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Hey, fintech fam! 💜

It’s been a busy week at Fintech Is Femme HQ! We’re deep in planning mode for 2026 — and it’s already shaping up to be a big, creative growth year. I’m working a ton, but honestly, I’m having a blast building this platform with all of you.

And while fintech headlines have been flooding my desk this week, it’s also been a major week here in New York City.

On November 4 — and in the days leading up to it — young NYC voters showed up in force for Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old mayor-elect who defied the political playbook (and plenty of critics) with a message centered on progress, purpose, and people. Mamdani’s already tapped an all-female transition team, including the return of Lina Khan, which tells me this new chapter might just be one of the most efficient, equity-driven administrations we’ve seen in years.

As a proud New Yorker, I’m also celebrating the city’s next first lady, Rama Duwaji — an artist, animator, and ceramist whose creative energy feels like exactly what this city needs right now.

Alright, thanks for indulging my NYC love — now, let’s get into fintech.

#TRENDING

#1 Inside Intuit’s Next Era of Consumer Fintech

On Wednesday evening, I was invited to an exclusive, in-person media briefing at Intuit’s headquarters in New York City for the launch of its new AI-powered consumer platform — a major evolution that unites TurboTax and Credit Karma under one umbrella.

The announcement signaled more than a product integration — it was a vision for the next decade of consumer fintech: one that blends automation with empathy, AI with human intelligence, and yes, digital with physical.

In my one-on-one conversation with Arundhati Singh, Intuit’s Senior Vice President of Product Management and Design, she called the moment a “multi-decade inflection point,” she said.

“For years, people have been talking about the digitalization of money — but the truth is, so much of what we do financially is still offline,” she said. “What we’re doing now is finally closing that gap.”

The Platform: AI + Human Intelligence

Intuit is positioning its new consumer platform as a one-stop hub for financial management—merging AI automation with access to a network of 13,000 financial and tax professionals.

The goal: to centralize how consumers track and manage credit, debt, savings, taxes, and investments in a single interface.

Here’s what’s under the hood:

• Credit Spark: Converts rent, phone, and utility payments into credit-building activity. Unlike some competitors, the feature avoids fees or added debt structures.

• My Cards: Offers recommendations on how to better leverage existing credit card rewards, a space increasingly crowded with fintech loyalty apps.

• Tax Assistant: Uses AI to auto-fill up to 80% of a tax return in real time throughout the year—an efficiency play aimed at demystifying tax season.

• Debt Assistant (Coming Soon): Will generate tailored paydown plans for high-interest debt.

Perhaps most unexpectedly, Intuit is moving into physical retail—launching 20 TurboTax stores and nearly 600 expert offices nationwide.

In a digital-first fintech era, the expansion suggests the company sees value in blending tech with face-to-face service—signaling a renewed focus on building trust through human interaction.

“Reducing the Pain, Expanding the Choice”

Singh described the experience as a spectrum — one that meets consumers wherever they are in their financial comfort level.

“TurboTax is like your annual medical checkup,” she told me. “Credit Karma is your year-round advisor — always available. The magic is in connecting the two, powered by AI and human insight.”

Her analogy captures a core truth about modern fintech: people want control, but not necessarily complexity. “AI’s role,” Singh explained, “is to reduce the pain so people can choose their level of depth. Some want to dive deep; others just want the five-minute answer. Both should feel confident.”

She added that this accessibility is especially powerful for underserved groups. “Everyone should be able to access high-quality financial advice,” she said. “You shouldn’t need thousands of dollars or a private banker to make smart money decisions.”

Why It Matters

This is more than a product update — it’s a philosophical shift.

For the past few years, fintech has wrestled with how to make financial tools both inclusive and intelligent. Robo-advisors automate investing, but lose the human connection. Banking apps gave us convenience, but not always confidence.

Now, Intuit’s model suggests the next generation of consumer fintech will hinge on trust infrastructure — systems that not only handle data securely but also foster confidence between users and their money.

As Singh put it:

“AI can do a lot, but trust is what keeps people coming back. The future of fintech isn’t just smart — it’s safe, personal, and human.”

The Bigger Picture

Intuit’s expansion of local offices — at a time when most fintechs are retreating from physical spaces — is a statement in itself.

Even in an age of automation, people still crave human connection when it comes to money.

