Beyond the Bottom Line
Beyond the Bottom Line is a podcast for founders and business owners who want practical insight they can actually use as they grow.
Hosted by Miguel Alexander Centeno, founder and CEO of Centurion Firm, the show features in-depth conversations with industry experts, clients, and business owners about how they think through tax, cash flow, operations, and the decisions that come with running a real business.
We focus on how things really work when you’re scaling, what challenges tend to come up, and how other founders, experts, and operators have dealt with them.
If you’re building or growing a business (often somewhere between $500K and $25M+ in revenue), this show is designed to help you make smarter financial and operational decisions and keep more of what you earn.
Beyond the Bottom Line
What Business Banking Is Actually Costing You
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Your checking account exists, the wires go through, and sure, there are some fees here and there, but that's just how banking works, right? Meanwhile, you’re earning 0.08% interest on idle cash, paying $25 per wire, and exposed to fraud risks you don't even know exist.
In this episode, Miguel and Renee sit down with Brandon Arvanaghi and Dustin Kamali at Meow to break down what business banking is actually costing you and how they're building an alternative around a Costco-style model that passes economics back to customers instead of extracting them.
Other insights from this episode include:
- Why your checking account earning 0.08% instead of 5%+ means you're leaving thousands of dollars on the table every year
- The real cost of wire fees, ACH fees, and monthly maintenance fees when you're running payroll and paying vendors regularly
- How the Costco model works for banking and why Meow negotiates with partner banks to win on volume, not margin
- How to stop attackers from pulling funds even if they get your account and routing number
- Why most banks and fintechs don't innovate on economics
- What it means when a checking account is called an "operating account"
- How to set up wire approval workflows without paying for bill.com
- Why switching banks takes less time than you think
About Our Guests
Brandon Arvanaghi, CEO of Meow and former security engineer at Gemini and Mandiant. Brandon and his co-founder pivoted Meow three weeks after raising a $22M Series A, starting from scratch and eventually growing into a full business banking platform with over $1 billion in assets with a team of 12.
Dustin Kamali, VP of Business Development at Meow, leads partnerships with accountants, fractional CFOs, and other advisors helping small businesses and venture-backed companies access better business banking.
Visit meow.com to open an account or view current rate sheets
Connect with Miguel on LinkedIn or reach out at media@centurionfirm.com