Leaders in Lending

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199

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Leaders In Lending is a show for lending professionals who want to grow their consumer lending programs and improve their consumer experiences. Consumers continue to expect faster, easier online experiences from every company—and our knowledgeable guests will share how they are bringing their organizations and lending products forward into the future. Every week, Leaders In Lending will bring you actionable advice and key learnings from experienced leaders to help you navigate the future of consumer lending. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Upstart. Any content provided by the hosts or guests is for informational purposes only and is based on their own experiences and perspectives.

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October 7, 2026Episode 19836 min

Rate Doesn't Always Win. So What Does?

Every lender thinks rate is what wins the deal. From inside the F&I office, it looks completely different. In this Leaders in Lending crossover with Leadership in the Dealership, Barry Roach sits down with Philip Greer, who manages dealer relationships for Upstart across the western US and has walked into over 600 dealerships. He breaks down what actually determines where the deal goes from inside the F&I office. This episode covers: - What the F&I manager is really thinking when they choose a lender - Why speed beats rate more often than lenders expect - The iceberg below the surface of every car deal - Dealer loyalty to lenders and what breaks it - Why friction is the silent deal killer - How the best dealer groups build trust that transcends generations - Where Upstart Auto fits alongside existing indirect programs - The soft pull advantage and why look-to-book is disappearing If you run an indirect auto program or manage dealer relationships, this is the conversation from the other side of the desk. Leaders in Lending is powered by Upstart and features conversations with banking and credit union leaders navigating the future of consumer lending. Leadership in the Dealership is powered by Upstart and built for the automotive retail world. #LendingLeaders #LeadershipInTheDealership #AutoLending #IndirectAuto

September 9, 2026Episode 19725 min

Software as a Worker: Agentic AI Comes to Collections

An adverse action notice can't say "because the bot told me so." That's the constraint on every AI risk model in lending, and it's where part two of our conversation lands. Jay Mossman of AKUVO and Dave Wasik of Second Order Solutions join host Barry Roach to work through where AI agents actually earn their place across the collections lifecycle, and where they don't. Dave maps the easy wins to the extremes: payment reminder nudges at one end, long defaulted accounts nobody could profitably dial at the other. The middle, where a borrower is severely delinquent and weighing bankruptcy, is where loss mitigation is won or lost, and it's the part lenders are slowest to hand over. Jay describes the wave he sees arriving now: agentic suites reading bankruptcy dockets, preparing proof of claim, tracking Chapter 13 payments, handling repossession and foreclosure. He has a name for the shift. Software as a service is becoming software as a worker. Then the hard part. The gating factor isn't model sophistication, it's explainability. Dave points to a PayPal settlement covering lending actions that were viewed as progress in 2020 and as discrimination five years later, and asks how a bank writes standards that outlast whoever is in power. This is part two of two. Part one, "Nobody Answers the Phone: How Default Management Moved Upstream," is here: https://www.leadersinlending.ai/nobody-answers-the-phone-how-default-management-moved-upstream/ WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why AI's easiest collections wins sit at the extremes of the lifecycle, and why the middle is the hard part How a collector copilot differs from a voice bot, and why it may matter more Which specialty processes are next: bankruptcy dockets, proof of claim, reaffirmations, repossession, foreclosure Why explainability, not methodology, is the real constraint on AI risk models How a 2008 scale downturn would play out differently today GUESTS Jay Mossman, AKUVO. Nearly two decades in banking before founding a series of companies over 30 years, including Akcelerant and now AKUVO, both focused on default management and portfolio risk. Dave Wasik, partner at 2nd Order Solutions, a credit and lending advisory firm working with banks, specialty lenders and fintechs across the credit lifecycle. More than 30 years in credit and lending, and previously led collections and recoveries for Capital One's U.S. card business through the Great Recession. ABOUT LEADERS IN LENDING Leaders in Lending is brought to you by Upstart. Conversations with the people building the future of consumer credit. #DefaultManagement #Collections #AIAgents #Lending #ModelRisk #Fintech

