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Everything published by Fintech Takes.
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The issues Fintech Takes readers opened and clicked most, each measured against the issues sent around it.
- SEP 7Share Nicely … Or Be Forced To3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- FEB 24MVNO is the New BaaS
- SEP 9Plaid’s Perfect TimingMario Gabriele, the creator and author of The Generalist, recently published a piece on the past, present, and future of Plaid. With a word count just shy of 15,000, calling this thing comprehensive would be a big understatement. It’s an incredible collection of reporting and analysis, built on interviews with multiple Plaid executives (including CEO […]
- JUL 27Liability for thee, not for me.3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JAN 15Landlord Now Pay Later3 Fintech News Stories #1: Landlord Now Pay Later (LNPL) What happened? A proptech platform emerged from stealth and raised some equity and debt capital: Downpayments, a real estate fintech startup, is emerging from stealth today with the mission of helping investors purchase new properties with interest-free down payments. Downpayments has secured $31.8 million in […]
- JUL 2412 Things You May Not Know About the Federal ReserveOr, why the U.S. financial system is so eternally weird.
- AUG 14What Witchcraft Is This?#1: Roger What happened? Roger, a digital bank for military service members, is officially launching tomorrow. Roger was built by Citizens Bank of Edmond after they were approached by Nymbus with the idea to start a standalone digital bank. Here’s an excerpt from a podcast that Citizens Bank CEO Jill Castilla did with Penny Crosman […]
- JAN 9Tell Me How Much It Costs!3 Fintech News Stories #1: Tell Me How Much It Costs! What happened? Rocket Money (formerly Truebill) offers a free version and a premium version of its personal financial management app. Did you know that nowhere on Rocket Money’s main website does it say how much Rocket Money Premium costs? A little digging in Rocket […]
October 2026
- OCT 7A 15 Min Bank & Other Bad Ideas Highlights from Fintech Recap
- OCT 5Can it take action? And how much does it cost? 3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- OCT 2Five Questions About Agentic FinanceReporting back from Salt Lake City.
- OCT 1The Investor Diaries Listen to the Fintech Takes podcast.
- OCT 1Replay: The Science (and Fiction) of FrictionLearn how to tell the friction that protects your portfolio from the friction that's costing you applicants.
September 2026
- SEP 30Dear Investor DiaryHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- SEP 28Whop Whop Whop3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- SEP 25Life (and Screen Scraping) Finds a Way And why banks will sing a different tune on access regulation this time.
- SEP 25The 2,000 Years of Rain Problem in SMB LendingTwo dentists. A dozen restaurants. Four large manufacturers. Maybe a couple of oyster farms.
- SEP 24An Accountable Credit ScoreOr why a first-party credit score is such a novel idea.
- SEP 23Under the HoodHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- SEP 21Amazon’s War Against Agentic AI Continues3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- SEP 18Fintech NorthObservations from a week spent north of the border.
- SEP 18Stop Competing For Your Own CustomerOne of the stranger things about consumer lending is that a lender can do everything right and still end up competing for its own customer.
- SEP 16A Crisis of Confidence (audio edition) Highlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- SEP 14Nubank is Playing Checkers and Chess3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- SEP 12A Busy Fintech WeekHere’s what I saw and heard in New York.
- SEP 9The Standards ConversationHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- SEP 7Share Nicely … Or Be Forced To3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- SEP 4A (Mostly) Fake Fintech Q&A Five questions that you and (mostly) me want answered.
- SEP 2Nothing Here is What it SeemsHighlights from Fintech Recap
- SEP 2Fintech Recap: Risk, Standards, and Double StandardsWelcome back to Fintech Recap. I’m Alex Johnson, joined as always by my partner in recapping, Jason Mikula.
- SEP 1Fintech Takes x Nova Credit Presents Cash Flow Conversations Ep 7: A Traveling Credit ScoreHello, and welcome back to Cash Flow Conversations , a podcast series sponsored by Nova Credit.
August 2026
- AUG 31Winning and Losing With Tokenized Deposits3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- AUG 28Slop vs. SamenessAnd introducing the Finity Newsletter Platform!
