Daniel share their thoughts on the Visa–Plaid deal and the recent antitrust lawsuit surrounding it.
• 47:22 – What is not working and what needs to change?
• 53:28 – Daniel lays out a concerning future dilemma and question.
• 55:00 – Hesus shares his final thoughts on the future of Open Banking.

3 Key Points

1. Accepting card payments comes at a cost, either handled by the business or a service provider, presenting a problem for businesses that operate outside of Open Banking.
2. PSD2, a regulation for electronic payment services in Europe, is putting the banking system in its place while also assisting banks in adapting to new Open Banking technologies.
3. Over 50% of countries have 3 banks controlling more than 66% of the entire country’s banking deposits.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “For us, Open Banking is a journey that will lead from Open Banking to Open Finance to open the economy.” – Hesus Inoma
• “When you really think about it, banking is a highly–commoditized business.” – Jason Pereira
• “The smaller players have always been reliant on the large players in terms of infrastructure, access, and service rendering.” – Daniel Döderlein
• “Everyone hates at least one of the banks that we deal with in this country, loves to buy the stocks to get the dividends, but also thinks we need them because they’re safe.” – Jason Pereira

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Bbvausa.com/ – Website for BBVA
• Visa–Plaid Deal – Article Discussing the Visa–Plaid Deal
• Doderlein.com/ – Daniel Döderlein’s Website
• LinkedIn – Hesus Inoma’s LinkedIn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 158th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Jennifer Couldrey, the Executive Director of The Upside Foundation of Canada, an organization that enables equity donations by Canadian business founders who wish to make a positive impact on the future of their communities!

Episode Highlights:

• 1:20 – Jennifer Couldrey introduces The Upside Foundation.
• 2:14 – How did Jennifer get into this business and how did The Upside Foundation get its start?
• 3:52 – Jennifer breaks down The Upside model.
• 5:56 – Why are these Canadian founders interested in donating equity?
• 8:05 – Jason and Jennifer talk about how The Upside Foundation thrives in the long-game.
• 9:07 – What does a typical deal look like and what factors play into these parameters?
• 10:59 – Where are the donations being directed?
• 13:01 – Is this a one-time donation or a continuously-managed fund?
• 14:59 – Jason and Jennifer discuss how people view different charities.
• 21:12 – What is the feedback that The Upside Foundation is receiving both before and after their clients’ exit events?
• 25:57 – If Jennifer could change one thing in her industry, what would it be?
• 29:12 – What has been the biggest challenge of getting The Upside Foundation to where it is today?
• 30:25 – What motivates Jennifer to get up every day and push forward with The Upside Foundation’s mission?

3 Key Points

1. Canadian founders use The Upside Foundation as a way to make a palpable impact in their communities.
2. Companies are presented with the option of donating via stock options or personal proceeds to the cause of their choice.
3. 90% of charitable donations are donated to elite donations such as universities, hospitals, and larger organizations that decide where the money should be allocated.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “It’s a way of embedding this charitable impact into your business from day one.” – Jennifer Couldrey
• “Part of the reason we have the flexibility to give through stock options or to give through personal proceeds is just to make that decision really easy for people.” – Jennifer Couldrey
• “Having the ability to course correct is a valuable luxury that I think that is afforded through having these endowments paying out small amounts over large amounts.” – Jason Pereira
• “When people think about charity, they usually think about helping the poor...but if you actually look at where charitable dollars go, 90% of charitable dollars are going to help elite institutions.” – Jennifer Couldrey
• “When you have something, it’s hard to give it up. The bigger that number is, the harder it is to cut that check.” – Jason Pereira

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• LinkedIn – Jennifer Couldrey’s LinkedIn
• The Upside Foundation – Website for The Upside
• Uncharitable – Book
• Billion Dollar Loser – Book
• This Could Be Our Future – Book

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 157th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Lil Roberts, CEO of Xendoo, an online accounting firm that aims to serve small businesses by simplifying the bookkeeping process!

