walt @waltrcox Twitter profile

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walt

3 months

built/launched 3 ACH API's in last 6 yrs a) breakdown (history, structure, processing, settlement, etc.) b) lessons learned along the way c) additional resources d) gaps/limitations/future (welcome feedback (as always)) a quasi technical/🧵(asked for by the ppl!)

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

when negotiating with banks... (a few obvious, yet subtle things to remember) a /🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Let's think through real-time payments in US reviewing 1⃣RTP & 2⃣FedNow & 3⃣Push to Card exploring model, size, value prop & US bank readiness let's also think through parallels in other countries (note: take with a gain of salt 🧂) a niche 🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

you mean to tell me the bank headquartered in one state, chartered in another, with years of endless compliance/risk issues has been hacked after receiving a massive consent order during a public FinTech partner bankruptcy case? what's the over/under on regulatory take over?

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walt

@waltrcox

6 months

BaaS & US bank reg/risk framework > evolving models, hype cycles, consent orders & future (deep end of the pool on this one) - 38 citations, 23 graphics, 100% nonsense a /🧵 (27) NOTE: entirely my opinions (not employer), nor legal advice

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Remember, for FedNow - banks not required to support - every banks determines how they will support/roll out - will take YEARS to productize at scale for customers - Real-time liquidity must be managed carefully for all participants to mitigate bank runs (policy/controls)

walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Let's think through real-time payments in US reviewing 1⃣RTP & 2⃣FedNow & 3⃣Push to Card exploring model, size, value prop & US bank readiness let's also think through parallels in other countries (note: take with a gain of salt 🧂) a niche 🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

no FinTech isn't dead...it's being refined. consent orders, bankruptcies, we're on bleeding edge. while the egotistic, rule-bending, hotshots parish. those leaning in figuring, arguing, hashing it out will win. those taking shortcuts: fuck around & find out hard for a reason

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Wrote a 3,500 article on bank/FinTech partnerships now running through legal before publishing. Biggest issue so far is the memes I used, seemingly “unprofessional” and not “properly attributed”. To quote someone they are “hilarious” and “on point” but may be offensive. Onward!

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

my favorite part of any public FinTech meltdown is the absolute silence by the VC's who previously platformed and touted these entities ad nauseum. how quickly we pivot into the next big thing before the mistakes of our last big thing come back to haunt us.

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

have built/launched 3 ACH API's in last six years debating breaking it down here (tricky X limitations) (have an excel explainer I give to partners) would it be helpful to post here with lessons learned?

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walt

@waltrcox

11 months

had a chance to present this week on what a $65B bank learned launching a cannabis wallet - defined requirements, built/launched ourselves - successful pilot and commercial failure - what we learned & what's next /🧵 with slides + commentary

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

maybe if you're a CEO at a failing FinTech that's missing users funds stop tweeting?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

dear FinTech, if you aren't validating beneficial ownership your program may be in jeopardy signed, banks & regulators

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

finally published part one here (for bankers): thank you to all who read, commented and helped to get this published

On Banking FinTech's (Part 1)

Having directly supported FinTechs seeking bank sponsorship to now leading FinTech services within a Bank offering Sponsorship services, the commonalities are striking and the barriers to delivery...

www.linkedin.com

walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Wrote a 3,500 article on bank/FinTech partnerships now running through legal before publishing. Biggest issue so far is the memes I used, seemingly “unprofessional” and not “properly attributed”. To quote someone they are “hilarious” and “on point” but may be offensive. Onward!

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

NACHA remains a "private" payments standard when the Fed should require all US payment models meet ISO20022 standard (not just faster payments). the barriers to innovate remain too high for all parties (except legacy providers generating revenue from antiquated systems). lame.

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

BaaS/embedded can be everything, everywhere. instead, let's explore along two distinct axis' Indirect vs Direct (i.e., technology/risk models) Embedded vs Experience (i.e., servicing model) (not legal advice nor opinions on any brands) aim to get thread out later this week

walt

@waltrcox

1 year

been working on a BaaS thread... making a parallel diagram to this (bank obfuscated) what's the opposite of "embedded" payments? feedback welcome

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

born and raised in Cali first gen college grad (UCD) worked in bay area (20+ yrs) lived thru 25+ yr expansion of 101 homelessness worse every year less and less affordable housing politics focused on vocal minority so, selling and relocating. kids future > Bay Area living

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walt

@waltrcox

6 months

finally got a partner live after starting this two years ago. launching this stuff in a large commercial bank has been a brutal, insightful learning experience

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

synapse is not indicative of BaaS or FinTech at large its an extreme example of - overly aggressive bank - overly aggressive FT - championed by VC's as "the future of banking" FT has blossomed well past synapse, spanning payments, lending, wealth mgmt, servicing and more.

