CUNA Board Vice-Chair and Cornerstone League CEO Caroline Willard shares her inside perspective on the pending CUNA/NAFCU merger. Also- Glen compares financial and grocery self-service, shares a new avenue for credit unions to aid Ukraine, and John checks an item off his bucket list.   Links related to this episode:   Caroline’s recent CU Insight article: https://www.cuinsight.com/building-a-stronger-state-and-federal-advocacy-machine/    CUNA”s landing page for CUNA/NAFCU merger news: https://www.cuna.org/about/cuna-and-nafcu-merger.html    Cornerstone League: https://www.cornerstoneleague.coop/    John’s interview with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak for TruStage’s Discovery2023 conference: https://events.trustage.com/discovery2023-on-demand    Trader Joe’s eschews self checkout: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/17/business/trader-joe-self-checkouts-cashier    The CU Relief Fund for Ukraine: https://curelieffundforukraine.com/      Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

An insightful chat with Cardlytics’ co-founder and former CEO Lynne Laube- now a partner with Valor Ventures- and Fintech Catalyst Robert Daniel of Georgia Tech’s ATDC, about September’s exciting startup competition including a few pitch tips from insiders. Also, Glen’s thoughts on PayPal’s new stablecoin and the Premier League’s payments connections.    Links related to this episode:   Fintech South: https://www.fintechsouth.com/    Valor Ventures: https://valor.vc/    ATDC: https://atdc.org/    PayPal:  https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/07/business/paypal-crypto-stablecoin/index.html    AstroPay: https://astropay.com/        Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

Glen talks with Finovate’s Greg Palmer about the bumper crop of 60+ fintechs demoing at its September event despite widespread reports of a “funding freeze.” Patrick Sells, CEO/Co-Founder of True Digital (one of the presenting companies) joins to shed light on its collaborative vendor optimization platform. Also, reaction to the CUNA/NAFCU merger.     Links related to this episode:   Finovate Fall, Sept 11-13 in New York City: https://informaconnect.com/finovatefall/  USE CODE BIG20 for a special BIGCast discount   True Digital:  https://truedigitalgroup.com/    Patrick Sells’ recent article about the hidden costs of innovation: https://www.bai.org/banking-strategies/the-hidden-costs-of-innovation/    CUNA’s resource page for its merger with NAFCU: https://www.cuna.org/about/cuna-and-nafcu-merger.html    Chip Filson’s thoughts on the CUNA/NAFCU merger: https://chipfilson.com/2023/08/an-initial-reaction-to-the-nafcu-cuna-merger/        Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

The latest on the Credit Card Competition Act, FedNow’s launch, and two credit union CEOs share their perspectives on deploying ChatGPT. Plus Glen actually says something (kind of) nice about Elon.    Links related to this episode:   Last week’s full CU Town Hall session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djZgiutF_JM    BIG’s crowdsourced initiative to help everyone understand how credit unions are using Generative AI tools like ChatGPT: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/ChatGPT-for-Credit-Unions    Digital Transactions’ recent coverage of the Credit Card Competition Act: https://www.digitaltransactions.net/the-ccca-wont-harm-card-issuers-ability-to-fund-rewards-cards-mpc-says/    The “Interchange Works” website (CUNA’s advocacy page): https://protectinterchange.com/    FedNow’s list of participants at launch: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow/organizations        Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

John and Glen tackle a variety of timely topics, including the chances for a “Twitter slayer” and social media interoperability, the ever-evolving ChatGPT/GenAI landscape, and increasingly bizarre attitudes surrounding CBDCs. Also- clone marriage and orcas as influencers.    Links related to this episode:   The Center for AI Safety: https://www.safe.ai/    Ron DeSantis’ CBDC campaign promises: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ron-desantis-vows-to-ban-cdbc-in-the-us    Governor DeSantis’ Florida legislation to combat a nonexistent CBDC threat: https://www.flgov.com/2023/03/20/governor-ron-desantis-announces-legislation-to-protect-floridians-from-a-federally-controlled-central-bank-digital-currency-and-surveillance-state/    Coinbase’s take on the illogic of Florida’s bill: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/05/17/floridas-desantis-waging-toothless-campaign-against-digital-dollars-lawyers-say/      The W3C’s ActivityPub standardized social networking protocol: https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/     BIG’s crowdsourced initiative to help everyone understand how credit unions are using Generative AI tools like ChatGPT: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/ChatGPT-for-Credit-Unions      Join us Wednesday July 26 at 3pm ET/Noon PT for the latest edition of the CU Digital Town Hall, a live, lively and interactive meeting of industry leaders sharing best practices on the top issues impacting the credit union movement. Moderated by John Best of BIG and Mike Lawson of CU Broadcast:  https://www.cutownhall.com/  Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

