Why infrastructure, not apps, mattered

Welcome to Credit Without Constraints, a new four-part podcast miniseries from Fintech Takes, presented with our friends at Spinwheel.

The series orbits around one core challenge: how do we make the best possible credit decisions for the benefit of both the consumer and the lender?

Data is one of the biggest constraints. Credit outcomes sit downstream of credit data, and today that data is fragmented and inconsistent. 

The solution is a deliberately unopinionated approach: put consumers in control, and make data sharing easier than most providers do today (all while delivering the highest-fidelity data possible).

In Episode 1, I sit down with Tomás Campos, Co-founder and CEO of Spinwheel.

We start with Spinwheel's origin, a founding team obsessed with the liability side of the household balance sheet, and dig into where the traditional credit data system falls short. 

We get specific about the gaps: credit bureaus are the original aggregators, but real-time balances, payoff quotes, BNPL trade lines, and the granular detail buried inside a mortgage payment don’t fit neatly into today’s structures. Tomás says the average lender is running about 14 separate data integrations just to close those gaps.

The answer is not to replace what exists. It is to say “yes and.” 

• What if identity could be the unlock for frictionless data access (versus credentials)?

• What if consumer permissioning and the spirit of the FCRA pointed toward the same destination all along?

• What if closing the data gaps was actually good for both lenders and consumers?

This episode sets the stage for the entire series. 

A "yes and" approach to credit data is a very different way of building fintech infrastructure, but it's starting to change. The rest of the series explores that change, across acquisition, underwriting, and servicing. 

Subscribe now to catch what's next.

Spinwheel helps financial innovators instantly verify and act on consumer credit using just a phone number and date of birth. Real-time, consented credit data and embedded payments—no passwords, no friction. 

Learn more at https://spinwheel.io

Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/

And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.

Follow Alex: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson

Follow Tomás:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/theinnovativeone/ 
Learn more about Spinwheel here: https://spinwheel.io