Fintech Nexus

The first wave of fintech focused on helping those people who already had money. The bottom half of the population was mostly ignored, and those companies that did try failed to get traction. But in recent years, there has been a new breed of fintech company emerging squarely focused on helping those people who are living on the financial edge.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Rodney Williams, the President and Co-Founder of SoLo Funds. They call themselves a community finance platform and they are squarely focused on the subprime market. In fact, 82% of their members live in underserved zip codes. They are supplying a loan product that is sorely needed in these places.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The essential need that led to the founding of SoLo Funds.
• How their loan platform works.
• The three verifications new borrowers must go through.
• How many loans a typical borrower uses in a 12-month period.
• What the typical use cases are for the borrowed funds.
• Rodney's favorite stat on their borrowers.
• How they maintain the balance between borrowers and lenders on their marketplace.
• Their regulatory challenges and where they stand with regulators today.
• The three different ways they make money.
• The list of investors backing them.
• Why they recently decided to expand to Nigeria.
• Why their p2p lending model is perfect for the subprime market.

Connect with Rodney on LinkedIn
Connect with SoLo Funds on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

It seems like every day there is a story coming out of Washington that can have a major impact on fintech. Whether it is the CFPB, OCC, SEC, the Fed or new legislation being proposed, fintech companies can be profoundly impacted by what happens in our nation’s capital. That is why it is important to have an independent trade association making our ideas and opinions known.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Phil Goldfeder, the CEO of the American Fintech Council, a job he has held since March of this year. He is advocating for our industry every day, not just in Washington, but also in statehouses around the country.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What attracted Phil to the job at the American Fintech Council.
• What the AFC does exactly.
• The basic story that Phil tells legislators about fintech.
• The core issues that the AFC is working on in Washington.
• How they are engaged at the federal level on earned wage access.
• Why he wrote a recent op-ed in American Banker.
• Why fintech should not reflexively push back on new regulation.
• Details of the AFC Policy Summit in Washington DC in November.
• What needs to happen for fintech to have a seat at the table.
• Why Phil is optimistic that there can be change in Washington that is positive for fintech.

Connect with Phil on LinkedIn
Connect with American Fintech Council on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

One of the early players in the fintech lending space is Best Egg, formerly known as Marlette Funding. At one stage they were the fastest-growing lender in the country. While their growth has slowed down they continue to be one of the largest online lenders by originations.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Paul Ricci, the new CEO of Best Egg. He recently took over from the founding CEO, Jeffrey Meiler (see my interview with Jeffrey from 2019). This is Paul's very first interview since becoming CEO in June and we cover a lot of territory. He is no newcomer to the industry having been Best Egg's CFO since the very beginning.

In this podcast you will learn:

• His role at Best Egg before he became CEO.
• How the transition to CEO has gone.
• A profile of their target customer.
• The competitive dynamics of the personal loan market today.
• How they have adjusted their underwriting given the changing environment.
• Why they launched a credit card and how it is going.
• How their innovative home equity loan product works.
• Why they decided to acquire Till and the new product that became part of Best Egg.
• Why they are not looking to get their own banking license.
• How they know their products are having an impact on their customers' financial health.
• The scale that Best Egg is at today.
• How fintech lending is doing as an industry.

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn
Connect with Best Egg on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

All areas of fintech are changing fast. But it is in payments where the most groundbreaking changes are happening right now. After years of development, we finally saw the launch of FedNow last month (on time!) as this country begins its transition to instant payments in earnest.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Stephany Orum, the CEO and Co-Founder of Orum. I wanted to get her back on the show (she was last on in 2021) to discuss FedNow and what it is going to mean for the payments landscape. Orum works with several banks that are part of FedNow and they provide an infrastructure layer for most payments rails.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How Stephany describes Orum today.
• How banks and fintechs should think about the various payments rails.
• An explanation of payments orchestration.
• Why FedNow is a game changer for faster payments.
• Some of the advantages of FedNow.
• Feedback from some of the participating banks operating in FedNow's first week.
• Why it is more important for banks to work on receiving first for FedNow.
• How the mindset is changing inside banks towards a real-time operation.
• What the Fed has learned from the experience of RTP.
• Why interoperability between instant payment rails is inevitable.
• The role of the other types of payment rails.
• How banks and fintechs can combat fraud in an instant payments world.
• What it will mean for the country when most payments are instant.

Connect with Stephany on LinkedIn
Connect with Orum on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

When it comes to running an e-commerce store there is no bigger name than Shopify. They have been helping entrepreneurs run all aspects of their e-commerce business for well over a decade. And in recent years they have quietly built up an impressive suite of financial products.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Vikram Anreddy. He is the Head of Product for Financial Services at Shopify. With Shopify Credit launching just this week the company now has all the major components of a typical bank or fintech: bank account, bill pay, installment loans and credit cards. We delve into each of these products and more in this interview.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What attracted Vikram to Shopify.
• How Shopify Capital works.
• The amazing growth they have seen at Shopify Capital.
• The unique data points they are able to use in underwriting.
• How Shopify Balance is different to a regular bank account.
• Why they attract brand new entrepreneurs with Balance.
• What they are doing with Shopify Bill Pay.
• The differentiators for their new Shopify Credit Card.
• How they are using the learnings from Shopify Capital for their credit card
• What having a full suite of financial products does for Shopify.
• How they think about expanding their financial products into international markets.
• Some of the fintech companies and products that inspire Vikram.
• The keys to a successful launch of a new product line.
• How they are bringing different products into a unified design.
• Their plans to add more products to their financial services offerings.
• What is exciting about the future of financial products at Shopify.

