FinAi Podcast

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  Customer-facing AI reshapes mortgage lending, Newrez CIO says 17.09.2026 19мин

  Mortgage lender Newrez has received a positive response to its customer-facing AI tool, signaling a shift in how people buy homes.   Newrez launched Rezi Mortgage Assistant, its customized ChatGPT tool, in May, and has seen “plenty of usage,” Chief Information Officer Brian Woodring tells FinAi News on the latest episode of the “FinAi Podcast.”  “That trend of the more sophisticated and informed consumer is going to accelerate,” Woodring says.   Newrez originated $63.3 billion in mortgage loans in 2025, up 7% year over year, according to parent company Rithm Capital.   “Millions of our customers are on ChatGPT, and that's only going to increase over time,” he says. “We're going out there into an environment where we have inherently a little bit less control, but we wanted to meet our customers where they were, even though it doesn't give us that same visibility and control that hosting it ourselves does.”  The AI tool, designed to address common queries about the mortgage process based on Newrez’s guidelines, is also boosting internal efficiencies because customers are more educated when speaking with loan officers, Woodring says.   “We're seeing that it's actually helping our customers be better informed, which for them obviously makes the process a lot less scary and stressful, but it's a big win for us too because we don't go back and forth as much,” he said.   Tools such as Rezi Mortgage Assistant mark an inflection point for the industry as more prospective homebuyers become comfortable using AI for mortgage advice, he says.   Over the next year, Woodring says he expects more customers “to have an AI agent working with them to help them figure out what they want and how to get it.”  “You're going to see that creating a more competitive landscape, which I think is good for everyone,” he said.  Listen as Woodring discusses Newrez’s approach to customer-facing AI and other AI initiatives.  
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  FIs must use AI to anticipate the frauds of tomorrow, Javelin analyst says 10.09.2026 18мин

  AI is changing the fraud landscape on both ends of the spectrum: Fraudsters can use AI to increase the intricacy and polish of their exploits and FIs can use AI to identify scammers in near real-time.But AI progress marches on and FIs must continually reevaluate and refine their methods for combating fraud, Jennifer Pitt, senior analyst of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy & Research, tells FinAi News on this episode of the “FinAi Podcast.”"A lot of organizations that I speak to on a daily basis [are] only looking at the fraud that we're seeing right now, and I think that's the problem that we need to address," she says. "We can't only look at the fraud that we're seeing right now. We have to be able to try to anticipate what fraud might be occurring."FIs need to be able to "think like a criminal," Pitt says, to anticipate the next uses of AI for fraud, especially as models such as Anthropic's Mythos 5 and OpenAI's GPT-5.6-Sol expand capabilities. "We need to look at all the fraud that's actually happening — not only within each ecosystem, but the whole fraud landscape," she says. That means implementing the latest technologies, including AI, Pitt says. Concerns about implementation costs and preserving consumer trust may cause some FIs to hesitate before implementing new tech. However, FIs will pay a great deal more in both of those metrics if they do not implement AI and other modern tools to fight fraud, she says."You are going to pay either way," Pitt says. "You pay on the front end for the technology and tools, or you pay on the back end for the financial loss or customer attrition."Listen as Pitt discusses how fraud has changed in the age of AI, what FIs and consumers can do to protect themselves and the critical need for institutions to share knowledge.
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  Mastercard focuses on ‘Verifiable Intent’ for agentic payments, CDO says 04.09.2026 24мин

