Fintech moves fast. But here at Fintech Takes, Alex Johnson and his rotating panel of guests move faster so that you can stay on top of the latest and greatest news in the industry without breaking a sweat.
Welcome to Fintech Takes—the place where fintech’s biggest nerds come to sit back, relax, and completely geek out.
Join Alex and a lineup of fintech’s brightest minds as they dissect what’s happening in fintech and banking.
Each week, Alex and his guests recap the most interesting developments in fintech and explore the industry’s most pressing questions, diving headfirst into the intricate workings of some of the industry’s most ground-breaking business models and unpacking the emerging players that promise to shape fintech’s future.
From riveting conversations with fintech’s most relevant operators to comprehensive recaps of the month's most compelling news stories and in-depth analyses of the latest regulatory developments, Fintech Takes is your one-stop-shop for navigating the fintech universe.
Subscribe now to join fintech’s nerdiest podcast around!
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Fintech moves fast. But here at Fintech Takes, Alex Johnson and his rotating panel of guests move faster so that you can stay on top of the latest and greatest news in the industry without breaking a sweat.
Welcome to Fintech Takes—the place where fintech’s biggest nerds come to sit back, relax, and completely geek out.
Join Alex and a lineup of fintech’s brightest minds as they dissect what’s happening in fintech and banking.
Each week, Alex and his guests recap the most interesting developments in fintech and explore the industry’s most pressing questions, diving headfirst into the intricate workings of some of the industry’s most ground-breaking business models and unpacking the emerging players that promise to shape fintech’s future.
From riveting conversations with fintech’s most relevant operators to comprehensive recaps of the month's most compelling news stories and in-depth analyses of the latest regulatory developments, Fintech Takes is your one-stop-shop for navigating the fintech universe.
Subscribe now to join fintech’s nerdiest podcast around!
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, 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://marqeta.com/ftt
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Follow Jennifer Tescher:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifertescher/
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Fintech Takes
Fintech moves fast. But here at Fintech Takes, Alex Johnson and his rotating panel of guests move faster so that you can stay on top of the latest and greatest news in the industry without breaking a sweat.
Welcome to Fintech Takes—the place where fintech’s biggest nerds come to sit back, relax, and completely geek out.
Join Alex and a lineup of fintech’s brightest minds as they dissect what’s happening in fintech and banking.
Each week, Alex and his guests recap the most interesting developments in fintech and explore the industry’s most pressing questions, diving headfirst into the intricate workings of some of the industry’s most ground-breaking business models and unpacking the emerging players that promise to shape fintech’s future.
From riveting conversations with fintech’s most relevant operators to comprehensive recaps of the month's most compelling news stories and in-depth analyses of the latest regulatory developments, Fintech Takes is your one-stop-shop for navigating the fintech universe.
Subscribe now to join fintech’s nerdiest podcast around!
