Glen interviews Fintech Sandbox co-founder Sarah Biller about agentic AI's "leapfrog moment," and Allon Advisors' Dan Murphy offers a perspective on how agentic AI could reset the entire Open Banking debate. Also- dispatches from the Atlanta and Boston Fintech Weeks, and a preview of industry events still on the fall docket.

Links related to this episode:

Allon Advisors: https://www.allonadvisors.com/

Fintech Sandbox: https://www.fintechsandbox.org/

Atlanta Fintech Week: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atlanta-fintech-week/posts/

DC Fintech Week October 13-16: https://dcfintechweek.org/

VentureTech, November 16-18 in Fort Worth, Texas: https://myventuretech.com/

FinovateFall's 72 demo videos are now available: https://finovate.com//videos/

Part 2 of our FinovateFall coverage, including Glen's Best of Show ballot and an interview with Go.AI, which recently completed an $85 million Series A funding round: https://www.big-fintech.com/a-fintech-by-any-other-name-2/

Go.AI's press release regarding its Series A funding: https://go.ai/company/press/series-a-funding


Check out the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders that meets virtually each month- and twice a year in person- to extend R&D budgets and collaborate on tangible solutions to real world challenges. See if you're a fit and if so, request a guest pass to an upcoming meeting: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/n/glensarvady/

Glen speaks with Tony Hernandez about the power of CU Unplugged's "un-conference" model, why he couldn't wait a full year to rev up its collaborative engine again, and how a BOGGSAT can deliver impressive results. Fresh from the Innovation Club, Velir's Cory Caplette and Josh Hover share insights on retooling websites for agentic traffic, the risk of "AI invisibility," and the offsetting opportunity to gain mindshare. Also- X Money expands (but leans on the fine print).

Links related to this episode:

CU Unplugged, November 18-20 in Fort Worth, Texas: https://www.cu-unplugged.com/

VentureTech, November 16-18 at the same site: https://myventuretech.com/ (DISCOUNT AVAILABLE for those attending both events)

Velir x Brooklyn Data: https://www.velir.com/

Our recent interviews with Finovate standouts Go.AI https://www.big-fintech.com/a-fintech-by-any-other-name-2/ and Tweezr https://www.big-fintech.com/putting-an-accent-on-identity-code-modernization-and-fraud/ as discussed at BIG's recent Innovation Club.

Also, both startups' 7-minute demo videos:
https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2026-go-ai/
https://finovate.com/videos/finovatefall-2026-tweezr/


We recently held a very productive semi-annual in-person meeting of the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders. We also meet virtually each month to extend R&D budgets by collaborating on tangible solutions to real world challenges. Sound like your kind of thing? See if you're a fit and if so, request a guest pass to an upcoming session: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Our second wave of Finovate coverage includes interviews with two more standout first-time presenters: Go.AI and Young Early Starters. Also- Glen's Best of Show ballot, the emergence of the fourth channel, an appeal to protect the seed corn, and pondering the Maya Conundrum.

Links related to this episode:

Young Early Starters: https://www.youngearlystarters.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-marpole-bird/

Go AI: https://go.ai/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/hello-go-ai/

Last week's episode, including interviews with Goodbuy, Finzee AI and Doshi: https://www.big-fintech.com/drinking-from-the-finovate-firehose/

Our interview with Best of Show winner Tweezr from Finovate Europe: https://www.big-fintech.com/putting-an-accent-on-identity-code-modernization-and-fraud/

Finovate's announcement of Fall Best of Show winners: https://finovate.com/finovatefall-2026-best-of-show-winners-announced/


Check out the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders that meets virtually each month- and twice a year in person- to extend R&D budgets and collaborate on tangible solutions to real world challenges. See if you're a fit and if so, request a guest pass to an upcoming meeting: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/n/glensarvady/

Just back from Finovate, Glen shares interviews with the founders of three standout first-timers: Goodbuy, FinZee AI and Doshi. Also- Best of Show winners, explainable friction, Chime banks up, and more AI than you can shake an agent at.

Links related to this episode:

Goodbuy: https://www.trygoodbuy.com/

FinZee AI: https://finzeeai.com/

Doshi: https://www.doshi.app/

Doshi's study of AI model error rates on financial queries (the top model was wrong 19% of the time!): https://www.conductbenchmark.com/

Tweezr episode: https://www.big-fintech.com/putting-an-accent-on-identity-code-modernization-and-fraud/

Finovate's announcement of Fall Best of Show winners: https://finovate.com/finovatefall-2026-best-of-show-winners-announced/

Banking Dive's take on Chime's acquisition of a bank: https://www.bankingdive.com/news/chime-buys-stride-bank-590m-acquisition-fintech/829857/

OpenAI's new financial services specific ChatGPT offering: https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-financial-services/


Mark your calendar to join us Wednesday September 16 at 3pm ET/Noon PT for our next CU Town Hall- a live, lively and interactive discussion of the big issues confronting CU leaders. This month's session features CUltivate AI co-founder Anthony Volpe, making the case for CU owned and curated AI, and sharing learnings from CUltivate's in-flight beta. The Town Hall is free to attend, but advance registration is required. Come prepared for an engaging discussion! https://www.cutownhall.com/

Check out the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders that meets virtually each month- and twice a year in person- to extend R&D budgets and collaborate on tangible solutions to real world challenges. See if you're a fit and if so, request a guest pass to an upcoming meeting: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/n/glensarvady/

Glen speaks with Prismm Founder/CEO Martha Underwood about a new metric- the Deposit Mortality Index- gauging an FI's risk of deposit loss from the Great Wealth Transfer. Also- PayPal's acquisition drama draws to a close (for now) and Walmart opens its wallet for Apple Pay.