- AUG 26💰 I had to have this talk with youHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- AUG 26Premium Cards Get WeirdWelcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined again by fellow fintech creator Matthew Goldman , founder and managing member of Totavi, and author of one of my favorite newsletters on cards and payments, Cards for the Win .
- AUG 24Agentic Commerce is Still in its Prehistory Phase3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- AUG 21Five Reasons Stripe Might Have Bought OpenRouter What justifies a $7.5 billion price tag?
- AUG 20The Value of Certainty And why personal loans for debt consolidation still don’t work.
- AUG 19The Silicon UnderwriterHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- AUG 19The SMB Context Margin ParadoxWelcome back to Fintech Takes. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by David Snitkof (GM of SMB at Ocrolus) to explore one of my all-time favorite topics in financial services: small business lending.
- AUG 18It’s Time to Start Thinking About Cash Flow InfrastructureThere comes a moment, in the development of any new technology, where it makes sense to stop thinking in terms of use cases and start thinking in terms of infrastructure.
- AUG 18The OCC Failed Its Own Test3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- AUG 14💰 Voluntary, Non-Binding, and Full of (Contradictory) PromisesFive questions about the FDIC’s Standard-Setting Initiative
- AUG 12💰Natural, Sky Fusion, Quarters, & El DoradoHighlights from Not Fintech Investment Advice
- AUG 11Gates vs. Primitives3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- AUG 7Fintech Syllabus How to prepare for the next couple of semesters in fintech.
- AUG 5Loopholes and Warp Cores
- AUG 5Fintech Recap: No-KYC Cards and Political Bank Charters AplentyWelcome back to Fintech Recap. I’m Alex Johnson, joined as always by my partner in recapping, Jason Mikula.
- AUG 3Humility and Sympathy3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
July 2026
- JUL 31The Challenge of Building a Bundle Around OutcomesAnd if AI can solve it.
- JUL 30Open Wallet > Top of WalletIf your entire product lives behind a pane of glass that everyone carries in their pocket, how do you stand out?
- JUL 29What is Open Standard? Highlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- JUL 29The Primary Banking AgentHere’s a question I’ve become fixated on lately: What, exactly, is a primary bank account?
- JUL 27Liability for thee, not for me.3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUL 2412 Things You May Not Know About the Federal ReserveOr, why the U.S. financial system is so eternally weird.
- JUL 22Nobody Runs Toward LiabilityHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- JUL 22The Rules for Self-Driving MoneyWelcome back to Fintech Takes. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by two of my favorite repeat guests: Steve Boms (Executive Director of FDATA North America) and Dan Murphy (Founder of Sunset Park Advisors; formerly CFPB).
- JUL 21Fintech Takes x TruStage presents Lending, Unbundled Ep 3: Revenue at StakeWelcome to Lending, Unbundled, a new series from Fintech Takes, sponsored by our friends at TruStage.
- JUL 20This is Why You Build a Payments-focused L1 3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUL 17Fintech 101 Sharing my observations, frameworks, and theories.
- JUL 15The Black Box, the Ship, and the Truth FileHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- JUL 15Retuning the Math of LifeWelcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m your host, Alex Johnson, and today one of our favorite guests is back: Frank Rotman, founding partner of 37Maru and co-founder and partner emeritus at QED Investors.
- JUL 14Fintech Takes x TruStage presents Lending, Unbundled Ep 2: The Confidence GapWelcome to Lending, Unbundled, a new series from Fintech Takes, sponsored by our friends at TruStage.
- JUL 13Can we make CDs cool?3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUL 10The Simpsons RuleA guest essay
- JUL 8Primitive, Exponent, Prime Intellect, CoverdHighlights from Not Fintech Investment Advice
- JUL 7Fintech Takes x TruStage presents Lending, Unbundled Ep 1: Financial Accessibility and InclusionWelcome to Lending, Unbundled, a new series from Fintech Takes, sponsored by our friends at TruStage.
- JUL 6Stablecoins’ Big Bank Consortium Moment
- JUL 3The Tolkien Fintech Naming GuideIf we’re going to do this, let’s at least do it right.
- JUL 1Fintech Failures, Debanking Debates, & a Prediction Market PotpourriHighlights from Fintech Recap
June 2026
- JUN 30The Lowest-Logical-Fare ProblemWhat business travel can teach us about where and how agentic AI can add value.
