Fintech Impact

Host Jason Pereira talks to Dennis Gada, Senior Vice President and Industry Head for Financial Service for Infosys. It is a global digital services company that offers end-to-end services to its clients from technology to business operations, consulting and helping them in the digital transformation journey, and helping them run in their existing business and technology operations.Episode Highlights:2.40: Jason inquires, “When companies come to Infosys for support, how do you navigate their digital needs?”4.18: Dennis explains, “We work in three different layers; driving efficiency in running business and technology operations, digital transformation of their end-to-end business process, and helping them to grow the business in a new area for consulting services.”5.10: Dennis affirms that the last 12 months post-Covid has seen significant acceleration of client journey, and we can call it a trigger, but it has been a prominent force of transformation. 5:50: Dennis says there is an enhanced expectation fr

Host Jason Pereira talks to Andrew Chau, CEO, and Co-founder of Neo Financial. It is a technology company that is building a better financial experience for all Canadians. Episode Highlights: 0.42: Andrew explains that Neo Financial is a Fintech company, reimagining the everyday banking experience for Canadians. The company provides a seamless consumer experience.     1.25: Andrew talks about his history. His entrepreneurship journey started when he was quite young. 04.20: Andrew shares that Neo is a credit card and bank account as well. 04.28: The bank account and the credit card connect with a network of local businesses and large national brands where Neo powers the rewards and loyalty programs.04.37: Once a user gets the Neo credit card, they get access to 1000 multiple different cashback programs. 05.10: People often ask Andrew about Neo’s chain between food delivery and banking. He says that it is a consumer-focused business.07.13: Andrew talks about the

Host Jason Pereira talks to Michael Stroev. He is the COO and Head of Products for Nebeus. The company is an online platform that allows people to borrow, transfer and rent cryptocurrencies.Episode Highlights:00.35: Michael introduces Nebeus as a learning platform that allows people to earn cryptocurrencies and get loans.2.14: Michel says he works on every single aspect of the company in terms of a COO.  3.55: Jason inquires, “What is the core value-proposition of Nebeus?”4.04: Michael explains Nebeus is an ecosystem of products. He adds “Our main products are launched, we have all the other products that are gone with launch, allowing our users to not leave Nebeus from any of their needs.” 4.48: Michael shares they have also added crypto-insurance to Nebeus where people can insure their cryptocurrencies with a $100 million insurance policy from Lloyd London.6.00: Jason explains “Nebeus crypto-insurance is not like protecting you from market loss but protecting from things that can go wron

Host, Jason Pereira, talks to Michael Lecours. He is the Co-Founder of fpPathfinder. It is a flow-charting tool for advisors so that they can make better and consistent decisions. Episode Highlights:0.40: Jason is a fan of fpPathfinder, because of its sheer simplicity.1.28: Michael talks and fpPathfinder, and how it helps advisors to make informed decisions using different formats of checklists.1.57: Flow charts provided by fpPathfinder, helps on the decision-making front.2.54: Jason is impressed by fpPathfinder, and he says that an advisor who sign-up with the company can really count on it.3.32: Jason and Michael talk about the constantly changing regulations in the United States.4.03: While talking about Michael’s company, Jason points out that “The fact that we are outsourcing the cognitive decision making is just remarkable.”04.14: Jason is curious to know about the creation and story of fpPathfinder.05.00: For Michael it all started with simple errors and how to provide some clarity to a clien

Host, Jason Pereira, talks to panelists gathered at the WP Wealthtech Summit. The topic of discussion was “How the wealth industry is adapting to technology and revolutionizing the future of advice.” Episode Highlights:  1.18: Kendra Thompson is associated as a partner in Deloitte consulting practice. She leads the business called future of advice in investing, which focuses on what Canadian families care about as related to their investments? What are they willing to pay for? and How the industry is transforming to deliver that at a scale of profit?1.55: Joseph Lo, Vice President for Wealth Product Innovation for Broadridge. It is a global fintech company focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make the wealth management lifecycle better.2.05: Robert Smuk, President & CEO, Agora Dealer Services Corp. It is a B2B trading dealer created to help advisors and dealerships provide advice to all of their clients.2.33: Tom Burmeister, Vice President of Financial Planning with Naviplan and now h

