Fintech Takes

The Future of Issuing with Marqeta’s CEO

Welcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Mike Milotich, CEO of Marqeta (who stepped into the role after serving as CFO,) and now leads a cloud based issuing platform approaching 400B in annual payment volume.  First up, we focus on Marqeta’s platform. It’s built out of configurable building blocks, and Mike gets specific about what that means in practice; walking us through clear examples, including how delivery platforms used virtual credentials to remove driver fraud, and how early BNPL providers relied on Marqeta to pay merchants behind the scenes (without integrating with every retailer). From there, we shift to agentic commerce and why the issuer’s vantage point changes the conversation. Issuers face different constraints. They create the credential, set the controls, and carry the risk when something goes wrong. Mike unpacks how an AI agent could fund and configure a virtual card with narrow parameters so it can only execute the purchase the user intended, and how AI is being applied to fraud, risk, and disputes (plus how dynamic rewards will push cards toward real personalization). We also dig into the insights Marqeta is seeing across its network. BNPL is moving into more everyday categories as a cashflow tool. And SMBs are starting to treat modern payments as real operational leverage (because automated controls and real-time tools replace the manual work that used to eat their time).  For more insights, their 2025 State of Payments Report [https://www.marqeta.com/asset/state-of-payments-2025] is linked below. Thanks for listening!   This episode was brought to you by Marqeta. Don’t sacrifice agility for stability. With Marqeta, launch payments experiences that perform at scale and flex with your business. Learn more at https:// [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson]marqeta.com/ftt [http://marqeta.com/ftt] Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ [https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/] And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos]. Follow Mike Milotich: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-milotich-7b78402/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-milotich-7b78402/] Access Marqeta’s 2025 State of Payments Report here:  https://www.marqeta.com/asset/state-of-payments-2025 [https://www.marqeta.com/asset/state-of-payments-2025] Follow Alex Johnson:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson] X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson [https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson]

The $455B Reality of Financial Health

Welcome back to the Fintech Takes podcast. I’m Alex Johnson, joined by Jennifer Tescher, founder and CEO of the Financial Health Network (who’s spent the last two decades measuring, defining, and holding the industry accountable for consumers’ financial well-being). We dig into the latest FinHealth Spend Report [https://finhealthnetwork.org/2025-finhealth-spend-report-press-release/], which found that U.S. households paid $455B in interest and fees last year (a $100B jump in just two years!), and unpack what that says about the fragility of American households. From student loans and BNPL to agentic AI to the design of financial products, this conversation covers the hidden costs of “frictionless” finance … and why real innovation might mean adding friction back in. Highlights include: * Why the $455B consumers paid in fees and interest is a canary in the coal mine for the economy (and how credit card debt and student loans are driving the jump) * How the uncertainty around student loan forgiveness has frozen households in place, changing decisions about careers, housing, and family * Whether BNPL helps or harms consumers (and why frictionless payments may have gone too far) * Why agentic commerce risks turning AI into a 24/7 sales engine (and what it would take to build AI that actually improves financial health) * How Financial Health Network’s new product design standards are nudging banks and fintechs to compete on doing right by customers This episode is a sweeping, candid look at the real state of consumers’ financial health (and how design, data, and AI could either fix it or make it worse). Thanks for listening!   This episode was brought to you by Marqeta. Don’t sacrifice agility for stability. With Marqeta, launch payments experiences that perform at scale and flex with your business. Learn more at https:// [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson]marqeta.com/ftt [http://marqeta.com/ftt] Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ [https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/] And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos] Follow Jennifer Tescher: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifertescher/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifertescher/]   Follow Alex Johnson:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson] X: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson [https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson]

Fintech Takes x Fundbox presents Engineering the SMB Capital Stack Episode 2: Distribution (with Tanay Jaeel at Stripe)

Welcome back to our Engineering the SMB Capital Stack, sponsored by our friends at Fundbox. In this four-part series, we’re exploring small businesses, small business lending, and the forces shaping how small businesses access capital. I’m joined by Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox, as cohost. In Episode 1, we explored why small business lending is so distinctly challenging. Now, in Episode 2, we turn to distribution: how capital actually reaches small businesses. To tackle that question, we invited Tanay Jaeel, Head of Product at Stripe Capital, who’s spent nearly five years building and scaling Stripe’s embedded lending products. Highlights include: * How Stripe identified capital access as both a customer pain point and a platform growth opportunity * The shift from serving merchants directly to powering embedded financing for vertical SaaS platforms * Lessons from expanding lending internationally and balancing build-vs-partner decisions * How AI is transforming contextual lending (helping SMBs understand why and when to borrow) Tanay also explains how embedded lending works best when it’s invisible, surfacing capital in the exact moment a business owner realizes they need it. From coffee shops buying new equipment to SaaS founders bridging subscription cycles, context is everything. If you want to understand how distribution is becoming the real differentiator in small business lending, this conversation is essential listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to catch future episodes and insights! This episode was brought to you by Fundbox.  As a leading capital infrastructure provider behind the digital SMB economy, Fundbox is focused on enabling platforms to embed financial tools directly into their user experiences. Learn more here [https://bit.ly/4o1cWVG].  Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ [https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/] And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos]. Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson] Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson [https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson] Follow Prashant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuloria/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuloria/] Follow Tanay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanayjaeel/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanayjaeel/] Learn more about Fundbox here [http://pipe.com/fintechtakes].

