Jason Mikula @mikulaja Twitter profile | Pikagi

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Jason Mikula

@mikulaja

17,876

Followers

3,031

Following

1,432

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17,051

Statuses

Fintech Business Weekly publisher: subscribe👇| Doodles, fintech/banking & food pics | Ex- Goldman Sachs, Enova, LendUp, Peace Corp Vol.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

https://t.co/2eN8pEYBwx

Joined December 2008

Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

4 days

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: -Solid settled suit w/investor FTV, agreeing to buy back shares -- at a 56% discount, but the settlement hints more trouble could be coming - @solofunds outage stretches into 2nd week -FDIC's amicus in CO DIDMCA case You know where to find it.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Fintech Biz Weekly exclusive WHISTLEBLOWER REVEALS: a16z- & Peter Thiel-backed Eco lied, said it earned yield from "Goldman and Fidelity" Actually put user funds in BlockFi, Wyre, Genesis & defi protocols And that's just the tip of the iceberg Read:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

BREAKING: Mass layoffs at banking-as-a-service platform Synapse (hearing at least 130+ people, which is 50% of the company.) One of the company's largest clients, Mercury, gave notice of non-renewal & plans to move directly to Evolve. More as this develops.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 years

2020: Every fintech launches a debit card 2021: Every fintech launches BNPL 2022: ??

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Finally reading this McKinsey thing. Sadly, there are NO PICTURES OR GRAPHS. I will highlight my favorite consultant-speak sentences for your enjoyment.

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The future of banks: A $20 trillion breakup opportunity

In this article, we look at the future of banking and the incredible new opportunities stemming from how financial services are embedded into daily life

www.mckinsey.com

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

4 months

It’s wild that @a16z , which has $35 BILLION of assets under management, is asking readers to pledge a $100 annual subscription for their newsletter:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Pet peeve: when companies make it look like their DEBT facility is part of an EQUITY fundraise:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

6 months

Alright, here we go

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

Monzo hits monthly profitability for first time. Guess how it got there? *Lending*

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

FIS is acquiring BaaS platform Bond, multiple sources tell me. Deal could be announced publicly as soon as early next week.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 months

The biggest "innovation" in fintech lending was a willingness to lend to riskier consumers by charging higher rates.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped -$13 Million in Missing User Funds: Evolve Bank & Trust, Synapse Play Blame Game as Banking-as-a-Service Crisis Intensifies -FTV Capital Sues Solid and Its Cofounders Personally For $61 Million Over Alleged Fraud Additional key points include👇…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Packing for a 2 week trip with ambitious reading goals —

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

Has fintech just been a very expensive, VC-funded lab for establishment banks to develop new features?

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

4 months

Banks with legacy cores trying to do BaaS be like:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Stripe & Goldman’s partnership on Stripe Treasury, announced to much fanfare in 2020, appears to have yielded just TWO live clients nearly three years later

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

9 months

Wow, Amex is using @PinwheelAPI for its deposit switch. Love seeing incumbents leveraging new fintech capabilities like this!

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

For the past 10+ years, many VCs have acted like self-appointed experts in EVERYTHING (esp on this website), not just investing or innovation, but housing policy, tax policy, geopolitics... Turns out, their "expertise" was mostly 0% interest rates (with a dash of regulatory arb)

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

8 months

Fintech Biz Weekly 🚨SCOOP🚨 BaaS platform Solid faked revenue numbers, special committee appointed to investigate, sources reveal Solid, Evolve Bank & their client EZBanc accused of fraud & negligence in $9m lawsuit EZBanc linked to convicted Russian money launderer More 👇…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

It’s come to my attention execs at some companies I cover think I “hate” them. I don’t think of my job as being a cheerleader for fintech. We have VCs & founders for that. I take a sober look at economic fundamentals & legal realities that too many have ignored for too long.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

🔥Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped New research: How credit card rewards programs redistribute $15 *BILLION* in wealth from poor to rich, from less to more educated, from high- to low-minority areas Read:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Raise your hand if you prefer NOT to hear *any* opinion on this from the All In pod crew....

