The Financial Technology Report with RJ Lumba

Modernizing Life Insurance: Bestow’s Melbourne O’Banion

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Melbourne O’Banion, Co-Founder and CEO of Bestow, an insurtech company that builds the software infrastructure life insurers use to digitize operations, launch products, and modernize underwriting and policy administration. Bestow partners with major carriers, providing technology and data solutions that streamline processes from origination through back-end administration.
O’Banion co-founded the company to modernize how life insurance products are delivered and managed, bringing experience from prior entrepreneurial roles and guiding Bestow’s long-term strategy and industry partnerships.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

AI for Credit Decisioning: Ocrolus’ Sam Bobley

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Sam Bobley, Co-Founder and CEO of Ocrolus, a document AI platform used by financial institutions to automate and improve credit decisioning. The company enables lenders to classify documents, extract critical data, detect fraud, and run cash-flow and income analyses across small business, mortgage, and consumer applications. Ocrolus now works with more than 500 customers and has analyzed over 300 million pages of financial documents.
Sam launched the company in 2014 and continues to guide its strategy, technology roadmap, and customer partnerships. Under his leadership, Ocrolus has expanded its use of applied AI in underwriting workflows and has secured over $100 million in venture funding from leading investors while becoming a core infrastructure provider for many leading fintech and lending organizations.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Simplifying Estate Planning: Vanilla’s Gene Farrell

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Gene Farrell, President and CEO of Vanilla, a wealth management technology company simplifying how advisors deliver estate planning at scale. Founded in 2019, Vanilla’s platform helps financial advisors, planners, and attorneys create personalized estate strategies through automation and data integration. The company’s software has processed tens of thousands of planning documents and is used by leading wealth management firms including Mariner Wealth Advisors and Vanguard.
Gene joined Vanilla in 2021 after executive roles at Smartsheet, Amazon Web Services, and The Coca-Cola Company. Drawing on his background in building high-growth technology businesses, he now leads Vanilla’s mission to make estate planning more efficient, accessible, and impactful for advisors and their clients.
Gene supports National Ability Center. To learn more about this organization click here.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to follow.

Building Payments Infrastructure: Highnote’s John MacIlwaine

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with John MacIlwaine, Co-Founder and CEO of Highnote, a payments technology company offering a unified platform for embedded finance. Founded in 2020, Highnote enables enterprises and fintechs to issue cards, accept payments, manage credit, and track funds through a single API-driven system. The platform integrates issuing, acquiring, ledgering, and real-time money movement to help organizations design, launch, and scale their payment products more efficiently.
Before founding Highnote, John held senior executive roles across technology and financial services. At Highnote, he focuses on advancing the company’s platform and strengthening how businesses deliver modern payment experiences to customers.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to follow.

Modernizing Construction Finance: Constrafor’s Anwar Ghauche

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Anwar Ghauche, Founder of Constrafor, a construction procurement platform with embedded financing. Founded in 2020, Constrafor supports general contractors and subcontractors by standardizing key back-office workflows — including contracts, COIs, invoices, and payments — and provides subcontractors with fast, cost-effective receivables financing through its Early Pay Program.
Before launching Constrafor, Anwar held roles across engineering, management consulting, AI product development, and technology investing.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Financing Small Businesses: Qred’s Emil Sunvisson

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Emil Sunvisson, CEO and Co-Founder of Qred Bank, a fintech company simplifying access to financing for small businesses. Founded in 2015, Qred offers fast, flexible business loans and credit cards, serving more than 50,000 entrepreneurs across seven European markets.
Before founding Qred, Emil founded and led multiple companies across technology, finance, and gaming. Today, he leads Qred’s mission to make business financing faster and easier for entrepreneurs.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Simplifying Embedded Payments: Rainforest’s Joshua Silver

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Joshua Silver, Founder and CEO of Rainforest, a Payments-as-a-Service provider built for vertical software platforms. Rainforest enables platforms to embed payments directly into their products without taking on risk, compliance, or operational burdens. Its low-code, white-label solution supports card, ACH, and Apple Pay transactions—helping software companies drive payments volume, grow revenue, and maintain full control over their customer relationships.
Before founding Rainforest, Joshua co-founded Patientco, later acquired by Waystar, and advised more than 50 software companies on payments strategy. Drawing on two decades in embedded payments and SaaS, he founded Rainforest to fill a gap in the market for a technically strong, service-oriented, and economically balanced payments solution.
I am your host, RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to follow.

Transforming Payments: NMI’s Steve Pinado

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Steve Pinado, CEO of NMI, an embedded payments provider powering over $440 billion in volume and 5.8 billion transactions annually. NMI’s platform enables transactions across multiple payment channels, including online, in-store, in-app, mobile, and unattended.
Steve became CEO of NMI in August 2025 after decades of leadership in fintech and SaaS. He previously helped guide Billtrust through rapid expansion, its IPO, and eventual sale, and also held senior roles at Jonas Software, Advanta, NextCard, and Electronic Data Systems. Earlier in his career, he worked in investment banking.
I am your host RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to follow.

Simplifying Retirement Benefits: 401GO’s Dan Beck

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Dan Beck, CEO and Co-Founder of 401GO, a fintech retirement platform built to simplify 401(k) setup and management for businesses of all sizes. 401GO leverages automation to reduce costs and administrative burdens, while ensuring support and education remain central to the participant experience.
Dan founded 401GO after experiencing firsthand how limited and costly retirement options were for small businesses. Today, the platform makes it possible for companies to provide employees with an affordable and practical retirement benefit, reshaping how retirement planning is delivered in the workplace.
I am your host RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to follow.

Global Payments Leader: Jeeves’ Dileep Thazhmon

Welcome to The Financial Technology Report, a leading information source on financial technology companies and solutions.
In this episode, we speak with Dileep Thazhmon, Founder and CEO of Jeeves, an all-in-one financial platform for businesses operating in over 30 markets worldwide. Jeeves enables companies to open multi-currency accounts, issue corporate cards, send cross-border payments, and manage expenses from a single platform.
Dileep previously co-founded PowerInbox, a digital monetization platform that scaled to billions of emails monthly and was acquired in a $100 million exit. He has since led Jeeves’ growth into a global platform, supporting businesses across currencies and regions.
I am your host RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to follow.