Tearsheet Podcast: The Business Of Finance

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. Understanding how a system works is the first step to leveraging it to your advantage. However in an environment where just seven states provide excellent education in personal finance, younger generations like Gen Z are starting out at a massive disadvantage. But some fintechs like the family education and finance focused fintech Greenlight, have started to build products that aim to fill in this gap. The company’s financial literacy game Level Up offers children a chance to engage with personal finance topics in a fun, gamified environment. In this conversation, Greenlight’s SVP, Business Development, Matt Wolf, joins Tearsheet editor and founder Zack Miller, on stage at our Gen Z Symposium held on March 7th, 2024 in New York City. Wolf dives into the state of Gen Z’s

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. Next up, we have Eunice Jung, who is helping to encourage climate-smart lifestyles through fintech as Head of Partnerships at Future. Eunice is not your typical finance executive; she’s a recent grad on a mission to really rethink how we think about sustainability in our everyday lives. With a background in sustainability from Stanford, Eunice found her passion intersecting with finance at an early stage, leading her to spearhead Future’s innovative sustainable rewards platform. Eunice spoke recently at Tearsheet’s symposium on Gen Z in New York City. Eunice’s journey from student to executive is as inspiring as it is unconventional. Today, she shares her insights into the challenges and triumphs of bridging the gap between climate-consciousness and financial pragmatism. Fr

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. This episode of The Tearsheet Podcast delves into the evolving financial landscape for Gen Z, focusing on their transition from debit to credit usage. Bunita Sawhney, Global Head of Consumer Products and Processing at Mastercard, shares insights from her presentation at the Tearsheet Gen Z Symposium, emphasizing the increasing role of women in financial decision-making. We explore Gen Z's preference for debit cards over credit cards, driven by factors like control and familiarity.  Bunita highlights the importance of partnerships and innovative strategies to engage Gen Z, advocating for financial literacy initiatives and alternative credit-building solutions like installment plans and Buy Now, Pay Later options. The discussion also touches on Mastercard's collaborations wit

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. Today we have an insightful conversation for you featuring Trevor Nies, senior vice president and global head of digital at Adyen, a leading financial technology platform renowned for its innovative contributions to the digital commerce landscape. This conversation was a fun one I recorded with Trevor as a Linkedin Live session. With extensive experience and expertise, Trevor plays a pivotal role in driving Adyen's strategic initiatives, particularly in payment solutions and empowering businesses to thrive in the ever-evolving realm of modern commerce. At Adyen, Trevor leads efforts to develop solutions that address the complexities of digital transactions and provide businesses with the tools they need to navigate the intricacies of the modern marketplace. With a focus on

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. Today, I’m thrilled to bring you an exclusive conversation with Terry O'Neil, a payments leader at Citi responsible for spearheading embedded payments and strategic initiatives. Terry provides insights into Citi's approach to embedding a wide array of financial products, including payment solutions, private label offerings, and lending products, directly into the fabric of merchants' point-of-sale systems. Join us as we unravel the complexities of streamlining integration processes for merchants, meeting evolving consumer demands for flexibility and choice, and navigating the convergence of physical and digital commerce. Get ready for an engaging exploration of how embedded payments are impacting the way businesses engage with customers and drive sales. Without further ado

In the dynamic landscape of financial marketing and transformation, few figures stand out as prominently to me as Scott Goodson, CEO, and Chip Walker, Head of Strategy, at StrawberryFrog. I’ve spoken to these guys a few times over the years and they just get it. StrawberryFrog has been called the very best creative marketing, innovations, and transformation company in the world for financial brands, having worked with some of the most iconic financial brands including the largest banks such as Morgan Stanley, Truist, First Abu Dhabi Bank. SunTrust, Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, Harris Bank, Credit Suisse as well as tech brands like AfterPay and Thrive Global. We’re here to talk about activating brand purpose – throughout my conversation with Scott and Chip, we'll uncover the power of purpose in driving organizational change, how leaders can effectively activate purpose within their companies, and the impact of purpose-driven movements on both internal culture and societal change. From real-world exa

Today, we have a special guest joining us—Shmulik Fishman, CEO of Argyle. I’ve spoken to Shmulik a few times over the years and it’s been really interesting to see how early he was to the space he’s playing in, as well as the impact Argyle is having on financial services. The firm’s recent investment round I think speaks to that. Argyle has been at the forefront of digital income verification, transforming how lenders, mortgage processors, banks, and fintechs verify income. In this episode, We’ll explore Argyle’s mission to enhance data completeness and streamline user experience through payroll connectivity. We’ll dive into Argyle’s recent Series C fundraising, Shmulik’s and Argyle’s vision for the future of payroll connectivity, and the impact they’re making in the financial services industry. Without further ado, let’s jump right into the conversation. The big ideas Argyle’s Mission and Accomplishments: Shmulik highlights Argyle’s mission and recent achievements, positioning the company as a leader

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller And for today’s episode, we're embarking on an insightful journey with two professionals I consider as visionaries – we’ve spoken a few times over the years – They’re the co-founders at the helm of Current, a pioneering neobank based in the heart of New York City. Joining us are Stuart Sopp, CEO and co-founder of Current, and Trevor Marshall, the CTO and co-founder, both instrumental in helping to shape the landscape of modern banking for everyday Americans. Recorded in September of 2023, we dive deep into the genesis of Current’s latest product, the Credit Builder Card. But beyond that, we'll explore the broader trends impacting financial services and its customers. From the impact of inflation and rising interest rates to the evolving needs of Gen Z consumers, we'll dissec

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. In today's conversation, I chat with Karan Anand, President at Brex. Brex has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last two years, evolving from a fintech startup with a corporate card for startups to a global fintech and enterprise SaaS company in corporate spend. Recently appointed to the new role of president, Karan gives us a window into this journey, shedding light on the challenges and successes that come with building both a fintech and SaaS business concurrently – it was like the firm had two entirely separate companies while they were building out the corporate spend side of the business. We delve into topics ranging from the cultural hurdles faced during this shift, the intricacies of scaling, and the unique challenges and opportunities that arise in the

Welcome, everyone, to another episode of The Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. Actually, I’m your co-host today – joining me is Rabab Ahsan, Tearsheet reporter. Rabab has been doing a bang-up job recently covering the intersection of Gen Z and financial services, from her reporting to her contributions to our 2 seminal reports on the subject which you can find at steezlife.co. One place Gen Z diverges from generations that came before it is in investing. For example, research shows that younger folks invest for completely different reasons than previous generations. It’s not about financial status for Gen Z – it’s about a better quality of life. Values also play a big role in investment decisions, as Gen Z tends to put its money where their values are. Actually, there are a whole bunch of important topics here that require some understanding if you

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast where we explore the future of financial services with an eye on technology, new models, innovation, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. In the early days of Tearsheet over 10 years ago, we spent more time covering private markets for assets. Remember back, that was the crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding era. There was a view that this massive market, arcane in structure and available to the wealthy, would be opened up by tech and some regulatory changes and that a dentist in Chicago would get access to the same deals Blackstone and Andreesen Horowtiz were investing in. So, it doesn’t feel like equity crowdfunding really lived up to the hype but the market continues to grow and mature. Most of the big wins come not from investing in individual companies but in funds. Jamie Finn, co-founder and president of Securitize, joins me on the podcast to talk about where we are with investing in privately held companies and funds. His firm’s platfo

The heart of today's episode is a topic that's both innovative and harmonious—sonic branding. We'll embark on a fascinating journey of the power of creating ear worms to support financial services marketing, guided by two remarkable guests. Michelle Schoening, AVP, Marketing Communications & Design at Navy Federal Credit Union joins us to talk about the largest credit union in the US;s journey to create its sonic logo – we’ll get into the who, what, why, and how, as well as explore the impact the new sonic branding has had on Navy Federal and where Michelle and her team plan to take it. T To properly dive into this subject, I’m also joined by Elizabeth Kasper, VP, Managing Director, Head of Client Success of Made Music Studio, a sonic branding agency that, in addition to its collaboration with Navy Federal, has worked with brands like Tostitos, Lexus, and Forbes. Together, we’ll unravel the narrative behind Navy Federal's foray into the realm of audio branding. Imagine the largest credit union exploring

The heart of today's episode is a topic that's both innovative and harmonious—sonic branding. We'll embark on a fascinating journey of the power of creating ear worms to support financial services marketing, guided by two remarkable guests. Michelle Schoening, AVP, Marketing Communications & Design at Navy Federal Credit Union joins us to talk about the largest credit union in the US;s journey to create its sonic logo – we’ll get into the who, what, why, and how, as well as explore the impact the new sonic branding has had on Navy Federal and where Michelle and her team plan to take it. T To properly dive into this subject, I’m also joined by Elizabeth Kasper, VP, Managing Director, Head of Client Success of Made Music Studio, a sonic branding agency that, in addition to its collaboration with Navy Federal, has worked with brands like Tostitos, Lexus, and Forbes.  Together, we’ll unravel the narrative behind Navy Federal's foray into the realm of audio branding. Imagine the largest credit union exploring