  Nearly a year after launching Agent Pay, Mastercard is focused on developing trust to drive adoption. “The first thing is the consumer needs to know that they can trust the interaction,” Mastercard Chief Digital Officer Pablo Fourez tells FinAi News on this episode of the “FinAi Podcast.”  “They need to know that if ‘I shop with this agent and something goes wrong, I am protected.’” Agent Pay, announced in April 2025, has now rolled out across Mastercard’s global operations, enabling the company's network of issuing banks to participate in agentic commerce, Fourez says. Central to Mastercard's approach to agentic payments is "Verifiable Intent," a specification the company co-developed with Google and open-sourced through standards bodies including the FIDO Alliance, he says.  Verifiable Intent is an open, standards-based trust layer for agentic commerce that creates a tamper-resistant record of what users authorized when an AI agent acts on their behalf, according to a March Mastercard release. Verifiable Intent “helps basically a merchant understand that this is actually an agent that they can trust," Fourez says. Looking ahead, he says next year will bring more autonomous use cases and growth in machine-to-machine payments, including agent-to-agent transactions tied to business-to-business commerce. Listen as Fourez discusses how Mastercard aims to develop and drive adoption of agentic payments. 
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  Robotics, AI reduce manual processes at J.P. Morgan Payments 27.08.2026 14мин

  J.P. Morgan Payments is looking to AI to remove friction from workflows — freeing up employees from repetitive and manual tasks. "The workflow surrounding the payment has traditionally been very manual," Michelle Conklin, head of receivables and public sector product and operations for J.P. Morgan Payments, tells FinAi News on this episode of the "FinAi Podcast."  It's "a manually intensive process that has multiple steps throughout," from physically receiving the mail, opening envelopes, extracting documents, capturing documents, entering data and resolving exceptions, she says. That's where AI is transforming the paper process into a digital effort.  J.P. Morgan Payments has deployed a mail automation robot within its lockbox sites, tapping robots to open envelopes, remove and unfold the contents, scan documents and extract data, she says. Removing manual steps of check processing and data capture is a big help considering the bank processed more than 130 million checks in 2025, she says. "When you operate at the scale that we do, even the smallest inefficiencies become significant," she says. "We are transforming a highly intensive paper process into a more digital, efficient and scalable experience for both our clients, but also equally for our employees." Now employees can use their time and resources for exceptions, problem solving, client support and oversight. Listen as Conklin discusses how J.P. Morgan Payments is using AI to digitalize historically manual processes. 
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  AI adoption among SMBs doubles YoY, according to TD survey 06.08.2026 16мин

  Small businesses are increasingly looking to AI to improve operations – and banks must be able to meet the needs of those clients. According to the 2026 TD Financial Preparedness Survey, released in April, 69% of business owners already use AI to reduce expenses, up from 39% in the 2025 survey. The survey polled 1,000 U.S. business owners with 100 or fewer employees. “That was a dramatic increase,” Chris Ward, head of small business banking at TD Bank U.S., tells FinAi News on this episode of the “FinAi Podcast.” In the survey, small business owners identified the top benefits of AI for their businesses: Customer service; Fraud and cybersecurity; and Sales and marketing. AI in SMB bankingWhile small businesses deploy AI internally, they are also looking to their financial services provider for advice and insights. “Operating a small business is really complex nowadays,” Ward says. “It’s tough to be a small business owner, so we found that giving tools to our business customers to help them manage their cash flow is more important than ever.” That’s where the bank’s Small Business Dashboard, or cash flow management tool, comes into play, he says. It offers insights, forecasts future cash flow needs and allows for benchmarking across other businesses in the same industry. “They’re looking for information and they’re looking for somebody who can help them manage their cash flow more intelligently,” Ward says. Listen as Ward discusses how SMBs use AI and how TD is keeping up with the demand for intelligent small business banking solutions. 
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  Why tax season serves as an AI stress test for banks 08.04.2026 12мин

  Tax season adds stress to banking systems with a surge in transactions, fraud threats, data complexity and necessary risk controls. This added stress, including to AI systems, can expose gaps in data quality, Mark Blake, financial services industry practice lead at data management solution provider Stibo Systems, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. Those gaps to watch for in AI systems include: Mismatched data; Missing data; Lineage issues; and Auditability issues. Financial institutions must ensure “they’re meeting and satisfying the regulators, and they need to be confident that their AI models also stand up to that pressure,” Blake says. Listen as Blake discusses AI readiness at financial institutions this tax season.
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  FIs deploy cloud-based AI agents 24.02.2026 19мин

