The real threat of AI-enabled fraud might not be what you think – hear from an expert on what you need to be focusing on right now.



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer interviews Christopher D’Aprile, Director of Business Development at PrivacyGuard, following his keynote presentation at FinovateFall. D’Aprile brings over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, having worked at major institutions including MBNA Bank, NASCAR, Allstate, and Kobe Marketing before joining PrivacyGuard. The conversation centers on the growing threat of identity theft and how financial institutions can better protect their customers in an increasingly digital landscape.



The discussion reveals alarming trends in identity theft rates, which typically hover around 9-10% but spiked to 12-13% during the pandemic due to increased digital banking adoption and government money transfers. Chris explains that while deepfakes capture public attention, the real AI-driven threat lies in fraudsters becoming more efficient at targeting victims through sophisticated data analysis and demographic profiling. Rather than focusing on complex deepfake technology, criminals are using AI to identify vulnerable populations and optimize their scam operations, treating fraud as a business with the same analytical approaches legitimate companies use for marketing.



The conversation goes on to highlight critical gaps in how financial institutions approach identity theft protection. While many banks provide educational resources on their websites, D’Aprile emphasizes that identity theft restoration is too complex for a DIY approach and requires professional assistance. He advocates for banks to partner with specialized third-party providers like PrivacyGuard to offer comprehensive, white-labeled solutions that can generate revenue while providing customers protection at reduced costs. Looking forward, Chris discusses emerging features including scam protection, data scrubbing services, reimbursement for stolen funds, and offensive capabilities that allow consumers to report fraudulent websites for takedown, giving victims the ability to "punch back" against criminals.



More info:



Tenerity PrivacyGuard: https://www.tenerity.com/privacyguard/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenerity/



Christopher D’Aprile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-d-aprile-0928aa3/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #PrivacyGuard #FinovateFall #security #AI #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #antifraud #banks #financialsecurity #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking

This episode of the Finovate Podcast features an interview with John Findlay, CEO of Lemonade LXP, one of the Best of Show winners from FinovateFall. The conversation explores how Lemonade has transformed from its original 2018 concept into a comprehensive all-in-one learning and knowledge platform specifically designed for financial institutions. Findlay discusses the critical gap in traditional learning management systems, which typically focus on compliance training rather than equipping frontline staff with the skills needed to drive business growth, promote digital products, and provide effective customer service.



The discussion delves into Lemonade's unique approach to training, which emphasizes interactive micro-learning experiences that fit within the flow of work rather than lengthy, traditional training sessions. Findlay explains how their AI-powered platform allows institutions to drag and drop documents to automatically create training content, while also providing a chatbot for real-time support. A key aspect of their success has been their customer-driven development approach, where they democratize their roadmap by allowing customers to vote on features and development priorities, ensuring the platform evolves based on actual industry needs.



Throughout the interview, Findlay shares impressive results and metrics from their implementations, including significant reductions in staff onboarding time, decreased attrition rates, and improved digital product adoption. The conversation also covers the various use cases that have emerged organically as customers have adapted the platform for different needs, from new staff onboarding and compliance training to universal banker programs and contact center operations. The episode concludes with insights into what types of financial institutions are best suited for Lemonade's platform, ranging from smaller institutions looking to replace basic compliance systems to larger organizations implementing specific business-focused training initiatives.



More info:



Lemonade LXP: https://www.lemonadelxp.com/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/lemonadelxp/



FinovateFall Demo: https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2025-lemonadelxp/



John Findlay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-findlay-a03545/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #LemonadeLXP #FinovateFall #BestofShow #training #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #AI #banks #financialtraining #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #creditunions #communitybanks

FinovateFall Best of Show winner Krida’s AI layer is transforming the lending process and deepening relationships to make the process easier for everyone.



Detailed Summary:



Krida, cofounders by Shivangi Khanna and Sophie Jewsbury join Greg on this episode to talk about their assistive AI tools for commercial loan officers in relationship banking and localized community banking. Krida focuses on streamlining the commercial lending process through workflow automation. The platform they demoed in New York addresses the universal pain point of document collection and processing by automating the feedback loops between borrowers and loan officers, pre-filling forms, and reducing overall cycle time from lead generation to loan application completion. The system can work as a standalone solution that integrates with existing core banking systems or it can function alongside loan origination systems to maintain established workflows.



Shivangi and Sophie share their experience post-demo, where they discovered broader market appeal than they anticipated. While they originally designed their product alongside community and regional banks, they were pleasantly surprised by significant interest from credit unions looking to build out their commercial banking platforms. Additionally, super regional and national banks approached them, expanding their potential customer base beyond their initial target market. Both co-founders emphasized that the pain points they address - manual document processing, understanding diverse business requirements across different locations, and data entry work - are universal across all types of financial institutions, regardless of size or organizational structure.



The conversation concludes with some personal background for both Sophie and Shivangi. Shivangi talks about spending nearly a decade in finance and technology, including time at JPMorgan Chase working with interest rates and regional bank balance sheets, which provided deep insights into banking operations and regulatory compliance. For her part, Sophie previously built an SME lender in Southeast Asia and worked as a bank consultant at McKinsey, giving her firsthand experience with manual processes in lending workflows. These experiences have helped them to make Krida into the Best of Show winning solution that it is today.



More info:



Krida: https://www.krida.ai/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/krida-ai/



FinovateFall Demo: https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2025-krida/



Shivangi Khanna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivangik/



Sophie Jewsbury: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiejewsbury/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #Krida #FinovateFall #BestofShow #lending #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #AI #relationshipbanking #loanorigination #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #creditunions #communitybanks

FinovateFall Best of Show winner Eko Investments is bringing investment opportunities to early-stage investors, growing individual wealth and helping FIs of all sizes retain their customers.



Detailed Summary:



Mart Vos, CEO of Eko Investments, joins Greg to talk about his company's role as a leading digital investment provider for credit unions and banks. Eko's mission stems from Mart's personal experience when he moved from the Netherlands to the US and discovered that traditional banks only offered investment services to wealthy clients through financial advisors, requiring minimums like $100,000 rather than accommodating smaller amounts like $100. This contrasted sharply with the Netherlands, where every bank offers accessible investment products, eliminating the need for third-party apps like Betterment, Robinhood, or Acorns. Eko enables financial institutions to offer investments to all their clients, not just the top 1%, through a low-threshold investment solution natively integrated within digital banking platforms.



Eko has achieved remarkable success, winning Best of Show at Finovate Fall for the second consecutive year. The company's evolution is driven by their commitment to listening to financial institutions and members, with a significant portion of engineering hours reserved for client requests that can be implemented within one to two weeks. Recent feature developments include IRAs and Roth IRAs, faster money movement capabilities, and a unique structure providing core integration benefits without actual core dependency. Eko serves a diverse range of clients, from their smallest credit union with 7,000 members to their largest with 20 billion in assets, demonstrating their scalable solution across different institutional sizes.



Mart continues by describing how the Eko platform serves as an essential tool for financial institutions looking to retain clients who might otherwise migrate to third-party investment apps. With 68% of users making their first investment ever, and an average investment amount of $1,200, Eko focuses heavily on financial literacy and education, particularly serving millennials and Gen Z users. Rather than competing with traditional wealth advisory firms, Eko operates as a complementary funnel, providing warm leads for wealth services when clients reach higher investment thresholds like $50,000 or $100,000. This collaborative approach prevents financial institutions from having to "sell no" to smaller investors while creating pathways for future wealth management relationships.



More info:



Eko: https://eko.investments/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/ekoinvestments/



FinovateFall Demo: https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2025-eko/



Mart Vos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mart-vos/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #Eko #FinovateFall #BestofShow #investment #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #wealthmanagement #deposits # #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #creditunions #communitybanks

FinovateFall Best of Show winner Vertice AI: Using AI to help smaller FI’s punch above their weight.



Detailed Summary:



In this episode, Greg catches up with Mitch Rutledge, CEO and co-founder of Vertice AI, who won Best of Show at FinovateFall. Mitch starts out by discussing his company's mission to empower community financial institutions through AI-powered solutions. Vertice serves as an AI-driven growth engine that transforms institutional data into actionable insights, enabling smaller community banks and credit unions to compete effectively with larger financial institutions. The platform specifically targets community FIs with lean marketing teams, helping them deliver personalized customer engagement and measurable growth outcomes. Rutledge emphasizes that while big banks like Bank of America employ over 3,000 data scientists and JP Morgan invests over $4 billion in AI, community banks possess a crucial advantage: the trust factor that can be leveraged alongside modern technology.



The conversation then explores Vertice’s approach to personalization, which Rutledge defines as delivering relevance by understanding customer needs and serving appropriate products at the right time. The platform utilizes multiple AI applications including propensity scoring to predict product adoption and churn risk, automated campaign creation that generates targeted messaging for different demographics while maintaining regulatory compliance, and real-time campaign performance analysis. This comprehensive approach addresses the significant gap between consumer expectations for personalized financial experiences (74% want it) and actual delivery (only 22% feel they receive it). The technology enables marketing teams of one or two people to achieve the same level of personalization as larger institutions with extensive data science teams.



