Tearsheet Podcast: The Business Of Finance

Today, traditional insurance faces mounting pressures from new technologies and market entrants, and digital transformation has become an imperative rather than an option. Kamiel Bouw, Global Head of Insurance for Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions, joins the show today. He brings extensive experience navigating this evolving landscape, where efficiency, data-driven approaches, and customer-centricity have become paramount. With traditional insurers working to adopt new technologies within legacy infrastructure, Buow describes how Citi has positioned itself to strategically support these organizations capture opportunities while enhancing customer experience. Throughout the interview, Buow explores several transformative themes reshaping the insurance industry. He uses real life case studies to emphasize the tremendous opportunity in digitizing payment processes — both for premium collections and claims payments — highlighting how instant payments can create superior customer experiences while providing o

Banking executives face a familiar dilemma: decades-old core systems technically constrain innovation while replacement costs can reach hundreds of millions of dollars and take years to implement. Meanwhile, fintechs launch new products in weeks while traditional banks remain trapped in months-long approval cycles. The challenge extends beyond technology. "Most banks duct-tape capabilities onto what they already have, and eventually they break," explains Ritesh Rihani, Vice President of Enterprise Banking at Galileo. "You've seen the number of outages we've had in the industry recently. That's all happening because they put duct tape upon duct tape." The pressure to modernize comes from multiple directions. Customer expectations have evolved toward integrated experiences and ease of use and operational risks multiply as the pool of COBOL programmers shrinks through retirement. Regulatory compliance becomes increasingly difficult with manual processes and fragmented systems. This podcast explores five criti

Isabelle Guis understands the need for marketing to speak technology's language. With an engineering background, Guis sees her strength as Temenos’ Chief Marketing Officer in bridging the communication gap between technology innovation and the value it brings to customers. In a conversation at the Temenos Regional Forum Americas 2025 held May 28-30 in Miami, Guis explained that Temenos values customer centricity above all else. “There is this reliability, this expertise that’s needed to make sure you deliver,” she said. “And you innovate without compromising what you already have.” Guis also discussed how banks are investing in technology to stay competitive amid economic uncertainty, and why legacy systems can hinder that progress. She outlined paths that banks can take to modernize their core infrastructure, offering alternatives like the choice between cloud or on-premise solutions — or even module-specific upgrades. Guis also shared how Temenos’ new motto “Leading Banking Forward” captures the compan

The infrastructure for crypto-native finance is maturing beyond proof-of-concepts into real financial products. Tokenized securities are moving from experimental pilots to regulated offerings, stablecoin infrastructure is becoming the backbone for 24/7 payment systems, and traditional fintech companies are quietly integrating crypto rails to improve settlement and unlock new capabilities. I'm joined by Juan Lopez, General Partner at VanEck Ventures, where he focuses on investments at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain technology. Before joining VanEck, Juan was at Circle Ventures, giving him a front-row seat to how institutional-grade crypto infrastructure has developed. His portfolio includes companies building the regulated infrastructure enabling this shift from experimental to operational. Juan's perspective on where real value is being created—from tokenized equity platforms achieving regulatory approval to stablecoin routing systems—offers insight into how crypto infrastructure is

While co-branded credit cards have dominated consumer wallets for decades, a new option is emerging in the payments landscape. Co-branded debit cards represent an untapped opportunity for brands to deepen customer relationships while addressing the preferences of a generation that increasingly chooses debit over credit. Derek White, CEO of Galileo Financial Technologies, has been at the forefront of this shift. Under his leadership, Galileo recently powered Wyndham Rewards’ launch of what's being called the industry's first co-branded debit card in the US. "The opportunity is huge here, where we have customers that have a deep loyalty with the brand," White explained. The timing for this launch is strategic. 30% of customers are pulling out debit cards when making purchases at major travel and entertainment brands, "even though they're not getting rewards associated with it." This value gap represents millions of transactions where brands could be deepening customer relationships but aren't. Listen to thi

SMBs are drowning in a sea of disconnected financial tools, juggling separate platforms for banking, payments, accounting, and lending. Many business owners find themselves logging into five or six different systems just to manage their daily operations, creating inefficiency and driving up costs at a time when economic pressures are mounting. U.S. Bank's latest 2025 Small Business Survey shows that SMBs are looking to their FIs to collapse these various digital solutions into one integrated experience. "They are overwhelmed by the number of standalone software solutions which exist in the marketplace," explains Shruti Patel, Chief Product Officer for the Business Banking segment at U.S. Bank. "They would like to consolidate these so that they're not constantly juggling with multiple tools or playing mental gymnastics, all while streamlining costs." The survey data, drawn from approximately 1,000 SMB owners across the country with revenues up to $25 million, shows a clear trend toward viewing banks as com