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

know a FinTech who cracked the code (with a bank sponsor) for Zelle pull payments (ie near real time account funding). if keen to learn more, slide into DM's (should be fixed) or raise hand ✋

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

how do [some] banks think about card issuing? let's explore: 🏗️ tenets for card issuing 🧐 challenges (common vs nuanced) 💡 near term opportunities super niche 🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

11 months

never been more payment "platforms". ever. - treasury (ach, wires, checks, etc.) - cards (acquiring, issuing, virtual, etc.) - bank sponsors issue is no longer tech infra to drive scale/efficiency it's safety, soundness, speed & sustainability. choose partners wisely

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walt

@waltrcox

22 days

update

walt

@waltrcox

2 months

born and raised in Cali first gen college grad (UCD) worked in bay area (20+ yrs) lived thru 25+ yr expansion of 101 homelessness worse every year less and less affordable housing politics focused on vocal minority so, selling and relocating. kids future > Bay Area living

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

what if this bear market creates a durable class of consumer FinTech? Met two founders in the last few weeks who are proving bloody convincing with background, passion, and grit. love being humbled by those with the courage to bet everything on chasing their dreams. inspiring ❤️

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

FinTech fables v1 once upon a time there was a FinTech startup... /🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

FIS products launched in the last decade have failed more often than succeeded (PayNet, OnlyID, Card Controls, Cardless Cash, etc.). Latest announcement of a startup fire sale turned pivoted embedded play. Good luck 🫡

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

what is BaaS and Embedded FinTech, in the US? [feels like everything, everywhere, all at once] let's attempt to narrow around two frameworks - 🏦 Bank vs 📱FinTech -- 🏦 direct/indirect vs 📱embedded/experience - 🧐 legal/risk/compliance? - 💡 challenges/opportunities? a niche 🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

11 months

if starting with $300 and leaving with $1,600 is not the perfect metaphor for money 2020, I don't know what is. 30+ meetings in three days, crazy productive.

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

18 months we've been working on embedded banking... went through governance approval models across legal, risk, compliance, finance, ops, etc. all to finally have a contract signed today. ask me in 18 months if it was worth it 😂

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

so few bankers understand money movement

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

speaking on direct/indirect BaaS at FinTech Nexus using a few slides in front of 75+ bankers (here's one) the commonality of themes in banking amazes me experience > service > model > legal/reg framework the trick is solving in the grey areas what say you?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

publishing a series (part one is out) writing part 2: FinTech's seeking bank partners broken down by: 1) language - speak like a banker 2) models - document things like a banker 3) expectations - success for a banker --- what's missing?

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

meeting with deputy director of FDIC this week hoping to talk through: 1) broker deposit rules & models we've built 2) differences between sponsorship & BaaS 3) curious how FDIC views "FinTech" broadly what would you discuss?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

let's explore US consumer bill pay 📜 a brief history 🤕 BP challenges 🏦 banker: cost center vs stickiness vs revenue? a very niche 🧵

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

thanks @mikulaja @BlockchainQueen @nickfarrow76 & Amanda Swoverland (Unit) for the excellent discussion on BaaS last night at the Barclays Rise center

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

embedded banking approved by bank governance two LOI's reviewed/sent out this week for indirect contract going out in two weeks for direct model expect announcements in 3-6 months (after due diligence, contracting and integrations)

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walt

@waltrcox

9 months

when working with a bank, best to: a) assume nothing b) solve/build for industry regs (not opinions) c) have executive sponsor involved d) find like-minded cultures, focused on execution e) be patient

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walt

@waltrcox

11 months

so many great alternatives to Plaid these days curious how the business model evolves particularly as banks shift to govern data access in hindsight, probably should have been a CRA?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

debating doing a thread on BaaS next...

