Can Fintech Fix What's Broken in Community Lending?

Can Fintech Fix What's Broken in Community Lending?

CDFIs don't get nearly enough credit in the fintech conversation. They're filling a gap the traditional financial system either can't fill or won't, and they're doing it with cobbled-together technology that was never built for them. In this episode, Roland sits down with Kyle Lovell, Chief Lending Officer at Business Impact Northwest, for a ground-level look at how CDFIs actually operate, where they fit in the broader lending ecosystem, and why the technology gap inside these organizations is one of the most underexplored partnership opportunities in fintech right now. Guest Kyle Lovell, Chief Lending Officer, Business Impact Northwest businessimpactnw.org What We Cover * [0:00] What CDFIs are and how they fit into the financial ecosystem alongside banks, credit unions, and fintechs * [3:22] Why CDFIs view themselves as a stepping stone, not a forever lender, and what that means for their bank and credit union partnerships * [4:17] How CDFI underwriting differs from traditional lending, including approving borrowers with sub-600 credit scores by weighing the full picture rather than requiring strength across all five C's of credit * [6:43] The speed problem: CDFIs personalize every loan decision, and that takes time. Where fintech can help close that gap * [13:23] How Business Impact NW funds its loan portfolio without deposits, pulling from federal, state, and local grants alongside low-interest debt from banks and credit unions * [15:57] The rise of guarantee programs and how they allow CDFIs to take on higher-risk borrowers without putting the organization at risk * [21:11] Why merchant cash advances are, in Kyle's words, the scourge of her existence, and how they hide in underwriting if you're not looking for them * [22:41] Cash flow underwriting as the next frontier: Business Impact NW is integrating Laser Credit with Salesforce to automate financial spreading and accelerate time-to-yes * [24:28] The SBA microloan program: 40% of Business Impact NW's loan volume by count, the lowest rates they offer, and the most manual work in the portfolio Resources and Links Business Impact Northwest: businessimpactnw.org Related Episodes If this episode got your wheels turning, these are worth your time: 🎙️ Why Most Digital Transformation in Banking Fails | ICBA's Justin Dunmyer [https://youtu.be/IuqVxNO-o18] — CDFIs aren't the only ones struggling to modernize. Justin Dunmyer breaks down why transformation initiatives stall and what community banks are doing about it. 🎙️ Fintech PR Demystified: Costs, Relationships, and the AI Trap [https://youtu.be/9R83ucbGWbg] — If you're a fintech founder eyeing the CDFI space as a market opportunity, this one covers how to build credibility and get press without torching your budget or your reputation. 🎙️ Cringe Valley to Growth Engine: The Power of Video Content [https://youtu.be/8pZcCdm1dnw] — Kyle mentioned wanting to get faster and more visible. This episode is about how fintech brands use video to build trust before a borrower or partner ever picks up the phone. The Propagate Fintech Podcast is produced by Propagate, a fintech marketing, branding, and PR agency. propagatefintech.com | #fintechmarketing #bankingpodcast #fintechpodcast Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com [https://www.propagatefintech.com/] Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

Are Community Banks Too Late to the BNPL Party? A fintech marketing conversation with Jazzy Zhu, SVP of Marketing at Equipifi

