From Prototype to Enterprise-Grade Compliance—with Michael Konrath (Choice Digital)

What does it really take to build a regulated fintech product from scratch—with a small team and a bootstrapped budget?

In this episode of Futureproof, Prakash Chandran sits down with Michael Konrath, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Choice Digital, a fintech company that ensures customers—including the unbanked—actually receive the payments they're owed. Michael shares the full arc of building Choice Digital: from prototyping on Bubble in a co-working space to processing nearly $1 billion in payments today. Along the way, they dig into the realities of compliance in a regulated industry, the trade-offs of building fast versus building right, and how AI is starting to reshape the way his team ships software.

Topics covered include:

• Starting small with no-code: Why Choice Digital's first product was built on no-code tools in 30 days, processed $20 million in payments, and lasted far longer than expected—plus how that scrappy mindset still matters in the age of AI.
• Compliance as a foundation, not an afterthought: The case for investing in SOC 1 and SOC 2 frameworks early, how PCI compliance shapes product architecture, and why segmenting systems can simplify your regulatory journey.
• AI adoption in a regulated space: Why Choice Digital is taking a deliberate, human-in-the-loop approach to AI, focusing on deterministic processes and clear policies before letting models touch customer data.

Episode ID: 18983940-from-prototype-to-enterprise-grade-compliance-with-michael-konrath-choice-digital

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