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Building Trust in Global Payments: 7 Questions with LiquidTrust Founder and CEO Saujin Yi

Building Trust in Global Payments: 7 Questions with LiquidTrust Founder and CEO Saujin Yi
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CEO Interview, LiquidTrust, List series

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face big challenges when it comes to global payments. Opportunities to reach new markets across borders and overseas have never been greater. But unlike their larger competitors, SMBs are often stymied by both the complexity of international payments and the risks of dealing with new partners.

We caught up with Saujin Yi, Founder and CEO of LiquidTrust, a Los Angeles, California-based firm that offers a technology that reduces the risk and equalizes the power in business relationships to enable businesses of any size to partner, collaborate, and scale with flexibility, ease, and confidence. Earlier this year at FinovateSpring in San Diego, Yi and her co-presenter, Head of Business Development Sean Popock, demonstrated how LiquidTrust’s latest solution enables businesses to hold payments in third-party micro escrow accounts to guard against delays and defaults, as well as fraud.

In addition to LiquidTrust’s appearance at FinovateSpring in San Diego, the company also recently announced securing $4 million in seed funding. The round featured investments from Anthemis Female Innovators Lab Fund, Resolute Ventures, and Motivate Ventures, along with “strategic support” from BMO and JP Morgan. The capital infusion came at the same time that LiquidTrust announced the launch of Micro Escrow, its instant escrow payment solution for SMBs.

In our conversation, we discuss the current state of small business payments and the challenges SMBs face when conducting payments across borders. We learn about LiquidTrust’s solutions that provide fast, verified global payments for these firms and, importantly, the potential impact of the Trump administration’s tariff policy on SMBs when it comes to international payments.

Tell us about yourself and the company you founded. What problem does LiquidTrust solve and who does it solve it for?

Saujin Yi: I’m the founder and CEO of LiquidTrust. Before that, I spent over a decade working at the intersection of small and medium-sized businesses, fintech, and global payments. What we saw again and again, especially when working with these SMBs, is that trust remains a huge barrier to growth. Businesses want to work with new partners, especially across borders, but hesitate because they’re afraid they won’t get paid or that what they’ve paid for won’t arrive.

This is a real issue. SMBs in the US source goods and services from an average of nine different countries (1). And while many look to their bank or credit union for support, 75% of SMBs say they’re dissatisfied with current cross-border payment options. More than a quarter say they’re directly held back from global expansion because of the complexity and risks tied to current systems (2).

LiquidTrust exists to solve that. We partner with financial institutions and marketplaces to provide modern B2B payment solutions that make sending and receiving payments—especially across borders—safer and simpler for small and mid-sized businesses. Our flagship product, Protected Pay, is powered by our patent-pending Micro Escrow™ technology, which brings the kind of transaction protection that was once only available to large enterprises to the broader business world. Unfortunately, more than half of SMBs still believe that cross-border payment systems aren’t built for businesses of their size. We’re here to change that.

LiquidTrust offers two primary global payment methods. Can you outline these methods and explain the use cases for each?

Yi: Today, we partner with banks, credit unions, and B2B platforms to offer their SMB customers and members two ways to pay through one trusted platform: Simple Pay, for fast, verified global payments with no hassle, and Protected Pay, for escrow-style protection on higher-stakes transactions.

Simple Pay is ideal for repeat relationships where there’s already a baseline of trust, but both sides still want safeguards like payment validation or delivery confirmation. This is commonly used in ongoing vendor partnerships.

Protected Pay is for first-time, high-value, or higher-risk transactions where goods or services are being exchanged. This option uses our proprietary Micro Escrow technology to hold funds and release them only once specific milestones or conditions are met. It’s especially useful in cross-border deals, custom orders, or any situation that involves prepayment and delivery risk.

We’ve heard from financial institutions, marketplaces, and small business owners that this kind of flexibility—trust without unnecessary friction—is exactly what’s been missing. In fact, the fear of fraud is the number one reason over a quarter of SMBs say they’ve avoided trying to make or receive online cross-border payments altogether (3).

Can you tell us about a favorite implementation, deployment, or feature of your technology?

Yi: One of my favorites is a recent implementation with a logistics platform that serves SMB exporters and importers. Before LiquidTrust, many of their customers were wiring money upfront to overseas suppliers with no recourse if something went wrong. It was stressful and costly.

By integrating and offering our Protected Pay with Micro Escrow™ embedded, buyers now release funds only once documents are uploaded and verified. Sellers ship with confidence because they know the funds are secure. What I appreciate most is how seamless the experience is. The technology is fully embedded into the platform’s existing workflow, and the users don’t need to think about “escrow” as a separate process. It just works.

You recently wrote about the challenges that the proposed tariffs from the Trump Administration might represent for small business payments. What are these challenges and how are fintechs helping SMEs overcome them?

Yi: Tariff uncertainty creates chaos in two ways.

First, there’s  payment timing. We’ve seen businesses rush to send full payments ahead of a tariff deadline, only to have goods delayed or renegotiated mid-shipment. One business owner put it bluntly: “Our money is stuck in limbo, and we can’t do anything about it.” Second, there’s the impact on supply chain diversification.  Finding, vetting, and trusting one supplier in a country where you don’t know the language or local business culture is hard enough. When tariffs suddenly force SMBs to shift sourcing to an entirely new country, it’s more than just a logistics problem—it can be the difference between staying in business and not. And who’s to say they’ll be lucky enough to find another trustworthy partner?

This is where fintechs can help. We can build payment systems that match the real-world flexibility SMBs need—things like conditional release, milestone-based payments, and built-in dispute protection. When policies shift fast and unpredictably, businesses need tools that help them stay agile without putting their cash at risk.

Your company has a compelling origin story. What in your background gave you the confidence to tackle the challenge of small business global payments?

Yi: Our team was already working closely with SMB owners, and during the 2022 downturn, we kept hearing the same thing: payments were falling through. Some weren’t getting paid on time—or at all. Others were paying suppliers but never receiving what they ordered, with no real way to recover their losses. It became clear very quickly that the existing payment protections just weren’t built for them.