  Financial institutions have established cloud partners and now those cloud providers are being tapped for agentic AI, Ravi Khokhar, executive vice president and head of cloud at Capgemini, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. "The role of cloud has now become an enabler for AI across financial services,” Khokar says.  For example, banks are tapping their cloud providers to host agents, creating processes that are “a little bit more intentional for managing risk, compliance, explainability,” he says. Netherlands-based bank ABN AMRO tapped Microsoft and Capgemini to migrate its existing chatbot to the cloud, according to Capgemini’s ” “World Report Series 2026: Cloud in Financial Services.” The bank migrated its chatbot infrastructure to Microsoft Copilot Studio to create an agent that integrates generative AI features and scalability. Before moving it to the cloud, the chatbot had high customer drop-off rates, limited capabilities and high operating costs, according to the report. Now, the agent’s language processing accuracy in Dutch has increased by 7% and overall drop-off rates fell. Listen as Khokhar discusses agentic readiness, multicloud and multiagent ecosystems and the importance of governance, trust and training when deploying agentic AI. 
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  Bank of America’s head of digital speaks on bank’s AI strategy 09.02.2026 14мин

  Bank of America invests about $4 billion annually in AI and other technologies to keep up with the needs of its clients.  “AI at the bank … touches everything we do,” Nikki Katz, head of digital at Bank of America, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. Katz leads a team of designers, data scientists, product managers and others who meet the needs of the 59 million clients accessing the bank through its digital channels — its website, mobile app, and its AI-driven assistant Erica. “We make over a thousand different enhancements to [the digital experience] every year,” she says, noting, “We’re constantly tuning Erica.” Erica adoption continues to grow as it is continuously iterated. The latest stats: About 50 million clients have used the AI assistant; Clients have engaged with Erica for almost 19 million hours; and  Erica has had over 3 billion interactions. Listen as Katz discusses how her team approaches emerging technology and the application of AI across digital channels at the bank. 
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  How AI is catching check fraud early 02.02.2026 20мин

  Check fraud remains a threat for financial institutions, but AI can help by detecting anomalies. Check fraud is “a growing concern for many,” Ati Azemoun, vice president of business development at Longmont, Colo.-based software provider ParaScript, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. In fact, 63% of organizations experienced check fraud or attempted check fraud in 2025, according to the Association of Financial Professionals. The AFP surveyed 521 treasury practitioner members. One anomaly AI can detect is signature forgery, Azemoun says.  ParaScript’s forgery detection software, SignatureXpert.AI, can compare signatures from previous checks and flag when a signature is different, ultimately stopping the fraud, he says. Founded in 1996, ParaScript banking clients include financial institutions, government agencies and companies in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Australia. In 2025, ParaScript partnered with tech provider BIRGER which will introduce the technology to commercial banks in Mauritius, Africa. Listen as Azemoun discusses the current state of check fraud and how AI is reducing fraud at financial institutions. 
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  Reimagining payment experiences with agentic AI 06.01.2026 23мин

  AI, in some capacity, has been used within payments for 30 years. The latest evolution in AI is through the agentic lens — transforming transactions and experiences alike.  “We're actually thinking about really reimagining not one payment, but an entire experience,” Zachary Aron, principal, Deloitte Consulting, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast.  For example, how can agents be used for travel, business spending or even date nights, he says, noting that you bought the airfare, but do you need to add a hotel or sightseeing package? Agentic AI can facilitate those payments. Agentic AI makes payments “invisible and easy,” Aron says.  Listen to “The Buzz” as Aron discusses the possibilities for agentic transactions this year. 
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  Rabobank, Santander Brazil see returns from Pega GenAI 16.12.2025 19мин

  Rabobank and Santander Brazil are seeing efficiency gains from generative AI. The European banks use AI Pega GenAI from workflow automation system provider Pegasystems, Steve Morgan, global banking industry lead at Pega, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. 
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  White Clay CEO Mac Thompson talks 8 steps for AI implementation 25.11.2025 16мин

