Podcast Roundup: The Top Casts of 2021

It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of 2021. It’s been a year to rethink many assumptions about the future of banking and finance. We’ve been lucky enough to host some of the people and companies reshaping this industry. Check out our top podcasts of 2021 from the Financial Experience Podcast below.

• A De Novo for a New Era of Banking (ft. Keith Costello & Corey LeBlanc)

Keith Costello (CEO, Co-founder) and Corey LeBlanc (COO/CTO, Co-founder) of Locality Bank joined the podcast to discuss their vision for a new style of community banking set to launch in south Florida. “There really is a need for both: the fintech with technology and the community bank with relationships and local ties to the community,” Keith commented on the episode. 

This de novo is expected to go live later this year, and it has the strategic advantage of launching at “an opportune time.” Over the last decade, M&A activity removed many south Florida business owners’ favorite community banks, and as national de novo activity continues to sputter along, Locality’s stakeholders saw a clear need.

• Clearing the Smoke Between Cannabis and Banks (ft. Kevin Hart)

In this episode, Hunter chats with Kevin Hart, CEO of Green Check Verified. The company modernizes how cannabis businesses and financial institutions work together. In an ever-changing industry with evolving rules and regulations, Kevin emphasizes how vital it is to have a well-oiled compliance rules engine. They discuss scaling the industry and momentum in legislation because, as Kevin says, “The future [of cannabis banking] is today.”

• Frich Makes Money Social and Accountable for Gen Z (ft. Katrin Kaurov & Aleksandra Medina)

We hosted two young entrepreneurs: Katrin Kaurov (CEO, Co-founder) and Aleksandra Medina (CPO, Co-founder) who tackled the social aspect of finance with a new Gen Z-focused service. Katrin and Aleksandra traveled across the world and noticed a pattern of poor spending habits while building and maintaining a social life in each new place. They decided to build their app Frich to help solve this problem.

• Solving the “I’ll Pay You Back” Rift (ft. Haafiz Abdurrahim & Adoba Yua)

Our podcast guests, Haafiz Abdurrahim and Adoba Yua, co-founded their fintech RiftPay to solve a timeless problem. If you’ve felt uncomfortable while asking a friend to split the dinner bill, reminding a roommate to reimburse you for utilities or hearing an unfulfilled promise of, “I’ll pay you back,” you’re not alone.

• A Shift to Niche (ft. Liz High)

Liz High, EVP of Strategy and Marketing at Nymbus, discusses why niche is the new normal. The rapidly growing fintech is redefining what it means to “build or buy” technology, and they have helped financial (and non-financial) companies develop go-to-market strategies with a financial brand. Liz explains, “You don’t start with the bank. You start with the customer. And most importantly, you start with some really good data.”

• Wealth Tech for Main Street (ft. Margaret Hartigan)

Hunter and Margaret Hartigan discuss what it takes to bring wealth tech to Main Street. Margaret Hartigan created Marstone, a digital wealth management platform, to humanize and demystify finance. But the road wasn’t typical of today’s VC-backed fintech stars. By leveraging the “backbone of the financial industry” – custodians and core processing companies – to fix problems, her team has built a consumer-driven experience deliberately.