Fintech Recap

This month, Alex Johnson and I had the chance to talk about:

* Current launched a credit-building secured charge card. While it features a neat bit of engineering, it may face some of the same limitations and challenges of other offerings in the space.

* Plaid announces (well, sort of?) payroll API partnerships with Pinwheel and Atomic — what to make of the news?

* Lineage Bank’s rapid, BaaS-powered growth may be a cautionary tale; Fed warns Goldman on BaaS compliance risks

* Roger, a neobank for military recruits, launches

* and, as always, what Alex and Jason just can’t let go of

(I’m testing adding an automated transcript to this post — let me know if you like it, hate it, or otherwise have thoughts on this addition!)

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Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you this very special episode of Fintech Recap. We had the honor of sitting down with Mark Gould, the Chief Payments Executive for Federal Reserve Financial Services.

For context, we recorded this episode in mid-July, on the eve of the launch of FedNow. We had the chance to hear from Mark on:

* Mark’s background and 30+ year career at the Federal Reserve

* More than interest rate policy: The Fed’s Federal Reserve Financial Services group, which is responsible for payments products like cash, ACH, wires — and FedNow

* The creation and launch of FedNow, including potential uses cases and possible impacts on other payment methods

* How Mark thinks about defining “success” for FedNow

* and much, much more!

Many thanks to Mark and his team for taking the time to sit down and speak with Alex and me on the future of US payments!

Existing subscriber? Please consider supporting this newsletter by upgrading to a paid subscription. New here? Subscribe to get Fintech Business Weekly each Sunday:

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto.

This month, we had the chance to talk about:

* FedNow finally launched — now what?

* Block sues Visa and Mastercard over interchange rates, Visa CEO bashes merchant surcharges, and “Durbin 2.0”

* Mastercard tells payment processors to cease working with cannabis merchants

* Worldcoin, Sam Altman’s vaguely dystopian global ID/crypto project, goes live

* And, as always, what Alex and Jason just can’t let go of

Existing subscriber? Please consider supporting this newsletter by upgrading to a paid subscription. New here? Subscribe to get Fintech Business Weekly each Sunday:

Hey all, Jason here.

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are back! Congrats to Alex on the new addition to his family.

We’re happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly(ish) podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto.

This month, we had the chance to talk about:

* Goldman’s shrinking consumer ambitions, amid rumors it is in talks with American Express to take over its Apple partnership

* Fraud consortiums are SO on trend right now: Plaid’s Beacon, Unit21’s Fraud DAO & SardineX

* Fintech M&A: X1 and Robinhood, FIS and Bond, and others

* and, as always, what Alex and Jason just can’t let go of

Existing subscriber? Please consider supporting this newsletter by upgrading to a paid subscription. New here? Subscribe to get Fintech Business Weekly each Sunday:

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto.

This month, we had the chance to talk about:

* In case you didn’t hear… Apple launched a high-yield savings feature!

* Dutch neobank Dutch, profitable in European market, applies for a US charter

* Plaid offers “Instant Payouts” through TCH RTP integration

* as always, what Jason & Alex just can’t let go of

* and… windmills?

Existing subscriber? Please consider supporting this newsletter by upgrading to a paid subscription. New here? Subscribe to get Fintech Business Weekly each Sunday:

Hey all, Jason here.

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you a very special episode of Fintech Recap — live from Fintech Meetup in Las Vegas. We were joined by Jon Lear, President & co-founder of the event.

We had the chance to discuss:

* Key takeaways & what we heard around the conference

* Yes, SVB — I know everyone’s tired of discussing it, but we had to!

* EU BaaS companies also facing regulatory scrutiny

* Cash App’s “World”wide ambitions

* and, what Alex & I just couldn’t let go of!

Huge thank you & congrats to Jon and the entire Fintech Meetup team on putting together an amazing event — I’ve already marked my calendar for next year’s.

Existing subscriber? Please consider supporting this newsletter by upgrading to a paid subscription. New here? Subscribe to get Fintech Business Weekly each Sunday:

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you a very special episode of Fintech Recap with special guests Matt Janiga and Reggie Young.

This month, we focused on the theme of competition in discussing:

* Durbin amendment, interchange, debit routing & neobanks

* Account-to-account payments

* Fintech infrastructure & the Bank Service Company Act

* Our picks for top regulator and industry participant we’d each want to have dinner with

* and more!

This month, we had the chance to talk about:

* It’s quarterly earnings season and it’s been brutal for some companies. Alex and I unpack Affirm’s rough quarterly earnings report.

* Apple is getting ready to launch Apple Pay Later. What we know and what we’ll be watching for when it’s live.

* Regulators across the banking and securities spectrum have ramped up their attention to crypto. Is this the industry’s “Dodd-Frank moment”?

* and what Alex & Jason just can’t let go of!

Existing subscriber? Please consider supporting this newsletter by upgrading to a paid subscription. New here? Subscribe to get Fintech Business Weekly each Sunday:

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto.

This month, we had the chance to talk about:

* Revolut teases a new “Ultra” paid tier — but will people pay for it?

* Chime is getting state licenses in a sign it may start lending soon

* Robinhood is launching a media business

* Capital One eliminates its “agile” job family, lays off 1,100 technologists

* and what Alex & Jason just can’t let go of!

Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, and I are happy to bring you the latest episode of our monthly podcast, Fintech Recap, where we unpack some of the biggest stories in fintech, banking, and crypto.

This month, we had the chance to talk about:

-Goldman Sachs’ dismantling of Marcus

-ZELF & Twig: is this the banking Gen Z wants (or are Alex and Jason just too old to get it?)

-Fallout for banks that went all-in on crypto

-2023 predictions

-and, as always, what Alex & I just can’t let go of!