Send us a textCommunity Financial Credit Union is taking on one of the diciest areas of finance: domestic violence and economic abuse in what the Michigan credit union refers to as its Choose the Bear movement. Tansley Stearns, president and CEO of the credit union, talks to Mary about how and why Community Financial hopes to serve as one of the resources to help survivors escape economic abuse and rebuild their lives. It is but one of many striking projects setting the Michigan credit union apart from the pack. Stearns also chats with Mary about the importance of remote workers in recruiting talent and the significance of storytelling. Show links:Choose the BearFirst StepAmerica’s Credit Union Museum -- Herstory

Send us a textWhile financial institutions across the country want to win over Gen Z, the demographic tends to mystify them.Katrin Kaurov, co-founder and CEO of Frich, is on a mission to help solve both challenges. Katrin talks to Mary about Gen Z stereotypes, techniques that resonate with young adults and rethinking financial literacy. She also answers questions that came up during a summer Cornerstone-Frich webinar.Show notes:FrichRead Z Hits Different: How to Better Acquire and Engage a New GenerationWatch the Z Hits Different webinar replay

Send us a textThe emotional side of money is an emerging area of interest for fintech and digital banking executives.On today’s show, Mary sits down with Lindsay Bryan-Podvin, who among other titles, is a financial therapist. In fact, through December 2024, Lindsay is working as Cash App’s financial therapist. Lindsay talks with Mary about the newer profession and how it’s already showing up in fintech in various ways. They also explore how Gen Z handles money in ways that are different from past generations.One correction: In the interview, Mary says Square in reference to Lindsay’s financial therapy work. But Mary meant to say Cash App. Relevant links for Lindsay's work:Her company: Mind Money BalanceHer podcast show: Mind Money BalanceHer book: “The Financial Anxiety Solution”Mary's emoji story (subscription required): When it comes to emojis, banks need to learn the lingoA bit on the Cash App blocking feature

Send us a textIn September, the Reseda Group held a fintech summit in Detroit, showcasing a range of technology designed to improve credit unions’ products and services. Mary emcee-ed the event.In this episode, Ben Maxim (the chief operating officer at the Reseda Group) chats with Mary about the flavorful themes that emerged during the Detroit event, including: fresh ways to deepen engagement with members, the need to upgrade digital banking for all ages and where and how the branch plays a role.As the chief innovation officer for Michigan State University FCU, Ben also chats with Mary about how he finds fintechs to work with, and equally important, how the credit union knows when to call it quits.Oh, they also explore existentialism in financial services and Ben defines innovation. Really. Relevant links:Reseda Summit

Send us a textA 2024 policy shift is letting employees offer a newer kind of perk: When employees make student loan payments, their employers can plop savings into their tax-advantage retirement plan as their matches.Today on the show, Mary sits down with Laurel Taylor, founder and CEO at Candidly, to explore why and how her company is tackling this thorny financial wellness challenge.Plus, they chat about the joys of accomplishments, the shame often tied to debt, and ways they stay grounded. Relevant show links:CandidlySECURE Act 2.0

Send us a text2024 is considered the year of the consent order in banking. The added regulatory scrutiny is shifting the way banks partner with fintech companies.In this episode, Mary sits down with Rodrigo Suarez, chief banking officer at Piermont Bank. They explore what the young New York bank is seeking out in fintech. Rodrigo also shares why he thinks diversity matters in banking and offers his views on innovations for small businesses. And yes, they even talk about ways fintechs can avoid getting lost in what can feel like bank labyrinth. Relevant links:*Piermont Bank*Rodrigo Suarez    *Finteching with Mary, a monthly newsletter published on LinkedIn

Send us a textYou likely know the brand H&R Block. But more than two years ago, the tax-preparation chain launched Spruce: an app that connects to a debit card and savings account where funds are held at its bank partner, Pathward.Today on the show, Mary sits down with John Thompson, vice president of product management for financial services at H&R Block. They chat about how consumers find Spruce (including at physical locations) some of the major misconceptions of financial health and the challenges of when faster (and slower) payments occur. John also talks about his love-hate relationship with the tax refund.Relevant sourcesH&R Block’s SpruceFinancial Health Network

