Jeff Smith SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Skipify: “Traditional finance and banking can learn to embrace disruptors as partners and enablers instead of competitors and threats”

Jeff Smith, SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Skipify, does not fit in with our preconceptions of a lifetime banker. Especially one who spent almost 20 years at a single bank, in this case Citibank. A smile is never too far away from his lips, you feel, and it’s no shock to see LinkedIn recommendations mention his sense of humour.

But there’s no joking around in this interview. First, we wanted to find out from Jeff why he moved from the safety of a huge bank to the comparatively risky world of fintech startups – a question he rapidly answered. After years of working with fintechs in his roles at Citibank, he was lured to the other side.

With over a decade’s experience in the fintech industry, Jeff is incredibly well placed to predict what’s going to happen this year and the coming years. He also very kindly picks out three fintech players that he thinks are doing a great job. And if you’re thinking of making the jump yourself, or have already done so, he has brilliant advice for getting ahead in your career.

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Could you please introduce yourself to our audience and share how you ended up working in fintech?

I started out in tech, working as a technology consultant for PeopleSoft and later Oracle post-acquisition. I then joined Citibank, initially standing up and leading an ambitious cross-channel enterprise fraud detection initiative before moving over to Citi Ventures, Citi’s corporate VC and innovation arm. It was there that I became immersed in the fintech space and decided that was where I wanted to be.

There was so much to be captivated by – the problems they were solving, the amount of attention and funding the space was attracting, the pace of product innovation, etc. I knew it would have a material impact on traditional financial services and I wanted to be a part of it.

After spending four years in Citi Ventures, I then moved over to become the Global Head of Open Innovation in Citi’s Fintech organisation. After that, I became the Head of Fintech Partnerships for Citi’s Personal Banking and Wealth businesses, where I worked closely with the VC ecosystem and the broader fintech startup ecosystem to identify the most promising companies solving business pain points.

It was during this time that I got to know the Skipify team well and eventually decided that in my next venture, I wanted to advance fintech from the inside.

What do you think traditional finance and banking companies can learn from disruptors in the fintech space?

They can learn to embrace disruptors as partners and enablers instead of competitors and threats. In the early days of fintech the narrative was all about defeating the traditional FIs, but the reality has been that partnerships are oftentimes a better path towards success.

Here at Skipify, for example, our mission is for FIs, merchants, and shoppers to all win at the moment of purchase. If the FIs do well, then we do well, so our goals are completely aligned. We seamlessly unlock many of their business goals so the partnerships are especially strong and enable FIs to better compete against the tech companies that have become more direct competitors.

Combining the industry expertise and large customer bases of traditional FIs with the design chops, UX expertise and product iteration speed of fintechs can create an incredibly powerful team.

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How does your company differ from its direct competitors in the fintech space?

At Skipify, we fully embrace the open ecosystem. The company was founded as a way to simplify the checkout process by breaking down silos and uniting financial institutions, merchants, and shoppers into the moment of purchase for the first time. With rising shopper expectations and demands, providing choice and optionality is more important than ever. And that is where Skipify is unique – we aren’t limited to any particular ecosystem and we don’t offer competing products which could misalign incentives.

We have no interest in prioritising anything but the optimal payment experience for the shopper. We are very intentional in referring to our product as a ‘Connected’ Wallet, as we build direct integrations to the card issuers and networks that allow us to unlock capabilities other wallets simply do not have (eg, pay with points, merchant offers, alternative payment methods).

It is a much more challenging business to build, but the end result is a product that feels much more like magic than software and will stand alone in the landscape of payment options.

What are your top three fintech predictions for the upcoming years?

First off, the proliferation of debt management tools. We have all seen the headlines about consumer debt reaching record-high levels, including credit card debt eclipsing the $1 trillion mark for the first time, and this has historically been an unmet need. However, there are exciting companies (eg, PayItOff, Spinwheel, Method)  working to address this space (debt management) and I think we will see broader adoption of these tools by banks and their consumers in the coming years. 

Secondly, alternative credit scores finally break through. With tens of millions of Americans unable to access credit due to the lack of a traditional credit score, the problem is simply too vast to persist. With viable alternatives such as cash flow underwriting coupled with the ability to now instantly connect disparate data sources, we will finally break the stranglehold that traditional credit scores have long held over the credit industry. 

Finally, I predict the return of the Wall Street fintech darlings. This is more of a fun prediction and is most assuredly not financial advice, but I think we will see the resurgence of certain fintechs who were especially adversely impacted by the changing interest rate environment and fell on hard times but who have since reset their businesses and who I think are well positioned to make a comeback. Upstart and Opendoor immediately come to mind!

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What are some fintech startups you are excited about?

There are so many, but a few that are top of mind:

Pagos – Increasingly every large merchant needs to better understand their payments data and they don’t realise how much money they leave on the table because they don’t understand their payment stacks.

Trust & Will – Given the generational wealth transfer that is underway, wealth management tools that specifically help the baby boomer to millennial wealth transition will be needed.

Incognia – Fraud is becoming even more complex given recent GenAI breakthroughs and global proliferation of RTP, and better fraud solutions that combine device fingerprint data and location intelligence data (like Incognia) are needed.

What advice do you have for aspiring professionals wanting to work in fintech?

This is more life advice than fintech-specific but put in the work to become knowledgeable, make yourself valuable, and build a strong network. There has never been a better time to voraciously consume information, as there is no shortage of incredibly useful newsletters, podcasts, ‘X’ follows, etc. Become a sponge and learn, learn, learn!

Also, attend as many in-person events and meetups as you can. This is the best way to not only continue building your knowledge but to also build a strong network. Fintech is an incredibly supportive industry, so put yourself out there and force those interactions. Learn who the experts are and who you trust, and find yourself a mentor. When you put in the work, opportunities will “magically” begin to appear.

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