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What Happens When You Solve the $80 Trillion Problem?
Donuts, APIs, and Innovation: The Orum Startup Story with Founder & CEO, Stephany Kirkpatrick
“Real-time access to money is a need, not a luxury.”
IIn this episode of Fintech Confidential, recorded live at the 2024 Money 20/20 event in Las Vegas, Tedd Huff and Stephany Kirkpatrick, founder and CEO of Orum, dive into the world of money movement technology. The discussion flows naturally, covering the many ways Orum is simplifying payments and enhancing access to funds. Kirkpatrick brings a unique perspective, sharing how her background as the daughter of an immigrant and a former financial planner shaped her understanding of money access and inspired her to start Orum.
Founded in 2019, Orum addresses a pressing need in financial technology: efficient, reliable payments. Through its easy-to-use API, Orum helps businesses handle instant payouts across various payment networks. The company’s products, Deliver and Verify, save clients time and expense by connecting them directly to major payment rails, including ACH, RTP, and FedNow, without requiring extensive bank integrations or costly compliance procedures. With its focus on real-time payments, Orum provides businesses with tools to meet customer demands for speed and reliability.
In the conversation, they explore the core challenges Orum tackles, such as the long wait times and high costs many businesses face when moving money. Kirkpatrick highlights how Orum’s products allow clients to bypass traditional hurdles, letting them launch new payment options quickly. By focusing on features like transaction tracking, cost transparency, and optimized payment speed, Orum helps businesses not only save on operating expenses but also meet consumer expectations in a fast-paced market.
The talk also explores Orum’s approach to building a remote company culture. The company uses creative tools like Slack’s Donut app, which pairs employees for brief, casual conversations, to maintain a sense of connection. Kirkpatrick’s leadership style comes through clearly; she values a strong, connected team, but stresses the importance of treating the team as professionals rather than family. This approach helps Orum maintain focus on its goals while respecting individual needs, especially in a fully remote environment.
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During the discussion, Kirkpatrick also explains Orum’s pricing model and how it benefits treasury managers. By offering bank-rate pricing and flexible options for payment speed and certainty, Orum gives clients the insights they need to make smart financial choices. This transparency and control over costs make Orum a valuable partner for businesses that rely on efficient cash flow management.
The conversation moves toward regulatory changes impacting the fintech industry, particularly the CFPB’s 1033 rule, which aims to give consumers more control over their financial data. They discuss how this regulation could help businesses that rely on Orum’s services by allowing users easier access to their data in a secure way. Another interesting point raised is the potential of stablecoins for international payments. While it’s not currently a focus for Orum, there’s a growing interest in how this technology could support cross-border transactions in the future.
The episode wraps up with practical advice for new fintech founders. Kirkpatrick stresses the importance of focusing on one strong product initially, rather than spreading efforts too thin. This strategy not only helps with achieving a solid product-market fit but also supports sustainable growth. Kirkpatrick also points out that building strong partnerships with regulated institutions is essential, as it lends credibility and stability to emerging fintech services.
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Overall, the episode provides a valuable look into the intricacies of fintech, touching on both the technical and human aspects of building a business. By focusing on client needs, regulatory developments, and efficient, user-friendly services, Orum is making waves in the world of payment technology, aiming to make money movement faster, easier, and more accessible for businesses and their customers alike.
TLDR:
In this episode of Fintech Confidential, recorded at the 2024 Money 20/20 event, Tedd Huff talks with Orum’s CEO, Stephany Kirkpatrick, about simplifying money movement for businesses. Orum’s API products, Deliver and Verify, enable instant payouts across major payment networks, reducing costly bank integrations. The discussion covers Orum’s remote-first team culture, the impact of regulatory changes like the CFPB’s 1033 rule on consumer data access, and the potential of stablecoins in international payments. Kirkpatrick also shares advice for fintech founders: focus on a single strong product, build reliable partnerships, and prioritize transparency and efficiency in services.
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Key Highlights:
Making Instant Payouts Possible for Businesses
API tools now allow businesses to offer instant payouts by connecting directly to major payment networks. This approach skips the delays and costs of bank integrations, making fast payouts easy and affordable.
Time to make the Donuts
In a fully remote company, keeping connections strong can be tough. Using Slack’s Donut app to pair team members for casual chats helps remote workers stay connected and engaged with one another.
Why Wait for Money Movement?
A new API solution tackles the frustrating issue of slow money movement, reducing the standard four-day waiting period and allowing businesses to meet customer demands for faster payments.
Why Real-Time Payments Don’t Have to Be Expensive
Traditionally, fast payment options have been costly and hard to access. New tools make real-time payments possible without high fees, allowing companies to keep up with expectations without breaking the bank.
Making Compliance Easy
Meeting compliance requirements for payment processing can be complex and costly. A simplified API enables companies to offer secure payment solutions without lengthy compliance headaches.