A notable aspect of Vertice’s journey is their decision to remain bootstrapped without taking venture capital funding. Rutledge explains this choice allowed the company to maintain control over their mission and vision while building according to client needs rather than investor timelines. The company achieved cash flow positivity from day one and focused on thoughtful, sustainable growth. For startup founders considering funding options, Rutledge advises being clear about the "why" behind raising funds, noting that while VC funding may be necessary for businesses requiring hyperscaling, companies that can grow profitably through customer revenue shouldn't underestimate the bootstrap path. This approach creates discipline and efficiency, ensuring every dollar earned is tied to value creation and customer satisfaction.



More info:



Vertice AI: https://verticeanalytics.ai/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/verticeai/



FinovateFall Demo: https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2025-vertice-ai/



Mitch Rutledge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchrutledge/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #VerticeAI #FinovateFall #BestofShow #marketing #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #credit #payments #orchestration #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking...

FinovateFall Best of Show winner LendAPI on the future of lending (spoiler: it’s gonna be a lot faster)



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg interviews Tim Li, CEO and Co-Founder of LendAPI, a recent Best of Show winner at FinovateFall. LendAPI is described as a "super orchestration platform" that allows users to build various financial products through an intuitive browser interface. The platform features a product studio where FI’s can create everything from personal loans to mortgages by customizing templates, with integrated rule studios, model studios, pricing engines, and third-party plugins. Tim emphasizes that the platform dramatically reduces the traditional timeline for launching financial products from years to potentially just days or weeks.



Tim explains that LendAPI was born from his own 20 years of frustration working in various financial roles, where he experienced firsthand the pain points of slow implementation and inefficient processes. The company has received enthusiastic responses from financial executives, particularly chief lending and risk officers from credit unions and banks who see the potential to finally launch products they've wanted to implement for years. Following their Finovate success, LendAPI has decided to focus specifically on embedded finance opportunities, even changing their tagline from "onboard anyone" to "embedded anywhere."



Looking toward the future of lending, Tim envisions reducing friction at what he calls "the moment of truth,” that critical moment when consumers or small businesses want to make purchases or access credit. He believes financing, lending, and payments should blend seamlessly, creating a "magical" experience where credit decisions happen instantly without requiring extensive applications. This approach would prevent situations where people delay important purchases or decisions because of the onerous loan application process, ultimately making financial services more accessible and user-friendly.



More info:



LendAPI: https://www.lendapi.com/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/lendapi/



FinovateFall Demo: https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2025-lendapi/



Tim Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothytli/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #LendAPI #FinovateFall #BestofShow #lending #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #credit #payments #orchestration #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #cx #creditunions #communitybanks

FinovateFall Best of Show winner Casap on the biggest opportunity you’re missing to prove to your customers that you’re on their side.



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast episode, Greg interviews Shanthi Shanmugam, co-founder and CEO of Casap, a Best of Show winner at FinovateFall 2025. Shanthi explains that Casap was founded after she and her co-founder discovered that negative dispute experiences were the primary non-life-event reason customers left financial institutions. Casap addresses this by instantly resolving disputes for honest customers while protecting banks from fraudsters. The current dispute process typically takes 90 days with little communication, creating frustration for customers who need resolution.



Shanthi highlights that first-party fraud has become the leading fraud attack vector globally, surpassing account takeovers and scams. This type of fraud—where customers falsely claim they didn't make purchases they actually did—costs financial institutions $100 billion annually. Casap’s solution uses AI agents that ask objective questions like expert investigators while analyzing transaction data to generate a "win score" that determines if a dispute is legitimate. For honest customers with high win scores, Casap provides instant resolution, while creating friction for potential fraudsters.



Following her Finovate demo, Shanthi received significant interest from various financial institutions, including fintechs, banks, and credit unions. Casap serves issuers of all sizes, from public fintechs to top 25 banks and credit unions with assets ranging from $200 million to $20 billion. Shanthi closes by envisioning a future where Casap helps create a financial system where trust is a given, fraud is minimized, and financial services are truly democratized. The solution is designed for any issuer handling at least 200 dispute cases monthly, providing immediate savings and improved customer experiences.



More info:



Casap: https://www.casaphq.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/casaphq/



FinovateFall Demo: https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2025-casap/



Shanthi Shanmugam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanthi-shanmugam-4057284a/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #Casap #FinovateFall #BestofShow #ai #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #disputes #fraud #antifraud #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #cx

AI is revolutionizing lending – are you ready?



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer interviews Greg Sullins, head of the U.S. Banking Center of Excellence for Newgen Software. Sullins, with 35 years of banking experience, discusses how Newgen supports financial institutions in their digital banking transformation. The conversation primarily focuses on how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing lending processes, with Sullins explaining that lending is particularly suitable for AI implementation because it sits at the intersection of data intensity, risk management, and customer experience.



