In this episode of Consumer Lending Perspectives, Sheel Mohnot, Co-Founder and General Partner of Better Tomorrow Ventures, joins the show with host, Jeff Bogan, CFO at Upgrade and fintech veteran. Better Tomorrow Ventures is a venture capital fund dedicated to fintech companies globally.

Sheel’s insights span the fintech landscape, from the symbiotic relationship between fintech and banking to the transformative potential of AI in areas like compliance and underwriting.

He discusses how Better Tomorrow Ventures nurtures entrepreneurs’ ideas into thriving businesses through seed investing, emphasizing infrastructure solutions.

Tune in as Sheel explores new investment frontiers, including accounting and mortgages, and shares his vision for Better Tomorrow Ventures’ role in driving Fintech innovation forward.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• (1:30) Sheel explains how he became involved with Kiva and what prompted him to move into the Fintech space
• (06:43) Better Tomorrow Ventures, what is seed investing and how entrepreneurs' ideas become businesses
• (14:40) Interaction between fintech and the banking industry
• (20:32) Discussion of AI and advice for choosing an AI business partner or vendor
• (26:12) New areas of investment that Sheel finds interesting, his outlook for Better Tomorrow Ventures, and his thoughts on the consumer

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Sheel Mohnot’s early work at Kiva, a consumer lending platform enabling microloans to alleviate poverty, shaped his fintech career. Kiva’s model of crowdfunding small loans (as little as $25) to individuals in developing countries highlighted the power of technology to improve financial access, influencing his focus on fintech solutions.
• Mohnot’s venture capital fund, Better Tomorrow Ventures, focuses on seed-stage Fintech investments, leveraging his and his partner’s operational experience.
• BTV prioritizes founder-driven investments, valuing speed, tenacity, and articulation in entrepreneurs, and targets fintech infrastructure solutions (e.g., Unit, Layer) over other areas.
• Mohnot sees significant opportunities in specialized AI applications for Fintech, such as compliance, underwriting, and accounting automation (e.g., Basis, Kaaj, Monk). These solutions address specific industry needs, reduce risk, and enhance efficiency, unlike generic AI models, making them attractive investment targets.

RESOURCE LINKS

Better Tomorrow Ventures - Website

Sheel Mohnot - LinkedIn

Upgrade - Website

Jeff Bogan - LinkedIn

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Sheel Mohnot is Co-Founder and General Partner of Better Tomorrow Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund investing in Fintech companies globally. He’s also the General Partner of the 500 Fintech fund. His own startup experience includes two successful Fintech exits: a payments company. Previously, he worked as a financial services consultant at BCG, and he began his Fintech career at Kiva, a non-profit, peer-to-peer lender.

What does it take to innovate in banking today? How do institutions balance cutting-edge technology with customer trust and regulatory responsibility?

In this episode of Consumer Lending Perspective, guest Marc Butterfield, SVP of Market Expansion and New Product Development at First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), joins Jeff Bogan, host, to explore digital transformation, consumer lending, and the role of AI in reshaping operations and credit modeling.

“It comes back to understanding the what and the why. When you recognize it, if you're clear on the what and the why, as well as the outcomes you wish to achieve, the further you stray from that, and you realize, I'm just trying to get this done; that's not the reason we should be doing it. That's when it becomes crucial to be honest with yourself and your team. The lies you can tell yourself are monumental.” - Marc Butterfield

Marc shares how ​becoming a “forcing agent” and ​listening to stakeholders​, especially the qualitative component of feedback,​ drives innovation and more intelligent decisions.

From machine learning in credit modeling to piloting generative AI for employee support, his conversation with Jeff touches on real-world technology use in a regulated space.

