Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller.

For US entrepreneurs, it was strange what was happening overseas. There wasn’t one but a handful of challenger banks launching that were changing the entire banking experience. Singup was quick — there was a buzz around their FX, lending, and spending products. But when you looked at what was happening domestic, well, the early neobanks hadn’t really caught on.

Novo’s Michael Rangel set out to change that. And instead of focusing on the consumer, he went after the business customer — a harder and more complicated route to take. Novo now has a business banking platform in market and is going up against some of the biggest banks in the US.

SMBs are underserved and we talk about the approach Novo is taking for building its product for such a fragmented market. Mike describes how the massive opportunity for SMB banking requires a platform approach. We also discuss the dichotomy between digital banking for consumers versus SMBs and how Novo plans to bridge that gap.

Michael Rangel is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

I’d like to thank our sponsor MX for supporting Tearsheet’s work. MX is the leading data platform for banks, credit unions and fintechs, enabling its clients and partners to easily collect, enhance, analyze, present and act on financial data.