News Pod #18 - NerdWallet's Q1 '26 Earnings: Why Is The Stock Down 30%? [X-POST from The Free Toaster Podcast]

News Pod #24 - How Lenders Win When AI Calls the Shots

Nick and Carlos discuss an Editorial piece recently published in The Free Toaster Newsletter https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/how-lenders-win-when-ai-calls-the [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/how-lenders-win-when-ai-calls-the]   The premise of the conversation -- an LLM-based personal finance tool is going to be the most effective/useful way for consumers to shop for cards and lending products. Given that future, how should CMOs at lending companies be thinking about their long-term strategy? ****** The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders San Francisco - September 23rd & 24th 150-person, curated room Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1 Learn more: events.thefreetoaster.com [http://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** Sign Up For Our Newsletter   The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com/], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Please Support Our Sponsors   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]   Fintel Connect   Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency) NMG focuses on building affiliate marketing programs for consumer lenders. www.newmarketgrowth.com [http://www.newmarketgrowth.com/]

E051 - Real Talk On How Long It Takes To Get Into Big Affiliate Platforms

Most lenders underestimate how long it takes to get onto a major affiliate platform. The honest answer is 6 to 12 months. Sometimes 18. If one of these channels is on your 2027 roadmap, you need to start now.   In this solo episode, Carlos breaks down the five phases that explain the timeline: 1. Internal prep. Do you have a competitive product and funnel? Get your application rate above 40%. Card issuers need 70 to 80% approval rates, which implies serious work on model alignment. Personal loan lenders need a dialed-in funding rate, too. 2. Getting the partner's attention. A single intro call can take a month or two. BD teams are busy and you are not their priority unless you are already on their short list. 3. Getting them on board. Adding you usually redistributes revenue across their existing lenders rather than growing their top line. The business case looks very different for you than for them. 4. The deal. NDAs, contracts, and cross-functional review. Most terms are standardized. Lenders new to the game often redline anyway and lose months for little gain. 5. The partner does the work. Engineering and onboarding queues are out of your hands.   Add it up and you're waiting 6 to 12 months for a single lead.   Plan accordingly! ***** The Affiliate Marketing Summit For Lenders San Francisco - September 23rd & 24th 150-person, curated room Early bird tickets ($999) end August 1 Learn more: events.thefreetoaster.com [http://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** Sign Up For Our Newsletter   The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com/], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Please Support Our Sponsors   Fintel Connect   Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]   New Market Growth (Carlos’ agency) NMG focuses on building affiliate marketing programs for consumer lenders. www.newmarketgrowth.com [http://www.newmarketgrowth.com/]

News Pod #21 - Cash Flow Underwriting Distribution - Carlos and Nick Continue The Convo...

We've been writing about Cash Flow Underwriting lately. This week we continue the conversation. We expand on what we wrote this week in The Free Toaster Newsletter: https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/will-llms-solve-distribution-for [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/will-llms-solve-distribution-for]   ***** The Free Toaster is hosting the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders on September 23rd & 24th in San Francisco.  Learn more: https://events.thefreetoaster.com/ [https://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=june [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb] Fintel Connect Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]

News Pod #20 - What Would It Take To Scale Cash Flow Based Lending?

In an October 2024 article in The Free Toaster, Carlos laid out 3 things that would unlock distribution for Cash Flow Based Lenders. In today's episode, he shares the progress we've made on all 3 fronts over the last 18 months. https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/where-is-the-demand-for-cash-flow-underwriting [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/where-is-the-demand-for-cash-flow-underwriting]   ***** The Free Toaster is hosting the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders on September 23rd & 24th in San Francisco.  Learn more: https://events.thefreetoaster.com/ [https://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Fintel Connect Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]   Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=apr [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb]

News Pod #19 - With the New Plaid Integration, ChatGPT is Now a Distribution Channel for Personal Finance

ChatGPT just integrated Plaid, giving 200 million monthly users a personalized finance experience built on real account data. Carlos and Nick break down what that means for affiliate marketing. Credit Karma's approval odds models (and Experian's) become foundational infrastructure. Intuit's $100M OpenAI deal puts TurboTax and Credit Karma inside the chat. Generic content sites ranking for "best travel credit cards" lose ground to recommendations that know you spent $8,000 on United last year. They cover which channels survive (direct mail, social, podcasts) and the question every lender and publisher needs to ask right now. Today's Pod expands on our Newsletter coverage: https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/with-plaid-integration-chatgpt-is [https://www.thefreetoaster.com/p/with-plaid-integration-chatgpt-is]   ***** The Free Toaster is hosting the Affiliate Marketing Summit for Lenders on September 23rd & 24th in San Francisco.  Learn more: https://events.thefreetoaster.com/ [https://events.thefreetoaster.com/]   ***** The Free Toaster Newsletter ships every Wednesday at www.thefreetoaster.com [http://www.thefreetoaster.com], curating the biggest stories at the intersection of consumer lending, marketing, and technology. ****** Bulldog Media Group: Bulldog Media Group is a leading performance marketing company that specializes in online customer acquisition for clients in the financial services industry. Since 2000, they have focused on financial services digital marketing as their core niche.  https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/ [https://www.bulldogmediagroup.com/]   Spinwheel:   Reduce friction in your lending application with just two fields—phone number and birthdate. Spinwheel’s APIs boost application rates by 20-30% while also providing real-time credit data and seamless payment processing. Want to see it in action? Connect with their Head of Growth for a demo! https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=apr [https://spinwheel.io/partner/?utm_source=freetoaster&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=feb] Fintel Connect Drive thousands of new accounts and billions in deposits with the only partner marketing solution built for fintech and banking – your all-in-one affiliate platform, partner network, agency, and marketing compliance engine. https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast [https://partner.fintelconnect.com/get-to-know-fintel-connect?utm_campaign=13897733-2025%20Partners&utm_source=The%20Free%20Toaster&utm_medium=podcast]