Fintech One•On•One

When FedNow launched last July there was a lot of excitement in the financial community about the first new payments rail from the Fed in fifty years. There was also some trepidation. What would the rollout look like? Would banks take a wait-and-see approach? And how would the presence of RTP affect adoption?Now, almost eight months later we have answers to many of these questions. My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Mark Gould, the Chief Payments Executive at the Federal Reserve Financial Services. He is the head of FedNow and has steered the Fed through its successful launch and now into its growth stage.In this podcast you will learn:The many different roles Mark has held at the Fed.What the Fed's role is exactly in the payments system.The number of banks that are now on board with FedNow.How the FedNow system actually works.What Mark's pitch is when talking to prospective banks.The difference between signing up for send and receive.How fintech companies should think about FedNow.The primary use cases that are flowing through FedNow right now.How Mark thinks about RTP from The Clearing House.The idea of interoperability between RTP and FedNow.How Mark expects the mix of payment types to evolve over the next decade.The tools that the Fed has in place to prevent fraud.The transaction limits that are in place today.The short term product roadmap for FedNow.When Mark thinks there will be ubiquitous availability of instant payments.What it will take for consumers to have an expectation that payments will be instant.Connect with Mark on LinkedInConnect with Federal Reserve Financial Services on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

When it comes to financial health there is still much work to be done. While fintech has certainly made an impact here the average consumer is no more financially healthy than they were a decade ago. This is a problem that fascinates me and I love it when I talk to companies that are making a real difference in this area.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Ana Mahony, the CEO and founder of Addition Wealth. Their financial health platform is targeted at employers to offer as a benefit to their employees but what makes them unique is the human interaction. While they have a lot of digital tools for employees they also offer free one-on-one sessions with CPA and Certified Financial Planners. In this podcast you will learn:How the idea for Addition Wealth first germinated.How the program at First Round Capital really helped launch the company.The breadth of their product offerings to enhance financial health.Why the human interaction is such a differentiator for Addition.How they can scale with a human plus digital approach.How they vet these financial advisors and ensure they are providing quality advice.How Ana's experience at Uber has helped develop their platform.What is involved in implementing Addition Wealth with a new employer.Details of their go-to-market strategy.The scale they are at today.What people care about most when it comes to their financial health.The average percentage of employees that engage with their offering.Her vision for the future of Addition Wealth.Connect with Ana on LinkedInConnect with Addition Wealth on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Diarmuid Thoma, Head of fraud and data strategy at AtData, discusses the importance of email data in fraud prevention. He highlights the extensive email database they have built and how email is the most consistent fraud predictor. Other topics include the use of AI/ML in fraud models, their recent white paper on balancing customer experience and fraud prevention, and the increasing presence of high risk domains in email addresses.

Luke Voiles, the CEO of Pipe, discusses the challenges of small business lending and how Pipe is revolutionizing the space. He talks about their unique working capital product, the importance of payments data for underwriting, and why vertical SaaS companies are the new community banks. Luke also shares his thoughts on regulatory matters, including Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank, and explains how Pipe is accessing the capital they need to lend.

Embedded finance is a term that has only been around for a relatively short time. But some fintech companies have created services that could be embedded in non-financial firms for many years. It really began in the payments space and became a part of lending and we often called it lending-as-a-service before embedded lending was a thing. One of the pioneers of embedded lending is LiftForward.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Jeffrey Rogers, the CEO and founder of LiftForward, an embedded lending fintech that has been around since 2013. They have a fascinating story and might hold the record for the youngest fintech to partner with one of the tech behemoths.In this podcast you will learn:The founding story of LiftForward.How a small fintech company was able to land Microsoft.How their multi-faceted relationship with Microsoft works.How lenders are involved in this process.Details of how all the different parties come together.The demographic changes that are driving their business.The different types of payments plans and subscriptions they do.What the Mastercard Engage partner network is and how LiftForward is involved.What brands want to see when it comes to embedded lending.How LiftForward makes money.The changes they needed to make to become an international company very early on.The scale that LiftForward is at today.Where they are focusing this year when it comes to new markets.Jeffrey's vision for the future of LiftForward.Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedInConnect with LiftForward on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Even though banks have been going through digital transformation now for a decade or more there is obviously so much work still to be done. Big banks need help with this process, particularly when it comes to personalization as banks have historically provided products that were more in the one-size-fits-all category.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Amalia Avramov, she is the president of financial services at Amdocs. Now, Amdocs is a large global company that got its start in telecommunications but has expanded into financial services. I have been hearing their name around more and more so I wanted to get Amalia on the show to learn more.In this podcast you will learn:Amalia's long history at Amdocs.The core industries where Amdocs operates.Why they decided to expand into financial services.The services they provide for the banking industry.What banks are getting wrong in digital transformation.What successful personalization in banking looks like.Some examples of banks that Amdocs are working with today.What they working on with large banks around AI.The work Amalia is doing to promote diversity and inclusion.How the war in Israel is impacting Amdocs and their workers there.What is Amdocs' vision for the future of the bank experience.Connect with Amalia on LinkedInConnect with Amdocs on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