Newgen's technology addresses lending challenges through end-to-end automation using their low-code platform, AI-powered decisioning, configurable workflows, and enhanced customer experience capabilities. Sullins emphasizes that the low-code component is crucial as it allows business analysts rather than programmers to configure workflows and deploy changes quickly. This approach helps banks modernize legacy systems while maintaining compliance through built-in governance, audit trails, and explainable AI.



Looking toward the future of lending, Sullins predicts four major shifts: instant lending with approvals in seconds, more inclusive credit using AI and alternative data to serve traditionally underserved borrowers, embedded lending that appears where customers need it, and risk and compliance by design. He concludes that banks need to shift their mindset from viewing lending as a process to manage to seeing it as an experience to deliver, adopting an outside-in perspective that prioritizes customer expectations while still managing risk responsibly.



More info:



Newgen: https://newgensoft.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/newgen/



Greg Sullins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-sullins-9788b23/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #newgen #ai #lowcode #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #payments #lending #digitraltransformation #fintech #finserv #africanfintech #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #cx

Stablecoins, relationships, and licenses – inside the Flutterwave success story



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer interviews Bridgit Antwi, Head of Strategy and Planning at Flutterwave, Africa's leading payments company. Founded in 2016 by Olubenga "GB" Agbola, Flutterwave was created to solve the significant friction in facilitating financial transactions across Africa's complex landscape of 54 countries, 40+ currencies, and numerous payment systems. The company has built an infrastructure that abstracts this complexity through a single API platform, allowing merchants to seamlessly collect payments across multiple countries, currencies, and payment methods. Today, Flutterwave operates in over 30 countries, holds licenses in 14 African nations (making it the most licensed non-bank entity on the continent), and maintains 35 money transfer licenses.



Flutterwave's growth has required not only technological innovation but also extensive relationship-building across the financial ecosystem. The company has established over 150 direct connections to banks, mobile network operators, payment schemes, and digital wallets, creating redundant payment rails necessary for reliable operation in Africa. This infrastructure has become a competitive advantage and now powers the next generation of African startups. Key customers include global companies like Uber, which Flutterwave helped expand from Nigeria to ten additional markets by localizing transactions and improving authorization rates. They also serve local merchants like Nigerian airline Airpeace and payment service providers from Europe, the US, and increasingly Asia.



Looking toward the future, Flutterwave is focusing heavily on stablecoins, particularly USDC. As a member of the Circle Partnership Network, they are one of few African partners that can mint USDC and provide on/off-ramp services between USDC and fiat currencies. This focus addresses critical needs in Africa, where currency volatility and inflation make stablecoins an attractive alternative for cross-border transactions due to lower costs and faster settlement times. Beyond facilitating local payments, Flutterwave is helping merchants expand their reach across borders, with particular interest in the "big four" e-commerce markets (Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt) as well as secondary markets like Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, and parts of Francophone Africa.



More info:



Flutterwave: https://flutterwave.com/us/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/flutterwave/



Bridgit Antwi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bridgit-antwi/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #Flutterwave #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #payments #stablecoins #paymentsystems #fintech #finserv #africanfintech #modernization #innovation #startup #banking #USDC

The pitfalls of payments platforms that are “good enough”



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate Podcast episode, host Greg Palmer interviews Rouzbeh Rotabi, Chief Revenue Officer at Qolo, about payment infrastructure modernization. Rotabi, with over 20 years of experience in fintech and payments, explains that banks face three main challenges: financial pressures to increase commercial deposits (especially following recent bank runs), infrastructure limitations of legacy systems, and the need to improve customer experience. He emphasizes that many financial institutions are reaching "terminal velocity" with their current technology, forcing them to hire additional staff and implement workarounds rather than adopting more scalable solutions.



The discussion highlights the false comfort of "good enough" payment systems in today's competitive landscape. Rouzbeh advises financial executives to evaluate their infrastructure by examining how much "load weight" their current systems create—specifically, whether they're continuously hiring more staff or consultants just to maintain existing systems. He recommends analyzing growth patterns over the past five years to determine if operational expenses are scaling disproportionately to business growth, and to gather direct customer feedback about their experiences with current platforms.



When implementing new payment technologies, Rotabi explains the trade-off between speed to market and maintaining control. He notes that additive solutions like Qolo's virtual account management can integrate with existing cores without complete replacement, making implementation faster and less disruptive. The conversation distinguishes between consumer and commercial payment systems, suggesting that commercial implementations offer more flexibility and tolerance for minor disruptions compared to consumer-facing solutions where even small errors can significantly impact customer trust. Ultimately, the podcast emphasizes that financial institutions must modernize their payment infrastructure to meet evolving customer expectations and remain competitive.