Links related to this episode:

Prismm's Deposit Mortality Index: https://getprismm.com/dmi (a link to the complementary 12 -page market report is near the bottom)

Martha Underwood's book "The Death of Deposits": https://www.amazon.com/dp/1953653200

Axios' take on why Stripe and Advent's pursuit of PayPal led to nothing: https://www.axios.com/2026/09/01/paypal-takeover-stripe-advent

Tech Crunch on Walmart's Apple Pay 180: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/21/walmart-to-finally-start-accepting-apple-pay-and-google-pay

Last week's BIGCast featuring interviews with three standout startup founders: https://www.big-fintech.com/fintech-souths-got-something-to-say/

A vreplay of the most recent CU Town Hall, featuring Brian Ley's introduction of scam protector VerifyDial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_jGtQ3p1nw


Mark your calendar to join us Wednesday September 16 at 3pm ET/Noon PT for our next CU Town Hall- a live, lively and interactive discussion of the top topics confronting CU leaders. The Town Hall is free to attend, but advance registration is required. Come prepared for an engaging discussion! https://www.cutownhall.com/

Check out the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders that meets virtually each month- and twice a year in person- to extend their R&D budgets and collaborate on tangible solutions to the latest challenges. Learn more to see if you're a fit and if so, request a guest pass to an upcoming meeting: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/n/glensarvady/

Recapping last week's Fintech South conference, Glen interviews founders of the three startups selected as Innovation Challenge finalists- Hussain Punjani of Agentix, Nyah Chapman of LUXE AI and John Patton of Street Charity- then asks you to guess which the judges chose for the grand prize. Also- Rich & Regular hosts Julien and Kiersten Saunders get real about everyday finances, and Spirit Airlines' data is worth how much to AI developers?!

Links related to this episode:

Agentix: https://agentixpay.ai/

LUXE AI: https://unlock.luxe/

Street Charity: https://streetcharity.org/

Rich & Regular: https://richandregular.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@richandregular

DM the Best Innovation Group's LinkedIn page to share your pick among these startups: https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/

Fintech South: https://www.fintechsouth.com/ For event highlights, photos, and updates for next year, follow @Fintech South on LinkedIn

A pair of stories about Google's bid to buy Spirit Airlines' data:
https://www.phocuswire.com/news/technology/what-googles-purchase-spirit-airlines-data-signals-travel
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-court-delays-hearing-googles-purchase-spirit-airlines-data-union-objects-2026-08-19/

Last week's interview with Fintech Sandbox's Luke Timberlake: https://www.big-fintech.com/the-new-oil-fueling-the-fintech-sandbox/


Check out the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders that meets virtually each month- and twice a year in person- to extend their R&D budgets and collaborate on tangible solutions to the latest challenges. Learn more to see if you're a fit and if so, request a guest pass to an upcoming meeting: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/n/glensarvady/

Glen connects with Fintech Sandbox Executive Director Lucas Timberlake to discuss the state of fintech investing- with and without AI- and to learn about his nonprofit's mission to bring critical financial data access to early stage fintechs. Also- friends say that PayPal and Stripe are… "talking," and JD Power's credit card rankings have a K-shaped tilt- and an asterisk for Navy Federal.

Links related to this episode:

Fintech Sandbox: www.fintechsandbox.org

Boston Fintech Week: https://bostonfintechweek.org/

America's Credit Unions and the DCUC call on the FCC to rein in Caller ID spoofing: https://www.cutoday.info/site/Fresh-Today/Credit-Unions-Press-FCC-to-Crack-Down-On-Caller-ID-Spoofing

JD Power's Credit Card Satisfaction Study (scroll down for FI rankings): https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2026-u-s-credit-card-satisfaction-study/

TechCrunch on the ongoing PayPal/Stripe/Advent conversations: https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/14/talks-to-sell-paypal-to-stripe-and-advent-are-heating-up/

Mark your calendar to join us Wednesday August 19 at 3pm ET/Noon PT for our next CU Town Hall. Our guest speaker will be Brian Ley, whose new venture VerifyDial takes a fresh approach to scam detection by deploying a 411-style national phone line free of charge to community FIs. The Town Hall is free to attend as well, but advance registration is required. Come prepared for a lively discussion! https://www.cutownhall.com/

Check out the Innovation Club- a curated group of credit union tech, data and strategy leaders that meets virtually each month- and twice a year in person- to extend their Learn more to see if this is for you and if so, request a guest pass: https://www.big-fintech.com/innovation-club/

Follow us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/best-innovation-group/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbfintech/
https://www.linkedin.com/n/glensarvady/