In this episode of ‘Fintech Impact’ podcast, host Jason Pereira talks to Brandon Rembe, the Chief Product Officer of Envestnet, which encompasses his role overseeing product for Envestnet | Yodlee, the data & analytics arm of Envestnet. Jason & Brandon talk about every aspect of investment and share some great ways to make people’s financial life better. Episode Highlights:00.34: Brandon states that Envestnet is a large Wealth Tech and Fintech Ecosystem that is been around the business for over 20 years with a net worth of over $4 trillion. 01.32: Envestnet has acquired a lot of start-ups and the founders are still with the organization as they continue to innovate.02.13: Jason asks Brandon about the history of Envestnet and his role in the company.03.31: As per Brandon, they worked really hard to grow the business from the breadth of what’ they’re doing and are now focused on integrating all the components. 05.50: Brandon mentions that Envestnet as a company is the glue behind all thos

Host Jason Pereira talks to Shawn Yeager, Vice President – Sales at Dataswift, a vanguard provider of infrastructure that delivers personal data access, storage, and portability. In this episode, Shawn talks about solutions and the issues around identity rights and access to those identities.   Episode Highlights:0.30: Shawn explains what does it mean by “Infrastructure that delivers personal data access, storage, and portability?”0.47: It means that for individuals, they get the security ownership and control of their private personal data.01.02: For enterprises such as Fintech, the ability to securely in a compliant fashion transact customer data without the liability of holding all of the data.  01.05: Dataswift also provides developers, open-source tools to readily built compliance, authentication, and data storage. 02.04: Shawn has 20+ years of experience in business development and sales of infrastructure software, digital media, emerging technologies, and much more. 0

In this episode host, Jason Pereira talks to Gil Petersil. He talks about how editing and auditing your networks, both online and offline, have massive impacts on your business.  Episode Highlights:0.36: Gil talks about his years of experience in networking. He has set up few businesses around them. 01.32: Gil gives a little background of his career journey. He has handled various jobs with large and small brands.02.41: He adds that he has gained the required experience as a sales manager, waiter, executive, and many more; now, he can give back as a coach and teacher.05.01: Gil shares few recent examples of brands approaching him during the pandemic since people are not buying many products or services. 06.00: Gil doesn’t believe in time-consuming all-day training instead he prefers experimenting and then later sees how it works. 07.29: Gil talks about ethical deals and organizing the network effectively.11.00: Gil talks about “If I want to develop my business from 100 a month to mill

In this episode, host Jason Pereira talks to Andrew Altfest - Founder and CEO of FP Alpha, CFP and President of Altfest Personal Wealth Management. FP Alpha is an AI-driven comprehensive wealth management solution that helps advisors identify actionable recommendations to clients in a scalable, intelligent, and cost-efficient manner.Episode Highlights:01.16: Andrew Altfest talks about his inspiration to launch FP Alpha. In 2015 one of his advisors was asked this question “How are you different than a Robo-Advisor?”02.11: FP Alpha provides a premium wealth management experience to clients; the fee justifies the value-add service that they provide. 05.01: Andrew worked closely with his CTO, who has a background in Tech Development, and they built the first beta version of FP Alpha. It was used in his wealth management firm since 2018. Finally, in 2020 it launched it at the T3 conference. 06.27: Andrew is focused on providing financial planning for the future. He is trying to evolve financial planning

In this episode, host Jason Pereira talks to Scott Plaskett. As a financial planner, he is in the business since 1993. As a financial planner, he was looking for systems and technologies that would support the need to run the practice.  Episode Highlights:01.08: Scott shares how he realized there is the ability to create processes and workflow within the systems.01.39: After facing several crashes in the system, Scott was told to put a system in place that is running on its own server. 02.16: Scott gives a piece of insightful information that his firm was one of the first firms to embrace cloud-based technology.02:30: Scott took the help of salesforce.com, which is the apple of all programs. 03:49: Jason shares his preference for salesforce and how people often think it is a CRM platform with giant data on top. It is almost like AWS of CRM.04:35: Jason is curious to know “What does Genie deliver to an advisor who is looking to automate their process better?”04:45: Scott talks about the fou

