S9 E4: Trust is a Two-way Street

In this special guest episode, Alex catches up with founder and CEO of Bloom Money, Nina Mohanty, about a pressing yet overlooked issue: first-party fraud. 

They kick off by exploring the viral "infinite money glitch" trend on TikTok—yep, it’s first-party fraud, whether people know it, admit it, or not…and it’s on the rise.

During the pandemic, neobanks like Chime, PayPal, and Cash App saw explosive growth, but that came with an explosive surge in fraud and disputes, too. In their quest for top-line numbers, many overlooked rising first-party fraud, exploiting gaps like the ACH settlement window. While traditional banks clamped down on this behavior, fintechs allowed it to thrive.

This shift in consumer behavior poses major concerns. How do we balance protecting consumers while holding them accountable? What impact does this have on product development, customer communication, and overall trust in fintech? 

What does it mean for the wider ecosystem when people are being encouraged to engage in first party fraud? 

Tune in for a candid discussion on fraud and its broader implications for financial services.

Raising the standard of quality for embedded finance infrastructure, Newline™ by Fifth Third is an API platform that enables enterprises to launch and scale payment, card and deposit products directly with Fifth Third Bank.  

Learn more at newline53.com

00:07:29 – Chase ATMs meet the infinite money “glitch” trend 

00:20:01 – The explosion of disputed credit card transactions 

00:35:31 – Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud in the UK  

00:45:23 – Who bears responsibility: financial services or consumers?

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/

And for more exclusive insider content, don’t forget to check out my YouTube page.

Follow Nina:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninamohanty/

Follow Alex: 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgfH47QEwbQmkQlz1V9rQA/videos

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhjohnson

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AlexH_Johnson