Fintech One•On•One

The resources that consumer lenders have to work with today are better than ever before. Gone are the days when risk officers could just pull a bureau file and have access to the best data about a potential borrower. The credit infrastructure tools today are more sophisticated and predictive, allowing lenders to serve more borrowers without expanding their credit box.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Misha Esipov, the CEO and Co-Founder of Nova Credit. They are at the forefront of this movement to bring more and better data to lenders and have become one of the leading credit infrastructure companies. I last had Misha on the show back in 2017 when they were just a startup, so a lot has obviously changed since then.In this podcast you will learn:How Misha describes Nova Credit today.Why they decided to move beyond the Credit Passport product.The performance of the Credit Passport borrowers with American Express and others.How the Credit Passport works.The history of Cash Atlas and why they got into cash flow underwriting.The challenges of building a cash flow underwriting engine.What Income Navigator is and how it works.The different types of income they work with.Why they launched the Nova Credit back in March and why it is significant.The types of financial institutions they are focused on today.What is driving the new attention paid to alternative data.What they learned from their State of Alternative Data in Lending 2024 report.Some of the best practices in implementing cash flow underwriting.How lenders are using cash flow underwriting today.Why they decided to create the Cash Flow Underwriting Summit.What is on their roadmap for the next 12-18 months.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

There is a shift that is beginning to happen in financial services: using purchase history to provide more personalized offers from merchants. There is no richer data for advertisers than knowing how we actually spend our money. This is one of the reasons behind the huge growth of BNPL but today, there are some credit unions that are on the cutting edge of this trend.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is David Metz, the CEO and Founder or Prizeout. His company started in the gaming space as a way to give people bonuses for cashing out their money. But today, he is focused on financial services, particularly credit unions, where there are a number of use cases that is helping put real money back in people's pockets. This is a completely new application of ad tech for fintech but one that I see growing fast.In this podcast you will learn:The unusual founding story of Prizeout.How a potential bank acquisition led to their movement from gaming to fintech.How they are blending adtech and fintech.Why they decided to focus on credit unions.How JPMorgan has validated their data science thesis.The challenge of building a credit union or bank loyalty program.How their digital gift card program works.How sophisticated their technology is behind the scenes.Why they created a CUSO and how it has helped Prizeout.How they have expanded their cash back program with Cash Back Plus.The advantage that credit unions have in motivating their members to take action.How they are working with ZayZoon to supercharge earned wage access.How their expansion from gaming to financial services has helped with their purpose.David's vision for the future of Prizeout.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

The journey of the small business owner is often a lonely one. For many people, particularly first-time entrepreneurs, starting a small business can be overwhelming. But today, with the tools available, there has never been a better time to start a business. Having said that, most new small businesses don't make it to five years. What we need is a better support system for small business owners.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Carolyn Rodz, the CEO and Co-Founder of Hello Alice. She has thought deeply about the multifaceted challenges facing small business owners and has built a business around it. They now have a community of 1.5 million small businesses they support in a number of different ways.In this podcast you will learn:The frustration that led to the founding of Hello Alice.How they help small businesses improve the health of their business.What the 1.5 million small businesses they work with have in common.How their business credit cards, loans and grants programs work.Details of their enterprise partnerships and how that is helping business owners.What data goes in to determine their proprietary business health score.The primary concerns for small business owners today.How Hello Alice makes money.How they are riding the small business creation wave.What more we could be doing as a country to encourage small businesses.Why they decided to name their company Hello Alice.Her vision for Hello Alice.Connect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

It is a simple problem that every card issuer has. You have issued a credit or debit card to a new customer, so how do you get them to actually use it? More than that, how do you encourage this customer to make this new card their primary payment card.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Rory O'Reilly, the CEO and Co-Founder of Knot. He wrestled with that problem himself and decided to do something about it. His company has built API connectivity into most of the major merchants in this country, in a similar way Plaid built API connectivity into major banks. With this connectivity, any card issuer now has the capability to bring their card to the top of wallet.In this podcast you will learn:The a-ha moment that led to the idea for Knot.Their target market.How their technology works.How the card issuers decide what merchants to feature on Knot.Why card issuers are so excited about this.How card issuers implement Knot.The benefits for merchants to work with Knot.How they are working with BaaS platforms.The key to their go to market strategy.How they charge the issuers for their service.How Rory thinks about digital wallets and how they can work with Knot.Why they have not put much effort into pay by bank.Where they are today in terms of scale.Their scale goal for the next four years.The types of new products they are working on.Rory's vision for Knot.Connect with Rory on LinkedInConnect with Knot on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

I have made no secret of my affection for earned wage access (EWA) as a product. It has been growing rapidly, particularly the last couple of years, as more consumers realize what a great tool it is. There have been several different approaches to implementing EWA from the major players in the space but no one has approached it the same way as Clair.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Nico Simko, the CEO and Founder of Clair. While operating in a space without regulatory clarity, Clair has taken the most conservative approach. It also happens to be the approach with the most regulatory work to implement. It is somewhat controversial in EWA circles: considering these advances to be a loan.In this podcast you will learn:How Uber Money gave Nico the idea for the founding of Clair.The wedge he built that differentiated Clair from the start.How their product works from an employee experience.How they are able to get the workforce management apps involved.The maximum that employees are able to advance each pay period.Clair’s approach towards the regulatory uncertainty in the EWA space.Why they decided to create the legal structure to make their product a loan.Nico’s thoughts on the EWA bill that is working through Congress right now.Why they chose Pathward as their partner bank.What it will look like in ten years time for workers’ access to their wages.Some simple ideas that Nico is thinking about for better products for workers.What Clair is focused on the next 12-18 months.Connect with Nico on LinkedInConnect with Clair on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Jane Larimer, President and CEO of Nacha, discusses the origins and scale of the ACH network, the difference between Same Day ACH and standard ACH, the future of instant payments, and the educational resources available on the Nacha website. She also touches on fraud prevention, the impact of AI on payment systems, and the evolving landscape of payment processing.