Send us a textAs the executive director of Fintech Sandbox, Kelly Fryer interacts with all kinds of fintech startups. In this episode, Kelly offers her take on important startup issues.She talks with Mary about the challenges fintech startups located outside of the coasts are up against, clashes between fintech and bank cultures and career pathing ideas. They also chat about their shared Midwestern roots and the biggest concerns community banks have right now. Relevant links:Fintech SandboxBoston Fintech WeekGo Midwest, young fintechs (American Banker article by Mary. Subscription required) 

Send us a textIn this episode, Mary chats with Tony Brancato, the head of product for the neobank for older adults called Charlie. Tony chats about why he thinks payments need to slow down, how shame is masking just how many seniors are getting scammed and where to acquire customers. They also chat about whether or not their parents hit the clubs. Relevant links:CharlieThe newest Neobank is for the 62+ Crowd

Send us a textStellarFi is not the first fintech company Lamine Zarrad has founded. This plucky serial fintech founder chats with Mary about his wild ride working as a bank regulator by day, and designing a pot payment startup (Tokken) on nights and weekends -- something he said he felt compelled to do. Now at StellarFi, he is compelled to rethink bill payment. They explore the how and examine unconventional customer acquisition ideas (ahem, buying and forgiving debt) and when (and why) to challenge bank regulators. Relevant show links: StellarFiDealBook article referenced 

Send us a textMichael Broughton learned about the complications of the credit scoring system while struggling to access credit to help him pay for a portion of his USC tuition.Now, as the founder and CEO of Altro, he’s working to expand the ways people can build credit history by reporting subscription payments to credit bureaus. He tells Mary about what he sees broken in the credit scoring system and what it was like to go viral while working on his startup at a hacker house. They also chat about how money apps can foster community as well as how to sort through good and bad venture capitalists. Relevant show links:https://www.altro.io/our-story/

Send us a textSophia Goldberg, CEO and co-founder of Ansa and author of "The Field Guide to Global Payments," views Girl Math as a joyful expression. Sophia explores the social media trend with Mary and shares her view on why it matters to all brands. They also discuss what’s broken with gift cards and opine on reward programs that resonate with people.

Send us a textEric Siegel, founder of Machine Learning Week conferences and former Columbia University professor, has focused his attention on cutting through the AI exuberance in his newer book, “The AI Playbook.” Eric talks to Mary about what corporations get wrong about one of the buzziest technologies and offers practical steps to take instead. Eric also talks to her about the tension between fraud and customer experience and what went into making his music video on predictive analytics (yes, that happened). Show notes:The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning DeploymentGenerative AI Applications Summit

Send us a textDebbie, an early-stage fintech startup, is rewriting the rules on rewards. Instead of offering consumers rewards for spending, Debbie offers rewards for paying down their debt and saving money at a time when credit card and auto loan delinquency rates have increased to their highest level since the Great Recession, per data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New YorkToday’s episode: Mary sits down with Debbie’s CEO and Co-Founder, Frida Leibowitz. They chat about how to drive engagement on a dreary subject, offer unexpected techniques to develop a vibrant user community, and discuss something seemingly counterintuitive: How too many resources can interfere with building a bank product – something Frida witnessed firsthand while previously working at Goldman Sachs’ Marcus.

Send us a textIt’s past and present fintech innovations in this edition of Money isn’t Everything.In today’s show, Mary sits down with Jim Bruene who founded one of the first fintech events, Finovate, at a time when many didn’t know fintech was becoming a thing.They explore the challenges of staying creative at a corporation and offer workarounds as well as opine on the latest and greatest in small business banking. Jim also shares  how he dreamed up Finovate (spoiler: the idea started with reading an American Banker article). You’ll also hear which bank couldn’t get into the first Finovate and how Mary fell into a fountain (separate incidents).Jim is also the founder of Fintech Labs UX. Finovate: https://informaconnect.com/finovatespring/