The Fintech CEO Panel Discussion

Fintech Strategies: Build, Buy or Partner at the US Fintech Symposium

Panel Discussion Date & Time:
September 23rd at 9:00 AM

Panel Discussion Description:
The CEO of a fintech company must address numerous issues to be successful such as:

How do we scale the company?
When should we raise capital?
How do we stay compliant with regulations?
What companies should we partner with?

During this panel discussion, the CEOs of four fintech companies will share some of the lessons they learned while funding, growing and operating their companies.

Brian Barnes - CEO M1 Finance - U.S. Fintech Symposium

Brian Barnes is the founder and CEO of M1 Finance, a next-generation personal finance platform.Since starting the company in 2015, M1 has grown to over 50 employees and manages billions of dollars on behalf of its approximately quarter million users.

Prior to starting M1, Brian worked as an equity research analyst at the hedge fund ValueAct Capital and as a management consultant at LEK Consulting.

He has a BA from Stanford University in economics.

Jared Kaplan - CEO of OppLoans - U.S. Fintech Symposium

Jared Kaplan is chief executive officer of OppFi, a leading financial technology platform that powers banks to help the everyday consumer gain access to credit. To date, OppFi has facilitated the issuance of more than 1.5 million loans through its platform. The company launched SalaryTap, its near prime installment lending product that is repaid through payroll deduction in 2020 and will pilot OppFi Card, its new credit card product, in the second half of 2021.

OppLoans is an Inc. 5000 company for the 5th straight year and a Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™. It has been named Best Consumer Lending Company (2021) and Best Consumer Lending Platform (2020) by Fintech Breakthrough. OppFi most recently was named on Forbes America 2021 list of America's Best Startup Employers and Built In's 2021 Best Places to Work in Chicago.

Jared was ranked the 8th highest-rated CEO by Glassdoor (2018) and named a finalist for EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He is a frequent speaker and media contributor for top publications including American Banker, Morning Consult, Bloomberg, PYMTS and Business Insider.

Prior to OppFi, Jared was co-founder and executive vice president of Insureon, the leading online agency for small business insurance that boasted 1,700+% in revenue growth. After beginning his career at Goldman Sachs, Jared led financial services investing for Accretive LLC, an early-stage private equity firm. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

Joel Lieginger - CEO of Paceline - U.S. Fintech Symposium

Joel Lieginger is the founder and CEO of Paceline, the first-ever fitness rewards platform that adds financial benefit to your physical activity. Joel has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to Paceline, Joel worked on partnership operations & development as group head at AIA, where he ran the company’s multi-billion bancassurance relationship with Citibank.

In addition, he also worked on investor relations & corporate development as a director. He began his career as a financial manager at Lincoln Financial Group, and as a manager at AIG working on international strategy and marketing & distribution. Joel received his Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics, Political Science & Philosophy from Boston College.

Patricia Montesi - CEO of Qolo - U.S. Fintech Symposium

Patricia Montesi is a founder and CEO of Qolo, the omnichannel payments platform for Fintech. Founded in 2018 and launched in April 2020, Qolo offers fast and simple transactions within an industry-leading secure environment powered by advanced AI tools. Understanding managing payments inefficiently can impact a business’s ability to grow, and increase its expenses, Qolo serves markets where money must be exchanged quickly and efficiently between people and businesses. Qolo’s all-encompassing payments hub was designed to be fast, easy-to-implement, and secure. Companies rely on Qolo for easy cross-border transactions delivered faster, and at a lower cost

Montesi and Qolo’s founding management team have a deep legacy of industry firsts. They have designed, built and launched seven payment/loyalty platforms over the years, and written/been issued numerous payment/IT-related patents. They’ve also taken over 500 loyalty, prepaid card, and B2B payment programs to market.

An accomplished business executive with over 20 years of global management experience across a diverse set of industries, Montesi sought a better way to serve the payments industry in a meaningful way. Her executive sales and marketing expertise, and extensive operations and technology deployments at Fortune 100 companies, startups, and everything in between has allowed her to transform and scale complex businesses.

Prior to Qolo, she spent 15 years in executive roles across all sectors of the payments industry leading teams to industry firsts and deploying award winning technology solutions for clients.

She received a BBA in Finance from the University of Miami, an MBA in Accounting from Nova Southeastern University, and a Certificate in Strategic Leadership from Columbia Business School.