More info:



Qolo: https://qolo.io/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/qolo/



Rouzbeh Rotabi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rouzbehrotabi/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #Qolo #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #payments #infrastructure #fintech #finserv #modernization #innovation #startup #banking

Your new go-to-market(ing) strategy – balancing compliance and speed with agentic AI



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate Podcast episode, Greg interviews Asaf Baciu, President and Co-Founder of Persado, an agentic AI platform that optimizes both marketing performance and regulatory compliance for financial institutions. Assaf explains how banks and fintechs currently face a significant challenge with disjointed marketing and compliance teams, resulting in inefficient content approval processes that can take up to 12 weeks for a single subject line. This slow process prevents financial institutions from competing effectively in today's fast-paced market against neobanks and other digital competitors.



Persado's solution leverages AI to analyze content against both performance metrics (based on over a million A/B tests) and regulatory requirements (using specialized AI agents for different regulations). The platform can evaluate marketing content, identify compliance issues, suggest improvements, and generate compliant alternatives that still perform well. This approach has helped customers reduce approval times by 85-90%, cutting processes from weeks to hours. The technology is particularly valuable for sponsor banks managing fintech programs, where reviewing content like social media videos traditionally requires manual transcription and lengthy back-and-forth communications.



Assaf emphasizes that AI is ideally suited for this application because it can efficiently analyze thousands of pages of regulations and predict marketing performance based on vast amounts of data - tasks humans cannot perform at the necessary speed and scale. Currently working with eight of the top ten U.S. banks, Persado brings ten years of experience applying AI at scale within financial institutions. Assaf will be speaking FinovateFall (September 8-10) on a panel about harnessing AI in financial services, where he hopes to connect with executives concerned about growing their businesses responsibly.



More info:



Persado: https://www.persado.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/persado/



Assaf Baciu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/assaf-baciu-17a4b3/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #marketing #compliance #fintech #finserv #financialmarketing #AI #innovation @#startup #banking #agenticai

Fighting crime through collaboration – lessons from a retired DEA Special Agent.



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast episode, host Greg Palmer interviews David Tyree, a retired DEA special agent now serving as a senior advisor with Valid8 Financial. Tyree shares his extensive career journey from joining the DEA in 1998 to working in various locations including New Mexico, Oregon, Europe, West Africa, and Wyoming. Early in his career, he discovered the effectiveness of targeting criminal organizations' financial assets, which led to developing strong relationships with financial institutions. Tyree emphasizes that successful investigations require humility and collaboration between law enforcement and banks, noting that both sides benefit when they share information openly rather than remaining guarded.



Throughout the conversation, Tyree highlights the importance of understanding criminal typologies in financial crime detection. He discusses technological advancements that have improved financial crime investigations, including CSV files, online typology resources, and third-party monitoring software. Despite these technological improvements, Tyree consistently returns to the human element as critical, stressing that banks should focus on making their customers "the heroes of their stories" by educating them about fraud risks and empowering them with information to protect themselves, particularly vulnerable populations like the elderly.



In his current role at Valid8, Tyree helps law enforcement make sense of money movement patterns, with the platform having helped him discover an additional million dollars in a case where he had initially seized $200,000. He advises financial institutions to prioritize understanding criminal typologies across various crimes including human trafficking, drug trafficking, fraud, and elder abuse. Tyree concludes by emphasizing two key elements for effective financial crime prevention: understanding what criminal activity looks like in financial data and fostering greater collaboration between banks and law enforcement agencies to share emerging trends and patterns.



More info:



Report: https://www.valid8financial.com/money-laundering



Valid8: https://www.valid8financial.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/valid8-financial/



David Tyree: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidatyree/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #financialcrime #moneylaundering #fintech #fraud #antifraud #money #innovation #startup #banking

Supporting the gig economy and ethical AI – two massive components you can’t afford to ignore.



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host interviews Tamara Laine, founder of MPWR, who shares her unique journey from professional ballerina and choreographer to documentary filmmaker, investigative journalist, and finally tech entrepreneur. Laine discusses how her extensive experience as a gig worker—spanning over half her career—revealed significant financial barriers despite earning good income. Even while making six figures at times, she couldn't obtain credit cards or loans because traditional financial systems aren't designed for workers without W-2 income, highlighting a critical gap affecting over half the U.S. workforce.



