Propagate Fintech Podcast

Roland Howard
  • 5.0 (25)
  • Marketing

Propagate Fintech is a podcast exploring how financial services actually evolve. Hosted by Roland Howard, the show features in-depth conversations with fintech founders, bank and credit union leaders, operators, and industry voices shaping lending, deposits, payments, account origination, and go-to-market strategy. Each episode cuts through hype to focus on real-world execution: how products get adopted, why institutions struggle to modernize, where growth stalls, and what works when fintechs and regulated financial institutions intersect. The podcast is produced by Propagate Fintech, an end-to-end marketing and PR agency serving the banking and fintech industry. Propagate partners with fintechs, banks, and credit unions to clarify positioning, build credibility, and drive growth through brand strategy, content, PR, and go-to-market execution.

  1. 1d ago

    Going to Finovate Fall? Listen to This First, With Greg Palmer

    Greg Palmer has coached thousands of fintech founders through Finovate's seven minute, no slides, live demo format. In this episode, he breaks down what separates a demo that lands from one that dies on stage, why saying "we use AI" stopped being enough, and how stablecoins and tokenized deposits are moving from novelty to strategy for banks. Greg also shares the exit sign trick he teaches nervous first time presenters, what actually happens when a demo crashes live in front of an audience, and how to get the most out of Finovate whether you are a banker, a startup, or walking the floor for the first time. Plus, a discount code for anyone thinking about attending. Chapter List 00:00 - How Finovate decides which banks, credit unions, and fintechs to feature 02:13 - Why competitors are willing to share openly on the show floor 03:48 - Why "we use AI" doesn't impress anyone anymore 07:37 - The regulatory pressure banks face when experimenting with new tools 08:55 - Stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and the World of Warcraft gold origin story 13:01 - What a first time banker should prepare before attending Finovate 16:01 - How early stage startups can get the most out of the event 19:14 - Working the booth after your demo without losing anyone in line 21:33 - Greg's theater background and the most common coaching fix he makes 26:48 - Why founders still need to go back to basics on the seven minute pitch 29:58 - The exit sign trick for staying calm on stage 33:19 - What panic attacks and total confidence both look like from the audience 34:58 - What to do when your demo crashes live on stage 38:10 - How to decide if Finovate is worth your one show a year 41:21 - Discount code: PROPAGATE20 for 20% off registration 41:45 - Where to find Finovate and reach Greg directly 42:25 - Greg's coaching work outside of Finovate Discount Code Use code PROPAGATE20 for 20% off Finovate registration. Links Finovate: https://www.finovate.com Propagate Fintech: https://www.propagatefintech.com Propagate Fintech on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/propagatefintech Book 30 minutes with Roland: https://calendly.com/roland-propagatefintech/30min YouTube Shorts https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Z2Wq8uA5eVg https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tk4nzXXrJqs https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rdY1Q1vzPFI Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  2. Aug 11

