How to Lend Money to Strangers

Pakistan is massively underbanked, but those gaps are being closed faster than you might think, using a range of innovative solutions that range from traditional credit bureaus to satellite imagery to psychometric scorecards. In this episode, I'm with Waqas Javed, EVP for Data Analytics AI at the Bank of Punjab, talking about the vision behind, and the impact of, their drive to bring fair credit p...

We don't normally talk about insurance on here, but we've just published our 200th episode, so the rules no longer apply to us 🤣 But, also, we're not so different from our insuring cousins, who also need to make an upfront commitment of funds against some measure of risk. Stan Ng is my guide, and you can find him plu shis many ventures at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stan-ng-61228040/ Aireka is th...

Sanjib Kalita  is one of the most recognisable faces in global fintech, and now one of  the most recognisable voices  in global fintech, too, so when I saw we were approaching 200 episodes, he was who I wanted to get on to mark the occasion. We talk about Sanjib's early career, his move into events, including what it has been like building Fintech Meetup, the Most Valuable Event in...

Operating in over 40 countries across three continents, Creditinfo is a trusted partner in driving financial inclusion, enhancing credit access, and supporting economic growth in one of the most diverse mixes of markets I know of. You can learn all about Creditinfo on their homepage: https://www.creditinfo.com/ (or follow the links to any one of the regional sites). Creditinfo are on LinkedIn, too...

From fake accounts to payment fraud, SEON’s AI platform connects 900+ first-party data signals to enrich data and provide context for action-taking, all in one place. You can read more about how they do that on their homepage: https://seon.io/ They're also on LinkedIn, of course, at https://www.linkedin.com/company/seon-tech/ As is this show (https://www.linkedin.com/company/how-to-lend-money-to-s...

Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) have always made sense for borrowers, but when the Great Financial Crisis showed how contagion could undermine the pricing assumptions, they lost favour with American lenders. But they're back, redesigned, and stronger than ever. In this episode, I'm speaking with Splitero's CEO, Michael Gifford , a PropTech veteran who is helping families get the most out of t...

The first rule of lending money to strangers is that it is always a little easier when you're lending out someone else's money! But if you're willing to put in some work, private credit offers HNW individuals a route to strong returns, and this is where today's guest enters the chat. Credibur helps non-bank lenders and their institutional capital providers manage debt facilities and portfolios in...

Pillar is a vertical AI platform built for financial institutions, deploying product-aware AI sales agents that qualify leads, recommend the right financial products, and drive applications at scale - helping banks, lenders, and fintechs get more Indonesians into homes. We recorded this episode just as they were about to rebrand, so while we spoke about Ringkas , you'll now find everything you nee...

Rafsun Faiz is a former structured finance and credit investor, now turned fintech founder with SahajMobile - a smartphone financing platform that is expanding access to credit in South Asia. The world gets more digital every day, and that's as true in Dhaka as it is in DC, so SahajMobile 's mission is to provide affordable access to cutting-edge smartphone technology for everyone in Bangladesh (a...

With 10,000 transactions processed a day across 900+, often remote, villages, LTS Ventures is one of the more impactful operations I've had the pleasure of featuring on this show. But when you build the digital infrastructure needed for core banking, you're also building an ecosystem of trust and technology that other innovators can leverage in the future, so the incredible work already being done...

Crowdfunding has always been an interesting option, but now, with AI changing how quickly and cheaply ideas can become startups, we're standing on the brink of a new golden age. I'm chatting to a crowdfunding veteran, go-to-market expert, startup advisor, and all-around fintech geek,  Leonard Burger . You can find Leonard on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardburger/ But he has to...

The team that pioneered AI-powered workflows for financial advisors, are now sharing their knowledge of agentic AI systems with the industry as a whole. If you've played around with Claude Code , you'll know how much you can now do with just an idea and some well-thought-out prompts... but you'll also know that there are still limits. Building a bank ready system requires more than just code,...

