Hi, fintech fam! 💜

How has it already been a week since the Summits?

While I’m still recovering from the sheer energy and effort of it all (hello, post-event coma), our team has been working hard to collect every gem—photos, videos, speaker soundbites, and mic-drop moments—to share with you in the weeks ahead.

I created Fintech Is Femme to spotlight the lessons, stories, and strategies I’ve learned from the most powerful women in this industry—and last week was a masterclass.

Two summits. Countless breakthroughs. One big reminder: when women lead, the whole ecosystem levels up.

Over the next few newsletters, you’ll get an inside look at all of it. Think of it as your front-row seat to the conversations shaping the future of fintech—from the boldest minds in the game.

And speaking of powerful women, I’m honored to share that I’ve been named one of FinTech Magazine’s Top 100 Women in Fintech—alongside icons like Jane Fraser and Stephanie Ferris. 👀 (Check out #86 and the complete list here).

Now, let’s get into today’s column.

INNOVATION

Inside Angel Rich’s $1B Strategy to Redesign Credit from the Inside Out

At last week’s Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit, I had the privilege of opening the day with one of the most formidable founders in fintech today: Dr. Angel Rich.

Dubbed “the next Steve Jobs” by Forbes and awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award by President Biden, Angel isn’t just building a company — she’s engineering a financial revolution from the ground up.

Her story is an essential blueprint for founders: a playbook combining technical innovation, partnership-driven scale, and a refusal to ask permission in an industry that is slow to make space for new voices.

Here’s what every fintech leader, builder, and innovator can take away from her billion-dollar journey.

Bridging the Gap: From Financial Games to Banking

Angel’s technical vision for CreditRich started with one essential truth: most Americans were never taught how to manage or grow their credit — and the complexity of existing tools kept financial freedom out of reach.

Instead of building another budgeting app or basic credit checker, Angel reverse-engineered the FICO credit scoring system itself — breaking it down layer by layer to understand the hidden mechanics behind how wealth is built (and withheld).

As she put it on stage:

“I’ve been told even by the people at FICO and the credit bureaus that it’s supposed to be this super complicated algorithm — but it’s really not that complicated if you just take the time to peel apart each layer of the onion,” she told me.

“That’s all an algorithm is — understanding the intersections and caring about what the nucleus actually is.”

What she learned:

• 50% of your credit score is simply paying bills on time.

• True credit strength isn’t just about debt management; it’s about expanding credit capacity — building high credit lines and managing them effectively, the same way ultra-wealthy clients do.

With this knowledge, Angel designed CreditRich: a mobile banking, credit reporting, and credit-building platform that automates key consumer actions.

She says that through machine learning and AI, CreditRich doesn’t just track financial behavior—it actively applies small savings, optimizes bill payments, and improves real-time credit profiles.

How it works:

• Purchases are rounded up, and spare change is applied toward strategic credit payments.

• CreditRich’s AI engine targets the most impactful liabilities first — whether mortgages, credit cards, or auto loans.

• Custom-built credit reports and scoring metrics (in partnership with major bureaus) provide personalized pathways to financial optimization.

“If you can create a system that simply helps people pay their bills on time,” she explained, “you could dramatically raise their credit scores. Half the problem is just the system not being designed to help people succeed.”

Angel didn’t just simplify personal finance. She redefined what accessible fintech infrastructure could look like.

Engineering Strategic Partnerships Instead of Waiting for VC Validation

If you think Angel scaled CreditRich the traditional way — think again.

Facing systemic barriers in venture funding (where Black women receive less than 1% of all VC capital), Angel pursued an alternative path: strategic enterprise partnerships.

Here’s how she did it:

• Built Experian + FICO Partnerships: Angel pitched and closed a deal to integrate Experian’s credit data directly into the CreditRich platform, enabling a custom credit reporting and payment engine — something even top fintech players hadn’t accomplished.

• Launched a Bank Partnership with Visa: Visa not only called her back — they invited her to launch a Visa Signature debit product under her own banking platform.

• Closed New Deals with Equifax: Building on her momentum, Angel secured a second major credit bureau partnership—this time with Equifax—further cementing CreditRich’s place in the credit ecosystem. With the app set to launch soon on Google Play and the App Store, CreditRich is primed to reach even more users.

“Everyone told me it couldn’t be done. So I decided to just pick up the phone and do it anyway,” she said, laughing. “You have to start at the top. You don’t wait for someone to find you — you go find them.”

