Brad Mattocks

AI-Native Loan Origination Platform Casca Raises $29 Million to Replace Legacy Lending “Casca’s flagship customers – Live Oak Bank, the nation’s leading U.S. Small Business Administration SBA 7(a) lender by dollar volume, Huntington National Bank, the nation’s largest originator, by volume of SBA 7(a) loans, and Bankwell Bank, Casca’s first customer – all invested. Bankwell, Y Combinator, and Peterson Ventures, a renowned investor in the vertical SaaS... https://lnkd.in/gehX2CQA

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Your core banking system is the light switch. Nobody brags about their electric company. The real differentiation happens above the meter — in your digital banking platform, your LOS, your collections and teller experience. Yet credit unions keep negotiating their core contracts like consumers while legacy providers charge toll-booth fees just to access their own data. We've accepted vendor lock-in as the cost of doing business. It isn't. It's a tax on your agility. New piece on The Knowledge Stack. https://lnkd.in/e7H4dw4d

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I recall getting lost in awe at Leke’s barbershop - was it the dexterity in his craft (he was one-hand) or at people dozing off while he reformed their looks?… Well, I recently almost fell off the chair myself. That moment was different. Nobody prepares you for the quiet fatigue that comes with leadership, especially when you're the one everyone looks to for clarity, speed, and direction. As a team lead, it’s easy to slip into “maintenance mode”: ✔️ Morning syncs ✔️ Back-to-back meetings ✔️ Progress tracking ✔️ Firefighting ✔️ Reporting ✔️ More meetings You start cutting out “distractions” like breaks, social catch-ups, or rest-only to end up running on fumes. Leadership isn't just about ensuring deliverables are met. It’s about carrying the emotional weight of the team, keeping morale up, and still showing up with energy. Balance isn't a myth—but it has to be intentional. Rest is part of the strategy. Burnout helps no one. So, if you’re in leadership and running on autopilot, this is your reminder: Recharge. Reflect. Reset. Even leaders need care too.

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The ACH Network began 2025 with impressive gains in both standard and Same Day ACH during the first quarter. ACH payment volume rose 4.2% to 8.5 billion. The value of those payments was $22.1 trillion, up $1.4 trillion, or 6.6%, from a year earlier. Same Day ACH continued its growth trajectory, recording 326 million payments valued at $897 billion. Those represent increases of 19.1% and 24.8% respectively over the same time in 2024. Business-to-business (B2B) payments continued robust growth. Following 2024’s growth of 11.6%, the volume of B2B payments on the ACH Network increased 9% in the first quarter to 1.9 billion. Of these, 125 million were healthcare claim payments from insurers to providers, an 8.1% increase. Person-to-person (P2P) payments passed the 100 million mark in a quarter for the first time, with more than 109 million payments, a 20.4% increase. #NACHA #ACH #SameDayACH #FedACH #ACHNetwork #NEFT #RTGS #RBI #FedNow #PaymentsInnovationAlliance #FintechInnovation #DigitalAssets #UPI #NPCI #SWIFT #Interoperability #APIs #Ubiquity #CHIPS #RTP #Payments #InstantPayments #RealTimePayments #Zelle #ChinnapaReddy #Banking #Innovation #Fintech #BillPay #B2B #FasterPayments #B2BPayments #SWIFTGPI #FedWire #LYNX #CHAPS #FPS #NPP #RTR

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The Bank and Credit Union CD problem is fixable—and urgent CDs feel inconvenient to depositors and expensive to institutions, especially in today’s unforgiving deposit landscape. Penalties restrict liquidity for customers while locking in interest expense for banks. Meanwhile, CDs are back in force (>$3.5T outstanding; +141% growth in ~3.5 years), and interest expense now looms larger than many operating costs—so fixing CDs is a strategic must. Our new guide shows a simple, compliant way to modernize CD communications, so they work better for everyone. 👉 Read the guide and see how to turn a legacy product into a strategic asset. https://lnkd.in/g5nnAmih

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If you come after my team, you come through me. I don’t say that for dramatic effect. I say it because leadership is not about delegation and distance, it’s about ownership and proximity. If someone on my team makes a mistake, I own that. If a process fails, I step up. If expectations aren’t met, I ask the hard questions, starting with myself. I hire smart people. I empower them to make decisions. I give them room to grow. That means there will be friction sometimes. But I will never stand by while the people who carry the weight, stay late, solve problems at 2 AM, and keep the business running are thrown under the bus to protect optics or ego. Strong teams thrive under strong leadership. They take risks, speak up, and innovate, not because they’re perfect, but because they know someone has their back when it counts. So if you have feedback, bring it. If there’s accountability to be had, I’m first in line. But if you’re looking for someone to blame, look at the person leading them. That’s me. Leadership isn’t about pointing fingers. It’s about taking responsibility. Always.

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Small and mid-sized banks face big myths about credit card issuing. But here’s the truth: Start simple by tailoring your card program to your customers. With the right issuer processor, your lean team can accelerate program growth, accessing innovative features that transform credit cards from a defensive shield into a revenue-driving engine. i2c’s platform delivers the horsepower and agility to navigate this journey smoothly, managing your card program from design to launch with precision and speed. Read Blog: https://lnkd.in/eh-2nvTT

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BNPL is moving into the hands of banks. Fiserv has partnered with Affirm to bring buy now, pay later capabilities directly to debit cards. Attaching pay-over-time functionality to debit transactions creates a way for banks and credit unions to offer flexibility while retaining customer relationships, data, and engagement within their own apps and card programs. BNPL programs are becoming more creative. As installment options become available across more payment types, consumers may begin to expect flexibility across more channels. What is your favorite example of BNPL 2.0? Read more on Finovate: https://lnkd.in/gEK63_g6 #BNPL #DebitCards #EmbeddedFinance #Fiserv #Affirm

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Fiserv and Affirm recently announced they're teaming up to bring BNPL to 1000s of debit card programs. Unpacking the story, it seems like Affirm and Fiserv are helping the long tail of banks and CUs capitalize on Gen Z's distaste for credit cards. Nick and I unpack in the latest edition of The Free Toaster News Pod... https://lnkd.in/ebP6Hq37

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According to a Georgia Department of Banking & Finance press release, Fiserv has begun processing card transactions under its merchant acquirer limited purpose bank (MALPB) charter. The MALPB charter allows Fiserv to operate with a BIN sponsor bank thereby saving the BIN sponsorship fees - additionally, it provides Fiserv more flexibility within its merchant acquiring business (merchant types, MCC's, etc.) Industry information suggests that Stripe's application for a MALPB charter is under review by the Georgia Department of Banking & Finance. #banking #payments #merchantacquiring #atlanta FinTech Atlanta https://lnkd.in/eFMrJUkx

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