Fintech One-On-One

It wasn't that long ago that robo-advice was this exciting new industry that was going to bring automated investing to the masses. Today, much of that initial promise has been realized and all the major investment firms have this as part of their offerings. But there is much more work needed to be done here.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Sarah Levy, the CEO of Betterment. Betterment was one of the pioneers in the space and it is interesting to see how they have evolved since launching 13 years ago. As you will find out, it is about far more than consumer robo-advice today.In this podcast you will learn:What prompted Sarah to move into fintech from the media business.What attracted her to Betterment specifically.The different business lines they have today.How the narrative has changed since their early days.Details of their Cash Reserve account that pays 5.25%.How the banking crisis in March impacted their business.Their typical customer and target demographic.Why Sarah championed their business-to-business offerings.The four different marketing channels they focus on.What their customers value most when it comes to investment choices.Why they decided to add crypto to their offerings.Sarah's views on the lack of women-run fintech companies.What we can do to create changes at the top.The diversity programs they have inside Betterment.Her vision for the future of Betterment.Connect with Sarah on LinkedInConnect with Betterment on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Bo Brustkern, CEO of Fintech Nexus, and Jon Lear, President of Fintech Meetup, discuss their partnership, the genesis of Fintech Meetup, the components of the Fintech Meetup 2024 event, and the importance of their Table Talks program. They also share details about their co-located events at The Venetian in Las Vegas and how Fintech Meetup fits into the broader Hyve Group. Additionally, they talk about Fintech Nexus's digital media products and the exciting prospects of their new partnership.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That is pretty much how you could describe the environment for fintechs at the height of the pandemic. Some industries were booming while the world was reeling from the global pandemic. But in the fintech lending business, if you weren't involved in the PPP you were likely struggling. You would not think this was good timing to launch a working capital offering for small business.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Alek Koenig, the CEO and Co-Founder of Settle. They launched in the summer of 2020 with an accounts payable product paired with working capital. The business took off because they found an underserved niche in desperate need of capital: e-commerce businesses.The founding story of Settle.How they launched the company.Why launching at the height of the pandemic was fortuitous timing.How their core accounts payable software works.How the working capital offering integrates into this software.The maximum term they are financing today.How their underwriting process works.The range of interest rates they charge.How they are funding their working capital loans.What makes their AP software unique.Some of the brands they are working with today.How the movement towards embedded finance has made their life easier.How Alek's time at Affirm informs how he runs Settle today.How he built his Ukrainian team.The scale that Settle is at today.How they have navigated the downturn in fintech the last 12 to 18 months.His vision for Settle.Connect with Alek on LinkedInConnect with Settle on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Where fintech has had a dramatic impact already is in international payments. Sure, there is still work to do but there are companies out there today facilitating payments, often instantly, to people all around the world.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Charles Rosenblatt, the President of PayQuicker. What PayQuicker does is help companies pay their gig workers in 200+ countries and those workers can receive these funds instantly. They have been doing this for more than a decade.In this podcast you will learn:What attracted Charles to the role at PayQuicker.What PayQuicker does exactly.The different geographies they operate in.The most common use cases for their payouts technology.What is exciting about their Payouts OS product.Why PayQuicker does not take possession of the money.The big value proposition for PayQuicker's clients.What they are doing in their partnership with Mastercard.How the end consumer receives their money.His view on crypto and stablecoins as a payments tool.How they partner with global banks.How they facilitate instant payouts.Why fraud is not a major problem for PayQuicker.What's next for PayQuicker.Connect with Charles on LinkedInConnect with PayQuicker on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

When I first heard that QED Investors and BCG were putting together a report on the future of fintech I knew it was going to be good. I was not wrong. Never before have we seen an in-depth and rigorous analysis of where the industry is today and more importantly where we are headed.The report is titled Global Fintech 2023: Reimagining the Future of Finance, and it provides a level of optimism that has been missing in fintech for the past 12-18 months. But this is not blind optimism, it is based on data and research, both qualitative and quantitative. The finished product is a seminal report that has been the talk of the industry for the last month and a half.My next guests on the Fintech One-on-One podcast are Nigel Morris, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at QED Investors and Rishi Varma, Managing Director and Senior Partner at the Boston Consulting Group. Nigel gave a presentation on this report at the recent Fintech Nexus USA event (video here) but in this interview, we delve deeply into the genesis of the report, some of its key findings, and what it means for the industry.In this podcast you will learn:Why QED and BCG decided to come together to produce this report.The size of the financial services industry globally and fintech's part in it.The methodology they used to arrive at these global revenue numbers.A chronicle of the last three years in fintech.Where we are at today with equity funding in fintech by stage of company.The growth of fintech globally over the next 7 years and where this growth will come from.The eye-popping size that fintech is expected to be in 2030.What verticals within fintech will see the most growth.Why embracing financial inclusion has enormous potential.How and when will fintech become as profitable as the incumbents.The biggest risks to the growth of fintech.What is most exciting about the future of fintech.Connect with Nigel on LinkedInConnect with Rishi on LinkedInConnect with QED on LinkedInConnect with BCG on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Investing in fintech companies is never dull. The last three-plus years have seen every type of investing environment there is. Are we edging toward a new normal? Probably not yet but investment demand could start to pick up within the next nine months.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Mark Fiorentino, a partner at Index Ventures. One thing that is really interesting about Mark is that he comes to venture investing from the operating side of fintech. And not just any fintech, he spent many years at Stripe. I interviewed Mark at Fintech Nexus USA in New York City last month.In this podcast you will learn:Why he decided to make the jump from Stripe to venture capital.What specifically attracted him to Index Ventures.His investment thesis.How he has navigated the downturn in fintech the past year.What is different now in fintech than 2019.Why he likes investing in Latin America.The advice Mark has for his portfolio companies in navigating this challenging time.The areas of fintech that he is most bullish on.How active they have been as an investor this year.Why demand for equity from fintech founders is still down.Why there will be a boom in fintech M&A.How VCs are being more collaborative today.How they are building their network in Latin America.Why he believes in the future of AI.His thoughts on the funding environment for the next 18 months.Connect with Mark on LinkedInConnect with Index Ventures on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