@Jason

@jason

7 months

I have never had so many people reach out to try and influence my opinion on a topic for All In, like I’ve experienced this week with the terror attack.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 years

Fintech Biz Weekly EXCLUSIVE just dropped: Everything I learned from @Apple 's confidential DMV contracts for its digital ID program. Including how states become de facto unpaid service providers to the $2.46 trillion company. Read & please share:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Well this is one way to try to justify your $25 billion valuation from 2021 — just sprinkle some generative AI magic dust on your business model!

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Chime's top tech exec details how the fintech is building an AI chatbot to speed up how quickly it...

Chime CTO James Barrese hopes the fintech's in-house version of ChatGPT will help the startup navigate security and privacy risks associated with AI.

www.businessinsider.com

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Boy math is announcing your latest fintech fundraise, and including the debt facility

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

22 days

New York Fintech Week is great and all, but I confess to having ulterior motives to come to NYC…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

@NWischoff @brianlaungaoaeh Helps explain why so many (unprofitable) 15 min delivery startups and crypto/defi ponzis got funded and so few companies that address real issues facing working families — VCs can’t imagine what those problems or their solutions look like.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

"We're not processing payments for drugs - we're processing payments for CRYPTO. Which is then used to buy drugs."

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UPDATED: Smoakland is testing a loophole to sell cannabis by credit card | TechCrunch

Smoakland is currently beta-testing a loophole that lets its customers pay by credit card. The secret, it turns out, is crypto.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 month

At least I know *one* reader enjoyed yesterday’s newsletter 😅

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

6 months

Fintech Biz Weekly is thissssss 🤏 close to hitting a 50,000 subscriber milestone:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Having surgery today to see what is happening in his stomach, send prayers and treats 🥹

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Fintech Business Weekly recently hit a 25,000+ subscriber milestone. I get a lot of requests for advice about starting/growing a digital presence, so figured I'd capture some thoughts here in a short (promise!) 🧵

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

6 months

Not sure who’s running direct mail strategy at ⁦ @SoFi ⁩, but you might need to tweak your response model…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped Evolve's problematic partners: alleged fraud, bankruptcies, regulatory actions & abrupt shut downs. Now, the bank is seeking to stem the fallout by cutting ties w/Synapse, Solid, their clients & others, sources say. Read:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 years

Fintech Biz Weekly investigates: My identity was stolen & used to open bank accounts, move money, apply for loans at banks, fintechs & payment apps. Why didn’t they catch it? And what can we learn from it? Read the deep dive here:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Weird how exactly 0% of people at this wedding are interested in talking about the SVB bank run 😅

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

6 months

Day 3 vibes at @money2020

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Fintech Biz Weekly *SCOOP* Per leaked term sheet, Varo is raising $50m at $1.8b valuation - a 28% drop from its last round - but still looks *substantially* overvalued compared to public market comps Also: Goldman ends Marcus checking beta & more Read:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 months

Fintechs dependent on a single partner bank:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

VCs in 2023 listening to fintech pitches where the business model is still interchange:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

8 months

Fintech CEOs being asked about their “path to profitability”

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

9 months

Me, hearing a fintech pitch an interchange-driven business model in 2023:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 month

Sutton Bank, which partners with Cash App, ALSO hit with a consent order today. Unsafe & unsound banking practices re BSA/AML compliance, including suspicious activity monitoring, and third-party risk management. Full analysis in Sunday's newsletter.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

5 months

Fintech Biz Weekly dropped (early!) New docs reveal OCC's short-lived Chief Fintech Officer faked his resumé, inc easily discoverable lies, like serving as CIO at Fifth Third & Huntington. He also got a THIRD DUI during his brief stint at the OCC. You know where to find it.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

The older I get, the more of a homebody I am. Like I'm completely content to spend my weekend walking the dog and listening to podcasts and reading and cooking. 🤷

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 months

57 banks ready for FedNow! Just another 4,079 to go.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 years

Latest issue of Fintech Biz Weekly is Dad approved 👍

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

15 days

Remember when coding boot camps financed through income share agreements were going to fix everything? @bloomtech fka Lambda School, which counts @ycombinator @GVteam (Google Ventures) @stripe as investors, and founder @Austen personally hit with CFPB enforcement action:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

