Choosing 'Quality Over Quantity' with Fintech

Grasshopper Bank CEO Mike Butler shares his thoughts on fintechs, BaaS, and AI. Plus, what happens if the CFPB is permanently dismantled?

It’s Monday, Bank Slaters!

How many of you watched last night’s game? Curious what people thought about the commercials.

The past week was very busy. We’re nearing the end of a fun board consult in the Midwest; excited about the prospects of creating an onboarding process and building an educational program for the directors. Bank Slate can do the same thing for your financial institution; reach out at paul@thebankslate.com to talk about our process and what we can do for you.

The Forbes Finance Council picked up my piece on banks’ strategies for retaining deposits during an acquisition—something any aspiring buyer should review. I also helped the St. Louis Business Journal understand why Midland States Bancorp in Illinois is purging loans it made through fintech partnerships—and what to expect in terms of credit quality in the coming months. I also shared my thoughts on agentic AI with The Financial Brand.

Let’s talk about fintech.

As I mentioned last week, technology was the main attraction at Acquire or Be Acquired. I jumped at the opportunity to meet with Grasshopper Bank CEO Mike Butler. The New York bank has been the fintech game for a while, and Mike had a tech-forward approach when he ran Radius Bank—which sold to LendingClub in 2021.

You might recall that we had a feature on Mike in 2023 when he discussed the future of banking as part of the Fintech + Insurtech Generations conference, where I serve on the steering committee.

Here’s an abridged Q&A based on our latest conversation. Premium subscribers will have access to the full discussion on Wednesday as we kick off the third season of our Convos podcast series.