Fintech Recap: AI, Stablecoins, and Live Money20/20 Energy!

Welcome back to Fintech Takes. I’m Alex Johnson, joined (as always) by my Jason Mikula, my partner in recapping, but this time we recorded live from the floor of Money20/20 in Vegas! Expect a shorter and more caffeinated episode where we riff topic to topic, grab bag style.  First up, no surprise that AI was the buzzword, especially agentic AI. Conversations this year felt more grounded (not “we’re doing AI,” but which use cases make sense and which don’t; folks finally have better language and specificity to describe it). Then it’s onto the second buzziest topic: stablecoins (mostly cross-border payments and digital dollars in inflation-hit economies), while our friends at the Fed manned a booth pitching “faster payments,” which felt charmingly out of time. Next, we check in on open banking’s 14,000 comment letters, where big banks demand cost recovery, Plaid wants free access, and small banks want help surviving.  From there, we fly past BaaS Island at warp speed (Evolve Bank’s latest unwanted headline!) for a deep dive into the newest Silicon Valley-meets-OCC experiment: Erebor Bank. Founded by Palmer Luckey, financed by tech money, and conditionally approved in record time (raising questions about pay-to-play politics in banking charters). Plus, in our Can’t Let It Go corner: Jason vents about the corrosive influence of crypto lobbying, and I read a truly cursed news item: Truth Social launching “Truth Gems [https://s3.amazonaws.com/b2icontent.irpass.cc/2660/rl158843.pdf],” a crypto prediction-market where users can bet on the future of… anything! (Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.) Thanks for listening!  This episode was brought to you by Marqeta. Don’t sacrifice agility for stability. With Marqeta, launch payments experiences that perform at scale and flex with your business. Learn more at marqeta.com/ftt [http://marqeta.com/ftt]. Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ [https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/]  And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos]. Follow Jason: Newsletter: https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/ [https://fintechbusinessweekly.substack.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonmikula/]   Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson] Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson [https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson]

Fintech Takes x Fundbox presents Engineering the SMB Capital Stack Episode 1: The State of SMB Lending

Welcome to our new miniseries, Engineering the SMB Capital Stack, sponsored by our friends at Fundbox. This four-part series digs into small businesses, small business lending, and the forces reshaping how small businesses access capital.  In Episode 1, I sit down with Prashant Fuloria, CEO of Fundbox (and my cohost for the episodes that follow). We kick things off with The State of SMB Lending, level-setting with data from the Federal Reserve’s 2025 report on small business credit [https://www.fedsmallbusiness.org/reports/survey/2025/2025-report-on-employer-firms] (based on a 2024 survey of 7,600 business owners). For the first time since 2021, small businesses were more likely to report that revenues decreased rather than increased in the year prior to the survey. Translation: SMBs are surviving; not thriving. Then, we zoom out from the data to consider why costs are rising, why some businesses are defaulting instead of declaring bankruptcy, and how embedded finance is changing both borrower behavior and lender economics.  Prashant brings the long view of Fundbox’s credit data to the table: how performance differs across industries, why CAC still kills standalone lenders, and how alignment among banks, fintechs, and platforms is the only sustainable model. It’s a foundational conversation for anyone tracking the next decade of SMB capital: rich with data and grounded in the here and now (with a clear sense of where the stack’s heading!). Subscribe now to catch what’s next: candid, can’t-miss conversations with leaders from Plaid, Stripe Capital, and Lead Bank! This episode was brought to you by Fundbox.  As a leading capital infrastructure provider behind the digital SMB economy, Fundbox is focused on enabling platforms to embed financial tools directly into their user experiences. Learn more here [https://bit.ly/4o1cWVG].  Sign up for Alex’s Fintech Takes newsletter for the latest insightful analysis on fintech trends, along with a heaping pile of pop culture references and copious footnotes. Every Monday and Thursday: https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/ [https://workweek.com/brand/fintech-takes/] And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos]. Follow Alex:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson] Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson [https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson] Follow Prashant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuloria/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuloria/] Learn more about Fundbox here [https://bit.ly/4o1cWVG].