I’m a problem-solver at heart. My background is in engineering and finance, and what drives me isn’t building something flashy; it’s building something truly useful. I love simplifying complex systems, like escrow, and making them accessible. That, along with our experience in the space, gave me the confidence to build a solution that works for the people who need it most.

LiquidTrust recently secured $4 million in seed funding. What did this investment mean and what will it enable the company to do?

Yi: This investment allows us to scale thoughtfully. We’re using it to build more partnerships with financial institutions and B2B platforms, accelerate onboarding, and strengthen our compliance infrastructure so we can support more global markets. Just as importantly, it sends a strong signal to the market. When investors back a mission like ours—to make trust in payments accessible to everyone—it tells SMBs, “You’re not alone, and better tools are on their way.”

What can we expect from LiquidTrust in the months to come?

Yi: We’re focused on expanding our footprint with financial institutions and B2B platforms that want to offer trusted payments without having to rebuild everything from scratch. You’ll also see enhancements to our Micro Escrow™ technology, including more configurability, broader use-case support, and even simpler integrations.

And we’re continuing to listen. Most of our best features have come from conversations with business owners and bank partners who just want a better way to work. That’s what you can count on from us. We’ll keep building, quietly and thoughtfully, to make trust easier for everyone.

Notes:

  1. SMB Ambitions barometer 2024
  2. International B2B Payments: A Guide for Entrepreneurs and Digital Businesses
  3. Borderless Payments Report, Oct 2023

Photo by Gerson Repreza on Unsplash

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Tokenized Deposits vs. Stablecoins: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters

Tokenized Deposits vs. Stablecoins: What’s the Difference and Why It Matters
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series, Thought Leadership

At this point, if you’ve been working in the financial services industry since January, you’ve likely heard of stablecoins, and you may have heard of tokenized deposits. What may still be unclear, however, are the differences and similarities between the two.

Blockchain-powered financial infrastructure is on the rise, and it’s important for banks, fintechs, and regulators to understand new developments in the space, what’s possible, and what’s next. Here’s a brief overview of where stablecoins and tokenized deposits intersect, where they are different, and where they may be most useful.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are digital assets that are issued by private companies or protocols and pegged to fiat currency. Some of you may be familiar with are Circle’s USDC, Tether’s USDT, and PayPal’s PYUSD. It is important to note that stablecoins are backed one-to-one by off-balance-sheet returns, such as fiat cash or Treasuries. Unlike fiat held at a traditional financial institution, however, they are not FDIC-insured.

Tokenized deposits

In contrast, tokenized deposits are bank-issued digital representations of fiat deposits, recorded on a blockchain. The deposits sit on the bank’s balance sheet, are fully integrated into the bank’s infrastructure, and are minted and backed by regulated banks.

Differences

There are key differences between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. First, let’s look at the issuer. While not always the case, most stablecoins are issued by private, non-bank companies. Even though some banks have issued “coins,” as in the case of JPMorgan’s JPM Coin, they are considered tokenized deposits and are usually used internally for payment settlement, not open to the public, and are not tradable on public blockchains.

The backing structure of stablecoins and tokenized deposits is also different. For example, stablecoins are not held on the bank’s balance sheet and represent a one-to-one reserve of fiat currency. In contrast, tokenized deposits are held on a bank’s balance sheet. This is useful when a firm wants to maintain liquidity to support lending and credit creation, and ensure that customer funds are protected in a regulated financial institution.

Speaking of regulation, FDIC insurance is a key differentiator between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Stablecoins currently operate in a developing regulatory environment and, importantly, they do not offer deposit insurance such as FDIC. Tokenized deposits, on the other hand, are both insured by the FDIC and regulated.

Another key differentiating factor between the two blockchain-based payment tools is that they have opposite effects on liquidity. Stablecoins remove liquidity. That’s because when consumers exchange their fiat currency in exchange for stablecoins, their fiat currency leaves their wallet and sits in reserves, generally in the form of safe, passive assets like US Treasuries or custodial accounts. This reduces the money multiplier effect and may even weaken bank balance sheets over time. In contrast, tokenized deposits stay on the bank’s balance sheet, making the funds usable for lending, investing, and general liquidity management.

Use cases also differ between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. While stablecoins are best known for their use in cross-border payments, programmable payments, and in DeFi. Tokenized deposits are useful for domestic real-time payments, B2B payments, and treasury automation.

Similarities

But though they differ in all of these aspects, there are also a handful of similarities between stablecoins and tokenized deposits. First, both are programmable, blockchain-based representations of fiat currency. However, it is important to distinguish that, while stablecoins are backed by dollars (fiat currency), tokenized deposits are actual, digital representations of dollars.

Next, both can be used to enable payments and reduce settlement times. Because they take place on the blockchain, transactions in both stablecoins and tokenized deposits can take place in near-real-time. This eliminates the delays associated with traditional clearing and settlement systems, which can take up to three business days. Whether it’s a purchase, B2B payment, or interbank transfer, blockchain-based transactions allow for faster value exchange.

Additionally, both can be used in smart contracts, programmable payments, and embedded finance applications. And while tokenized deposits aren’t commonly used in the DeFi economy at the moment, that may change once regulated or institutional DeFi networks become more common.

Finally, stablecoins and tokenized deposits alike are useful for modernizing payment rails. Already in their infancy, both are acting as gateways to more advanced financial infrastructure. By enabling real-time, programmable payments on blockchain networks, they help move the financial system away from slow, batch-based legacy systems like ACH or SWIFT.

The future of both

Looking ahead, it is possible that stablecoins and tokenized deposits will coexist, as they both serve different niches. No matter which structure reigns supreme, however, we will certainly see traditional financial institutions and private DeFi companies increase their focus on interoperability and shared infrastructure. As regulatory clarity is enhanced on both sides and new pitfalls are discovered, the industry will likely converge on a hybrid model that blends the safety of traditional finance with the speed, transparency, and programmability of decentralized infrastructure.

