The #1 global fintech radio show and podcast. Every week we explore the personalities, startups, innovators, and industry players driving disruption in financial services; from Incumbents to unicorns, and from the latest cutting edge technology to the people who are using it to help to create a more innovative, inclusive and healthy financial future.
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Entrepreneurship is an odyssey with many unexpected stops on the journey. You could find yourself on a loading dock in East LA, freestyle rapping with a man known as DJ Trucker—yes, there is video proof. In this episode of our special series, Killing It, hosts Jason Henrichs and Alex Johnson talk with Max Farrell. Max started his career in business development at Dwolla and went on to found…
In This Episode For years, Banking as a Service (BaaS) was sold as a silver bullet for community banks to solve their deposit problems and grow non-interest income. Through its evolution, the industry has learned that it is not enough for BaaS to simply be programmable. For innovation in banking to flourish, without sacrificing the safety and security of the banking ecosystem, BaaS must also be…
In This Episode What if AI could replicate your consciousness? Listen as Breaking Banks host Brett King connects with Paolo Sironi, host of Provoke.fm ‘s The Banker’s Bookshelf about Paolo’s latest book, Quantum Sapiens. Paolo’s foray into literary fiction explores the intersection of quantum gravity, philosophy, and the future of human consciousness in an AI-driven world, providing a unique way…
In this episode of Breaking Banks host Brett King sits down with Farbod Sadeghian, Founder and Executive Chairman of TheBlock. Based in Dubai, TheBlock is a fintech collaboration space dedicated to fintech, blockchain development, and crypto, bringing together fintech, AI, and capital markets to build the next economy of virtual assets, The conversation covers the origin story of TheBlock and the…
In This Episode Financial institutions (FIs) are currently navigating a “perfect storm” of technological, market, and consumer shifts. They face a multi-front war: constant economic and regulatory pressure, soaring consumer expectations for 24/7 personalization, and the existential threat of megabanks with massive tech budgets. To survive and thrive, FIs must move beyond “pilot purgatory”—where…
In This Episode Kiah Haslett walked into our Hot Takes session at the Alloy Labs annual member meeting with a thesis she’d been sitting on, and it’s a good one: in a lighter-touch regulatory environment, the prisoner’s dilemma rewards whoever moves first. The strategically correct move, she argues, might also be the morally bankrupt one. And she’s not sure that changes the math. Dara Tarkowski —…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks Brett King interviews bestselling author Igor Pejic about his new book Tech Money: A Guide to the New Game of Technology Investing, available May 26th. Brett and Igor discuss turbocharged innovations, frontier technologies, and how AI and technology investment are changing our future. In this wide ranging conversation, Brett and Igor also debate the…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks , we feature sister podcast, Social Currency , powered by Sunrise Banks. Social Currency introduces us to some of the most innovative changemakers in finance, technology, and social impact—leaders who are dismantling barriers and reshaping their industries. In this episode hosts Tyler Seydel, Chief Fintech Officer, and Eric Schurr, Chief Strategy Officer…
In This Episode Have we reached the point where AI is beginning to matter in a commercial sense or are we still in the ‘figuring it out’ stage and it’s not driving outcomes yet? In this episode host Jason Henrichs is joined by Prashant Mehrotra, Chief AI Officer at U.S. Bank, and John Sun, Co-Founder and CEO of Spring Labs, for a deep dive into the frontier that is AI. Listen as these executives…
In This Episode In this episode of Breaking Banks, industry leaders Jason Hass (First Electronic Bank), Mike Jorgensen (U.S. Bank), and Louis Mrachek, (Merrick Bank) connect with Jason Henrichs for a dynamic conversation centered on embedded finance. Embedded finance seamlessly integrates financial services into non-financial platforms. Some examples include BNPL, Lending: Business & Personal…
In This Episode We’ve recently seen growth in many areas, but a disconnect always seems to exist between economic growth, especially capital market growth, and what people on the ground are experiencing. In short, the macro story is strong; the reality is more fragile if you look at households. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, what is the first thing today’s consumer pays for every month?…
In This Episode Banks are evolving beyond traditional financial products to offer value-added services that deliver outcomes that matter in customers’ everyday lives. In this episode of Breaking Banks, we explore this shift through a very specific lens. Joining host Jason Henrichs are Marcy Allen, Head of Enterprise Financial Institutions at Carefull, a company focused on helping families protect…