For consumers, this means a unified financial experience that adapts to their needs — whether that’s a 24/7 AI assistant or an in-person expert down the street.

And for fintech at large, it sets a new bar. The era of “digital-only” is giving way to something more holistic — hybrid trust, built on both algorithms and authenticity.

It’s also worth noting that Arundhati Singh has seen this kind of inflection point before.

With a career spanning Disney, Google, Twitter, Uber, and now Intuit, she’s been inside some of the world’s most transformative technology companies — each one reshaping how people connect, move, and communicate. At Intuit, she’s channeling those same lessons into how people relate to their money.

“The technology,” Singh told me, “is finally ready to democratize access to great financial experiences. This time, the tools — and the timing — are right.”

#2 DealMaker Raises $20 Million To Turn Communities Into Capital

On Thursday morning, my latest Forbes exclusive dropped: DealMaker, a fintech building infrastructure for direct-to-investor fundraising, has raised $20 million to scale what it calls the “retail capital revolution.”

The round — a mix of equity and debt led by Information Venture Partners with participation from CIBC Innovation Banking — gives DealMaker fresh fuel to expand its AI capabilities, open new verticals like sports and consumer brands, and make retail investment part of the mainstream startup fundraising playbook.

If that sounds ambitious, it’s because it is.

“We’re building toward a future where investing isn’t limited to institutions — it’s powered by the people who make the brands thrive,” co-founder and CEO Rebecca Kacaba told me.

Reimagining The Capital Stack

DealMaker is carving out a fast-growing niche at the intersection of fintech, community, and ownership — helping brands raise directly from their audiences rather than relying solely on venture capital.

Think of it as the Shopify of fundraising: a white-label platform where founders can run their own “mini IPOs,” set their own terms, and bring in real investors — customers, fans, believers — from day one.

Since launch, the platform has powered over $2.3 billion in raises for companies ranging from startups to household names like the Green Bay Packers and EnergyX.

For founders, that changes the calculus. Venture capital gives you capital. Retail capital gives you customers, loyalty, and distribution.

Or as Kacaba put it,

“Every dollar should be strategic. Retail capital isn’t just money — it’s marketing. It’s distribution. It’s loyalty.”

It’s a bold claim — but one that fits where the fintech landscape is heading: toward a model where brand and balance sheet are no longer separate conversations.

Fintech Infrastructure Meets Emotion

DealMaker’s infrastructure is what makes this work. It’s the connective tissue between compliance, capital formation, and community — three things that rarely coexist smoothly.

Its newest layer, DealMaker Sports, is pushing that concept further by letting fans invest directly in teams and athletes. The company even acquired a creative agency, Rally On Media, to help founders run high-impact campaigns and turn capital raising into storytelling.

Kacaba described a near-future use case that feels almost inevitable:

“You walk into your favorite stadium and get a push notification to become a team owner. Or you’re buying your favorite chips and can scan the bag to invest.”

And it aligns perfectly with broader data trends: according to a 2022 TiiCKER x Harris Poll survey, 80% of retail investors say they’re more likely to buy products from brands they own.

The psychology is simple: when people have a stake, they stay.

Why It Matters

• The Rise of Retail Capital: DealMaker joins a growing wave of platforms making direct-to-investor funding mainstream.

• AI as Infrastructure: Fintech’s next innovation cycle is about building smarter backends — not shinier frontends.

• Community Is Currency: Founders are learning that the strongest capital comes from the people already buying in.

• Equity as Engagement: When users become owners, fintech’s promise of access becomes real.

The Bigger Picture

Community is no longer a byproduct of building — it’s part of the capital strategy itself.

The catch? Retail capital isn’t for everyone. It requires brand, trust, and constant engagement — three things most early-stage companies underestimate. But for founders who get it right, the reward is more than funding; it’s alignment.

It’s not just capital raised, it’s community-activated.

As I wrote in Forbes:

“What DealMaker is betting on is a rethink of the IPO funnel itself. Instead of waiting 10 years to go public, companies can begin engaging retail investors early — turning customers into stakeholders.”

The move signals where fintech’s next frontier is forming: between technology and trust, product and participation, brand and belonging.