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The GENIUS Act Passes: 4 Things This Means for Banks and Fintechs

The GENIUS Act Passes: 4 Things This Means for Banks and Fintechs
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series, Thought Leadership

The GENIUS Act passed in the US Senate yesterday with a 68 to 30 vote. The bill now moves to the House, where it’s up against the STABLE Act. This means that the House will need to choose between passing the GENIUS Act at face value or passing and reconciling the STABLE Act. 

For financial services, the GENIUS Act is a big deal. That’s because it is not only the first stablecoin legislation to gain real bipartisan traction, but it will also serve as a foundation for the US to begin a digital asset ecosystem. Overall, there are four major implications the bill has on banks.

Stablecoins gain legitimacy and clarity

As a decentralized finance tool, stablecoins have long been grouped together with their crypto cousin bitcoin. Because of this, many traditional financial institutions in the US have shied away from associating themselves with stablecoins.

The GENIUS Act, however, offers both banks and fintechs a clearer legal framework to issue and use stablecoins since it outlines requirements for licensing, reserves, and oversight. Having regulation on their side reduces regulatory uncertainty and will encourage financial institutions to adopt the new payments tool and leverage stablecoins for new use cases. Reducing ambiguity around compliance and risk will also benefit firms exploring tokenization.

Banks may face new competition from Special Purpose Depository Institutions

The Senate version of the bill includes a controversial provision allowing Special Purpose Depository Institutions (SPDIs), such as Kraken, to operate across US states without the approval of each host state’s banking regulator.

If the bill is successful, it will allow fintechs with SPDI licenses to gain a regulatory shortcut because they do not need to comply with capital and liquidity requirements. This may erode the role of traditional banks in certain payment and custody markets and may not be a positive change.

“That is a pretty significant expansion of special purpose depository institutions,” Klaros Group Partner Michele Alt told American Banker. “I would ask, what else could you create as a special depository institution? How could this be used?” 

Notably, however, even though the bill has passed through the Senate, the House’s version of the stablecoin bill doesn’t include a similar provision. This means that if the bill does pass through the House, the House and the Senate will need to convene for a conference to come to an agreement. 

Rising expectations for real-time money movement

While consumers already expect many things in real-time, the GENIUS Act adds more pressure for banks and fintechs to deliver faster, more programmable payments. The bill will enable regulated stablecoins and essentially facilitate real-time settlement, 24/7 money movement, and programmable financial interactions.

This method of funds transfer won’t rely on traditional rails like ACH, wires, or even FedNow. If end users and businesses get accustomed to real-time, programmable payments, their expectations may be permanently shifted, requiring banks to keep up.

This adjustment would be tricky for banks, as many would need to invest in infrastructure that supports tokenized payments, smart contracts, and on-chain compliance.

Banks need to stay agile

If the House does not pass the GENIUS Act, it can advance its own bill in the form of the STABLE Act or negotiate a compromise. Either way, regulatory change is clearly in motion. Banks and fintechs should closely monitor the developments and begin scenario planning now. Whether it’s the GENIUS Act, the STABLE Act, or a hybrid outcome, stablecoin regulation is on the horizon. Those who prepare early will be best positioned to compete in a tokenized financial future.

Photo by Andrew George on Unsplash

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Innovations in Insurtech: IPOs, Expats, and Enhancements in Risk Management

Innovations in Insurtech: IPOs, Expats, and Enhancements in Risk Management
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Insurance, List series

Insurtech continues to be one of the most dynamic subsectors in fintech. Just last month, life insurance SaaS company Bestow raised $120 million in Series D funding. Other insurtechs, as noted below, have launched successful IPOs in recent weeks.

This week, we’re sharing three headlines from the industry that shine a light on where innovation and growth in this space are headed—including more insurtech IPO news from a Florida-based speciality firm.

Insurtech Slide eyes $2 billion valuation in upcoming US IPO

Slide Insurance, a Tampa, Florida-based insurtech, has filed for an initial public offering. Founded in 2021 and going live the following year, Slide specializes in property insurance and has become one of the leading coastal insurance firms in the US. Slide provides home, condo, and commercial residential insurance products via a network of more than 5,000 agents in Florida and South Carolina. A self-described “technology-enabled insurance company,” Slide leverages AI and Big Data to hyper-personalize, optimize, and streamline the insurance process.

The company anticipates a valuation of as much as $2.12 billion in its IPO, raising $340 million through an offer of 20 million shares priced between $15 and $17, based on Slide’s SEC filing earlier this week. Slide shares will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol SLDE. The company reported profits of $92.5 million for the quarter ended March 31. The figure reflected a gain of more than 69% year-over-year.

Slide’s IPO filing comes in the wake of American Integrity Insurance Group’s $126.5 million IPO. Also recently going public was specialty insurer and reinsurer Aspen Insurance, which raised more than $397 million in its May IPO. Specialty insurer Ategrity is seeking to raise in excess of $113 million in its public offering later this week.

Feather introduces business insurance for expat workers in Europe

German insurtech Feather unveiled new, digital business insurance designed for companies with international workers. The company’s expanded service comes in the wake of Feather’s successful efforts to digitize insurance access for international workers in Germany, France, and Spain. Feather’s new offering is aimed directly at human resource departments to equip them with technology that manages employee, health, life, and pension insurance, as well as cybersecurity insurance and professional and general liability coverage.

Feather CEO and Co-Founder Rob Schumacher said in a statement that offering quality insurance benefits for their workers was a challenge for many small and medium-sized businesses in part because “traditional insurance partners aren’t built to support them.” Highlighting pension insurance as an example of a benefit SMEs struggle to provide, Schumacher added, “Feather is a no-brainer for companies where expats make up at least 10% of the workforce. HR leaders can turn international onboarding into a warm welcome instead of a bureaucratic nightmare.”

Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Feather was founded in 2018. To date, the company has served more than 90,000 customers and processed more than 20,000 successful claims.

Markel unveils InsurtechRisk+ for insurtech businesses

Markel Insurance, the insurance operations division of Markel Group, launched its InsurtechRisk+ solution for insurtech companies today. The offering includes four insuring clauses: (1) insurance services and technology liability, (2) directors and officers (D&O) liability, (3) crime and cyber liability, and (4) loss cover. These clauses provide protection for businesses domiciled in the UK, Europe, Australia, and Canada, and offers limits of up to £10 million.

