Welcome back to our Engineering the SMB Capital Stack, sponsored by our friends at Fundbox.

In this four-part series, we’re exploring small businesses, small business lending, and the forces shaping how small businesses access capital. I’m joined by Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox, as cohost.

In Episode 4 (our finale!), we turn to the role of banks (and how they fit into an increasingly unbundled lending ecosystem), and what collaboration between banks and fintechs really looks like in 2025.

To unpack it all, we’re joined by Jackie Reses, CEO of Lead Bank (and former Head of Square Capital, a pioneer in embedded capital for SMBs, particularly for B2C SMBs).

Highlights include:

How Square Capital redefined micro-lending, serving millions of U.S. businesses under traditional bank thresholds

Why embedding loans in software (not branches) rewrote the risk model for SMB credit

The rise of unbundled lending: fintechs, balance-sheet partners, and the capital markets “maturity curve”

How banks like Lead are re-bundling infrastructure to power fintech lending safely and at scale

The regulatory horizon (from agentic commerce to stablecoins and the next wave of small-business oversight)

From unserved salon owners to national infrastructure shifts, Jackie reminds us why access to capital is still deeply human, and why technology wins when it’s built with empathy for the entrepreneur.

If you want to understand where banks truly fit in the future of SMB lending, this finale is essential listening.

This episode was brought to you by Fundbox. 

As a leading capital infrastructure provider behind the digital SMB economy, Fundbox is focused on enabling platforms to embed financial tools directly into their user experiences. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4o1cWVG

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And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.

Follow Alex: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

Follow Prashant:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuloria/

Follow Jackie:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-reses-938b7850/
Learn more about Fundbox here: https://bit.ly/4o1cWVG