Hurricane Sandy Broke Banking w/ Phil from American Fintech Council

In this episode of Risk and Reason, Eli Wachs is joined by Phil Goldfeder, CEO of the American FinTech Council and former New York State Assembly member, to explore how trust, regulation, and innovation intersect in modern banking. Phil shares how leading through Hurricane Sandy shaped his views on financial access and why fintech plays a critical role for underserved communities. They unpack lessons from Silicon Valley Bank and Synapse, the evolving bank fintech relationship, and why fear driven compliance can create more risk, not less. The conversation also looks ahead at AI in compliance and what it will take to build resilient financial systems without sacrificing consumer protection.

Chapters

(0:00) Intros
(2:00) Phil’s Path From Public Service
(5:10) Hurricane Sandy And Financial Access
(9:30) Banking Access Gaps And Consumer Demand
(12:20) Balancing Innovation And Protection
(14:54) Bank Closures And Fintech’s Role
(19:20) Trust, Crises, And Bank Fintech Partnerships
(25:00) Lessons From SVB, Synapse, And Consent Orders
(30:20) Building Compliance Muscle In Fintech
(34:00) Convening Banks, Fintechs, And Regulators

Follow Phil Goldfeder

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/philgoldfeder

X (Twitter):
https://x.com/YPGoldfeder

American FinTech Council Website:
https://www.fintechcouncil.org

Follow Eli Wachs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliwachs/

Check out Footprint
https://www.onefootprint.com

Footprint is an AI-native platform powering identity verification, fraud prevention, and AI fincrimes agents for banks and fintechs.