Stablecoins. AI agents. Cross-border payments. The future of money is changing faster than most companies realize.

In this episode of the WRAP UP podcast, I sit down with David Rosa, General Manager at Rapyd, to discuss one of the biggest transformations happening across financial services today.

We explore the launch of OpenUSD and what it means for the stablecoin market, why Rapyd believes stablecoins are solving real-world payment problems, and how AI is already reshaping the economics of payments businesses.

David also explains how Rapyd uses AI to onboard merchants, automate internal operations, improve decision-making, and why he believes many traditional jobs will inevitably change as AI adoption accelerates.

We also discuss:

• OpenUSD and the future of stablecoins • Whether stablecoins can challenge traditional payment rails • AI agents and autonomous payments • Why Visa and Mastercard are paying attention • MiCA regulation and its impact on crypto businesses • Real-time payments and cross-border infrastructure • Why emerging markets may be affected most by AI disruption • How Rapyd is rebuilding operations around AI • The biggest mistakes businesses make in payments today

David oversees AI Transformation, FX, Payouts, and Platform Solutions at Rapyd, one of the world’s leading fintech companies powering global commerce and payments.

Subscribe for more conversations with CEOs, founders, regulators, and executives shaping the future of fintech, payments, banking, crypto, AI, and financial infrastructure.

In this episode of the WRAP UP podcast, I sit down with Raagulan Pathy, Founder & CEO of KAST and former Vice President at Circle .

While most companies in crypto and stablecoins are focused on infrastructure, Raagulan believes the biggest opportunity lies elsewhere: building products for end users.

We discuss why he left Circle to launch Kast, a stablecoin-powered neobank serving customers in more than 150 countries, how stablecoins are changing global banking, and why traditional banks struggle to serve digital nomads, remote workers, and globally mobile individuals.

Topics covered:

• Why Raagulan left Circle to start Kast

• The vision behind a stablecoin neobank

• Can stablecoins compete with Revolut and traditional banks?

• Banking for digital nomads and global citizens

• Stablecoin adoption around the world

• The future of stablecoin cards and payments

• Why consolidation is coming to the stablecoin industry

• The impact of MiCA and the GENIUS Act

• Credit, wealth management, and tokenized assets

• Where the next wave of fintech innovation will come from

Raagulan also shares his perspective on the future of financial services, the biggest opportunities in stablecoins, and why owning the customer relationship matters more than building infrastructure.

Subscribe for more conversations with founders, CEOs, regulators, and operators shaping the future of fintech, payments, banking, AI, and digital assets.

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I sat down with Myles Stephenson, CEO of Modulr, to talk through how the company evolved from powering early Revolut t to building a full-stack payments automation platform serving lenders, payroll providers, and travel companies.

Modulr made a deliberate call two years ago to stop being a horizontal BaaS provider and go deep on specific verticals. They hold an EMI licence, settle at the Bank of England, and have direct scheme access and Myles argues that gives them everything they need without the overhead of a banking licence. The business model is flow, not storage, which means transaction revenue drives profitability, not interest margin.

We get into:

• Why Modulr walked away from the embedded finance land grab to double down on payments automation
• How their EMI licence gives them everything they need (and why they don’t want a banking licence)
• The US expansion with FIS and what real-time payment adoption actually looks like across markets
• Why the US is behind on real-time payments and what it will actually take to change behaviour
• Commercial VRP and whether open banking can ever dent direct debit
• Stablecoins vs. tokenized deposits — and how a non-bank positions for both
• How Modulr built a compliance hub with Sardine and where AI fits into fraud and operations
• How Modulr reached profitability, and why the answer is flow, not interest margin
• What’s on the roadmap: ACH in the US, foreign currency, and commercial VRP as a collections layer

Modulr’s bet is simple: own the infrastructure, stay focused on payments, and let the applications follow. Whether that thesis holds in the US is the real test.