“The cyber risk landscape has evolved since we launched our first Insurtech policy with the emergence of more advanced attacks from threat actors utilizing AI tools/technology to infiltrate company networks, impersonate senior personnel and steal confidential data and funds,” Markel Head of Fintech and Investment Management Insurance Nick Rugg said.

Combined with value-added services including 24/7 business; legal and employment advice; R&D tax advisory; debt recovery support; grant and funding assistance; contract reviews and a cyber risk toolkit, the clauses in Markel’s InsurtechRisk+ product will help insurtechs better manage cyber threats, as well as criminal and financial liabilities. The new offering gives firms a “one-stop-shop” approach that avoids potential coverage gaps that can occur when companies rely on multiple policies from multiple insurance vendors.

“Another key goal in launching InsurtechRisk+ is to offer best-in-class cover alongside risk management solutions that go beyond typical post-loss assistance for policyholders,” Rugg added. “We want to disrupt traditional insurance products as well as how customers view the role of the insurer as only helping clients after an incident has taken place.”

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

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4 Companies Bringing Agentic AI to Checkout

4 Companies Bringing Agentic AI to Checkout
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series, Thought Leadership

Agentic AI agents, autonomous agents that act on behalf of users with minimal input, are not just coming to financial services. They’re already here. One of the most compelling use cases for Agentic AI is at checkout, where commerce, AI, and payments converge at the point where consumers make their purchase decisions.

In the past few weeks, three Agentic AI shopping and checkout announcements from major payments and technology players have made news headlines. So far, Google, Visa, and Mastercard are leading the Agentic AI payments charge, with PayPal and Perplexity not far behind. Here’s a look at what each company is doing.

Google’s AI-powered shopping agents

Google announced its AI Shopping Mode yesterday, a new online shopping experience that allows users to browse 50 billion product listings and buy the item they want using Google’s new agentic checkout at a price that fits their budget. Shoppers set their preferences by selecting “track price” on a preferred product listing and set the right size, color, and the amount they want to spend. If the item’s price drops into the user’s pre-selected price range, they receive a push notification and can have the agentic shopping agent buy the item for them with the push of a button.

Google is embedding an AI assistant into every step of the purchasing process, from browsing to payment, and is making the checkout experience hyper-personal, with less friction.

Visa’s intelligent commerce and agentic AI

Visa unveiled its Visa Intelligent Commerce tool last month. The new initiative will empower AI agents to deliver personalized and secure shopping experiences for consumers at scale. The program will equip AI agents to seamlessly manage key phases of the shopping journey, from product discovery, to purchasing, to post-purchase product management.

Unlike Google, Visa will offer APIs and SDKs that will provide third parties a suite of payments tools, including tokenization, authentication, and transaction controls, to embed into their own apps. In this sense, Visa is not just planning to launch a new checkout tool, it is building infrastructure for a world where the AI agent is the end customer.

Mastercard’s agentic payments through Agent Pay

Mastercard announced Agent Pay, a payment framework for agent-driven commerce, 24 hours before Visa’s agentic AI announcement hit the wires. Mastercard’s tool aims to make payments smarter, more secure, and more personal by embedding them directly into the product recommendations generated by GenAI platforms.

When paired with Mastercard’s tokenization technology, Agent Pay will not only add security, but will also help retailers identify and validate customers to offer a more meaningful and consistent shopping experience. Overall, Mastercard is pioneering a payment model where AI, not the consumer, initiates the purchase.

Perplexity x PayPal

Earlier this month, GenAI-powered search engine Perplexity partnered with PayPal to enable in-chat shopping. Shoppers will be able to check out instantly with PayPal or Venmo when they ask Perplexity to find a product, book travel, or buy tickets. The entire process will be powered by PayPal’s account linking, secure tokenized wallet, and emerging passkey checkout flows, which could eliminate the need for passwords.

While it is not a formal “agentic” platform, the move shows that large language models (LLMs) are starting to transact directly and the partnership is a good example of how chat interfaces are evolving into commerce platforms. The announcement serves as a preview of agentic commerce where LLMs initiate and complete purchases in a single conversational flow.

Overall, these announcements signal a major shift in ecommerce. The online point-of-sale is moving from a consumer-initiated process to an AI-initiated transaction. At the outset, regulation, identity, fraud, and explainability will be a large challenge. Still, the shift to agentic commerce is well underway, and the companies building today’s infrastructure are setting the rules and structure for how agentic AI commerce will work in the future.

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“We Want to Do More with Less” — Credit Unions Speak in FinovateSpring Spotlight

“We Want to Do More with Less” — Credit Unions Speak in FinovateSpring Spotlight
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Credit Unions, FinovateSpring 2025, List series

FinovateSpring showcased credit unions and the fintechs that innovate for them in its Credit Union Spotlight last week. The closed-door session—”a safe space for credit unions” in the words of CURQL’s Nick Evens—was exclusively to provide credit union executives with a unique opportunity to discuss their challenges directly with fintech providers. The forum also gave these executives an opportunity to meet and network with each other to discuss common issues and new solutions.

Below is a sample of some of the most common concerns raised by credit union executives during the session, and a sense of what they need fintechs to offer in return.

“We want to do more with less”

The desire to maximize resources to accomplish more for customers and members is not unique to the credit union industry. The promise of enabling technologies like AI and the persistent competition for human talent make companies in virtually every industry today pursue efficiency as a way not only to keep costs low, but to offer more products and services faster and more seamlessly.

For credit unions, this challenge is all the more acute. These member-driven organizations face competition from larger rivals in the banking industry, as well as new entrants from technology and retail who are leveraging embedded finance to offer a widening range of financial services, including payments and lending. Further, these institutions often face pressure from their own members, whose lives are becoming more digitally oriented and who want more digital solutions when it comes to managing their finances and investing for the future.

