Leaders In Payments

Cash flow used to mean waiting and worrying. Today, it can mean deciding and doing. We sit down with Ana Garcia of JPMorgan Payments and James Chi of Block to unpack how real-time payments are reshaping the small business playbook - turning every sale into instantly usable working capital and replacing uncertainty with visibility you can act on.Ana pulls back the curtain on how instant payments actually work: APIs or portals trigger transactions, banks authenticate and screen for fraud and compliance, networks like The Clearing House RTP clear and settle, and funds land in seconds with instant confirmation. James maps those capabilities to real merchant needs - Square’s instant transfers to linked accounts, immediate spend via Square Checking, and faster marketplace payouts for merchants - showing how speed enables on-time payroll, proactive inventory management, and smoother refunds.We also get real about adoption. Many owners still don’t know they can move money this fast, so education in context is key - surfacing instant options exactly when cash is tight. On safety, both leaders emphasize layered defenses: identity checks, behavioral analytics, transaction limits, and step-up authentication, proving you don’t need to trade security for speed. Looking forward, we explore request for payment for cleaner collections, the march toward near-universal bank coverage, and the promise of cross-border instant payments that could redefine supplier and marketplace flows. If you care about liquidity, predictability, and customer trust, this conversation shows how real-time payments turn pressure into momentum.This episode is part of our special series on The Future of Modern Payments sponsored by The Clearing House.

The backbone of the economy is feeling both confident and squeezed, and we wanted to get specific about what actually helps. In this episode I sit down with Shruti Patel, Chief Product Officer for Business Banking at U.S. Bank, to unpack fresh small business data and the concrete tools that turn payments into faster cash, lighter admin, and clearer decisions.We start with the Small Business Perspective survey: high optimism paired with pressure from inflation, tariffs, and supply chain uncertainty. Shruti explains why access to working capital and lower operating costs remain top priorities, and how owners are already using AI to sharpen marketing, streamline service, and simplify back office tasks. From there, we dig into U.S. Bank’s strategy shift from methods of payment to jobs to be done - bundling what matters so owners can open, accept, pay, and reconcile without the swivel-chair fatigue.You’ll hear how Business Essentials merges a no-fee operating account with Elavon acquiring, a free mobile reader, and same-day funds to ease cash flow. We explore Cashflow Central for bill pay across card, ACH, and e-check, plus embedded payroll via Gusto that replaces separate subscriptions many owners used to carry. Shruti also walks through spend management tied to small business cards, giving real-time controls and visibility. Looking ahead, we separate signal from noise on stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and agentic commerce, and we map where AI will make an impact in 2026 - faster underwriting, smarter support, and fewer steps for the jobs that happen every day.If you run a small business or build for them, this conversation lays out a practical blueprint: consolidate workflows, shorten time to cash, and adopt AI where it saves hours, not just headlines. 

Peter Galvin, CMO at NMI and SaaS security expert, teams up with Luis Peña, Product Director focused on developer experience. They discuss transforming SaaS platforms into payment powerhouses, detailing the maturity curve from basic card acceptance to advanced UX and payment as a revenue stream. Key insights include recognizing when to migrate from your payment processor, the importance of omni-channel payment strategies, and the strategic shift needed to prioritize payments in business operations. They also explore future trends like stablecoins and open banking.

Growth shouldn’t stall at the border. We sit down with Peter Dougherty, President of Spreedly, to unpack how an open payments platform helps global brands launch faster, reduce vendor risk, and optimize authorization rates without ripping out their stack. Peter traces the evolution from card‑centric orchestration to a broader layer that now includes tokenization, a secure token vault, fraud and KYC options, and connections to multiple processors and alternative payment methods. The takeaway: best‑of‑breed no longer means complexity and long timelines - it means resilience, data‑driven choices, and faster expansion.Peter also looks ahead to a future where agents become the front end of commerce. Discovery, selection, and purchase compress into milliseconds, and payments infrastructure has to keep up. We dig into how mandates, consent, and spending limits will work when agents transact on our behalf; how liability flows when something goes wrong; and why token management becomes the backbone for secure, delegated payments. He shares why platforms that can safely feed agents with PCI‑sensitive data will win as volumes surge across regions and rails.We ground the hype in reality too. Payments is the fastest moving oil tanker - innovation is constant, but adoption takes time. EMV took decades; stablecoins still trail cards and the fastest‑growing APMs. For leaders, the smart move is to build behind an abstraction layer that lets you A/B test processors, adopt new methods, and swap tools without disruption. If you’re pushing into new markets or preparing for agentic commerce, this conversation will help you rethink checkout, time to market, and resilience at scale. 

