Fintech Takes

By: Alex Johnson
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  • Summary

  • Fintech moves fast. But here at Fintech Takes, Alex Johnson and his rotating panel of guests move faster so that you can stay on top of the latest and greatest news in the industry without breaking a sweat. Welcome to Fintech Takes—the place where fintech’s biggest nerds come to sit back, relax, and completely geek out. Join Alex and a lineup of fintech’s brightest minds as they dissect what’s happening in fintech and banking. Each week, Alex and his guests recap the most interesting developments in fintech and explore the industry’s most pressing questions, diving headfirst into the intricate workings of some of the industry’s most ground-breaking business models and unpacking the emerging players that promise to shape fintech’s future. From riveting conversations with fintech’s most relevant operators to comprehensive recaps of the month's most compelling news stories and in-depth analyses of the latest regulatory developments, Fintech Takes is your one-stop-shop for navigating the fintech universe. Subscribe now to join fintech’s nerdiest podcast around!
    Copyright 2023 Alex Johnson
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Economics Personal Finance Politics & Government
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Episodes
  • S8 E11: Not Fintech Investment Advice: 1: Agree, Revenew, Barq, and in Loving Memory of Tally

    S8 E11: Not Fintech Investment Advice: 1: Agree, Revenew, Barq, and in Loving Memory of Tally
    Sep 18 2024
    Welcome back to Not Fintech Investment Advice, where Simon Taylor and I spotlight new and exciting fintechs, minus the stock tips. First up is Agree. If DocuSign and Stripe had a Gen AI-powered baby, it’d be the e-signature platform Agree. It blends free agreement software with paid invoicing and payments (merging 2 trends: AI-driven law tech with AI-driven finance workflows). Why juggle invoices and contracts when you can reconcile both in one platform? Is this the next big thing in regtech? Next, they dive into Revenew, an all-in-one payment optimization platform for platforms and marketplaces. The platform consolidates payments from various PSPs, tracks metrics and multiple providers to help ramp up profitability. As startups gravitate towards all-in-one solutions and larger firms go modular, where will the future of payment orchestration take us? Simon, fresh from the Saudi desert, spotlights Barq, a Saudi digital wallet that achieved 1M customers in just 21 days, making it the fastest-growing neobank outside China (sorry, Revolut). It’s easy to dismiss Barq as a government white elephant, but Simon challenges that notion. Lastly, they mourn Tally (RIP), a fintech that helped users pay down credit card debt—a problem still surging in the US, and now at an all-time high. Was Tally's pivot from B2C to B2B before shutting down too little, too late, or was distribution the real issue? Plus, they’re manifesting a fintech future where data infrastructure is collaborative. Why is it single-player by default for companies like Plaid or MX, and how might a multiplayer model transform the landscape? Raising the standard of quality for embedded finance infrastructure, Newline™ by Fifth Third is an API platform that enables enterprises to launch and scale payment, card and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank. Learn more at newline53.com 00:01:38 - Agree 00:10:09 - Revenew 00:21:12 - Barq 00:30:11 - Tally 00:43:18 - Manifesting Fintech Ideas 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 Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson Companies featured: https://agree.com/ https://revenew.co/ https://barq.com/ https://www.meettally.com/ [in memoriam]
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    1 hr
  • S8 E10: Bank Nerd Corner: Why "FBO" is Out & Fintech Custody Accounts Are In, Rate Cut Buzz, and the FDIC’s New Rule

    S8 E10: Bank Nerd Corner: Why "FBO" is Out & Fintech Custody Accounts Are In, Rate Cut Buzz, and the FDIC’s New Rule
    Sep 11 2024
    Welcome back to Bank Nerd Corner, featuring yours truly and the brilliant Kiah Haslett, Banking and Fintech Editor at Bank Director. First up: Kiah breaks down why "FBO" accounts need a rebrand as "Fintech Custody Accounts" (FCA) to better reflect today’s BaaS landscape. Could this shift in lingo actually improve transparency in managing fintech partnerships? Next, they dive into the Federal Open Market Committee's looming rate cut decision, the first since 2020. With excitement brewing over potential mortgage rate dips, what will the impact be on commercial real estate and shrinking bank margins? How will the rate cut reshape the lending landscape? Finally, courtesy of the Synapse-Evolve Case,they dive into the FDIC's new rule on tighter fintech ledger controls—arguably the most exciting regulatory shakeup you didn’t know you cared about. Plus, how the OCC’s shift toward prioritizing financial health over traditional safety metrics could reshape banking. Are banks ready to monitor financial well-being like doctors track vital signs? Tune in to find out! Raising the standard of quality for embedded finance infrastructure, Newline™ by Fifth Third is an API platform that enables enterprises to launch and scale payment, card and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank. Learn more at newline53.com 00:01:03: Call FBOs By Their Name: FCAs 00:07:49: Fed Rate Cuts: Central Bank Showdown 00:28:06 The FDIC’s New Rule 00:49:04 Why Is The OCC So Focused On Financial Health? 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 Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson
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    1 hr and 28 mins
  • S8 E9: Fintech Recap: Klarna’s “Balance” vs. Banking, Affirm's Resilience, and Niche Neobanks Refuse to Die

    S8 E9: Fintech Recap: Klarna’s “Balance” vs. Banking, Affirm's Resilience, and Niche Neobanks Refuse to Die
    Sep 4 2024
    In this week’s episode of Fintech Recap, Alex is joined by Jason Mikula to dive into the latest on fintech. With BaaS Island quiet, the guys head over to BNPL for some fresh juice. First up, Klarna’s U.S. launch and its new “Balance” feature — despite the hype, it’s not quite banking. In the U.S., “Balance” is more of a wallet within Klarna's app, far from their European banking model. Klarna’s shooting for global banking glory, but the fine print reveals a different tale — more shopping convenience than banking breakthrough. Next, they break down Affirm’s Q4 earnings. Looks like Affirm isn't just riding the BNPL wave — they're hanging ten. The big question: is success in BNPL about flashy growth or building a resilient model? The answer might surprise you. Plus, they dig into broader fintech shifts: Comune’s standout $21.5M raise targeting underserved immigrants alongside Apple’s decision to allow third-party access to its NFC chip. Will these moves change the game or just tweak the status quo? Tune in to find out! 00:06:58 Klarna Buzz vs Klarna Reality 00:19:55 Affirm Affirms Steady, Cautious Growth 00:32:54 Niche Neobanks: The Next Big Thing, Again? 00:41:36 Apple “Kinda” Opens Up NFC 00:51:42 Can’t Let It Go 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 Jason: Newsletter: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/ Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson
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    57 mins

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