Fintech Combine

Kris Kovacs welcomes Frank Mazza, Director of Blockchain for Credit Unions and CUSOs at Metallicus, for an in-depth discussion on how blockchain, digital wallets, and stablecoins are reshaping financial services. They explore why credit unions are preparing for digital assets, how stablecoins can improve payments, reduce costs, enhance member experiences, and why education is still the biggest hur...

Kris Kovacs sits down with Mark Majeske, Senior Vice President of Faster Payments at Alacriti, to explore how instant payment technologies like RTP, FedNow, and emerging payment rails are transforming the future of credit unions. Powered by Curql, this episode dives into member expectations, fraud prevention, cross-border payments, payment orchestration, and why offering faster payments has become...

Kris Kovacs sits down with Alec Crawford, Founder and CEO of Verapath, to discuss how credit unions and community financial institutions can safely adopt AI while staying compliant and secure. From AI governance and regulatory requirements to AI agents, workflows, cybersecurity, and risk management, Alec shares practical insights from decades in banking, technology, and artificial intelligence. If...

Kris Kovacs sits down with Deep Varma, CTO of Alkami, for a deep conversation on the future of AI-powered digital banking. Deep shares lessons from decades in Silicon Valley, including his work at IBM, Yahoo, startups, and Varo Bank, and explains how Alkami is helping credit unions and community financial institutions innovate faster through open architecture, AI-driven experiences, digital identi...

Kris Kovac sits down with Austin Carroll, founder and CEO of Warrant, to discuss how AI is transforming marketing compliance for banks, credit unions, and fintechs. Austin shares her journey from leading marketing at companies like Brex, Mercury, and Capital One to building Warrant — a platform designed to help financial institutions streamline approvals, reduce regulatory risk, and move at startu...

In this episode of the Fintech Combine, Kris Kovacs sits down with the team behind Sway Stack to unpack one of the biggest hidden challenges in banking today: what happens after a new account is opened. With acquisition costs rising and engagement lagging, they explore why so many new members go inactive in the first 30 days—and how credit unions can fix it. From smarter onboarding to driving real...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Wade Arnold, founder and CEO of Moov, to discuss how modern payments infrastructure is reshaping what credit unions and fintechs can deliver to their members. Wade explains why legacy payment rails create friction, how Moov connects to every major payment network, and what it means to build always-on, real-time payment experie...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with David Metz, founder and CEO of Prizeout, to discuss how credit unions can finally bring meaningful rewards to everyday debit card spending. David shares the story of pivoting from a trivia gaming company to fintech, and how Prizeout helps credit unions deliver cash back through digital gift cards, merchant-funded offers, and p...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Shawn Malamed, co-founder and CEO of Spiral, to discuss how credit unions and community banks can build more heart-centered digital banking experiences. Shawn shares his journey from building fintech companies and leading innovation at Morgan Stanley to launching Spiral, a platform designed to help members save money, reach pe...

Kris Kovacs sits down with Colin Phillips, CTO of Lodestar, to talk about how credit unions can stop relying on spreadsheets and start treating data like a strategic asset. Colin breaks down what a modern data journey really looks like—pulling information out of core and other systems into a single source of truth, building a practical data strategy with quick wins, and putting smart governance (l...

On this episode of The Fintech Combine, Kris kicks off the new Powered by Curql series with the founder and CEO of Uptiq.ai to explore how their AI platform creates an “intelligent operating layer” on top of a credit union’s existing systems of record. They discuss why so much real work still happens outside the core and LOS, how AI agents can cut across multiple systems to automate manual tasks,...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Dr. Lamont Black of Wide Open Ventures to break down what’s next for credit unions as AI and stablecoins move from hype to real strategy. They unpack the impact of the Genius Act, why stablecoins are becoming a mainstream payments rail, and what credit unions should do now to prepare—without jumping into tech for tech’s sake....

In this episode, Kris Kovacs hosts Troy Wyatt, CEO of DataOps, and Shawn Gilfedder, CEO of Kitsap Credit Union, to discuss the transformative impact of agentic technology on credit unions. The conversation begins with an introduction to the participants and a brief overview of their organizations. Shawn shares insights into Kitsap's journey towards leveraging data and AI to enhance member expe...

As we wrap up the year, this special holiday episode of The Fintech Combine brings together industry leaders to reflect on where credit unions are headed and how innovation continues to shape the future of community-based financial institutions. From collaboration and technology to growth strategies and evolving member expectations, this conversation looks back on the lessons of the past year whil...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Kalyani Ramadurgam, co-founder and CEO of Kobalt Labs, to explore how AI is transforming third-party risk management and compliance for financial institutions. Kalyani shares how her background in AI research and fintech led to building an auditable, secure, and highly explainable platform that automates the most manual parts...

In this episode of the Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Mitch Rutledg, co-founder and CEO of Vertice AI, to explore how community financial institutions can finally unlock the power of their data without massive teams or endless projects. Mitch shares his journey from leading advanced analytics at global giant SAS to building Vertice AI specifically for credit unions and community...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovac sits down with Omar Jordan, founder & CEO of Coviance, to unpack how credit unions can deliver a true fintech experience in home equity and HELOC lending. Omar shares the origin story (from fax-era frustrations to 72-hour clear-to-close), why broken process and policy—not the LOS—slow lenders down, and what’s changed at Coviance over the...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovac sits down with Jonty Hirsowitz, founder and CEO of Deferit, to explore how his latest innovation — Pebble — is helping consumers build credit simply by paying their everyday bills on time. Jonty shares his journey from corporate law to fintech entrepreneurship, the problem Pebble solves for thin-file consumers, and how credit unions can use e...

Want to Start a Podcast? Hear This First. Before you hit record, listen in on what works, what doesn’t, and what every fintech leader needs to know about launching a show.

In this episode of the Fintech Combine, Kris Kovac talks with Cale Johnson, founder of Onsetto and former ClickSwitch CEO. Cale shares hard-won lessons from building and selling his first fintech, why business account switching is the industry’s hidden bottleneck, and how Onsetto is helping banks and credit unions finally achieve true commercial primacy. Follow the Pod: https://twitter.com/fintech...

In this episode of the Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Karan Bhalla, founder of AIVantage, to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping credit unions and community banks. From hyperpersonalization to fail-fast innovation, Karan shares lessons from his 25-year career in banking and fintech, and offers practical insights into how small and mid-size institutions can embrace AI...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovacs sits down with Marcell King, CEO of Nuuvia, to explore how youth banking solutions are helping credit unions stay relevant in a rapidly changing market. From financial education for kids to competing with fintech giants like Greenlight, Marcell shares insights on how Nuuvia is transforming the way credit unions engage the next generation of...

In this conversation, Mark Price, CTO of Akuvo, shares insights into the innovative solutions his company is developing in the FinTech space, particularly focusing on their cloud-based collections platform and the introduction of AI technologies. He discusses his journey from a coder to a management role, the impact of their Virtual Collector product, and the importance of building a culture of in...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovac sits down with Steve Soukup, CEO of DefenseStorm, to discuss how the company protects credit unions and community banks from evolving cyber threats. They explore risk management, fraud prevention, AI‑powered threat detection, and why trust is the foundation of effective cybersecurity in the financial sector. Follow the Pod: https://twitter.co...

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovac sits down with Jon Sternstein, founder and CEO of Stern Security, to explore his journey from credit union security engineer to cybersecurity entrepreneur. Jon shares how he built a bootstrapped SaaS platform protecting credit unions and hospital systems, the evolving threat landscape, and why securing the planet starts with smarter, scalable...