    Synthetic Identity Fraud, AI Risk, and the Future of Lending Compliance

    Lending technology is still running on infrastructure nobody would build from scratch today. I sat down with Mike Dunleavey and Gino Angeli from LASER Credit Access this week. About twenty minutes in, Mike described the average loan origination system as feeling like a 747 cockpit. Buttons, panels, widgets everywhere. Nobody designed it. It just accumulated over forty years. LASER's whole thesis is doing one thing well inside Salesforce: pulling credit data, bank statements, and identity verification into one clean decision, with the compliance trail built in automatically. Not trying to be the whole loan origination stack. Just the front door, done right. A few things from the conversation worth pulling out on their own. Episode timestamps: 0:00 Intro and what LASER Credit Access does for lenders1:42 How lending compliance has changed over the last decade plus6:52 Why LASER stayed focused on the front end instead of building a full loan origination system7:54 Why lending technology still looks like a 747 cockpit11:14 The range of lenders LASER works with, and where their needs differ14:00 Managing change fatigue during implementation18:11 Branding, storytelling, and how LASER thinks about marketing26:25 Staying visible for over a decade without a big marketing budget28:40 The fraud landscape, and the fake ID demo that stunned the room31:27 A real client story: forged bank statements and a fifty thousand dollar loss34:38 Where AI fits, and does not fit, inside LASER's own operations39:44 Rapid fire: automation wish lists and vendor evaluation advice44:59 Where to learn more about LASER Credit AccessOn fraud, and how fast it's moving Gino told me about a client who got hit with fully AI generated bank statements, pay stubs, and W2s. The borrower got a fifty thousand dollar loan and then vanished. And the tools behind it aren't specialized or hard to find. Gino showed a room full of Salesforce partners how to generate a realistic fake driver's license using nothing but a LinkedIn photo and Gemini. Took him about a minute. That's not a hypothetical anymore, and it's part of a bigger shift in how fast AI is reshaping the tools everyone in fintech and banking reaches for day to day. On why they've barely spent a dollar on marketing Gino said something I've been chewing on since the interview: their growth has come almost entirely from referral sources, Salesforce consultants and implementation partners, not from campaigns. And when I asked why they've stayed away from broader marketing, his answer was blunt. A random lender scrolling TikTok isn't the decision maker at a loan shop. They'd rather be the trusted answer a consultant gives when someone says "I need something for this." It's a good reminder of a pattern I see constantly in fintech. Most pitches fail for reasons that have nothing to do with the product. On compliance, and where the regulatory ground is shifting A big part of what LASER solves is the audit trail. Permissible purpose, consent language, retention windows, all tracked automatically so a lender isn't scrambling when a bureau or regulator comes calling. Worth watching alongside a separate conversation we had recently on just how much the ground under federal regulatory independence is moving right now. On AI inside their own shop Mike and Gino don't let AI anywhere near their production code, and they were clear about why. They're sitting on personally identifiable information for hundreds of lenders, and one bad update is not a risk either of them is willing to take. Where AI has earned a seat is documentation, internal knowledge base work, and organizing thirteen years of support history. Useful, bounded, and nowhere near the parts of the business that can't afford a mistake. If you're evaluating lending technology, or just curious how a thirteen year old company stays lean and referral driven without a marketing department, worth a listen. More on what LASER does: https://www.lasercreditaccess.com/ Related watches: Claude becoming the de facto AI option for fintechs and bankers: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Uphn9BlsPS8 Why most fintech media pitches fail: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E4DMgreeDZ4 The death of federal agency independence: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tk4nzXXrJqs Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  3. Jul 27

    Game Over for the Fed?

    For decades the Federal Reserve operated like it sat on its own island: insulated, untouchable, above the political fray. Two Supreme Court rulings, Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook, just rewrote the rules on whether a president can fire the people who run the nation's monetary policy. Kyle Campbell, who covers the Fed and bank regulation for American Banker, joins the show to break down what these rulings really mean, what happens if Trump succeeds in removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and whether Kevin Warsh can keep the institution independent, or if he becomes what one senator has called a sock puppet. What We Cover (00:09) The pair of Supreme Court rulings that left the Fed as the last agency standing on independence (02:00) Why the Fed got an exception when the Court said no other agency gets one (03:54) What happens if Trump succeeds in removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook (08:19) The safeguards still standing between the White House and the FOMC (12:47) This week's FOMC meeting, set against an escalating war in the Middle East (14:05) Whether there is any backchannel between the Fed and the Department of War (16:00) What a harmonized, single-minded regulatory era means for financial services Notable Quote "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. And if you push the Fed and the economy tanks, everybody knows it was by your design." — Roland Howard About Our Guest Kyle Campbell covers the Federal Reserve and bank regulation for American Banker. His July 20th article, “What comes next for the Fed's regulatory independence,” sparked this conversation and is linked below. Links & Resources ● American Banker: What comes next for the Fed's regulatory independence ● Listen on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/propagate-fintech-podcast/id1874648654 ● Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@PropagateFintech/shorts ● Follow Propagate Fintech on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/propagatefintech ● Learn more: propagatefintech.com Want to Be a Guest? Grab time on Roland's calendar: calendly.com/roland-propagatefintech/30min Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  4. Jul 23

    Could Humor Be the Most Wide Open Lane in Fintech Marketing?

