IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

EP1005: Creating a fully digital, customer centric banking experience

IBS Intelligence Podcasts | A Cedar Consulting Unit Episode 1005

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0:00 | 21:58

This interview features Ben Goldin discussing how Plumery aims to democratize financial technology for smaller and mid-sized banks. Goldin explains that the company’s composable banking platform enables institutions to rapidly launch advanced mobile and web banking services without the extensive resources of major global banks. The discussion highlights Plumery’s move beyond traditional banking functions toward creating lifestyle-focused digital experiences that improve customer engagement. The interview also introduces the company’s digital lending solution, which uses advanced data scoring to expand financial inclusion while reducing operational risk. Looking ahead, Goldin emphasizes the growing role of artificial intelligence and hyper-personalization in seamlessly integrating banking into consumers’ everyday lives. Overall, the source demonstrates how modular technology and strategic partnerships help smaller banks stay innovative, competitive, and customer-focused in a rapidly evolving financial industry.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to today's deep dive. Uh you know, we were just talking about this before we started. You could be sitting on your couch and stream a 4K movie to your phone in like three seconds flat.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah. Instantly.

SPEAKER_00

Right. But then if you try to wire 20 bucks from a local banks app, uh it often feels like you're navigating this digital maze from, I don't know, 2008.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, absolutely. It's um it's painful sometimes.

SPEAKER_00

It really is. Yeah. Because the expectation today, for you, for me, for everyone in almost every aspect of our digital lives is just absolute instantaneous frictionlessness. You push a button, and the background mechanics seamlessly deliver the result. But the financial sector is uh well, it's deeply divided.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell, you have some of those cutting-edge, futuristic digital experiences on one side, and then absolute digital relics that time out while you're just, you know, hunting for a basic transfer button on the other.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Ross Powell Right. And the structural reality behind that divide that is exactly what we are unpacking today. We're looking under the hood at the hidden mechanics of modern digital banking.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell, which is fascinating, really. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It is. We want to understand why that massive contrast exists, uh, how the industry is attempting to fix it, and where our digital wallets are actually heading next. Aaron Powell Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And we have some really great source material for this.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell We do. We are pulling these insights from an incredibly insightful April 2025 interview in the IBSA FinTech Journal. It features Ben Golden.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

He's the founder and CEO of a company called Plumery.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, let's unpack this because Ben Golden, I mean, he has been building digital banking products since he was literally a teenager.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. His resume is wild.

SPEAKER_00

It is. He moved through major players like Mambu and Backbase. And now his entire focus with Plumery is basically democratizing top-tier technology for the financial sector.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Exactly. And he identifies the core problem right at the start of the interview. It's um it's the sheer scale of the accessibility gap. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Because we all know the heavy hitters, right? The HSBCs, the Barclays, and CEOs. Sure. Those institutions have the capital to build these massive internal tech divisions. They deploy literal armies of developers to refine their apps to a microscopic level.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Yeah. They have unlimited resources, basically.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell But when you look at the global landscape, there are close to 50,000 financial institutions in the world.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Ross Powell 50,000. And out of those, only a microscopic fraction actually possess the resources to do what a Barclays can do. Aaron Ross Powell Right. The vast majority of banks and credit unions, they simply cannot replicate that scale of investment in their digital infrastructure.

SPEAKER_00

Trevor Burrus Because it costs a fortune.

SPEAKER_01

Trevor Burrus Exactly. So they are relying on these legacy software systems that were honestly often built decades ago.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Kind of makes me think of it's like comparing a fully automated smart home. Right.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I like that analogy. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, like where the temperature proactively adjusts based on your daily routine. And you compare that to an older apartment where you still have to manually walk down the hallway and flick a breaker just to run the microwave without blowing a fuse.

SPEAKER_01

That is exactly what it's like.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Both technically provide shelter, you know, but the mechanics of living in them are just universes apart. Right. And for you, the user, that means you might love the personal customer service you get at your local credit union. But then you end up moving your money to a megabank anyway.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Ross Powell Just because their app actually lets you freeze a lost debit card on a Sunday night.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. It's the convenience factor.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Ross Powell Well, and the stakes here go far beyond just convenience, right?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It is fundamentally about financial inclusion and market survival.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Market survival for the smaller banks, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Plummery's stated goal is to ensure no customer receives a subpar digital experience simply because they bank with a smaller regional institution.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Right. But wait, if those 50,000 banks cannot suddenly just, you know, hire thousands of developers to build custom smart homes from scratch.

