Today’s special episode of Breaking Banks comes to you live from Fintech House @SXSW. Listen as guest host Dara Tarkowski, Managing Partner, Actuate Law and host of Breaking Banks’ sister podcast Tech on Reg speaks with Mike Bechtel, Chief Futurist at Deloitte Consulting and David Reiling, Chairman and CEO, Sunrise Banks; Author, Fintech for Good; and host of Provoke.fm‘s NextGen Banker. These are wild times, it helps to have a futurist with a background in anthropology to put things in perspective. Where are the opportunities in evolving technology, what’s hype and nonsense? At times we are so busy wondering if we can do something, that we don’t always think if we should. Intentionality and mindfulness are good things, and mild chaos is where opportunity lies, where niches and new angles can be discovered.

In 2013 there were 2.7 billion unbanked people in the world. Today the number stands at 1.3 billion. Huge strides have been made in the last decade vs. the last hundred years. Listen as Brett King connects with Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the second half of the show. It’s important for everyone to be part of the economy — an economy that includes everyone benefits everyone. Listen as they discuss global advances in banking and payments, digital public infrastructure, and the importance of mobile wallets and identity. Game changing innovation at work!

The party goes on….or does it? Are we back to normal before things went crazy? Jason kicks this episode off with a conversation with Jason Mikula, Fintech Business Weekly. They dive into one of JH’s favorite topics….interchange! Listen as The Jasons discuss payments, rewards, mobile wallets and the rise of commerce players (Walmart and Amazon) becoming more fintech focused with what they do.

Then JP connects with Nick Chandi, CEO and Co-Founder, Forward AI created to solve SMB cash flow problems. It’s difficult for small businesses to share their accounting data with banks and other financial players to speed access to secure financing. Forward AI’s API enables SMBs to connect in an easy way to share data and bridges a gap for financial institutions, lenders and other fintechs to help SMBs stay financially healthy.