Host: Today's capital market segment is brought to you by Alpaca. The startup and venture capital world has traditionally had to choose between specialized boutique banks and massive traditional players, but earlier this month, Fifth Third Bank launched a new platform called Innovation Banking. It combines their recent acquisition of America's tech franchise with Newline, their embedded banking platform that processes over $18 trillion a year. Well, joining us live at Money 2020 here on the ground in Vegas is Dan Allred, the new head of FinTech for Fifth Third's Innovation Banking division. Good morning, Dan. Great to have you here.
Dan Allred: Thank you so much. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Host: So foremost, tell us what you're working on right now at Fifth Third, and why this was the right place for you after two decades.
Dan Allred: Yes, yeah, I'm, um, I'm really excited to be at Fifth Third. There are a lot of pieces that are coming together right now. Um, as you mentioned, uh, there is a long-standing commitment to both corporate payments and embedded payments that we've supported through our Newline business. So, um, a, a couple of bank acquisitions and FinTech acquisitions that led to an API-enabled platform to move money, um, on behalf of our clients and on behalf of their clients. Um, so that's the Newline business, but then more recently, the acquisition of Ameris, um, does a lot for the bank, um, in terms of regional expansion, but importantly, it also brings over Ameris' tech and life science business, which is now the platform that we're building Fifth Third Innovation Banking on. It allows us to work with venture capital-backed companies and earlier-stage companies and bring those capabilities we already have in Newline, uh, to those kind of companies as well.
Host: And Dan, I do want to ask you about the competitive advantage here because when we think about a founder's day-to-day life, they have a lot going on. So what does it mean for a founder?
Dan Allred: Yes, there, um, that question matters a lot. Um, so for a founder, there are a couple of things to think about here. One is, you're with a bank that can support your FinTech company from very early stage all the way through established, and can do so across every banking pillar that's going to matter for your company: your corporate treasury and lending, your embedded banking needs, which we're serving through Newline, and for those companies that are originating and servicing assets themselves, um, asset-backed financing for warehouse, uh, solutions, ABS forward flows, that kind of thing. So, um, life cycle provider, um, and partnering with these companies on every single pillar that's gonna matter for their company.
Host: And I'm sure that when it comes to talking to organizations out there for this, then you're talking to maybe founders of startups as well as Series A. Uh, so what does that mean when you're trying to pitch a founder who might just want to keep the lights on?
Dan Allred: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I, I mean, that's first and foremost, and, uh, you know, I think you've got to meet companies where they are, and you've got to meet the needs that they have at that moment. Um, so, you know, I just said we're working with companies across corporate, and across embedded payments, and across asset-backed finance. Not all of those things matter at every single point in the company's life. So you gotta meet them where they are. Corporate treasury, lending, that's almost always going to matter. Um, and, you know, we come alongside those companies, we'll do that, and then when the time is right, uh, for their business and, and for ours, um, we will layer in those other services as well. So there's a pathway for growth. Um, it doesn't mean we implement all of it or have to implement all of it day one with a founder.
Host: Mhm. And of course when we're talking about the current investment climate, there's a lot happening. So whether you're in FinTech or you're on the digital asset side or TradFi, there are many founders here on the ground that are growing, and they're concerned about the outlook moving forward. So, what do you see moving forward into the new year?
Dan Allred: Yeah, look, I, I think we're always in a fluid environment, right? Um, it, it doesn't matter what, um, whether it's frothy or whether it's, uh, bearish, I mean, there, there, it's always fluid, and that's certainly the case now. Um, AI is the story, right? So I think that, um, to, to think about your business and how you're growing your business, how AI-native you are, how you're leveraging AI to both grow the business and develop product, but also to serve customers well. That's almost every, almost every company growth story is centered on that, and certainly fundraising is very centered on that, um, as investors are thinking about how AI-proof, you know, the companies are, um, that they're investing in. Are they, uh, taking advantage and, and being lifted by AI or are they essentially being disrupted by it? So, um, a lot of it comes down to AI and, um, how you're using that platform, um, and those technologies to, um, to move things forward, both for your, again, product development in the business, but also how you're serving your customers.
Host: And finally, Dan, because you mentioned artificial intelligence, I do want to get your perspective on how Fifth Third is looking at integrating AI as we head into the future.
Dan Allred: Yeah, I've, um, you know, I'm 90 days into this role, um, at Fifth Third. I've been impressed, um, by just how much AI we use in-house, um, just to, uh, you know, for, for our day-to-day workflows ourselves. Um, I, I won't go into too much detail on that, except just to say, you know, the, my points of comparison with other banks I've worked at, um, this one is very forward-leaning when it comes to using AI, uh. Um, and I think you see that, uh, show up in our back office as well, you know, whether it, um, be dispute management, chargeback, uh, management, loan servicing, um, we are on the front foot, um, with respect to how we use technology to run our business and to serve our clients, and that's only going to continue. Uh, I mean, I just mentioned a couple of use cases. There are many, many others, uh, that can be improved and automated.
Host: Well, Dan, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for getting up so early and joining us here on the ground at Money 2020 USA Las Vegas. Appreciate all of your insights today.
Dan Allred: Yeah, thank you for having me. Thank you.