Glen speaks with Market Intelligence Lead Rachel Huber about Marqeta’s 2023 State of Payments Report.  And in a BIGCast first Glen reviews the recent UK film “Bank of Dave” - which virtually screams “credit union.”     Links related to this episode:   Marqeta’s 2023 State of Payments Report:  https://www.marqeta.com/resources/2023-state-of-payments    Bank of Dave (via Netflix UK): https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/bank-of-dave-netflix-movie-everything-we-know-so-far-12-2022/    Fact-checking the film’s plot: https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/bank-of-dave-what-happened-in-real-life/    The Atlanta Fed’s latest take on P2P apps: https://www.atlantafed.org/blogs/take-on-payments/2023/07/17/deposit-insurance-and-payment-apps--how-much-do-consumers-know    BIG’s crowdsourced initiative to help everyone understand how credit unions are using Generative AI tools like ChatGPT: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/ChatGPT-for-Credit-Unions      Join us Wednesday July 26 at 3pm ET/Noon PT for the latest edition of the CU Digital Town Hall, a live, lively and interactive meeting of industry leaders sharing best practices on the top issues impacting the credit union movement. Moderated by John Best of BIG and Mike Lawson of CU Broadcast:  https://www.cutownhall.com/  Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/ Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

John and Glen discuss Wells Fargo’s foray into Generative AI, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s foray into the cage, and BIG’s effort to share credit union AI best practices.     Links related to this episode:   Wells Fargo’s new “virtual assistant” app feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPaEjVN11c4    Musk vs. Zuckerberg: https://www.theverge.com/23773413/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-cage-match-twitter-threads-instagram-meta    BIG’s crowd-sourced initiative to highlight credit union applications of Generative AI: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/ChatGPT-for-Credit-Unions     Best Innovation Group is pleased to announce a new service line dedicated to helping credit unions build transformative AI-drive solutions for today’s technology-dominated world. When properly harnessed, artificial intelligence offers the potential to optimize many aspects of financial services - while enhancing personalization. Find out more here: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/AI-Development  Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

John conspires with PSCU Senior Innovation Strategist Lou Grilli to conduct a real-world “white hat” test using AI to spoof voice recognition guardrails.    Links related to this episode:   Our earlier CU Town Hall in which John dug into the risk of voice spoofing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlKi9F4ywtU&feature=youtu.be    CNN’s “kidnapping scam” story leveraging voice spoofing: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/29/us/ai-scam-calls-kidnapping-cec/index.html    Apple’s coming Personal Voice feature: https://aibusiness.com/ml/apple-will-let-users-clone-their-voices    The Guardian’s story of a successful AI voice spoofing: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/16/voice-system-used-to-verify-identity-by-centrelink-can-be-fooled-by-ai     PSCU’s Innovation page: https://www.pscu.com/innovation   Best Innovation Group is pleased to announce a new service line dedicated to helping credit unions build transformative AI-drive solutions for today’s technology-dominated world. When properly harnessed, artificial intelligence offers the potential to optimize many aspects of financial services - while enhancing personalization. Find out more here: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/AI-Development  Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

James Anderson, Managing Director of Paze, shares a preview of the newest entrant to the digital wallet wars. Also- interchange rages anew, and Glen notes a possible pendulum shift in the rationale for automation.   Links related to this episode:   Paze:  https://www.paze.com/   The “Interchange Works” website: https://protectinterchange.com/   Citi’s automation-driven job cuts: https://www.cfodive.com/news/citi-mason-1600-job-cuts-severance-5000-automation-tech-transformation/653093/   Top Supply Chain Songs: https://mailchi.mp/mxdusa.org/chainmail-ai-at-the-table (scroll down to “R.I.P Gordon Lightfoot”)   …and our recent episode about how ChatGPT proposed fake ones: https://www.big-fintech.com/Media?p=chatgpt-hallucinations-lies-negotiations     Best Innovation Group is pleased to announce a new service line dedicated to helping credit unions build transformative AI-drive solutions for today’s technology-dominated world. When properly harnessed, artificial intelligence offers the potential to optimize many aspects of financial services - while enhancing personalization. Find out more here: https://www.big-fintech.com/Products-Services/AI-Development Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/ Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech

Glen speaks with Beyond the Arc’s Steven Ramirez about the winners and key takeaways from Finovate’s Spring San Francisco showcase. Also- the Regulatory Roundabout, the CFPB’s busy stretch, and a deceptive headline Glen actually appreciated.      Links related to this episode:   Finovate’s demo site:  https://finovate.com/videos/?filtertype=&showtypes=FinovateSpring&videostartyear=2023&showletters=A-Z    Spring 2023 Best of Show winners: https://finovate.com/finovatespring-2023-best-of-show-winners-announced/    Beyond the Arc: https://beyondthearc.com/     My favorite of Chip Filson’s recent “Just a Member” blog posts: https://chipfilson.com/2023/06/credit-union-ceo-joins-iowa-bank-board/    The CFPB’s warning about deposits held with PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/consumer-advisory-your-money-is-at-greater-risk-when-you-hold-it-in-a-payment-app-instead-of-moving-it-to-an-account-with-deposit-insurance/        Join us Wednesday June 21 at 3pm ET/Noon PT for the latest edition of the CU Digital Town Hall, a live, lively and interactive meeting of industry leaders sharing best practices on the top issues impacting the credit union movement. Moderated by John Best of BIG and Mike Lawson of CU Broadcast:  https://www.cutownhall.com/  Follow the Best Innovation Group on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/  Follow Glen on Twitter @154Advisors Follow John on Twitter @jbfintech