The Financial Technology Report with RJ Lumba

Automating Financial Planning: Abacum’s Julio Martínez

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Julio Martínez, Co-Founder and CEO of Abacum, an automated FP&A platform built for mid-market finance teams. Abacum centralizes operational and financial data to support revenue forecasting, scenario modeling, headcount planning, and budget management, while automating reporting for boards, executives, and monthly performance reviews. The platform is used by mid-market organizations to move beyond spreadsheet-based planning and improve decision-making across finance and operations.
Julio co-founded Abacum after spending years in investment banking and fintech, including roles at Citigroup and as the founder of multiple financial technology ventures. He leads the company’s product and strategy with a focus on building planning tools shaped by firsthand experience inside finance teams.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Consumer FinTech Leader: Upgrade’s Renaud Laplanche

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Renaud Laplanche, Co-Founder and CEO of Upgrade, a consumer fintech company offering credit, banking, and payment products designed to help customers manage debt more effectively. Since launching in 2017, Upgrade has helped more than 7.5 million consumers access over $42 billion in credit through personal loans, credit cards, and checking accounts. The platform focuses on fixed-rate products and incentives that encourage responsible borrowing and long-term financial health.
Before founding Upgrade, Laplanche co-founded and led LendingClub, one of the earliest large-scale online lending marketplaces in the United States. He led the company for a decade and took it public in 2014, marking the largest U.S.-based internet IPO that year.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Building the Embedded Banking Layer: Treasury Prime’s Chris Dean

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Chris Dean, Co-Founder and CEO of Treasury Prime, a modern banking platform that connects fintechs and businesses to a broad network of banks through secure, scalable APIs. 
Treasury Prime enables companies to open accounts, move money, and embed banking services directly into their applications, supporting millions of accounts and billions of dollars in daily money movement. The platform helps banks reach new markets while giving developers the tools to launch financial products quickly and reliably.
Dean previously led API banking at Silicon Valley Bank following its acquisition of Standard Treasury, where he served as CTO. Earlier in his career, he founded several software companies and began his work in machine learning systems at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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Modernizing Insurance Shopping: Insurify’s Snejina Zacharia

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Snejina Zacharia, Founder and CEO of Insurify, a virtual insurance agent that uses AI and real-time integrations to help consumers compare, purchase, and manage their insurance policies. Insurify partners with hundreds of carriers and serves tens of millions of quotes each year across auto, home, pet, and renters insurance. Its platform enables consumers to receive accurate, personalized rates, access discounts, and complete their purchase online or with a licensed agent.
With a background in enterprise software and global market development, Zacharia founded Insurify to create a more transparent and efficient way for consumers to compare and purchase insurance.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Powering Embedded Financial Services: Parafin’s Sahill Poddar

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Sahill Poddar, Co-Founder and CEO of Parafin, a financial infrastructure company that enables platforms to provide embedded financial products to their small business sellers. Through a single integration, Parafin handles underwriting, capital markets, servicing, compliance, and customer support, allowing marketplaces, vertical SaaS providers, and payment platforms to offer capital, spend management, and savings tools. The company has partnered with organizations such as DoorDash, Amazon, and Worldpay, serving hundreds of thousands of businesses and extending more than $16 billion in financing offers.
Poddar founded Parafin in 2020 alongside Vineet Goel and Ralph Furman, building on a background in data-driven financial systems and applied machine learning.
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Expanding Access to Credit: PayJoy’s Doug Ricket

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Doug Ricket, Founder and CEO of PayJoy, a mission-driven credit provider operating across emerging markets. PayJoy serves customers who lack formal credit history by using patented secured-credit technology, point-of-sale financing, and credit cards designed to open a pathway into the modern financial system. The company has deployed more than $3 billion to over 17 million customers worldwide, achieving profitability while growing across regions including Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
Ricket founded PayJoy in 2015 after early career experiences that shaped his focus on financial access, including Peace Corps service in West Africa, engineering work on Google Maps, and inventions that helped launch the pay-as-you-go solar sector. 
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Efficient Global Money Movement: TransferGo’s Daumantas Dvilinskas

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Daumantas Dvilinskas, Co-Founder and CEO of TransferGo, a digital money transfer platform founded in 2012 to address the practical barriers migrants face when sending money across borders. The company now supports more than 8 million customers in over 160 countries, offering faster, lower-cost transfers built for people managing financial responsibilities across geographies.
Daumantas has led TransferGo since its early days, overseeing its growth from a small founding team into an international operation built around licensing, banking partnerships, product development, and customer support. 
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Digital Banking for SMEs: kompasbank’s Michael Hurup Andersen

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Michael Hurup Andersen, Founder and Co-CEO of kompasbank, an end-to-end digital business bank established in 2017 to improve access to financing and advisory services for small and midsize enterprises in Denmark. The bank offers tailored loans, leasing options, and a digital marketplace of operational tools, along with savings products for individuals whose deposits help fund SME growth across the country.
Michael has spent more than two decades in banking and financial services, with prior roles in treasury, corporate financial sales, and advisory work across Danish and international institutions. At kompasbank, he oversees efforts to build a technology-driven platform designed to support companies with faster processes, clearer guidance, and more flexible financing.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Transforming Mortgage Access: Gen H’s Graham McClelland

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Graham McClelland, CEO of Gen H, a fintech mortgage lender working to expand access to homeownership in the UK. Gen H focuses on buyers whose situations require more nuanced evaluation—including blended income, contract-based work, and small-business ownership—and has built its platform to assess these cases with greater precision. The company also offers deposit and affordability support designed to help customers reach homes that fit their circumstances.
Graham joined Gen H after senior roles at Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Today he leads the company’s scale-up efforts, capital strategy, and the continued development of its lending model.
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Rethinking Payments Infrastructure: Form3’s Mike Walters

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Mike Walters, CEO and Co-Founder of Form3, a cloud-native payments platform used by banks and regulated fintechs to move money at scale. The company provides fully managed payments infrastructure that supports high-volume, always-on processing without the operational burden of legacy systems. Its API-first design gives institutions a single, consistent way to run and modernize their payments operations.
Walters has helped steer the company from its earliest days, first as Chief Product Officer and now as CEO, overseeing strategy, product development, and key client engagements as Form3 has expanded across domestic and international payment flows.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.