EPISODE OVERVIEW Roland sits down with Jazzy Zhu, CMO of Equipifi, to dig into why community banks and credit unions are still leaving BNPL on the table, how Equipifi is helping them reclaim those dollars flowing to third-party lenders, and what it looks like to run bold, human-first marketing inside a regulated-industry startup. Jazzy also pulls back the curtain on Equipifi's fourth website build, their go-live marketing toolkit, and the philosophy she brings to every brand she touches: ban boring. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - The BNPL gap: why banks are missing out  02:05 - Equipifi's mission and who they serve  03:10 - Category creation as a marketing mindset  05:00 - How Equipifi shows up online (and has fun doing it)  10:30 - BNPL evolution: from checkout to full purchase journey  15:20 - The pre-approved, post-transaction experience  18:30 - Why institutions are slow to adopt, and why they shouldn't be  23:40 - 60-day go-lives and the marketing launch toolkit 28:48 - Website 4.0: the full story  34:25 - Why they dropped the bank vs. credit union pages  40:47 - Final take: how to stay a person in the age of AI content KEY TAKEAWAYS * An estimated 95% of BNPL transactions still run through fintech. Equipifi exists to change that for community banks and credit unions. * Millions of dollars are leaving institutions every month to repay third-party BNPL loans. The data is sitting right there. Most banks just haven't looked. * BNPL has evolved well beyond checkout. The real race now is owning the full pre-purchase to post-purchase journey, and financial institutions have a genuine opening to compete. * Equipifi's go-live timeline can be as short as 30 to 60 days from first call to launch, including a custom-branded marketing toolkit they hand off to every new client. * Jazzy's take on category marketing: your job isn't just to answer the question, it's to define the question. That's the whole game. * On the website redesign: they ditched separate bank and credit union pages and let institutions self-select by use case instead. The product outgrew the old architecture. * The "ban boring" rule isn't a tagline. It's a filter. If you have nothing new to say, saying nothing is better than adding noise. * In B2B fintech, people buy from people. If they don't like you, product value won't save you, especially early stage. QUOTABLE MOMENTS "My North Star as a marketer: if you've come in to say something, make sure you said it, and make sure you were not boring during it." — Jazzy Zhu "If everybody is saying 'do you want to grow deposits?', it has no value and no meaning. You could have said nothing and that would have served you better." — Jazzy Zhu "The end product should still be you. No matter how you get to that end goal, how do you stay you?" — Jazzy Zhu TOPICS COVERED Buy Now Pay Later, Community banks, Credit unions, Embedded finance, Category marketing, Brand strategy, Website redesign, Fintech marketing, Personal brand, Customer acquisition, Disintermediation, AI and content, Startup growth CONNECT WITH JAZZY AND EQUIPIFI Visit equipifi.com to learn more about their BNPL platform for financial institutions. Find Jazzy on LinkedIn and keep an eye out for the Equipifi team at industry events. Other Episodes: Clip 1: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9qZqDXlvMYw  Clip 2: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/O1iXwgEkEfg  Clip 3: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kisYKG2_qkw Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

The $124 Trillion Wealth Transfer Banks Aren't Ready For

The $124 Trillion Opportunity Banks Are Sleeping On $124 trillion is transferring from Baby Boomers to the next generation by 2048. And most banks and credit unions have no seat at that table. I sat down with Tobias Salinger, Chief Correspondent at Financial Planning magazine — sister publication to American Banker — to unpack the disintermediation risk, the wealth transfer opportunity, and the crawl, walk, run playbook for standing up a financial advising program. Timestamps 0:00 — Welcome & Tobias's background at Financial Planning and American Banker 0:24 — How fintechs are chipping away at traditional banking relationships 1:03 — How serious is the disintermediation risk for banks and credit unions not offering financial planning? 2:21 — Why smaller institutions have fallen behind on wealth management 3:05 — The long-term commitment wealth management actually requires 4:15 — The advisor retention problem — and why golden handcuffs matter 5:07 — Why institutional financial advising relationships appeal to privacy-conscious customers 6:35 — How LPL, Cetera, Osaic, and Ameriprise are winning the third-party race 8:00 — The natural connection between deposits and wealth management 8:54 — The $124 trillion Baby Boomer wealth transfer — and whether banks are positioned to capture it 10:52 — The emotional and behavioral complexity of intergenerational wealth transfers 11:23 — Can a robust financial advising offering intercept the wealth transfer moment? 12:55 — Unpacking customer acquisition costs in wealth management 15:39 — The crawl, walk, run playbook for standing up a wealth management program 17:04 — What should you expect to pay for a financial advisor? Real numbers from Diamond Consultants 18:27 — Mr. Beast, financial influencers, and what banks and credit unions can learn 20:26 — The compliance challenge of partnering with financial influencers 21:55 — Why hiring young advisors might be your best first move 23:28 — Using influencers as a front door to traditional institutions 24:39 — The paradigm shift in talent management banks aren't ready for 26:17 — What Tobias is watching over the next 12 to 18 months 27:31 — Last question: a bank CEO walks up to you at a bar. What do you tell her? 29:11 — Where to follow Tobias and Financial Planning magazine Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

The silent executive problem: how fintech brands are losing trust before the first sales call

