Happy New Year! I'm in Tallinn, hopefully showing my South African nieces some snow, though this winter is staying stubbornly mild. Anyway, that's not why you're here. The flipping over of the calendar is also a great time to think of the year ahead, and the trends that might shape it - and that's exactly what I did with David Silverstein, founder and CEO of Ned, whose 'Beyond the Breaking Point' report describes how lenders are looking to navigate volatility and rebuild for 2026.

Built for growth. Powered by cash flow. Ned's white-label platform transforms real-time financial data into faster credit decisions, smarter portfolio management, and more transparent borrower experiences. You can find them at home online at https://www.nedhelps.com/

David is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-silverstein-b904a27b/ (or https://www.linkedin.com/company/nedhelps/)

I'm there, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/

Please also follow, share, and talk about the show using https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers/

Friends of the show include:

https://www.ogmara.com/ (customised risk management and analytic consulting)

https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs)

https://flatwhiteorfoff.com/ (ask for anything other than a flat white, the answer is in the name)

https://www.joinhumoni.com/ (helping international students find accommodation, work, and financial services on day one)

https://www.haboomoney.com/ (making collections personalised, flexible and intelligent)

https://beetlesense.ai (AI-powered day one pest detection for forestry)

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"We live in a world where AI is transforming everything, but the real opportunity isn’t in automation: it’s in reimagining systems around people." In today's episode, I'm speaking to Dr Diederick van Thiel, fintech entrepreneur, executive, academic, and, most recently, author of Brilliant Data, a call to leaders, innovators, and policymakers to create intelligent systems that don’t just think quickly, but also care deeply. "The future doesn’t belong to those with the most data. It belongs to those who understand it".

Oh, and because Dr van Thiel is a fintech founder, too, we also discuss a range of other topics, including how AdviceRobo's personality-based credit scoring can open up new sectors and thus approve more loans than traditional methods.

AdviceRobo is at https://advicerobo.ai/ and at https://www.linkedin.com/company/advicerobofixingglobalcredit/

Find links to the book at https://advicerobo.ai/brilliant-data/ (or via my featured book page https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads)

Connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/

As is the show, please follow its page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers/ (once you have followed, look for the circle with the three dots in the header section, click that and then 'invite connections' and invite any of your colleagues who you think might like the content

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Data analytics is no longer an isolated and arcane backroom activity to be understood by only a handful of geeks, it's at the core of every successful lending business.

For those of us that have grown up in data science, that's great news, but that rising prominence also means that a new audience must now come to terms with the implications of machine learning versus logistic regression scores, with gini coefficients and information values and bins and weights, etc. And that new audience is an important one: the Board.

Marlize Buys started her career getting hands-on with credit scorecards, then she helped to build a lending business of her own, and now she is advising the boards of major banks with that particular transition.

Marlize has been so busy optimising lending businesses that she hasn't quite got her website up and running, but Most Probably is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/most-probably/

Or you can speak to her directly https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlizebuys/

I'm on LinkedIn, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/

As is the show, please follow its page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers/ (once you have followed, look for the circle with the three dots in the header section, click that and then 'invite connections' and invite any of your colleagues who you think might like the content

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We typically explain SME under lending as a supply gap: staid banks don't want to, or simply don't know how to, lend to new-fangled businesses. And to some extent, that is true, but there is also a demand gap. "There is a lack of knowledge, confidence, and trust when it comes to seeking growth capital through loans. While many founders hesitate to borrow, nearly 60% abandon loan applications midway, citing fear of rejection or complex terms".

This "confidence gap" - and how Juice's Smart Growth Capital - is what I'm discussing today with Katherine Chan.

You can get Juice (or just read more about them) at https://www.getmejuice.com/ (head on over to their Growth Hub for some great content https://www.getmejuice.com/growth-hub/growth-hub)

Meanwhile, Katherine is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chankatherine00/

I'm on LinkedIn, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/

As is the show, please follow its page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers/ (once you have followed, look for the circle with the three dots in the ehader section, click that and then 'invite connections' and invite any of your colleagues who you think might like the content

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For a long time now, the prevailing narrative has been branch versus phone, and phone has been winning. But there is another option, branch and phone, or rather branch in phone, and it gives us the best of both worlds plus a few fresh advantages to boot.