Together, they also cover trends such as, tokenized payments and digital wallets, with insights on data infrastructure​, partner data, data engineering,​ and ​venn diagrams​. Listen to learn more! Follow the podcast for episode notifications.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• (00:00) Opening and introduction
• (01:16) Marc Butterfield explains how he earned the American Bankers Innovators of the Year Award
• (03:22) Marc talks about digital innovation, expanding consumer lending, and partnerships
• (09:24) Discussion of the philosophy of banking transformation and technology, and advice on how to get the stakeholders' buy-in
• (17:45) AI machine learning is helping employee efficiency and internal discussion on initiatives regarding credit cards
• (27:00) The future of banking and Marc’s view on the tariffs and stock markets

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Listening to all stakeholders, such as customers, partners, and employees, drives better product development in digital innovation and banking transformation. Clear goals help guide teams, but flexibility in execution allows for innovation and growth.
• AI and machine learning are transforming banking operations and credit modeling, mainly within consumer lending. Tools like internal chat systems boost employee efficiency while maintaining a focus on data security and compliance.
• Before rolling out AI to customers, banks must build internal expertise and guardrails.
• As digital tools like stablecoins and tokenized payments evolve over time, strong data infrastructure becomes key to sustaining innovation in a rapidly changing financial landscape.

RESOURCE LINKS

Jeff Bogan - LinkedIn

Marc Butterfield - LinkedIn

FNBO - Website

ABOUT THE GUEST:

As the SVP of Market Expansion and New Product Development at FNBO, Marc Butterfield leads innovation, oversees the Market Expansion Team, and spearheads new product initiatives within FNBO’s Partnership division. Marc holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, specializing in marketing, from

Vadim Verkhoglyad, Head of Research at dv01, joins the podcast this month with his rich background in data and performance analysis. In this episode, Jeff Bogan, host, and Vadim discuss several key topics, including data transparency in consumer credit, consumer behavior psychology and mindset, the effects of inflation and debt on home prices and home insurance, and the implications of zero interest rates on future consumer credit.

Looking ahead, Vadim identified opportunities to enhance consumer lending, such as better data utilization and lower APRs. He acknowledged challenges like outdated systems, financial literacy gaps, and the need for greater market maturity to fully realize the potential of more transparent and scalable unsecured lending.

“2024 has been exceptional for performance. So some of that is certainly a correction from how bad 22 and 23 were, but a lot of that is still kind of—healthy just credit performance.” – Vadim Verkhoglyad

“I've been focused on getting people to understand that the market is in full recovery mode. I think some people still think that performance is trending down, which it certainly isn't.” – Vadim Verkhoglyad

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [1:22] Data transparency in consumer credit
• [4:49] Vadim describes his role at dv01 and the psychology and mindset of consumer behavior
• [10:55] Discussion about inflation and debt and home prices and home insurance
• [15:00] Zero interest rates (ZIRP), and drivers of future consumer credit
• [20:33] Discussion of unsecured credit and financial literacy and weak lending practices
• [27:26] The value dv01 brings in terms of transparency to the lender and how markets evolve
• [32:16] Vadim offers suggestions to investors

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The increasing use of data and technology, such as cloud computing and big data analytics, fundamentally changes how credit is assessed and underwritten. This shift towards data-driven decision-making has improved credit risk assessment, opened new lending opportunities (like short-duration, high-yield characteristics), and increased investor confidence.
• The housing market faces significant challenges, including rising costs, regional disparities, and the impact of events like the housing insurance crisis. These factors impact lending performance, strain homeowners financially, and reshape the credit landscape.
• Challenges remain while opportunities exist to improve consumer lending, such as disrupting the credit card market through better data utilization and lower APRs. These include outdated systems, financial literacy gaps, and greater market maturity to fully realize the potential of more transparent and scalable unsecured lending.

RESOURCE LINKS

dv01 - Website

Vadim Verkhoglyad - LinkedIn

Jeff Bogan - LinkedIn

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Vadim Verkhoglyad leads dv01’s research and publication efforts, authoring analysis on consumer credit and distilling complex financial data into actionable insights. With experience across structured credit, finance, and technology, Vadim has an extensive background in data and performance analysis, structured credit investing and research, and capital markets. He started his career as an analyst at Fitch Ratings and then...