This Week in Fintech

Hosted by The Financial News Network

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167

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Nov 2026

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About the show

This Week in Fintech 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 Sasha Pilch, 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. ⭐Top 40 Best Financial News Podcasts! ⭐ according to https://blog.feedspot.com/financIf you’re looking to expand your network and knowledge of fintech, look no further than the This Week In Fintech podcast.

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November 12, 202645 min

How AI Agents Could Transform B2B Commerce with Sid Malladi, co-founder and CEO of Nuvo

In this episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, Katie Perry sits down with Sid Malladi, co-founder and CEO of Nuvo, to talk about the technology behind the massive network of businesses buying and selling physical goods from one another. Sid explains why so much B2B commerce still runs on paperwork, phone calls, emails and manual approvals, and how Nuvo is trying to bring buyers and sellers onto a shared platform where onboarding, verification, ordering, payments and collections can happen in one place. The conversation also gets into why cash flow and working capital matter so much in industries like food distribution, building materials and industrial manufacturing, and why Nuvo focuses on business outcomes first rather than leading with the technology itself. Sid shares how the company built its network by starting with suppliers, how verified business identities and transaction history can make future relationships faster and more secure, and why the network becomes more useful as more buyers and sellers join. Katie and Sid then look at the rise of agentic commerce in B2B. Rather than asking an AI agent to occasionally buy something for a consumer, Sid sees a much larger opportunity in the repetitive transactions that happen every day between businesses, from inventory replenishment and purchase orders to invoicing and collections. He lays out a future where agents on both sides of a transaction can coordinate with one another, while humans stay in control of the rules and exceptions that matter. The episode also explores what Nuvo can see across increasingly connected supply chains, how shocks like tariffs ripple through pricing and payment behavior, and what Sid believes has to happen before more traditional industries are comfortable delegating meaningful work to AI. This is a sponsored episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, produced in partnership with Nuvo. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

November 10, 202636 min

Inside Mercury’s Next Act With CEO Immad Akhund

Mercury has grown into one of the biggest names in business banking, with more than 450,000 customers and over $1 billion in revenue. Now, the company is expanding well beyond its original startup banking product. This week, Sasha Pilch sits down with Mercury co-founder and CEO Immad Akhund to talk about the company’s next phase of growth. They discuss Mercury Books and Payroll, why the company is building a broader financial operating system for businesses, and how AI is changing the way financial products get built and used. Immad also explains Mercury’s approach to agentic banking, including new controls that let businesses see which AI agents are connected to their accounts, track what those agents are doing, and keep a human in the loop before money actually moves. They also get into Mercury’s expansion beyond startups, what is driving its recent growth, and why the company is working toward launching its own bank after receiving conditional approval from the OCC and FDIC. Plus, Sasha speaks with This Week in Fintech contributor Suman Bhattacharyya about Synctera’s latest $24.5 million raise, renewed interest from community banks in fintech partnerships, and what Synctera Labs could mean for early-stage fintech founders. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

November 3, 202638 min

The Binance Hack, and Why Fintech Is Missing the Physical Economy

This week on This Week in Fintech, Sasha Pilch starts with the fallout from the Binance hack, which has seen around $6.3 billion in assets stolen from the world’s largest crypto exchange. Larry DiTore and Amethyst Martinez break down what happened, where the recovery effort stands, and why an attack of this scale raises much bigger questions about security, trust and coordination across the crypto industry. Then Sasha sits down with Daniel Simon, founder and CEO of Coast, to talk about a very different corner of financial services: the plumbers, landscapers, construction companies, transport operators and other businesses that make up what Daniel calls the physical economy. Coast is building expense management and payments software specifically for companies with employees out in the field, where controlling exactly how a company card is used can matter more than points or cashback. Daniel explains why these huge industries have been largely overlooked by fintech, how Coast is taking on decades-old fleet card providers, and how data from vehicles and telematics systems can help stop fraud in real time. He also shares what he learned from building and selling Bread, why vertical specialization can create a much stronger product, and why his team spends less time at fintech conferences and more time at events like World of Concrete and PestWorld. It’s an episode about two very different kinds of trust problems: protecting billions of dollars in digital assets, and building financial tools that actually understand how real-world businesses operate. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 27, 202635 min