The Power of Clear Pricing in Financial Transactions
Transparent, bank-rate pricing helps businesses better manage their cash flow and transaction costs, giving treasury managers more control and allowing them to make smarter financial choices.
CFPB’s 1033 Rule: How Data Access Could Change Fintech
The new CFPB 1033 regulation aims to give people more control over their financial data. This regulation opens opportunities to empower clients with better access to secure data, adding value to services.
How Stablecoins Could Transform International Payments
Stablecoins hold potential as an option for cross-border payments, helping companies avoid currency risks and streamline global transactions, even though they’re not yet widely adopted.
Building a Strong Product First: A Strategy for Fintech Founders
New fintech founders are advised to focus on developing a single, strong product before expanding. This strategy creates a solid foundation, supports sustainable growth, and prepares for future scaling.
Trusted Partnerships Mean Reliable Payment Solutions
Carefully selecting regulated financial partners ensures secure and reliable transactions. Focusing on strong partnerships supports safe, trusted payment solutions for businesses and clients alike.
Takeaways:
1️⃣ Apply Financial Planning Insights to Your Startup Vision
Use your personal background and skills, like financial planning or other unique experiences, to find what drives you in business. Let your past shape a meaningful mission that will help others with a key need.
2️⃣ Keep Remote Teams Engaged with Simple Tools
Try using fun tools like Slack’s Donut app to build casual, friendly connections among remote workers. Creating these opportunities can make your virtual team feel more connected and engaged.
3️⃣ Streamline Payment Solutions with Easy APIs
If you’re dealing with payment delays, look for user-friendly APIs to offer instant payouts. Choose a solution that cuts down on costly bank integrations, making transfers fast and affordable.
4️⃣ Enhance Security in Transactions with Verification Tools
To ensure secure and fast payments, consider tools that verify and track transactions. This can help your business offer reliable services and build customer trust in each transaction.
5️⃣ Choose Strong Partnerships to Boost Your Business’s Credibility
Build relationships with trusted and regulated financial partners to strengthen your brand’s reliability. Partnering with respected companies can improve trust and give your customers peace of mind.
Links:
Stephany Kirkpatrick
Orum:
Website: https://orum.io/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helloorum/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orum.io/
Fintech Confidential
Notifications: https://fintechconfidential.com/access
Time Stamps:
02:46 Meet Stephany Kirkpatrick
03:47 Orum's Mission and Achievements
04:42 The Donutique Connection
06:53 Stephany's Journey
08:56 Birth of Orum
10:27 Fintech Challenges & Insights
14:32 Orum's Deliver and Verify
18:30 Target Audience & Integration
25:20 Future of Money Movement & Optimization
29:46 Certainty in Financial Transactions
30:26 Importance of Strategic Partnerships
32:13 Regulation's Role in Fintech
33:42 1033 Impacts
35:56 Future of Payments
37:28 Blockchain Potential
39:06 Leadership Lessons
41:14 Building a 911 List
42:18 Not a Family
43:36 Remote Work
46:09 Hiring & People Strategy
47:52 The Future of Fintech
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About The Guest:
Stephany Kirkpatrick is the CEO and founder of Orum, a pioneering API-based company enabling instant payouts across major payment networks. With over 15 years of experience, she has led digital product initiatives at major firms like Northwestern Mutual and LearnVest. Stephany, who began her career as a certified financial planner, founded Orum in 2019 to provide immediate financial access for businesses and consumers. Driven by her background as the daughter of an immigrant, her mission centers on enhancing financial freedom and efficiency through streamlined payment solutions.
Orum is a simple API for fast, reliable payments. Orum’s API solution delivers access to rails including Same Day ACH and standard ACH – and instant bank account verification. Orum allows businesses to launch instant payments and instant bank account verification in just days, without costly bank integrations or prolonged compliance. This in turn empowers businesses and banks to launch new payment experiences that attract and monetize more customers. Founded by Stephany Kirkpatrick and led by expert fintech operators from LearnVest, Square, N26, Klarna, Marqeta, and Stash, Orum has raised over $82 million from leading investors, including Accel, Canapi, Bain Capital Ventures, Inspired Capital, Homebrew, Acrew, BoxGroup, Clocktower Ventures, Primary Ventures and American Express Ventures. We provide the technology and expertise required to power a better financial system where everyone has the freedom to build to their potential.
About the Host:
Tedd Huff is the Founder of Voalyre, a professional services advisory firm focused on global payments and DD3 Media.
Over the past 24 years, he has contributed to FinTech startups as an Advisory Board Member, Co-Founder, and Chief Experience Officer, providing strategic and tactical direction for Global Payments OpenEdge, Heartland Payments, Nuvei, and TSYS, among others, focusing on growth while delivering innovation, process improvements and user experience-driven value to simplify the complexity of payments.
DD3 Media is a media creation, management, and production company delivering engaging content globally
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