With no sign of innovation in payments slowing down, five podcasts below might help listeners keep up on the latest trends in payments and provide insights to fine tune plans for 2027.
Already in the first half of this year, stablecoins took a big step toward becoming a mainstream payment option, payments providers advanced their artificial intelligence strategies and cybersecurity firms pursued stronger data security tools to thwart criminals.
While most of the podcasts reviewed below avoid sponsored content, some of those commercials do show up, usually with disclosures.
For the rest of the summer, maybe you want to ditch a book and take one of these five payments industry podcasts to the beach instead.
Charting the rise of payments
The “Payments on Fire” podcast has been produced by industry consulting firm Glenbrook Partners since 2014. Each episode explores emerging trends in the payments industry with the aim of keeping listeners on the “cutting edge of payments,” according to Bryan Derman, who is the managing partner at Glenbrook and one of the rotating hosts of the series.
The podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other services, was originally conceived and hosted by former Glenbrook executive George Peabody, who recently retired from the industry.
Each episode includes Glenbrook consultants and may feature other payments industry professionals. Guests this year have included Zelle Chief Operating Officer Preston McCaskill, and Checkout.com Chief Operating Officer Jenny Hadlow.
Glenbrook staffers take deep dives on such topics as tokenization, cross-border payments and payment technologies to keep an eye on. Podcast hosts coordinate the topic to be discussed in advance with guests as a starting point for an engaging discussion.
“We’re pretty geeky about payments and we like to think we pick up on trends early,” said Derman in a July interview. “We look to give listeners something they won’t necessarily find on their own.”
Glenbrook discloses during each episode that it does not endorse the products or technologies discussed and that some guests may be clients. Guests do not pay a sponsorship fee to appear.
Lawyers get payments
The law firm of Ballard Spahr created the “Consumer Finance Monitor” podcast series in 2017 and it is hosted by Ballard Spahr Senior Counsel Alan Kaplinsky.
In a recent two-part episode, called “Cutting Out the Middleman: Why Fintechs, Crypto Firms and Payments Companies Are Seeking Their Own Bank Charters,” the show looked at why fintechs are moving away from partnering with banks; the steps needed for fintechs to obtain a bank charter; and the impact the trend is having on the financial services industry.
“Fintechs like the idea of eliminating bank partners with which they have to share revenues, and regulators are warming to the idea,” Kaplinsky said in a July interview.
Regulators embracing the idea of fintechs obtaining a bank charter is a reversal of policy during the Biden administration, according to Kaplinsky. “The current Trump administration is about deregulating as much as possible,” he adds.
In addition to covering payments, the podcast explores litigation and regulatory issues. Guests come from Ballard Spahr’s attorney ranks, as well as government, think tanks and consumer advocacy groups. Each episode is intended to be educational, as opposed to guests preaching the industry gospel.
“We look to have a lively discussion rather than a guest lecturing on a topic,” Kaplinsky said.
The series has no ads or sponsored content.
The consulting perspective
The “Fintech Hustle” podcast, produced by Cornerstone Advisors, features multiple fintech executives per episode talking about challenges their businesses face and top of mind issues. The series, which began in 2019, was named to reflect the go-to-market mentality of fintechs.
Each episode begins with host Sam Kilmer, a managing director at Cornerstone, introducing his guests, then asking the panel what’s broken in the payments industry and how they, as entrepreneurs, would fix it.
The series kicked off its 2026 season ruminating on AI and stablecoins, as they are topics “bubbling up” with greater frequency, Kilmer said in a July interview.
“We present multiple viewpoints to start a legitimate conversation, not just executives talking about their company,” Kilmer said. “I don’t choose a topic, but see where the conversation goes. There are a lot of topics around payments that don’t get a lot of conversation, like treasury management.”
Topics discussed this year have included the future of artificial intelligence and insights from an Association for Financial Technology spring meeting.
Guests on the podcasts are executives of “known fintechs” and are not prepped prior to airtime. Cornerstone makes sure guests appearing on the show are comfortable with the impromptu format.
“We found the best conversations are unscripted,” Kilmer said. “A conversation gets people talking more freely instead of coming across all buttoned up with messaging points.”
Guests who have been on the podcast this year include Mike Duncan, the CEO of digital banking technology provider Bankjoy and Erica Pilon, head of strategy for Jack Henry & Associates; and former industry executive Paul Danola, now a partner at private equity firm Bridgestone Partners.
Guests do not pay to appear on the podcast.
Stripe co-founder weighs in
Stripe President John Collison, who co-founded the payments startup with his brother, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, hosts the “Cheeky Pint” podcast, in a nod to his native Ireland. The company, which provides merchants with payments processing, has dual headquarters in Dublin and south San Francisco.
In the podcast, Collison talks with tech company leaders who have built their own companies about trends, and about their ties to Stripe. Guests have included Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and DoorDash CEO Tony Xu.
In a recent episode, “What Comes After Smartphones,” Spiegel discussed why smartphones are an isolating device and how augmented reality glasses are the first step toward making computing human again. The discussion also touched on stablecoin payouts through Stripe and how to monetize the camera in digital devices.
In another recent episode, “The Economics and Trends of the Restaurant Industry,” Xu spoke about how his company prevailed in a highly competitive market by focusing on customer retention and the challenges of fighting fraud. Xu also discussed restaurant trends, loyalty and the company’s work with Stripe on card issuing.
Cheeky Pint does not use sponsored content.
From the leadership perch
Launched in 2020, the “Leaders In Payments” podcast features conversations with C-suite level payment and fintech executives.
Topics covered include the latest payment trends, strategies and the future of payments, with areas of discussion including merchant acquiring, payment processing, ISOs, payment facilitators, business-to-business payments and startups.
“If it goes on in payments, we will be talking about it,” host, podcast creator and payments consultant Greg Myers says on the podcast’s website.
One episode worth a listen is “Stablecoin Rails for Real World Payments,” which aired in May and explores the biggest opportunities for stablecoin payments and how AI agents can facilitate cross-border payments using stablecoins.
Another timely episode is “Fighting Fraud,” which aired in June, and examines cutting-edge fraud prevention and anti-money laundering solutions.
A subset of the podcast is the “Women Leaders in Payments” series airing this month. These episodes, sponsored by the payments company Payroc, spotlight female executives.
So far, Kim Molinaro, Fiserv’s head of ISV; Kristin Reischel, senior director of solutions and partner marketing at digital processor Rapyd; and Clarice Leaman, alternative payments operations lead at cross-border payments firm dLocal, are among those who have shared insights and strategies for excelling in the industry.
The podcast contains sponsored content.
