The MoneyPot

Chainalysis and Cross River invited us to host a LIVE podcast conversation at the launch party for their new partnership designed to increase the ability of fintechs and community banks to offer crypto products ands services.   We had the chance to interview Nathan Bekerman of Cross River and Jeff Billingham of Chainalysis and we discussed the accessibility of crypto for smaller players such as co...

Collaboration between banks and fintechs has been central to the conversation about the future of money since 2015.   But truly flourishing examples are finally in abundance.   We got a chance to speak to Josh Goines from Bill.com and Reetika Grewal from Wells Fargo about their partnership to  serve medium enterprise banking needs.  Done in partnership with Bill.com Guests:  Josh Goines, SVP of Pa...

Earlier this year,  10 nations and several international institutions participated in a simulation "war game" on the global financial networks.   It was organized and led by the Israeli Ministry of Finance, to anticipate the need for smarter international cooperation to protect systems.  The goal was to prepare for the possibility of wide-spread simultaneous hacks, understand what were t...

The sanctions on Russian financial institutions following the invasion of Ukraine, including from SWIFT and the freezing of Russian Central Bank assets have been the center of attention for the global financial world.  These sanctions or threats of sanctions have already had severe repercussions for both Russia and the global economy- repercussions that have yet to be fully felt. We at Money20/20...

Fintech investment is exploding.   But, with so much investment, valuations are in question.   VC money is aimed at breeding unicorns, which are now much less rare, and being created at a rate of two per day.   Is this the best way to truly grow and nourish a healthy financial ecosystem and communities?   Or is the VC funding model ready to be disrupted as well?    We spoke with Bhavik Vasa, Found...

AI has a ‘black box’ issue and the lack of understanding about how such systems work can raise concerns about opacity, unfair discrimination, ethics and threats to individual privacy and autonomy. Would it be fair/acceptable if in the future AI used your digital identity and social media posts and decided you have very expensive habits and are thus unlikely to repay your debts? The new AI regulati...

Bitcoin. Ethereum. Litecoin. All have made headway in the mainstream regarding their functionality and potential use as an actual currency. For crypto to truly take hold as a currency, it needs to be accepted during commerce activities such as buying and selling. Edwin Aoki, CTO of PayPal’s BCDC unit, and May Zabaneh, VP of Product for BCDC, join us to discuss how PayPal views these new technologi...

We think of AI as something from a Sci-Fi novel, but the reality is AI and natural language processing are already being used in aiding core financial systems. We got the chance to speak to Nino Bice and Vijay Krishnamurthy from the Oracle Lakehouse about their projects in AI, why they are so vital, and what opportunities their projects open in the future. Guests: Nino Bice, Vice President Product...

The pandemic forced everyone to reevaluate many parts of life – from work life balance to payment habits. As consumers considered their various situations, it brought about the coming of age and exponential growth of the buy now, pay later industry. Thought of as primarily a millennial and Gen Z payment method due to their existing adoption of the subscription lifestyle, the pandemic forced older...

Since banking became mobile, it feels like it should be more intuitive and more automated. Our money should feel easier to use, easier to save and serve us better.   Embedded finance is the beginning of a system where the banking is simply an inherent part of any transaction, and not a belabored afterthought.   And with open banking empowering consumers to own their data, the combination with embe...

The pandemic rocked retail to the core, and was a time when multiple payments options and omni-channel commerce became vital to survival. Some of the biggest casualties are the mid to large traditional retailers who have declared bankruptcy in record numbers. Their profit margins are being squeezed by the behemoths while a lot of the problem solving has been for small businesses to operate better...

DeFi and Web 3.0 are upon us.  With the growing popularity of crypto, NFTs and other digital assets, new ways to create, gather, and transform wealth are developing.   As they do, institutional investors are becoming more and more interested.   But, as they invest more in these assets, they must take extra measures around the potential risks and compliance requirements.    We spoke with Sanjay Mat...

