Credit scores feel like destiny, but they’re built on a thin record of borrowing and repayment while ignoring income, cash on hand, and real assets. That blind spot blocks credit for immigrants, younger consumers, gig workers, and anyone whose financial life doesn’t fit the classic bureau file. In this episode, Nik sits down with Andrew Endicott, co-founder of Pedal and now co-founder and GP at Gilgamesh Ventures, to talk about how cash flow underwriting and open banking data change the game, and what it takes to build fintech that lasts.

Andrew walks through his path from law and investment banking into founding a credit card company, including the post-financial crisis reality where regulation and risk constraints pushed banks to pull back. We unpack why fintech emerged to fill those gaps, what founders often underestimate about finance, and why areas like fraud, compliance, and risk management aren’t “later” problems.

We also get into Andrew’s upcoming book, Finance Technology: Insights for Building an Enduring Fintech Company, and the framework he uses to map the ecosystem into four buckets: banking, payments, insurance, and infrastructure.

Learn more about the book: https://www.amazon.com/Finance-Technology-Insights-Building-Enduring/dp/1954892225

Subscribe for more founder-grade fintech conversations.

Connect with the Hosts & Guest

Nik Milanović: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikm

Andrew Endicott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewendicott

About This Week in Fintech

This Week in Fintech’s Podcast is where the decision makers shaping the future of finance come to talk candidly about what’s working, what’s breaking, and what’s coming next in fintech. Hosted by Nik Milanović, founder of This Week in Fintech and General Partner at The Fintech Fund, the show goes beyond headlines to unpack the real stories behind product decisions, regulation, and market shifts with leading founders, C-suite execs, and ecosystem veterans. This is your front-row seat to the people and ideas moving money into the future.

This week, Stablecon’s Justin Friedman was joined by Bhau Kotecha, co-founder and CEO of Paxos Labs, for a discussion on the transformative potential of stablecoins and tokenization. Bhau and Justin examine how these technologies are redefining the way we think about financial tools, usability, interoperability, privacy, and the economics of stored value. Finally, Bhau offers predictions on whether stablecoin liquidity will consolidate into U.S. dollar-denominated assets or grow organically across the world’s currencies.

This Week in Fintech's Nik Milanovic sat down on February 12th, 2026 to talk with Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas about 2025 year-end earnings.

Some topics they covered:

• Market Expansion: Coinbase doubled trading volume and market share in 2025, diversifying beyond crypto with Deribit acquisition.
• Revenue Resilience: Despite market softness in Q4, Coinbase showed strength through diversified revenue, supported by retail investors’ “buy the dip” behavior.
• On-Chain Vision: Coinbase aims to lead the shift to on-chain financial services, blending traditional and crypto assets for a tokenized future.
• Institutional Growth: Thousands of institutional clients are driving increased trading and demand for cross-margining products, with custody for 80% of ETF balances.
• Stablecoin Strategy: USDC holdings grew to $18 billion, enhancing trading and payment services while driving growth in Coinbase One membership.
• Future Focus: Heavy investment in derivatives as key growth area, emphasizing diversification to meet evolving customer needs and market trends.