The result?

Without revealing exact figures, Angel’s contracts (across debit and credit verticals) are now valued at ~$400 million, propelling CreditRich into a $1 billion valuation and supporting a $100 million Series B raise currently underway.

Key Lessons:

• Start at the top. Angel personally called Experian and Visa’s executive teams — no warm intros, no gatekeepers.

• Build a must-have product for enterprise partners, not just consumers. Angel didn’t just pitch CreditRich; she pitched a new market opportunity — integrating credit scoring, reporting, and payments into one ecosystem.

• Don’t wait for the traditional VC pipeline. Structure revenue-driving partnerships that prove traction at scale.

Leadership by Design: Building a Legacy Without Asking Permission

Angel’s leadership philosophy is as sharp as her technical acumen. In our conversation, she shared key mindsets that every founder should adopt:

1. Stop asking for permission: Angel built her empire without waiting for traditional validation. If a door didn’t open, she built a better one.  “Every boss has a boss — and if they don’t, the public is their boss. Go find them.”

2. Be a Trojan Horse: Angel’s early career hack? Hang out near the printer, absorb real company knowledge, and strategically volunteer for impactful projects — ultimately leading initiatives that generated $6 billion in revenue at Prudential.

3. Find new inspiration constantly: Angel stays grounded by mentoring newcomers, staying excited by fresh ideas, and refusing to become jaded by an industry slow to change.

“I find someone new to inspire me daily,” she said. “Someone who just quit their job, someone who’s just starting. It reminds me to stay fresh — to keep moving like it’s my first day too.”

Why CreditRich’s Model Matters 

Angel’s work highlights something fintech desperately needs to acknowledge:

Technology alone won’t solve systemic financial exclusion. Behavioral engineering, trusted partnerships, and education must be at the center.

CreditRich is not just an app. It’s a behavioral finance engine that meets consumers where they are — optimizing for progress, not perfection.

It’s also a case study in how building technology with heart — and heavy strategy — can outperform even the flashiest VC-funded startups.

And Angel’s not stopping there.

She’s preparing to launch Credit Cooks, a nationally syndicated radio show and podcast that will deliver real-world financial advice to communities often left behind by traditional finance.

She’s laying the groundwork for a future where underestimated founders aren’t an anomaly — they’re the architects.

“The information is actually needed,” she said. “We can’t afford to sit this one out. The economy is changing — and people need real tools, not empty promises.”

Her ambition? To eventually sell CreditRich for $5 to $10 billion — and then quietly go build the next billion-dollar company she’s already imagining.

Build. Lead. Redefine.

Angel Rich’s billion-dollar blueprint reminds us:

True innovation happens when leaders dare to operate both outside and inside the system — mastering its mechanics, then reimagining it from the ground up.

Fintech isn’t broken because we lack technology.

It’s broken because we’ve lacked the will to put that technology in service of real people.

But founders like Angel?

They’re not asking for permission to fix it.

They’re already building what comes next. 

_{WTF ELSE?}

• Closing the financial gender gap with Anna-Sophie Hartvigsen of Female Invest 

• For an inclusive future of fintech, boost financial literacy now

• Fintech earnings focus concerns on tariffs, PayPal, Block, Affirm

• UK fintech Sprive closes $7.3M round to facilitate mortgage overpayments

_{I WANT IT, I GOT IT}

• 🎧 Today’s Listen: In the latest episode of Fintech Mavericks, my co-host Drew Glover and I sit down with Ellevest’s Emily Green to break down what’s next for the trailblazing fintech—and the bold moves driving its evolution. Tune in here.

• 🍜 Today’s Food: Celebrated a dear friend’s birthday at a new Szechuan spot in BK called Breeze—and yes, it absolutely delivered.

• 💊 Today’s Vitamins: One of our favorite wellness brands at the Summit? Hello Again—a supplement designed by women, for women. With formulas for everything from sleep to menopause relief, Hello Again is redefining what modern, plant-based wellness can look like. Check them out here.

_FINTUNES

🎵 Beyoncé, Rumi Carter - PROTECTOR

One of the sweetest moments on the internet right now? Beyoncé bringing her daughters on stage during the opening show of the Cowboy Carter tour.

_{LET’S CONNECT}

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That’s all for now! See you Thursday!

Love,

Nicole 💜