Agentic Commerce Hits a Wall Plus Adam Nash on Reinventing Charitable Giving

What happens when the AI agent shopping for you gets blocked by the world’s biggest online marketplace? This week, Sasha Pilch is joined by This Week in Fintech reporter Amethyst Martinez to unpack Amazon’s decision to block Meta’s Muse shopping agent, and what it could mean for the future of agentic commerce. They discuss the tension between security, commercial interests and open access, and whether the dream of one AI assistant that can shop anywhere on the web could ultimately be undermined by competing platforms and walled gardens. Then, Sasha sits down with Adam Nash, co-founder and CEO of Daffy and former CEO of Wealthfront. Adam explains how Daffy is bringing donor-advised funds to a much broader audience, why donating public and private stock can be such a powerful way to give, and how modern fintech infrastructure can make charitable giving feel as simple as any other financial app. They also discuss Daffy’s rapid growth, its work with companies including Figma and OpenAI, and Adam’s prediction that within the next few years, many financial actions, including charitable giving, could increasingly be delegated to AI agents. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 22, 202644 min

Can AI Give Every Small Business a Virtual CFO? With Clover's Krishna Bhagavatula

In this sponsored episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, Katie Perry sits down with Krishna Bhagavatula, Chief Product Officer at Clover, to talk about how the platform is evolving far beyond payments. Krishna explains why small business owners need something very different from enterprise software. They are often acting as the CFO, CMO, COO and HR team all at once, which means the best technology has to hide complexity rather than add to it. That philosophy is behind Clover’s push to become a full operating system for SMBs, bringing together payments, inventory, payroll, staffing, loyalty, marketing and back-office tools in one place. The conversation also gets into how better connected data can help small businesses make smarter decisions around pricing, labor, inventory and cash flow, as well as how Clover uses its understanding of a merchant’s business to offer financing when they need it most. Katie and Krishna then look at what AI could change. From automatically building menus and product imagery to surfacing business insights and eventually running tasks through AI agents, Krishna lays out a future where a small business could have the equivalent of a virtual CFO, COO and CMO built into the software it already uses. This is a sponsored episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, produced in partnership with Clover. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 20, 202631 min

Vishal Garg Is Back at Better, Plus Vinyl’s Bid to Fix IPO Infrastructure

This week on This Week in Fintech, Sasha Pilch is joined by reporter Mary Ann Azevedo to unpack the latest twist at Better. Just two months after being removed as CEO, Vishal Garg has regained control of the company’s board, helped remove the directors who ousted him, and now says he does not actually want the CEO job back. Mary Ann explains how the power struggle unfolded, what Garg says he learned while he was out, and whether Better can realistically deliver on its plans to cut costs and reach breakeven. Then Sasha sits down with Rob Schoder, founder and CEO of Vinyl Equity, to dig into one of the more obscure corners of capital markets infrastructure: transfer agents. Rob explains why moving shares around an IPO can still involve paper mail, temporary PINs and days of phone calls, and why something that should be close to instantaneous can still take weeks. They also discuss the SEC’s push to modernize transfer agent rules, how Vinyl is trying to create a smoother bridge between cap tables, equity plans and brokerage accounts, and why Rob believes ownership records will eventually move on chain, even if the transition takes years rather than months. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 15, 202648 min

How PayJoy Turns Smartphones Into a Path to Credit

In this sponsored episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, Katie Perry sits down with Doug Ricket, founder and CEO of PayJoy, to talk about how the company is expanding access to credit for people who have historically been left out of the formal financial system. PayJoy began with a simple idea: use the smartphone itself as collateral. Customers can finance a device, build a repayment history, and then use that relationship as a stepping stone toward broader access to credit. Today, PayJoy has served more than 20 million customers across emerging markets, helping people finance everything from smartphones to everyday expenses and small business needs. Doug shares how his time in the Peace Corps, his work in emerging markets, and his experience with pay-as-you-go solar shaped the company’s approach. He also explains why PayJoy avoids compounding interest, how the business tries to align its economics with customer success, and why giving someone their first real access to credit can be far more valuable than simply giving them another bank account. The conversation also looks at what happens after that first smartphone loan, from digital payments and credit cards to financing for appliances and small businesses. Doug explains why PayJoy is choosing to stay focused on credit rather than becoming a super app, and why he believes the opportunity could ultimately extend to hundreds of millions, or even billions, of people across the Global South. This is a sponsored episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, produced in partnership with PayJoy. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 13, 202625 min