SPEAKER_01

Which they can't.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Then they have to fundamentally change the mechanical process of how they build software.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Ross Powell Precisely. They have to stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

SPEAKER_00

Which makes sense. And we can actually see this shift working in real time. Because the journal notes that Plumery recently won this major award. Oh. The best digital channel platform implementation, most impactful project at the Global FinTech Innovation Awards. Aaron Powell A huge deal. And what stands out in the source material isn't just like the speed of the launch they helped with, but the depth of it. Because in the software world, normally companies rush out an MVP, a minimum viable product.

SPEAKER_01

Right, just to get something out the door.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. It's essentially a skeleton app, bare minimum functionality, so it won't crash immediately. But Plumery helped launch a fully realized platform.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Yeah, they didn't cut corners.

SPEAKER_00

Not at all. It featured round-the-clock services, online account opening, virtual cards, and even exclusive e-commerce deals, all wrapped in this premium interface.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell And the mechanism allowing them to do that without a massive engineering team, it all comes down to a philosophy Golden talks about.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell What's the phrase he uses?

SPEAKER_01

He calls it buy for future parity, build for competitive edge.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay, buy for future parity, build for competitive edge.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Right. So instead of writing millions of lines of proprietary code from scratch, Plimory operates as an open platform relying on what they call composable banking.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Ross Powell Composable banking.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And to really understand how composable banking works, we have to look at the architectural split inside a modern bank.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01

There is this rigid barrier between what is called the system of record and the system of engagement.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay. Let's clearly define that split for anyone who uh hasn't stared at banking architecture diagrams for fun.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Good idea.

SPEAKER_00

Trevor Burrus The system of record that is the core banking mainframe. It's the foundational vault of data that holds your actual money, it calculates the interest, tracks every single penny.

SPEAKER_01

Really important stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Ross Powell Exactly. And these systems are often incredibly old, highly secure, and notoriously difficult to modify.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell You do not want to mess with the system of record.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Trevor Burrus And the thing is, Plumery doesn't even attempt to touch or rewrite that core system of record.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell They just leave it alone.

SPEAKER_01

They leave it entirely alone. Instead, they provide the system of engagement. That is the customer interface layer that you, the user, actually interact with on your phone.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Ross Powell The app itself.

SPEAKER_01

Trevor Burrus Exactly. They sit on top of the old clunky mainframe and act as a highly sophisticated translation layer.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_01

And because they use a composable architecture, they pre-integrate with third-party partners who specialize in highly specific microservices.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay, let's ground this in a real world example so it's a bit easier to picture. Uh like identity verification.

SPEAKER_01

Perfect example.

SPEAKER_00

So when you open a new bank account on your phone and you have to take a picture of your driver's license, the bank has to run KYC Know Your Customer and AML anti-money laundering checks. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01

Which is a legal requirement.

SPEAKER_00

Trevor Burrus Under the old model, a small bank would literally try to build their own software to scan that license and check it against government databases.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Which is crazy when you think about it. It would be slow, insanely expensive, and probably really buggy.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. But with composable banking, Plumery relies on APIs.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Application programming interfaces.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And you can think of an API as like a universal digital translator. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01

That's a great way to put it.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell It allows Plummery's system of engagement to instantly and securely ping a third-party company that does nothing but world-class document validation. Trevor Burrus That is their only job. Trevor Burrus Right. And that third-party partner verifies the ID in milliseconds and pings back an approval.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell So instead of a bank trying to manufacture every single component from scratch, they are basically utilizing a global supply chain of the absolute best software parts.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay, so it's like building a master level Lego spaceship.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

You don't try to melt down the plastic and manufacture your own bricks, right? You buy the best pre-made thrusters and windshields from partners who specialize in them so you can focus entirely on designing the coolest ship.

SPEAKER_01

That is spot on. They source their ID verification from one specialist, their virtual card issuing from another.

SPEAKER_00

Their transaction categorization from a third.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. The API acts as that universal connector, snapping all these Lego bricks securely into the system of engagement.

SPEAKER_00

And the user has no idea.