- JUN 30Neither Human nor Software: A New Kind of RiskThere are two ways organizations have learned to govern risk.
- JUN 30How do you ration a consumer right?3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUN 26Here I Go AgainRevisiting the world of fintech credit builder products.
- JUN 24The Deregulation ParadoxHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- JUN 24The End of the Checklist EraWelcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Andrew DiMattina , Product Architect at Persona (and expert in all things fraud and compliance, especially AML compliance), to explore the changing state of compliance in the U.S. and around the globe.
- JUN 22Keeping Pace 3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUN 19Fintech Threads: Stablecoins and Model DistillationFollowing up on a couple of stories.
- JUN 17B2B Marketing Doesn’t Have To SuckHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- JUN 16Pagaya Sues Klarna3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUN 12Regulation by Vibes“Look, we’ll let you keep doing what you’re doing. Just don’t embarrass us.”
- JUN 10💰 Plenty of Yellow FlagsHighlights from Facing Credit
- JUN 10Facing Credit: Pessimism and PerformanceWelcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Dave Wasik, Partner at 2nd Order Solutions, for another episode of Facing Credit, our series on everything credit and lending.
- JUN 8A Bigger Walled Garden3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- JUN 5On the Frontier Figuring out a path forward for community banks.
- JUN 3💰 The Charter Trap & the Fed’s Power ProblemHighlights from Fintech Recap
- JUN 1The Feeling of Debanking
May 2026
- MAY 29Fake Fintech TradesWho says no?
- MAY 29Your Customers’ AI Agents Are Coming for Your Data. Are You Ready?According to a survey fielded by MX last year , 58% of U.S. consumers say they would be likely or very likely to trust AI to deliver proactive reminders for important financial tasks such as paying bills and saving money. The same survey found that a majority of consumers would also be likely or very…
- MAY 28Fixing Consumer Credit’s Human-in-the-Loop ProblemHow will AI impact the consumer credit stack?
- MAY 28Fintech Takes x Chime presents Banking on Primacy Episode 4: The AI EpisodeWelcome to Banking on Primacy, a four-part podcast miniseries from Fintech Takes, sponsored by Chime.
- MAY 27Who Pays for the Pipes? Highlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- MAY 26Fintech Takes x Nova Credit Presents Cash Flow Conversations Episode 6: Living Out on the EdgeHello, and welcome back to Cash Flow Conversations , a podcast series sponsored by our friends at Nova Credit.
- MAY 25How Much Are Fintech Banks Worth?3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- MAY 22A Crisis of Confidence This has happened before.
- MAY 21Fintech Takes x Chime presents Banking on Primacy Episode 3: Banking at WorkWelcome to Banking on Primacy, a four-part podcast miniseries from Fintech Takes, sponsored by Chime.
- MAY 20When gambling is called “investing,” we all lose. Highlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- MAY 20Losing BigWelcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Jonathan Cohen, Policy Lead at the American Institute for Boys and Men and author of Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling.
- MAY 18ChatPFM3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- MAY 15Three New Fair Lending Stories PayPal, Chopra, and Transformers. Oh, my!
- MAY 14Fintech Takes x Chime presents Banking on Primacy Ep 2: The Bifurcation of RewardsWelcome to Banking on Primacy, a four-part podcast miniseries from Fintech Takes, sponsored by Chime.
- MAY 13Making Money When Your Customers LoseHighlights from the Fintech Takes Podcast
- MAY 13The Rise of Sports GamblingWelcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Danny Funt, author of the book Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling .
- MAY 11Anthropic is Building a New Type of Financial Services Vendor 3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
- MAY 11Fintech Takes x Chime presents Banking on Primacy Ep 1: The Fight for PrimacyWelcome to Banking on Primacy, a four-part podcast miniseries from Fintech Takes, sponsored by Chime.
- MAY 810 Questions About the Future of Fair Lending Goodbye disparate impact. Hello uncertainty.
- MAY 6PFM Problems, Super Apps, & Narrow BankingHighlights from Fintech Recap
- MAY 4OpenAI is Ushered Inside the Banking Perimeter 3 news stories, 2 reading recommendations, & 1 question.