In This Episode Which trends are genuinely reshaping and transforming banking? Is fintech hitting its “awkward adolescent phase”—past the hype but not yet fully mature? Today we sort through the signal and the noise. Which trends are actually changing how banks work and which are mostly theater. There are lots of pitches coming at banks, but just like in baseball, you can’t swing at them all. How…
In This Episode The current regulatory regime in the US promised a lighter touch and more de novo charters. Sure enough, there has been a flurry of activity with a wide range of applications being submitted from long time payment providers like Paypal, neobanks looking to break free from their BaaS sponsors, and even silicon valley insiders looking to build the bank of the future like Erebor.…
In This Episode Payments are getting faster. From RTP to stablecoins, rails are modernizing. Speed alone doesn’t equal progress, however. As real-time payment systems expand, banks, businesses, and policymakers are asking a bigger question: how do new payment rails actually change how money moves, decisions get made, and value is created? In this episode of Breaking Banks , host Jason Henrichs…
In This Episode What happens when three fintech nerds gather to eat spicy wings, share some sauce and talk about industry trends? If you are a regular listener to Breaking Banks, you already know the answer: the latest episode of Hot Takes! Get some chips, your own sauce if you’d like, and listen now as Jason Henrichs, Alex Johnson (Fintech Takes) and Simon Taylor (Fintech Brainfood) — refereed by…
In This Episode The length of the sales cycle in financial services is legendary. Slow decisions, endless diligence, and constant risk reviews are practically an industry meme. To be fair, the stakes are real. When money moves, it has to arrive; when deposits sit in a bank, they have to be safe. Somewhere along the way, caution turned into paralysis. Banks ask more questions, add more steps, delay…
In This Episode Could up to 80% of existing credit cards be canceled or see credit reductions under the proposed 10% interest rate cap? That’s the stark prediction from industry research and leading credit providers like JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon. Instead of helping consumers, the policy could trigger an evaporation of available credit, shrink access, and push borrowers toward less regulated…
In This Episode Just as mobile was once a separate vertical within banking, has digital transformation simply become part of everything we do? In this week’s episode of Breaking Banks, hosts Jason Henrichs, Brett King, and JP Nicols debate this and more as they discuss the current state of banking, the impact of fintech, and the evolution of digital banking. They cover the challenges posed by…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks , we spotlight our sister podcast, The Bankers’ Bookshelf , hosted by Paolo Sironi. In this episode, Paolo sits down with frequent Breaking Banks guest Leda Glyptis to discuss her book, “ Beyond Resilience: Patterns of Success in Fintech and Digital Transformation ”. Drawing from candid interviews with leading entrepreneurs, Leda moves past the typical…
In This Episode What’s your favorite holiday movie? It’s a Wonderful Life ? Miracle on 34th Street ? Scrooged ? Plot twist (literally): These are all banking movies . This week on Breaking Banks hosts Jason Henrichs and JP Nicols invite you to an Alloy Labs virtual holiday gathering. Joined by Amber Frye, Pam Kaur, and Samer Saab, they share favorite holiday movies with good cheer and a twist —…
In This Episode What if someone told you you’ve been underpaid by more than two million dollars across your career? In this episode, Jason Henrichs speaks with fintech entrepreneur Tom Sosnoff . You may know Tom from founding thinkorswim and tastytrade , two billion-dollar exits that transformed retail investing. His newest venture, Lossdog , launching this month, focuses onsalary transparency.…
In This Episode This week, Breaking Banks offers a human interest story from Brett’s conference travels. Listen as Brett connects with Arwa Damon, former CNN reporter based in Istanbul, and current President and Founder of INARA, an NGO working in Palestine. INARA, International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance, is a humanitarian organization providing rapid response and treatment to refugee…
In This Episode In this episode of Breaking Banks, hosts Jason Henrichs, Brett King and JP Nicols delve into the transformative impact of AI and technology on the banking industry, and share insights on what institutions must do to not only survive, but thrive as AI rewrites playbooks. The conversation covers the role of stablecoins, agentic AI, the future of smart contracts, smarter digital…
In This Episode Today, we turn the show over to our friends at Breaking Banks Europe, as we celebrate their 6th anniversary. What began as a podcast experiment has grown to over 280 episodes, more than 570 guests, thousands of listeners from every corner of the world, and countless debates. Over the past 6 years, the show has: Shaped conversations around open banking, fintech, DeFi, payments,…