5 months

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped (early): EXCLUSIVE: Startup banking provider Mercury is trying to recoup $30 million from embattled BaaS provider Synapse & filed an emergency lawsuit in an attempt to preserve assets for possible recovery. You know where to find it.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 days

🚨 BREAKING: Synapse to sell assets for just $9.7 million, Evolve will cover any shortfalls in end-user funds, bankruptcy filings reveal. Other interesting bits: -At the time of the bankruptcy, Synapse had approximately 100 fintech clients with a total of about 10 million end…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

6 months

My mom did not consent to this meme:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

You know what Twitter feature we really need? Ability to filter out ChatGPT screenshots.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 years

Why big banks are losing: I just wired funds for an investment from my Chase account to recipient’s Chase account. Got charged $25 for their ledger transfer.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 years

Hot take 🔥 🔥 🔥 The real losers from Plaid launching account-to-account payments may not be card networks, but startups dependent on unregulated debit interchange: Fintechs like Chime, Varo, Aspiration, Current, etc.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

4 months

That sound you heard? The collective shudder of UX designers that work at banks:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 months

🚨SCOOP: BaaS platform Treasury Prime has laid off a substantial share of its team - about HALF the company likely impacted. With regulators' focus on banks' due dil, onboarding & TPRM, TP will shift to focus on selling software to banks and cease sales efforts to fintechs.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Has anyone already coined the phrase “compliance orchestration layer”? Because that’s what partner banks, BaaS platforms and fintechs need to stay out trouble.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Finally figured out the “killer use case” for crypto — funding North Korea! —

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North Korean hackers stole a record $1.7bn of crypto last year

Investigators are getting better at cracking the hackers

www.economist.com

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 years

This is something interesting I hadn't seen yet. @Klarna browser extension for Chrome, enabling pay-in-4 for any online purchase. Smart way to become merchant agnostic. Curious how the economics on this work out.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

A credit bureau, possibly America's most-hated industry, decides 2023 is great time to launch undifferentiated neobank:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

9 months

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: Laso Leverages Stripe and Celtic Bank To Offer Crypto Users A “No KYC” Visa Card Due dil failures show compliance challenges of BaaS Why potential fallout could impact other Stripe clients, including Ramp & Shopify You know where to find it!

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

15 days

Regulators doing supervisory visits to BaaS banks:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

3 months

Fraud losses up from $2.4b to $10b in four years. And we haven’t even hit the golden age of AI fraud yet!

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 month

It is interesting that Block has its own bank - Square Financial Services, a Utah ILC But, for Cash App it uses partner banks Lincoln Savings & Sutton, keeping its own charter clean

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 months

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: @withmaza , funded by @a16z and partnered with Blue Ridge Bank via BaaS platform Unit, targets undocumented immigrants with deceptive claims, including that it is "supported" and "powered" by the FDIC and an "IRS Guarantee." But the real story…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Money2020? More like Money1033 this year, amirite?!

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 months

SCOOP: Piermont Bank is moving to exit its relationship with Banking-as-a-Service platform Unit - but is seeking to keep some fintech clients the two shared, sources with direct knowledge tell me Piermont will be the 3rd bank partner Unit has lost, following Blue Ridge & Choice

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 month

None other than @AlexH_Johnson & yours truly being cited in comment letters to the CFPB on 1033 🙌

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

👋

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

4 months

@stuntinondezho @a16z Not sure I understand the parallel? The newsletter is basically a16z pumping its own book. Not exactly the same as Apple selling something that’s actually, you know, useful.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

I will leave this here without comment:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 months

Business travel in your 20s: Fun! Exciting! I'm doing important business things! Business travel in your 40s: Couldn't this have been a Zoom?

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: -Dave vs. MoneyLion: 10-K Showdown. Do the struggling neobanks have a viable "path to profitability"? -California DFPI report on EWA; proposed regs would define "tips," subscriptions as finance charges Read:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

5 months

A credit building service where you pay $100/month (!) to furnish a fake $30,000 line & "backdate" your credit history 24 months. Can someone familiar with bureau furnishing policy/FCRA explain to me how (if?) this is permitted? (h/t @AlexH_Johnson )

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Plaid announces "Instant Payouts" feature, leveraging TCH RTP rails. Interestingly, Plaid is transitioning from facilitating the movement of DATA to facilitating the movement of data *and* value -- a potent combination:

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Announcing Instant Payouts on Plaid Transfer | Plaid

Instant Payouts – a real-time, multi-rail payout solution to send funds instantly, 24/7 within our Transfer product.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 months

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: -Fintech lenders still heavily reliant on FICO, cross-subsidize from high risk to low risk borrowers, new research shows -Goldman reportedly looking to offload Apple partnership. Does Amex make sense as a buyer? You know where to find it!