Models are important and all, but you don't build great businesses by building great models, you build great businesses by building great people - because great people build the right models and leverage them strategically. To better understand the challenges facing credit risk leaders today, Marc Gaudart and Elizabeth Reed surveyed leaders from large global banks, growing fintechs, and specialist...

This episode was recorded live at Money20/20 in Bangkok, so first and foremost, a huge thanks to the team there that are always exceptionally professional. If it weren't for them, there is no way you'd be getting this episode just a day after it was recorded. Still, it's no substitute for being there, especially now with shows in Europe, Asia, America, and the Middle East, so head on over to https...

Life got in the way of my episode release schedule for a bit there, and so a few months have passed since I sat down with Josip Rupena to discuss crypto-backed mortgages. In the world of crypto, a few months can be a lifetime, and, in this case, not the easiest lifetime, and yet, Milo has just issued its largest single transaction ever: a $12 million crypto mortgage. The demand is real, from...

Smarter advice leads to smoother lending, so today I am sitting down with James Tucker, CEO at Twenty7tec Group, talking about how his solutions, helps lenders maximise product visibility, streamline applications, and improve adviser engagement. James is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestuckeruk/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3BBdGz3l8tSXaaIkiaeaOlwQ%3D%3D Twenty7Tec is at...

Happy New Year! I'm in Tallinn, hopefully showing my South African nieces some snow, though this winter is staying stubbornly mild. Anyway, that's not why you're here. The flipping over of the calendar is also a great time to think of the year ahead, and the trends that might shape it - and that's exactly what I did with David Silverstein , founder and CEO of Ned , whose 'Beyond the Breaking Point...

"We live in a world where AI is transforming everything, but the real opportunity isn’t in automation: it’s in reimagining systems around people." In today's episode, I'm speaking to Dr Diederick van Thiel, fintech entrepreneur, executive, academic, and, most recently, author of Brilliant Data , a call to leaders, innovators, and policymakers to create intelligent systems that don’t just think qui...

Data analytics is no longer an isolated and arcane backroom activity to be understood by only a handful of geeks, it's at the core of every successful lending business. For those of us that have grown up in data science, that's great news, but that rising prominence also means that a new audience must now come to terms with the implications of machine learning versus logistic regression scores, wi...

We typically explain SME under lending as a supply gap: staid banks don't want to, or simply don't know how to, lend to new-fangled businesses. And to some extent, that is true, but there is also a demand gap. "There is a lack of knowledge, confidence, and trust when it comes to seeking growth capital through loans. While many founders hesitate to borrow, nearly 60% abandon loan applications midwa...

For a long time now, the prevailing narrative has been branch versus phone, and phone has been winning. But there is another option, branch and phone, or rather branch in phone, and it gives us the best of both worlds plus a few fresh advantages to boot. Connect with Albert on LinkedIn using https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-howard-mb/ And while you're there, stay up to date with the Mini Branch...

While it is true that our mistakes are a great source of learning, it is also true that they can be a very expensive source of learning. This is particularly true when it comes to credit, where human nature and compound interest mean that many of us first learn about the true mechanics of credit when collections are on the phone and our debts have ballooned. Luckily, Latreace Sankey-Wells, with he...

Agricultural loans offer a unique combination of high collateral and EU subsidies – in a crisis-resistant sector. Lande gives us exclusive access to these loans, and this week I'm speaking to the founder, Nikita Goncars. Meet Nikita on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikita-goncars-lande/ Or jump straight to Lande's homepage at https://lande.finance/ BadIdeas.fund is at, you guessed it, ht...

People don't want mortgages; they want houses, and mortgages are just the unavoidable, often overly-complicated means to that end. Scott Baker understands this, and has embedded it into the very fabric of Toast . Join us as we talk about Scott's journey from retail to finance, the state of the Australian mortgage landscape, and how he built Toast to help consumers dream big and plan bigger. Toast...

We’re increasingly seeing collaboration between cybercrime, fraud, organised crime and money laundering. Organisations face mounting challenges in protecting their digital infrastructure and customers from fraudulent activities - and this is true in developed and developing markets. Developed countries tend to have more developed risk controls, but they remain attractive to fraudsters because...