In This Episode Today on Breaking Banks we feature the newest addition to the Provoke.fm family, Breaking Banks Africa. In this episode Breaking Banks Africa Host and Executive Producer Matteo Rizzi sits down with Sandra Yao, Ecobank ‘s Group Head: Cross Border Remittance, Payments & BaaS (Fintech). With 20 years of experience driving fintech and payment innovation across Africa, Sandra brings a…
In This Episode Markets are whipsawing, rate paths are murky, and headlines keep revising “the facts”, but no matter where we are in the economic cycle, the future presses on regardless. Our resident futurist Brett King and our resident “recovering banker” JP Nicols debate what that means for incumbent financial institutions and insurgent fintechs. We unpack how AI is shifting from pilots to…
In This Episode This episode of Breaking Banks features host Jason Henrichs sharing thoughts and key take-aways fresh from Money 20/20 USA. Stablecoins, Agentic AI and especially Agentic Commerce dominated many conversations at this year’s Money 20/20 event. Cross Border Payments another big topic not to mention AI, how it’s changing the game and being used by financial institutions. Jason had the…
In This Episode Inside The Futurists X Summit: Preparing For An AI Powered Future This week Breaking Banks comes to you from The Futurists X Summit in Dubai, the world’s largest gathering of top-ranked futurists. This summit brings together leaders, innovators and policymakers from around the globe for meaningful dialogue on the future of technology, business and society. Tune in as Breaking Banks…
In This Episode Many bank leaders are currently grappling with the same paradox: despite having access to more data than ever, it’s increasingly difficult to discern what truly matters. Budgets are tight, initiatives are piling up, and the market sends conflicting signals, all while the imperative to remain relevant to customers persists. Breaking Banks did a show on VUCA (volatility, uncertainty,…
In This Episode Dr. Antoine Khadige, Senior Partner at Strategy+ GCC, and Mohamed AlSabea, Chief of Staff and Chief Strategy Officer at barq, join host Brett King for a special episode, live from The Money Pot studio at Money20/20 Middle East in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Together, they share insights on the Gulf’s fintech transformation and on Riyadh’s growing reputation as the gateway to one of the…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks we finish our series on Brett King’s new book, Branch Tomorrow where we’ve featured interviews with Brett’s contributing authors: Bruno Diniz, Efi Pylarinou, Jim Marous, Paolo Sironi, and Richard Turrin. Each author brings a specialty in a different market, giving Branch Tomorrow a multi-perspective look at banking, banking culture, changes in…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks , we spotlight the newest member of the Provoke.fm family, Bankers’ Bookshelf , hosted by Paolo Sironi. This episode features Paolo’s interview with Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of the new book, Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy . Paolo and Sangeet discuss how AI is set to transform the global economy and company operations by…
In This Episode Gyrating securities prices, perplexing consumer confidence numbers, multiple revisions of jobs numbers, varying interest rate forecasts- that’s VUCA: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. Tim Mahedy is Founder and Chief Economist at Access Macro and serves as the Chief Economist at Alloy Labs, and his perspective, shaped by time at the IMF, as the Chief of Staff at…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks, we feature a fascinating and thought-provoking episode from our sister podcast, The Futurists , where Brett King welcomes celebrated experimental astrophysicist Professor Brian Cox. Professor Cox, an English physicist and musician, is widely recognized for presenting science programs such as BBC Radio 4’s The Infinite Monkey Cage and the Wonders of.. .…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks we’re continuing our series on Brett King’s new book, Branch Tomorrow, featuring interviews with contributing authors: Bruno Diniz, Efi Pylarinou,Jim Marous, Paolo Sironi, and Richard Turrin. Each brings specialty in different markets giving Branch Tomorrow a multi-perspective look at banking, banking culture, and the future of financial services across…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks we’re continuing our series on Brett King’s new book, Branch Tomorrow . We feature interviews with some of Brett’s contributing authors: Bruno Diniz, Efi Pylarinou, Jim Marous, Paolo Sironi, and Richard Turrin. Each author brings specialty in different markets giving Branch Tomorrow a multi-perspective look at banking, banking culture, changes in…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks we’re excited to introduce Brett King’s latest book, Branch Tomorrow. This new book re-examines our understanding of bank branches, banking culture, and the future of financial services across the globe, from the US to India, China and Latin America. In a special Breaking Banks series, Brett interviews contributing authors Bruno Diniz, Efi Pylarinou, Jim…