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

RIP Nirvana Money Launched: 10/24/2022 Shutdown: 11/15/2022

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: -BaaS is no silver bullet for community banks, de novos, analysis shows -Affirm's earnings: rising cost of funds, loan loss provisions drive $360m loss -Fintech lending partner TAB: CRA downgrade on high APR loans Read:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

Still cannot believe there are, somehow, TWO neobanks for pet owners. ...how many underbanked dogs & cats are there, really?

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

All of American fintech on the edge of their seats…

@ByKyleCampbell

Kyle Campbell

@ByKyleCampbell

7 months

The @federalreserve will host a second public meeting next week on Wednesday. The Board of Governors will discuss proposed changes to its debit interchange fee cap.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

FDIC issues cease & desist to Evolve Bank & Trust and Synapse client Money Ave over false and misleading deposit insurance claims -- bringing fresh questions about the bank's third-party risk management:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 month

Not @Airbnb using pics of my house on its insta 😂

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

(1) "Revenue" is NOT an important metric in a lending business (2) Revenue in a lending business is NOT "ARR" (maybe some very narrow exceptions for emerging models like Brigit, Affirm's yet to launch subscription product, etc.) that's all.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

8 months

Fintech Biz Weekly just dropped: The smallest bank in Tennessee, renamed @LineageBank , grew an astonishing 790% in two years, powered by cheap deposits gathered via BaaS platforms @synapsefi & @synctera Why it may give the entire industry a hangover You know where to find it!

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

When it’s your birthday and your parents aren’t fintech —

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 years

How did I miss this news! Marcus is re-branding from "Marcus by Goldman Sachs" to.... "Goldman Sachs Marcus" How much do you think GS paid consultants for that advice? via @scott_harkey :

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Just a reminder that Plaid deceived users into handing their bank login credentials directly to Plaid by making it look like their bank’s login and then collected and retained more data than it was authorized to. I got $35.97 though, so, I guess all good?

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

6 months

First HMBradley shutting its consumer biz, and now credit card startup Petal is looking for a buyer, or it may shut down. Guess we’re reaching the end of the runway.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 months

🚨BREAKING: Green Dot, BaaS partner to Apple, Uber & Amazon, received a proposed consent order from the Fed, per the company's 8-K filing yesterday. The order hasn't been finalized, but Green Dot took a Q4 charge of $20m toward an eventual penalty, warned fine could reach $50m.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

10 months

Wow: Goldman net charge-offs in consumer biz are a whopping ** 5.8% ** Fair to assume GreenSky installment is LOWER than that. Meaning Apple Card charge offs are probably 6%++

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 months

Breaking the bad news streak! @synctera just announced an $18.6 million extension of its Series A (and a new product, SyncteraPay.) Did not have this on my 2024 BaaS Bingo Card.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Plaid has appointed its first-ever CFO, Eric Hart, previously CFO at (publicly traded) Expedia. Could this be a sign Plaid is gearing up for an IPO...? 🤔

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

When your semi-sarcastic tweets show up in Reuters 😅

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

11 months

Forget fintech, I want to sell cars:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

DeFi people: “I don’t understand why people don’t get it” Also DeFi people:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

9 months

Adam Neumann got $580 million from SoftBank to leave WeWork. Today, the company itself is worth a mere $280 million.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

9 months

Farmington State Bank aka FTX-affiliated Moonstone hit with cease & desist order by Federal Reserve:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 months

Well, this feels like it was a long time coming…

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

7 months

Fidelity blocking apps that use Plaid, as per my reporting yesterday:

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

2 months

Interesting: Cross River is launching a fintech-focused investment banking franchise.

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@mikulaja

Jason Mikula

1 year

Am I the only one getting "Succession" vibes from Goldman's tag line at its investor day, "Focused on the Forward"?

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