SPEAKER_01

None. The user just sees one seamless app. They're completely unaware that they are actually interacting with half a dozen specialized software providers all working in perfect unison.

SPEAKER_00

That is brilliant.

SPEAKER_01

It is. And the massive strategic advantage of this composable approach is future-proofing.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell, How so?

SPEAKER_01

Well, technology evolves incredibly fast, right? If a vastly superior identity verification software hits the market, say two years from now.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I see. The bank doesn't have to tear down their entire app and rewrite their foundational code.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Not at all. They simply unplug the old API connection and plug in the new one.

SPEAKER_00

They just swap out that one Lego brick.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. They swap out a single link in the supply chain without disrupting the customer's daily barking experience whatsoever.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay, so having a world-class interface and a modular architecture, that obviously solves the technology gap for those 50,000 smaller banks.

SPEAKER_01

Huge step forward.

SPEAKER_00

But a shiny app is still just a container, right? It doesn't actually keep the lights on.

SPEAKER_01

No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_00

The composable architecture is ultimately a delivery mechanism for the core business of the bank. And as Golden bluntly points out in the text banks, our businesses.

SPEAKER_01

Very true.

SPEAKER_00

Their profit engine hasn't changed. They make money by issuing credit. They sell money.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And this is where we see a massive friction point. There is a huge disconnect between how traditional banks evaluate credit and how modern consumers want to access it. Okay. Consumers today, they expect financial tools to be embedded directly into the context of their lives.

SPEAKER_00

Give me an example from the interview.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the interview uses this highly relatable scenario: buying an airplane ticket online.

SPEAKER_00

Oh man, I know this pain.

SPEAKER_01

We all do. You reach the checkout screen, and suddenly the final price with taxes and all those hidden baggage fees is way higher than anticipated. Always. And in that specific micro moment, you might need a short-term credit solution just to split the cost.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. But in a traditional banking setup, that user journey is completely broken.

SPEAKER_01

It's terrible.

SPEAKER_00

You'd have to abandon the airline website, log into your banking app, navigate to the loan section, fill out a massive application.

SPEAKER_01

Wait, three to five business days for an underwriter to review your credit score.

SPEAKER_00

Right. And then hopefully go back and buy the ticket before the price jumps again.

SPEAKER_01

Which it definitely will have.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. It is a slow, manual process. But solving that isn't just about making the button faster on the app, it's about fundamentally changing how the bank calculates the risk of giving you that money instantly.

SPEAKER_01

And that has historically been the roadblock. Providing instant inclusive lending was impossible because traditional risk models were, while they were extremely blunt instruments.

SPEAKER_00

Like the classic credit score.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. A standard credit score looks at a very narrow slice of your financial history. If someone didn't have a long history of traditional credit cards or mortgages, the bank system would just automatically reject them.

SPEAKER_00

Even if they had money.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And the administrative cost for the bank to manually dig into a person's background to verify their income for a relatively small travel loan, it simply wasn't worth their time.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Which results in millions of people being structurally excluded from accessing fair credit just because they don't fit the rigid parameters of like a 1980s risk algorithm.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Precisely. So to solve this, Plummery introduced a digitized lending solution powered by an AI scoring and decision engine. Aaron Powell It really does. Instead of relying solely on a traditional credit score, the AI leverages alternative data sources and multiple attributes of data instantaneously.

SPEAKER_00

So what is it actually looking at?

SPEAKER_01

It can analyze cash flow patterns in your checking account, your history of consistent utility payments, or even microtransaction behaviors.

SPEAKER_00

Oh wow. So it builds this highly detailed, comprehensive financial profile in milliseconds rather than just relying on a single three-digit number.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Exactly. And the mechanism of this AI analysis fundamentally alters the economics for the bank.

SPEAKER_00

Because it's cheaper.

SPEAKER_01

Much cheaper. It dramatically lowers the origination cost, meaning the bank doesn't have to pay a human underwriter to spend three hours manually checking a small loan.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

But more importantly, it actually reduces the bank's exposure to risk.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell By substituting a blunt guess with highly precise multivariant scoring.

SPEAKER_01

Trevor Burrus Yes. And this allows the bank to safely extend credit to populations that were previously just invisible to the traditional financial system.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay, I understand the mechanism, but here's where it gets really interesting. But wait.