Episode Highlights:

• 0:32 – Lil Roberts introduces Xendoo and its mission.
• 0:56 – What was the inspiration behind the creation of Xendoo?
• 1:36 – Lil shares her journey that led to the creation of Xendoo.
• 3:22 – Jason and Lil talk about the importance of knowing your numbers when it comes time to scale.
• 5:56 – Lil and Jason discuss the competition in the accounting industry.
• 8:28 – Jason and Lil dive into the low bar of understanding for what people should expect from their accountant.
• 11:40 – Lil explains why the concept of dropping off your paperwork is one of the past.
• 13:48 – What tools are in Xendoo’s tech stack and why were those chosen?
• 17:00 – Jason and Lil talk about the importance of being organized with your tax paperwork.
• 18:45 – How much fun is it to make these tools work together nicely?
• 20:42 – Jason discusses the digital lessons that have been taught by COVID.
• 22:03 – What kind of feedback is Lil hearing from Xendoo’s clients?
• 23:47 – If Lil could change one thing about the accounting industry, what would it be?
• 26:22 – What has been Xendoo’s biggest challenge during its growth?
• 27:04 – Lil discusses what motivates her to get up every day.

3 Key Points

1. As a serial entrepreneur, Lil Roberts hated that bookkeeping and accounting services were slow, expensive, and provided little transparency.
2. Online bookkeeping and accounting services account for less than 1% of the industry as a whole.
3. The days of dropping off your paperwork to your accountant are over. Everything is done online now and this helps business owners

 Tweetable Quotes:

• “No one gets in the business to do your bookkeeping unless you’re a bookkeeping business.” – Jason Pereira
• “I’m not concerned about the people that are doing the exact same thing that I’m doing; I’m concerned about the person doing something different that I’m not directly benefitting from.” – Jason Pereira
• “The magic does not happen after the year is over; the magic happens through the year.” – Jason Pereira
• “I can’t tell you how many times that we have seen somebody transpose numbers.” – Lil Roberts

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Xendoo.com – Website for Xendoo
• Xero
• QuickBooks
• The Coming of The Human Knowledge – Work Cloud – Article by Sam Lessin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this 156th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Zachary Dan, CoFounder and CTO of Act Analytics, a platform that helps financial advisors make better decisions around environmental, social, and governmental factors!

Episode Highlights:

•  0:41 – Zachary Dan introduces Act Analytics.
• 1:04 – What led Zachary to create Act Analytics.
• 2:14 – Jason discusses the issues that exist in the ESG area.
• 4:12 – How does Zachary score industries with ESG factors?
• 8:09 – Zachary discusses the challenges presented by a high–level of customization in regard to customer experience.
• 9:12 – What does the user experience look like from start to finish?
• 11:14 – How often is the data updated?
• 11:38 – Zachary dives into the sources of data that Act Analytics utilizes.
• 14:01 – What has the feedback been like from Act Analytics’s earliest users?
• 16:00 – Zachary shares his thoughts on future innovations for the platform.
• 17:49 – If Zachary could change one thing about his industry, what would it be?
• 19:17 – What has been the biggest challenge for Act Analytics during its growth?
• 22:46 – Zachary explains what excites him about natural language processing.

3 Key Points

1. Zachary saw that neither the data nor the ratings were constructed in a way that served most people, so he created a tool that utilizes both in a way that translates to the end-user.
2. At the moment, Act Analytics has about 20 paying clients with most logging on every day and utilizing the news–analytics feature of the platform.
3. Zachary hopes to see the commoditization of ESG and financial data, making it widely available for everyone to choose how to use that information for themselves.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “If companies in all sectors are being pressured to change over time and everyone’s doing this, that’s one way to change the world.” – Zachary Dan
• “I think one of the mistakes of what’s out there is this idea that you can become the standard scoring methodology for ESG because...it’s different for everybody.” – Zachary Dan
• “There’s lots of opportunities to include more built–out portfolio construction and AI that helps people build portfolios using both ESG and financial considerations.” – Zachary Dan
• “You can’t fully fit on a spreadsheet about just how ethical a company is but you have to figure out how to measure that in real-time.” – Jason Pereira
• “If someone doesn’t have a belief in something, why are you forcing it on them?” – Jason Pereira

Resources Mentioned:

• Facebook – Jason Pereira’s Facebook
• LinkedIn – Jason Pereira’s LinkedIn
• FintechImpact.co – Website for Fintech Impact
• JasonPereira.ca – Sign up for Jason Pereira’s newsletter
• Woodgate.com – Website for Woodgate Financial
• Act-analytics.com – Website for Act Analytics
• Truvaluelabs.com/ – Website for Truvalue Labs

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.