    Most fintech brands play it safe with their marketing. Static image, motion graphic, list your differentiators, call it a day. Nobody gets in trouble for that. But safe doesn't fail loud, it fails quiet, and quiet is the real risk. In this episode, Roland breaks down why humor is one of the most wide open lanes in fintech marketing and almost nobody is fighting for it. He walks through a real project where his team had fifteen thousand dollars and sixteen seconds of screen time to work with, no audio, at a major trade show. What happened next, including killing the idea, reviving it, and testing it against real bankers, is the whole episode. 0:00 – The fifteen thousand dollar thought exercise 1:15 – Why humor is the most wide open lane in fintech marketing 2:40 – Where the industry's "safe" instinct comes from 3:50 – Why playing it safe is the real risk, not the joke that misses 5:10 – How AI lowered the cost of testing a bold idea 6:20 – Three tactics for building this muscle on your team 9:00 – The real client story: sixteen seconds, no audio, $15K on the line 11:45 – Killing the fun idea, then bringing it back 13:00 – What happened when they tested it with real bankers and execs 14:20 – The ask: pick one project this quarter Links:   💼 Follow Propagate Fintech on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/propagatefintech  🎬 More clips on YouTube Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@PropagateFintech/shorts  🌐 www.propagatefintech.com Want help building a bolder content strategy for your fintech brand? Book time with Roland: https://calendly.com/roland-propagatefintech/30min Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  5. Jul 12

    What To Expect With New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh?

    Powell's out. Kevin Warsh is in. And it's not just a new name at the podium, it's a completely different communication philosophy for the Federal Reserve. Kyle Campbell, who covers the Fed for American Banker, joins the show to break down what Warsh's "say less, smile more" approach means for banks, fintechs, and markets that got used to the Fed spelling everything out. What We Cover... The Philosophy Shift: Kyle explains why Warsh's first press conference looked so different from the Powell era, and what it means when the Fed intentionally pulls back on forward guidance. Why is the fed saying less? The Fed's policy statement went from three or four hundred words down to about 130. Kyle breaks down what got cut and why. What are Reserve Bank Presidents? A look inside how the FOMC actually votes, who rotates on and off, and why regional perspectives matter more than people realize. Is Warsh a "Sock Puppet" for Trump? Kyle's take on Warsh's independence, and how his first vote compared to what happened under short-term board member Stephen Miren. What is Greenspan's legacy? The Great Moderation, the subprime years, and what Kyle's sources including former Fed vice chairs Don Cohn and Alan Blinder say about Greenspan's gift for telling the right story at the right time. How does the Fed look at AI? What Kyle would ask Warsh off the record about AI as a productivity driver, and why that answer matters for inflation and the deficit. Key Takeaways The Fed under Warsh favors reacting to markets over directing themLess forward guidance can mean more uncertainty for lending and credit conditionsRegional Reserve Bank presidents play a bigger role in FOMC decisions than most people assumeGreenspan's era shows both the upside and the risk of a Fed chair with real cultural influenceTimestamps 00:00 – The philosophy shift under Warsh02:37 – What got cut from the Fed statement10:23 – How reserve bank presidents vote15:45 – Warsh's independence from Trump18:12 – Alan Greenspan's legacy28:34 – What Kyle would ask Warsh off the recordMore Episodes You'll Like What happens when cash flow underwriting meets AI?CIO Survival Guide for AI - Claude Entitlements,AI Semantic Model, Clean DataCulture Before Digital TransformationAbout Our Guest: Kyle Campbell covers the Federal Reserve and bank regulation for American Banker, with a growing focus on emerging risks across AI and crypto in the financial system. Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  6. Jul 3

    What Happens When Snowflake Meets Claude Inside a Community Bank?

