IPA Payments Pod

Nearly everything in a physical wallet can be put into a digital wallet. For a long time, the one exception was your driver’s license, but that may soon change.  

Apple has struck deals with a number of states to put licenses into iPhones. In this episode, Jason Mikula, the publisher of Fintech Business Weekly, talks about what he found when he reviewed the deals and how they look nearly identical from state to state and give Apple much of the control over the programs. The company has said on its iOS 15 Web site that it will launch a driver’s license or ID feature in 2022.  

We discuss the pros and cons of digital driver’s licenses and of private companies getting into what was once purely a government domain.  

You can find Jason on Twitter at @mikulaja and subscribe to his newsletter at: Fintech Business Weekly | Jason Mikula | Substack.   

One challenge of banking with a digital-only bank is making cash deposits. With no branches, it can be tough on a consumer who wants to make cash available for digital spending.

Visa has been doing this for years for prepaid card holders by allowing them to make cash deposits at retailers and ATMs through its ReadyLink Network. Now, the company has expanded that access to debit programs, providing an opportunity for neobanks, other fintechs, and even traditional financial institutions potentially to offer deposit capabilities at a broad range of locations.

In this episode, Lauren Fulmer, the director of U.S. Prepaid Product at Visa, talks about how the network works and what the future might hold now that it has expanded beyond prepaid cards.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a new director, and the Biden Administration has nominated a new Comptroller of the Currency. These two agencies regulate large swaths of financial services. With the appointments, the industry likely will see a change in both the kinds of regulations that will be promulgated and the tone of interactions with the regulators.  

In this episode, we talk with Brian Tate, the CEO of the Innovative Payments Association, about what these changes might mean and how the industry can prepare.  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a new director, and the Biden Administration has nominated a new Comptroller of the Currency. These two agencies regulate large swaths of financial services.  With the appointments, the industry likely will see a change in both the kinds of regulations that will be promulgated and the tone of interactions with the regulators.  

In this episode, we talk with Brian Tate, the CEO of the Innovative Payments Association, about what these changes might mean and how the industry can prepare.  

"Cyrpto" is a term applied to a broad range of products and services from digital currencies, to blockchains, to new forms of contracts and art called Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs. In this episode we talk with long time crypto-journalist Bailey Reutzel about how all of these things work and where they fit into the world of payments.

We talk about the history of bitcoin and whether or not it will ever become a true currency. We cover whether or not blockchains are as useful as they seem, and we look at what NFTs are and how they can be used.

The way companies pay workers has fallen out of step with their financial needs, and Comdata is looking to fix that with its Fintwist Payroll product.  

In this episode, we talk with Brian Radin, the president of Comdata’s prepaid business about how the company has adapted its payroll business to meet the changes brought on by long-term trends and the acute problems that some companies are facing in the wake of the COVID19 Pandemic.  

Recognizing the companies are having a hard time recruiting and retaining, Comdata wanted to provide them with a product that would appeal to employees having a tough time managing their finances. By offering earned wage access and financial information in conjunction with a no fee account, they hope to make payroll a way for the companies to stand out in recruitment.  

To learn more about Fintwist, visit its Web site at Fintwist - Superior Workforce Payment Solutions (fintwistsolutions.com) 

Summer may be winding down, but with the return of Congress, the regulatory season will soon be in full swing. With agency heads to be appointed and confirms, lawsuits making their way through the courts, and talk of reopening regulations like those created for the Durbin Amendment, things will get busy in Washington and beyond. 

In this episode, the IPA’s CEO Brian Tate breaks down some of the currents that will drive all of this activity.  

To learn more and to keep up with the trends driving payments regulation, visit our Web site: Innovative Payments Association

Hackers, regulators, and customers can all turn gathering data into a liability for financial services companies. The risks grow with the volume, variety, and velocity of data – all of which are increasing in our digitized society.  

The big challenge with all this data is how can it help businesses solve problems? Adwait Joshi founded DataSeers to build tools to answer this question for banks and Fintechs. In this episode, we discuss the promise and peril of data and how the flows of data will affect the future of regulation and the industry itself in the years to come.  

To learn more about DataSeers, you can visit their Web site at: An AI Solution for Banking and Payments - FinanSeer® (dataseers.ai). 

In the brave new world financial services, there are opportunities for both innovative companies and traditional banks, but they need to understand one another if they want to thrive, says Joyce Mehlman, the founder of iLex Consulting Group.  

Fintechs need to understand the difference and relative value of Banking as a Service versus a direct issuer model of working with banks. Traditional banks need to understand where Fintechs offer more in terms opportunities than competition, she says.  

We also discussed how the latest group of Fintechs and their founders are different in that they are more focused on building a business long-term than they are in building up a company that can be sold.  

Banks and Fintechs may need to re-evaluate their relationships depending on what advice the regulators decide to give them. Looking to keep up with the times, on July 13 the federal bank regulatory agencies (FDIC, Federal Reserve, and OCC) requested public comment on proposed guidance designed to help banking organizations manage risks associated with third-party relationships such as Fintechs.  

In this episode, we talk with Brian Tate, the IPA’s CEO, Grant Hannah, the government relations director, and Eli Rosenberg from Baird Holm, about what the changes might mean, how the industry can respond, and where this fits into the big picture of regulation.  

You can find the proposed guidance here.