Around The Coin

In this episode, Mike Townsend speaks with Abdul Akel, CEO and Co-founder of T-CETRA, a leading financial technology enabler that converts cash payments into secure, auditable, cashless transactions at over 10,000 retail locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico that primarily serve cash preferred customers. Its payment solutions bridge the digital divide for these underserved communities and are used by Fortune 500 companies within various sectors, connecting them to the 84.8 million un/derbanked individuals in the U.S.  T-CETRA’s expansion into new verticals is reshaping the prepaid payment ecosystem.   Akel conceptualized VIDAPAY, T-CETRA’s proprietary cloud-based payment portal, that enables these retailers to increase sales, mitigate risk, and manage customer accounts in real-time within a safe, secure payment transaction framework.  Akel is a proven, experienced industry disruptor, entrepreneur, and growth-oriented CEO. He was recently inducted into Columbus Business First’s Class of 2020 “40 Under 40” as well as Columbus CEO's "Future 50."   Additionally in 2020, Akel co-launched the T-CETRA Foundation which addresses the needs of the underserved from a charitable point of view.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend speaks with Brian Bondy, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Brave Software. Prior to Brave, Brian worked at Khan Academy where he focused on developing the interactive learning environment for the programming section. Previously, he worked at Mozilla on the Firefox browser. Before joining Mozilla, Brian co-founded two companies in the backup software space: Robobak and VisionWorks Solutions. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science with Honors from the Faculty of Mathematics at Waterloo University.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend sits down with Sir John Hargrave, CEO of the media and communication company Media Shower. His company publishes the blockchain investor website, Bitcoin Market Journal which reaches 100,000 blockchain investors monthly. He is the author of the bestselling investing book Blockchain for Everyone (Simon & Schuster, 2019), as well as Blockchain Success Stories (O’Reilly, 2020), which has been called “The Bible of Business Blockchain".Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend interviews Bryce Deeney, Founder, and CEO of equipifi, which is modernizing the way consumers interact with their money. equipifi’s mission is to support banks and credit unions’ ability to deliver experiences that help foster growth and engagement for existing and new customers.equipifi provides seamless white-labeled integrations for banks and credit unions to offer Buy Now, Pay Later for their members. Shoppers have instant access to the cash needed to afford the purchases they want, all without disconnecting from their bank. Bryce has extensive experience in banking and payments and a passion for entrepreneurship. Prior to founding equipifi, Bryce was the Vice President of Payments for Alaska USA FCU, a $10B+ financial institution with more than 700,000 members. Previously, Bryce was Vice President of Payments for APS Payments, now REPAY. He lives in Scottsdale, AZ.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ahmed Siddiqui, Chief Payments Officer at Branch and author of "The Anatomy of the Swipe," shares his wealth of experience in the payments industry. He discusses the complexities of payment processing and the contrast between traditional systems and decentralized technologies. Siddiqui sheds light on the transformation of payment methods for gig workers and highlights Branch's innovative solutions. He also explores the advancements in push payment technology and the emerging role of cryptocurrency in financial transactions, emphasizing accessibility for all.

In this episode, Mike Townsend sits down with Ivan Smirnov, Co-Founder, and CTO of Elude. Prior to founding Elude, Ivan was a software engineer at Google, leading projects to improve their core “Search” feature along with Google Ads, Google Assistant, and Google Cloud.Ivan is a builder, problem solver, and engineer passionate about creating code-based solutions to technological problems. While working at Google, Ivan spent his time sourcing through people’s problems on GitHub lending his invaluable expertise to strangers who need his help. In fact, sometimes he even admits to dreaming in code. He strives to make life easier for people, be it a niche time-saving script or an exciting new product that millions will love, and believes that there are endless possibilities for improving this world. Ivan received a B.A. from UC Berkeley and Computer Science and received his MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend sits down with Rami Essaid, CEO & Co-Founder of Finmark. Rami is a three-time startup founder and passionate entrepreneur, has been building companies for over a decade. He was the founder and CEO of Distil Networks, acquired by Imperva in 2019, before starting his latest venture Finmark, financial modeling software for startups. At Distil Networks, he saw firsthand how difficult and time-consuming financial modeling can be, and built Finmark, so that anyone, not just finance pros, can easily make and update a financial model without having to spend weeks laboring over complicated spreadsheets.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend speaks with Arnab Naskar, Co-founder of STOKR, the EU’s pioneering digital marketplace for alternative assets, where smart investors connect with and fund forward-thinking founders. Arnab oversees STOKR’s business strategy and is dedicated to promoting open and decentralized capital markets. He is a regular speaker at major blockchain conferences and webinars in Europe. Coming from a legal background, Arnab has a passion for the intersection of law and tech and has led and contributed to blockchain policy discussions as a member of INATBA, an association focused on advising lawmakers and regulators with regards to their blockchain strategies.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend speaks with Jack O'Holleran, CEO/Co-Founder Skale. Jack is a veteran entrepreneur with a deep background in machine learning, AI, security, and blockchain. Prior to co-founding SKALE, Jack was a founder at multiple Silicon Valley based enterprise technology companies including IncentAlign, a digital currency platform, and Aktana, the leading Machine Learning Analytics platform for the Life Science Industry. He also held an executive role at Good Technology which was acquired by Motorola for ~$500M and subsequently held executive positions in Motorola. Jack has been actively involved in cryptocurrencies and decentralization as an investor since early 2013 and began working full-time in the space in early 2017. Jack holds a BS from the University of Nebraska and calls the Bay Area his home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Mike Townsend sits down with Liran Zelkha, Co-Founder and CTO of Lili, the all-in-one banking app designed for freelance workers. He has over 20 years of tech industry experience, including as a freelancer, which inspired him to create a solution for independent workers’ unique pain points. From strategic management to hands-on coding, Liran specializes in turning lofty ideas into functioning businesses. Prior to founding Lili, Liran served as CTO and VP, Research and Development for Pepper, the first and only challenger bank in Israel. Liran was also CEO and CTO at tech consulting firm Tona and owner / co-CEO of Aluna, Israel’s leading Java and service-oriented architecture (SOA) consulting firm. Liran received bachelor's degrees in computer science from Universitat Ben Gurion Ba-Negav and The Academic College of Tel-Aviv. He is based in Israel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices