Tearsheet Podcast: Exploring Financial Services Together

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. Today’s guest is Zack Gipson, who runs Charles Schwab’s digital investor solutions. We talked in depth about Schwab’s Stock Slices, the firm’s fractional share product. Together with a new investor starter kit, the incumbent is reaching a new investor base, younger and earlier in their journeys. Zack shares how the product is being received and where the firm is headed in the future. Zack Gipson is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the first episode of Power of Payments, Tearsheet’s new bi-weekly podcast. Host Ismail Umar takes you through the recent developments in the world of payments and their wider implications for the industry. In the inaugural episode, we talk about the changing relationship between BNPL and credit scores, cryptocurrency payroll, Apple’s new Tap to Pay feature, and ‘Save Now, Pay Later’ -- a new alternative to BNPL. This episode of Tearsheet’s Payments Podcast is sponsored by Quavo. With their flagship offering, QFD, Quavo has created a chargeback management solution for issuers of all sizes.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. We’re at an inflection point right now when it comes to blockchain technology. There are a handful of technology partners that, instead of bypassing the traditional financial industry, are working together with it. Anchorage is one of those firms. As the sole digital asset firm with a national banking license, it works with FIs to provide crypto custody, trading, staking, governance and more. At the end of 2021, it raised a $350 million round, valuing the firm at $3.5 billion. It’s just getting started, as banking slowly opens up to what appears to be the future for the industry, clients, and the world, frankly. Anchorage co-founder and president Diogo Mónica joins me on the podcast to review where we are at this moment in time regarding Web3 and its connection to the incumbent financial industry. Diogo shares some milestones that Anchorage and the industry have hit and then looks toward the future for a snapshot of what it may look like for his institution, for banking in general, and for all kinds of customers. Diogo Mónica is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. Many of the firms we cover are moving towards becoming a one-stop-shop for their customers. Looking to deeply service their constituency, they’re converging on becoming banks – whether or not they actually have a license. At least, they look and smell like banks. Fundbox, a provider of financial services to small businesses, isn’t necessarily going that route. It’s staying particularly focused on serving its clients’ cash flow needs with working capital – so it goes beyond what a traditional lender might do. But it’s not taking the plunge fully into banking. The firm’s CEO Prashant Fuloria joins me on the podcast to talk about how SMBs are coping with the pandemic’s challenges and how Fundbox has evolved to serve them. We also catch up on where the firm is in its own growth cycle. Fundbox has grown – it surpassed a $100 million run rate last year and raised $100 million in a Series D round, valuing the company over a billion dollars. Lastly, we look out into the future to see what Fundbox is cooking up. Here’s my conversation with Fundbox CEO, Prashant Fuloria.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. I like to say that it takes a village to raise a fintech firm. You can really see the power of the ecosystem when it comes to successful companies in our space like Square and Plaid. Lloyed Lobo has seen first hand the power of having an audience. Launched in a spare bedroom with pizza nights, the community he co-founded, Traction, now numbers 100,000 people building companies. Lloyed’s company, Boast AI, has seen the fruits of this community. It helps companies apply for R&D tax credits. With a newly formed fund of $100 million, it also helps tech firms finance their credits. We talk about the power of community and how it can help find early fans and customers for a novel concept. Lloyed shares his experience building Boast and how smaller firms are now able to tap these credits that previously were accessible by some of the largest tech companies. Boast uses a hybrid tech and human delivery model – Lloyed talks about that, too. Lloyed Lobo is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

In this episode of The Challengers, Josh Liggett and Zack Miller explore Sofi's move to get a bank charter and what it may mean for the company, as well as for its platform business, Galileo. Josh and Zack talk about N26's recent admission that in a push to globalize, it missed the move to crypto. . Lastly, your hosts discuss the UK's Starling Bank and its move to become a platform. Josh and Zack discuss how good unit economics enable challenger banks -- particularly ones focused on B2C -- to turn into software plays, supporting banking products and services for other fintechs.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. Some of the largest banks in the US have active venture investing arms. They may differ in how they’re structured but for firms like Truist, their fintech portfolios are about getting a seat at the table with innovative firms. Partnerships are important, as well as insights into their portfolio companies’ product development cycles. And of course, these funds are looking for eventual ROI on their venture investments. Truist Venture’s Venessa Vreeland and Christina Russ join me on the podcast to talk about the composition of their fintech investment portfolio as well as trends that underlie some of their investment theses. Lastly, we look outward, as my guests discuss opportunities they see to invest in today’s market. Vanessa Vreeland and Christina Russ are my guests today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. If you want to understand just how imperative it is for banks – particularly community banks – to move to digital, you’re going to want to listen to Dan O’Malley. Dan’s a co-founder and CEO of Numerated, a firm that digitizes the loan experience. He’s working with over 100 FIs who he believes are finally getting the gospel on the need to digitize. For smaller banks that have differentiated on service, the next step is to automate with technology. And if they can’t or don’t do it fast enough, Dan actually believes it’s an existential issue for thousands of financial institutions in the U.S. Dan O’Malley is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

The following was produced by Tearsheet Studios. We worked with small business lender BlueVine to produce a four part series on creating financial solutions serving historically underserved small businesses. In this episode, Tearsheet editor in chief Zack Miller spoke with Herman Man, CPO of BlueVine, about the importance of customer-product fit, and what’s next for digital-first banking solutions and the fintech ecosystem.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. 2022 is here and I’m beginning to meet and talk to a growing number of embedded finance platforms that may be new brands but have deeper, longer roots in the space. Tern is one of those companies. Brion Bonkowski is the founder and CEO of Tern. Tern’s a low code/no code embedded finance platform that provides onboarding, issuing, and payouts solutions. Tern was created to acquire another firm – US Unlocked – which issues virtual cards for people living overseas to buy stuff in the U.S. Tern works with firms like PTOGenius to embed payments and money movement either as an API or used as a white label solution. Brion discusses the growing no-code/low code trend and where he’s seeing growth in that space. We talk about how Tern competes and differentiates itself in a growing field and what Brion and Co have in store for 2022. Brion Bonkowski is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m your host, Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. This following is part of a new series we’re running. It’s called the Big Bank Theory, and it’s all about the future of banking. We see three options going forward: in the march towards digital, people will gravitate towards the digital arms of incumbent banks, give their business to new upstart challenger banks, or the biggest opportunity, which is to bank with the brands they love. Through embedded finance, people are increasingly turning to companies they frequent often -- whether it's a big retail player like Walmart or SMB accounting software like QuickBooks -- to plan, store, and move money around. The following series includes content from Tearsheet’s Big Bank Theory Conference, held in November 2021. Green Dot’s an interesting player in the Embedded Finance market. It already powers financial service for firms like Apple, Uber, and Walmart. Combine that with an extensive prepaid business, a direct bank, and its own banking license and you can begin to see where the business is headed. Green Dot already banks tens of millions of customers and you can get a sense of the scale – it almost feels like it’s just getting started. I spoke with Green Dot’s Amit Parikh who heads up the firm’s platform business. He has an extensive payments background, most recently at Apple. We chatted about Green Dot’s platform strategy and the role it plays in brands’ financial ecosystems. Amit shared some of what he saw are the drivers of innovation in embedded financial services and where the opportunities exist for further growth. Here’s my interview with Green Dot’s Amit Parikh.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Tearsheet editor in chief, Zack Miller. 2021 was a year for payroll data. Payroll data continues to open up new possibilities and use cases, tapping into sources of income. While data matters, we’re also seeing payroll providers themselves move into fintech. Gusto services 200,000 businesses and teans with modern payroll, benefits, and HR. Gusto has also moved decidedly into fintech, launching Gusto Wallet. Employees on the Gusto platform get early access to their paychecks, banking, savings, and emergency funds through their payroll provider. Co-founder and CPO Tomer London joins us on the podcast to discuss the increasing importance of modern payroll and the opportunities it opens up for fintech services and products. Gusto’s Tomer London is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I'm Tearsheet's editor in chief, Zack Miller. If data is the underpinning of modern finance, payroll data is expanding the pie. Early data firms like Plaid, MX, and Finicity made it easier for lenders and other fintech apps to access banking data. But now, firms like Pinwheel and Argyle are opening up payroll data. Traditional W2 work is evolving in the gig economy and being able to access payroll data wherever it resides creates new opportunities to serve customers. On today’s podcast, we have Kurt Lin, co-founder and CEO of Pinwheel. Lin’s vision is that over time, lenders will use the firm’s payroll API to track their borrowers’ financial health longitudinally. Fintech firms can assess borrowers’ current income, whether they’re showing up for shifts, whether they’re getting paid consistently. We’re at the beginning stage of payroll connectivity and Lin shares some interesting insights into current use cases, based off of income verification, direct deposit switching and payroll-linked lending. Lastly, we talk about where Pinwheel and payroll connectivity are headed in the future. Kurt Lin is my guest today on the Tearsheet Podcast.

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m your host, Tearsheet’s editor in chief, Zack Miller. This following is part of a new series we’re running. It’s called the Big Bank Theory, and it’s all about the future of banking. We see three options going forward: in the march towards digital, people will gravitate towards the digital arms of incumbent banks, give their business to new upstart challenger banks, or the biggest opportunity, which is to bank with the brands they love. Through embedded finance, people are increasingly turning to companies they frequent often -- whether it's a big retail player like Walmart or SMB accounting software like QuickBooks -- to plan, store, and move money around. The following series includes content from Tearsheet’s Big Bank Theory Conference, held in November 2021. When I give examples of embedded finance, I typically mention Intuit. What the software company has done -- marrying the tracking and forecasting of money together with the actual movement of money, banking, lending -- points to the power of embedded finance. And it’s still early innings for the power of putting banking, payments, and lending where users need it most. For Intuit, the SMB customer is the core focus. I chatted with Rania Succar, svp of the QuickBooks money offerings, about how Intuit builds embedded finance around her customers’ benefits. We dive into why that’s so important, with concrete examples of how Intuit determines what to offer and how it prioritizes its pipeline. We also talk about the opportunities to go deeper and broader in serving the SMB with embedded finance. Here’s my conversation with Rania Succar.

This following is part of a new series we’re running. It’s called the Big Bank Theory, and it’s all about the future of banking. We see three options going forward: in the march towards digital, people will gravitate towards the digital arms of incumbent banks, give their business to new upstart challenger banks, or the biggest opportunity, which is to bank with the brands they love. The following series includes content from Tearsheet’s Big Bank Theory Conference, held in November 2021. Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast. I’m Zack Miller. Abhinav Anand was chugging along in senior risk roles at Discover when he received a call 5 years ago. That call, from Goldman Sachs, changed the trajectory of his life and the nature of the bank he would eventually join. As part of the early Marcus team, Abhinav went into startup mode. A consumer lending product would kick off a stream of new financial products for consumers and small businesses. As part of the Marcus distribution plan, the team would pursue a DTC strategy combined with strategic partnerships with top brands like Apple, Amazon, Walmart, and JetBlue. Anand joined us at The Big Bank Theory Conference to discuss the partnership journey Goldman Sachs embarked on to massively ramp Marcus and its transformation to a retail bank. Here’s my conversation with Goldman Sachs managing director, Abhinav Anand.