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Hey, fintech fam! 💜

Christmas Eve Eve is the well-deserved (forced) pause of the year.

The inbox quiets. The calendar loosens its grip. The urgency of “what’s next” gives way—briefly—to the question that actually matters: What did we build?

2025 gave us a lot to reflect on.

It was a year of economic whiplash. Layoffs alongside record raises. Big promises about AI, paired with very real conversations about trust.

At Fintech Is Femme, we didn’t chase the loudest narratives in 2025—we focused on the most important ones.

We built massive stages where women weren’t on the sidelines, but in authority. We created rooms where the conversation wasn’t about whether women could lead, but how they were scaling, regulating, underwriting, shipping, and sustaining businesses.

We covered fintech as it actually works—not as hype, but as systems solving real problems for real people and businesses.

We believe in an economy that works for everyone.

And heading into 2026, that clarity only deepens.

So today’s holiday edition is both a moment of reflection and a quiet signal of what’s next—including a new event to add to your 2026 calendar (yes, it’s our second annual FEMMY Awards gala).

Let’s get into it. 💜

New around here? Welcome. Read my latest fintech reporting, commentary, and analysis in our latest issues here, or tune into my latest interviews with fintech leaders here.

INNOVATION

Fintech Feminists on Christmas Eve Eve: Gifts, Goals, and the Future We’re Building

As we close out the year, I keep returning to a line from my book, Fintech Feminists, that feels sharper now than when I first wrote it last year:

That idea didn’t just inspire a book.

It became the backbone of Fintech Is Femme — not as a platform for advocacy, but as a business.

Because for too long, women-led fintech has been framed as:

• impact, not infrastructure

• inspiration, not execution

• diversity, not returns

I knew that framing was wrong long before I launched a media company.

As I wrote in the book:

The result wasn’t just biased.

It was a distorted historical record.

Women weren’t absent from fintech.

They were edited out of it.

So instead of waiting for traditional business media to catch up, I built the platform I wanted to read — and the one I knew the industry needed.

2025 Was the Proof Year

Here’s what still gets misunderstood about Fintech Is Femme:

People assume it’s “about women.”

It’s not.

It’s about how fintech actually works when you set aside the hype and focus on fundamentals.

This year, our most-read stories weren’t soft features or trend pieces. They were deep dives into:

• AI where trust—not speed—was the moat

• Tokenized lending that actually expanded access

• SMB infrastructure that fixed cash flow instead of selling dashboards

• Compliance, risk, and underwriting as growth strategies

• Global operators building beyond U.S.-centric narratives

Stories like:

• Why fintech is the canary in the AI hype cycle

• Why women are behind nearly half of new businesses—and what that means for lending, banking, and payroll

• How founders like Laurel Taylor are rebuilding financial plumbing at an institutional scale, increasing inclusion

That’s the ecosystem at work.

Editorial that informs.

Events that convene.

Conversations that compound trust.

As I wrote in Fintech Feminists:

That philosophy guided every decision we made this year — from who we put on stage, to which stories we amplified, to which companies we partnered with.

The Lie of Scarcity — and the Reality of Power

One of the most damaging myths still floating around fintech is scarcity.

Not enough capital.

Not enough talent.

Not enough women “ready” to lead.

The data dismantles that story completely.

Women now:

• control over $10 trillion in assets

• account for nearly half of new business owners

• build companies that generate more revenue per dollar invested

As I wrote:

2025 didn’t reverse that trend — it accelerated it.

What hasn’t caught up yet?

The narrative.

Which is why 2026 isn’t about asking for permission.

It’s about building parallel power.

What We’re Taking Into 2026

As we head into a new year, here’s what feels non-negotiable:

Fintech doesn’t need more noise.

It needs more intention.

It needs:

• builders obsessed with fundamentals

• media that respects its audience

• events that create pipelines, not photo ops

• capital that follows performance, not pattern recognition

And most importantly:

It needs women shaping the rules, the code, and the culture — not being called in after things break.

That’s what we’re building at Fintech Is Femme.

Not a women’s corner of fintech.

A center of gravity.

A Holiday Thank You

To every reader who opened an email.

Shared an article.

Showed up at an event.

Trusted us with your time, your story, your sponsorship, your stage.

Thank you.

This community isn’t passive.

It’s participatory.

And that’s why this platform works.

Wishing you a restful, reflective, and quietly revolutionary holiday season.

I’ll see you next week — and I’ll see you in 2026. 💜

EVENTS

And One More Thing Before We Close the Year…

If 2025 proved anything, it’s this:

Women aren’t the future of fintech — we’re its present.

Which is why, as we step into 2026, we’re doing what this industry rarely does well:

Marking history while it’s happening.

On February 16, 2026, The Academy of Fintech will host the Second Annual FEMMY Awards — a black-tie, New York–coded, end-of–Fashion Week gala honoring the women, companies, and leaders who didn’t just participate in fintech last year… they defined it.

The FEMMYs aren’t about optics. They’re about record-keeping.

They exist to do what traditional industry awards still fail to do:

• Honor real operators, not hype cycles

• Recognize durable impact, not press releases

• Put women on stage as category leaders, not footnotes

This is where fintech’s real history gets written — in real time.

Whether you’re joining us in the room, hosting a table, bringing your team, or becoming part of The Academy of Fintech, the FEMMYs are an invitation to step fully into your leadership — visibly, unapologetically, and on record.

Because if the industry won’t build stages that reflect reality…

We will.

🎟 Tickets, memberships, and tables are now live.

And yes — this is one you’ll want to say you were at.

I’ll see you there. 

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_{I WANT IT, I GOT IT}

• 📰 Today’s Read: HSBC hires former Citi exec Ida Liu to lead its private bank — and honestly? A masterclass in quiet power. Liu has spent her career operating at the intersection of global finance, wealth, and innovation, and this move signals something bigger than a leadership shuffle. It’s a reminder that women aren’t being “invited” into legacy finance — they’re running it. Epic, indeed.

• 🍿 Today’s Watch: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the superior Christmas movie. The city. The chaos. The impeccable coats. The Plaza Hotel fantasy. It’s festive, ridiculous, and deeply aspirational in a very New York way. I’ll be rewatching on Thursday.

• 🌍 Today’s Activity: Last weekend, I saw Maybe Happy Ending on Broadway — and I’m still thinking about it. It’s a tender, futuristic love story that explores loneliness, memory, and what it means to connect in a world mediated by technology. At its core, it asks a question fintech should sit with more often: How do systems designed for efficiency sometimes miss the human experience entirely? Equal parts whimsical and haunting, it’s a reminder that progress without empathy isn’t progress at all.

_FINTUNES

🎵 Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

The undisputed holiday anthem. Yes, Last Christmas is making a strong cultural comeback — but let’s be honest, I rotate between the two depending on mood, weather, and how dramatic the week has been. Seasonal versatility matters.

_{LET’S CONNECT}

📰 Share this newsletter with a friend and start growing your network.

🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn for daily insights on female leadership.

🤝 Grow your business through content & community by partnering with me.

📣 Promote yourself to 50,000 subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter.

🎤 Host an epic event by booking me as a speaker, moderator, or emcee.

📚 Increase your expertise by ordering your copy of my book, Fintech Feminists: Increasing Inclusion, Redefining Innovation, and Changing the Future for Women Around the World.

I’ll be taking Thursday (Christmas Day) off, but I’ll be back in your inbox next Tuesday—just ahead of the New Year—with a deeper look back at 2025 and what we’re building in 2026.

Love,

Nicole 💜