SPEAKER_01

What is it?

SPEAKER_00

I have to challenge the outcome of this specific scenario.

SPEAKER_01

Go for it.

SPEAKER_00

If we use this composable architecture in AI to completely eliminate the friction of accessing credit, I mean if we make it literally as easy as clicking a single button at the airline checkout screen.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Are we just greasing the wheels for consumers to overextend themselves? That's a very fair question. Right. Taking on debt is a serious financial decision. It feels like there should be a little bit of friction to make you pause and consider if you actually need the loan.

SPEAKER_01

The concern over removing behavioral friction is significant, especially when discussing instant credit. But we really have to separate bureaucratic friction from protective friction.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, what's the difference?

SPEAKER_01

Weeding three days for a manual loan approval isn't a feature designed to help you carefully weigh your choices. Right. It is just a byproduct of legacy banks running inefficient manual processes. Golden's argument in the text really centers on the concept of precise scoring. Right. The AI isn't programmed to blindly approve everyone just to generate loan origination fees for the bank.

SPEAKER_00

But even if the AI knows with mathematical certainty that I can pay back the loan, it doesn't mean I should take out the loan.

SPEAKER_01

Ah, I see what you mean.

SPEAKER_00

If the technology makes taking on debt completely invisible and effortless, we are removing the psychological weight of borrowing money.

SPEAKER_01

And that psychological weight is exactly why Plummery's vision doesn't stop at just faster lending.

SPEAKER_00

It doesn't.

SPEAKER_01

No. They are integrating AI directly into the user interface to replace that old bureaucratic friction with contextual financial guardrails.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, it's interesting.

SPEAKER_01

This is the transition from just generative AI to what Golden calls a gentic AI.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell Okay. We need to define that distinction carefully.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Because AI is thrown around as a buzzword for literally everything right now.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell It really is.

SPEAKER_00

So generative AI, that's like a highly advanced chatbot. Right. If you ask it a question, it generates text to give you an answer, or maybe it categorizes your past spending. But agentic AI implies agency.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Exactly. It means the software is authorized to execute multi-step tasks on your behalf.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell That is a crucial leap.

SPEAKER_01

It is. An AI agent doesn't just analyze, it acts. Golden is steering plumery toward building fully autonomous hyperpersonalization engines and proactive recommendation systems.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell So how does that address the debt friction issue?

SPEAKER_01

Well, returning to your concern, an Agentic AI system wouldn't just blindly offer you the airline loan. It would analyze your current balances, your upcoming bills, and your stated savings goals.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that is powerful.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Or it might say, alternatively, you have enough in your discretionary fund to cover this if we temporarily pause your auto investing this week.

SPEAKER_00

So it literally replaces the arbitrary delay of an underwriter with immediate hyper-personalized financial advice based on your actual life goals.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. The app transforms from a passive tool into an active financial advisor.

SPEAKER_00

Aaron Powell But this vision of an omnipresent digital assistant brings up another major trend of the tech industry. And it's one that Golden strongly pushes back against in the interview.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, the concept of the super app.

SPEAKER_00

Right. The super app model has pretty much dominated tech strategy for the last few years. Oh, everywhere you look. The premise is that a single company tries to aggregate as many disparate services as possible into one massive application.

SPEAKER_01

Aaron Powell Yeah, it's honestly it's the digital equivalent of a Frankenstein's monster.

SPEAKER_00

That is exactly what it is. Yeah. You open your banking app just to check your balance, but the interface is cluttered with buttons, offering to let you hail a ride share, order grocery delivery, book a hotel, buy concert tickets.

SPEAKER_01

It's exhausting.

SPEAKER_00

The platform just duct tapes a bunch of isolated micro apps together under one corporate logo.

SPEAKER_01

And Golden completely rejects this approach for the banking sector. He argues that super apps are designed almost entirely to benefit the provider, not the customer.

SPEAKER_00

How so?

SPEAKER_01

Because the goal of a super app is simply to trap the user inside a walled ecosystem to maximize their screen time and harvest their behavioral data or across multiple industries.

SPEAKER_00

Right. It does not actually solve a core financial problem for the user.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. So instead, Golden champions a fundamentally different architectural philosophy. He calls it lifestyle banking.

