The Free Toaster

Capital One recently shared their Q2 earnings.

Their marketing spend was $1.7B, up 23% year over year. Today, we dive into how Capital One used that budget and the implications for marketers in lending.

Carlos & Nick expand on the coverage in this week's Newsletter Edition. 

https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/5-things-marketers-should-draw-from

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Are you a leader at a consumer lender or publisher!?

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, Prism Data, Tare.io, and EXL

The Exploratorium

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Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1, increasing to $1499 August 2nd

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The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

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Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

Bulldog Media Group:

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

Recently, Carlos sat on the LendAPI Podcast with Tim Li to discuss the Summit he's organizing on September 23rd in San Francisco.

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The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders & Publishers

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, Prism Data, Tare.io, and EXL

San Francisco - September 23rd & 24th

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1

Samsung & Barclays just shipped a co-brand card. The economics (3% on everything you buy through the Samsung Wallet) are rich. Even better than the Apple Card!

Today, Carlos & Nick expand on the coverage in this week's Newsletter Edition.

Are you a leader at a consumer lender or publisher!?

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, and Prism Data

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1, increasing to $1499 August 2nd

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Please Support Our Sponsors

Bulldog Media Group:

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

Carlos & Nick discuss this week’s story - “Oportun and Column Announce New Lending Partnership to Expand Access to Responsible Credit.”

At first glance, not that exciting. Just a new partner bank.

Then we dug into the filings and found something strange: for the past nine months, Oportun had a bank partner that wouldn’t hold a single one of its new loans. Pathward originated them, and Oportun bought back 100%. Meanwhile, a growing acquisition machine in consumer lending (referrals in Q1 2025 up 352% year over year) sat idling with nowhere to run.

This is why the Column deal is more than a routine bank partner transaction. It might be the moment Oportun’s marketing team finally got the green light.

Today’s Pod expands on coverage from this week’s Newsletter:

******

Come meet Carlos & Nick in San Francisco!

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, and Prism Data

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1, increasing to $1499 August 2nd

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

Bulldog Media Group:

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

Search is often just 10% of a lender's marketing mix — but Ross Cohen makes the case that it's the most powerful channel for experimentation and the best "shock absorber" when direct mail or affiliates come up short.

Ross, an advisory partner at Arica Consulting with 20+ years running search across Capital One, New York Life, FrontPoint, and Greenlight, has evaluated search agencies from every angle — client, operator, founder, and agency owner. In this deep-dive with Carlos, he shares the exact questions a non-technical CMO can ask to separate the pros from the pretenders.

We cover:

This conversation is practical, in-the-weeds, and refreshingly honest.

Find Ross at recohen.com or on LinkedIn

******

Come meet Carlos in San Francisco!

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, and Prism Data

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Bulldog Media Group:

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

On July 13th 2026, Carlos spoke on a panel moderated by Danielle Lauzon (Fintel Connect) with Amanda Share (Pagaya), and John Hanley (Idaho First Bank). 

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Fintel Connect's Danielle Lauzon hosts a panel unpacking findings from a Cornerstone Advisors survey of 126 senior bank and credit union marketing execs — most of whom struggle to connect marketing spend to measurable outcomes, yet keep funding the channels that merely look best in reporting.

Joining the conversation:

Topics covered: why CPA and cost-per-lead mislead budget decisions, the shared-leads horror story that turned a channel toxic, why lending dashboards need credit dimensions, direct mail's chronic undervaluation, and the case for fintechs investing in brand marketing.

******

Come meet Carlos & Nick in San Francisco!

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, and Prism Data

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

Bulldog Media Group:

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

Klarna just filed to become a bank. They're the ninth major fintech since December, joining Affirm, PayPal, Upstart, Revolut, Bunq, Mission Lane, and OppFi. The OCC saw 18 de novo applications in 2025, nearly matching the previous four years combined.

Carlos and Nick break down why everyone is running for the regulatory door: cheaper funding through insured deposits, control without a sponsor bank in the middle, and a political window that may not stay open.

They dig into the Klarna paradox. The company tells investors it's a spend-centric business, yet Morgan Stanley notes nearly all incremental profit comes from lending. Which one is the charter for?

Plus: what a deposit-funded fintech tier means for subprime cards, Mission Lane's filing, and who files next (Chime, anyone?).

Newsletter version of this story:

Come meet Carlos & Nick in San Francisco!

Sponsored by Experian, Engine by Gen, and Prism Data

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

Bulldog Media Group:

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

In this solo News Pod episode, Carlos unpacks the story underneath Lending Club’s recent rebrand to Happen Bank.

The Exploratorium

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Bulldog Media Group:

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=july

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)

Carlos sits with Megan Bauer, Head Of Customer Success at Spinwheel, to discuss affiliate marketing & business lessons learned playing poker.

Nick and Carlos discuss an Editorial piece recently published in The Free Toaster Newsletter

The premise of the conversation -- an LLM-based personal finance tool is going to be the most effective/useful way for consumers to shop for cards and lending products.

150-person, curated room

Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1

*****

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com, curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology.

Spinwheel:

Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo!

https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june

Fintel Connect

Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine.

https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast

Bulldog Media Group:

New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency)