The (Unlikely) End of the FICO Score

My first house was a bit of a fixer-upper. My wife and I knew this going in. It was built in 1939 and it had been, for the two decades before we bought it, mainly used as a rental property for college kids. We knew we were signing up for a lot of work (and…

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Tally Isn’t Adding Up

3 FINTECH NEWS STORIES #1: Tally Isn’t Adding Up What happened? Customers of Tally, a fintech company focused on helping consumers pay off their credit card debt, are reporting some problems: So what? The pitch for Tally, which was founded in 2015, is that consumers link together all of their credit cards and apply for…

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1033: Letters From the Front Lines

When the CFPB released its proposed personal financial data rights rule (AKA open banking) back in October, there was a lot of grumbling in the industry.  No one – banks, fintech companies, data aggregators, merchants, big tech companies – was perfectly happy (which, incidentally, is a good indicator that the bureau wrote a rule that…

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Coinbase, Selling Out

3 FINTECH NEWS STORIES #1: Coinbase, Selling Out  What happened? Coinbase launched a new platform: Coinbase and its asset management arm teamed up to launch Project Diamond, a smart contract platform that allows institutions to trade and create new digital assets. The goal is to allow institutions to manage digital assets “directly on-chain,” Coinbase said.…

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A Call for Craftsmanship

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become less and less of a fan of New Year’s resolutions.  This is likely due to the fact that I, like most people, struggle at self-improvement, and making a long and ambitious list of specific self-improvement goals for the coming year has always been a surefire way to bum myself…

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A Fintech Wish List

Saint Nicholas Eve is a holiday that is traditionally celebrated on or around December 5th. In many European countries, children observe the holiday by leaving shoes filled with carrots and hay for Saint Nicholas’ horse in the hope that he will return the favor by leaving oranges, chocolates, or small gifts for them. In my…

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