FinovateFall 2026 / Paywhere
Demo video will be available soon.
Presenter Profile:
How they describe themselves: Paywhere saw programmable banking coming before it had a name. Today, business owners are increasingly using ChatGPT and Claude as the operating system where work gets done. Paywhere provides the financial-grade connective layer that safely brings banks and credit unions into these environments, allowing customers to work in the AI platform of their choice while keeping the FI’s brand, accounts, entitlements, permissions, and controls intact. Paywhere lets banks and credit unions safely say yes to the AI era.
How they describe their product/innovation: The Paywhere platform works alongside existing core systems, puts the institution in control, and was built from the start for a world where fiat, programmable money, and AI-driven financial workflows converge. Paywhere also adds capabilities designed specifically for this new channel, including intent intelligence, fraud signals, human-in-the-loop approvals, AI-specific limits and permissions, auditability, and the necessary compliance and regulatory guardrails. Paywhere provides the engine underneath. The bank keeps everything on top.
Product distribution strategy: Direct to Business (B2B), Through financial institutions, Through other fintech companies and platforms
Credit Union/Community Bank Fit: Credit unions and community banks.
Contacts:
Bus. Dev.: Nick Lazo (CRO), [email protected], 206-852-8599
Press: Arleigh Vasconcellos (CMO), [email protected], 403-561-4810
Website: paywhere.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/paywhere-programmablebanking
HQ: San Francisco, CA, USA
Founded: July 2025
Product Demoed: AI Storefront by Paywhere
Metrics: Paywhere was conceived and built by a team with decades of collective experience at the intersection of financial markets, technology, communications, and regulatory complexity. In 2025, AI was beginning to rapidly automate the workflows that businesses had always managed manually. We saw this was going to be a sea change for banks and credit unions. The interface between FIs and their clients was being totally rewritten and we recognized they needed a platform that worked alongside existing systems and kept the bank in control. Nothing in the market did that. So we built it. We have raised $3M in pre-seed funding and are looking to close a seed round of $10M by the end of this year.
Raising Capital: Seed
Presenters: Nick Lazo, CRO, Paywhere | Brett Vasconcellos, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer, Paywhere
- Key Executives
Girish Mutreja (Founder & CEO), Brett Vasconcellos (Co-Founder & Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer), Bindu Gakhar (Co-Founder & CPO), Nick Lazo (CRO), Arleigh Galant Vasconcellos (CMO)
Key Stats
- Key Partners
Q2, Bridge