Fintech Layer Cake
Welcome to Fintech Layer Cake. A podcast where we slice big Financial Technology topics into bite-sized pieces for everybody to easily digest. Our goal is to make fintech a piece of cake for everyone. Fintech Layer Cake is powered by Lithic — the fastest and most flexible way to launch a card program.
Fintech Layer Cake
How a $7B Bank Out-Loaned Chase, and What Fintech Policy Needs Now, with AFC’s Phil Goldfeder
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Phil Goldfeder runs the American Fintech Council, the trade group representing nearly 170 fintech and banking companies. Before that he advised Chuck Schumer and Michael Bloomberg, served in elected office, and helped steer Cross River through the Paycheck Protection Program, where a bank with six or seven billion dollars in assets made as many loans as Chase and Bank of America.
In this episode, Reggie Young talks with Phil about how policy actually gets made and changed. They cover the lessons he took from Bloomberg and Schumer, what it was like inside Cross River during PPP, how a trade group turns 170 members with different interests into workable positions, why relationships with regulators get built in rooms rather than in filings, and the window he sees for durable policy work over the months ahead.
Fintech Layer Cake is powered by Lithic, financial infrastructure that helps teams build better card and payments products for consumers and businesses.
Chapters:
00:00 – Cold open: know what you know
00:12 – Meet Phil Goldfeder: Schumer, Bloomberg, Cross River, AFC
01:16 – What Bloomberg taught him about getting things done
03:16 – What Schumer taught him about time and showing up
04:33 – Inside Cross River when PPP hit
05:46 – "We have a responsibility to serve": the CEO's call
08:30 – Out-loaning the giants: a $7B bank matching Chase
09:39 – How a fintech actually advocates for policy change
11:52 – AFC as the nucleus: connecting companies, states, and regulators
14:13 – Who counts as a policymaker
15:21 – The high schoolers who changed his vote
19:01 – Managing 170 members who don't agree
19:48 – Flipping the compromise: everyone walks away a winner
21:04 – The compliance officer and the FDIC in the same room
23:13 – Banks want integrity, fintechs want speed, both can win
25:03 – Why friendly administrations don't guarantee progress
26:41 – The six-to-eight-month window to build things that last
29:36 – Consent orders as a step toward stronger companies
30:40 – Where to find AFC
Nothing in this podcast should be construed as legal or financial advice.
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