  Financial institutions are implementing AI at scale, but logistics should be the focus before diving headfirst into emerging technology. Mac Thompson, chief executive of software provider White Clay, tells FinAi News the eight steps he shares with financial institution clients when approaching AI on this episode of “The Buzz.” 
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  Austin Capital Bank CEO Erik Beguin on AI-driven fraud 18.11.2025 14мин

  Fraud is on the rise, and AI is contributing to both the solution and the problem.  “Fraud is a really large problem and growing exponentially,” Austin Capital Bank Chief Executive Erik Beguintells FinAi News in this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. Consumers reported losing $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, according to the FTC. And that’s probably understated, Beguin says, noting that not all consumers report being defrauded, due to embarrassment, being in denial or other reasons. Fraudsters are using AI to target individuals, using it to read social profiles and identify the best way to attack a person, he says. This streamlines an extremely laborious task for bad actors. On the other hand, FIs are using AI to boost account security, Beguin says. For example, consumers and financial institutions are likely to start moving away from usernames and passwords and even traditional multifactor authentication methods. Instead, the market should move toward biometrics and AI-driven device and image authentication. 
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  Casca CEO Lukas Haffer on opportunities for AI in small business lending 11.11.2025 23мин

  Small business owners need fast access to capital, with fair rates.  That’s the reality that Lukas Haffer, chief executive of AI-native loan origination provider Casca, tells FinAi News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. For small business owners, the “No. 1 problem is access to capital,” he says. The time it takes to close a Small Business Administration loan, one guaranteed by the SBA, is 90 days, Haffer says. No one has time for that, he says. And this is where AI and a streamlined experience come in. Manual procedures in the lending process, including document collection, analysis and communication, can be streamlined with AI, he says. In fact, Casca is working with financial institutions to do just that. For example, when a client sends an email, creating a response that includes personalized messaging, previous correspondents, and necessary information, it can take 20 to 25 minutes, Haffer says. With Casca, that message can be created in 63 seconds. Casca, founded in 2023, continues to grow. Its most recent fundraise consisted of $29 million in a series A round, bringing total funding to $33 million, according to the company. The round was led by Canapi Ventures. Live Oak Bank, Huntington National Bank and Bankwell Bank also participated. Listen to “The Buzz” as Haffer discusses the opportunity for AI in small business lending and where Casca plans to expand its business. 
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  FV Bank CEO Miles Paschini on future of stablecoin 09.09.2025 27мин

  FV Bank aims to stay ahead of emerging technology trends, including stablecoins.  The Puerto Rico-based digital bank integrated stablecoins three years ago, ahead of the recent excitement around the cryptocurrency, Chief Executive Miles Paschini tells Bank Automation News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast.  “We had the idea that stablecoins could play an important role in banking, so we integrated with USDC,” he says. Now investment in stablecoins is skyrocketing. In fact, according to British bank Standard Chartered, the stablecoin market is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2028, up from $250 billion last month.  
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  Piermont Bank CEO Cai-Lee on tapping the $7T embedded finance market 18.07.2025 21мин

  Piermont Bank built its own proprietary API platform to allow companies to tap its embedded finance services, a market that is expected to reach $7 trillion in transaction value in 2026. 
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  Spring by Citi Managing Director, Global Head Subramanyam on embedded finance 20.06.2025 22мин

  Citi’s embedded finance service, Spring by Citi, is looking to expand its use cases in payments acceptance and foreign exchange by tapping the consumer bank, Managing Director and Global Head Vineeth Subramanyam tells Bank Automation News on this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. Spring by Citi launched in 2020 and has a global presence in 23 markets. The payment and acceptance and merchant acquiring service sits inside the $1.7 trillion bank’s services organization and is built on Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions payments network.  
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  New Fintilect CEO Soergel on the richness of transactional data 22.05.2025 22мин

