Fintech One•On•One Sam Lewis, CEO of Fruitful, with a new approach to financial advice
In this episode, we are talking personal financial management, but with a human twist. Sam Lewis is the CEO and Founder of Fruitful, a fintech company reimagining financial advice for millennials and Gen Z. Fruitful offers a $98 monthly membership that combines certified financial planners (actual humans) with AI-powered technology to create personalized "money systems" that automatically allocate incoming funds across bills, spending, and goals. Lewis discusses his background at Mastercard and how he witnessed traditional banks underserving younger customers, leading him to launch Fruitful in 2023.
The conversation explores Fruitful's unique approach of maintaining human advisors rather than going fully AI-driven, their focus on "income allocation" over "asset allocation," and their transparent pricing model that forgoes hidden fees and even interchange revenue. Lewis explains how the platform serves mass affluent members who want to automate their financial lives while maintaining the human touch for trust and emotional connection in money management decisions.
In this podcast you will learn:
- The big gap that Sam saw when it came to financial advice.
- The core product offering of Fruitful and what people get for $98/month.
- How their Certified Financial Planners (CFP) help their members build a money system.
- The suite of financial products that is included.
- Who they are working with on the banking side and why it is such an important relationship.
- Why they decided to have a human in the loop to help guide people through this.
- How Sam thinks about AI and its role in helping their members.
- What happens after the money system is set up.
- Who comes to Fruitful for help and what they are looking for.
- How they are getting new customers in the door.
- How they help their members with their investments.
- Why they have decided not pursue any other revenue streams beyond the monthly fee.
- How Sam is thinking about adding complementary financial products.
- What they are focused on for the next 12-18 months.
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