Subscriptions aren’t enough anymore. We dig into why the next wave of software winners are building full commerce platforms where payments are invisible to users yet central to growth. With NMI’s CMO Peter Galvin and Product Director of Developer Experience, Luis Peña, we unpack how vertical SaaS turns checkout into a native, on-brand experience that drives revenue, cuts churn, and opens the door to embedded finance.We start with the big shift: horizontal tools are giving way to vertical platforms that automate every workflow and own the moment of payment. From dentist offices to gyms and home services, merchants want one system that books, bills, and gets them paid. Peter explains how integrated payments changes the business model - subscription fees plus payments monetization and new fintech lines like working capital - while strengthening loyalty through a consistent, secure merchant and consumer experience.Luis takes us into the build. He shares a practical roadmap for developer-friendly adoption: onboard merchants within your app, collect card data with tokenization and design for webhooks, and exception paths from day one. We talk sandboxes, test suites that simulate real failure modes, and AI-friendly docs that make it easier for modern teams to ship quickly without cutting corners. Then we zoom out to the data advantage - interchange optimization, card mix insights, network tokenization, and benchmarking that inform pricing, conversion, and cross-sell strategies.The takeaway is simple: treat payments as a growth engine, not a bolt-on. When software controls the workflow and the commerce flow, the product becomes stickier, the economics improve, and customers stop thinking about payments at all.

If you run a small or mid-sized retail business and feel stuck between legacy tools and rising customer expectations, this conversation is your playbook for breaking through. We sit down with Unzer CEO Robert Bueninck to unpack how bundling software and payments helps merchants deliver seamless experiences across in-store and online without enterprise budgets or heavyweight integrations.Robert traces his journey from early Klarna days to leading Unzer’s “payments and beyond” ecosystem, and lays out why the mid-market is the most underserved (and most promising) space in European commerce. We dive into the practical ways software plus payments drives real outcomes: faster onboarding, unified reporting, and simpler support when QR ordering, click-and-collect, or in-store returns marry e-commerce and POS. He explains Unzer’s focus on food services, beauty, and apparel, and how a clear build-partner boundary keeps products sharp while letting merchants scale when complexity grows.We also dig into Europe’s unique payments fabric. Alternative payment methods and account-to-account rails already dominate online checkout in markets like the Netherlands and Belgium, changing merchant economics with lower cost and instant funds. BNPL fills the buyer-protection gap, while policymakers push toward a pan-European A2A framework and greater vendor independence. Robert separates hype from habit on agentic commerce and stablecoins, arguing that adoption only happens when the new flow truly makes life easier for shoppers and staff and that’s where the mid-market wins.Looking ahead, Robert outlines Unzer’s growth bets: expand combined software and payments across core markets, bring all products to all regions, and help “make Germany digital” as a foundation for broader European reach.  If you care about SMB retail, omnichannel checkout, A2A payments, BNPL, and the future of European payments infrastructure, you’ll find plenty to act on here.

Fraud losses are climbing, checks are supposedly fading, and yet check fraud is hitting all-time highs. We sat down with Mike Timoney, a payments veteran now leading secure payments work at the Federal Reserve, to unpack that paradox and chart a path to stronger defenses across banks, fintechs, and businesses of every size. The conversation moves from frontline realities to system-wide fixes: why paper is still a prime target, how modern scams bypass technology to persuade people, and what practical tools can help teams react faster than criminals can pivot.Mike shares a global-to-local career arc (from international banking to ACH, wires, and cards) before taking on fraud across channels and ultimately joining the Fed. That perspective shapes a clear mission: keep the U.S. payment system trusted and reliable by educating the industry, building relationships, and mapping threats without prescribing vendors. We dive deep into two new resources: a check fraud mitigation toolkit with visual examples, pattern tells, and tips like positive pay; and a scams mitigation toolkit that decodes phishing, smishing, and business email compromise through case studies and actionable defenses. Both are designed as short, usable modules that help community banks train staff and help larger teams keep pace with evolving tactics.We also tackle the hard part: collaboration and transparency in a fragmented U.S. landscape. With thousands of institutions and varied state privacy rules, information sharing is tough - but not impossible. Mike outlines privacy-enhancing approaches that share patterns, not identities, so institutions can broadcast what criminals are doing without exposing who was hit. AI features throughout the episode as a double-edged sword: it supercharges detection and accelerates response, while giving fraudsters new ways to scale social engineering. The key is narrowing the response gap through better models, faster signal exchange, and continual education.Walk away with three priorities: make fraud everyone’s job through constant micro-education, keep learning as tactics shift, and share signals across your peer network. If this conversation helps you see a new control, training idea, or partnership opportunity, subscribe, share the episode with your team, or contact Mike for more information. 