Most fintech brands are pouring budget into pipeline — but their executives are completely absent from the places buyers are actually paying attention. Roland breaks down why executive thought leadership is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-cost growth levers available, shares real examples of fintech leaders doing it right, and delivers a three-speed content playbook any team can start using today. Timestamps [00:00] — The problem: your best asset is invisible Your senior leaders are having genuinely interesting conversations every day — with customers, prospects, and their teams — and nobody knows because it's not being shared publicly. [01:15] — Who's doing it right: four fintech leaders worth watching * Jason Weida (Candescent) — relatable, funny, posts hot takes as himself. The brand gets warmer every time he shows up. * Brett King (Breaking Banks) — built the world's #1 fintech podcast, 7 million listeners, 180 countries. By being loud, opinionated, and everywhere. * Alex Johnson (Fintech Takes) — sharp voice, real engagement, consistent cadence. People wait for his next post without realizing it. * Ron Shevlin (Cornerstone Advisors / Forbes Fintech Snark Tank) — combines original research with humor. Proof you can be an executive, a researcher, and a personality at the same time. [03:10] — The stat that should wake everybody up 95% of B2B buyers are more receptive to outreach from companies whose executives publish thought leadership. (Edelman + LinkedIn research.) In fintech — where trust is everything and CAC is enormous — that is a competitive advantage. [04:30] — The reframe: this is not about becoming an influencer Not about posting every day. Not about going viral. It's about building one simple, repeatable system that makes content feel like a business asset instead of a chore. [05:15] — The playbook: crawl, walk, run [05:30] — Crawl: one post, once a month One LinkedIn post per month on something you actually have an opinion about. Use this formula: 1. Hook — stop the scroll with a specific moment or observation 2. Your take — what do YOU actually think? 3. Evidence — one stat, story, or example 4. Takeaway — one thing to do or think differently [08:00] — Walk: expand your surface area Get on a podcast at least once a month — your own or someone else's. Run bi-weekly or monthly content syncs with your team. Engage within the first hour of every post going live. The LinkedIn algorithm is watching. [10:45] — The repurposing flywheel: one post, five outputs 1. Pull the strongest sentence → next week's post 2. Main insight → newsletter paragraph 3. Record a 60-second video riffing on the same topic 4. Turn the takeaway into a question post 5. Repeat — before you create anything new, ask: did I get everything out of what I already made? [13:00] — A note on ghostwriting Ghostwriting isn't cheating. Your competition is using it. The execs you admire are using it. A good ghostwriter pulls the ideas out of your head and shapes them into content that sounds exactly like you — with zero extra lift on your end. [14:20] — Run: multi-voice, coordinated, on purpose Multiple people across your org posting consistently, connected to a single narrative. A content calendar built a month in advance with clear topics, clear ownership, and a predictable cadence. Active PR, media relationships, and stage time layered on top. [16:00] — The executive voice capture system A monthly 20-minute recorded conversation. Three questions every time: * What's one thing you observed in the market this month that surprised you? * What's one thing a customer or prospect said that you keep thinking about? * What's one thing the industry gets wrong that you see differently? Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

Fintech PR Demystified: Costs, Relationships, and the AI Trap

PR is one of the most misunderstood and most expensive lines on a fintech marketing budget. In this episode of the Propagate Fintech Podcast, host Roland Howard pulls back the curtain on why PR costs what it costs, why AI alone can't carry a campaign across the finish line, and why so many founders write off PR after one underwhelming press release. Roland walks through the real difference between marketing (what you control) and PR (what you earn), and explains why the engine that actually moves earned media is built on relationships and timing, not output volume. He shares how the best fintech teams stop running PR and marketing in parallel and start compounding them together, turning a single placement into a long tail of sales assets, social proof, and pipeline accelerants. You'll also hear a candid breakdown of what you're really paying for when you hire a boutique B2B fintech PR agency at $5K to $15K a month: a network of editor and journalist relationships, the editorial judgment to know which stories will actually land, and the sustained effort it takes to keep a narrative alive. Then Roland tackles the AI question head on, including where it genuinely speeds up PR work and where it will quietly kill your credibility if you let it write your pitches. Whether you're a fintech founder weighing your first PR retainer, a marketing leader trying to make the case internally, or a sales leader who wants to put earned media to work in your pipeline, this episode lays out a practical, honest framework for thinking about PR as a long term trust game rather than a quick paid play. Chapters * 00:00 Intro: Why PR Is Expensive and Where AI Falls Short * 01:05 Marketing vs PR: The Control Line Most Teams Miss * 02:30 The Press Release Trap: Why Your Big Announcement Flopped * 04:00 Relationships and Timing: The Real Engine Behind PR * 05:20 Stop Running PR and Marketing in Parallel * 06:45 Turning One Placement Into a Long Tail of Marketing Assets * 08:00 The PR Flywheel: When Coverage Generates More Coverage * 09:15 What PR Actually Costs: $5K to $15K a Month, Explained * 10:30 What You're Really Paying For: Relationships, Editorial Judgment, Sustained Effort * 12:30 Why PR Is Not a Paid Media Buy * 13:15 The Zeitgeist Test: Why AI Slop Will Sink Your Pitch * 14:30 What AI Can't Do: Vibes, Favors, and Trust * 15:45 The 18-Month Credibility Gap: A Thought Exercise * 16:30 Outro: Crawl, Walk, Run Your Way Into PR Want to talk PR strategy or kick around ideas for your fintech? Reach out at PropagateFintech.com [https://PropagateFintech.com]. Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com