 Retail investing has never been a hotter space.   During the pandemic, as certain discretionary incomes increased, and apps have made participating in the markets easier, there has been an explosion of interest and activity.   But this has led to a proliferation of meme stocks, and questionable investment activities, none of which are disappearing.   Retail investing has always had a memetic natu...

Over the past year, both traditional and upstart financial service providers have streamlined and digitized to enable remote workforces and customer experiences. Consumers and society overcame challenges not seen in over a generation. Just as survivors of the Great Depression focused on achieving the necessary with minimal resources, consumers coming out of the pandemic have different expectations...

Over the past 18 months, businesses of all shapes and sizes have needed to focus specifically on the digital customer experience as other channels have closed or slowed down. The ability to define the customer experience – and make it unique – is not just a differentiator, but what allows companies to succeed during a challenging, unprecedented time. We spoke with Dr. Tiffany Raymond of PayPal on...

Embedded finance is at the heart of payments innovation.   Uberized payments, digital wallets, and contactless service has become the standard.    Will the next wave be credit cards?   Do the brands that you love know you better than your financial institution, and are they willing to extend you more credit because of it?   We spoke with Dov Marmor about the new Railsbank Credit Card as a Service...

Community banks are at a moment of decision, like a football game going to penalties.   They are in the midst of consolidations,  acquisitions, and pressure to digitize.     The number of these banks are shrinking in the EU and US,  but during the pandemic, many have shown resilience and won a lot of goodwill through excellent customer engagement.   We spoke with Mantl's Nathaniel Harley and...

We are on the verge of the great bank consolidation.  While currently, there are nearly 5000 banks each in the US and Europe,  that number is going to significantly reduce in the next few years as banks merge, and are acquired by other banks or fintechs.    Amidst this, how do you create a culture that is tech forward and eliminates the hierarchies that can prevent quicker innovation?   We decided...

Banks are racing to both "apply digital lipstick" to keep consumer experiences up to date and competitive,  and to transform their cores, so that they can run mission critical applications in a digital first world.   We had a conversation with Sanjay Matthew, Senior Industry Strategy Director, and Aubrey Hawes, Senior Director- Global Banking Solutions, at Oracle, to talk about the ideas...

No one is surprised that digital wallet adoption soared during the pandemic, but there is a lot more to digital wallet adoption than simply contactless payments.  The approach different countries and regions take to  innovation and the nature of digital wallets is having a large impact,    We talked with Frida Polyak,  Analyst and Researcher at Euromoniter International about what she was seeing b...

Fintech in Latin America is flourishing.   The worlds largest neobank is in Brazil, digital wallets are seeing unprecedented adoption, and with a largely unbanked population, the potential markets are huge.   We talked to Michel Golffed,  the Senior Vice President of Growth at dLocal about how bridging payments to emerging markets is changing the fintech landscape, opening eCommerce to a new consu...

Alibaba subsidiary Ant Group Financial was headed for a highly anticipated IPO that was quickly pulled back when the Chinese Government imposed a much stricter regulatory structure.   Now people are wondering if the IPO is curtailed for good, or what would need to happen for it to move forward.  We are also wondering what these regulatory movements could mean as a pre-curser to increased regulator...

The proponents of embedded finance have coined the phrase "Every Company Is a Fintech Company", and they are betting that the majority of all companies in the future will have financial services as part of their offerings.   And while money has always been a large influence in every industry, this will give finance and the tools of finance more power to change things than ever before.  A...

We did our first LIVE interview for The MoneyPot at the Fintech South Conference with Johnny Reinsch, CEO and Co-Founder of QWIL.    With the expansion of self-employment in the "new-normal" economy, solutions that enhance the ability and solve for the pain points that contractors and consultants experience is more important than ever.   QWIL is on a mission to solve the biggest pain poi...

Investment apps have garnered a lot of attention this year, as the thwarted GameStop short displayed how democratized access has changed the flow of market information and actions.    While some have treated it as a game, investing is a great way to protect and build wealth.   And while we are experiencing inflation, democratizing and making those tools available to everyone is an important step i...