Fintech One•On•One

Medical debt is the number one reason people go bankrupt in the United States. So, you would think there would be a plethora of fintech companies attacking this problem from many angles. And while there are certainly lenders willing to finance medical procedures there are few companies taking a holistic approach to patient financial health.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Itzik Cohen, the CEO and Co-Founder of PayZen. He saw the problems medical debt has created firsthand when working in the debt settlement space and he decided to do something about it. PayZen is the first company that looks at all the options available for patients as they try to afford their healthcare.In this podcast you will learn:The idea that led to the founding of PayZen.The state of medical debt in the United States today.What the "operating system for healthcare affordability" means.Their north star at PayZen.The different types of products they offer.How they are finding and analyzing all this medical and financial data.What kinds of providers they are working with.How they are able to integrate their technology so quickly.Itzik's thoughts on removing medical bills from their credit report.His vision for PayZen.Connect with Itzik on LinkedInConnect with PayZen on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

The people who lead the national banking regulatory agencies typically come from long careers in banking and law with a traditional view of the banking world. But there has been one exception to this rule.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Brian Brooks, the former acting head of the OCC and a current partner at O'Melveny & Myers. Now, don't get me wrong, Brian has had a long career in banking and law but he has also spent time outside of traditional finance, thinking deeply about financial innovation.He came to the OCC from Coinbase and he has been an advisor or board member to several other companies in crypto and fintech. So, his perspective on the banking industry, as you will hear in this interview, is very different from your typical banking regulator.In this podcast you will learn:How the financial crisis shaped his career.The three dimensions of finance he is trying to knit together.How he came to join the OCC from Coinbase.How Brian was able to gain the trust of the big bank CEOs.The most important idea that he had while leading the OCC.How he looks back at his 10 months as OCC head.How we could have easily avoided the FTX blowup.Why the regulators were reluctant to make these simple changes.The core ideological debate that Republicans and Democrats have over crypto.Why the failures of Silvergate and Signature were more about concentration risk than specifically crypto.What he says to people who want to ban crypto.How decentralized finance can get scale and not run afoul of US regulators.How US-dollar stablecoins could help mitigate the risk of de-dollarization.What regulatory changes need to happen to take advantage of new financial technology.Connect with Brian on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

As recently as six or seven years ago modern payments infrastructure in Latin America didn't really exist. Most countries had a monopoly when it came to payments processing and these monopolies sit on old technology that is difficult and expensive to maintain.A lot has changed today. Digital payments infrastructure has been built and while those old monopoly companies still exist there is now digital payments infrastructure throughout the region.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Aron Schwarzkopf, the CEO and Co-Founder of Kushki. The mission of the company is "connecting Latin America through payments" and they are doing this by building new technology that others can build on to provide a comprehensive digital payments experience. In this podcast you will learn:Why Aron decided to head back to Latin America after some time in the US.The three big problems he encountered there.How the payments landscape has evolved in Latin America.What Kushki does exactly.The two types of clients they serve.How easy it is to accept international payments online.The countries they operate in today.Why the prevalence of cash means a green field opportunity for Kushki.Why the growth of real-time payments is helping grow the market.What it meant when the government of Ecuador named Kushki as the first payment aggregator.Why they acquired BillPocket in Mexico.The key takeaways from the recent report they published with Statista.Why Kushki experiences less fraud than others in Latin America.Aron's vision for the future of digital payments in Latin America.Connect with Aron on LinkedInConnect with Kushki on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

In the consumer lending space, fintech lenders have been using AI in their underwriting models for many years. But there are still many consumers who slip through the cracks and get declined for credit when they should have been approved.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Gal Krubiner, the CEO and Co-Founder of Pagaya. They work with a large number of both traditional and fintech lenders and apply their sophisticated modeling to find consumers who have been mispriced. Their two-sided marketplace then works with investors to fund these consumer loans.In this podcast you will learn:The founding story of Pagaya.Why they decided to focus on consumer credit.How they are partnering with both fintech and traditional lenders today.Who they are working with on the investor side of the marketplace.The types of data they are using in their underwriting.How their underwriting models have evolved over time.How investor demand for their ABS deals is trending.How the US consumer is holding up when it comes to loan repayments.Trends in credit availability for consumers.Why the lack of credit availability is a good thing for Pagaya.The impact of rising interest rates on consumer credit.Why all the attention that AI is getting is helping Pagaya.What happened when they invited ChatGPT to their earnings call.How being a public company has changed Pagaya.How he is thinking about the macro environment in 2024.Connect with Gal on LinkedInConnect with Pagaya on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

When you stop and think about it, it is kind of crazy that we don't have a global network for moving money instantly and cheaply. The internet is more than 30 years old now and it seems to me that this should be a solved problem by now. But it isn't, at least not yet.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is David Marcus, the CEO and Co-Founder of Lightspark. If David's name sounds familiar that is because he was the leader of the now-defunct Libra/Diem project at Facebook a few years ago. He is passionate about creating a real-time global network for money movement which is why he founded Lightspark.In this podcast you will learn:His fascinating background in tech.The thought process that went into the Libra/Diem project at Facebook.Why he decided to start Lightspark.An explanation of the Lightning Network that sits on top of Bitcoin.Why they chose to build their technology for the Lightning Network.What Lightspark actually does and who they are working with.Who is using their technology today.The potential throughput for number of transactions per second.How he thinks about solving micro-payments.The regulatory challenges that might come with reaching scale.Why we should think of what Lightspark is doing as an alternative payments rail.Why this is a technology play and nothing really to do with crypto.The potential use cases that can be developed.How he thinks about programmable money.Why it is important that payments systems behave just like the internet (open, real-time and interoperable).The different goegraphies where they have clients today.How their business model works.Why the combination of real-time payments and Lightning is so powerful for the last mile.What a future with real-time global payments could mean for commerce.Connect with David on LinkedInConnect with Lightspark on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

