In this episode of Risk and Reason, Eli Wachs is joined by Phil Goldfeder, CEO of the American FinTech Council and former New York State Assembly member, to explore how trust, regulation, and innovation intersect in modern banking. Phil shares how leading through Hurricane Sandy shaped his views on financial access and why fintech plays a critical role for underserved communities. They unpack lessons from Silicon Valley Bank and Synapse, the evolving bank fintech relationship, and why fear driven compliance can create more risk, not less. The conversation also looks ahead at AI in compliance and what it will take to build resilient financial systems without sacrificing consumer protection.

Chapters

(0:00) Intros
(2:00) Phil’s Path From Public Service
(5:10) Hurricane Sandy And Financial Access
(9:30) Banking Access Gaps And Consumer Demand
(12:20) Balancing Innovation And Protection
(14:54) Bank Closures And Fintech’s Role
(19:20) Trust, Crises, And Bank Fintech Partnerships
(25:00) Lessons From SVB, Synapse, And Consent Orders
(30:20) Building Compliance Muscle In Fintech
(34:00) Convening Banks, Fintechs, And Regulators

Follow Phil Goldfeder

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/philgoldfeder

X (Twitter):
https://x.com/YPGoldfeder

American FinTech Council Website:
https://www.fintechcouncil.org

Follow Eli Wachs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliwachs/

Check out Footprint
https://www.onefootprint.com

Footprint helps fintechs and banks verify identity, prevent fraud, and manage compliance with end-to-end onboarding and risk infrastructure.

In this episode of Risk and Reason, Eli Wachs sits down with Jason Brown, Director of Risk Operations at Imprint and former U.S. Secret Service agent, to explore the evolution of cybercrime and financial fraud. Drawing on nearly 25 years in federal law enforcement, Jason discusses the professionalization of fraud networks, why fraud is fundamentally human, and how AI can act as a force multiplier without replacing human judgment. The conversation also covers synthetic fraud, payment rails, stablecoins, and what the future of risk management looks like in an increasingly digital economy.

Chapters

(00:52) Meet Jason Brown And His Background
(03:44) Building The ECTF And Early Cybercrime
(07:35) Operation Firewall And Carding Markets
(10:06) Teaming Up: Agencies And Corporates
(11:52) AI’s Role And Human Oversight
(14:58) Fraud As A Human-Driven Problem
(17:40) Specialization In Criminal Marketplaces
(19:15) Mule Accounts And Money Movement
(21:06) Secret Service Mandate And Focus
(23:13) New Rails: Stablecoins And Protocols
(24:26) Startups, Speed, And Risk Innovation
(25:19) Why Blockchain Traceability Matters
(27:42) Career Moments And Closing

Follow Jason Brown

Jason's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-brown-1a6054ba/

Follow Eli Wachs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliwachs/

Check out Footprint
https://www.onefootprint.com

Footprint helps fintechs and banks verify identity, prevent fraud, and manage compliance with end-to-end onboarding and risk infrastructure.

Ryan Hunter (Director of Identity & Fraud Strategy at Built Rewards) joins Eli to unpack how fraud is evolving fast — from synthetic identities to first-party scams and global fraud rings that operate like real businesses. They dig into why legacy ID systems keep failing, where the biggest vulnerabilities live today, and what it will take to actually shift the playing field.

Chapters

(00:00) Ryan’s path into fraud strategy

(05:53) How fraud evolved: fake IDs → synthetic → first-party

(10:21) Why SSNs are a broken identifier

(16:38) First-party fraud, credit washing, and detection gaps

(23:29) Fraud’s hidden cost to every consumer

(25:11) Review decisions: phishing, recovery, mule accounts

(29:47) Why fraud stays interesting + geopolitics of fraud rings

Key takeaways

• Fraud hits everyone through higher rates and product costs
• Synthetic + first-party fraud now outpace classic third-party fraud
• Weak national ID infrastructure still fuels modern attacks
• Mule accounts and phone takeovers are major failure points
• Fraud rings are organized, coordinated, and often state-level
• Stopping fraud would unlock huge UX gains across industries

Follow Ryan Hunter

Ryan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrussellhunter/

Follow Eli Wachs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliwachs/

Check out Footprint
https://www.onefootprint.com

Footprint helps fintechs and banks verify identity, prevent fraud, and manage compliance with end-to-end onboarding and risk infrastructure.