  Access to transactional data provides the richest insights for personalized banking experiences. “What are [consumers] paying, how are they paying, what kinds of life stages are they in the midst of?” Lindsay Soergel, chief executive at AI-powered digital banking solutions provider Fintilect, asks. She says this information delivers “the greatest value to our financial services customers.” Soergel, who has held leadership positions in the financial services industry for more than 20 years, pointing to her time at PNC, SunTrust Bank, NCR, Kasisto and more, speaks with Bank Automation News for this episode of “The Buzz.” She became CEO at London-based Fintilect in March.  Founded in 1985, Fintilect’s client base spans the banking, credit union and auto lending sectors, Soergel says.  
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  How JPMorgan uses AI to support SMBs 28.04.2025 19мин

  JPMorgan Chase is scaling its digital resources and fintech integrations to support small business owners through economic uncertainty and continued digital transformation. The effort starts with understanding business owners, John Frerichs, head of global SMB payments at the $4.3 trillion bank, tells Bank Automation News in this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. “Our duty is to be here for our customers in difficult and uncertain times,” he says. According to JPMorgan Chase’s March small business sentiment survey, 78% of respondents were optimistic about the future, with about 40% planning to expand, Frerichs tells BAN. However,  tariff concerns could cause confidence to dip slightly in April, he notes. Chase expects the results of its April small business sentiment survey by early May, the bank shared with BAN. With April marking National Financial Literacy Month, Frerichs emphasizes its importance: “We want to make small business owners’ life as easy as possible. Part of that is through financial literacy.” For example, the bank’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides consulting, on-demand financial education and banking tools for entrepreneurs, has grown from four cities to 38 since its 2020 launch to include 82 senior business consultants. “So far, 7,000 small businesses have gone through the program,” Frerichs says. To help business owners make data-informed decisions, Chase applies AI and analytics to transaction data. “We take anonymized transaction data and spin it back to … a small business owner, showing sales, customer demographics and transaction trends,” he says. Chase also offers SMBs end-to-end digital tools, including: Payroll integration via fintech Gusto; An e-commerce gateway through Visa-owned payment gateway Authorize.net; Real-time, same-day and scheduled payment options;  Digital invoicing; and Omnichannel acceptance for in-store, online and mobile transactions. “We try to always bring that all together in as streamlined a way as possible,” Frerichs says. “Small business owners need time back.” Learn more about how the nation’s biggest bank is tailoring solutions for SMBs in this episode of “The Buzz.” 
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  Banks push for cost-effective, multimodal AI tools 10.04.2025 26мин

  Financial institutions are moving beyond pilot projects to implement production-grade, explainable and cost-effective AI solutions that can meet operational and regulatory demands. AI has evolved rapidly since fintech Arteria AI was founded in 2020, Amir Hajian, chief science officer, tells Bank Automation News in this episode of “The Buzz” podcast. The company provides banks with AI-powered digital documentation services. “2020 was a very simple year where AI was classification and extraction, and now we have all the glory of AI systems that can do things for you and with you,” Hajian says.  “We realized one day in 2021 that using language alone is not enough to solve [today’s] problems.” The company began using multimodal models that can not only read but search for visual cues in documents. AI budgets and strategies vary widely among FIs, Hajian says. Therefore, Arteria’s approach involves reengineering large AI models to be smaller and more cost-effective, able to run in any environment without requiring massive computer resources. This allows smaller institutions to access advanced AI without extensive infrastructure. Hajian, who joined Arteria AI in 2020, is also head of the fintech’s research arm, Arteria Cafe. One of Arteria Cafe’s first developments since its creation in January is GraphiT — a tool for encoding graphs into text and optimizing large language model prompts for graph prediction tasks.  GraphiT enables graph-based analysis with minimal training data, ideal for compliance and financial services where data is limited and regulations shift quickly. The GraphiT solution operates at roughly one-tenth the cost of previously known methods, Hajian says. Key uses include: Regulatory compliance; Anti-money laundering; Predictive modeling; and Low-data problem solving. Arteria plans to roll out GraphiT at the ACM Web Conference 2025 in Sydney this month.