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

how does embedded banking sustain itself? - interchange overestimated - treasury fees moving to zero - consumer expects free services - never been harder to lend (at these rates!) my hypothesis: - everyone's pivoting to deposit-driven models - lowest CaC/segment focus wins

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

weeks like these make me question my career choices. feels like there's 99 ways to screw up in FinTech, and the one that doesn't takes years and years of perseverance to achieve

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

been working on a BaaS thread... making a parallel diagram to this (bank obfuscated) what's the opposite of "embedded" payments? feedback welcome

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

hearing lots of murmers that one outcome of this mess is BaaS is dead. not sure. suspect we will see further guidance that should banks offer these services, and repeat these mistakes, they put their charter at risk (not to mention fines, consent orders etc). too many smart

Jason Mikula

@mikulaja

3 months

User of @winwithyotta tells Synapse bankruptcy judge Yotta "refuses to answer any customer service inquiries" Can't reach Synapse, Evolve says it can't help, FRB says call FDIC, FDIC says call FINRA, FINRA says it's "not aware of the issue" & call SIPC, SIPC says... call Yotta:

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walt

@waltrcox

6 months

BaaS and embedded are the most complex use cases in US banking right now. excited to continue to lean in here since, despite the many challenges and setbacks, convinced this is the future of financial services

walt

@waltrcox

6 months

BaaS & US bank reg/risk framework > evolving models, hype cycles, consent orders & future (deep end of the pool on this one) - 38 citations, 23 graphics, 100% nonsense a /🧵 (27) NOTE: entirely my opinions (not employer), nor legal advice

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

@mikulaja and @AlexH_Johnson are single-handedly shifting media coverage of FinTech. Too many voices coasting on legacy brands, too few who actually think through the models and implications choosing instead to focus on pithy clickbait headlines. grateful for these two hard work

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

will be in NJ (20-23) and NY (24-30) 3 LOI's sent out today 2-3 LOI's going out next week 3 contracts ready to be signed half a dozen new deals in our pipeline can't wait to announce programs going live more important to prove out viability first

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

things I would talk about on a banking podcast: - overcoming internal laggards/blockers/defectors - negotiating & winning over key stakeholders - small wins / indicators to prove long term strategy - identify/resolve vendor BS early/often - trust is earned (not given by title)

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

in Miami at faster payments. Told the Fed folks FedNow won't see the volumes like push to card sees for at least a decade. willing to put money where my mouth is. no identity standard, no adoption

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walt

@waltrcox

5 months

less than 36 hours ago ran a soft pull on my credit have received 84 spam calls & 20+ texts, rendering my phone unusable. thanks @TransUnion @Equifax @Experian_US for making my life a living hell. it's wild this is not an opt in service, stop selling my data

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

a few additions: 1) 90% of FinTech should NOT build ACH infra 🙏 2) smart banks will offer API's free (pay per tran) 3) some very strong TPS offerings in market 4) be careful of TPSP's overpromising (underdelivering)

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

the absolute best founders i've worked with are the ones who consistently underdeliver and overpromise, put their ego, their lifestyle and personal brand above all other aspects of running a business. they fire customers who "don't get it", burn through marketing $$$ with $0 ROI

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

should my next thread be on billpay...thoughts?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Going forward 1) no more commentary about others in the space (don't know their motivations, reader beware) 2) going to focus on putting out positive vibes or shutting up (keep my side of the street clean) 3) want to focus on attacking issues/challenges (better aim the passion)

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

best thing about working in banking/FinTech? calling other banks who've used shiny FinTech services. 30 minutes provides far more insight than a 2 hr demo. some "platforms" have burned innumerable bridges. references matter. overpromising rarely works out.

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

another FinTech signed Friday another in redlines pipeline is growing capabilities expanding adding capacity to ensure execution biggest risk is not failure it’s assumptions or failure to respond everything is possible with a charter doesn’t mean it’s profitable, or safe

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walt

@waltrcox

6 months

chime "has more accounts than chase" is like stating costco has more cardholders than Visa. apples and orange comparison. banks have customers who have accounts Fintech sits on bank who have customers who have accounts. tbh nuance doesn't get clicks tho

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

imagine "tipping" your bank? then its 80% of banks rev? w/o lending, what levers of profitability for neobanks? a) interchange (P/A/U)? b) foreign transaction fees (low)? c) technology service fees to bank? (unlikely) d) deposit float revenue share? (probably not) tricky...

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walt

@waltrcox

11 months

best convo this year in airport met founder with team of 12 bootstrapped with angels co you've never heard of found PMF in consumer can move into SMB, AP/AR think it's a $1B+ co blown away FinTech is incredible

walt

@waltrcox

11 months

if starting with $300 and leaving with $1,600 is not the perfect metaphor for money 2020, I don't know what is. 30+ meetings in three days, crazy productive.