August 26, 2026Episode 19620 min

Nobody Answers the Phone: How Default Management Moved Upstream

Only 13% of collections calls get answered. So what replaced the phone? Ten years ago, default management was almost entirely a phone-based process. Today, the phone gets answered 13% of the time, and the industry has rebuilt itself around digital-first outreach, behavioral data at a scale no single lender can reach, and models that predict on day one of delinquency how long an account will take to cure. Jay Mossman of AKUVO and Dave Wasik of 2nd Order Solutions join host Barry Roach to trace how the discipline got here. Jay explains how AKUVO processes data from 30 million consumers and 110 million banking accounts each night across more than 200 institutions, and why, for a large share of delinquent borrowers, the correct action is to leave them alone. Dave, who ran collections and recoveries for Capital One’s U.S. card business through the Great Recession, closes with a contrarian take: The biggest near-term win for collections leaders has nothing to do with AI. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN • Why digital-first now beats phone-first on loss mitigation outcomes, not just cost • What the 90% of delinquencies that resolve within 30 days reveal that credit scores cannot • How a severity-of-delinquency model predicts cure time on day one with 85% to 90% accuracy • Why the real value of an unanswered outbound call is the caller ID itself • Where collections leaders should spend the next 18 months GUESTS Jay Mossman, CEO and founder of AKUVO Jay spent nearly two decades in banking before founding a series of companies over 30 years, including Akcelerant and now AKUVO, both focused on default management and portfolio risk. Dave Wasik, partner at 2nd Order Solutions Dave has more than 30 years of experience in credit and lending. 2nd Order Solutions is a credit and lending advisory firm working with banks, specialty lenders and fintechs across the credit lifecycle. He previously led collections and recoveries for Capital One’s U.S. card business through the Great Recession. CHAPTERS 0:00 “Leave them alone”: Predicting the cure on day one 0:58 Intro 1:21 Meet Jay Mossman, AKUVO 3:01 Meet Dave Wasik, 2nd Order Solutions 4:05 From reactive collections to predictive risk 4:48 Shift one: Digital-first replaces the phone 6:05 Shift two: Internal and external data 7:19 From if-else-then to instructions 9:32 “Models don’t collect” 10:24 Inside an anonymized data lake 11:25 Predicting cure time on day one 12:26 The 90% the credit bureaus never see 12:51 Two thousand borrowers vs. 30 million 14:44 Digital-first vs. phone-first: The lines flipped 16:52 Thirteen percent answer the phone 17:21 The engagement assistant as top collector 18:02 The caller ID billboard ABOUT LEADERS IN LENDING Leaders in Lending is brought to you by Upstart. Conversations with the people building the future of consumer credit. Subscribe so you don’t miss Part 2.

August 13, 2026Episode 19519 min

The Future of Home Equity Is Frictionless

How are leading banks and fintechs evolving to meet the needs of today’s homeowners? In this episode of Leaders in Lending, we sit down with Sam Garcia (CEO of HELN News), Ivan Ahmed (Senior Director at Experian), and Andy Walden (Head of Mortgage and Housing Market Research at ICE) to explore why the future of HELOCs depends on reducing friction and leveraging data. In this video, we discuss: The Rise of the "HELOC Credit Card": How digital-first lenders are reimagining home equity as a frictionless, transactional experience. The Equity Plateau: Why record-high home equity levels are flattening and what that means for future lending growth. Targeting the Next Generation: How to use data to reach younger, digitally-native borrowers who are increasingly opting for HELOCs. Regulatory Shifts: A look at the Home Buyers Privacy Protection Act and its impact on trigger leads and consumer relationships. Macro Trends: Why efficiency, automation, and credit availability are the top priorities for competitive financial institutions. Whether you're a community bank, credit union, or fintech leader, this conversation provides actionable insights into how to navigate the "bifurcated" housing market and better serve your customers. Connect with Upstart: https://www.leadersinlending.ai/ #HomeEquity #HELOC #Fintech #BankingInnovation #LeadersInLending #MortgageIndustry #Upstart

July 22, 2026Episode 19434 min

Why Better Predictions Beat Bigger Risk

What if the biggest advantage in lending isn't taking less risk, but making better predictions? In this episode of Leaders in Lending, host Barry Roach sits down with Sanjay Dutta, President and Chief Capital Officer at Upstart, to discuss how AI-powered prediction models are reshaping lending, why capital matters more than ever, and what today's economic environment means for financial institutions. They discuss: Why Sanjay left Google to help build Upstart Why lending is fundamentally a prediction problem How AI is improving credit decisions The evolving role of capital markets What current economic conditions mean for lenders Where consumer lending is headed over the next five years Whether you're leading a bank, credit union, or fintech, this conversation offers practical insights into the future of lending. Subscribe for more conversations with the leaders shaping financial services.

