Posts by Alex Johnson
Tough Timing
3 Fintech News Stories #1: Eating Its Way Up the Stack What happened? Plaid is bringing a new product out of beta: Plaid today announced that after two years in beta, its machine learning (ML) risk engine, Signal, will be available to customers seeking to upgrade their automated clearing house (ACH) transaction services with fraud…
Read MoreMake it Dumber
Let’s say it’s 2019, and you’ve decided you want to build a neobank. What kind of neobank might you build? Well, you’d probably focus on the youngest cohort of available customers – Gen Z. The ones you feel like incumbents are probably least able to understand and serve well. You might look for some way…
Read MoreI’ll Have What She’s Having
3 Fintech News Stories #1: I’ll Have What She’s Having What happened? Buzzy fintech startup X1 has raised more money: X1, a consumer fintech startup which recently launched an income-based credit card to the public, has raised an additional $15 million in funding. So what? As Mary Ann rightly notes in her article, this funding…
Read MoreA Microcosm for Fintech
If you had to pick one company to use as an example to explain everything that has happened in fintech over the last decade, which company would you pick? It’s a difficult question. I’m not asking for the most successful company in fintech over the last 10 years. Or the most famous (or infamous). I’m…
Read MoreYoung People Don’t Like Old Tech
Three Fintech News Stories #1: A New Type of Liability Shift What happened? The big banks are devising some new rules for refunding customers who lose money to scams through Zelle: Banks are required to refund customers for transactions they didn’t authorize, but there is no such protection for customers who are duped into sending…
Read MoreA Heaping Plateful of Fintech Takes
Ok, here’s the plan. I’m going to lay out a draft schedule for Thanksgiving Day and then pair fintech content recommendations (both my content and great content from other folks) for every part of the day. A couple of notes: The draft schedule reflects my own personal Thanksgiving schedule, which may be very different than…
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