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

Do other banks rely on third party software to correctly ledger FDIC insured funds? Yes (some). Should they? No. Other banks (ie Bancorps) learned/implemented "shadow" DDA's a decade ago for this exact reason. Failure of third party ledger doesn't absolve bank responsibility

Jason Mikula

@mikulaja

3 months

@sankaet McWilliams: "Let me also clarify, so, what you're saying is a DDA or FBO account at Evolve could have Synapse funds in addition to end user and platform funds in them?" Pathak: "Exactly" If Synapse wasn't potentially co-mingling, can you clarify what you meant in that answer?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

August expectations: - first Embedded Direct contract signed - onsite with platform for Embedded Indirect - two Sponsorship agreements signed - testing account / SFTP access for existing partners - close out compliance hire (partner banking) LFG

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Don’t believe these nice things. But read Alex’s next article on BaaS Going to be huge 🤘

Alex Johnson

@AlexH_Johnson

1 year

Things you should know about @waltrcox : - Talks very fast. - Is very smart and knows a lot about fintech stuff. - Is very generous with his time and expertise. We'll have to do a podcast at some point!

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

banks 1) exist with 10's/100's/1000s of vendors 2) incentivized for stability, slow growth 3) are not built to bear your risk (if non-customer) 4) generally outsource tech (not builders) 5) each consider themselves unique snowflakes 6) mindset: de-risk first, grow second

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

have a current FinTech "partner", serving a strategic segment, cross-selling bank customers other banks finservices, not approved by our bank 😵‍💫 they have the audacity to think they are our equal 😂 but are merely a flea on a fly of our nationally chartered, elephant sized ass.

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walt

@waltrcox

3 months

@mikulaja @winwithyotta @adammoelis damn. need a billionaire dad that helps me go on media and blame regulators when my biz fails. ultimate life hack

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walt

@waltrcox

9 months

not only should a FinTech "infra" never store PII or bank customer data in perpetuity (bank does that), it's shocking to think any bank would allow unfettered access to the core for ALL bank customers (not just a specific use case). the "tech" in FinTech has a ways to go...imho

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

sitting in Friedmans in NYC listening to a product director argue with an engineering director about roles and responsibilities, philosophies of empowering product vs SAFE, org structure, etc. after cross border I may do a thread on these internal power dynamics. so painful

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

@mikulaja so many failures here by both parties. concerned what this means as bankers/regulators may use this to drive negative sentiment in FinTech industry...

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walt

@waltrcox

25 days

spent 2 years building and launching a program where FinTechs are not exclusive to the bank and we (bank + FT) file an FDIC notice demonstrating PPE exemption, and now the FDIC is considering removing PPE entirely? hoping public comment helps shift regulatory mindset here 🙏

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walt

@waltrcox

5 months

its 2024...do you know where your micro deposits are? (would love to be a fly on the wall explaining to engineers this feature 😂) as charley said, great work...hopefully micro deposits get killed in the RTP/FedNow utopia we're inching towards...

Charley Ma

@CharleyMa

5 months

The little details on this microdeposit flow from @Plaid are 👌👌

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

trying to take a closed-loop wallet service we built and evolve it to an API model with a dozen endpoints. prayers, well wishes and positive vibes welcomed. 🙏

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

get to work with companies scaling payment services AND debate BaaS verse closed loop verse wallet models with legal, risk, compliance and third party risk teams. best job ever

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Good summary of updated TPRM guidance (OCC) Why this matters: 1) Liability for FinTech programs rest with Bank (duh!) 2) FinTech may support AML/BSA tasks 3) Surprisingly, IMHO, FinTech's are missing on transaction monitoring today (relying on bank)

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

have seen multiple startups who - engage in deceptive practices - actively litigate vendors, customers, investors - product consistently breaks in production becoming impossible to bank successfully & VC's pour more funds into hyper dysfunctional orgs need more convo around this

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

tremendous journey. consumer FT is insanely hard. huge kudos to Zach & team on difficult decision. personally bullish on new direction!

Zach Bruhnke

@zbruhnke

10 months

Today is a tough one - @hmbradley is shuttering its consumer programs. Not something I ever thought I would write. We're not done yet though, Now we're planning to deliver our products through other banks rather than building the consumer brand ourselves.

