Fintech Business Podcast Fintech Recap: Open Banking's Fee Fight
Oct 1, 2025
Join fintech expert Alex Johnson, creator of the Fintech Takes newsletter, as he dives into the latest happenings in open banking. They explore Plaid's surprising deal with JPMorgan Chase and its implications for the industry. The ongoing FBI investigation into Evolve Bank & Trust and potential missing funds raises critical questions. Alex also discusses FICO's evolution into AI and its new language models. The conversation wraps up with a look at Tether's massive fundraising efforts and what it could mean for the market.
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Transcript
Episode notes
Plaid Ate Fees To Buy Time
- Plaid likely negotiated to reduce regulatory and commercial risk ahead of an IPO and CFPB rulemaking.
- Eating fees now buys time but likely shifts costs or renegotiations to future contract renewals.
CFPB Rulemaking Faces No Good Options
- The CFPB rulemaking faces impossible trade-offs: ban fees, and banks sue; permit fees, and aggregators protest.
- Regulators may default to letting market power shape outcomes because any rule invites litigation.
Reevaluate Pay-By-Bank Economics
- If you build pay-by-bank products, reassess unit economics against new Chase pricing.
- Reframe product value beyond cost-savings because API fees make price a weaker competitive claim.