The Headless Banking Podcast

Jeff Forkan
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Traditional banks and how we interact with banking services will be obfuscated by software, crypto, & technology platforms in the next 5 to 10 years. Our children will wonder why we ever visited a bank branch or logged into an online banking portal. headlessbanking.substack.com

  1. APR 16

    Revolutionizing Open Banking with Unified APIs

    In this Headless Banking Podcast episode, Jeff talks with Ruben, co-founder and CEO of Quiltt, a unified API for open banking that provides access to multiple account aggregation and enrichment platforms through one integration and contract. Reuben shares his background in financial data (including S&P Capital IQ), how building a consumer budgeting app on Plaid revealed how messy and hard-to-use aggregation data can be, and how COVID and fintech demand led Quilt to pivot into an API-first platform. Quilt partners with providers like MX and MasterCard and normalizes data while preserving raw transparency, aiming for higher connection success via multiple “paths” to institutions—especially for underserved B2B and business banking use cases. They also discuss PDF bank statements for reconciliation and fund accounting, the challenges of licensing and minimums, continued reliance on screen scraping, and careful, compliance-driven use of AI in engineering. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 00:19 Ruben’s Founder Journey 03:55 Budgeting App to API Pivot 06:49 Killing Products and Focus 08:35 AI in Fintech Engineering 14:01 Why Quiltt vs Plaid 16:14 PDF Statements Use Cases 18:47 Coverage and Multi Aggregator Strategy 23:38 B2B Connectivity Gap 29:10 Screen Scraping and Open Banking Reality 32:49 Competition and Partnerships Moat 35:53 Wrap Up and Thanks This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    36 min
  2. Revolutionizing Stablecoin for Cross-Border Payments with Conduit

    07/23/2025

    Revolutionizing Stablecoin for Cross-Border Payments with Conduit

    In this episode of the Headless Banking Podcast, Jeff interviews Kirill, CEO of Conduit, to discuss the company's journey and the evolution of the stablecoin market. Kirill shares his background in financial services and fintech, including his experience and frustrations with outdated banking systems. He details Conduit's pivots, from providing DeFi APIs to focusing on stablecoin payments, particularly in emerging markets. The episode explores the unexpected high adoption of stablecoins for payments, challenges of liquidity, and the shift towards bank partnerships and local stablecoins for smoother cross-border transactions. Kirill also highlights the regulatory landscape and the potential of instant payments to transform trade financing. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:32 Krill's Background and Journey 01:22 Challenges in Traditional Banking Systems 02:34 Entering the Crypto World 02:54 Founding Conduit and Initial Product 03:28 Market Changes and Pivot to Stablecoins 05:11 Adoption and Use Cases of Stablecoins 10:38 Liquidity Challenges and Solutions 15:47 Future of Stablecoins and Final Thoughts 16:52 Regulatory Landscape This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    22 min
  3. The Future of Global Treasury: Stablecoins, Blockchain, and AI

    07/09/2025

    The Future of Global Treasury: Stablecoins, Blockchain, and AI

    In this episode of the Headless Banking Podcast, we welcome back Jared Slivers from Fireblocks to discuss the current state and future of global treasury management using crypto and stablecoins. They explore why corporate treasurers have been slow to adopt these technologies, considering factors such as regulatory barriers, technology readiness, and the need for better local liquidity solutions. The conversation also touches on the impact of AI in managing global treasury operations and how the evolving stablecoin infrastructure can facilitate smoother cross-border trade. The episode concludes with a discussion on the potential mainstream adoption of Bitcoin for corporate treasuries and the implications for global trade. 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:24 The Future of Global Treasury: Crypto and Stablecoins 01:11 Fire Blocks and the Current State of Blockchain 02:27 Stablecoins: Dollar Access and Cross-Border Trade 05:33 Stripe Sessions: AI and Stablecoins 09:18 Challenges and Opportunities in Adopting Stablecoins 10:17 Building a Corporate Treasury with Stablecoins 13:27 The Role of Banks and Exchanges 20:25 The Potential of Stablecoins and AI in Treasury Management 22:55 MicroStrategy's Bitcoin Strategy 27:12 Conclusion and Final Thoughts This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    27 min
  4. How Clair Built Earned Wage Access

    09/21/2023

    How Clair Built Earned Wage Access

    Nico is a wizard when it comes to building fintech solutions, understanding regulation, and navigating difficult partnerships with Sponsor Banks. It was a joy to have him on and to hear how Clair was built from the ground up. Hope you all enjoy the episode. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    27 min

  5. 05/10/2023

    Global Banking for LATAM Startups

    In this episode of The Headless Banking Podcast, Chris interviews Bernardo Brites, co-founder and CEO of trace financial, a company that provides international payments, FX, and multiple use bank accounts to help globalize LATAM businesses. Bernardo talks about his journey through FinTech, starting a money transfer business, and the evolution of their products. This episode was recorded at a very interesting time when SVB had sounded the alarm. Bernardo and his team worked around the clock to help businesses that were stuck during this time. Interestingly enough, SVB banked 90% of LATAM businesses holding USD accounts. Tune in to hear how they accomplished this and much more! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    26 min

  6. 04/13/2023

    Unlocking Payroll Data

    In this episode of The Headless Banking Podcast, Jeff interviews Brian Karimi-Pashaki, Head of Partnerships at Pinwheel, a company that provides income verification, direct deposit switching, and payroll data connectivity for FinTech & banks. Brian talks about his background in FinTech, starting at Goldman Sachs and buying third-party technology to build a Marcus. He also discusses the challenges of building new products inside a larger company, as well as the importance of AI assistants in the future of the financial industry. Diving into Pinwheel, Brian explains that the company is an API layer that sits in front of payroll systems, similar to Twilio and Plaid for telecommunications and banking data, respectively. By making payroll data accessible through their API, Pinwheel enables developers to build products and services that utilize this information. Examples include early access to wages, income and employment verification for loans and apartments, and more efficient and secure data sharing between employers and landlords. Overall, Pinwheel is changing the way payroll data is accessed and utilized, opening up new possibilities for the industry and beyond. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    47 min

  7. 03/30/2023

    Globalizing the Investment Infrastructure

    How do international entities allow their customers to get access to the US market? With the uncertainty of markets and currencies, Alpaca is facilitating the pipes for companies to expand their offerings by stretching out their technology globally to give access as they were located in the US. I sat down with Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-Founder and CEO of Alpaca, to discuss how they set this up and tirelessly on the grind to expand into new markets. We discussed why this is important and their vision of globalizing the US market into new regions. Tune in to also hear about the awesome event they threw down here in Austin that included real life Alpacas! Thanks Yoshi! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    25 min

  8. 03/17/2023

    The Rise of eToro: A Social Trading Platform

    In a world dominated by traditional brokerage firms, eToro stands out as a disruptor in the financial services industry. Founded in 2007, eToro offers a unique social trading platform that has attracted millions of users worldwide. The company's co-founder, Ronen Assia, has been instrumental in shaping eToro's vision and growth. eToro's rise is a testament to the power of disruption and innovation in the financial services industry. By putting the user experience at the forefront and making trading a social experience, eToro has transformed the way people invest and trade. It was a joy to speak with Ronen in this episode, hope you enjoy it! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit headlessbanking.substack.com

    29 min
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Traditional banks and how we interact with banking services will be obfuscated by software, crypto, & technology platforms in the next 5 to 10 years. Our children will wonder why we ever visited a bank branch or logged into an online banking portal. headlessbanking.substack.com

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