Propagate Fintech Podcast

This episode is really a Snowflake and Anthropic story. Roland Howard and Lee Easton trace how Identify became one of Snowflake's early banking partners back in 2022, years before the rest of the industry trusted the cloud, and how that same pattern is now repeating with Anthropic. Lee walks through Identify's new status as a Certified Anthropic Partner, part of the first wave certified...

What does it take to actually break through in the credit union market? Kristin Marie has spent over a decade finding out. Kristin most recently served at Curql, a mega fund that raised $360 million from credit unions to invest in fintech. In that role, she worked directly with founders and early-stage companies trying to figure out how to crack open a market that rewards trust, relationships, and...

CDFIs don't get nearly enough credit in the fintech conversation. They're filling a gap the traditional financial system either can't fill or won't, and they're doing it with cobbled-together technology that was never built for them. In this episode, Roland sits down with Kyle Lovell, Chief Lending Officer at Business Impact Northwest, for a ground-level look at how CDFIs...

EPISODE OVERVIEW Roland sits down with Jazzy Zhu, CMO of Equipifi, to dig into why community banks and credit unions are still leaving BNPL on the table, how Equipifi is helping them reclaim those dollars flowing to third-party lenders, and what it looks like to run bold, human-first marketing inside a regulated-industry startup. Jazzy also pulls back the curtain on Equipifi's fourth website...

The $124 Trillion Opportunity Banks Are Sleeping On $124 trillion is transferring from Baby Boomers to the next generation by 2048. And most banks and credit unions have no seat at that table. I sat down with Tobias Salinger, Chief Correspondent at Financial Planning magazine — sister publication to American Banker — to unpack the disintermediation risk, the wealth transfer opportunity, and the cr...

Most fintech brands are pouring budget into pipeline — but their executives are completely absent from the places buyers are actually paying attention. Roland breaks down why executive thought leadership is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-cost growth levers available, shares real examples of fintech leaders doing it right, and delivers a three-speed content playbook any team can start using to...

PR is one of the most misunderstood and most expensive lines on a fintech marketing budget. In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast, host Roland Howard pulls back the curtain on why PR costs what it costs, why AI alone can't carry a campaign across the finish line, and why so many founders write off PR after one underwhelming press release. Roland walks through the real difference be...

MrBeast just acquired Step. Cash App is going after 6-year-olds. The creator economy is colliding with regulated banking — and Senator Elizabeth Warren is putting the whole space on notice. In this episode, Roland sits down with Elizabeth Gujral, Director in the Research & Fintech Advisory (RAFA) practice at Cornerstone Advisors, to unpack what the MrBeast/Step deal really means for banks, cre...

Christian Ruppe joins the show to break down his transition from community banking into his new role as Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at ImpactFi Advisors. We cover where banks are actually winning, what fintech founders get wrong, and how strategy, AI, and data are reshaping the industry. Christian also shares insights from launching the Perch Fund and how he evaluates fintech investments. T...

Why Humor Is the Secret Weapon in Fintech Marketing... What if the most effective way to get people to do the thing they have been avoiding is to make them laugh first? In this episode, Roland sits down with Trust & Will CEO Cody Barbo to unpack how one fintech company took one of life’s most serious and uncomfortable topics, estate planning, and turned it into a high-performing, humor-driven...

Why Fintech Leaders Need to Start Creating Video Content NOW In a world dominated by short-form video, fintech leaders can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. This video breaks down why video content is no longer optional and how it can dramatically improve awareness, trust, and customer acquisition costs. If you’re not creating video content in 2026, you’re already behind. In this video, I break do...

Episode Overview In this episode, Roland Howard sits down with John Kingma of Old Glory Bank to explore what it takes to build a digital-first bank in a rapidly consolidating financial industry. As traditional institutions move upmarket, small businesses and everyday Americans are increasingly left behind. Old Glory Bank was built to serve that gap, launching nationwide and reaching customers in a...

Nearly 40% of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency expense. That statistic alone explains why financial stress has become one of the biggest hidden issues in the workforce today. In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast, Roland Howard sits down with Rachel Fox of Sunny Day Fund to unpack the growing problem of financial precarity and why emergency savings is emerging as one of the most i...

What actually drives digital transformation in banking ? In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast , Roland Howard sits down with Justin Dunmyer of ICBA to unpack what community banks, fintech founders, and banking leaders often get wrong about innovation, automation, and data strategy. Justin previously spent over a decade inside a community bank working his way from teller to Chief Digita...

In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast, Roland Howard sits down with Elizabeth McCluskey to unpack her journey from investment banking and wealth management to impact investing and now venture capital at TruStage, where she helps back early-stage fintechs advancing financial inclusion and credit union innovation. 00:00 Intro + DC “snowcrete” 01:00 From investment banking to values-driven...

MrBeast is putting on a clinic that should be studied in graduate school by entering the fintech world with the purchase of Gen Z platform, STEP.  In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast, Roland Howard sits down with American Banker journalist Melinda Huspen to break down the acquisition of STEP and what it means for banks, fintech founders, and the future of creator-led financial service...

00:00 Integration Challenges in Financial Services 01:02 Understanding AI in the Financial Sector 03:55 Generative AI and Its Impact on Banking 10:44 Navigating the Fintech Landscape 12:16 The Role of AI in Banking 15:13 Leveraging Data for Competitive Advantage 17:04 Targeted Marketing Strategies 21:31 Operationalizing Insights for Growth 21:49 Balancing AI and Human Touch in Marketing AI is ever...

Episode Summary In this conversation, Melinda Huspen discusses her journey into journalism, her insights on Experian's new credit scoring model, and the implications of open banking on credit scoring. She highlights the potential of cashflow-based underwriting to serve underserved communities and shares advice for fintechs looking to gain media attention. The discussion also touches on future...

In this episode, Roland Howard sits down with Har Rai Khalsa, Co-Founder of SwayStack, to unpack one of the most expensive and overlooked problems in banking today: inactive and unfunded accounts. Har Rai shares how SwayStack identified a major gap after account opening, where 25–40% of new accounts go dormant despite acquisition costs that can reach $500 per account. The conversation explores why...

In this episode, I sit down with Glenn Bolstad, President of Vikar Technologies, to unpack what modern bank lending should look like—and why so many digital transformation efforts fall short. Glenn shares how Vikar approaches lending origination differently: orchestrating the full journey from application to underwriting, decisioning, closing, onboarding, and core integration. We discuss why point...

In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast, Roland Howard sits down with Zack Forbes, Founder of ImpactFi Advisors, to unpack what really happens behind the scenes of bank technology decisions and why so many institutions struggle with growth, modernization, and core conversions. Zack shares his journey from a decade at Fiserv into launching ImpactFi Advisors, driven by a desire to make a re...