Fintech One-On-One

Today we are focusing on financial crime and fraud management with the CEO and co-founder of Feedzai, one of the world's largest independent risk management platforms serving banks and fintechs. Nuno shares his fascinating journey from being the first Portuguese engineer at the European Space Agency to building a global fintech powerhouse with over 700 employees across four continents.

The conversation explores how the fraud landscape has fundamentally shifted, where bad actors no longer target technical infrastructure but instead exploit people as the "weakest link in the chain" through AI-powered scams and social engineering. Nuno discusses Feedzai's evolution from transaction fraud monitoring to a comprehensive risk management platform, emphasizing the critical need to move from detecting fraudulent activity to understanding customer intent. He also delves into the company's TRUST framework for responsible AI, explaining why explainability is essential in financial services and much more.

In this podcast you will learn:

• Nuno’s transition from the European Space Agency to founding Feedzai.
• How he Feedzai has evolved since its early days and what it does today.
• What an AI-generated scam looks like.
• Why the weakest link is us.
• How you can protect the less sophisticated consumers.
• Why detecting fraud is no longer enough.
• How they are able to understand the intent of the customer.
• How can you be proactive, combining risk management and cyber security.
• What their TRUST Framework for responsible AI innovation is all about.
• What it means to be a critically systemic vendor for banks.
• What Nuno learned by interviewing the likes of Richard Branson, Stephan Hawking and Steve Wozniak.
• Feedzai’s geographic footprint and their distributed leadership team.
• The scale Feedzai is at today.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Welcome back to the occasional series on the podcast called Fintech Revealed. This is a sponsored show where we take a deep dive into one topic with a couple of industry experts.

Today, we are focusing on small business credit with Levi King, the CEO of Nav and Gerri Detweiler, a credit expert and educational consultant. We provide listeners with a clear understanding of how small business credit reporting works and why it is so different to consumer credit. We talk about open banking and how cash flow underwriting helps more small businesses get approved for credit and at a lower rate.

Levi traces Nav's evolution from a credit data tracking platform to a comprehensive financial health solution that now facilitates embedded lending through partners like Fundbox, while Gerri emphasizes the educational mission of helping business owners understand their business credit profile and why scores that can vary wildly between bureaus.

Both express optimism about the future of small business lending, particularly the rise of embedded financing that leverages diverse data sources from vertical SaaS platforms and the shift in lender attitudes from "extracting a pound of flesh" to genuinely advocating for small business success.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How Nav has evolved since I last had Levi on the show in 2017.
• The types of small businesses that are coming to Nav.
• The main differences between a business and personal credit report.
• How Nav works with partners today.
• What they are doing to help small business owners get educated.
• What it takes to become a Nav partner today.
• How they integrate the huge number of small business data sources.
• What it is like convincing small business owners to connect their bank data.
• How cash flow underwriting is change the game for small business lending.
• How they are using AI to analyze the myriad data sources.
• Some of the surprising insights they have gleaned from this data.
• What trends they are seeing that contradict conventional wisdom.
• What needs to happen next to move the industry forward.
• Why they are optimistic about where the industry is headed.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

There are not many fintechs that can say they work with nine of the top ten banks in the United States. Or that they are working directly on deep integrations with the likes of Apple and Amazon. Meet Jordan Wright, CEO and Co-Founder of Atomic, who can say all those things.

While Atomic started in direct deposit switching, a now relatively mature fintech product, what they have been working on recently is truly groundbreaking technology. They have built what they call a “Payments Hub” and have implementations happening at large banks now. This will make it much easier for consumers not just to manage their recurring payments but to take action, which has been a crucial missing piece.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of Atomic.
• What they mean by building a “framework for connected banking.”
• What Jordan is most proud of that they have built at Atomic.
• What their offering looks like inside a banking app.
• Why they are reaching out to merchants and connect them one by one.
• What happens behind the scenes for their TrueAuth product.
• Why they have focused their technology on the mobile-centric experience.
• How they were able to work directly with the likes of Apple and Amazon.
• How they are engaging differently with the large banks than the fintechs.
• What the flow is like when you are opening a bank account powered by Atomic.
• How they are working with the large credit card companies.
• Why they are focused on taking action rather than just information.
• How they are using Generative AI in their products and within the company.
• How Jordan thinks this new technology will impact financial health.
• When we will start seeing payments hubs at large banks.
• What Atomic is working on in the near term future.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

It is something of a mystery that virtually no fintech entrepreneurs have tackled one of the biggest markets there is: senior citizens collecting social security. Well, until now.

In this episode, I sit down with Kevin Nazemi, CEO and co-founder of Charlie, to explore serving this large market. With over 60 million Americans in this demographic, Kevin explains why traditional banks and fintechs have largely ignored this population despite their significant needs. The conversation dives deep into Charlie's innovative approach to serving customers 62 and above, including their groundbreaking fraud prevention tools like "Speed Bump" that have already documented a significant amount of prevented fraud, and how they're building trust in a market where respect and security are paramount.

In this podcast you will learn:

• His formative interview with a sitting president at the age of 11.
• How he became convinced that seniors needed better financial services.
• Why senior citizens are generally ignored by banks and fintechs.
• How Kevin realized he could build a real business serving this population.
• How they communicated that Charlie works with a partner bank.
• Why it was so important to have their partner bank front and center.
• How Charlie makes money and how it compares to other fintech leaders.
• The obvious product they could expand into.
• What they are doing to protect their customers from fraud.
• How they are combating the rise in AI-driven fraud.
• Kevin’s vision for the future of Charlie.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

Today, I welcome back to the show Arad Levertov, CEO and co-founder of Sunbit (I last had him on the show in 2019), one of the leaders in offline buy-now-pay-later. From 2,000 retail locations in 2019 to nearly 30,000 across verticals like auto repair, dental, and veterinary services, Sunbit has achieved tremendous growth. But what I found most impressive is this: a 90% approval rate combined with low single-digit default rates.

Arad reveals the secret behind these remarkable metrics lies not just in sophisticated AI-powered underwriting, but in their holistic approach that includes strategic merchant selection, gamified associate training, personalized offers, and a customer-first philosophy with zero fees. Now serving over 4.5 million customers and approaching $400 million in revenue while reaching GAAP profitability, Sunbit demonstrates how the right blend of technology and human elements can revolutionize offline lending.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The highlights for Sunbit over the last six years.
• Why they have remained focused on the offline space.
• The different verticals they have targeted.
• How their lending process works.
• How they are able to approve 90% of their borrowers.
• Why the key to their success is the associates in the physical stores.
• Attributes of the 10% of borrowers they decline.
• Their average default rate.
• How they decide which merchants to bring on their platform.
• How Sunbit makes money.
• How they are growing their merchant base.
• What their partnership with Stripe looks like.
• How they are partnering with Checkout.com.
• How Arad views the competitive moat he has built at Sunbit.
• What they are doing differently when it comes to collections.
• Their expansion plans for the future.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

Today, I sit down with Joe Breeden, CEO and founder of Deep Future Analytics (DFA), for what is, in effect, a two-part conversation. First we do a deep dive into credit risk management and where it is falling short today and then we discuss AI monitoring and governance and how it is going to revolutionize software.

The conversation covers why traditional machine learning models are missing critical components for accurate risk assessment and how adverse selection has dramatically impacted loan quality in recent vintages. Then Joe makes a bold prediction that software user interfaces are on the verge of a transformation that will render them unrecognizable from previous versions Curious? All is revealed in this fascinating conversation.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How he got started with Deep Future Analytics
• The state of credit risk management in banking today.
• What is missing, even with fintech lenders, who are using machine learning.
• What lenders get wrong when they focus on credit score.
• Why loans booked since 2022 are lower quality than even 2006-07.
• What kind of lift lenders or investors can see with DFA’s models.
• What Joe sees in the pool of borrowers today.
• Why DFA moved into AI monitoring and governance.
• Who is using these new AI models they have developed.
• Why a “human in the loop” is not an effective monitoring method.
• What their new Strategic Recommendation Agent (SyRA) does.
• How they incorporate Large Language Models to ensure zero hallucinations.
• Why the future of software is dashboards on demand and analytics on demand.
• How Deep Future Analytics is different to others in the market.
• What it is going to take before software moves to a chat-based interface.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) has transformed how consumers approach purchasing, yet adoption in the US still trails markets like Australia and Europe. In this episode, we sit down with Joe Heck, US CEO of Zip, who brings somewhat of a contrarian perspective to the industry. Joe argues that BNPL isn't just another credit product, it's a financial tool designed for what he calls "underestimated Americans," the paycheck-to-paycheck consumers often underserved by traditional banks.

With Zip achieving a 98% payback rate and growing over 40% year-over-year, Joe shares insights on why the credit system is too judgmental, how BNPL provides working capital flexibility, and his vision for autonomous finance powered by AI. Whether you're curious about the future of payments or want to understand how fintech is serving overlooked consumer segments, this conversation offers fresh insights into one of the fastest-growing areas of financial services.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What attracted Joe to take the CEO role at Zip.
• Why BNPL has not taken off as fast in the U.S. as it has in Australia and Europe.
• How Zip’s BNPL product works.
• What Zip’s customers are spending their money on.
• What kind of checks they do for new customers.
• Joe’s view on reporting BNPL transactions to credit bureaus.
• What is driving the growth at Zip over the last year.
• How Joe responds to media criticisms of BNPL and mounting consumer debt.
• How they help their customers smooth out their payments.
• How they partner with Stripe and what it means for Zip’s growth.
• Where Zip is looking to expand.
• How Joe sees the the BNPL sector evolving and the role of AI.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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

In this episode, I sit down with Jason Guss, CEO and co-founder of Octane Lending, to discuss how the company became the #1 powersports lender in the country. The conversation covers Octane's early pivot from lender aggregator to direct lender, their dominance in niche markets, and strategies for thriving in challenging interest rate environments.

Jason talked about how their early focus on good unit economics and then profitability put them in a great position during the challenging times of 2022 and 2023, enabling them to gain market share and rebound quicker than their competitors. He also has some interesting things to say about the banks in the market and strong thoughts on the importance of capital markets.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The A-B test that led to the founding of Octane Lending.
• Why they built a loan origination system right off the bat.
• The “burn the ships” moment when they decided to pivot the business.
• How they were able to last sixteen months with very little revenue.
• The different niches within powersports where they provide financing.
• Their typical loan terms.
• The total size of the powersports market and the percentage Octane has.
• The advantages that Octane has competing with banks in this market.
• How their loan application works at the point of sale.
• How their customers are navigating a higher interest rate environment.
• Why an efficient capital markets function is so important.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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Violet Abtahi is the CEO and Founder of Platonic, a company developing blockchain infrastructure to solve counterparty risk and privacy challenges in financial markets. With over a decade of experience in both traditional finance and blockchain technology, Violet transitioned from a mathematics background on Wall Street to building next-generation financial infrastructure.

Violet argues that counterparty risk is the fundamental bottleneck preventing widespread adoption of blockchain-based financial systems. By combining private blockchain technology with automated smart contracts, Platonic aims to create the infrastructure needed for a more efficient, automated, and less risky financial future.

In this podcast you will learn:

• Why she made the move from traditional finance into the blockchain world.
• The founding story of Platonic and the two major challenges she wanted to solve.
• How finance can be autonomous, intelligent, and borderless.
• Who they are targeting with their solutions.
• How instant settlement with smart contracts can remove the counterparty risk.
• The pilot they did with Vanguard, State Street, Citi and Ford.
• What it will take for all real world assets to be tokenized.
• Why automated regulation is a key component for this to happen.
• What asset class will lead the way in tokenization.
• Violet’s priorities for the next 12 months.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
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In this episode, I sit down with Tomás Campos, CEO and Co-Founder of Spinwheel, a fintech infrastructure company that's revolutionizing how lenders and financial platforms access consumer credit data. With over 20 years in fintech, Tomás explains how Spinwheel can authenticate users and connect to all their liability accounts—credit cards, loans, mortgages, and more—using just a phone number and date of birth, achieving 95-99% coverage across different debt types.

The conversation explores how this technology is solving critical pain points in debt consolidation lending and how their AI-powered infrastructure orchestrates multiple data sources behind the scenes. Tomás also discusses their Optimize product, which saves users an average of $150 per month by creating personalized debt management plans, and shares his vision for using technology to transform consumer debt from an anchor into a lever for achieving financial goals.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What Tomás saw that led to the founding of Spinwheel.
• Why there is so much friction in connecting liability accounts.
• The different use cases for Spinwheel.
• What is so special about the phone number and date of birth data fields.
• Why passwords are a very bad way to verify a user.
• The coverage of the entire U.S. population that Spinwheel has achieved.
• The data sources that they are still working on connecting with.
• The type of data they are extracting from these data sources.
• Where Spinwheel fits into the flow of a loan application process.
• How they using AI agents and AI in general.
• How Spinwheel Optimize is saving end users $150 per month.
• The long-term vision for Spinwheel.

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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