How customers choose payment rails

Open banking fees, stablecoin regulation, and AI-first payment systems are reshaping how money moves in the US. Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential, sits down with David Glaser, CEO of Dwolla, to unpack what's changing, what's breaking, and what smart operators are doing about it right now.

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JP Morgan's decision to charge for open banking access is forcing the entire industry to rethink how apps connect to bank account data. Real-time payment rails like RTP and FedNow are live but adoption is slow because not every use case needs instant settlement. Dwolla scaled without hiring a single net-new employee in two years by mapping every process into what can be automated and what still needs a human. This episode covers the frameworks, the data signals, and the strategy shifts that matter most if you're building or running anything in payments today.

TAKEAWAYS

1️⃣ Build with AI from day one and treat new hires as a last resort, not a first instinct.

2️⃣ Rework your product fast because major AI releases absorb startup features every six months.

3️⃣ Attack your biggest operational bottleneck first, even if you can only automate half of it.

4️⃣ Track every internal handoff to find where delays, errors, and hidden costs are piling up.

5️⃣ Set team values that reward discomfort so your people adopt new tools without waiting for a mandate.

GUEST

David Glaser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daglaser

COMPANY

Dwolla: https://www.dwolla.com

Dwolla LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dwolla

Dwolla YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/dwollaplatform

FINTECH CONFIDENTIAL

Podcast: https://fintechconfidential.com/listen

Notifications: https://fintechconfidential.com/access

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintechconfidential

X: https://x.com/FTconfidential

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fintechconfidential

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fintechconfidential

SUPPORTERS

Under.io: Digitize your PDFs and streamline application and underwriting processes. Get started free at under.io/FTC

Skyflow: A zero trust data privacy vault delivered as an API covering PCI, CCPA, GDPR, and SOC 2. Visit skyflowsecure.com

DFNS: Wallets as a service, API first, multi-chain, secured with MPC across 50+ blockchains. Request a demo at fintechconfidential.com/dfns

Hawk AI: Real-time payment screening and AML transaction monitoring to cut false positives. Sign up for a demo at gethawk.com

ABOUT

Guest

David Glaser is CEO of Dwolla with over 25 years of payments experience spanning global leadership roles at Mastercard, Worldpay, CyberSource, and Visa. He grew up in a small coal mining town south of Pittsburgh, originally planned to become a high school math teacher, and has since led teams through some of the industry's biggest deals including Worldpay's $10.4 billion merger with Vantiv. Outside of payments, he's completed multiple Ironman triathlons and 70.3 races.

Company

Dwolla is a leader in account-to-account payments in the US, offering a full-service platform that replaces legacy technology with a unified solution supporting ACH, Same Day ACH, RTP, and FedNow. Over 500 businesses partner with Dwolla to improve payment security, data visibility, and cash flow.

Host

Tedd Huff is CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential. With 25+ years in the industry, he brings entertaining and informative content focused on fintech insights, market trends, and stories from leaders, thinkers, and doers.

DD3 Media

Fintech Confidential is a production of DD3 Media. All rights reserved.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Highlights

02:06 Under.io: Streamlining Application Processes

02:35 Introduction to FinTech Leaders One-on-One

02:48 Meet David Glaser, CEO of Dwolla

05:29 Payment Industry Then vs. Now

08:03 Open Banking and AI in Payments

08:55 JP Morgan's Open Banking Fee Announcement

14:06 Payment Methods and Account Access

14:36 Scaling Operations at Dwolla

15:03 Modernizing Homegrown Systems

16:26 AI and Automation in Payments

17:20 Skyflow: Your Privacy API

18:31 Balancing Founder Mindset with Scale

19:22 Automating Back Office Processes

21:52 Identifying What to Systemize Next

29:52 Economic Signals in Transaction Data

31:01 Interest Rate Impact on Fintech

32:43 Predicting Trends with Payment Data

35:04 Centralizing Data for AI Readiness

37:21 Account-to-Account and Real-Time Rails

38:21 Real-Time Payment Use Cases

41:00 DFNS: Wallets as a Service

42:39 Choosing the Right Payment Method

44:09 Orchestrating Across Multiple Rails

46:58 Vertical SaaS and Embedded Payments

48:37 The Future of Stablecoins

50:23 AI and Stablecoins Together

54:21 Advice for Fintech Founders

58:07 Hawk AI: Real-Time Fraud Monitoring

58:52 Disclaimer