Fintech Takes  By  cover art

Fintech Takes

By: Alex Johnson
  • Summary

  • Fintech moves fast. But here at Fintech Takes, Alex Johnson and his rotating panel of guests move faster so that you can stay on top of the latest and greatest news in the industry without breaking a sweat. Welcome to Fintech Takes—the place where fintech’s biggest nerds come to sit back, relax, and completely geek out. Join Alex and a lineup of fintech’s brightest minds as they dissect what’s happening in fintech and banking. Each week, Alex and his guests recap the most interesting developments in fintech and explore the industry’s most pressing questions, diving headfirst into the intricate workings of some of the industry’s most ground-breaking business models and unpacking the emerging players that promise to shape fintech’s future. From riveting conversations with fintech’s most relevant operators to comprehensive recaps of the month's most compelling news stories and in-depth analyses of the latest regulatory developments, Fintech Takes is your one-stop-shop for navigating the fintech universe. Subscribe now to join fintech’s nerdiest podcast around!
    Copyright 2023 Alex Johnson
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Episodes
  • S7 E4: Not Fintech Investment Advice: Modak Makers, Casap, Silver, Elpha Secure
    May 1 2024
    Alex is back with the great and powerful Simon Taylor to unpack some of fintech’s most interesting fintech startups. We’re barely beginning the month of May, and it looks like there’s yet another family credit card app to unpack—but this one actually feels different. Can Modak Makers succeed where other family cards have floundered? And how does its unique points rewards system for things like chores, sensible savings habits, and step count help it to distinguish itself from the pack? Then, Alex and Simon tackle Casap, a new customer-centric chargeback and dispute management system that firmly believes the customer is always right. But if the customer is a fraudster… should they always be right? The guys noodle on a few ideas about how it may (or may not) be possible to make a less fraud-friendly, more customer-centric app. Plus, does anyone truly know how an HSA or an FSA works? Silver is certainly banking on it, and hoping that its HSA/FSA rebates program is enough to reel potential consumers in—but does it have a customer acquisition model worth its weight? And later, Alex and Simon cover Elpha Secure, the cybersecurity insurance app looking to bundle its software with its insurance service, before manifesting a few ideas about creating a dynamic pricing app and revamping the entire video game industry. TruStage Payment Guard Insurance is a first-of-its-kind insurance solution built for digital lenders, designed to help you attract more borrowers, strengthen your loan portfolio, and reduce time spent on collections — all with minimal tech lift needed to go live. To learn more about Payment Guard Insurance, visit https://www.trustage.com/payment-guard. 02:09 Modak Makers 12:58 Casap 28:38 Silver 41:06 Elpha Secure 51:38 Manifesting Fintech Ideas Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Simon: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sytaylor/ Substack: https://sytaylor.substack.com Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • S7 Ep3: The WILD Story of PayPal’s Origin, with Author Jimmy Soni
    Apr 24 2024
    Elon Musk, Amy Rowe Klement, Peter Thiel, Julie Anderson, Max Levchin, Reid Hoffman. What do these powerhouse entrepreneurs all have in common? Hint: They all played a role in the meteoric rise of PayPal. Find out the intricate web behind one of the biggest startups in the world, as Alex chats with the author of "The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley," Jimmy Soni. They dive into the history of PayPal and discuss the early days of the company, its vision, and the talented individuals who were part of its success. How did PayPal start as the result of a broken AC unit and a simple ploy to get free air conditioning from a college campus? How did Elon Musk’s role in PayPal fundamentally shape his views on banking? Find out how some of today’s most seminal minds collided and how things culminated into the height of Silicon Valley’s fintech revolution. For a fascinating glimpse into one of history’s most fundamentally impactful fintech companies, you don’t want to miss this ep! Read “The Founders” here. TruStage Payment Guard Insurance is a first-of-its-kind insurance solution built for digital lenders, designed to help you attract more borrowers, strengthen your loan portfolio and reduce time spent on collections — all with minimal tech lift needed to go live. To learn more about Payment Guard Insurance, visit https://www.trustage.com/payment-guard. 00:01:59 - Book on PayPal's Genius Team 00:09:02 - Paths Crossed: Silicon Valley Engineers 00:13:21 - Evolution of PayPal Founder's Ideas 00:19:21 - David Sacks: From Email to Product Officer 00:21:31 - Elon Musk's Early Banking Experience 00:24:03 - Elon Musk's Financial Services Interest 00:32:33 - eBay and X.com's Email Money Concept 00:39:13 - PayPal's Merger Against Elon's Will 00:44:32 - Shorting the Stock Market: Peter Thiel's Proposal 00:50:39 - PayPal's Evolution in Fintech Industry 00:52:24 - PayPal: From Startup to Modern Regulations 00:57:37 - Elon Musk's Vision for Efficiency Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Jimmy: Website: https://jimmysoni.com/books/the-founders/ Book: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1501197266 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmysoni/ Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • S7 Ep2: BNC: The Relationship Between Stock Prices and Bank Health, Tokenization’s Disruptive Potential, and Lots of FHLB Talk with Steven Kelly.
    Apr 17 2024
    In this super special edition of Bank Nerd Corner, Alex and Kiah are joined by Steven Kelly, the Associate Director of Research at the Yale Program on Financial Stability. They dive into the Q1 Bank Earnings, debating exactly how much stock prices matter in determining bank health. Is there too much emphasis placed on the connection between stock prices and deposit runs at the bank? Kiah, Alex, and Steven debunk some of the biggest misconceptions about bank solvency and unravel how banks have always operated at negative equity—and why that doesn’t mean they won’t turn a profit eventually. Later, Steven shares his insights into tokenization outside of its crypto origins and explains which aspects of the underlying blockchain technology regulators are most excited about. What are the downsides and risks? And despite crypto’s widespread problems, how will blockchain technology sustain outside of it? Plus, the gang also unpacks the role of the FHLB in the banking system, discusses the explosive growth of private credit, and gets into a heated debate about the merits of… potatoes. Yep—you heard that right. Kiah has some *thoughts* about the mediocrity of potatoes. We never said they were correct though. TruStage Payment Guard Insurance is a first-of-its-kind insurance solution built for digital lenders, designed to help you attract more borrowers, strengthen your loan portfolio and reduce time spent on collections — all with minimal tech lift needed to go live. To learn more about Payment Guard Insurance, visit https://www.trustage.com/payment-guard. 00:02:44 – Q1 Bank Earnings Released 00:18:21 – Tokenization 00:35:44 – The Federal Home Owned Bank 00:55:04 – Private Credit 01:04:32 – Go Off Kiah! Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. Follow Steven: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjkelly6/ Newsletter: https://www.withoutwarningresearch.com Follow Kiah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaslett/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/khaslett Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson
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    1 hr and 9 mins

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