    This episode is really a Snowflake and Anthropic story. Roland Howard and Lee Easton trace how Identify became one of Snowflake's early banking partners back in 2022, years before the rest of the industry trusted the cloud, and how that same pattern is now repeating with Anthropic. Lee walks through Identify's new status as a Certified Anthropic Partner, part of the first wave certified when the Anthropic Partner Network opened up in June 2026, and explains why pairing Snowflake's infrastructure with Claude's ability to reason over financial data is what's finally putting real BI and AI tools within reach of small community banks that could never have afforded custom development. They also dig into the provisioning risk nobody's talking about enough: employees spinning up personal Claude or Snowflake accounts outside of proper enterprise settings, and why that is the fastest way for a bank to end up in a data breach headline. The back half covers what AI readiness actually looks like (clean data, a real semantic model, and provisioning discipline), and why Lee sees his three-year moat as simply going deeper on Snowflake plus Anthropic than anyone else serving community banks. Snowflake + Anthropic + Community Banks: The Core of This Episode Lee's Snowflake background predates Identify. He used it at ConocoPhillips to orchestrate oil and gas data before ever applying it to banking.Identify started using Snowflake with banks in 2022, when the industry still did not trust the cloud. That early bet is now paying off as FIS, Fiserv, and Jack Henry all roll out their own Snowflake and Google Cloud partnerships.Identify is a Snowflake Partner Network member and, as of June 2026, a Certified Anthropic Partner through the newly opened Anthropic Partner Network (Claude Partner Network).The stack is explicit: Snowflake handles data warehousing and infrastructure, Claude handles analytics, reporting, and natural language access to that data.Lee calls Claude "best in class for natural language querying right now, especially around financial services," and says in side-by-side testing against Copilot and GPT, banks consistently land on Claude.Provisioning matters as much as the technology. Lee walks through a real 2023 Snowflake breach caused by a bank skipping the Business Critical tier, and warns banks to lock down Claude the same way before employees start opening personal accounts.Lee's stated three-year moat is simply going deeper on Snowflake plus Anthropic than any other vendor serving community banks, packaged so it can be deployed with a single Terraform push.The clearest proof point: a sub-$300 million asset bank in Colorado with fewer than 50 employees now has data access that used to be reserved for banks in the $500 million to $5 billion range, entirely because of the Snowflake and Claude pairing.Key Topics and Timestamps: 00:00 How did a mountain biker and computer engineer end up in oil and gas? 00:32 What mentor connection led Lee to Vast Bank? 01:41 What gap did legacy core systems reveal? 02:52 How does a sponsor bank reconcile crypto custody transactions? 03:35 What does Identify actually do? 04:37 Why does it matter that FIS, Fiserv, and Jack Henry are moving to Snowflake and Google Cloud? 06:05 Why did community banks distrust the cloud, and what changed? 09:23 How did core providers build trust with skeptical CIOs? 10:07 Why go after sponsor banks and BaaS players first? 11:44 What does Identify's new Certified Anthropic Partner status mean? 13:31 What happens when a bank skips proper provisioning? 14:47 What should a CIO do to get AI-ready? 17:37 Where is the gap widening between banks using AI well and those that aren't? 21:23 Clean data or taking action: where's the real bottleneck? 26:31 What is Lee's three-year moat? 28:14 How is a sub-$300 million community bank in Colorado using Snowflake and Claude? 32:04 Where can you find Lee and Identify? Notable Quotes "We're a big Snowflake partner, so we do a lot of the infrastructure and warehousing through Snowflake. And then we're now an Anthropic partner, so we do a lot of the analytics, reporting, and usage of data through Claude." — Lee Easton "If the cores do it, the banks are eventually going to have to, or they're going to start trusting it." — Lee Easton "Employees are going to be setting up Anthropic accounts, and your job is just to make sure they do it through an enterprise. If they go set up personal accounts and run it on their machine, you're at risk." — Lee Easton "Our anthropic relationship is the same thing we have with Snowflake. We started this path with Snowflake in 2022, we got a big client, we did a big Snowflake build. The same thing is happening with Claude." — Lee Easton "Claude is really good at financial data, and that's what these banks have. Why even try to compete when you have something like Claude, best in class right now for natural language querying." — Lee Easton "The moat is just Anthropic. We want to be a strong Anthropic partner, packaging Anthropic with Snowflake and Azure or AWS. That tech stack, we've built it, we developed it in Terraform, we can roll it out by pushing a button." — Lee Easton "The CEO of a small community bank can explore a data set about his entire business. That's a game changer, because community banks are small businesses." — Lee Easton Companies and People Mentioned Snowflake, Anthropic, and Claude are the throughline of this episode. Also mentioned: Identify (goidentify.com), Vast Bank, ConocoPhillips, FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry, Google Cloud, BigQuery, Databricks, Chime, Cash App, Q2/Banno, Eric Sprink, Verafin, Sardine, Virtus AI, Tyler Brantley, All-In Podcast Links Identify: goidentify.comLee Easton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-easton-45073926/YouTube shortshttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/WS9pHgQh2c4https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-yqooD34A_g Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  7. Jun 27