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

once upon a time...I sat on a baas panel with a baas platform chief compliance officer whose sponsor bank has a consent order no one acknowledged the elephant in the room kept mouth shut 🤐 almost chewed my tongue off this is growth 🌱

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

to clarify, FinTech signed (how bank realizes value) separate from tech infra (how bank supports FinTech) separate from GRC (how bank governs program) just one of our models for Embedded banking were supporting. Can't wait to announce what else we're doing

walt

@waltrcox

1 year

18 months we've been working on embedded banking... went through governance approval models across legal, risk, compliance, finance, ops, etc. all to finally have a contract signed today. ask me in 18 months if it was worth it 😂

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walt

@waltrcox

7 months

if the answer is "program manager" owns the customer, not the bank, expect a regulatory issue. if outsourcing to "program manager" responsibility of TPRM, reg compliance or AML/BSA activities, do they align with bank policy/procedures? if not, expect regulatory issue.

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walt

@waltrcox

5 months

some could read this as a criticism aimed at Chime, it's not. what Ryan and that team accomplished building on DPS was nothing short of brilliant, reinventing access and service to banking from a digital first approach. Incredible. that said, mixing banking and FinTech terms to

walt

@waltrcox

6 months

chime "has more accounts than chase" is like stating costco has more cardholders than Visa. apples and orange comparison. banks have customers who have accounts Fintech sits on bank who have customers who have accounts. tbh nuance doesn't get clicks tho

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

this thread is exactly why synapse failing is a disaster too many half-baked opinions with zero data to support end-customer is always the banks customer if bank deviated from this, they suffer consequences there is no "FinTech customer" without the bank

Jackson Gates

@jacksongates

4 months

"Banking as a Service" is fundamentally flawed. If you provide a financial service, you should have the opportunity to apply for a national license, receive it, and have a direct relationship with a prudential regulator. We need modular national licenses for financial services.

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walt

@waltrcox

11 months

Chipotle doing their part to ensure future of BNPL 🚀

Inverse Cramer (Not Jim Cramer)

@CramerTracker

11 months

Chipotle just announced it’s raising prices for the 4th time in 2 years Thank goodness for burrito financing🙏

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walt

@waltrcox

20 days

checks notes: - M&A to show revenue - no US volume to speak of... - alienated tier 1 clients/banks - tells customers to "fuck off" - card focused (APM's failed) yep, $10B in the bag!

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Couldn’t imagine a better way to celebrate 420 than over delicious food with incredible stories of gratitude, technology evolutions and where we go next! Thank you @frogtwitt @gassee @MikD & Ian Macallister!

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walt

@waltrcox

8 months

deposits are the lifeblood of every bank but every bank is the same: commoditized ✅ branches ✅ products ✅ staff ✅ rate strategy ✅ digital stuff so where compete? ❌ integrated, efficient financial workflows (tech) ❌ speed (acct opening, money movement) ❌ risk appetite

Community Banker Guy

@commbankerguy

8 months

I believe depositor relationships have changed for community banks. Getting someone’s primary deposit requires good service, good tech, and high yield. It’s too easy to move money to higher yielding accounts with better tech and people are no longer willing to get nothing if they

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

4) banks are buyers, not builders of tech (generally) tech jargon works against your goals if you're an efficiency play, demonstrate it if you generate revenue/deposits, provide references dictating your model to banks is dangerous... highly regulated herd mentality like zebras

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walt

@waltrcox

6 months

No bank should reasonably expect exclusivity post SVB. With careful consideration of broker deposit rules it's crucial the bank properly document and notify regulators accordingly to avoid restating earnings

Rogue CFPB

@RogueCfpb

6 months

I’m now quote tweeting myself, but I don’t see this discussed enough in the fintech ecosystem

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

1) vendor paradigm you may call yourself a - "FinTech" - "platform" - "marketplace" - "service" - "disruptor" and banks call you vendors...expecting you - understand reg compliance, AML/BSA & fraud - support data governance, security/privacy - know your role relative to bank

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walt

@waltrcox

9 months

certain VC takes on payments and banking infra are laughably awful. where's the TPV, revenue and unit economics demonstrating the disruption of incumbents? what are the use cases proving the point? very strange to praise a slack channel "community" as demonstrating success

