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Fintech Takes

Fintech Takes

By: Alex Johnson
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Summary
 Fintech moves fast. But here at Fintech Takes, Alex Johnson and his rotating panel of guests move faster so that you can stay on top of the latest and greatest news in the industry without breaking a sweat. Welcome to Fintech Takes—the place where fintech’s biggest nerds come to sit back, relax, and completely geek out. Join Alex and a lineup of fintech’s brightest minds as they dissect what’s happening in fintech and banking. Each week, Alex and his guests recap the most interesting developments in fintech and explore the industry’s most pressing questions, diving headfirst into the intricate workings of some of the industry’s most ground-breaking business models and unpacking the emerging players that promise to shape fintech’s future. From riveting conversations with fintech’s most relevant operators to comprehensive recaps of the month's most compelling news stories and in-depth analyses of the latest regulatory developments, Fintech Takes is your one-stop-shop for navigating the fintech universe. Subscribe now to join fintech’s nerdiest podcast around!Copyright 2026 Alex Johnson Economics Personal Finance Politics & Government
Episodes
  • The Blue Wave Hits Financial Services

    The Blue Wave Hits Financial Services
    Nov 11 2026
    Welcome back to Fintech Takes. I’m your host, Alex Johnson, and I’ve flashed the regulatory bat signal to bring Rob Blackwell (Chief Content Officer & Head of External Affairs at IntraFi and host of the Banking With Interest podcast) back for an emergency edition of What the Hell Is Going On. The midterms delivered a blue wave Rob calls “generational.” But did Democrats win, or did Republicans lose? And what does it mean for financial services? We get into: How Fairshake spent $50 million against Sherrod Brown and lost (and what that means for crypto’s political leverage and the CLARITY Act), and why World Liberty Financial’s trust charter is headed for congressional scrutiny. Why Elizabeth Warren and Maxine Waters could soon wield committee gavels, and what comes next for the gutted CFPB, with newly empowered state Democrats eyeing bank fees in the meantime. Whether bipartisanship has a future. Trump says he’s open to deals, but Rob puts the odds at 3/10, citing a housing bill Trump nearly vetoed after coming to see a provision he’d requested as Warren’s. Plus, a tribute to Sir Patrick Stewart and Rob’s case for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. --- This episode is brought to you by Increase. Increase offers API-first banking for ambitious technology companies. Companies like Coast, Gusto, and Ramp rely on Increase technology to process more than $500B annualized in payments, card transactions, and loans. Learn more at https://increase.com/ --- Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. --- Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson --- Follow Rob: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-blackwell-63884826/ X: https://x.com/robblackwellAB
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • AI Agents, SoFi, & the OCC’s “Irrefutable” Report

    AI Agents, SoFi, & the OCC’s “Irrefutable” Report
    Nov 4 2026
    Welcome back to Fintech Recap. I'm Alex Johnson, joined as always by my partner in recapping, Jason Mikula. We kick things off with the big takeaways from Money20/20, where AI agents were everywhere, and so was the anxiety about what they're already doing inside banks. Big banks want to block them, while fintech companies see opportunity. Will blocking agents eventually become a competitive disadvantage? Then, it’s our charter watch. In the narrowing window to secure approval under the current administration, we discuss what fintech companies may stand to gain from national trust bank charters. (We also dig into SoFi’s new tokenized deposit, SOFIE, which pays 4.4% APY and converts into SoFiUSD – in part to ask who it’s for!) Next, bank to debanking we go. The OCC says its new report on the nine largest banks provides “irrefutable evidence.” We read it, and we’re unconvinced. Finally, EarnIn sued Maryland over a law prohibiting earned wage access providers from soliciting tips, prompting my entirely predictable rant about tipping in financial services (which also conveniently serves as my Can't Let It Go!). As for Jason, he discovered that the CFPB has appointed a Chief Superintelligence Officer, despite having no superintelligence use cases to report. --- This episode is brought to you by Increase. Increase offers API-first banking for ambitious technology companies. Companies like Coast, Gusto, and Ramp rely on Increase technology to process more than $500B annualized in payments, card transactions, and loans. Learn more at https://increase.com/ --- Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. --- Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson --- Follow Jason: Newsletter: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Fintech Takes x C&R presents: The Customer Isn’t the Liability

    Fintech Takes x C&R presents: The Customer Isn’t the Liability
    Nov 2 2026
    Welcome to Season 2 of Collections Conversations, a new miniseries from Fintech Takes, sponsored by our friends at C&R Software, which digs into how AI is reshaping debt collections. In this season, we’re surveying everything that happens after origination by bouncing around different markets and talking to folks with different experiences. In Episode 4, I sit down with Anders Wallin, who has spent a lot of time on the technology side of credit (he’s worked as CIO for a traditional credit bureau and a debt purchaser, and even at FICO). We apply that view to collections and recovery, the most neglected stage of the credit lifecycle. We start with the opportunities lenders miss when they see technology primarily as a way to avoid risk and cut costs. Banks invest plenty in acquiring customers, but the switch flips the moment a payment’s missed. Ironically, debt buyers often take the more customer-centric approach. At Hoist, the debt purchaser Anders joined in 2012, the word “debtor” was banned, and machine learning helped them understand what borrowers wanted to pay. Anders says customers who default typically come back as payers 5-7 years later. We get into: Why big banks are “really bad” at collections, and what the UK’s outsourcing and debt sale market gets right Why “your liability is now their asset” changes how a debt gets treated How open banking data could enable sustainable, individualized repayment plans How Swedish lenders verify last month’s paycheck, and why northern and southern Europe view debt so differently. Tune in for a conversation about the customer on the other side of every delinquent account (and why they’re probably coming back). --- This episode is brought to you by C&R Software. More than just debt collection, C&R sets the global standard for AI-native, humanized credit management. They simplify the complex with end-to-end credit-risk lifecycle support, powered by automated workflows, AI-native intelligence, and real-time, data-driven decisioning. Learn more at https://hubs.ly/Q03Wl1DY0. --- Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page. --- Follow Alex: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson --- Follow Anders: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anderswallin/
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    45 mins
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