In This Episode In this episode, Breaking Banks delves into the evolving landscape of financial health standards, exploring how the Financial Health Network is pioneering a new set of standards aimed at designing financial products that prioritize consumer well-being. These standards, set to transform financial services by focusing on customer-centric outcomes, start with a focus on checking…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks , we focus on a fundamental topic in financial services: trust. Trust is the cornerstone of any successful banking relationship. Consumers trust their financial institutions to protect their information and funds—and that trust is warranted. We have guarantees like FDIC insurance to back it up. The importance of trust is acutely felt in community…
In This Episode Today we celebrate the 15th anniversary of Dodd-Frank! Tune in as Alex Johnson (Fintech Takes), Kiah Haslett (writer and former banking and fintech editor at Bank Director), and Dara Tarkowski (Tech on Reg host and Partner at Actuate Law) join host Jason Henrichs. They dive deep into Dodd-Frank, discussing its successes and shortcomings as the most significant piece of regulatory…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks , join us as we explore how real-time data is helping lenders understand financial behaviors beyond traditional credit scores, as Plaid, the largest financial data network, and Experian, a leading data technology company join forces via their new partnership. Listen as Michelle Young, Credit Product Lead at Plaid and Ashley Knight, SVP of Product…
In This Episode JPMorgan Chase has fired the first shot, announcing their plan to charge fintechs what some are calling exorbitant fees for access to customer data. It has the potential to shake the foundations of the open banking movement in the U.S. At the same time, the Section 1033 rule itself is under assault in the courts, and the future of consumer-driven finance hangs in the balance. In…
In This Episode In June we lost a pillar of our community, Barb MacLean, a brilliant fintech mind and a beloved colleague. A guest turned co-host on Breaking Banks and an invaluable member of Alloy Labs. She was truly special, she never hesitated to pay it forward or to speak truth, albeit in the most polite Canadian way, whether on podcasts or the stages of Finovate. Every week she curated a list…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks , we feature our sister podcast, Social Currency , powered by Sunrise Banks. Social Currency introduces us to some of the most innovative changemakers in finance, technology, and social impact—leaders who are dismantling barriers and reshaping their industries for a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future. Hosts Tyler Seydel, Chief Fintech…
In This Episode Live from the main stage at American Banker’s Digital Banking 2025 , this high-energy episode of Breaking Banks brings the regulatory heat. Host Jason Henrichs is joined by Alex Johnson ( Fintech Takes ) and Dara Tarkowski ( Actuate Law ) for unfiltered, rapid-fire takes on the most urgent—and divisive—issues shaping digital finance regulation today. In a fintech twist on the…
This week we bring you more insights from Cape Town South Africa as we continue to explore some great startups on the African continent and beyond from Crossfin’s Circle of Fintech event. In our first segment, Brett speaks with Karl Westvig, CEO of TymeBank South Africa. Since receiving its banking license in South Africa in 2019, TymeBank has grown to 80 million customers globally, focusing on…
In This Episode This week’s episode of Breaking Banks brings you insights from Cape Town, South Africa, and the Circle of Fintech event hosted by Crossfin. Africa accounts for a remarkable 70% of mobile money accounts globally, and over the past decade, fintech and mobile money have brought 1.1 billion Sub-Saharan Africans into the formal financial services system.. In the episode, Brett King is…
In This Episode Traditional banks just pocketed $268 billion in profit—even with loan growth stuck in first gear—while global fintech funding barely limped past $10 billion , thanks to a single blockbuster round. This week, Theo Lau and Greg Palmer join hosts JP Nicols, Brett King, and Jason Henrichs to untangle those contradictions and ask who’s really carrying the baton in the race for the…
In This Episode This week on Breaking Banks host Brett King is joined by Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation. As Political Leader of the City of London Corporation, Chris acts as a principal spokesperson and advocate for London as a global financial and professional services capital. In the segment, Brett and Chris discuss The impact to date of the Trump presidency on…
