Ferhan Patel

The financial technology, or FinTech, industry has been spreading over the course of the past decade, and it is only getting bigger. Using technology to organize and control finance used to be just an idea, but is now used by big banks and Wall Street firms. Banks have even begun investing in FinTech startups in order to get ahead of competitors, by receiving the latest innovative product before anybody else. Unfortunately, this explosion of FinTech in big banks and investment firms has made smaller companies struggle. However, that is beginning to change. Startup companies focused on FinTech are now seeking out smaller community banks that are thinking about going national. The banks want to become relevant in the digital age, and the startup companies want more business. Technically, this arrangement works for everyone. It is also arriving at a time in which the Federal Reserve is making decisions that will detrimentally affect small banks. The Federal Reserve wants to work on ...

Ferhan Patel's Note: Clinkle has always been a mystery to me.  It was in stealth mode for the longest time and when it launched, it left a lot to be desired.  The full story by Alyson Shontell The week after Thanksgiving, 40 Clinkle employees gathered in the kitchen of their San Francisco office. It was the second time in two days they’d been called together for an all-hands meeting. One day prior, Duplan had proudly announced a new hire, Chi-Chao Chang. A former Yahoo and xAd executive, Chang was Clinkle’s new vice president of engineering. It was a position recruiters had been trying to fill for months, and Chang had come highly recommended by former Yahoo CEO, Carol Bartz. The soft-spoken engineer had stood up and shared a few words about his background. He said he was excited to be joining Clinkle. Now, just 24 hours later, Chang was nowhere to be seen. Duplan cleared his throat, nervously shifting his weight. “Chi-Chao has left Clinkle,” he annou...

Money laundering is one of the crimes that can be hard to put a face to. Everybody is at least familiar with the term, but because it’s often associated with fancy accounting work rather than actual harmful illegal activities, people tend to think of it as a victimless crime. That is a grave mistake. Money laundering is the bread-and-butter of large, international crime rings, from cybercrime to drug trafficking to organized crime. That’s why we should never underestimate the importance of AML compliance. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance is a set of laws, regulations and procedures that have been put in place to prevent the generation of income through illegal actions. For example, businesses in the payment card industry (PCI) must undergo a series of due-diligence procedures to prove that they are not facilitating, intentionally or unintentionally, money-laundering activities. What Is Money Laundering? At its most basic level, to launder money simply means disg...