WORKWEEK

A majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Across the thousands of B2C fintech pitch decks I’ve reviewed over the years, I can’t tell you how many have contained some version of that statement. The purpose of its inclusion is to underline a broader point – Americans are financially unhealthy – and to make…

The plan for today’s newsletter is for me to empty my notebook of all the idle observations, half-formed thoughts, dumb questions, and minor follow-ups that haven’t made it into the newsletter in the last few months. I’ll also be answering a few questions that I’ve gotten from the Fintech Takes community. Call it a Fintech…

There’s an inherent tension in financial services between the business of lending money and the critical role that lending plays in the functioning of our society. As a business, lending is unusually sensitive to external conditions. When interest rates go up or the capital requirements imposed by regulators become more stringent, lenders will logically respond…

The first annual Fintech Takes Lending Summit, which took place earlier this month, featured a bunch of interesting sessions. Two, in particular, stand out in my memory because they were absolutely chock-full of great data. The Macro Picture: The Economic Forces Shaping the Lending Environment, presented by Amy Crews Cutts, former Chief Economist at Equifax. …