Financial institutions are drowning in payment complexity. Between legacy systems, and the accelerating pace of change in how people pay, banks face a modernization crisis that threatens their competitive position. At the FIS Emerald Conference 2025, FIS announced a partnership with Episode Six which is designed to address these challenges head-on. Episode Six, an API-driven payments technology provider, will now be working with FIS to deliver a cloud-based, end-to-end digital payments platform. The collaboration brings together FIS's global scale and institutional relationships with Episode Six's modern, configurable payment infrastructure. The new partnership will allow FIs to scale beyond their local borders, without having to build new tech and processes from scratch. "We did some pretty hefty research over an extended period of time," said Rob Hudson, Head of International Banking, at FIS. "It became very apparent very quickly that Episode Six was the one that we wanted to work with. This was the stand

The fintech investment landscape is heating up again. After a challenging 2022 and 2023, early-stage funding is recovering, with companies focused on practical problems attracting serious investor interest. The shift is toward infrastructure, embedded finance, and AI applications that solve real workflow problems. Sheel Mohnot has been tracking this evolution from multiple angles. As co-founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures, he's raised $300 million across three funds focused on pre-seed and seed-stage fintech companies. His perspective comes from building and exiting—he founded FeeFighters, which sold to Groupon in 2012, and ran the fintech accelerator at 500 Startups. BTV's thesis centers on what Mohnot calls the "everything is fintech" trend—vertical SaaS companies that increasingly derive revenue from payments and financial services rather than software subscriptions. Toast exemplifies this shift, starting as restaurant point-of-sale software and now getting 83% of revenue from financial services. Today,

The credit industry is shifting how it evaluates borrowers. Traditional credit scoring has left over a billion people without access to financial services, but lenders are increasingly turning to alternative data—bank transactions, spending patterns, real-time financial behavior—to make more informed decisions about creditworthiness. Andrew Endicott has been at the center of this shift. As co-founder of Petal, he pioneered what they called “cash flow underwriting”—using real-time bank data alongside traditional credit reports to approve people for credit cards who would otherwise be turned away. The approach worked: Petal raised nearly $1 billion, proving that alternative underwriting isn’t just better for consumers—it’s good business.

The traditional banking model for small and medium-sized businesses has reached an inflection point. Before banking centered on straightforward product relationships, like loans, deposits, and basic services. However, banks are evolving recognizing that their SMB clients need operational partners who understand the unique challenges of running a business while wearing multiple hats. KeyBank has embraced this evolution, positioning itself as a consultative partner for its SMB customers. Mike Walters, President of Business Banking at KeyBank, describes the bank's approach as fundamentally client-centered. "We try to center the client in every decision we make," Walters explains. "Our clients in the small business space are unique. We use the term owner-operator at KeyBank and we use it very intentionally, because these business owners, they don't just own the business, they run the business." This distinction shapes everything about how KeyBank serves its business clients. The bank has moved beyond traditiona

While attention often focuses on developed markets, the most exciting fintech innovations are emerging where mobile technology, young digital-native populations, and gaps in traditional banking converge. These regions aren’t just adopting Western models – they’re creating entirely new paradigms that may eventually reshape global finance. Today I’m joined by Nadia Costanzo, Director of Banking for the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America at Wise. Nadia drives Wise’s expansion across these regions by building banking relationships, securing licenses, and navigating complex regulatory frameworks. Her background is uniquely valuable – before Wise, she worked with Kiva in Nairobi facilitating microfinance across Africa, contributed to the World Bank’s Universal Financial Access agenda, and worked directly with microfinance institutions in Paraguay. Today, we’ll explore how fintech evolves differently across emerging markets, examine key challenges, and discuss surprising innovations where traditional banking

The traditional lending officer is facing their biggest disruption in decades. Gen AI is oozing into financial services quickly and deeply enough that it's already impacting how we evaluate credit risk and make lending decisions. This tension between human judgment and algorithmic precision is the latest focus in our ongoing AI series exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming financial services. Joining us are Jonathan Kolozsvary, Global Head of Small Business at Visa, who brings insights on how transaction data can unlock lending opportunities that traditional credit models miss. And Patrick Reily, co-founder of Uplinq and Malcolm Baldrige Award recipient, whose AI predictive models are already being used by the Federal Reserve. Together, they tackle a critical question: Are we witnessing the evolution of the lending officer, or are we approaching a future where algorithms handle what humans have done for generations? The answer will shape the future of lending and the broader relationship bet

Financial institutions are losing an average of $100 million annually due to a fundamental disconnect between fintech innovation and traditional financial systems. A phenomenon FIS and Oxford Economics have termed the "Harmony Gap." "We hear a lot from people about the challenges and friction they see in the money lifecycle," explains FIS CTO, Firdaus Bhathena, at his firm’s Emerald Conference at the end of May in Orlando, Florida.. "But we had not been able to quantify that." His firm’s collaboration with Oxford Economics is changing that, providing hard data on what many suspected but couldn't measure. The new research, based on surveys of 1,000 executives across the US, UK, and Singapore, reveals that disharmony in the financial system is a costly reality affecting everything from cybersecurity to operational efficiency. As Margaux McLoughlin of Oxford Economics puts it, "When there are disruptions across the money lifecycle, that's what we call disharmony." Understanding what the research describes

