Scott Sanborn

They said there was no silver bullet in bank account growth....they were wrong. The Pinwheel Switch Kit is lightning in a bottle for any institution looking to turbocharge effectiveness of digital acquisition and drive meaningful primacy. The world's most innovative digital banks are proving the industry wrong every year, challenging the paradigm that banking must be complex to be valuable - or that high touch branch engagement experiences are critical to establishing long-lasting loyalty with customers. The future of banking is powered by Pinwheel and its trail blazing customers like Varo Bank, redefining what's possible together.

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The hypocrisy I'm seeing from big fintechs lately is astounding. Ironically, these bigger players are furious about the proposed open banking scraps, yet they're the ones who have been holding community banks to ransom over their data for years. For community banks, data autonomy is imperative for digitalization. Without it, the tech gap will only grow bigger and bigger. ➡️ Fintechs and community banks can, and should, be working hand-in-hand. As I said in the Payment Expert piece below: 🗣️ "Empowering small banks to embrace technology on their own terms is the only way we can close the sector's tech gap." Many thanks to Kieran O'Connor and the team at Payment Expert for featuring my thoughts. You can read more here. ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/e6QJcr4h

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Credit unions and community banks have an advantage that they talk about too little. You already know your members better than most megabanks & fintechs. The problem is not the data. It’s not using it in the digital experience. Young adults do not want another generic product push. They want the next best step. At the right time. In the app. That is where the engagement layer matters. A community institution can see the real story: - Paycheck hits - Rent clears - Cash gets tight - The goal gets delayed - Family matters Used the right way, that data can make banking feel personal at scale. Not creepy. Not noisy. Just relevant. “Looks like cash flow is tight this week. Start here.” “You’ve been consistent. You may be ready for the next step.” “That savings goal is slipping. Here’s a simple adjustment.” That is how digital starts to feel like the mission again. One stat worth paying attention to: 53% of Gen Z and 51% of Millennials said a checking account linked to investing would be a better value than their current primary account. (The Financnial Brand) The winners with younger adults will not just market harder. They will use community insight to make digital banking feel like someone is actually paying attention.

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Most people talk about “FDIC insurance” on fintech-style wallet balances as if it’s automatic. Yeah.... It isn’t. Pass-through deposit insurance is earned by recordkeeping and operation, especially when funds sit in a custodial/FBO omnibus account at an insured bank. The FDIC will “look through” the omnibus account to each beneficial owner only if the program meets specific requirements. Now I will say that this test's practicability needs to be somewhat 'at-a-glance' for it to make much sense. In other words, you can't have a complicated test for consumers to have to apply to know whether their Venmo balance or whatever is protected by FDIC insurance. What’s required for pass-through (the non-negotiables): 1. Title/records must clearly disclose the fiduciary capacity (agent/custodian/nominee, etc.) in the bank’s deposit account records. 2. Beneficial owners AND allocable interests must be ascertainable from records of the bank, the custodian, or an authorized third party (kept in good faith / regular course). 3. The customer is the true owner (not the intermediary) so insurance doesn’t “stick” to the custodian and aggregate there. 4. Disclosures must be accurate about what FDIC insurance does (and does not) cover, and who the actual depository bank(s) are. The Synapse bankruptcy (are we sick of hearing about this yet?) showed what happens when banks and intermediaries can’t rapidly reconcile who owns what, where, and in what amount. End users lost access for weeks/months, and investigations described a $60–$90M shortfall between records and bank-held funds. When the ledger isn’t tight, it is both a “fintech ops issue” and a confidence issue in insured deposits. The “minimum standard” banks should adopt as SOP (even since the pass-through rulemaking stalled): - The bank has direct, continuous, unrestricted access to end-user records (even if the intermediary fails). - Daily reconciliation at close of business between the omnibus balance and the sum of sub-ledgers, with exceptions tracked and remediated. - Written policies/procedures and standardized data so insurance determinations and access aren’t delayed. Even though this was proposed (not yet final), it’s hard to argue with the premise, that if your program can’t produce an accurate look-through file and a clean daily tie-out, you’re one intermediary failure away from a crisis. A simple gut-check for banks/CUs running FBO/custodial programs: - Can you generate a full beneficial-owner file on demand - without your fintech vendor? - Do you reconcile omnibus to sub-ledgers daily and retain tie-outs and exception logs? - Are your disclosures explicit about which bank(s) hold the deposits and what FDIC insurance actually covers?

