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Hi, fintech fam 💜

This week, I can’t stop thinking about the devastating floods in Texas. Over 100 lives lost, including dozens of children. Billions in damage to homes, infrastructure, and communities. It’s personal—this happened in my home state. It’s also political, economic, and moral.

And it’s a brutal reminder: what we’re building at Fintech Is Femme isn’t just relevant—it’s urgent. Our next event covering climate fintech will dig into the role each of us plays in shaping a more human-centered financial future.

We’re not just talking about financial innovation. We’re building infrastructure for survival. For resilience. For a future that doesn’t leave people behind. Because, as I kept circling back to while writing this week’s column:

Women are the key to unlocking a better financial future for the world—through climate, healthcare, and everything in between.

Let’s get into it.

INNOVATION

What the Big Beautiful Bill Really Means for Fintech — And Why Women Will Rescue This Economy (Again)

As deadly floods devastate Texas and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) strips funding from climate and healthcare systems, one truth is undeniable: fintech’s role in shaping a more resilient economy is no longer optional—it’s urgent.

Fintech is built on agility and innovation. But no amount of hustle can offset the damage of defunding the very systems that support progress. 

American fintech risks being left behind—not because we lack talent, but because we are defunding the very ecosystems that make innovation possible.

For those of us building for the 99%, this is not the time to pause. It’s a wake-up call. Standing still—or worse, retreating—is not an option.

Since its passage, I’ve dug through the analyses, spoken with experts, and followed the numbers.

Here’s what I found.

A Gut Punch to Innovation

The OBBBA sets the stage for an economic slowdown that punishes the most vulnerable—while sabotaging the exact innovation we need to survive the next chapter.

It slashes nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid. It eliminates clean energy tax credits. It cuts food assistance and federal support for climate resilience, while channeling billions into border militarization and fossil fuel subsidies.

According to the Center for American Progress, household energy costs will rise by $110 next year. By 2035, gas prices could climb by 37 cents per gallon.

This isn’t just bad policy—it’s anti-innovation.

Labor economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, writing in Bloomberg, estimates the bill adds $3.3 trillion to the national debt within a decade, triggering higher interest rates across the economy. 

That drives up the cost of capital—especially for early-stage founders and emerging innovators. In fintech, where tight margins collide with bold ideas, it lands like a punch.

“It raises borrowing costs throughout the economy due to the volume of borrowing,” Edwards wrote in Bloomberg.

“The rosiest projections are that tax cuts would add a nominal amount to GDP in the first few years, but require so much borrowing that the deleterious effects of higher interest rates negate any budget gain that comes from a bigger economy.”

She also warned of the downgrade from Moody’s Ratings in May, which stripped the U.S. of its top AAA credit score and cited an unsustainable fiscal path—timed right as the OBBBA was being debated.

The warning was clear: large, debt-financed tax cuts in an already overleveraged economy are a dangerous bet.

Edwards also laid out a brutal history lesson: tax cuts are the largest contributor to U.S. debt this century—more than war spending, Medicare expansions, or recession responses.

Yet their return is weak. Even at considerable cost to the federal budget, the biggest tax cuts yield only modest increases in family incomes—pennies on the dollar.

The second wave of harm comes from deep cuts to healthcare and nutrition for low- and middle-income Americans. The bill is projected to:

• Remove Medicaid access for 12 million people (mainly due to work requirements)

• Leave 17 million uninsured (from Medicaid and ACA subsidy cuts)

• Cut food stamps for 2 million, with benefit reductions for 40 million more

The average annual food stamp benefit? $4,000. Medicaid spending per enrollee? About $7,600. Yet the OBBBA offers an average annual tax cut of $13,500 to the top 10% of earners.

Slashing support for the most vulnerable doesn’t just break social contracts—it hurts the economy.

Food stamps raise test scores and bolster consumer spending. Medicaid reduces mortality and enhances financial security.

It is a grim measure of our priorities that a bill can boast the largest-ever cuts to Medicaid and food stamps—and still add $3 trillion to the national debt.

Meanwhile, countries like China are ramping up public investment in renewable energy, semiconductor manufacturing, and next-gen technology. 

The global innovation race is accelerating—and the U.S., once a leader, is tying its own hands. 

If fintech leaders want to stay globally competitive, now is the time to:

• Forge international partnerships, 

• tap into global talent pools, 

• and push for policies that protect long-term growth.

Read more in my past column: Why Every Fintech Needs a Global Strategy—And How to Build One Smart.

We cannot afford to be insular or reactive. This is a moment to double down on purpose-driven innovation, diversify our capital pathways, and build ecosystems that are resilient not because they’re shielded from policy shocks—but because they are designed to withstand them.

The Human and Fiscal Costs of Inaction

The recent floods in Texas are tragic.

More than 100 lives lost—including nearly 30 children. Up to $22 billion in damages. Homes, roads, and emergency systems wiped out in hours.

I grew up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I spent summer vacations floating down the Guadalupe River as a kid. This isn’t an abstract policy failure—it’s a catastrophe in my old backyard.

I spoke to Bhuva Shakti, a longtime Wall Street executive and climate fintech expert. Her diagnosis was blunt: “This was preventable.”