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walt

@waltrcox

7 months

Fantastic, succinct, great read

Peter

@peter

7 months

💳The Capital One / Discover acquisition is a big deal, and I've been discussing it this week with other fintech nerds, so I thought I'd post my thoughts here publicly... 🧵 🧠 In a nutshell, I think it’s a stroke of genius on Capital One’s part, but there’s a lot more intrigue

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

son is 12 and daughter is almost 10. been teaching them how to earn, save and give since they were five. finally set up @GreenlightCard for both this past weekend, flawless experience. chores and jobs is great, can't wait to get them into investing next 💪

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walt

@waltrcox

7 months

laughed hard at myself for this one: - FinTech trends run in 5-10 year cycles - what's old is new (when repackaged correctly) - PFM? bah -> AI "self-driving money" - CLO? bah -> merchant linked offers! - prepaid? bah -> BaaS (too cynical @regulatorynerd ? meant for LOL's and 🫶)

walt

@waltrcox

7 months

@regulatorynerd @peetscoffee merchant linked offers? what is this, 2010?

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

banks under $100B in assets that don't seriously consider EWS a threat to your community charter, cannot say they weren't warned. community banking dies with large banks owning the automation, productization, and dictating regulations to fight against open-banking etc.

walt

@waltrcox

4 months

@leffer24 @AlexH_Johnson no question the data is valuable. it's a privatized on-we network that sells data services back to banks, super disfunctional for our industry. EWS is exactly the institution built to crush community banking (privately held by the largest banks)

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

for years, bankers have argued any BaaS program requires: FinTech customer = banks customer. a few overly aggressive (small) banks have launched programs arguing otherwise. regulators in the last 12 months have explicitly stated what everyone in the industry already knew

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walt

@waltrcox

2 months

requires a deeper shift here, mindset & execution to do things better than regulated incumbents. founders are incentivized to take short cuts and maximize loopholes to meet arbitrary VC goals (ie # of accounts), rather than safety/soundness/durability of running a business.

Jason Mikula

@mikulaja

2 months

Remember as a kid when your parents told you to do something you didn’t want to do, and they’d tell you it was “character building”? That’s compliance. Fintech needs to build some character if it wants to be taken seriously.

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walt

@waltrcox

5 months

a technical TPSP or "soft FinTech" from @arfrank (API driven, doesn't move money) has an arguably short window to succeed as banks (slowly) build/license/launch API services rather a technical TPS or "hard FinTech" (API driven, can move money if sponsored) has far more runway

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walt

@waltrcox

4 months

spending money doesn't equate to fostering innovative, progressive means of managing compliance, legal, AML/BSA and operational risks. the cultures in historically hardest orgs to work with have to change, spending is the easy part

Jim Perry

@mi_jim

4 months

Top-ranked analyst declares JPMorgan ‘the Nvidia of banking’ after it spends $17 billion on tech in a single year | @FortuneMagazine

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

ugh. wrote a new thread... only published the first tweet, the rest disappeared! two hours of work, gone. have to rewrite 😭 definitely canceling @TwitterBlue

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

"you either get acquired or live long enough to watch your post-SPAC results get scrutinized for high CAC and declining revenues" FinTech is hard. great breakdown, as always 👏

Jason Mikula

@mikulaja

1 year

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped (from Oaxaca 🇲🇽) -MoneyLion & Dave Q2 earnings: 5 Key Takeaways -Fed to supervise "novel activities," including BaaS, crypto/blockchain -PayPal's stablecoin: "watershed" moment or useless distraction? You know where to find it!

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walt

@waltrcox

10 months

2) incentive alignment banks exist on: NIM, ROA, ROE, efficiency, deposits how do you effect these measures? (+ or -) do you jeopardize them? (probably) understand how banks evaluate risk is key. do you + or - tech, ops, legal, reg compliance, credit, AML/BSA, privacy, etc. risk?

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walt

@waltrcox

1 year

imho this where FinTech folks miss in understanding every banks role 1) prioritize on bank customer needs 2) deliver service while mitigating risk 3) people, process, procedures meaning, finding like minded banks on FinTech use cases makes all the difference when executing

walt

@waltrcox

1 year

Payment infrastructure readiness, spans: ☑️ Legal, Risk, Compliance, Audit, Operations, ☑️ IT/Tech, InfoSecurity, Finance & Executive sign off Meaning, while the payment rail may be "available" Has the bank understood, tested, operationalized and de-risk the model?

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