When you think of cutting edge fintech you probably don't think about the Caribbean. But some interesting developments are happening there that we should all be paying attention to.On this episode of the Fintech One-on-One podcast, I talk with Curt Persaud, the Co-founder and CTO of Fintech Islands and Andrew B. Morris, the Chief Content Officer at Fintech Islands. This is the biggest fintech event in the Caribbean and it is happening next week (January 24-26) in Barbados. I will be there along with many other U.S. and Caribbean fintech leaders.The Caribbean is an under-appreciated region, it is in our backyard with more people (45 million) than Canada. There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a thriving fintech industry there already, that is poised to grow significantly in the near future.In this podcast you will learn:The founding story of Fintech Islands.Why Americans should care about Caribbean fintech.The important fintech trends in the region.Details about the Fintech Islands event.The different topics being covered on their agenda.How their startup competition will work.How people can engage with Caribbean fintech beyond the event.Connect with Andrew B. Morris on LinkedInConnect with Curt Persaud on LinkedInConnect with Fintech Islands on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

The small business lending space has seen a lot of innovation over the last decade with fintech leading the way. But there is still much more work to do as many small business still lack the access to capital that they deserve.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Steve Allocca, the head of Funding Circle USA. He has worked at some of the biggest names in fintech (PayPal, LendingClub, Bluevine and now Funding Circle) working on this challenge of helping small business access capital. Funding Circle is a pioneer in this space and recently they received the news that they have been approved for a new SBA 7(a) lending license.In this podcast you will learn:Steve's deep and varied history in the fintech space.Some of the lessons he has brought to Finding Circle.What attracted him to the role at Funding Circle.The typical terms of their core term loan product.Their approach to underwriting small businesses.The impact on demand of the increase in interest rates.What it means for Funding Circle to be approved to be an SBA 7(a) lender.The timetable for when they will be able to start making SBA loans.How they are building their lending as a service offering.How they interact with the Funding Circle head office in the UK.Some of the new hires they have made to the leadership team.How they can get a clearer picture of small business data.What is top of mind for Funding Circle for 2024.Connect with Steve on LinkedInConnect with Funding Circle on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

When we think about embedded finance one of the biggest opportunities is bringing financial services to vertical software companies. These software companies already have the relationship within their vertical and it often makes logical sense for them to add financial services as an add-on offering, as long as it is simple and easy to implement.My first guest of 2024 on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Tom Bell, the CEO and co-founder of Maast (as in Money-as-a-service plus). They are a wholly owned subsidiary of Synovus Bank and have been in business for two years. They are bringing embedded payments acceptance and embedded banking to vertical software companies but doing it with the backing of a 130-year-old regional bank.In this podcast you will learn:Why Tom decided to come to Synovus and start Maast.The founding story of Maast.Why they decided to create a new brand rather than do it under Synovus.The suite of services that Maast provides todayWho they are working with today and their target market.Why software providers are a perfect match for embedded finance (see Tom's article here).The most interesting innovations in payments today.What is involved in integrating Maast into a software provider.How Maast stands out from other embedded finance providers.How they approach compliance requirements.Tom's view on the main trends in embedded finance that will be in play in 2024.How he thinks embedded finance is going to play out long term.Connect with Tom on LinkedInConnect with Maast on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Around the world, several digital banks have achieved impressive scale. But most of these fintech companies have been focused just on their home market. It is difficult to scale a global digital bank because regulations and compliance requirements differ so much between countries. But we have seen some traditional banks achieve scale in multiple countries so there is no reason why we shouldn't see the same in fintech. My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Sid Jajodia, the Chief Banking Officer for Revolut and the CEO of Revolut US. There is no other fintech company that is as focused on becoming a global fintech leader than Revolut. They already have 35 million customers in more than 30 countries around the world and they continue to open operations in new countries multiple times a year.In this podcast you will learn:What attracted Sid to the role at Revolut.How he describes Revolut today.What he means when he says it is a financial super app.The number of customers Revolut has globally.How Revolut is differentiated from other digital banking offerings in the US.The typical Revolut customer in the U.S. and globally.How they are getting the word out.Their ambition to be a bank in different markets.What Revolut 10 is and why it is important.Their approach to user experience.What CEO and founder Nik Storonsky is like to work with.What it is going to take for Revolut to reach scale in the US.Revolut's vision for the future of financial services.Connect with Sid on LinkedInConnect with Revolut on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes