Breaking Banks

The banking industry is entering a perilous new phase, and new developments are happening quickly so we’re dropping this episode early. The second largest bank failure in history came suddenly with Silicon Valley Bank being shut down by regulators on March 10. This comes just two days after Silvergate bank announced it was closing “voluntarily”. Joining our resident recovering banker and host JP Nicols are Kiah Haslett, managing editor at Bank Director, and John Maxfield principal at...

Financial health is a composite of an individual's financial life, whether they are spending, saving, borrowing and planning in ways that enable them to be resilient and pursue opportunities. In today's episode we look at finhealth from a different angle. Listen as Jason Henrichs speaks with two leaders bringing financial health, financial services and healthcare, to the next level. MA-based, non-profit, About Fresh and its Co-Founder and CEO, Josh Trautwein and Jennifer Tescher, President...

This week on Breaking Banks we feature sister podcast Breaking Banks Europe as they take a sneak peek at Finovate Europe, March 14th and 15th in London. As with other Finovate conferences, get your votes ready! There will be demos aplenty, listen to learn about this year’s enhancements, stellar all-star panels, conference sustainability efforts and different networking opportunities, startup booster and… “HOT OR NOT?” Curious? Breaking Banks Europe host Francesca Aliverti connects with Greg...

The personalization of finance is here. Listen as Brett connects with Emmanuel Daniel about his book "The Great Transition" where Emmanual, founder of The Asian Banker and global thought leader in the future of finance, outlines the transition that the finance industry will go through from its platform stage today into the personalization of finance. Personalization will have a profound effect on how institutions, markets and society will function in the network age. He introduces the term...

Making lemonade out of a lemon....being sued is not necessarily a bad thing, in this case it spurred the development of a personal financial management tool that is helping many clear debt and learn to budget. Gone are spreadsheets and lessons from our elders on how best to budget. It sometimes takes a village and a community, as users share tips and stories so that everyone wins. Listen as Jason Henrichs connects with Carmen Perez, CEO and Founder, Much, about her journey and inspiration in...

Dreams becoming reality. This episode spotlights champions leading the way forward towards an inclusive financial ecosystem for the Black community. In the first segment, Jason Henrichs connects with Kenya McKnight-Ahad, the CEO and Founder of Black Women's Wealth Alliance, BWWA. BWWA resulted from combining Kenya's background in economic development with her desire to engage with Black women about how to empower themselves financially. Kenya's focus on improving the lives of others by...

Live from AOBA (Acquire or Be Acquired Conference)! As bank leadership and executives focus on strategy & growth, explore paths to creating more value and the evolving competitive landscape, Jason Henrichs, Alex Johnson and Mary Wisniewski take time out to gather around the firepit to problem solve and offer up some spicy takes and take-outs. Banking is complex, redflag those that don't recognize that. Competition, economic challenges and friction can garner results, leading to business...

In This Episode Rising competition, changing customer expectations, and the fight for talent are top of mind these days. With possible regulatory changes and economic fluctuations, it’s essential that banks remain focused and agile. Brett King, Jason Henrichs, James White, Banking Industry Principal, Total Expert, and Ron Shevlin, Chief Research Officer, Cornerstone Advisors and Forbes' Fintech Snark Tank author engage in a lively discussion on the value of agility in banking. Tomorrow’s...

The U.S. can be a tough and complex regulatory environment. Listen as Brett catches up with Peter Hazlehurst, Co-Founder and CEO, Synctera. Peter's background with Uber Money, consumer payments at Google and experience creating financial products for banks, fintechs, and large tech companies has helped create an end to end platform to enable fintech builders to create products with embedded banking and card issuance. Aside from the need for regulatory clarity, they cover KYC, global identity...

In this Episode: As the costs of meeting customer expectations and competitive pressures continue to rise, more banks are considering mergers and acquisitions to gain scale and stay relevant, but there are deep structural regulatory constraints that can often be an impediment. Everything from the way geographic boundaries are defined, to the way competition is measured to the way products and services are evaluated have mid-twentieth century origins that don’t seem well-suited for today’s...