Connect with Albert on LinkedIn using https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-howard-mb/

And while you're there, stay up to date with the Mini Branch story at https://www.linkedin.com/company/minibranch/

Or jump straight to their homepage at https://www.minibranch.com/

I'm on LinkedIn, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/

As is the show, please follow its page at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers/ (once you have followed, look for the circle with the three dots in the ehader section, click that and then 'invite connections' and invite any of your colleagues who you think might like the content

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While it is true that our mistakes are a great source of learning, it is also true that they can be a very expensive source of learning. This is particularly true when it comes to credit, where human nature and compound interest mean that many of us first learn about the true mechanics of credit when collections are on the phone and our debts have ballooned. Luckily, Latreace Sankey-Wells, with help from the team at Experian, is making sure that the students at Fisk University are better equipped than that.

In this episode, we chat about the importance and impact of consumer education, especially for young consumers.

Our discussion was inspired by Latreace's OpEd for American Banker, which you can read here: https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/banks-need-to-be-more-proactive-in-promoting-youth-financial-literacy

Rod's broader work can be followed, most easily, over here https://www.experian.com/blogs/news/about/creditchat/

You can find Latreace on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/latreacewells/

Rod is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodgriffin1/

And I'm there, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Agricultural loans offer a unique combination of high collateral and EU subsidies – in a crisis-resistant sector. Lande gives us exclusive access to these loans, and this week I'm speaking to the founder, Nikita Goncars.

Meet Nikita on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikita-goncars-lande/

Or jump straight to Lande's homepage at https://lande.finance/

BadIdeas.fund is at, you guessed it, https://www.badideas.fund/ and Fintech Latvian is at https://fla.lv/

You can find me on LinkedIn, too, of course, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/ Follow the show, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People don't want mortgages; they want houses, and mortgages are just the unavoidable, often overly-complicated means to that end. Scott Baker understands this, and has embedded it into the very fabric of Toast.

Join us as we talk about Scott's journey from retail to finance, the state of the Australian mortgage landscape, and how he built Toast to help consumers dream big and plan bigger.

Toast is online at https://www.toastfinance.com.au/

It is also on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/toast-finance/

Or jump straight to Scott at https://www.instagram.com/scott_thebroker_baker/ or https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottybaker/

And you can find me on LinkedIn, too, of course, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/ Follow the show, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re increasingly seeing collaboration between cybercrime, fraud, organised crime and money laundering. Organisations face mounting challenges in protecting their digital infrastructure and customers from fraudulent activities - and this is true in developed and developing markets. Developed countries tend to have more developed risk controls, but they remain attractive to fraudsters because of the scale of opportunity they represent - more work for frausters, yes, but more reward. Developing countries, on the other hand, typically have less robust digital ecosystems but they have the perfect opportunity to leapfrog into a secure and trusted new online world.

In today's episode, I find out how Rob Meakin and his Fraud and Identity team at CreditInfo are helping lenders adjust.

You can start your CreditInfo journey over at https://creditinfo.com/# and jump from there to the market that you're most interested in, or find the study we speak about right here: https://chronicle.creditinfo.com/2025/04/22/the-importance-of-trust-in-digital-interactions-the-cornerstone-of-a-digital-economy/

You can find Rob on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robmeakin/

And you can find me there, too, of course, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/ Folloe the show, too, at https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Corporate cards, payments, accounting, and credit for growing businesses in 25+ countries - there's a lot to cover today, and then we also chat about Brazzilion fintech and Guga's impressive career!

If you're in Mexico as this comes out, I think you can still catch the Jeeves team at Mexico Tech week (https://www.mexicotechweek.mx/). If not, you can try Jeeves over at https://www.tryjeeves.com/br (or for any of the other 6 regions by removing the extension, but you all know how the internet works)

You can find Guga (Gustavo) on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gorenstein/ or Jeeves at https://www.linkedin.com/company/tryjeeves

I'm on LinkedIn, too, of course, at https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/ as is the show https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-strangers

You can support the show by buying one of my guests via the affiliate links on my site (it doesn't cost you anything extra): https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/recommended-reads

Commercial partners include (when you click one of these affiliate links, I earn a small commission but you won't pay a cent more)

ProtonVPN Browse privately with a community-owned secure VPN that safeguards your privacy. https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=26&aff_id=12767

Ogma Risk & Analytics: Customized risk management and analytic consulting for you https://www.ogmara.com/?utm_source=HTLMTS&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=OGMA+intro&utm_id=2501

Friends of the show include: https://www.ontap.co.za/pages/hoedspruit-store-details (for all your Hoedspruit-based bathroom needs), https://www.joinhumoni.com, https://www.haboomoney.com/, and https://beetlesense.ai

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which looks at the intersection between human senses and technology

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.