Fintech One-On-One

The financial system has run on basically the same payments rails for the past several decades. But there is new infrastructure being built today that takes advantage of the unique capabilities of stablecoins. In some ways, the future is already here as Visa has processed several billion dollars in transactions that have been settled in stablecoins. But who will build the infrastructure needed for credit when we move to this new system?Today’s guest is Rhett Roberts, the CEO and Founder of LoanPro. I last had Rhett on the show back in 2021, and needless to say, a lot has changed since then. Part of Rhett’s thesis is that this talk around interest rate caps could actually be a catalyst to hasten a movement away from the traditional credit rails. And his company is already working on the systems and protocols to create a new credit infrastructure that runs on stablecoins.In this podcast you will learn:How LoanPro has evolved over the past five years.Why most fintechs are now moving into credit products.Why both banks and fintechs are using LoanPro to launch new credit products.Why the idea of an interest rate cap on credit cards is resonating today.What would happen if a 10% rate cap went into effect.Why this could be great news for BNPL and the other alternative lending products.Rhett’s thesis around stablecoins and the value proposition.The elephant in the room for a stablecoin payments network.How a line of credit backed by stablecoins could work in reality.Where the card networks will sit within this new system.How LoanPro is helping to create these processes and protocols.Where we will be in five years time with this new infrastructure.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Ryan Christiansen has had one of the more unusual career trajectories in fintech, from managing credit portfolios during the 2008 financial crisis to leading bank integrations at Finicity during the early days of open banking, helping launch the Financial Data Exchange, and then making an unexpected leap into academia as Executive Director of the Fintech Center at the University of Utah.In this conversation, Ryan explains why the Center takes a unique multidisciplinary approach spanning business, engineering, and law schools, and shares details about their new master's degree program launching this fall. We also dig into why Utah has quietly become one of the country's most important fintech hubs, with over $1 billion in fintech wages and $7 billion in economic impact. We also discuss the upcoming Fintech Xchange conference on February 4-6 in Salt Lake City, which has become a must-attend gathering for fintech and banking executives looking for substantive content and genuine networking opportunities.In this podcast you will learn:Ryan’s background building Finicity’s open banking platform.How and why he went from the corporate world to academia.The mission of the Fintech Center at the University of Utah.The programs the university offers in fintech for its students.Details of their Masters in Financial Technology program launching in the fall.Why the fintech scene in Utah is so robust.Why they decided to create their own event called Fintech Xchange.What makes Fintech Xchange different.What attendees can expect at Fintech Xchange this year.What is most exciting about the work he is doing at the Fintech Center.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Ben Borodach, Founder and CEO of april, delves into how his company is revolutionizing tax infrastructure. He explains the shift from annual tax filing to an integrated, real-time approach that can transform financial decision-making. Topics include the benefits of embedding tax services in banks and fintech platforms, the technical challenges of building a national tax engine, and how this modernized system can enhance user experience. Borodach’s insights reveal a future where tax considerations are seamlessly woven into everyday transactions.

Today, I sit down with Daren Guo, co-founder of Reap, the stablecoin infrastructure company and the world's largest stablecoin card issuer, processing over $6 billion annually. Daren shares his journey from being employee #90 at Stripe to building the next generation of financial rails based on stablecoin infrastructure, serving everyone from neobanks in Brazil and Africa to traditional financial institutions expanding globally.The conversation explores why stablecoins represent more than just faster cross-border payments, they are the foundation for a fully tokenized economy where FX, bonds, equities, and real estate all move on-chain. Daren discusses Reap's recent MPI license in Singapore, their expansion into the US market, and how programmable money enables entirely new financial products like payroll streaming and on-chain escrow that simply weren't possible with legacy infrastructure.In this podcast you will learn:Daren’s background setting up Stripe’s Asia business.Why he decided to leave Stripe to start his own company.Their initial product vision.His thesis around stablecoins and why they represent the future of payments.Why they decided to start with stablecoin-powered credit card infrastructure.Where they are a Visa Principal member and the markets they serve.The types of companies that Reap is working with today.How the flow of funds work for users of Reap’s credit card.Who is providing the stablecoin collateral.Reap’s expansion plans for the US market.Why they applied for a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license in Singapore.The product suite that they are working on right now.The scale that Reap is at today.How they are serving traditional firms as well as crypto-native companies.Daren’s vision for the next generation of money movement.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Darragh Buckley, CEO and co-founder of Increase, previously a key player at Stripe, dives into his journey of revolutionizing banking infrastructure. He shares insights from his time at Stripe, emphasizing the need to streamline tech and business complexities. The conversation highlights Increase's innovative direct connection to the Federal Reserve, its API-first approach, and impactful real-time payments stories. Darragh also discusses his vision for specialized community banks and the importance of embedding compliance into engineering.

