Fintech Nexus

The marketplace lending space is now relatively mature, particularly when it comes to consumer loans, with several platforms 10-15 years old. The first public securitization was back in 2013 by SoFi and there have been hundreds of deals closed since then. The unsecured personal loan space now has a long track record with consistent performance.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Gunes Kulaligil. He is the Structured Finance Co-Lead at Stout, an investment bank and advisory firm. He has been advising on the marketplace lending space for many years and he has written for Fintech Nexus News before (see here and here). One of the stories that has received little attention is the stellar year that marketplace lending had last year, so I wanted to dig into that with Gunes.

In this podcast you will learn:

• His core focus at Stout today and their two service offerings.
• The types of companies that hire them for valuation services.
• How Gunes first got interested in marketplace lending.
• The state of the industry today.
• Why 2022 was a record year for marketplace lending.
• Who is buying the senior tranches of prime securitization deals.
• How credit boxes are tightening in 2023 deals.
• Where demand for securitizations will come from later this year.
• Why prepayments are down dramatically.
• How marketplace lending will perform this year and next.

Connect with Gunes on LinkedIn
Connect with Stout on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

PitchIt is back and better than ever for its 9th year!

PitchIt, a competition for fintech startups, provides selected finalists unparalleled access to industry experts and invaluable exposure, branding, and more.

16 semifinalists. Best and Brightest VCs. 1 chance to Change your Future.

Semifinal round 1

• Boss Insights
• Conductiv, Inc.
• FinGoal
• Grounded Technologies
• Momnt
• Paperstack

VC Judges include - Citi Ventures, JAM FINTOP, Team8, Prosus, BankTech Ventures, CMFG Ventures, Sutton Bank.
Connect with PitchIt:

• Tweet me @ToddFintech
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous PitchIt episodes
• Email me at [email protected]

Until next time.

Making news this week were Shopify, Wise, Coinbase, Binance.US, Klarna, First Republic Bank, Nubank, Congress and more.

On today's episode, I am joined by José Carlos, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Palenca.

José and I talked about the differences between the US and LatAm fintech markets, how hard it is for lenders to get an accurate picture of a borrowers income, Palenca's pivot from a lender to a data provider, Mexico's fintech journey and where fintech is today in Mexico, tae kwon do, raising capital, and much more.

A couple of short PSAs:

Applications for PitchIt have now closed; keep a lookout for the semifinals on April 26 and April 27. The finals will occur at Fintech Nexus USA on May 11 at The Innovation Zone on the Expo Floor.

If you want to sponsor an episode, come on as a guest, or sponsor one of our many digital or in-person offerings, please reach out anytime at [email protected].

Without further ado, José Carlos, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Palenca. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Episode highlights include:

• Palenca's founding story
• José's time at Uber
• Why they pivoted away from lending
• The differences between the US and LatAm fintech markets
• Open banking
• Financial inclusion
• Raising capital
• Tae kwon do
• Recommended reading - The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects by Andrew Chen 
• And much more…

Connect with José Carlos Aguilar on LinkedIn
Connect with Palenca on LinkedIn
Connect with PitchIt:

• Tweet me @ToddFintech
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous PitchIt episodes
• Email me at [email protected]

Until next time.

The small business lending space has been going through a lot of change since the start of the decade. It basically shut down for anything non-PPP related in 2020 and 2021 but it has now bounced back to a new normal with good companies looking for capital to help them grow. And the role of the SBA loan continues to be very important.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Evan Singer, the CEO of SmartBiz (he was last on the show back in 2016). They are focused on SBA loans of less than $350,000 and work with a large number of banks to fund their loans. Today, there is a lot of demand for these kinds of loans.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How Evan describes SmartBiz today.
• The three main SMB loan products they offer.
• The pricing of these loans.
• How they helped small businesses during the PPP.
• The amount of fraud they caught during PPP.
• The state of small business lending today.
• How they are working with small business owners on Employee Retention Credits.
• The credit performance they are seeing over the past three to six months.
• A profile of their typical small business borrower.
• Evan's thoughts on expanding the SBA 7(a) lending program.
• What SmartBiz does to help make the loan application less onerous.
• How they are partnering with Cross River Bank.
• How they decide where to send successful loan applications.
• What they do with those companies that can't qualify for a bank loan.
• How the mindset of bankers has changed since before the pandemic.
• What Evan is most excited about right now.

Connect with Evan on LinkedIn
Connect with Smartbiz on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

On the news show today we discussed top fintech stories about Apple, Goldman Sachs, stablecoins, the SEC, MiCA, Coinbase, CFPB, Clerkie, Liberty Bank and more.

When we have a customer service issue with a bank, credit union, or fintech today, we often approach it with some trepidation. So many organizations provide a poor experience that is painful and frustrating for their customers. But we have the technology now for customer service to be exceptional.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Dan Michaeli, the CEO and Co-Founder of Glia. They have technology that can make customer service extraordinary every time and they are 100% focused on financial services.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of Glia.
• The three core components of digital customer service.
• What banks and credit unions do well when it comes to digital customer service.
• What they are doing poorly.
• The core piece that fintechs get wrong.
• How Glia's call center offering works.
• How they transition from an online chat to a live person.
• What they are doing with automation.
• Dan's thoughts on ChatGPT and its relevance to what they offer.
• What the early days of the pandemic were like for Glia.
• Why they established a CUSO (Credit Union Service Organization).
• The geographic footprint of Glia.
• The scale they are at today.
• His vision for the future of customer interactions

Connect with Dan on LinkedIn
Connect with Glia on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

On today's episode, I am joined by Ron Ross, Co-Founder, President & COO of Everee.

Ron and I talk about his journey to starting a company, his CFO experience in raising capital, the problems with and incentives around payroll, the path to payday becoming every day, the Boston Red Sox, and much more.

A couple of short PSAs:

Applications for PitchIt have now closed. Keep a lookout for the semifinals on April 26 and April 27. The finals will occur at Fintech Nexus USA on May 11 at The Innovation Zone on the Expo Floor.

If you want to sponsor an episode, come on as a guest, or sponsor one of our many digital or in-person offerings, please reach out anytime at [email protected].

Without further ado, Ron Ross, Co-Founder, President & COO of Everee.

Episode highlights include

• Ron's journey from four-time CFO to founder
• The meaning of the word Everee
• The history of payroll
• Real-time beer rations
• Misaligned incentives around payroll
• Payroll as a competitive advantage
• How payday becomes every day
• The SVB crisis
• Raising capital
• And much more…

Connect with Ron on LinkedIn
Connect with Everee on LinkedIn

Connect with PitchIt:

• Tweet me @ToddFintech
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous PitchIt episodes
• Email me at [email protected]

Until next time.

Peter Renton, Todd Anderson and special guest Rex Salisbury discuss big fintech news from Plaid, Visa, venture capital, Rohit Chopra, Paze, Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade and more.