[Editor's note: This interview was recorded on April 16, six days before the news of the Synapse bankruptcy and several weeks before any of the major problems that came to light at fintechs that were working with Synapse.]To say the banking-as-a-service space is having a moment is an understatement. But many banks have been doing this successfully for a number of years and have thriving partnerships with fintechs. One such bank is Pathward, formerly known as MetaBank.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Anthony Sharett. He is the President at Pathward, a position he has held since 2021. Pathward is one of the largest and most important banks in the fintech space, so I wanted to get him on the show at this critical time for the industry.In this podcast you will learn:How Anthony came to be at Pathward.The history of the company and the rebrand from Metabank to Pathward.Anthony's take on the state of banking-as-a-service today.Why the concept of middleware may not be dead yet.The services they offer and some of the fintechs they are working with.How they co-create new products with their fintech partners.How they have built their risk and compliance framework.How they manage the balance between creativity and compliance.Their status as far as taking on new fintech clients.What they are looking for in a new fintech.Anthony's advice to a startup fintech CEO today.What he thinks of the state of fintech innovation today.What the BaaS landscape will look like in 3-5 years.Connect with Anthony on LinkedInConnect with Pathward on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

When I think about the hottest areas in fintech these days identity verification is right at the top of the list. It impacts anyone doing business online so whether you are a bank or a fintech you need to stay on top of this fast-moving space.My next guest on the Fintech One on One podcast is Joel Sequeira, the Director of Product Management at IDology. Joel is an identity expert with a long history in the space and he talks about the new attack vectors that are in play today, particularly with Generative AI, and more importantly, what fintechs and banks can do to curtail fraud today.In this podcast you will learn:What Joel does exactly at IDology.The challenges for fintechs and banks in automating customer onboarding.How to incorporate automation and AI into your strategy.The role of human-supervised AI and how to maintain compliance.What he means by onboarding with inclusive customer journeys.How they define advanced identity verification.The different data sources that IDology works with.Why it is important to have deep data in different sectors.Some of the differences between KYC and KYB (Know Your Business).Examples of how Generative AI is being used to commit fraud.The trends that Joel is paying closest attention to.How fintechs and banks can future-proof their identity verification.Connect with Joel on LinkedInConnect with IDology on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

In the early days of the online lending space, when it came to institutional capital, one name seemed to be in more deals than any other: Victory Park Capital. And while the industry has matured a great deal since then, in no small part thanks to the capital invested by Victory Park, their thesis remains the same: lend money where banks won't.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Brendan Carroll, Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Victory Park. I am so pleased to finally get Brendan on the show after first inviting him many years ago. They have a great story to tell and they continue to fuel the growth of private credit, providing capital to a wide variety of different lenders.In this podcast you will learn:The founding story of Victory Park Capital.Their fortunate timing of the closing of their first institutional fund.What they saw as the opportunity in the early days of the online lending space.Why they pulled out of the peer-to-peer lending platforms fairly quickly.How they are able to get comfortable investing with new lending platforms.What types of lenders they are working with today and the regions they operate.Why businesses are staying with Victory Park a bit longer today.Why their check sizes are higher today than five years ago.The niche of consumer finance they are most bullish on today.How the equity funding pullback has impacted their business.How lenders can set themselves for success and get a deal with Victory Park done.Brendan's views on the future of asset-back private credit.Connect with Brendan on LinkedInConnect with Victory Park Capital on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

The payments processing space has seen a huge amount of innovation in the past decade, maybe more than any other area of fintech. This innovation has presented opportunities for non-fintech companies to earn a new revenue stream via payments processing, which in turn has created a new sub-niche for fintech companies.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Caleb Avery, the CEO and Founder of Tilled. They provide PayFac-as-a-Service to software companies looking to process payments for their customers. Basically, it is a simpler and quicker way for these software companies (called ISVs) to get set up as master merchants and generate payments revenue. Unsure how this all works? We explain in great detail in this interview.In this podcast you will learn:What attracted Caleb to the payments processing space very early on.The founding story of Tilled.The difference between a card-issuing bank and a merchant-acquiring bank.The definition of a payments processor.What an ISO (Independent Sales Organization) does.What an ISV (Independent Software Vendor) is.The definition of a payments facilitator (PayFac).Who the major PayFacs are today.What PayFac-as-a-Service is and why Tilled went all in on this idea.The scale of ISV that is the sweet spot for Tilled.Why ISOs work with Tilled rather than going direct to ISVs.The three key components of Tilled's software.How they are able to compete head to head with Stripe Connect.The different types of support they can provide for the ISVs.How their pricing model works.How the typical credit card fees are broken up between all parties.Caleb's views on the recent ruling between Visa and Mastercard and the Department of Justice.Where embedded payments is going and his vision for Tilled.Connect with Caleb on LinkedInConnect with Tilled on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes