Fintech South 2022: John Gordon with Ribbit.ai

Intro: [00:00:08] Broadcasting live from the Georgia World Congress Center. For Fintech South 2022, it’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:27] Lee Kantor here broadcasting live from Fintech South 2022. So, excited to be talking to John Gordon with RIBBIT.ai. Welcome, John.

John Gordon: [00:00:38] Hi. Thanks for having me.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:40] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about RIBBIT. How are you serving folks?

John Gordon: [00:00:44] So, RIBBIT is a provider of bank behavior data. And what we do is help financial service providers have insights into consumers based on those consumers’ financial health. And we do that by accessing their bank accounts.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:00] And what’s the back story to the service? How did you get into this line of work?

John Gordon: [00:01:06] That’s a great question. So, RIBBIT is the result of a merger of two companies, one of which was Transaction Science, which is an analytics company built by two decision scientists. And they married that company to an ACH provider that had been in business for about 20 years called Cash Flow Solutions. So, that provided the data and the analytics piece that really gave us the start to our business.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:32] So, it kind of were two facets of something that kind of joined together to create this unique entity?

John Gordon: [00:01:38] Exactly. So, the data powered the analytics and the analytics really doesn’t do a whole lot without the bank.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:44] Right. So, you need both sides of the coin there.

John Gordon: [00:01:46] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:47] So now, what some of the challenges are going to market with this?

John Gordon: [00:01:51] So, some of the challenges that we have is, this is relatively hot and becoming more crowded space. So, it’s a requirement for us that we separate ourselves. There are a lot of people who are tangentially playing in a space that’s adjacent to ours —

Lee Kantor: [00:02:08] Right.

John Gordon: [00:02:08] — whether it be instant bank verification. And what we’re doing, we’re doing differently. So, the ability to tell that story in a way that it resonates and differentiates us is a challenge.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:20] So, now as the revenue and growth person on the team, how are you going about having those conversations?

John Gordon: [00:02:26] So, most of what we do really is reliant upon the people that we talking to, validating that data through proof of concept. So, everything that we do has full retro capabilities. So, lenders, when we speak to them, it’s said — they say, that sounds great it.

Lee Kantor: [00:02:44] Sounds great on paper, let’s see what it is in real life.

John Gordon: [00:02:47] 100%. So, we’ve really made a lot of efforts to build our own infrastructure, to be able to do that, to do it quickly, to do it with insights. And to allow the lenders and the clients that we have the ability to sample that data against their own transactions.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:03] So, then once they do that and take that step, is it like an, aha, moment. Where if I go, I can see the value of this?

John Gordon: [00:03:09] I think everyone understands the value that, today, at no point in history have more consumers had bank accounts. And coming out of the pandemic, the ingrained behavior of logging into those bank accounts and they’re averaging 75 transactions a month that that data is hugely relevant, especially in the constant changing economy that we have where the cost of consumer goods is going higher. The ability to see and confirm a consumer’s income versus their spending habits and the affordability that comes out of that, it’s indisputable. So, it becomes — that’s the aha moment. The reality for each lender becomes, how does this operate in my underwriting strategies, in my account management strategies.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:58] And how can I, kind of, maximize the utility of that data and information?

John Gordon: [00:04:03] Exactly.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:03] And do you help them on that side as well?

John Gordon: [00:04:05] We do. So, part of what we do is to provide proactive analytics to those clients so that we’re helping see and deliver insights about changing things in consumer behavior. So, for example, buy now, pay later. I just left a session —

Lee Kantor: [00:04:22] Sure.

John Gordon: [00:04:22] — here at the conference. It’s not fully reported to bureaus now. So, the ability to see that and see how those payments are impacting consumers, it was recently suggested to us that seven in 10 consumers are transacting with buy now, pay later lenders. So, that is going to be a huge shift in a consumer’s ability to afford.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:44] Right. And if it’s not being reported yet, it’s going to be reported at some point.

John Gordon: [00:04:49] 100% or people will realize it once they see the impact when consumers stop or become unable to service all of the loans and debits they have.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:02] So, now this exciting time for you. What brings you to Fintech South?

John Gordon: [00:05:06] So, we are opening an office in Atlanta. And so, that gave us an opportunity to be here and it’s nice to have the opportunity to meet other folks. And we’re opening an office in Alpharetta, so, we look forward to being a part of that. I have worked for companies that have been a part of TAG previously.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:25] Right.

John Gordon: [00:05:25] And we look forward to having a relationship there again.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:27] So, you’re going to immerse yourself in the Fintech community here in Atlanta?

John Gordon: [00:05:31] Yes, very much. There’s a lot of people who’ve done what we’re trying to do, maybe not exactly, but done it successfully. So, great connections and great opportunities to meet others.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:40] And then what’s a win for you at the end of this conference? What are you going to look back to and say, you know what, let’s — you know the teams high fiving because that got done?

John Gordon: [00:05:48] Well, I think any time you have an opportunity to meet someone who might be a user of your service or to create a connection with someone who’s playing in the ecosystem, whether it be banking relationships with Fintechs or just learning something from competitors will be something that will be valuable to us.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:06] So, if somebody wants to learn more about RIBBIT, where should they go?

John Gordon: [00:06:11] Ribbit.ai.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:12] Good stuff. Well, congratulations on all the success, John. You’re doing important work, and we appreciate you.

John Gordon: [00:06:18] Thanks so much for your time.

Lee Kantor: [00:06:19] All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll be back in a few at Fintech South 2022.

Outro: [00:06:32] This episode has been brought to you by Atlanta Blockchain Center. The catalyst for Atlanta’s emergence as the Premier Blockchain Innovation Hub globally through cultivating entrepreneurship, inclusivity, and education. To learn more, go to atlblockchaincenter.com.