Through technologies like AI, innovations like embedded finance, and strategic, third-party relationships, credit unions can do more faster, offering new products and services, and growing their membership communities.

“More automation”

There are few better examples of technology enabling companies to do “more with less” than automation. Whether driven by machine learning or agentic AI, automation is a key driver in technological modernization—and it is no different in financial services.

For credit unions, automation offers the ability to convert labor-intensive, manual, and relatively more error-prone human tasks into processes that are completed with technical tools. As these technical tools evolve—from apps and APIs to agents and AI bots—so does their capacity to operate increasingly complex workflows and customer lifecycles.

Many businesses stand to gain from automating many internal processes. But institutions like credit unions could disproportionately benefit from the ability of automation to “liberate” human workers from mundane tasks and enable them to participate in more higher-order activities. These include delivering better, more personalized engagement to members.

“Better authentication for diverse memberships”

How do the authentication needs differ for a credit union with a sizable number of members over the age of 70+? What about a credit union with a large number of Spanish-speaking members? How about a credit union with a special commitment to serving members with disabilities?

Unlike many other financial institutions, credit unions are often as unique as the members who make them. In case after case, we can draw a straight line from the communities of farmers, teachers, and small business owners who first launched their financial cooperatives decades ago directly to the present-day communities benefiting from the growth and success of those institutions right now.

Fintechs that help credit unions carry out their unique missions are the kind of partners that credit unions are looking for. Beyond avoiding one-size-fits-all approaches to providing solutions, fintechs should strive to understand not only what their credit union partner does, but what it values most. One fintech’s niche offering could be a decisive ingredient in helping a credit union fulfill its mission to its members.

“Better support for third-party integrations”

The opportunities—and challenges— of third-party integrations have become all too clear for most in fintech and financial services. While the rewards of getting it right have almost become table stakes, the penalties for getting it wrong remain powerful—and painful. The prospect of a less aggressive regulatory environment for financial services companies in the US only adds another level of uncertainty.

Along with empowering technologies like AI and AI-powered automation, third-party partnerships and integrations are a key way for credit unions to leverage creativity, hard work, and good decision-making to “punch above their weight” and compete with larger rivals. Additionally, providing better support for third-party integrations helps ensure that credit unions stay on the right side of regulatory scrutiny, and remain their community’s trusted financial partner.

“Better technology / credit union culture compatibility”

Underscoring the diversity of credit unions, one industry representative highlighted the fact that not every credit union wants every new fintech product or service. This credit union executive was referring specifically to Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products, and his concern that offering the products could be considered a more general endorsement of BNPL by the credit union.

Whether it is alternative lending solutions, innovative payout services, digital assets, or other new fintech products, providers should be mindful of the culture of the credit union they are seeking to partner with. Even when the potential feature or service appears uncontroversial—such as a new, gamified interface designed to engage younger users—there is the possibility of a poor fit if the culture and current goals of the credit union are not just taken into consideration, but put front and center.

Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash

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FinovateSpring 2025: Women in Fintech, Financial Inclusion, and the State of Community Banking

FinovateSpring 2025: Women in Fintech, Financial Inclusion, and the State of Community Banking
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2025, List series

This year, FinovateSpring will feature a trio of Executive Briefings offering insights into key topics in fintech and financial services.

Featuring panels of industry professionals and moderated by veteran analysts and entrepreneurs, FinovateSpring’s Executive Briefings are an excellent opportunity for attendees to participate in deep-dives and extended discussions on specific issues—and take away significant insights and strategies for action.

Tickets for FinovateSpring are still available. Visit our registration hub today and save your seat!

Wednesday morning, FinovateSpring will host its Women in Fintech Executive Briefing. Titled “How we can solve fintech’s gender diversity problem,” this session will look at the current state of gender diversity in fintech and offer insights into strategies to ensure greater participation by women in financial services and foster female leadership in the industry.

Moderated by Liang Zhao, CEO and Founder of Vansary, this session will feature:

Wednesday afternoon, FinovateSpring will feature its Financial Inclusion Executive Briefing, “How can banks capture the huge growth opportunity offered by this new customer base?”

This session will examine the challenges faced by the unbanked and review ways that banks and other financial institutions can help more individuals and small businesses improve their financial wellness by establishing a positive banking relationship.

Moderated by Jim Perry, Senior Strategist, Market Insights, this session will feature:

  • Priscilla O-lyari, Regional Marketing and Communications Outreach Officer, FACE Coalition

Thursday afternoon, FinovateSpring will present its Community Banking Executive Briefing, “The Common Storm for Community Banks: How can they find a path to change and compete in the new digital world?”

In this briefing, panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by community banks in America today, and where these key financial institutions should turn in terms of growing their customer bases, introducing new technologies, and competing with larger rivals in finance and even Big Tech.

Moderated by Jason Henricks, CEO, Alloy Labs, this panel will feature:

  • Pam Kaur, Head of Bank Technology, BankTech Ventures

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AI, Empathy, and Leadership: 5 Questions for Tech Product Manager Bhoomika Ghosh

AI, Empathy, and Leadership: 5 Questions for Tech Product Manager Bhoomika Ghosh
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2025, Interview, List series

AI is reshaping not just products but the very way product teams operate. To explore how the rise of AI is changing the role of the product manager, we sat down with Senior Tech Product Lead Bhoomika Ghosh. to get a better idea of the necessary balance between data and human intuition, and what ethical leadership looks like in the AI era.

A passionate technologist with a background spanning engineering, consulting, and product management, Ghosh has led product innovation at the intersection of AI/ML and customer experience. Her fascination with technology’s ability to solve human challenges began early in her career, wherein as an undergraduate, she developed an application that transformed 2D MRI slices into 3D models, helping doctors accurately identify tumor locations and volumes. This early venture sparked Ghosh’s passion for building technology that creates meaningful impact efficiently, and at scale.

We’re thrilled to feature her insights ahead of her appearance at FinovateSpring, where she will speak on the panel exploring gender diversity and responsible AI leadership.

AI is changing how products are built, but how is it changing how product managers operate? 