Today's guest is Jason Lee, a fintech veteran who has been at the forefront of employee financial wellness innovation for nearly a decade. After co-founding and scaling DailyPay into one of the pioneering companies in earned wage access, Jason went on to launch Salt Labs, an innovative employee rewards platform that Chime acquired just 18 months after its founding. Now, as the leader of Chime Enterprise, Jason is on a mission to make financial health benefits as ubiquitous in the workplace as health insurance.In this conversation, we explore why he believes every employer will eventually offer these programs, not out of altruism, but because it makes compelling business sense. Jason shares fascinating insights about how financial stress undermines productivity, why employees value Salt's non-dollar rewards even more than cash, and his ambitious vision for building an employer-focused financial health platform that could parallel what Fidelity achieved in retirement. It's a conversation about the intersection of fintech, HR technology, and the future of work – and why the employer may be the most powerful catalyst for improving Americans' financial lives.In this podcast you will learn:Jason’s high profile background in fintech.The origins of Salt Labs and how they became part of Chime.The premise for Chime Workplace.Why they are fundamentally in the productivity business.How they are able to measure financial wellness outcomes.Why employers are caring more about the financial health of their employees today.Jason’s prediction for employers and financial wellness.The target market for Chime Workplace.What they hear when they first go into a new employer.Why they don’t charge employers for Chime Workplace.How their SALT rewards work.Jason's vision for the future of employer-driven financial wellness.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Today I'm delighted to be joined by Clive Kinross, CEO and co-founder of Propel Holdings. Propel is one of the most successful fintech lenders serving underbanked consumers, and what makes their story particularly compelling is how they've achieved it: profitably, almost from day one. Since founding the company 14 years ago with just $4 million in capital, Clive and his three co-founders, who are all still with the company, have built a business that now serves a market of 100 million consumers across the US, Canada, and the UK. The company went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2021 and has been the best-performing stock in its vintage.In our conversation, Clive shares how his background as a chartered accountant shaped his disciplined, unit economics-focused approach to building a lending business, how Propel uses AI to analyze over 80,000 applications daily and make credit decisions in six seconds, and why he believes the opportunity to serve underbanked consumers in developed economies has never been stronger.In this podcast you will learn:Why Clive decided to tackle credit for his second major business.How the company has evolved since its founding 14 years ago.The different brands they have in the US, Canada and UK markets.How their credit graduation programs work.The typical consumer coming to Propel for credit.How they differentiate themselves from others in the market.How their AI models work and the data they are feeding into these models.How Clive views the potential of AI throughout Propel’s business.Why he decided to take Propel public in 2021.How they were able to become a profitable fintech lender quickly and sustainably.What Clive is most excited about for the future of Propel.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Nubank co-founder Cristina Junquiera joins the podcast to discuss one of fintech's most remarkable success stories, from a Brazilian startup that had customers begging to get off the waitlist to a publicly traded company serving 127 million customers and reaching 60% of Brazilian adults.In this wide-ranging conversation, Cristina shares the origin story of how three founders from different countries came together to fight complexity in financial services, the challenges of conducting simultaneous IPOs in New York and Sao Paulo to give their customers access, and lessons from expanding into Mexico and Colombia. Most notably, she reveals why Nubank chose the massive US market as their fourth country, detailing their de novo bank charter application with the OCC and her relocation to Miami to lead the charge. Cristina also discusses Nubank's approach to digital assets, their partnership with OpenAI, and why she believes there's far more ahead for the company than behind it.In this podcast you will learn:How Cristina’s time at Brazil’s largest bank prepared her for Nubank.How she met David Velez, the CEO and co-founder.What she saw was missing in the Brazilian market.When they realized that they were on to something special with Nubank.What they had to change when they expanded into Brazil.How consumers use credit cards different from Brazil to Mexico and Colombia.Why they took on the added complexity and cost of allowing their retail customers to participate in their IPO.How becoming a public company has impacted their mission.With 60% of adults in Brazil, how Nubank can still grow in their home market.When they decided that the U.S. was going to be in their expansion plans.What they see as the opportunity for Nubank in the U.S.Why they decided to file a de novo bank charter application rather than acquire a bank.Nubank’s approach to digital assets.How they are partnering with OpenAI and their approach to AI in general.What Cris is most excited about for this new chapter for Nubank.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