Most software teams still think of payments as a chore. We take you inside the playbook that turns it into a growth engine. I sits down with NMI CTO Phillip Goericke to unpack how embedded payments evolved from a basic checkout to a full-stack platform that handles onboarding, underwriting, payouts, analytics, and even embedded finance. The conversation is straight talk on what actually works when you’re shipping fast and scaling globally.We dig into the architectural choices that matter: start with a no-code drop-in to activate revenue quickly, then progress to low-code SDKs and finally full APIs when you need deep control. Phillip shares where platforms stall - manual KYC, fragmented global rules, and data blind spots and how a modular approach fixes these without ripping out your stack. You’ll hear how compliance-as-a-service, network tokenization, and adaptive 3D Secure can raise approval rates, reduce fraud, and simplify audits while keeping the checkout experience seamless.Looking ahead, we explore why identity, compliance, and data are the foundation for embedded finance. Philip outlines NMI’s unified experience that brings payments, onboarding, insights, and new services like business capital into one place. We also tackle AI with clear eyes: use it to augment decisioning and anomaly detection, but wrap it with deterministic controls so money-critical outcomes are consistently right. The key takeaway is a mindset shift: stop treating payments as a feature and start using it as a strategic lever for revenue, retention, and product velocity.If you’re building software with transactions anywhere in the flow, this is your blueprint for turning payments into a competitive moat. Subscribe for more deep dives, share with a teammate who owns monetization, and leave a review to tell us what topic you want next.

Jess Houlgrave, CEO of WalletConnect and a seasoned payments and crypto executive, discusses the future of effortless crypto payments. She shares insights on how stablecoins and innovative SDKs aim to transform payment experiences, making them as seamless as card transactions. Jess highlights WalletConnect’s role in enhancing UX, cutting transaction fees, and enabling fast settlements. She also explores growth in areas like in-store payments and recurring payments, while emphasizing the importance of data privacy in wallet technology.

Recorded live from the PayTech Women Leadership Summit in Atlanta, this episode brings together an inspiring cross-section of executives, founders, coaches, and industry veterans who are shaping the human side of leadership in payments and fintech. A special thank you to our episode sponsor, Global Payments.Across fast, heartfelt conversations, one thread is impossible to miss: influence grows when community grows. You’ll hear how clarity of purpose fuels confidence, why intentional relationships compound over time, and how investing in your own presence, skills, and courage creates opportunities that span roles, companies, and career chapters.Valissa Pierre-Louis opens by grounding influence in self-awareness - truly understanding the value you bring and aligning your strengths to what the business needs most. She underscores the power of relationships that amplify that value. Outhay Lovan builds on that with a call to boldness, especially for those who don’t see themselves as natural extroverts. Her message is simple: step into discomfort, expand your network, and watch your impact grow.Executive presence takes center stage with Eileen Nebhut, who highlights the importance of coaching, feedback, and stakeholder support systems. She notes that the Summit’s unique “vibe” comes from leaders who intentionally pay it forward. Audrey Blackmon emphasizes being intentional with time and staying rooted in authenticity and integrity - two qualities she sees as non-negotiable for long-term influence.From the organizational lens, Dr. Gail Burgos encourages women to take risks, stretch beyond their functional lanes, and embrace curiosity as a pathway to growth. FIS’s Kristen Slink brings a powerful distinction between mentorship and sponsorship, urging women to advocate for one another and elevate voices not yet in the room.Margie Kreutz adds a powerful mindset shift—reframing “risk” as courage—and reminds women that staying too long in a comfortable role can quietly stall advancement, while brave, timely moves create momentum and open doors. Longtime industry leader Linda Perry reminds professionals to stay deeply informed—follow the trends, read widely, and understand the ecosystem so you can chart where you want to go. And to close, Jonathan O’Connor spotlights the magic of “playing in traffic” - putting yourself in the flow of conversations, peers, and opportunity during a moment of massive industry transformation.If you care about accelerating your career, building meaningful connections, or leading with purpose in a competitive, fast-changing landscape, this episode offers practical insights you can put into motion today.