Embedded finance offers a chance for fintech firms, vertical SaaS companies, and marketplaces to drive revenue growth and build a sticky offering.  Always strapped for cash and with their owners juggling multiple responsibilities at once, small businesses increasingly adopt vertical SaaS platforms to run their operations, the demand for integrated banking, payments, and lending solutions continues to accelerate.   For firms that can successfully navigate this landscape, embedded finance offers a powerful pathway to differentiation in an increasingly competitive market while addressing the critical financial needs that traditional institutions have struggled to meet effectively. On the show today, I am joined by three leaders in the space sharing insights into what it takes to succeed: Yoseph West, Co-founder and CEO of Relay which is a digital business banking platform serving SMBs, Sol Lax, CEO of Revenued, a leader in revenued-based financing and  Caleb Avery, founder and CEO of Tilled, a modern embed

Traditional banking services alone aren't enough to serve the diverse needs of small and medium-sized businesses. Banks need to go further and think of their digital footprint as a launching pad for SMB owners by adding value-added services. On the show today, Mark Valentino, President of Business Banking at Citizens, and Tyra Hall, EVP and Head of Enterprise Payments at Citizens, join to talk about how the bank is building more comprehensive solutions through value-added services for SMB customers. Valentino and Hall dive into how the bank is moving away from a purely transactional relationship to become more of a command center for SMB owners, highlighting how SMB owners' needs and the broader focus on CX is leading this change. Tune into the show to explore how traditional FIs can evolve to become modern digital hubs for SMB owners through the addition of Value Added Services like spend management, a focus on APIs, and a robust partnership-first strategy. Both Valentino and Hall provide a strategic ov

Nine months into her role as Chief Product and Technology Officer at Temenos, Barb Morgan is focused on a simple principle when it comes to product strategy: quality over quantity. "We want to build less, but build it better," Morgan said during a conversation at the Temenos Regional Forum Americas 2025 held May 28-30 in Miami. Temenos' approach centers on co-creating meaningful solutions with bank customers rather than rushing to market with multiple products. Morgan emphasized that the company is "really focused on making sure that whatever we put out there is meaningful," as the industry navigates what she calls the "AI hype curve." Morgan's insights reveal why many banks struggle with AI adoption despite the technology's promise. The real barriers aren't about computing power or algorithms — they're messier problems involving decades-old data systems that were never designed for AI and organizational cultures that haven't caught up to the pace of technological change. Her conversation also detailed Te

Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) are capturing more and more market share in SME lending by leveraging technology to offer quicker lending solutions. This puts pressure on FIs to evolve their approaches while managing costs and improving service quality. Finastra’s Principal Product Manager Kristen Lista joins the Tearsheet podcast today to discuss the most critical areas where FIs need to focus: consolidating technology to improve efficiency, decreasing the time between application and access to funding, enhancing back-office operations, and creating more client-centric experiences. Lista offers a valuable look inside the complex web of challenges that FIs are facing when trying to improve the SME lending products. From technology integration strategies to practical advice on process improvement, Lista offers an actionable blueprint that can help FIs better compete in the SME lending space, driving growth and customer loyalty.

Welcome to 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. As digital assets mature beyond speculation into practical financial tools, forward-thinking institutions are evaluating how programmable money fits into their product strategies. For traditional banks, it's an opportunity to modernize settlement systems and explore new revenue streams. For fintechs, it's about embedding digital asset capabilities without the regulatory and technical overhead. Today, I'm joined by Ben Milne, whose journey from founding payments innovator Dwolla to now leading Brale offers interesting insights into the evolution of financial infrastructure. At Dwolla, Ben built an API-first payments platform that helped modernize ACH transfers. Now with Brale, he's creating the infrastructure layer for compliant stablecoin issuance across multiple blockchains. What's particularly notabl

The financial services industry is undergoing deep technological change. API-first architectures are creating new possibilities for integration. Digital platforms are democratizing access to investing. Artificial intelligence is personalizing wealth management. Digital-first brokerages are redefining what's possible. Global investing barriers are falling. Traditional firms are navigating complex digital transformations. And infrastructure companies are scaling to meet growing demands. To help us understand these critical trends, we're joined by Harry Temkin, Chief Digital Officer at DriveWealth. DriveWealth is at the forefront of embedded investing technology, powering fractional trading and digital investment experiences for partners across the globe. As CDO, Harry leads the company's technology strategy and digital innovation initiatives, bringing decades of experience in financial technology.

Tearsheet is excited to launch 4dFI Capital Partners, an exclusive group of out-of-the-box builders and investors building a community to invest in the next wave of fintech startups around the world. If you are an accredited investor and want to learn more, sign up here Across Latin America, we’re witnessing a massive shift as regions traditionally dominated by cash transactions begin embracing digital financial tools. This transition represents more than just technological adoption—it’s creating new economic opportunities, enhancing financial inclusion, and building resilience against growing cybersecurity threats. The numbers tell a compelling story: a $448.4 billion digital payment opportunity exists across Latin America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. With nearly 12 million small retailers processing $362 billion in B2C sales — 43% still in cash —a nd 90% of B2B transactions between small retailers and suppliers handled through traditional methods, we’re looking at a financial transformation that’s just be