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Hey, fintech fam! 💜

This week’s been all about prep—because next week, I’m heading into a whirlwind of back-to-back events.

First up: I’ll be on the ground in Orlando covering FIS Emerald, then heading straight back to NYC for Salesforce’s Agentforce event (pro tip: registration is free!).

I’ll be sharing the ride—and all the behind-the-scenes insights—right here and on LinkedIn. Expect exclusive interviews, real-time takeaways, and my honest POV from the frontlines of fintech.

Covering, interviewing, creating, and writing about these events is truly my favorite part of this job. The energy. The access. The velocity of learning. There’s nothing like being in the room—and I’ve built my whole brand on that belief (which is also why I host my own 400-person summits 👀).

Speaking of events—today, I’ve got a story straight from the mainstage at the Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit, featuring one of our incredible founder spotlights, plus two must-listen podcast throwbacks you won’t want to miss.

Let’s get into it.

SPONSORED BY FIS

78% of global business leaders say AI is already helping them catch more fraud.

And yet—most companies still aren’t scaling it.

That’s the story revealed in the brand-new Harmony Gap report from FIS and Oxford Economics—and it’s required reading for anyone serious about financial security, operational resilience, and long-term AI strategy.

Here’s what stood out to me:

→ 78% of respondents say AI is improving their fraud detection and risk management

→ 56% are scaling or fully implementing AI across financial operations

→ 45% plan to increase AI investment in the next two years

So what’s stopping more companies from diving in?

It’s not hype—it’s the hard stuff:

High implementation and maintenance costs (73%), lack of in-house expertise (64%), and integration hurdles (58%) are slowing enterprise adoption.

But as threat actors get more sophisticated—leveraging AI themselves to commit fraud—the pressure is on for financial institutions to match that sophistication.

As FIS CTO Firdaus Bhathena puts it:

“Overcoming these barriers and harnessing AI’s potential requires strategic investment, rigorous cybersecurity, empowered employees, and strong leadership.”

In other words?

→ AI isn’t a side project. It’s infrastructure.

→ Fraud prevention isn’t just tech—it’s a team sport.

→ AI isn’t coming. It’s already here.

If you’re leading in fintech, payments, security, or risk—don’t sleep on this report.

This is your blueprint for bridging the gap between AI potential and AI performance.

#TRENDING

What’s Up In Fintech

Every Thursday, I bring you the latest fintech news and trends, delivering the key insights that matter most to the industry—and you.

#1 How GoodFin CEO Anna Joo Fee Is Rewriting the Rules of Wealth Management

If you were in the room at the Fintech Is Femme Leadership Summit last month, you already felt it: the energy shift when Anna Joo Fee, Founder & CEO of GoodFin, took the stage.

She didn’t come to talk about just another fintech app. She came to talk about a new wealth paradigm—one that centers ownership, access, and conviction.

“I followed the script,” she said. “The immigrant script. The perfectionist script. The do-everything-right script.”

And she did—Harvard Law, a top Wall Street firm, 90-hour weeks. But like so many high-achieving women in finance, Anna hit a wall: wealth creation wasn’t coming from the career accolades. It was coming from somewhere else.

“Wealth is not a meritocracy,” she said. “And not taking risks is not actually safe. It just feels that way.”

That realization led her to launch GoodFin, a platform that gives high-earning professionals access to private markets—opportunities typically reserved for the 1%. But GoodFin is more than a platform. It’s a signal that fintech is finally shifting from access to ownership.

GoodFin provides access to the assets that have long been reserved for the ultra-wealthy—like blue-chip private equity and pre-IPO startups. GoodFin aggregates wealth from individuals to collectively knock on the doors of exclusive private wealth opportunities.

By doing so, it lowers the barriers to entry, giving members a chance to diversify their portfolios in ways they couldn’t before.

In this new wealth management ecosystem, the key isn’t just access—it’s the education and empowerment to truly build wealth, not just manage it.

By providing a guided, automated experience that still feels personal, fintech can teach individuals to leverage complex financial products—like private equity or venture funds—that many high earners still don’t fully understand. 

A high-earner making $300k a year might be doing okay financially, but without access to these sophisticated wealth-building tools, they’ll never see the kind of exponential wealth growth that can come from investing in private markets or owning stakes in tomorrow’s unicorns.

This next wave of fintech will likely focus on building personalized yet automated wealth-building experiences that provide access and encourage community collaboration and mutual growth.

A place where high earners can share investment ideas, get educational content tailored to their financial goals, and access curated, high-quality alternative assets—all within the same platform. I know I’d be interested.

Anna’s perspective is razor-sharp because it’s personal. She became a mother. She looked at the financial system she’d worked within for years. And she asked: What am I really building here?

The answer: A better system. One that’s accessible. One that reflects the lived experiences of immigrants, women, and wealth-builders of every background.

“We don’t need permission,” she told our audience. “We need conviction.”

 Founder Lessons from the Frontlines

Here are a few takeaways I walked away with—and ones every founder, builder, or career shifter should hear:

1. Don’t confuse prestige with ownership.

A fancy title might earn you clout. Ownership earns you equity. If you’re not building wealth, you’re building someone else’s.

2. Play smarter, not harder.

Anna had every credential in the book—but she wasn’t building real wealth until she changed the game. Hard work alone isn’t the strategy. Leverage, education, and risk-taking are.

3. Your pain points are business opportunities.

Anna didn’t just spot a market gap—she lived it. She built the platform she wished she had when navigating wealth as a first-gen professional and new mom.

4. Take the risk. Especially when it feels “unsafe.”

Quitting a stable, high-paying job to start a fintech company? Terrifying. But as Anna reminds us: staying put isn’t necessarily safer—it just feels that way.

5. Build for the next generation, not just the next quarter.

As trillions transfer to women and first-gen investors, the question isn’t if wealth will change—it’s who will lead the change.

Anna left us with this: “The future of wealth isn’t something we need to wait for. It’s here. And it’s ours to claim.”

I couldn’t agree more. Let’s go.

#2 Money Circles: Why Community Is Your Competitive Advantage with Nina Mohanty  

In fintech, we hear a lot about “community.” But few companies are truly built by and for the communities they serve.

That’s what makes Bloom Money different—and why I’m so hyped about founder Nina Mohanty’s latest announcement: Bloom just launched a community crowdfund, giving everyday people a chance to own a piece of the company they’re helping build.

“At the very heart of Bloom is our community,” Nina shared on LinkedIn. “We want our community to own our business, to be our boss. Because that’s the way it should be.”

Bloom isn’t just a product—it’s a movement rooted in tradition. As I wrote in my book Fintech Feminists, Nina’s inspiration came from ROSCAs (Rotating Savings and Credit Associations), informal savings systems used around the world—called “Susu” in Ghana, “Tanda” in Mexico, and “Chits” in India.

Bloom digitizes this communal wealth-building model with Bloom Circles, bringing cultural relevance, dignity, and trust back into finance—especially for immigrants and first-gen communities historically excluded by traditional banking systems.

“Everyone says they want financial inclusion,” Nina shared, “but few are ready to fund actual solutions.”

Now, we can.

Tune in to my episode of Humans of Fintech for a raw, honest convo with Nina about how she’s flipping the fintech funding model, what it means to build for your community, and why immigrant customers are the financial system’s greatest untapped market.

🎧 Listen to our full conversation here.

#3 Fintech Mavericks: Orum’s $82M Journey with Founder & CEO Stephany Kirkpatrick 

If there’s one skill every founder must master—it’s storytelling.

Sure, you can hire the best engineers. You can bring in top-notch ops pros.

But what you can’t hire? Founder-market fit.

You can’t outsource conviction.

That kind of clarity? It comes from lived experience. From being so close to the problem, you are the solution.

That’s exactly what I’ve learned from Stephany Kirkpatrick, founder & CEO of Orum.

In today’s (throwback) Fintech Mavericks episode, co-hosted with Drew Glover of Fiat Growth, Stephany breaks down how she raised over $80M as a solo founder—and how storytelling was her secret weapon.

Her insight? It’s not just about proving the business model. It’s about showing that you are the one to build it. And, trust me—she is.

Tune in to hear Stephany share the real deal on what it takes to scale, lead, and fundraise—with both EQ and fire.

• 🎧 Listen on Spotify

• 🍏 Listen on Apple

• 📺 Watch on YouTube

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Join us every Thursday to keep up with fintech events!

_{JUNE 11-12}

[CHARLOTTE] Fintech & Insurtech Generations

We’re proud to partner with the 2025 Fintech & Insurtech Generations conference—where real innovation meets real impact.

Back and bigger than ever, #FIG2025 is the Southeast’s leading fintech and insurtech event, bringing together founders, operators, investors, and changemakers for two days of honest conversation, bold ideas, and future-focused strategy.

This year’s theme—Mission Possible: Operation Innovation—is all about building what’s next through collaboration, creativity, and the kind of leadership that doesn’t wait for permission.

If you’re serious about shaping the future of financial services, this is where you need to be.

Mark your calendar.

🎟 Use code FEMME25 for 25% off.

_FINTUNES

🎶 Miley Cyrus - More to Lose

Last week, I was eagerly anticipating the release of this new single, and it's finally here. What a powerhouse of a song, with its lyrics and vocals. In a sea of quick hits and pop singles, Miley is delivering art, theater, and songwriting prowess with nearly five-minute pop ballads. I love it.

_{LET’S CONNECT}

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🎤 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.

⭐️ P.S. If you’ve read Fintech Feminists (or listened to the audiobook!), I’d be so grateful if you could take 30 seconds to leave a review or rating on Amazon here. Your support means the world to me. A million thanks in advance!

That wraps up today’s edition—thanks for reading! Until next week, keep innovating and challenging the status quo. See you Tuesday!

Love,

Nicole 💜