    Is Sterilizing Your Brand Voice Killing Your Credibility with Credit Unions?

    What does it take to actually break through in the credit union market? Kristin Marie has spent over a decade finding out. Kristin most recently served at Curql, a mega fund that raised $360 million from credit unions to invest in fintech. In that role, she worked directly with founders and early-stage companies trying to figure out how to crack open a market that rewards trust, relationships, and preparation over pitch decks. In this conversation, we get into the real reason most fintech brands stay invisible, why buttoned-up brand voice is costing companies deals, and how one hour a week of personal LinkedIn content can expand your reach for free. Kristin also breaks down the questions every fintech should be asking before they ever sit down with a credit union, and why the human element is the only thing separating brands that resonate from ones that blend in. If your team is producing content that nobody cares about, or you're showing up to prospect conversations without a roadmap, this episode is the reset you need. 00:15 Common Mistakes in Fintech Marketing 01:35 The Importance of Authentic Storytelling 06:36 Legacy Challenges in Financial Services 09:17 Kristin's Background and Experience 10:47 Transforming Fintech Marketing Strategies 12:00 Engaging with C-Suite: The Art of Conversation 15:32 Leveraging LinkedIn for Brand Visibility 21:00 Rapid Fire Marketing Insights 25:21 Overcoming Marketing Challenges in Fintech Connect with Kristin Marie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinmarieevans/ Watch Propagate Fintech Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@PropagateFintech/shorts More Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/4K2ndKqibM0 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wKyNF6m1FiY Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

  8. Jun 19

    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 portfolioResources 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 — 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 — 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 — 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 Want to work with Propagate Fintech? Fill out a contact form at www.propagatefintech.com

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About

Propagate Fintech is a podcast exploring how financial services actually evolve. Hosted by Roland Howard, the show features in-depth conversations with fintech founders, bank and credit union leaders, operators, and industry voices shaping lending, deposits, payments, account origination, and go-to-market strategy. Each episode cuts through hype to focus on real-world execution: how products get adopted, why institutions struggle to modernize, where growth stalls, and what works when fintechs and regulated financial institutions intersect. The podcast is produced by Propagate Fintech, an end-to-end marketing and PR agency serving the banking and fintech industry. Propagate partners with fintechs, banks, and credit unions to clarify positioning, build credibility, and drive growth through brand strategy, content, PR, and go-to-market execution.

Information

  • Creator
    Roland Howard
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Propagate Fintech Podcast
  • Show Website
    Propagate Fintech Podcast