Bhoomika Ghosh: The evolution of product management in this AI era has been nothing short of transformative. While our north star as a product manager (PM) remains unchanged—i.e., solving customer problems and delivering utmost value to customers—what has shifted is how we navigate towards that vision with AI. I see two dimensions of AI transformation within the product management space: first, we see a rise in product managers who leverage AI as a productivity accelerator. Tools like Bolt and Cursor are revolutionizing our prototyping capabilities, reducing prototype development cycles from weeks to mere hours, and initial design times by 35%. This efficiency gain allows PMs to invest more time in understanding deeper emotional user needs and ensuring our products create genuine value. Second, we see AI-enhanced PMs, who are using AI to fundamentally transform customer experiences in ways we never imagined. For example, Microsoft’s 365 Copilot leverages AI to revolutionize customer service interactions, which resulted in a 40% reduction in resolution time through AI-powered insights and recommendations. Looking ahead, I see AI enhancing our ability to make better quality and higher quantity decisions faster and evolve with customers in real time to deliver what matters the most to them.

What role does human intuition play in AI product management? 

Ghosh: In today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape, AI adoption has surged from 33% to 65% in just the past year—making the role of human intuition in product management more crucial than ever. While AI excels at processing vast amounts of data and automating routine tasks, our uniquely human capabilities of judgment, critical thinking, and empathy remain irreplaceable. Take the evolution of customer service chatbots, for instance. While AI can handle >50% of routine inquiries, it’s the human product managers who recognize that customers need occasional human intervention for complex emotional situations, leading to hybrid human and AI solutions. This exemplifies what I call the “PM’s AI Trilogy of Responsibility,” where product managers in the AI world are now responsible to safeguard customer trust, ensure scalable efficiency, and measure genuine success beyond just automation metrics. The irony isn’t lost on me that in pursuing “artificial” intelligence, we’ve heightened the importance of “human” intelligence.

Let’s talk leadership. How do you think the rise of AI is reshaping what good leadership looks like in product and technology teams? 

Ghosh: In the AI era, product and technical leadership demand a fundamental reimagining of how we guide teams and build products. What’s fascinating is that while 92% of global business leaders report positive ROI from their AI investments, success isn’t purely about technological implementation—it’s about creating an environment where both innovation and ethical considerations flourish. We see that the most successful AI products emerge from teams where leaders have mastered the delicate balance between data-driven decision-making and human empathy. Take Netflix’s AI-powered recommendation system, which generates $1 billion in annual value not just through algorithmic excellence, but through leaders who understood the critical intersection of technical capability and user psychology. This exemplifies how modern tech leadership requires a dual focus: pushing technological boundaries while staying deeply anchored in customer impact and responsible AI practices. As we navigate this transformation, I also see good leadership exuded in a way where teams are taught to watch over their shoulders and think beyond the happy path scenarios. For instance, what happens if AI was to fail? What would be your contingency plans? These tenets will help leaders foster an environment where teams feel empowered to innovate responsibly, ensuring our products genuinely enhance human experiences.

Many industries beyond big tech are leveraging AI. What advice would you give to product teams in a traditional industry like finance who are building their first AI-driven solutions? 

Ghosh: The financial sector’s AI transformation offers powerful lessons for product teams embarking on their AI journey. While our brains might be the most sophisticated decision-making system, AI serves as a powerful amplifier of human capabilities, particularly in areas like fraud detection, personalized banking experiences, and risk assessment. In my experience, the key to approaching AI implementation is to solve specific customer pain points, and not solely use it as a technological showcase or a competitive advantage. I suggest AI implementation using a three-pronged approach. First, start with well-defined, high-impact use cases where AI can demonstrably improve customer experience rather than implementing AI for its own sake. Second, build cross-functional teams that blend domain expertise with AI capabilities. For instance, when developing AI-powered fraud detection systems, its combination with financial security expertise and machine learning capabilities enables real-time transaction monitoring and anomaly detection, protecting both customers and institutional integrity. Finally, and most crucially, establish robust feedback loops with your customers early in the development process. I often challenge teams to consider, “How would this feature feel to a user having their worst day?” This perspective is particularly vital in finance, where AI decisions can significantly impact people’s lives. I’ve seen the most successful AI adoption use cases aren’t simply using the technology, but rather building trust through it using transparent, ethical, and user-centric solutions.

Finally, what aspect of FinovateSpring are you most looking forward to? 

Ghosh: I’m particularly excited about participating in the gender diversity panel at FinovateSpring, where we’ll explore the crucial intersection of diverse leadership and responsible AI development across industries. As a woman leader in tech, I advocate that diverse voices in product development aren’t just about equity or quotas, but rather about building better, more comprehensive solutions that serve entire customer bases. Beyond the panel, I’m looking forward to engaging with fellow industry leaders about responsible AI implementation in fintech. As we see AI adoption in financial services growing at an unprecedented rate, the conversations around ethical AI development and secure deployment become increasingly critical. I’m eager to both share insights from successful AI implementations I’ve seen and learn from other organizations’ experiences in navigating this complex landscape.

Don’t miss your chance to hear Bhoomika Ghosh, along with a wide range of other thought leaders and experts, on the FinovateSpring stage next month on May 7 through 9. Tickets are now available!

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Meet 5 Companies Demoing at FinovateSpring That Promote Financial Literacy

Meet 5 Companies Demoing at FinovateSpring That Promote Financial Literacy
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CoHome, Express Wages, FinovateSpring 2025, Kaian, List series, Penny Finance, SuperMoney

April is Financial Literacy Month. While we are all getting an education in trade policy these days, making sure we’re up to speed when it comes to financial wellness is just as important.

With that in mind—and with FinovateSpring less than one month away (May 7 – 9)—we wanted to highlight those demoing companies that have financial literacy and inclusion at the heart of their mission.

CoHome

Based in San Francisco and founded in 2025, CoHome offers a real estate co-ownership marketplace and management app that makes owning property more accessible for college students and their parents, reducing rent to zero.

How they support financial literacy: CoHome introduces parents to the concept of co-investing in student housing for their child.