One of the richest areas of fintech innovation right now is in instant payments. The launch over the summer of FedNow has brought heightened awareness to instant payments but there have been other offerings available in this country for some time.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is David Watson, the President and CEO of The Clearing House. They are the creator of the first instant payments network in the USA called Real Time Payments, a network that has been operating for over five years now. We talk about the mechanics behind instant payments and the benefits for both consumers and businesses.In this podcast you will learn:What David saw at The Clearing House that was really attractive to him.A short history of the 170-year-old company.The total volume of payments flowing through the US payments system.Who The Clearing House serves.How the ACH payments system works.The enhancements The Clearing House provides for wires.How they work with physical checks today.The technology behind their Real Time Payments system.Who is using RTP today.The different use cases that are flowing through RTP.What happens when you send a real time payment to a bank that is not in the network.The difference between RTP and FedNow.How David feels about competing with FedNow.His thoughts on the card network's instant payment offerings.How fraud in instant payment networks can be mitigated.His vision for the future of instant payments.Connect with David on LinkedInConnect with The Clearing House on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Much has been written about the student loan challenges for domestic students in this country. But what about international students, those people coming to the U.S. to study for a Master's or Bachelor's program? There are few good loan alternatives for international students as they are ineligible for federal student loan programs.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Manu Smadja, the CEO and Co-Founder of MPOWER Financing. They are working to address this problem, providing affordable financing for international students looking to study at American and Canadian universities.In this podcast you will learn:The hardship story that was the trigger for starting MPOWER.The biggest challenges for international students coming to this country.Why demand from international students is stronger than ever.Their mix of graduate and undergraduate students.How they are underwriting these people.Why the type of major is a critical data point in the underwriting process.How they approach loan pricing.The typical terms of an MPOWER student loan.What kind of documentation is needed to obtain a loan.What MPOWER does to help students beyond providing the loan.The percentage of these students that stay in the U.S. after graduation.Their experience with loan performance.How they are funding their loans.The scale they are at today.Why they decided to become a B-Corporation.Manu's vision for the future of MPOWER.Connect with Manu on LinkedInConnect with MPOWER Financing on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Why is it that, in 2023, we are still getting paid on a fixed schedule? It seems crazy to me that payroll systems that were built for batch processing on mainframe computers still maintain this batch mindset in a world where everything can be instant. We should be able to choose the exact cadence of when and how we want to be paid.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Kevin Coop, the CEO of DailyPay. The team at DailyPay has created the largest Earned Wage Access (EWA) business on the planet where employees of DailyPay customers can get early access to their earned wages whenever they want. This is a huge deal for those people living paycheck to paycheck.In this podcast you will learn:What attracted Kevin to the CEO role at DailyPay.Why we are all still getting paid on these fixed time periods.How DailyPay actually works.What their app shows employees.How often employees access their earned wage before payday.The different features that they provide employees.How they integrate with the employer payroll systems.How these advances are funded.The benefits for employers of adding DailyPay.How DailyPay earns money.How this is improving the financial health of employees.How DailyPay is engaging with regulators at the state and federal level.How they are partnering with the large payroll providers.The different segments that are popular with DailyPay.How Kevin thinks about the competitive moat that DailyPay has built.The impressive scale they are at today.His vision for the future of DailyPay.Connect with Kevin on LinkedInConnect with DailyPay on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

The first wave of fintech focused on helping those people who already had money. The bottom half of the population was mostly ignored, and those companies that did try failed to get traction. But in recent years, there has been a new breed of fintech company emerging squarely focused on helping those people who are living on the financial edge.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Rodney Williams, the President and Co-Founder of SoLo Funds. They call themselves a community finance platform and they are squarely focused on the subprime market. In fact, 82% of their members live in underserved zip codes. They are supplying a loan product that is sorely needed in these places.In this podcast you will learn:The essential need that led to the founding of SoLo Funds.How their loan platform works.The three verifications new borrowers must go through.How many loans a typical borrower uses in a 12-month period.What the typical use cases are for the borrowed funds.Rodney's favorite stat on their borrowers.How they maintain the balance between borrowers and lenders on their marketplace.Their regulatory challenges and where they stand with regulators today.The three different ways they make money.The list of investors backing them.Why they recently decided to expand to Nigeria.Why their p2p lending model is perfect for the subprime market.Connect with Rodney on LinkedInConnect with SoLo Funds on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

It seems like every day there is a story coming out of Washington that can have a major impact on fintech. Whether it is the CFPB, OCC, SEC, the Fed or new legislation being proposed, fintech companies can be profoundly impacted by what happens in our nation’s capital. That is why it is important to have an independent trade association making our ideas and opinions known.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Phil Goldfeder, the CEO of the American Fintech Council, a job he has held since March of this year. He is advocating for our industry every day, not just in Washington, but also in statehouses around the country.In this podcast you will learn:What attracted Phil to the job at the American Fintech Council.What the AFC does exactly.The basic story that Phil tells legislators about fintech.The core issues that the AFC is working on in Washington.How they are engaged at the federal level on earned wage access.Why he wrote a recent op-ed in American Banker.Why fintech should not reflexively push back on new regulation.Details of the AFC Policy Summit in Washington DC in November.What needs to happen for fintech to have a seat at the table.Why Phil is optimistic that there can be change in Washington that is positive for fintech.Connect with Phil on LinkedInConnect with American Fintech Council on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One: Tweet me @PeterRenton Connect with me on LinkedIn Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes