One thing that has been driving the fintech industry forward in the last few years has been the growth of infrastructure companies. Building the plumbing for modern finance is one of the hottest areas in all of fintech, particularly when it comes to international finance. This burgeoning fintech-as-a-service subsector has produced some market leaders.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Arik Shtilman, the CEO and Co-Founder of Rapyd. They are a truly global company operating in more than 100 countries around the world with a team also disbursed throughout the world. And they are growing fast.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The pivot they made initially that led to Rapyd.
• How Arik describes the company today.
• The four different components of fintech-as-a-service.
• How their offering differs between geographies.
• Their big competitive differentiator.
• The number of geographies they operate in today.
• How they approach compliance with so many different countries.
• What they are focused on in the U.S. market.
• The different types of companies that are using their infrastructure.
• What they mean by "Build Bold."
• The size of their team and where they are located.
• Why they chose Dubai for their tech hub.
• Where the biggest opportunities are in fintech today.
• Rapyd's strategy when it comes to M&A.
• Where they are on the path to profitability.
• Arik's thoughts on payments rails and where we are heading.
• The biggest challenges and opportunities in cross-border payments.
• Key findings from their report, The State of B2B Cross-Border Payments.
• Where they are focusing their energy right now.

Connect with Arik Shtilman on LinkedIn
Connect with Rapyd on LinkedIn

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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

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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

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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

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The pioneers in the fintech lending space are now well-established companies that have been in business for 15 years or more. Many millions of customers have been served and yet many (most?) consumers are still struggling with their finances. One of these pioneers is working hard to change that.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Brad Stroh, the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Achieve (formerly known as Freedom Financial). Achieve has quietly become one of the largest fintech lenders in the country, with a focus on helping consumers who are experiencing financial challenges. While this is the first time I have had one of the co-founders on the show, a few years ago I interviewed the then-head of their asset management division, Joe Toms.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of Achieve.
• Why the company did not launch as a digital-first business.
• How they differentiate their personal loan business.
• Why they expanded into home equity loans.
• How their debt resolution products works.
• Why they developed two mobile apps for consumers.
• How Bills.com fits into their product suite.
• Why they decided to rebrand from Freedom Financial to Achieve.
• How their core customer struggles with debt.
• The root causes for these debt struggles.
• The impact inflation has had on loan demand.
• Brad's view on financial literacy and how to improve that.
• Their approach to the capital markets and why they remain active in securitization.
• His vision for the future of Achieve.

Connect with Brad on LinkedIn
Connect with Achieve on LinkedIn

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While AI has been around for decades there has never been more interest in this topic than there is today. In underwriting, some lenders have been using AI for a while but it is only recently that it has caught on for mainstream lenders.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Pankaj Kulshreshtha, the CEO and founder of Scienaptic (he was last on the show two years ago). A lot has changed in the last two years and they have seen tremendous adoption among credit unions, which we discuss in some depth.

In this podcast you will learn:

• How he describes Scienaptic today.
• How much they emphasize the AI part of what they are offering.
• The process of migrating their clients from a manual process to an automated one.
• How the human touch can be maintained, or even increase, with more automation.
• Why credit unions have become the core focus for their technology solutions.
• What their credit unions are asking for most.
• How they work with existing loan origination platforms.
• What is involved in implementing Scienaptic's solution.
• The types of loans they are working with for their credit union partners.
• How they ensure their models remain free of bias.
• How their AI models are getting better over time.
• What Pankaj makes of the sudden interest in AI with ChatGPT.
• How they could augment some of this technology into their systems.
• How this technology is going to develop over the next 3-5 years.

Connect with Pankaj on LinkedIn
Connect with Scienaptic AI on LinkedIn

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One of the real promises of fintech is to bring new populations into the financial system for the first time. While this sounds great in theory it is difficult to execute, particularly in developing countries where it is most needed.

Our next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Shivani Siroya, the CEO and founder of Tala (Shivani was last on the show back in 2017). They are operating on the front lines of fintech, bringing financial tools to people who have not had access before. And they are doing it at scale having served eight million customers across four different countries.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What their mission of "enabling financial agency" means.
• The geographies they work in today.
• How they think about whether to enter new markets.
• What the countries they operate in have in common.
• Why cash is still such an important part of what they do.
• How they establish trust with their customers.
• The major use cases for a Tala loan.
• The results of their recent impact survey.
• How they have developed a new kind of credit score.
• The type of non-financial data that is most predictive.
• Why providing a low friction experience is so critical.
• How they engage with their customers beyond the lending product.
• How financial literacy is core to their mission.
• The scale Tala is at today.
• What is like to run a company across four different regions.
• The vision for Tala going forward.

Connect with Shivani on LinkedIn
Connect with Tala on LinkedIn
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Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

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The most important type of financial data in our lives is our income data. This one factor can determine whether we get approved for a loan or to rent an apartment. And yet the majority of people today do not have a traditional salary providing 100% of their income. They often have disparate sources of income that until now has made it very difficult for financial institutions to process.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Shmulik Fishman, the CEO and Co-Founder of Argyle. Argyle is all about solving this problem by working with a huge number of sources to provide a complete and accurate picture of income. This process is embedded into a loan or rental application to help make more informed decisions.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of Argyle.
• How Shmulik describes Argyle today.
• Their core competency and how they embed their experience.
• How they customize their offering depending on the use case.
• How they handle people with disparate income sources.
• The challenge of connecting to tens of thousands of payroll systems.
• The percentage of the workforce they cover.
• How they work with payroll-linked lending.
• Why mortgage lending is the holy grail for income verification.
• How their direct deposit switching offering works.
• How they work with the gig economy vertical.
• How traditional banks are learning from new digital banks.
• What it means today to be a modern lender.
• The best practices when it comes to automated underwriting.
• What the movement towards instant payouts means for funding of loans.
• What is coming down the pipe at Argyle.

Connect with Shmulik on LinkedIn
Connect with Argyle on LinkedIn

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One of the hottest areas of fintech today is anti-fraud. It has never been more challenging to stop fraudsters and for most fintechs this is not a core competency. Thankfully, new companies are arriving on the scene with deep experience to help fintechs combat the increasing fraud threats.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Soups Ranjan, the CEO and Co-Founder of Sardine. They have combined risk, compliance, and payment protection into one platform and they have started in the most challenging of all sectors when it comes to fraud: crypto. And they are about to move into mainstream fintech later this year.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of Sardine.
• Why they called the company Sardine.
• The biggest fraud and compliance challenges today in fintech.
• The different types of scams that are most popular today.
• Why combatting social engineering is all about education.
• What Sardine does exactly.
• How they are using behavioral biometrics.
• The three different products they offer.
• Where the most fraud is coming from today.
• How they are preparing for a world of real-time payments.
• Details of the new consortium they are getting ready to launch.
• How they are leveraging the expertise from the big name VCs on their board.
• What is next for Sardine.

Connect with Soups on LinkedIn
Connect with Sardine on LinkedIn

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When an immigrant first arrives in the U.S. they face a myriad of challenges. One of those core challenges is getting a bank account and becoming part of the financial system. Traditional banks find it very difficult to deal with these populations so, not surprisingly, fintech has come to fill in the gap.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Magnus Larsson, the CEO and co-founder of MAJORITY. It is a fintech company founded by immigrants for immigrants that offers an all-in-one mobile banking solution tailored for new arrivals in this country. As you will find out they are offering far more than just a bank account.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of MAJORITY.
• Why Magnus moved back to the US.
• The mistake that big brands make when dealing with immigrants.
• Why traditional banks find it so hard to serve immigrants.
• MAJORITY's core product offerings.
• Why they work hard to build a community as well as a digital app.
• How they customize their products to serve each country's diaspora.
• Why they have opened physical locations in select cities.
• How they can open bank accounts without a social security number.
• Why they spent so much time choosing their bank partners.
• Details about their bank partnerships.
• The key to success as a niche digital bank.
• What it was like raising equity capital in 2022.
• The scale that MAJORITY is at today.
• Where they are on the journey to profitability.
• Their different sources of revenue.
• Magnus's vision for MAJORITY.

Connect with Magnus on LinkedIn
Connect with Magnus on Twitter
Connect with MAJORITY on LinkedIn

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