The conversation goes on to explore how the financial industry needs to innovate for gig workers by understanding their unique cash flow patterns and developing alternative credit assessment methods beyond traditional FICO scores. Laine emphasizes that while gig workers may have inconsistent monthly income, their annual patterns are often stable and predictable, suggesting that financial products could be redesigned to accommodate these differences. The discussion highlights how younger generations are increasingly credit-thin as they move away from traditional employment and credit products, creating an urgent need for financial inclusion.



The podcast then shifts to ethical AI, drawing from Laine's Emmy-winning investigative reporting on activist investors—notably a group of nuns—who pushed major corporations to implement ethical AI frameworks. She describes how this experience informed her approach to developing AI tools at MPWR, emphasizing the importance of preventing bias in financial technology. The conversation concludes with a discussion about responsibility for ethical AI development, with Laine advocating for diverse teams and multiple perspectives rather than relying solely on regulation, noting that we're in the "wild west" of AI development where today's decisions may impact financial systems for decades.



More info:



MPWR: http://www.MPWR.money ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/mpwrai/



Tamara Laine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamaralaine/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #bankingInnovation #fintech #alternativecredit #gigeconomy #credit #ethicalai #AI #innovation #startup #banking

The importance of human-centered innovation – one banker’s thoughts on building the right kind of innovative community.



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast, Greg Palmer interviews Catherine Lynch, who leads digital experience and human-centered design at Citizens, a super-regional bank with approximately 1,000 branches primarily in the Northeast and $220 billion in assets. With over 20 years in banking and previous experience at Accenture and tech startups, Lynch has built her career around leveraging technology to solve customer problems. At Citizens, she focuses on digital channel strategy and experience design for a diverse customer base that includes consumers, commercial clients, and wealth management customers.



Lynch explains that regardless of customer type, banking clients have three fundamental needs: seeing their money, moving their money, and protecting their money. She notes that customer needs have evolved as people face cognitive overload, economic stress, and reduced community connections, creating demand for simpler, easier banking experiences. To meet these changing expectations, Citizens employs a human-centered design approach, putting customer needs at the center of their problem-solving process through empathy, collaboration, iteration, and testing. Their innovation lab, part of Green Pixel Studios, allows them to observe customers interacting with their services and quickly develop solutions to address pain points.



Looking toward the future, Lynch emphasizes the importance of partnerships with fintech companies, which focus on specific customer problems that Citizens might not have the resources to explore independently. She highlights their involvement with Mass Fintech Hub, which connects financial institutions with academia, startups, and government to address industry challenges collaboratively. By maintaining these connections and leveraging evolving capabilities, Citizens aims to deliver exceptional customer experiences while addressing the information overload many customers face today.



More info:



Citizens Bank: https://www.citizensbank.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/citizens-bank/



Catherine Lynch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-lynch-42678510/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #bankingInnovation #fintech #fintechpartnerships #digitaltransformation #AI #innovation #startup #banking

Driving innovation forward – lessons from a fintech founder turned community banker.



Detailed Summary:



In this episode, Christian Ruppe, Chief Innovation Officer of Colony Bank, joins Greg to discuss his journey from fintech entrepreneur to banker. Colony Bank is a $3.3 billion community bank headquartered in Fitzgerald, Georgia, with a footprint primarily in South Georgia and offices in surrounding areas. As the largest community bank in Georgia, Colony serves both consumers and businesses, particularly catering to larger businesses that find national banks too impersonal but need more capabilities than smaller community banks can offer.



Rupp shares Colony Bank's three-year innovation journey, which began with building the necessary infrastructure to be "ready" rather than "right" when facing industry threats and opportunities. This foundation-building phase required developing new organizational muscles around technology adoption, due diligence processes, and implementation strategies. Now that this groundwork is established, Colony is exploring forward-looking technologies, with agentic AI being a particular focus. They've partnered with DeepSea to develop AI agents that handle tedious manual processes like indirect lending verification, which has improved accuracy while freeing staff to focus on growth-oriented tasks.



When advising fintechs on partnering with banks, Rupp emphasizes the importance of addressing immediate problems banks are actively trying to solve. Community banks have limited capacity to implement new technologies, so solutions that address current "fires" have a much higher chance of being adopted. He notes that while banks may not immediately implement every interesting solution they encounter, they often remember these technologies when relevant problems arise later, highlighting the value of patience and relationship-building in the fintech-banking partnership process.



More info:



Colony Bank: https://colony.bank/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/colony-bank/



Christian Ruppe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruppe/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



#Finovate #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #bankingInnovation #fintech #communitybanking #digitaltransformation #AI #innovation #startup #banking

Bringing a rewarding investment experience into FI’s with FinovateSpring Best of Show winner Bits of Stock.