In this episode host, Jason Pereira talks to Binna Kim founder of Vested. The company is an integrated agency of Fintech and Financial Services Firm. She jokes about her Jerry Maguire moment when she decided to quit and start her firm.Episode Highlights:02.00 – Binna talks about how brands needed to speak to their clients. Vested wants to work with the best brand in the Financial sector.03:50 – Jason talks about his personal opinion while sharing an example of his friend who is an art director at a media company and how terrible marketing he has seen.04:55 – Jason continues to share that at times how boring and repetitive few ads are.05:06 – Pointing towards the current awareness, Jason asks, “You must be seeing a lot more willingness from tech-start-ups to be different than before?”05:16 – Binna confirms that more regulations are coming into the picture for Fintech companies. 07:17 – Binna shares from her experience that not only the big firms, even the independent firms or small boutiques, come to them

In this 169th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award–winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Adrien Treccani, Founder and CEO of Metaco, a company that enables traditional financial institutions to offer their clients blockchain solutions!Episode Highlights:0:29 – Adrien Treccani introduces Metaco.1:06 – What brought about the genesis of Metaco?3:24 – How did Metaco solve the frictions of cryptocurrency mass adoption?6:15 – What does the client process look like with Metaco?9:16 – Is Adrien seeing a willingness to adopt blockchain solutions out of fear of future regulation?12:14 – How does Metaco’s system of hierarchies and permissions work?14:10 – Adrien breaks down the book on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology that he is currently writing.15:57 – Where does Adrien see Metaco going in the future?17:32 – What is Adrien seeing as the primary reason for purchasing crypto?20:03 – If Adrien could change one thing in his industry, what would it be?21:50 – What ha

In this 168th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award–winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Dan DeMers, CEO and Cofounder of Cinchy, a next–generation data–management platform that utilizes data fabric with the end goal of data autonomy!Episode Highlights:0:43 – Dan DeMers introduces himself and Cinchy.2:27 – What was the problem that Dan was trying to solve when he started Cinchy?5:05 – Dan and Jason discuss the nature of code and the realization of data as a core asset.6:56 – Jason and Dan explain why the silo system is not scalable.10:09 – What are the hurdles and limitations of data lakes?11:48 – Dan explains “data fabric” and what problems it solves.15:21 – Jason and Dan discuss the relation of Metcalfe's Law to data fabric.17:33 – Dan and Jason explain the value of data and what it means to every individual.22:14 – What kind of reception has Cinchy gotten from the major institutions that it works with?26:52 – Jason and Dan explain why we are on the cusp of a

In this 167th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Arin Klug, Cofounder of Epilogue, an online will kit that helps people leave behind a legacy that does not bring their loved ones massive pain by enabling them to take control of their will!Episode Highlights:0:32 – Arin Klug introduces Epilogue and how it helps people.1:06 – How did Epilogue come to fruition and what motivated its creation?3:38 – What is the average situation that Epilogue applies to?5:10 – Where is the line drawn for Epilogue when it comes to whose will it can help create?10:23 – Jason and Arin discuss the value of lawyers in the will process.11:50 – What does the Epilogue client experience look like?14:26 – Arin explains what happens when there are changes in estate law.16:50 – Jason and Arin discuss how the costs of lawyers interrupt changes to the will.20:17 – Does everyone really need to pay for the premium financial planning services?21:23 – Arin bre

In this 166th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Abraham Okusanya, CEO and Founder of Timeline. Timeline is an online platform that allows people to stress test the decumulation phase of their life and come up with a plan to deal with it!Episode Highlights:0:34 – Abraham Okusanya introduces Timeline.1:18 – Jason discusses the conflicting aspects and uncertainty of decumulation.1:52 – What was Abraham’s journey that led him to start Timeline?5:47 – Jason explains his biggest problems with financial plans.6:27 – What are the client inputs and outputs involved when working with Timeline?10:36 – Abraham explains how Timeline compares client expectations to reality.12:31 – What are the various spending rules that Timeline uses to adjust based on reality?16:54 – How does Timeline’s Floor and Ceiling rule work?18:39 – Abraham compares Timeline’s Floor and Ceiling rule to Michael Kitces’s Ratcheting rule.22:13 – Jason and Abraham