SPEAKER_00

Lifestyle banking.

SPEAKER_01

Think of it this way: if the traditional app was a passive filing cabinet where you manually flip the breakers to move money around, and the super app is a chaotic strip mall trying to sell you everything at once. Lifestyle banking is an invisible layer that integrates seamlessly into your actual daily routine.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, so the transition to lifestyle banking means moving away from static transactional operations. You aren't just logging in to verify a payment cleared.

SPEAKER_01

No, the platform uses that agenda AI we talked about to become a single contextual application that actually anticipates your needs.

SPEAKER_00

Let's look at how that actually functions for the user. Say you are traveling internationally.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, good scenario.

SPEAKER_00

In a traditional model, you have to remember to log into your bank, hunt through the menus, and manually submit a travel notice so your card isn't flagged for fraud in another country.

SPEAKER_01

And you also have to separately research and buy travel insurance.

SPEAKER_00

Right. But in a lifestyle banking ecosystem powered by Eugenic AI, the system recognizes the context of your life.

SPEAKER_01

It sees you purchase the airline tickets.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly. So it automatically flags your account for international travel. It analyzes the currency exchange rates of your destination. It silently shifts some of your funds to an account with zero foreign transaction fees.

SPEAKER_01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

And it proactively presents a highly competitive travel insurance policy optimized for your specific trip-all without you having to initiate a single search.

SPEAKER_01

See, that is the difference. The app is solving the logistical challenges of your day-to-day life by leveraging its composable architecture to pull the right tools exactly when you need them.

SPEAKER_00

And Golden notes that this isn't just altruism on the bank's part.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, definitely not.

SPEAKER_00

By providing genuine contextual value that actually solves problems, the bank dramatically increases the lifetime value of that customer.

SPEAKER_01

It creates a symbiotic relationship. The bank earns loyalty not by trapping the user in a super app, but by being relentlessly useful.

SPEAKER_00

Relentlessly useful. I love that. And it really brings the entire conversation full circle back to Plummery's core mission.

SPEAKER_01

It does. The goal is to ensure that the foundational architecture, the composable platforms, the AI risk scoring, the agentic AI is democratized.

SPEAKER_00

They want to provide the tools so that a regional credit union serving a specific local community can offer that exact same hyper-personalized contextual lifestyle banking experience as a trillion-dollar global megabank.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. The playing field gets leveled.

SPEAKER_00

So as we map out the journey we've taken through the source material today, we started by looking at the sheer scale of the technology gap facing nearly 50,000 financial institutions globally. We explored how the mechanics of composable banking, using APIs to snap together specialized software modules like Legos, allows these banks to upgrade their customer interface without trying to rewrite their decades-old core mainframes. Right. Then we saw how AI is rewriting the actual profit engine of these institutions. It's replacing blunt, exclusionary credit scores with highly precise multivariant data analysis that expands financial inclusion.

SPEAKER_01

Safely.

SPEAKER_00

Safely, exactly. And finally, we unpack the transition away from bloated Frankenstein super apps toward a genic AI and lifestyle banking.

SPEAKER_01

We have a lot to take in, but it's incredibly exciting.

SPEAKER_00

It really makes you want to look critically at the digital tools you rely on every day. The next time you open your own banking app, just look at how it operates. Is it just a static system of record waiting for you to do all the manual labor? Or is it an active system of engagement using context to proactively help you navigate your financial life?

SPEAKER_01

That's the real test. And the trajectory Golden Outlines represents a profound mechanical shift in how society interacts with capital.

SPEAKER_00

It really does.

SPEAKER_01

And it leaves a fascinating question to consider as these technologies mature.

SPEAKER_00

What's that?

SPEAKER_01

Well, if lifestyle banking and agentic AI truly achieve their goal, if they become so flawlessly embedded into our daily decisions, proactively managing our budgets, our lending, and our savings totally in the background, will we eventually stop actively thinking about the concept of banking altogether?

SPEAKER_00

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

Right. What happens to our psychological relationship with money when managing it ceases to be an active conscious chore and just becomes an invisible automated background process running quietly beneath the surface of our lives.

SPEAKER_00

If the financial house gets smart enough to perfectly anticipate our needs, we might just forget where the breaker box is entirely.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

We'll leave you to think on that. Catch you on the next deep dive.