Can AI Catch Invoice Fraud? Plus, How Imprint Is Rebuilding Credit Cards

This week on This Week in Fintech, Sasha Pilch sits down with Daragh Murphy, co-founder and CEO of Imprint, to talk about how the company is helping major brands rethink credit cards, rewards, and customer loyalty. Imprint is building financial experiences directly into the brands consumers already know and love, replacing outdated bank-driven credit card programs with modern technology and personalized rewards. Daragh explains how Imprint is winning enterprise customers, why major retailers are rethinking their credit card partnerships, and why investing in risk management, compliance, and infrastructure has been critical to the company's growth. The conversation also explores the future of agentic commerce and how Imprint is developing safeguards that allow consumers to use AI agents to make purchases without giving them unrestricted access to their cards. Daragh shares how virtual card numbers, transaction alerts, and more flexible credit products could help bring more consumers into the financial system. Before that, Sasha is joined by This Week in Fintech editor Larry DiTore to unpack Iridium Credit’s $3 million funding round and its use of AI agents to automate invoice verification for factoring companies. They discuss how AI can help lenders catch discrepancies and potential fraud, reduce manual checks, and prevent businesses from financing the same invoice multiple times. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 8, 202642 min

What Happens to Your Money When an Account Goes Dormant? With Eisen CEO Allen Osgood

In this episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, Nik Milanovic sits down with Allen Osgood, founder and CEO of Eisen, to unpack one of the seemingly least glamorous but most important parts of financial infrastructure: what happens when customer accounts go dormant. Allen explains the world of escheatment, the process that can require financial institutions to hand abandoned assets over to state governments after a period of inactivity. States are currently holding around $70 billion in unclaimed property, and for banks, brokerages, crypto platforms and fintechs, navigating dozens of different state rules can quickly become a major operational and compliance problem. The conversation gets into why Eisen is focused on preventing accounts from reaching that point in the first place, how outdated customer information can lead to assets being liquidated without their owners realizing it, and why crypto has made the problem even more complicated. Allen also shares how Eisen works with companies like Coinbase, Binance.US and other financial institutions to automate account offboarding, outreach and regulatory workflows at scale. Nik and Allen also discuss Eisen’s new Tax Center, the coming challenge of backup withholding for crypto platforms, and how AI could dramatically increase the number of financial accounts that institutions need to manage. They also get into where AI can help automate the back office, and where regulated financial services still demands systems that are deterministic, tested and 100 percent reliable. This is a sponsored episode of This Week in Fintech Partnered, produced in partnership with Eisen. Connect Allen Osgood Linkedin Eisen Website 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. 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. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube

October 6, 202623 min

Cute AI Avatars and How Arca Is Reinventing Wealth Management

This week on This Week in Fintech, Sasha Pilch sits down with Rron Rexha, founder and CEO of Arca, to talk about how AI could modernize one of the most traditional corners of financial services. Arca is using AI to take administrative work off financial advisors’ plates, from account opening and money movement to preparing for client conversations, with the goal of giving advisors more time to focus on the relationships and decisions that actually matter. The company only emerged from stealth this year, but has already raised $64 million and is managing around $1 billion in client assets. Rron explains how Arca scaled so quickly, why wealth management still feels surprisingly outdated, and where he thinks AI should stop and humans should stay firmly in the loop. The conversation also gets into Arca’s approach to custody, its partnership with Altruist, and why better technology could make high-quality financial advice more effective and more accessible. Before that, Sasha is joined by This Week in Fintech reporter Amethyst Martinez to unpack a very different AI trend: why so many AI agents are suddenly being designed as cute, friendly characters, and what that tells us about how companies are trying to build trust in increasingly powerful technology. Follow The Financial News Network Linkedin X Instagram TikTok YouTube