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate Podcast, host Greg interviews Arash Asady, CEO and co-founder of Bits of Stock, a Best of Show winner at FinovateSpring 2025. Arash introduces Bits of Stock as an embedded digital wealth and financial benefits platform that empowers financial institutions to bundle banking with fractional stock and crypto investing. The company helps banks boost deposits and card engagement through stocks as rewards, roundups, and investments. Arash explains that financial institutions face competitive threats from fintechs like Robinhood and Acorns, which offer comprehensive services including fractional investing that appeal to younger customers who expect all financial services within one digital experience.



The conversation highlights how Bits of Stock's stock rewards program differentiates from traditional rewards systems. Their research showed stock rewards were 34 times more effective than cashback in driving card spending, with users increasing card spend by 20% month over month. Arash emphasizes that stock rewards remove barriers to investing and help address wealth inequality, noting that currently 90% of stocks are owned by just 10% of the population. The platform offers a "free to premium" model that fits well into financial institutions' checking account strategies, allowing users to access free fractional investing with basic features and upgrade to premium tiers with additional benefits.



Looking ahead, Bits of Stock plans to expand its feature set within the free-to-premium experience, focusing particularly on partnerships with digital banking providers to bring their platform to millions of households. Arash mentions they're working to add features that will drive more fee income and revenue for financial institutions. The company is preparing for a significant Series A funding round, targeting a $20 million raise by the end of 2025.



More info:



Bits of Stock: https://www.bitsofstock.com/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitsofstock/



Brandon Min: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aasady/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/



#Finovate #podcast #fintechpodcast #financialservices #bankingInnovation #fintech #voice #antifraud #investing #rewards #CU #communitybanking #digitaltransformation #AI #innovation #finovatespring

I swear, it wasn’t me! – connecting with FinovateSpring Best of Show winner Herd Security on their anti-deepfake fraud prevention solution.



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer interviews Brandon Min, founder and CEO of Herd Security, a Best of Show winner at FinovateSpring 2025. Brandon explains that Herd Security focuses on helping organizations build "herd immunity" against generative AI cyber attacks, particularly deepfakes. Unlike competitors who focus solely on detection or training, Herd helps organizations understand their deepfake risk exposure by answering two key questions: what is the organization's overall vulnerability to deepfakes, and which employees are most susceptible to these attacks. Their approach includes proprietary voice detection algorithms that analyze audio for AI manipulation as part of a comprehensive layered security strategy.



Brandon identifies two primary threat vectors for financial institutions: inbound call centers where fraudsters can use deepfakes to bypass verification systems, and recruitment processes where bad actors might impersonate candidates to gain organizational access. He notes that while deepfake attacks are still relatively uncommon, there have been significant incidents, including a Hong Kong firm losing $25 million to a video deepfake fraud. Brandon emphasizes that organizations should be proactive rather than reactive in addressing these emerging threats, as traditional voice attacks (without deepfakes) have already caused significant damage to companies all over the world.



During his demo, Brandon took a measured approach to raising awareness without fearmongering. He showed the technology's capabilities by spoofing the host's voice in a friendly message, then escalated to showing how the same technology could be used in a wire transfer fraud scenario. Brandon stresses the importance of education and preparation, comparing the current situation to early warning signs before a tsunami - we're seeing the beginning signs of deepfake threats, and while it's difficult to predict exactly how they'll evolve, organizations need to understand their vulnerabilities now rather than waiting for a major incident to occur.



More info:



Herd Security: https://www.herdsecurity.io/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/herd-security/



Brandon Min: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-min-356ab290/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/



#Finovate #AIPodcast #FinancialServices #BankingInnovation #FinTech #voice #antifraud #security #deepfake #security #DigitalTransformation #AI #innovation #finovatespring

Next-gen customer service – connecting with FinovateSpring Best of Show winner Penny Finance on attracting, retaining, and serving members of the digital generation



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast episode, host Greg interviews Crissi Cole, founder and CEO of Penny Finance, a Best of Show winner at FinovateSpring in San Diego. Cole, a former Goldman Sachs financial advisor, created Penny Finance in 2020 to provide personalized financial planning for everyday Americans. After building a community of 20,000 individual users, Penny pivoted to partnering with community banks and credit unions when they discovered 80% of their members already had relationships with local financial institutions, while only 20% of these institutions offered financial planning services.



Penny Finance's platform connects consumers' financial plans with their financial institution's products, helping community banks and credit unions better serve their members. Cole emphasizes that smaller financial institutions have advantages over larger banks in their ability to tailor offerings to individual customers and provide more attractive financial products. However, these institutions often struggle with building the digital presence needed to attract and retain today's online customers, which is where Penny's technology helps bridge the gap.



Crissi highlights that effective financial services aren't just about technological capabilities or integration with online banking platforms, but about understanding customers and meeting them at key moments in their financial journey. She stresses that relevance and timing in the user journey are more important than fancy CRMs or mobile apps. The ultimate goal is to transform financial institutions from merely offering a menu of products to becoming true financial partners that help customers when they need it, making financial planning accessible to everyday Americans while helping community banks manage more of their members' wallets.



More info:



Penny Finance: https://www.penny-finance.com/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/penny-finance-inc/



Crissi Cole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crissicole111/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/



#Finovate #Podcast #FinancialServices #BankingInnovation #FinTech #creditunion #communitybank #CX #DigitalTransformation #innovation #finovatespring

Talk to me – connecting with FinovateSpring Best of Show winner Illuma Labs on their AI CX and authentication agent



Detailed Summary:



In this episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer interviews Milind Borkar, founder and CEO of Illuma, a two-time Best of Show winner at Finovate events. Illuma specializes in voice authentication and fraud prevention solutions for mid-market financial institutions like credit unions, community banks, and regional banks. The company has evolved from primarily focusing on authentication to becoming more of a fraud prevention company, developing advanced capabilities to detect deepfakes and other voice-based fraud attempts. During the interview, Milind explains how their technology works by running parallel engines - an authentication engine that matches voiceprints and a synthetic detection engine that identifies signatures of artificially generated voices.



Milind goes on to discuss how the financial industry's response to AI-based threats has evolved. Initially, there was skepticism and fear when deepfakes first emerged, with many institutions paralyzed by uncertainty. Now, there's growing acceptance that humans alone cannot detect sophisticated AI-generated voice fraud, and that "the only way to really battle the evil use of AI is good use of AI." Financial institutions are increasingly interested in implementing AI solutions while also asking more questions about ethical AI use and governance frameworks, though many organizations are still determining what ethical AI implementation actually means in practice.



The conversation concludes on the note that fraud challenges are universal across different types of financial institutions and geographic locations. Whether on the East or West Coast, or whether dealing with small credit unions or large regional banks, the same fundamental problems exist - just at different scales. Milind notes that fraudsters are opportunistic and don't discriminate based on region, making Illuma's solutions equally relevant across the financial services spectrum.



More info:



Illuma Labs: https://illuma.cx/; https://www.linkedin.com/company/illuma-labs/



Milind Borkar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milind-borkar-4197a917/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/



#Finovate #AIPodcast #FinancialServices #BankingInnovation #FinTech #voice #CX #security #DigitalTransformation #AI #innovation #finovatespring

I’m sold! – connecting with FinovateSpring Best of Show winner Solda.ai on their award-winning solution.



Detailed Summary:



In this Finovate podcast episode, host Greg interviews Andrew Reese, the U.S. go-to-market lead for Solda.ai, a FinovateSpring Best of Show winner. Solda builds artificial intelligence sales representatives that help financial institutions boost revenue and cut costs by mirroring their best sales representatives at scale across phone, text, email, and chat channels. The technology resonated strongly with the Finovate audience because it addresses common challenges in scaling sales operations, including high costs, burnout, and inconsistent performance, while maintaining the human connection that's essential in customer interactions.



For B2C applications, Solda's AI can handle the entire sales process from initial outreach to closing deals, including post-call tasks like updating CRMs. For B2B scenarios, the AI focuses on initial conversations, qualifying leads, and setting meetings with human sales representatives. The company emphasizes transparency about AI use while noting that less than 1% of customers actually ask if they're speaking with AI. Solda works closely with clients to train the AI on both what to say and what not to say, which is particularly important in heavily regulated industries like banking.



Looking to the future, Solda aims to improve its AI's capabilities to consistently outperform human sales representatives and leverage conversation data to provide richer analytics for clients. The company had insightful conversations at FinovateSpring about potential applications in wealth management and insurance. Rather than replacing human teams entirely, Solda focuses on automating repetitive, mundane tasks that cause burnout and inconsistent performance, allowing human employees to focus on more strategic work like handling escalations and high-priority conversations. The goal is to help organizations transform to work alongside AI while giving human employees more purposeful roles.



More info:



Solda.ai: https://www.solda.ai/fintech; https://www.linkedin.com/company/solda-ai/



Andrew Reese: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewpreese/



Greg Palmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbpalmer/



Finovate: https://www.finovate.com; https://www.linkedin.com/company/finovate-conference-series/



FinovateSpring: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/



#Finovate #AIPodcast #FinancialServices #BankingInnovation #FinTech #sales #data #AIExecution #DigitalTransformation #AI #innovation #financialservices #finovatespring