Warmer air holds more moisture, making rain more intense and less predictable. The Guadalupe River rose 20 feet in under an hour. Flash floods gave families and first responders minutes—not hours—to act.

NOAA and Texas 2036 report that extreme precipitation has increased 20–30% over the last 50 years. And yet, the National Weather Service has lost 600 employees just this year, thanks to budget cuts and buyouts from the current President’s administration. 

This is what happens when we defund our climate defenses.

The OBBBA accelerates this trend, gutting environmental protections and safety net programs. 

The result? An estimated 930 additional pollution-related deaths per year by 2035. Personal health costs rising by $2,500 annually per household. A power grid pushed to the brink.

Climate-related health issues already cost the U.S. $800 billion annually, according to the American Lung Association. Deloitte warns that climate inaction could strip $14.5 trillion from the U.S. economy over the next 50 years.

It’s an economic collapse on a rolling schedule.

Fintech’s Role—and Responsibility

Fintech touches everything from credit access to disaster recovery. If we want to protect our users—and our future—we can’t ignore the risks ahead.

As Shakti said in her TED Talk, “Putting people in the risk equation is a nonnegotiable, even when there is no backup plan or safety net.” 

In other words: prioritizing people isn’t a risk—it’s the smartest investment you can make.

Right now, there is no safety net. And if fintech is to live up to its mission—especially among those building for the 99%—it must create one.

Fintech alone can’t stop climate change. But we can build systems to help people survive it.

Trust in institutions is evaporating. Families are living one emergency away from crisis. And yet the financial tools that could help—embedded insurance, emergency lending, climate-informed underwriting—remain niche.

It’s time to change that.

Every 1°C rise in global temperature could reduce GDP by over 1.2%, per the World Bank. And Deloitte’s warning of a $14.5 trillion cost to climate inaction isn’t just a number—it’s a roadmap for what’s at stake.

Fintech leaders can respond—not by chasing vanity metrics, but by building for durability.

The future belongs to those who design for resilience. That means savings tools for gig workers. Adaptive credit models. Disaster-proof infrastructure.

It means leading like we are an essential service—because we are.

Women: Not Just the Most Affected—The Most Effective

Let’s not forget: women are 14 times more likely to die in climate-related disasters, according to the UN.

But they’re also the key to solving them.

A 1% increase in women managers corresponds with a 0.5% drop in emissions. In 2023, 45% of new climate fintech startups had a woman co-founder.

Yet all-women teams still receive just 1.1% of total climate tech funding. According to RMI, fixing that gap could unlock $12 billion in ROI.

That’s not philanthropy. That’s smart investing.

Take Rochelle Gorey, CEO of SpringFour. Her platform helps banks and fintechs connect customers to emergency financial resources—housing aid, utility relief, job support. It reduces delinquencies. Builds trust. Saves lives.

SpringFour is a model for what fintech for good really looks like. But we need thousands more like it. 

As Cindy Gallop often says, we need to fund and support women-founded fintech companies at scale—not as a niche, but as a global necessity.

Where We Go From Here

At Fintech Is Femme, we’re not waiting for government leadership. On September 19, we’ll host the Emerald Climate Fintech Summit to spotlight the founders building for resilience and equity.

We’ll explore the capital flows, product strategies, and policy interventions that actually move the needle. And we’ll do it with the people already doing the work.

Fintech won’t fix everything the OBBBA broke. But it can be a force for recovery. For reinvention. For real momentum in a broken system.

If our government won’t invest in the future, women will. Because we always have.

This bill is a warning. But it’s also a call.

Fund the people solving real problems. Build for the future you want to live in. And never bet against women in fintech—we’re building the economy you’ll depend on next.

Join us at the Emerald Climate Fintech Summit on September 19. Support the founders in designing a safer, more equitable financial future.

We don’t need another “big beautiful” promise.

We need bold action, clear values, and leadership that prioritizes people.

Let’s build them together.

_{WTF ELSE?}

• Fintech is unlocking financial access for the ‘invisible’ economy

• Female founders defying odds: These 14 startups raised $113.5M, UK leads the charge

• The global impacts of pay by bank and open banking: What will it take to get the US on board?

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_{I WANT IT, I GOT IT}

• 🎧 Today’s Listen: ICYMI: The latest episode of Fintech Mavericks is live—featuring Ryan Breslow, founder of Bolt and Love.com, on reclaiming his company, rewriting the rules of leadership, and building fintech’s next big play. Listen on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 🚀 Today’s Watch: Just watched K-Pop Demon Hunters on Netflix this weekend—fierce, fun, and full of meaning. Seeing bold, underrepresented heroes take the spotlight and save the world? Feels a lot like what we’re building at Fintech Is Femme.

• 🧘‍♀️Today’s Self-Care: On Sunday—aka Self-Care Sunday—I wandered into Ling Mak Beauty Salon in NYC’s Chinatown and had one of the best facials of my life. My facialist’s advice? Come back every five weeks. Message received.

_FINTUNES

🎵 IRL (feat. SZA) — Lizzo

New single from Lizzo. This is such a great vibe, and the SZA feature makes it even groovier.

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That’s all for now! See you Thursday!

Love,

Nicole 💜