Background

Questions

1. FIS acquired Bond in 2023. Can you talk about the acquisition, how it came about, and what were the triggers that made you decide to sell the business at that time?
2. What are the advantages of an embedded finance fintech offering that's part of a company like FIS?
3. How do you think about that calculation of building something internally to complement your offering versus going out there and bringing it in from a third party? How did you think about that at Bond, and how do you think about that now at FIS? Has that calculation changed?
4. We last spoke in October 2021. Obviously, there was a big macro downturn. It hit fintech. There was a banking crisis in 2023. If you listen to the scuttlebutt in the fintech circles, the perception is that BaaS has fallen out of favor, coming out of all that turbulence. Would you agree with that? And how do you personally see the strengths and shortcomings of what's generally referred to as the BaaS model?
5. You mentioned more viable models and less viable models. Would you be able to speak to maybe one on each side?
6. You also mentioned professionalization of relationships. Would you dig into that? What does that look like?
7. You mentioned in our last interview the important role that facilitating the direct relationships played at Bond and specifically the program manager function, that level of compliance interface, if you will. If it seems like that's an important part of it, could you speak a little bit to the evolution of that layer and that specific relationship?
8. Is regulatory pressure actually having concrete business implications for players in the embedded finance ecosystem?
9. Yeah. Maybe if I was an early-stage startup reading this interview in the space or adjacent to the space, I'd say, "Gee, well, where's the room for me now?" You're making a pretty strong argument that the bar will be higher.
10. What space is there for intermediaries that are innovating? I’m thinking of the would-be Bonds of the present.
11. In our last interview, you made a strong argument about the value of data. Did that argument in favor of data resonate with the enterprise customers you're going to now?
12. Is it too strong a statement to make that relying on interchange for a big chunk of your revenue is maybe not a good long-term idea?
13. You mentioned that you were kind of 50/50 between fintech and vertical SaaS, but you were more excited about vertical SaaS. Did that end up being the case?
14. In terms of point solutions versus more all-in-one banking infrastructure kind of solution, we’ve talked about issuer processors like Marqeta or Lithic. Are folks today better served going straight to an issuer processor, or is it better to get an all-in-one solution where all of your banking infrastructure, including the card issuing, is under one roof?
15. If you’re a bank supporting fintech programs, is there any sort of reporting benefit to working directly with an issuer processor such as getting more visibility into what's going on in those card programs versus going through an additional layer?
16. In terms of building for enterprise, you have a great view into this now as well. You mentioned working with large organizations. What have you learned about building embedded finance for enterprise? And maybe what are some opportunities you see in that direction?
17. You mentioned that banks are also wanting to build technology out and be able to offer more to their end customers directly. Can you tell me more about that?
18. A few years ago we saw some fintech companies try to acquire bank charters, but there hasn't been a lot of movement in that area. What does that say about how the embedded finance space has shaken out?
19. One business model I want to talk about a little bit more is embedded lending. That seems like one where data can play a huge role.
20. There’s this idea that everybody's going to become a fintech company. Does that fit with the reality of how businesses and people operate?
21. In terms of where you sit now, what opportunities do you see that maybe we haven't talked about, whether it's in terms of embedded finance, new verticals, delivery models, product types? What haven't we talked about or what's in your mind that's a good opportunity?
22. In terms of the whole embedded finance thesis, rewinding 5 years, what has surprised you on the one side and then maybe confirmed expectations on the other in terms of the way that thesis has played out?
23. Earlier when you mentioned that enterprises, the larger they are, and correct me because I might be mischaracterizing what you said, the more they're likely to want to work with a large platform that's all in one in terms of banking infrastructure. It's, you know, maybe I'm putting it wrongly, but the idea was you're a large enterprise, you want to get a product out there. "Hey, let's work with an all-in-one platform rather than go out and grab point solutions off the shelf."
24. In terms of that phenomenon of extending products, we hear a lot of folks talk about increasing average revenue per user, cross-selling, extending products. What have you seen people do to be successful in those, adding that second, third, fourth product?
25. Can you talk a bit about your role at FIS now? You were CEO of Bond, and then Bond became Atelio. What is Atelio and what is your role there?