Express Wages

Founded in 2023 and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Express Wages offers Earned Wage Access (EWA) services to enable employees to receive some or all of their wages as they earn them.

How Express Wages supports financial literacy: Express Wages features a Financial Literacy blog on its website with articles and guides on budget-making, saving for a first home, and strategies to pay back student loans.

Kaian

Los Angeles, California-based Kaian provides a billpay support system that ensures that credit union members never have to worry about missing a payment due to temporary cash flow issues. The company was founded in 2022.

How Kaian supports financial literacy: Kaian’s AI-powered assistance provides personalized, on-demand financial guidance, including insights on budgeting, saving, and long-term financial planning.

Penny Finance

Founded in 2020 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, Penny Finance describes its mission as “closing the wealth gap.” The company offers an online financial planning engagement engine for credit unions and small banks.

How Penny Finance supports financial literacy: Penny Finance provides tailored education, resources, and perks to credit union members and customers of small banks.

Supermoney

Headquartered in Santa Ana, California and founded in 2013, SuperMoney offers a comprehensive financial services comparison website providing recommendations on products from personal loans and savings accounts to tax preparation firms and brokerages.

How SuperMoney supports financial literacy: SuperMoney offers financial tools and resources—as well as industry studies—to help individuals make better financial decisions.

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4 Reasons Why Credit Unions are Top Fintech Adopters

4 Reasons Why Credit Unions are Top Fintech Adopters
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series, Thought Leadership

Credit unions are entering a new era, fueled by a combination of necessity, opportunity, and partnership. As the pace of the digital world accelerates, these community-focused organizations have increased their willingness to lean in and adopt new technologies. They are no longer simply seeking to compete with banks, but they are instead seeking to deliver the personalized, community-driven service that has always differentiated them. New fintech partnerships are helping credit unions modernize operations, meet rising member expectations, and stay resilient in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.

This collaborative approach isn’t new to credit unions, rather, it’s part of their DNA. “Credit Unions have always been collaborators,” said Ami Iceman Haueter, Chief Research and Digital Experience Officer at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. “We’ve had to be creative and scrappy to stay relevant and competitive in a crowded market. Fintech partners are a natural fit for this collaboration. Many allow us to personalize our service or products to our members and create a custom mix of solutions to go all in for our members. That’s what we do best. Having partners that are equally committed to that vision is invaluable. It’s what will carry us forward as an industry allowing us to continue showing up for our communities.”

The environment today is ripe for credit unions to take full advantage of this collaborative mindset. The combination of heightened member expectations, accessible new technologies, and a fintech community eager to partner has created a unique moment of opportunity. Below, we’ve highlighted four key reasons why credit unions have become some of the most active adopters of fintech innovation.

Tech integration is now compulsory

Credit unions now have to engage because involvement in certain technologies has become table stakes in the banking world. Over the past few years, the baseline expectations for banking services have shifted dramatically. Real-time payments, mobile-first experiences, and frictionless, digital onboarding are no longer differentiators, they’re requirements. If credit unions want to remain competitive and retain younger members, they must adopt similar digital tools that big banks and fintechs have. In 2025, falling behind on technology isn’t just a risk to growth; it’s a risk to survival.

More credit union-specific fintechs

The fintech ecosystem has matured immensely since the first bank launched online in 1994. Today, many providers are now creating solutions designed specifically for the unique needs of credit unions. From specialized digital lending platforms to member-centric financial wellness tools, fintechs are recognizing credit unions as an important, underserved market. This tailored approach makes partnerships more attractive and accessible, helping credit unions stay up-to-date on the latest tech trends.

Embedded finance is the ultimate enabling force

Embedded finance has made it easier for credit unions to leverage third-party technologies without needing in-house technical expertise. Gone are the days when integrating new technology required a complete overhaul of a credit union’s core system. Today’s embedded banking models allow credit unions to “plug and play” fintech solutions into their existing infrastructure. Because of this, these smaller players can offer services like buy-now-pay-later, upgrade their digital account opening workflows, or launch a new mobile app with a fresh look. Overall, embedded solutions allow credit unions to deliver tech-forward experiences without the burden of in-house development.

Regulatory clarity has eased pressure

Regulatory clarity and eased regulatory scrutiny has reduced barriers to forming partnerships with fintechs. As regulators have become more familiar with fintech partnerships, clearer guidelines and frameworks have emerged to support innovation in the credit union space. New charters, sandbox programs, and cooperative frameworks help credit unions explore partnerships more confidently. With better guidance in place, credit unions can engage with fintechs without facing the regulatory uncertainty that once made these partnerships seem too risky.

All of these aspects, and more, will be on full display at FinovateSpring, which takes place May 7 through 9 in San Diego.

If you’re attending next month’s event, don’t miss a special session designed exclusively for your credit union. The Credit Union Spotlight: Closed Door Session will take place on Wednesday, May 7, from 3:20 to 4:50, and will offer the opportunity to meet companies that are building technology specifically for the credit union ecosystem. Each company will provide a short introduction, followed by roundtable discussions where you can dive deeper into their solutions. If you’re interested in joining, please email [email protected]. Please note that space is limited and subject to approval.

Want to know more about what you can expect at FinovateSpring? Check out our blog content, the event agenda, and don’t forget to register and save $200 when you book by April 18, 2025.

Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash

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The Streams of FinovateSpring: AI, Banking, CX, Payments, and Lending

The Streams of FinovateSpring: AI, Banking, CX, Payments, and Lending
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2025, List series

This year’s FinovateSpring conference in San Diego (May 7 through May 9) will feature six separate streams that will enable attendees to participate in deep-dives and extended conversations about some of the most dynamic areas of fintech and financial services.

From AI, customer experience, and open banking to innovations in lending and payments, our stream sessions will help professionals in fintech and financial services take better advantage of the trends that are driving innovation in our industry.

Tickets for FinovateSpring are available now! Visit our registration page today and take advantage of early-bird savings!

Artificial Intelligence

This stream will feature a fireside chat on the real use cases for AI in banking and financial services. Theodora Lau of Unconventional Ventures and Arvind Ayyala of Geodesic Investments will discuss how smart players are using AI to solve real pain points for their businesses and their customers.

