Whoa

This is Montgomery Brewster paying the New York Yankees to play an exhibition game against the Hackensack Bulls … except 1000x more embarrassing.

Reflecting on the SVB collapse over the past year+: What lessons stand out? 🤔

There's one big one that I'm still thinking about - SVB's obsessive focus on startups turned out to be a double-edged sword.

⚔️ Side 1: Specialization ⚔️

Everything that SVB did was focused on…

Lending nerds should study OneMain.

It consistently outperforms its peers in the subprime space, not through better analytics (though its analytics are good) but rather through its branch and dealer-based underwriting process that drives positive selection.

Smart stuff.

Question - Which fintech companies are actually interested in hiring people over the age of 50?

Through Fintech Takes, I get to know a lot of people who are looking for a new role.

These folks span the gamut.

Some are trying to get their first job in financial services or make…

I love this so so much.

This website is amazing.

BaaS middleware platforms going from selling to fintechs to selling to banks.

It’s kind of amazing to see fintech companies that have gotten bank charters (Varo, SoFi) prioritize Zelle on their product roadmaps.

Bet it drives EWS’s owner banks crazy.

ICYMI, my Latest Fintech Takes newsletter came out last night. I cover:

1.) The Forbes deep dive on Chime. What to make of their numbers and their foray into unsecured lending.

2.) Target and Walmart object to the merchant settlement with V/MC. They have a point, but ohh the…

Let’s revisit PayPal's venture into the stablecoin arena, which Simon Taylor and I first featured in our NOT FINTECH INVESTMENT ADVICE series on the pod👇

HERE'S WHAT WE SAID THEN:

As a leading publicly traded fintech company, PayPal’s move to introduce PYUSD last August in the…

Appreciate the shoutout FIS!

😂

.Alex Johnson is asking the important questions in this week's Fintech Takes roundup.

Fintechs asking their users for 'tips' be like:

A structural limit on private credit's ability to replace banks: fundraising.

The lack of runnable deposit funding looked like an advantage in 2023. But a financial system's first and foremost job is to manufacture deposits.

I rarely regret not reading Alex' essay until I have focus time. This week's essay deserves to be read slowly and thoughtfully 👇🏻

The replies are the best.

For your weekend reading pleasure, a new Fintech Takes essay.

[Whitney Houston voice] I Believe The Merchants Are Our Future

fintechtakes.com/articles/2024-…

Community banks engage with third parties to help compete in and respond to an evolving financial services landscape. The OCC, Federal Reserve and FDIC released a guide to support banks in managing third-party relationship risks, including fintechs. occ.gov/news-issuances…