It's an epic episode as Breaking Banks kicks off its 10th year. This week we offer you a megamix and extended play as Jason Henrichs, Brett King and JP Nicols chat with 10 industry all-stars about what is next in financial services. Big predictions from big names! Henri Arslanian, David Birch, Leda Glyptis, Theo Lau, Liz Lumley, Jim Marous, Ron Shevlin, Paolo Sironi, Chris Skinner and Mary Wisniewski. Cheers to 2023!! https://youtu.be/A73dCMkoPYA

For the last show of 2022 we end the year by looking back at how we started it. Brett, Jason, and JP made some 2022 predictions, listen to find out just how clear their crystal balls were. Spoiler alert: None predicted the crash in crypto prices or bankruptcy filings by some of the biggest platform players, global price spikes, or Twitter being taken private by Elon Musk, but we did get a few things right. The hosts all agreed on the need for financial institutions to better vet and manage...

Banking leaders aren’t confident that they have the tools in place to effectively serve Generation Z customers, those born between 1997-2012. David Stillman, Founder of GenGuru and co-author of Gen Z @ Work says this lack of confidence is well-founded. He draws on his decades of research to talk about the challenges of meeting the needs of five different generations of customers, why Gen Z doesn’t want work/life balance, and how Gen Xers can avoid making the same mistakes with Gen Z that the...

In venture timing is everything, it can make you or crush you. Listen as host Amber Buker speaks with former entrepreneur, CEO, current investor, active board member for public companies, and General Partner, Ken Denman, Sway Ventures about his varied career. He thoughtfully shares executive, strategic and operational insights from his experiences, and touches upon his love of looking around corners. In a tough market like today, you need to give yourself a runway (24 months may be the new...

Regulatory scrutiny as it relates to banks and fintech partners is starting to get hot as regulators get more vocal. This week on Breaking Banks, Jason Henrichs covers this and more with his guests Kirsten Muetzel, Chief Risk Officer, Fundid; Keith Evans, VP, VMO, First Northern Bank; and Clayton Mitchell, Principal, Crowe LLP. Listen as they discuss the regulatory complexity of creating fintech partnerships, vendors as partners and the value of these partnerships as financial institutions...

Host Jason Henrichs kicks today's episode off with song — it's not to be missed and neither are the conversations with Michael Kitces, Nerd's Eye View and then Theodora Lau, Unconventional Ventures. The markets are a bit frightful and there is strain on individuals and financial service providers. Our guests address the role of technology and empathy. Michael covers the role tech plays in financial planning. Much has been said of robo-advisors but there are parts of the process and the...

In honor of Native American Heritage Month and Day (11/25) we have an incredible episode hosted by Amber Buker and Jason Henrichs. First, Amber speaks with Dawson Her Many Horses, SVP & Head of Native American Banking about Wells Fargo's new report on Indian Country’s Once-In-a-Seven Generation Opportunity. Wells Fargo is a leading provider of capital for the native american and Alaska native markets banking 4 out of 10 federally recognized tribes in the US, equating to roughly $3B in credit...

The party goes on....or does it? Are we back to normal before things went crazy? Jason kicks this episode off with a conversation with Jason Mikula, Fintech Business Weekly. They dive into one of JH's favorite topics....interchange! Listen as The Jasons discuss payments, rewards, mobile wallets and the rise of commerce players (Walmart and Amazon) becoming more fintech focused with what they do. Then JP connects with Nick Chandi, CEO and Co-Founder, Forward AI created to solve SMB cash flow...

This week JP Nicols continues exploring the risks and opportunities in the global economy and how to balance fraud and friction with these live recordings from Money 20/20 in Las Vegas. We start in Latin America, with Sergio Almageur. Founder and CEO of Yaydoo, which simplifies finance with its B2B payment automation tools and helps small businesses manage invoices, payables, receivables, and cross-border payments. Then we connect with Misha Esipov from Nova Credit and discuss how they’re...

If you want to play the game, learn the players. Listen as Amber Buker records live from the MoneyPot podcast booth at M20/20 with Kelsey Weaver, a Founder, Investor, Bank Board Member and Philanthropist, and Siya Vansia, SVP, Chief Brand and Innovation Officer, ConnectOne Bank. The OG Fintech Girl Gang members share insights on what fintechs need to do as investment dollars tighten and how bank investors are creating new paradigms that recognize value is not the same as valuation. Then,...