In this 165th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award–winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Meenaz Sunderji, the Executive VP at Zafin. Zafin is a banking software platform that helps financial institutions personalize their services for their customers!Episode Highlights:0:31 – Meenaz Sunderji introduces Zafin and its services.1:32 – What led to the creation of Zafin?4:31 – Meenaz and Jason dive into what Zafin does for its clients.6:11 – How many different Legacy COBOL systems was Zafin dealing with to create a unified view?8:33 – Did any financial institutions come up with a long–term strategy before Zafin came into the picture?9:50 – Jason and Meenaz explain the difficulties of putting multiple product lines into one framework.15:00 – How has Zafin dealt with financial restrictions and regulations around the world?18:19 – Meenaz breaks down how a large publicly-traded company re-engineers its incentive program for the longer term.20:43 – Jason and Meenaz discu

In this 164th episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Thomas Sponholtz, CEO of Unison, a company that enables equity financing of residential real estate and gives institutional investors access to the world’s largest asset class!Episode Highlights:0:33 – Thomas Sponholtz introduces Unison.3:16 – What was the impedance for the creation of Unison?6:06 – Thomas explains the consumer experience when working with Unison.7:37 – To what degree is Unison participating in the change in the value of the house?8:44 – What happens if the homeowner sells the property at a loss?9:36 – How long do these deals take to get closed?11:10 – Thomas discusses the return expectations by investors.13:24 – How much attention is paid to regional diversification?16:00 – Jason and Thomas discuss the potential risk for residential homeowners.19:28 – Thomas discusses Unison’s goal of giving people the experience of having a home without the financial comm

In this 163rd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Clayton Feick (Flinks) to go over the fundamental concepts of Open Banking!Episode Highlights:1:33 – Clayton Feick gives an update on his role at Flinks.3:07 – Jason and Clayton discuss the leveraging of data with Open Banking.4:01 – What is Open Banking in layman's terms?5:22 – Clayton explains screen scraping as a way to access data.6:45 – Jason and Clayton break down the current barriers to user data.11:10 – Clayton discusses the banks’ struggles to adapt to a new environment.14:01 – Was there anything of note that came up during Clayton’s global panel?16:15 – Jason and Clayton discuss innovation and regulation coming together on a global scale.20:34 – Jayson and Clayton dive into the responsibilities of regulators and legislators surrounding data rights.22:31 – How does the Open Banking framework go about its security?25:54 – If Clayton could change one thing about the

In this 162nd episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host interviews Edward Berks (Xero), Davyde Wachell (Responsive AI), and Chad Davis (LiveCA) on what works and doesn’t work with Open Banking in different countries around the world!Episode Highlights:1:03 – Everyone introduces themselves and their companies.4:06 – What market has done the best job of moving Open Banking forward?8:44 – Where have we seen the biggest struggles throughout the world?13:40 – David explains how North American banks are actively slowing down the process of Open Banking.17:00 – Everyone weighs in on TD’s current lawsuit against Plaid.21:05 – What is the correlation between market competition and outcomes?27:00 – Jason compares the American financial psyche with the Candian one.28:03 – Everyone discusses streamlining access to capital during COVID in Canada.33:30 – Why does the Canadian government continue to push timelines for Open Banking?37:30 – David discusses

In this 161st episode of Fintech Impact, Jason Pereira, award-winning financial planner, university lecturer, writer, and host is joined by Ben Harrison (Portag3 Ventures), Andrew Moor (EQ Bank), & Daniel Eberhard (KOHO) for part 3 of his series on Open Banking. This one is all about Canada!Episode Highlights:0:57 – Andrew Moor introduces himself and EQ Bank.2:25 – Ben Harrison gives insight into his role at Portag3.3:58 – Daniel Eberhard introduces himself and CoHo’s mission.6:15 – What is the current state of Open Banking in Canada?9:00 – How does this round of conversations surrounding Open Banking differ from conversations in the past?12:49 – Jason discusses the unprecedented urgency around regulatory reforms in Canada right now.14:19 – What kind of consideration is Canada’s advisory committee taking from markets that have already implemented Open Banking?18:12 – Everyone discusses the lack of data rights for consumers in Canada.23:28 – What does Open Banking mean to the future of KOHO, EQ Bank, and P