Affirm’s built its own risk stack, and 8 blockchain companies that work with banks – Tearsheet

Tearsheet provides daily summaries of the top news stories and events, like this piece, in a nifty, neat, nicely-packaged daily email. Stay informed. Subscribe here.

8 blockchain companies that partner with traditional FIs to launch crypto products

(On May 24, Tearsheet will host its first Bankchain Conference, online, to explore the intersection between blockchain and traditional finance. Register to get a complimentary ticket here.)

In a short span, cryptocurrency has gone from an alternative investment option to a trillion-dollar industry.

Traditional financial institutions are trying to figure out their role in the industry, too. 95% of banks are prepared to make some level of investment in blockchain or distributed ledger technology.

The growth of the crypto industry has led to banks’ increasing openness toward adopting blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

Here are some of the top blockchain firms working with banks to launch blockchain-enabled and crypto products.

Read more

Behind the scenes of Affirm’s proprietary risk stack with Karthik Ramkumar

We’ve been talking a lot about Buy Now, Pay Later and its role in payments, lending, and banking. We’re going behind the scenes in BNPL to see how the sausage is made.

Affirm’s head of risk, Karthik Ramkumar joins the Tearsheet podcast, hosted by Tearsheet’s editor-in-chief, Zack Miller.

Karthik leads a team of dozens of people as he manages all aspects of financial risk, including consumer credit, consumer fraud, merchant credit, and merchant fraud. The discussion is pretty far-reaching – from talking about the evolution of the underwriting model to sought-after skillsets to address fraud to mental health in the workplace.

Read/listen more

Just look at the charts

1. The financial industry will enter crypto through payments

SourceJackTheRippler

2. Lending 3.0: Making the most of the new lending ecosystem

SourceTheodora (Theo) Lau

Today’s stories

Goldman Sachs to acquire NextCapital
Goldman Sachs has agreed to buy NextCapital, a robo-advisor for corporate retirement plan participants (Finextra)

Will Robinhood be more competitive after new trading hours?
Robinhood announced that it would extend its stock trading hours in the morning and the evening as it works toward its goal of 24/7 investing (TechCrunch)

Citizens introduces EWA for corporate clients
Citizens is the latest lender to introduce a way for corporate clients to give employees early access to their paycheck (PYMNTS)

Voyager Digital is on SEC’s radar
Securities regulators in at least seven U.S. states are scrutinizing Canadian crypto investments firm Voyager Digital over its offering of interest-bearing crypto accounts (CoinDesk)

Metabank rebrands as Pathward, sells brand to Facebook
Popular partner bank and payments player MetaBank announced that it is changing its name to Pathward to unite the company under a single identity (PYMNTS)

This winter’s YC batch is rife with fintech efforts
Y Combinator’s latest batch of startups — including 35 fintech firms — present to an invite-only audience of approximately 1,500 investors (TechCrunch)

i2c teams with Visa for fintech onboarding in the MENA region
i2c and Visa have partnered into a first of its kind agreement for onboarding fintechs in the MENA region, providing modern payment and processing services (Business Wire)

Stay ahead of the game with Outlier — Tearsheet’s exclusive members-only content program and join the leading financial services and fintech innovators reading us every day.