Each year, we publish our list of 50 Fintech Influencers You Should Follow to keep abreast of fast moving developments in fintech and financial services. Each one of these leaders delivers sharp insights about the trends, issues and ideas in fintech. These are founders, CEOs and senior executives at fintech start-ups and banks that are respected thought leaders. We also include several leading tech and finance reporters, analysts and industry watchers you should know and follow.
Today, with COVID-19 wrecking havoc, economic issues are affecting nearly every American, and leadership has never been more vital.
This group of influencers represent the vanguard of change and innovation in financial technology.
Without further ado, and in alphabetical order, here is this year’s list:
1.) Noah Breslow
CEO, OnDeck
Noah Breslow is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of On Deck Capital, Inc., which creates innovates financing solutions for small businesses.
2.) Chris Britt
Co-founder and CEO, Chime
Chris Britt is the Co-Founder & CEO of Chime, the mobile banking app and debit card. Before founding Chime, Chris was the Chief Product Officer and SVP, Corporate Development at Green Dot.
3.) Jason Brown
CEO, Tally
Jason Brown is the CEO and co-founder of Tally, an AI-powered consumer fintech company making it easier for people to achieve their financial goals. Growing up in a family that struggled financially, Jason started Tally to democratize financial services and put billions of dollars back in people’s pockets.
4.) Mike Butler
President and CEO, Radius Bank
Since joining Radius Bank in March 2008, Mike Butler has transformed the Bank into an innovative leader in the financial services industry. Prior to joining the Bank, Mike served as President, National Consumer Finance at KeyCorp in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a graduate of Providence College and the ABA’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking.
5.) Penny Crosman
Editor at Large, American Banker
Penny Crosman is Editor at Large at American Banker. Prior to taking on this role, she was Editor in Chief of Bank Technology News, and Technology Editor of American Banker. Penny has held senior editorial roles at Bank Systems & Technology, Wall Street & Technology, Intelligent Enterprise, and Network Magazine, among other titles.
5.) Telis Demos
Wall Street Journal
Telis Demos covers U.S. capital markets and the securities industry for The Wall Street Journal in New York.
7.) Susan Ehrlich
CEO, Earnest
Susan Ehrlich is the CEO at Earnest, the innovative student and personal loan platform. Previously she served as Chief Financial Officer, Head of Enterprise Risk Management and a Member of the Board of Directors at Simple Financial Technology.
8.) Prashant Fuloria
Chief Product Officer, Fundbox
A seasoned internet technology executive, Prashant Fuloria is a leader at Fundbox, the credit and payments network for the future of small business. He was most recently SVP of Advertising Products at Yahoo, joining the Yahoo team through their acquisition of Flurry, where he was the Chief Product Officer. Prior to Yahoo, Prashant was Senior Director of Product Management at Facebook and Product Director at Google.
9.) Rob Frohwein
Co-Founder and CEO, Kabbage
Rob Frohwein is the Chief Executive Officer at Kabbage, a leading catalyst for small businesses via its creative funding options. Rob also serves as Co-founder and Chief Drummer at Drum.
10.) Gilles Gade
Founder/President/CEO, Cross River
Gilles Gade is Founder, President and CEO of Cross River, a pioneer in fintech that merges the established expertise of a bank with the innovation and product offering of a technology company. Gilles graduated from the MBA Institute IMIP (Groupe IPESUP) in Paris, with a Masters of Science in International Management. In 1990 he began his career at Citicorp Venture Capital.
11.) Professor Cornelius Hurley
Executive Director, Online Lending Policy Institute
Cornelius Hurley has over 35 years of diversified legal, entrepreneurial, and academic experience in the financial sector. His teaching and research interests focus upon the interactions between finance and the real economy.
12.) Ernie Johannson
Head of U.S. Personal and Business Banking, BMO
Ernie Johannson is BMO’s Group Head of Personal and Business Banking and a member of the bank’s Executive Committee. Ernie leads a team of 16,500 responsible for serving nearly 10 million personal and business banking customers.
13.) Renaud Laplanche
Co-Founder and CEO, Upgrade
Renaud Laplanche is a French-American entrepreneur and business executive. He is the co-founder and CEO of Upgrade which creates a new banking experience by, among their things, eliminating all fees. Prior to founding the company, Renaud co-founded and served for a decade as the CEO of Lending Club, an American peer-to-peer lending company.
14.) Alex Lintner
Group President Consumer NA, Experian
Alex Lintner is responsible for overseeing US consumer credit bureau and the Group’s Consumer Assistance Centre (MCE) for Experian. Lintner holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Tulsa and an MBA from Boston College. He also received an executive certificate from Harvard Business School.
15.) Ben McLannahan
U.S. Banking Editor, Financial Times
Ben McLannahan covers banks from New York. He was previously a correspondent in Tokyo.
16.) Charles Moldow
General Partner, Foundation Capital
Charles joined Foundation Capital in 2005, with a background in general management, sales, marketing, product management, and business development.
17.) George Popescu
Editor in Chief, Lending Times
George is a hands-on entrepreneur, MIT graduate, with experience creating and building 9+ companies.
18.) Nathaniel Popper
Technology Reporter, The New York Times
Nathaniel Popper is a journalist for The New York Times covering finance and technology from San Francisco. He previously worked for the Los Angeles Times, The Forward and Let’s Go Travel Guides. He graduated from Harvard University in 2002 after studying history and literature.
19.) Peter Renton
Founder, LendIt
Peter Renton is the founder of Lend Academy, the leading news and educational resource for the marketplace lending industry. He is the Co-Founder of the LendIt Conference, the world’s first and largest conference series dedicated to the fintech and online lending industries.
20.) Peter Rudegeair
Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Peter Rudegeair is a banking and finance reporter in the New York bureau of The Wall Street Journal.
21) Denise Thomas
Co-Founder and CEO, Apple Pie Capital
Denise founded ApplePie Capital to create a new, more efficient source of capital for franchise businesses. As CEO and Chairman, she oversees all aspects of the company. She has led companies backed by leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins, Mohr Davidow and Sequoia Capital.
22.) Scott Tobin
General Partner, Battery Ventures
Scott joined Battery in 1997 and currently leads investments in Israel, the US and Europe. He graduated with honors from Brandeis University with a B.A. in International Relations and Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
23.) Jeff Yabuki
CEO, Fiserv
Jeff Yabuki is the Chairman and CEO of Fiserv, Ia global leader in financial services technology. In 2020, Jeff was recognized among FORTUNE World’s Most Admired Companies® for a seventh consecutive year. Jeff has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, and joined Fiserv and its Board of Directors in 2005.
24.) Rohit Arora
CEO & Co-Founder, Biz2Credit
Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit, is one of America’s top experts in small business lending and the use of FinTech to streamline the funding process. In 2011, he was named New York City’s “Top Entrepreneur” by Crain’s New York Business.
25.) Mariel Beasley
Co-Founder, Common Cents Lab
Mariel Beasley is a Principal at the Center for Advanced Hindsight at Duke University and Co-Founder of the Common Cents Lab – a subcenter committed to improving the financial behavior of low- to moderate-income households in the United States.
So, there you have the first 25 of our Top 50 Fintech Influencers to Follow. Stay tuned for the rest of the list — coming tomorrow.
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