Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller, editor in chief at Tearsheet. Niamh Kristufek is the head of US business banking at BMO Harris Bank. Her team services about 2 million small businesses with products, digital capabilities and experiences to help them reach their financial goals. Niamh joins us to discuss BMO’s support of women via its collaboration with the 1871 Innovation Program. The partnership launched the first cohort of the WMN FINtech program, specifically supporting female entrepreneurs in fintech with resources, programming, and mentorship. Niamh Kristufek is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

For a space as big as commercial cards, there are still so many opportunities to make a difference for startups. This is Tearsheet’s Early Stage podcast and I’m Zack Miller, editor in chief of Tearsheet. Here’s where we drill down on up and coming fintech firms, tackling big problems in large markets. Joining me on the show is PayEm’s (https://www.payemcard.com/index.php/en/) co-founder and CEO Itamar Jobani. PayEm provides a corporate card and management tools for companies to streamline their spending. PayEm’s combination of plastic and software helps company leaders approve, track and manage vendors with rules to manage budgets and projects. Jobani joins us on the podcast to share his vision for smart commercial cards, why he founded the company, and where he plans to lead his firm.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller. Online trading platform Robinhood just raised more money at a valuation over $11 billion. Traditional brokerage firms are keenly aware of what’s going on and they’re also undergoing their own dance with digital. Frank LaQuinta, CIO at Edward Jones, joins me on the podcast to discuss how the brokerage firm is positioning itself to provide more modern experiences in branch and over digital, for its 7 million clients as well as for its financial advisors. Frank has had a 30 year career at bulge-bracket firms, so he’s seen up close the impact technology is having on financial services. Frank LaQuinta is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

In this episode of The Challengers, Josh Liggett and Zack Miller explore what Varo Money getting a national charter might mean for the firm and for the challenger banking industry. We compare Monzo, which recently warned about its survivability, and Starling, which said it expects to break even in 2020 and reach profitability in 2021. Lastly, your hosts discuss the new players in the challenger banking space: Kabbage and Intuit. Both launched accounts recently for SMBs. Before we jump into the podcast, I wanted to introduce you to Outlier, Tearsheet’s leading membership program. It’s designed for top fintech and financial service professionals to stay on top daily of the biggest trends, the top companies, and the leaders of this next generation of finance. Get industry briefings by experts like the ones we’re doing this January on best practices in PR and customer acquisition. Find out more at Tearsheet.co/outlier

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller. We don’t talk enough about community banks on the podcast. Coming in to the COVID crisis, community banks lagged large banks and fintechs in technology. But when you look at what’s happened over the past 6 months, community banks committed acts of heroism to serve their customers during the height of the crisis. Raymond Chandonnet, chief revenue officer at Neocova, joins us on the podcast to talk about the window of opportunity community banks have to compete. He describes the role technology plays in driving innovation for community banks and how smaller FIs are migrating to new core banking tech slowly and as part of a larger journey. Raymond Chandonnet is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller. Consumer behavior was already changing before COVID hit. When you ask financial services executives, may will tell you that COVID is acting to accelerate those trends. Beth Johnson, chief experience officer at Citizens Bank, is studying those trends. Citizens recently published its inaugural Banking Experience Survey, which polled over 10,000 customers and 252 business leaders across the US on their views around digital bank. Beth joins me on the podcast to talk about the importance of marrying human interaction with technology and how changes made in response to COVID will likely have lasting impact on banking and financial services after the pandemic is over. Beth Johnson is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller. WePay provides payment solutions for platforms like marketplaces and software firms. The Chase-owned company provides payment APIs to firms like Eventzilla, Meetup and TouchBistro. Chief revenue officer Jennifer Parker joins us on the podcast to give us an update on the business and to discuss how platforms and their merchants are coping during the current crisis. We hear about how WePay has supported its ecosystem with products and services throughout this tumultuous time. Jennifer also shares with us her biggest priorities heading into the second half of 2020. Jennifer Parker is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I'm Zack Miller. Afterpay is one of the fastest growing buy now, pay later firms in the world. Based out of Australia, the fintech has recently expanded into the US and is planning to expand to Canada soon, as well. Afterpay US CFO Laura Nadler joins us on the podcast to discuss Afterpay’s model and how positioning itself as a partner to retailers has helped it chart a path for growth. Nadler has spent most of her career at traditional financial firms like Visa and we talk about the tailwinds in the business and how COVID is impacting customers and merchants alike. We also discuss Afterpay’s launch of a new loyalty program. Laura Nadler is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

A few weeks back, payments API firm, Galileo launched Instant, which dramatically simplifies and accelerates launching a debit card — taking what can be a multi-month process and turning it into a couple of weeks. Galileo claims it had hundreds of companies signed up for a beta when it went live and the interest is still very strong. Founder and CEO Clay Wilkes talked about Instant when he addressed Tearsheet’s Resilience Conference a couple of weeks ago. Galileo Managing Director Cole Wilkes joins us on the podcast today to talk more about Instant.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller. Student lending is undergoing a significant transformation. Earnest Earnest has refinanced over $10 billion for over 124,000 people, helping them pay off their debt and giving them the financial capital to reach their goals. The company combines design and data to build an innovative model for consumer lending, available through a simple, easy to use mobile application. David Green, chief product officer at Earnest, joins us on the podcast to talk about lending in our economic environment, as well as the firm’s relatively new product, in-school student loans. Lastly, we talk about the lender’s product pipeline. David Green is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.