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Perplexity’s decision to STOP testing advertising is more than a revenue story I think... It's a positioning statement. (https://lnkd.in/eYNGPXEG) According to recent reports like Search Engine Land, Perplexity recently chose to move away from ads out of concern that even clearly labeled sponsorships could erode user trust. In a market where AI tools are becoming the front door to information, that concern is not trivial. I've always felt that when answers are generated rather than linked, the line between relevance and revenue can blur quickly. Time and time again we've all watched what happens when platforms scale through advertising... The model works and it funds growth, but it also shifts incentives. Then the product slowly optimizes for impressions rather than integrity. Finally, over time, users feel that shift, even if they can't articulate it. In my opinion, this is a long game for them. They may be sacrificing short term monetization, but in return they will strengthen brand equity in a category where neutrality is everything. What do you think?

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📣 Big CFPB news: The CFPB has secured the 👝 Supervision/examination function is coming back into focus after the funding standoff. What does that mean for fintechs and banks? 🔛 What can happen quickly The CFPB can immediately restart supervision, examinations, and enforcement. Teams are getting the green light to work again. Expect exam notices and schedules to start going out soon. 🔜 What still takes time Full operations won't resume overnight. Teams need to staff up, assign exams, and prioritize their workload. This could take a few weeks to a couple months. There's also a backlog of paused exams. The CFPB will prioritize these, so some firms will be examined sooner than others. 📩 Bottom line: The CFPB is back, but the ramp-up will be gradual. Getting back to full speed with active exams across the industry.That'll take longer, likely a few weeks to a couple months.

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Block / Cash App quietly building the most complete consumer banking product in America - and it’s winning. See enclosed their Q2 2025 shareholder letter. Everyone’s been watching Block’s moves in P2P, merchant services, and crypto - but there’s one segment that wasn’t getting much attention: 💥 The teen segment. And Block is absolutely crushing it. With 5 million monthly active sponsored teen accounts, Block may now be the largest teen banking player in the U.S. (For reference: Greenlight claims “6.5M parents and kids” on its website - but doesn’t break out active accounts, and counts both parents and kids in that number.) While most banks are still stuck rolling out “features,” Block is rolling out flywheels. The latest shareholder letter makes it clear: Cash App is no longer just a payments app - it’s an entire financial operating system. But the real strategic warning for banks? Cash App is locking in the next generation - starting with teens. 📊 Q2’25 teen banking highlights from Block: 5 million monthly active sponsored teen accounts as of June ~80% of those use a Cash App Card Over 25% are active on Cash App Pay Nearly 50% of teens graduate to their own Cash App account at 18 The vast majority of those were already active in June 🧠 Translation: Block isn’t waiting to win trust - it’s building habits, loyalty, and primary banking behavior before customers hit adulthood. 👪 Parents sponsor accounts 💳 Teens start transacting with their own cards 🎓 At 18, they graduate seamlessly to full accounts 🔁 Block keeps the relationship, the deposits, and the data 💣 Meanwhile, many banks still say: “We have the trust of our customers.” Sure - but Block just got added to the S&P 500 and already owns the next generation’s financial life. Teen banking is a deposit and revenue opportunity that financial institutions can’t afford to ignore. The challenge? Most available solutions aren’t truly white-label - and often funnel deposits and customer relationships away from the institution. Most so-called “white-label” solutions are misleading: ❌ Co-branded, not fully your FI’s brand ❌ First-year free... then a fintech subscription takes over ❌ Deposits go elsewhere - not to your institution 🚀 Enter Agora Financial Technologies - the only true white-label teen banking solution: ✅ Your FI’s brand - not a fintech’s ✅ Your customers, your deposits, your revenue ✅ Launch in weeks - no complex core integration required If your FI wants to generate deposits, unlock new revenue streams, and secure your next generation of customers - Agora is the only fintech delivering a pure B2B, non-cannibalizing white-label solution. Let’s talk about how your FI can win the teen banking race. 🚀 Other niches you should consider, SMB, Elderly Banking, Migrants. #TeenBanking #CommunityBanks #DigitalBanking #SideCore #AgoraFinancialTechnologies #BankingInnovation #WhiteLabel #EmbeddedFinance #Fintech #NextGenBanking

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