One of the biggest trends that we’ve seen over the past 2-3 years is the emergence of early wage access, giving primarily gig and hourly workers access to their income on demand, as opposed to the hard-coded dates of a traditional payment cycle.  Rain’s Alex Bradford joins me on the podcast to talk about what’s driving the demand for EWA and how Rain is challenging the status quo of some of hte larger players in the space. Rain works with some of the largest middle market and enterprise companies to provide EWA as a wellness benefit to hundreds of thousands of employees in the U.S. The company recently raised $116 million and claims it’s growing 10% every month.  Alex also shares his view on where earned wage access is headed and who are likely to be the winners in the market.  Here’s my conversation with Rain’s Alex Bradford

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast where we explore the future of financial services with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. One of the tenets we founded this podcast and everything we do at Tearsheet – our reporting, conferences, awards programs, even our new Working Groups – is honesty. Honesty in what’s really important and impactful to you, our listeners and readers. It’s why we don’t use language like “revolutionary” or “seamless”. This stuff isn’t easy to get right. I’ve been in the rodeo long enough to see fads come and go with no lasting impact. We actually see it as one of our jobs – being able to distinguish wheat from chaff, sizzle from stake – to help you focus on what’s really important and tune out the rest. Remember the hype around chatbots a few years ago? Or crypto? Certainly we weren’t there before, but are we there now? How do we even think about quantum? I’m joined by Mastercard’s president and CTO Ed M

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore the future of financial services with an eye on technology, innovation, new models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but American Express over the past couple years has moved decisively into banking small businesses. We’ve definitely tried to track this evolution for the firm because it isn’t trivial – not for the firm and not for its customers. So, it’s not just an up-market card with a revolver. Today’s Amex offers a business checking account and cash flow monitoring that serves more and more as a firm’s homebase, a dashboard. Gina Taylor, Amex’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Business Blueprint and Banking, joins me on the show to discuss the inspiration behind the launch of American Express Business Checking and how it aligns with the company’s vision for supporting small businesses. Importantly, beyond the no monthly fees and earning rewards, Gina shares what she se

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore the future of financial services with an eye toward technology, new models, innovation, and changing expectations. When Early Warning launched Zelle in 2017, it seemed a very big mountain to climb. For a bank-backed P2P payments app to replace or at least compete with Venmo seemed unbelievable. Venmo was clearly one of the most popular consumer fintech apps. But if you look at the growth today, Zelle slowly but surely surpassed PayPal’s favorite brand. In early 2023, Zelle had 120 million customers with 69 million monthly unique Zelle users. Venmo, which launched more than a decade ago, had 90 million active accounts, with 60 million being active monthly. It took time but it shows the massive power of bank distribution. Early Warning and its banking partners are back with a new digital wallet called Paze. Of course there are more popular digital wallets on the market. Will the power of bank distribution propel Paze’s growth in the market the way it did

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast, where we navigate financial services together, with an eye on technology, innovation, new models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. This is the final episode in our special podcast series on Gen Z, where we explore the fascinating Gen Z deeper: their relationship with money, how they like to save, spend, and borrow money, their fears and aspirations, and their connections to social issues. On this episode, we’re going to be talking about creating products that Gen Z loves. To do that, I’m joined by two of the best product people in the business: Girish Balasubramanian, VP of Product Management at Credit Karma, and Vishal Kapoor, Head of Product at Affirm. Together, we peel back the onion on how these two firms strategize and tailor their products to resonate with the values, preferences, and financial behaviors of Gen Z consumers – and how this may different from other demographics. We also discuss the importance of financial literacy a

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast, where we navigate financial services together. We explore the future of financial services with an eye on technology, innovation, new models, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. In today's episode, we dive into the dynamic world of financial institutions and their strategies for the year 2024. I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to sit down with Serena Smith, Chief Client Officer at i2c, whose next-gen platform empowers financial institutions and fintechs of all sizes with no-code building block technology. Throughout our conversation, Serena shared insights garnered from her extensive experience and global perspective in the industry. From navigating the challenges faced by fintechs to addressing legacy technology obstacles within traditional banking, we explore the ever-evolving landscape of financial services. Serena's expertise sheds light on the trends shaping 2024, including the significance of real-time payments, the role of

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore the future of financial services with an eye toward technology, new models, innovation, and changing expectations. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. One of the themes we’ve been charting over the past couple of years is the impact of moving to a world defined by real time – or close to real time – financial services. Real time payments isn’t just a tweak, a turning of the speed dial – it actually changes value propositions, expectations, and risk management the financial services industry has with its clients, both consumer and commercial. What’s also interesting is that as business becomes more global, the larger banks have moved in the opposite directions, for the most part backing away from becoming global banks, entrenching themselves in specific markets. Citi remains one of the few that maintains this positioning of being global. And as a global organization, Citi works has businesses with international aspirations through its Treasury an