While the fintech lending space is maturing with a number of lenders achieving significant scale today, the longevity of most platforms goes back barely more than a decade. But there is one lender today that was already seven or eight years old during the financial crisis of 2008-09. I am not saying the turbulent times we are experiencing today are equivalent to what become known as the Global Financial Crisis, but there are important lessons that can be learned from companies that survived that time.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One Podcast is Al Crawford, the CEO and Co-Founder of BHG Financial. Al founded the company back in 2001 and has been the CEO and Chairman since that time. He has some very interesting lessons to share from running a fintech lender for more than 20 years. I interviewed Al at the recent Fintech Nexus USA event in New York City, where this session led off the Credit and Underwriting track.In this podcast you will learn:Background on the founding of BHG back in 2001.The different lending verticals they operate in today.What makes their loan funding marketplace unique.The recent volume they have seen on their marketplace.What they are learning from their borrowers today.The lessons they learned from the 2008-09 financial crisis.How their bank partners have adjusted their credit boxes.How BHG is taking advantage of the pullback in originations from other lenders.Details of the ABS deal they closed just after the SVB blowup.How BHG runs their credit team.Where their borrower demand is coming from.How their credit and fraud team helps prevent loan stacking.The keys for lenders to survive in turbulent times like we are experiencing now.Connect with Al on LinkedInConnect with BHG Financial on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Last month at Fintech Nexus USA in New York City we announced that Fintech Nexus has acquired Fintech Blueprint, one of the leading fintech newsletters. It is led by Lex Sokolin, who is one of the great thinkers in our space, so I used the opportunity of being together in person to record an interview.The latest episode of the Fintech One-on-One podcast is a discussion with Lex Sokolin (I last had him on the show two years ago) recorded in the podcast theater at the event. While we touch on the acquisition of Fintech Blueprint, most of the episode is spent discussing many of the hottest fintech topics of the day.In this podcast you will learn:A description of his Fintech Blueprint newsletterWhy he agreed to the partnership with Fintech Nexus.Some of the broader platform shifts he is tracking today in fintech.How Lex views decentralized finance in the context of today's risk-off environment.The two strategies that are bringing traditional finance and crypto together.His views on the government crackdown on crypto.The different regulatory climates in the US, UK, and Europe.How decentralized finance might impact the payments landscape.His vision for self-driving money and the role AI will play.The technologies Lex is looking at most closely over the next two to three years.Connect with Lex on LinkedInConnect with Fintech Blueprint on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

There is no more hyped technology right now than Generative AI. But what does it really mean for financial services? What is the potential? And what about practical applications?My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Marco Argenti, the Chief Information Officer at Goldman Sachs. This interview was recorded at Fintech Nexus USA in New York City on May 10, Marco was actually our opening keynote speaker. And this ended up being the most talked-about session at the entire event. The keynote was titled, A Revolution of Knowledge: Generative AI, Data & Digital Transformation in Financial Services.In this podcast you will learn:What Marco learned from his time at AWS.What is top of mind at Goldman Sachs when it comes to innovation today.Why he compares Generative AI to the advent of the printing press.The two ways to think about AI today.How AI can help bring internal company knowledge to new employees.How companies can turn their top performers into "superhumans".A practical example of how you can think about the ROI of AI.The primary opportunities Marco sees for Generative AI.The keys to Goldman's success in their Platform Solutions business.Why thinking of developers as their clients is key.Connect with Marco on LinkedInConnect with Goldman Sachs on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

There is no hotter area in technology today than AI. We see articles in the press about it every day but in the fintech lending space using AI in underwriting is something that has been mainstream for some time.My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Mike de Vere, the CEO of Zest AI. Zest are pioneers in the field of using AI for underwriting having been working on this for more than a decade (listen to my interview with the former CEO and founder of Zest, Douglas Merrill, here). In this podcast you will learn:What attracted Mike to Zest AI.How he describes Zest today.Some of the large lenders they work with.What Mike makes of the current AI craze.Where we are at today with explainable AI.How they are removing bias from underwriting models.Details of their different offerings.How they customize their offerings for lenders.How they use alternative data.How their models have improved over time.How quickly they can deploy a new credit model.What is involved in implementing Zest into a lender.Why they build models for new customers at no cost.The pushback they receive when talking with new customers.How lenders operationalize the Zest models.How Zest is engaging with the regulatory bodies in Washington and the states.What they are working on now that is most exciting.Connect with Mike on LinkedInConnect with Zest AI on LinkedInConnect with Fintech One-on-One:Tweet me @PeterRentonConnect with me on LinkedInFind previous Fintech One-on-One episodes