Connect with Vikram on LinkedIn
Connect with Shopify on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

It wasn't that long ago that robo-advice was this exciting new industry that was going to bring automated investing to the masses. Today, much of that initial promise has been realized and all the major investment firms have this as part of their offerings. But there is much more work needed to be done here.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Sarah Levy, the CEO of Betterment. Betterment was one of the pioneers in the space and it is interesting to see how they have evolved since launching 13 years ago. As you will find out, it is about far more than consumer robo-advice today.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What prompted Sarah to move into fintech from the media business.
• What attracted her to Betterment specifically.
• The different business lines they have today.
• How the narrative has changed since their early days.
• Details of their Cash Reserve account that pays 5.25%.
• How the banking crisis in March impacted their business.
• Their typical customer and target demographic.
• Why Sarah championed their business-to-business offerings.
• The four different marketing channels they focus on.
• What their customers value most when it comes to investment choices.
• Why they decided to add crypto to their offerings.
• Sarah's views on the lack of women-run fintech companies.
• What we can do to create changes at the top.
• The diversity programs they have inside Betterment.
• Her vision for the future of Betterment.

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
Connect with Betterment on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

Last month we announced a groundbreaking partnership with Fintech Meetup that is going to transform the fintech space.

With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to dive more deeply into the partnership between Fintech Nexus and Fintech Meetup. 

So, on the next episode of the Fintech One-on-One podcast we have my good friend and partner, Bo Brustkern, CEO and Co-Founder of Fintech Nexus and Jon Lear, the President and Co-Founder of Fintech Meetup.

In this podcast you will learn:

• Background of how Fintech Meetup began.
• The genesis of the discussions between Fintech Nexus and Fintech Meetup.
• What the partnership entails exactly.
• What this means for existing Fintech Nexus sponsors and attendees.
• The different components of the Fintech Meetup 2024 event.
• How their meetings program works.
• Why their Table Talks program is so important.
• How they are going to run their co-located events.
• Details about their location: The Venetian in Las Vegas.
• How Fintech Meetup fits in with the broader Hyve Group.
• How Fintech Nexus is developing our digital media products.
• What is most exciting about this new partnership.

Connect with Bo on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech Nexus on LinkedIn

Connect with Jon on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech Meetup on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That is pretty much how you could describe the environment for fintechs at the height of the pandemic. Some industries were booming while the world was reeling from the global pandemic. But in the fintech lending business, if you weren't involved in the PPP you were likely struggling. You would not think this was good timing to launch a working capital offering for small business.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Alek Koenig, the CEO and Co-Founder of Settle. They launched in the summer of 2020 with an accounts payable product paired with working capital. The business took off because they found an underserved niche in desperate need of capital: e-commerce businesses.

• The founding story of Settle.
• How they launched the company.
• Why launching at the height of the pandemic was fortuitous timing.
• How their core accounts payable software works.
• How the working capital offering integrates into this software.
• The maximum term they are financing today.
• How their underwriting process works.
• The range of interest rates they charge.
• How they are funding their working capital loans.
• What makes their AP software unique.
• Some of the brands they are working with today.
• How the movement towards embedded finance has made their life easier.
• How Alek's time at Affirm informs how he runs Settle today.
• How he built his Ukrainian team.
• The scale that Settle is at today.
• How they have navigated the downturn in fintech the last 12 to 18 months.
• His vision for Settle.

Connect with Alek on LinkedIn
Connect with Settle on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

Where fintech has had a dramatic impact already is in international payments. Sure, there is still work to do but there are companies out there today facilitating payments, often instantly, to people all around the world.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Charles Rosenblatt, the President of PayQuicker. What PayQuicker does is help companies pay their gig workers in 200+ countries and those workers can receive these funds instantly. They have been doing this for more than a decade.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What attracted Charles to the role at PayQuicker.
• What PayQuicker does exactly.
• The different geographies they operate in.
• The most common use cases for their payouts technology.
• What is exciting about their Payouts OS product.
• Why PayQuicker does not take possession of the money.
• The big value proposition for PayQuicker's clients.
• What they are doing in their partnership with Mastercard.
• How the end consumer receives their money.
• His view on crypto and stablecoins as a payments tool.
• How they partner with global banks.
• How they facilitate instant payouts.
• Why fraud is not a major problem for PayQuicker.
• What's next for PayQuicker.

Connect with Charles on LinkedIn
Connect with PayQuicker on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

This recording is from Fintech Nexus USA held at the Javits Center in New York City on May 10-11, 2023.

Session: "Fintech Islands: The Local Mission and Global Impact of Caribbean Fintech" from the Innovation Zone

Featuring:

• Carmelle Cadet, EMTECH
• Christopher Burns, First Atlantic Commerce
• Pascale Elie, CellPay 
• Andrew B. Morris, Fintech Islands