American Banker Podcast

American Banker reporter Brian Eha shares stories and thoughts from his new book, "How Money Got Free: Bitcoin and the Fight for the Future of Finance," and two fintech leaders explain why Charlotte is destined to be the next big fintech hub.

A new survey finds that 14% of small and medium-size businesses switched banks last year and 18% are considering switching this year. Having an appealing mobile app is critical to keeping small business owners happy, according to Doug Brown, senior vice president of FIS. He explains why, and also shares some of the study's observations about millennials.

There is no question that AI presents exciting new solutions and happy additions to our lives. But in order for us to truly take advantage and prepare for a future when cars are not privately owned and are self-driving, energy is green, abundant, and cheap, and robots replace workers at a dramatic rate, changing the nature of work forever. To talk about this future and how fundamental "fintech" principles are to it, Brett is hosting thought leaders – JoAnn Barefoot of Barefoot Innovation, Greg Cross of Soulmachines, and Tony Seba, Author of "Clean Disruption of Energy and Transportation"

David McLaughlin, founder and CEO of QuantaVerse, discusses how artificial intelligence can improve anti-money-laundering compliance; the problems of de-risking and "defensive filing" of suspicious activity reports; the Clearing House's proposal to reduce banks' AML costs; and more.

How do we get money to small businesses that make the economy work for most people around the world? What kind of systems do we need to create? And how do we make them flexible so multiple cultures can utilize them? Today, Sam Maule hosts Chris Rentner from Akouba Credit and Viola Lewellyn from Ovamba to discuss the different strategies they have created to help address the needs from small communities in North America to African Continent.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker sat down with American Banker to talk fintech, financial regulation and the economy.

MIT professor Maria Loumioti has studied loans made strictly using hard data and loans where a loan officer clearly was influenced by personal connections or feelings about a borrower. The results, which she shared with American Banker editors Bonnie McGeer and Penny Crosman, shed light on the value and limitations of "soft" information.

For a small island, Ireland has developed a massive tech scene. The Celtic Tiger of the 90s took a serious hit with the recession, but during that time it established itself as a useful hub for many tech companies to put down deep roots. As the global economy continues to recover and grow, Ireland's small but powerful tech community is fostering fintech growth. In this episode, Peter Oakes, founder of FintechIreland; Dave Anderson, head of consulting at Ammeon; Gene Murphy, innovation community manager at Bank of Ireland; and Tony Kelly, CTO of Deposify, join Breaking Banks to discuss the growth of fintech in Ireland and the new opportunities due to Brexit.

Andreas Dombret, the head of banking supervision for the German central bank, discusses how cooperation remains vital despite retrenchment in the U.S. and Europe, how blockchain changes banking, and the difference between the German and U.S. banking systems.

Many community bankers take a wait-and-see approach to blockchains — "I'll deal with it when it's real." But the technology requires major change in people and processes and smaller banks need to prepare, according to Joe Dewey, an attorney at Holland & Knight and author of a new book about blockchain technology.