July 8, 2026Episode 19316 min

Why a 5% Retention Lift Could Mean 90% More Profit

Most banks still treat community banking as a regulatory box to check. Queanne Smith, SVP and Group Strategy Manager at U.S. Bank, says that mindset caps growth instead of driving it, and breaks down how a 5% lift in client retention can swing profit by 25 to 90 percent. In this episode: - Community banking as growth infrastructure, not a side initiative - Getting embedded early in the customer lifecycle, pre-loan and pre-deposit - Why CRA requirements should be the floor, not the ceiling - Building trust and client readiness before the sale - Shared KPIs and cross-team accountability - Where institutions struggle most with this strategy - Balancing short term performance pressure with long term investment - The biggest misconception about community banking If you lead growth, strategy, or community lending at a bank or credit union, this conversation will change how you think about the ROI of community investment. Leaders in Lending is powered by Upstart and features conversations with banking and credit union leaders navigating the future of consumer lending. Chapters: 00:00 What community banking actually means for growth 00:29 Getting in early, before the loan and before the deposit 01:25 Turning trust into measurable outcomes 02:20 Building client readiness and stability from day one 03:14 Stop treating this as a compliance checkbox 04:07 CRA is the floor, not the ceiling 04:34 Community investment and community development are the same thing 05:27 Build the strategy with community, not for community 06:10 Shared KPIs, shared accountability 07:12 Where most institutions get this wrong 08:01 What the customer journey looks like when it's done right 08:20 Short term pressure versus long term trust 09:42 The infrastructure question 10:09 Where a leader should actually start 10:45 A 5% retention lift, a 25 to 90% profit swing 12:12 Readiness and trust are the real revenue drivers 12:59 The soft and slow myth 13:49 Intentional partnerships, not just reputation #LendingLeaders #CommunityBanking #BankGrowthStrategy

June 24, 202619 min

The Pendulum Is About to Swing Back. Are You Ready?

The regulations never went away. The exams slowed down, the enforcement pulled back, but every rule is still on the books. And when the pendulum swings back, everything being done right now is going to get looked at. Mike Reynolds from Zions Bancorporation and Aaron Rakowski from WesBanco co-chair the CBA CFPB Committee and have a clear message: this window is not a vacation. It's a chance to catch your documentation up, plug your compliance resources into product development, and stop yo-yoing your staffing every time the administration changes. Recorded at CBA Live 2026, this episode covers: Where CFPB engagement actually stands right now - Why this is the time to shore up your compliance program, not scale it back The state AG and state regulation patchwork filling the federal gap AI oversight and why you can outsource the work but not the risk - Rules that were written before the technology existed - What a durable compliance program actually looks like Why a clear national guideline beats fifty state interpretations What the next iteration of the CFPB might look like If you lead compliance, risk, or operations at a bank or credit union, this is the conversation to have with your team this week Leaders in Lending is powered by Upstart and features conversations with banking and credit union leaders navigating the future of consumer lending. #LendingLeaders #CFPB2026 #Compliance #CBALive2026

June 10, 2026Episode 19111 min

Innovation Is Moving Faster Than the System

Innovation is accelerating across consumer banking. AI, digital assets and new payment models are reshaping the industry. But institutions still operate inside established regulatory frameworks. In this episode, Kyle Glenn of the Consumer Bankers Association joins Lynn Sauter Beale to discuss how banks can stay proactive as technology evolves and policy adapts. If you lead lending, compliance or strategy, this conversation will help you think through what comes next.

May 27, 202615 min

Banking Is Commoditized. Experience Is Not.

The banking product is commoditized. The experience is not. In this episode of Leaders in Lending, guest host Deepak Bhandari sits down with TJ Steele, director of digital channels at Eastern Bank, to discuss how banks can differentiate when rates, accounts and products look the same everywhere. They cover: • How to turn the mobile phone into a “wingman” for customers • Why AI is just another tool, not a strategy • The importance of data, process and infrastructure below the waterline • How to pilot emerging technology without chasing hype • Why customer experience beats feature checklists • Real-time payments, digital wallets and fraud resilience • Becoming the customer’s primary bank in a fragmented world If you lead digital, payments or customer experience strategy, this conversation is a blueprint for what actually matters.

May 13, 2026Episode 18921 min

Auto Lending Just Hit a Wall. Now What?

Auto affordability isn't a cycle this time. It's a new baseline. In this episode, guest host Deepak Bhandari from Upstart sits down with Eric Earvin from First Commonwealth Bank and Michael Gilbert from Associated Bank, co-chairs of the CBA Auto Finance Committee, to talk about why it's time to stop waiting for costs to come back down and start rethinking how we lend. Insurance up 14% year over year. Debt to income ratios squeezed from every direction. Consumers still buying, but shifting downstream. And at some point the phone rings and they say here's the car. Recorded at CBA Live 2026, this episode covers: Why auto affordability is a permanent headwind How debt to income ratios are being squeezed from every direction The compounding cost problem, insurance, gas, maintenance Where stress is showing up in early payment defaults and fraud The AI arms race between lenders and fraudsters Why auto lenders are self-admitted copycats and what that means for innovation Alternative financing threats and reaching the next generation Subprime repossessions hitting all time highs again If you run an auto lending portfolio or sit on a credit committee, this conversation is the reality check heading into the back half of 2026. Leaders in Lending is powered by Upstart and features conversations with banking and credit union leaders navigating the future of consumer lending.