Read my full exclusive on Forbes: Fintech DealMaker Raises $20 Million To Scale Retail Capital Raising

#3 Chime’s $544M Quarter and the Comeback of Consumer Fintech

If the past two years were a test of endurance for consumer fintech, Chime just aced the midterm.

On Wednesday, the company reported 29% year-over-year revenue growth and 21% growth in active members, bringing its total base to 9.1 million users. That’s the kind of momentum fintechs haven’t seen consistently since the pre-2021 boom.

CEO Chris Britt called it a reflection of “the trust we’ve built with our members.” That phrase — trust — was the throughline of this week’s fintech news cycle, from my Intuit briefing to DealMaker’s raise.

It’s clear that the next phase of fintech’s evolution won’t just be about technology — it’ll be about trust as a growth strategy.

The Highlights

Here’s what stood out from Chime’s Q3 earnings:

• Revenue: $544 million, up 29% year-over-year

• Gross Profit: $474 million, 87% margin

• Active Members: up 21% to 9.1 million

• CAC: down 10% year-over-year for the third straight quarter

Chime’s fastest-growing segment — its users earning $75,000+ annually.

That data point challenges a long-held assumption about digital banking: that it primarily serves the underbanked. Chime’s growth now looks like something broader — a mainstream rebrand of money management for the next generation of professionals.

The Chime Card and The Return of Product Prestige

In September, Chime quietly launched the Chime Card, a premium titanium card with 1.5% cashback rewards for direct depositors. It’s more than a product — it’s a positioning statement.

For years, Chime’s appeal was its accessibility: no fees, no frills, no problem. Now, it’s moving into aspirational territory — a lane once reserved for legacy banks and Apple Card-type launches.

Members who adopted the new card are already using it for 80% of their spending. That stat says it all: consumers are looking for a digital-first partner that still feels real, tangible, and worthy of daily use.

In a fintech cycle dominated by AI and abstraction, Chime is reminding us that experience still matters — both physically and emotionally.

MyPay, OIT, and The Monetization Flywheel

Beyond the shiny card, Chime’s growth engine runs deep in the mechanics:

• MyPay, its short-term liquidity product, improved transaction margins to 45%.
  

• OIT (Outbound Instant Transfer) — which lets users move funds instantly for a small fee — hit $640 million in volume this quarter.

Chime is finding new ways to generate revenue beyond interchange, which has historically limited profitability in neobank models.

And the economics are working: loss rates are down, margins are up, and CAC is falling — all while member growth accelerates.

For a consumer fintech in 2025, that’s the holy grail.

Building Its Own Core

One of the quieter but most significant milestones this quarter: Chime completed the migration to ChimeCore, its proprietary payments and ledger system.

Owning its core infrastructure gives Chime tighter control over data, lower processing costs, and faster innovation cycles — all of which position it well for the company’s ambitious 2026 roadmap.

Alongside its strong quarter, Chime announced a $200 million share repurchase program — a signal of financial strength and leadership confidence. For a company that once embodied the hypergrowth, cash-burning startup archetype, that’s a notable evolution.

Chime is betting on itself — literally.

And it’s doing so while raising its full-year revenue guidance to over $2.16 billion and adjusted EBITDA to over $113 million.

That’s a company not just surviving the fintech winter — but writing its next chapter in permanent ink.

Why It Matters

• Consumer Fintech Isn’t Dead: Chime’s results show that with discipline, scale, and trust, consumer fintech can thrive again.
  

• Trust = Retention: Falling CAC and rising ARPAM prove that when members believe in a brand, acquisition costs drop and loyalty rises.
  

• Infrastructure Is the New Moat: The ChimeCore migration cements fintech’s shift toward owning — not renting — its rails.
  

• Aspirational Banking Is Back: From titanium cards to share buybacks, fintech is re-embracing prestige and confidence.

In a year when headlines have questioned the durability of consumer fintech, Chime’s quarter feels like a comeback story — not just for the company, but for the category itself.

Because when you strip away the jargon and the margins, fintech is still about one thing: earning trust at scale.

And this quarter, Chime just proved it can.

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Excited to return to the West Coast next week to moderate a panel exploring the future of distribution across B2B and consumer fintech. It’s a quick trip, but if you’ll be at the summit — I’d love to connect.

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That wraps up today’s edition—thanks for reading!

Until next week, keep innovating and challenging the status quo. See you Tuesday!

Love,

Nicole 💜