This stream will also feature a Power Panel on how financial institutions can better leverage generative AI. This panel, moderated by Lau, will include insights from Chad Smith of Better.com, Alisa Rusanoff of Crescendo Asset Management, and Tamara Zaichkowsky of Acrisure.

Customer Experience

The Customer Experience stream will include a keynote address from Sean Albertson, Founder and CEO of CX4ROCKS on the battle for customer trust and ways that banks can make every department responsible for customer experience. The Customer Experience stream will also feature a Special Address from Kyle Mack, CEO and Co-Founder, Middesk.

The Customer Experience Power Panel will examine how financial institutions can deliver outstanding omni-channel CX and move away from a siloed approach to blend human and digital CX. This panel will include Kaushal Pandia of U.S. Bank and Glenn Borok of Jump Capital. Beyond the Arc CEO Steven Ramirez will moderate.

Future Banking

The Future Banking stream will feature a keynote address from Tiffani Montez, Principal Analyst, Insider Intelligence, on “The Bank of 2030: How to move from a product-centric design to life-stage banking and compete with big tech companies that are already experience-led.”

Shining a spotlight on the issue of bank modernization, this Power Panel will examine how banks can modernize their tech estates to be fit for the digital future. The panelists will discuss the key questions—and answers—around technology, cloud, business and operational models, risk, talent, and culture. Moderated by JT Thykattil, VP & Research Director, Forrester Research, the panel will include Aditya Vikram Singh of Capital One and Katie Quilligan of BankTech Ventures.

Future Lending

The Future Lending stream will include a keynote address on capturing the opportunity of SME lending and how financial institutions can successfully engage this market.

The Future Lending stream will also feature a Power Panel on the rise of embedded lending. The panelists will discuss how embedded lending is moving beyond Buy Now, Pay Later and discuss ways financial institutions can participate in the growing ecommerce trend. The panel will include Diksha Gera of Bloomberg Intelligence, Ibrahim Al Suwaidi of DCM, Jamie Twiss of Beforepay, and Rob Seidman of U.S. Bank Avvance.

Future Payments

The Future Payments stream will include a keynote address from Lindsay Lehr, Managing Director, Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI), titled, “Are Real-Time Payments Ready to Take Off?” Lehr’s address will answer the question “is faster always better?” and look at the challenges involved when building products on top of RTP and FedNow rails.

The Future Payments stream will also feature a Special Address: “Navigating Regulation Uncertainty While Gearing Up for Growth.” Patrick Dix, Vice President, Client & Association Engagement, SHAZAM, will share his insights on this topic and the importance of “picking the right payments partner.”

Moderated by Rutger van Faassen of InformationBanker, the Future Payments Power Panel will discuss how new technologies, new competitors, new business models, and embedded payments will shape the future of the payments market. Sharing their insights will be Ipsita Basu of Shopify, Jim Colassano of The Clearing House, and June Yuan of Wise Platform.

Open Banking

Our Open Banking stream features a keynote address on the future of open banking, a deep dive into Rule 1033, and a look at how open data will impact the US banking industry.

The Open Banking stream will also include a Power Panel on compelling use cases for open banking in the US and what financial institutions in the US can learn from the success of open banking in the rest of the world. Joining the Power Panel will be Nirvikar Jain of Woodside Capital Partners.

Photo by Pixabay

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5 Key Takeaways from Trump’s Payments Modernization Initiative

5 Key Takeaways from Trump’s Payments Modernization Initiative
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: List series

Yesterday, Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) to modernize the U.S. payments system by phasing out paper checks. The EO mandates that the Federal government will stop issuing paper checks for all disbursements starting September 30, 2025.

The EO, which is targeting waste, fraud, and abuse, will offer both banks and fintechs opportunities and challenges as they seek to bring digital banking to underbanked consumers who need to send payments to and receive payments from the federal government.

So as you begin your second quarter planning initiatives, here are a few things you’ll need to know about this week’s Executive Order.

Real time payments become solidified

Banks’ adoption of FedNow and The Clearing House’s RTP is increasing, and so are consumer expectations for faster fund transfers. This week’s EO stipulates the move to “fast, electronic payments,” which will change the expectations of even underbanked and elderly populations that rely on government monetary benefits.

Heightened emphasis on payment security and fraud prevention

The Fact Sheet detailing the EO specifically cites security and fraud prevention as major reasons for modernizing US payments. “President Trump is cracking down on waste, fraud, and abuse in government by modernizing outdated paper-based payment systems that impose unnecessary costs, delays, and security risks,” the Fact Sheet said. The move will ultimately bring stricter standards to government payments and will help foster consumer trust.

A shift toward digital identity verification

As payments digitize, reliable identity verification methods will become increasingly crucial. While bringing payments into the digital space will help boost KYC and AML verifications, it will also offer opportunities for fraudsters to create new scams. As an example, non-digitally native consumers may be more likely to fall victim to phishing attacks that they perceive to be payments from the federal government.

Not everyone is required to make the change

The EO states that exceptions will be made for people without banking or electronic payment access, in specific emergency payments cases, for certain law enforcement activities, and for other special cases that qualify for an exception.

Consumer awareness is key

The EO explains that, prior to the September 30 deadline, the government will initiate a comprehensive public awareness campaign to inform federal payment recipients of the shift to electronic payments. Banks should work alongside these campaigns with public awareness initiatives of their own to offer guidance on setting up digital payments and mitigating fraud.

Overall, this new EO represents a significant opportunity for banks and fintechs. By accelerating the shift to digital payments, the EO underscores the value of digital-first strategies and positions banks in a great place to attract new customers who previously relied on paper checks.

Banks and fintech companies that proactively support consumers during this transition—through seamless onboarding, education, fraud prevention, and robust digital identity verification—can strengthen their market position, deepen customer relationships, and foster long-term trust. Ultimately, the shift away from paper checks will reinforce existing efforts toward financial inclusion, drive consumer adoption of digital tools, and encourage innovation across the payments landscape.

Photo by Money Knack on Unsplash

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