In this special episode recorded live at Money2020 in Las Vegas, we dive deep into what I think is the most transformative development in lending over the past decade: cash flow underwriting. I welcome back to the show Jason Rosen, CEO and co-founder of Prism Data (I last had Jason on the show back in 2019 when he was with Petal), to explore how real-time bank account data is revolutionizing credit assessment in ways that traditional credit scores simply can't match.Jason explains why the financial disruptions of 2020, from pandemic relief to widespread job changes, exposed critical gaps in conventional credit reporting, and how cash flow underwriting is filling that void. The conversation covers the breakthrough adoption of this technology by major traditional banks, the limitations of FICO scores in capturing a complete financial picture, and why cash flow underwriting represents a once-in-a-century shift in how creditworthiness is measured.In this podcast you will learn:How Jason first got interested in cash flow underwriting.The origin story of Prism Data and how it was incubated inside Petal.How he describes Prism Data today.What goes into building their unique credit models.How their CashScore is created.What matters most in how they distill all the semi-structured data into a score.Why credit decisions are more intuitive when being made with cash flow underwriting.The lending categories where they are seeing the most rapid adoption.How smaller financial institutions can avoid being left behind.Jason’s view on why traditional credit models have become less predictive.How lenders are using cash flow underwriting in their application flow.How the friction in connecting a bank account is being reduced rapidly.The impact of the Chase-Plaid deal on cash flow underwriting.What sets Prism Data apart from the others in the cash flow underwriting space.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

In this episode, I sit down with Davi Strazza, who leads Adyen's business in North America. Davi brings a fascinating global perspective on payments, having spent over a decade at Adyen working across Brazil and now the US market. We dive into how Adyen's banking license, which they've held since 2021, fundamentally changes what they can offer to marketplaces, digital businesses, and SaaS companies that need to embed payments and finance into their platforms.Our conversation explores the competitive dynamics of the payments landscape, the future of stablecoins as a payment rail, and the five critical boxes that payment companies need to check to scale successfully. We also examine what American fintech can learn from Brazil's Pix system, discuss whether pay by bank will gain meaningful traction in the US, and look at how AI is transforming everything from personalized customer experiences to fraud prevention. For anyone interested in the infrastructure powering modern commerce, this is a must-listen conversation about what may be the most exciting time to be in payments.In this podcast you will learn:Davi’s journey in fintech from Brazil to here in North America.How he describes Adyen today.Why they decided to get their own banking licenses in the US, UK and EU.How the banking license helps make their payments business more attractive.What is driving their momentum in the US.What brands get by working with Adyen over the legacy payments platforms.Why they talk about “unified commerce” and what it means exactly.How Adyen is preparing for a world where agentic commerce is commonplace.Davi’s view on the future of stablecoins as a payment mechanism.Whether pay-by-bank has a future in this country.What the US can learn from the rapid adoption of Pix in Brazil.What he is most excited about for the future of payments.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes