Classic lending isn’t dying. It’s evolving. With Svitlanka Sergiichuk.

• We don’t sell loans. We sell lending infrastructure: Igor and Svitlanka zoomed in on lending as the invisible backbone of modern finance rather than a standalone product. Term loans and credit cards remain structurally relevant, but value has shifted toward platforms that abstract complexity. The real innovation is not new credit types, but modular lending infrastructure that can be deployed across geographies, products, and customer segments.
• Small businesses don’t lack ambition. They lack access to working capital: Revolving credit lines and alternative financing models emerged to fill gaps left by traditional banks, especially for small and medium businesses. Instead of rigid, upfront loans, businesses now access capital dynamically and pay only for what they use. This flexibility changes decision-making behavior, enabling founders to take calculated risks and scale without relying on full balance-sheet liquidity.
• Buy Now, Pay Later is purchase-specific, not working capital: BNPL is positioned as a purchase-specific credit tool that connects merchants, consumers, and financial institutions into a single flow. Its growth is driven by speed, low-friction underwriting, and embedded distribution rather than superior credit economics. However, its limited visibility in credit reporting systems introduces structural blind spots that regulators and lenders are only beginning to address.
• Embedded finance turns user data into a real business asset: The discussion highlights a broader shift where non-financial companies embed lending, wallets, and payments into their platforms. Large merchants and marketplaces can transform customer data and transaction history into monetizable financial ecosystems. In this model, lending becomes a growth lever, not a standalone revenue line, and collaboration across banks, fintechs, and merchants determines who captures the most value.

Why Listen #

This episode explains how lending evolved from static products into flexible, embedded infrastructure. It offers a practical lens on why fintechs, not banks, are leading credit innovation, and how technology, execution, and ecosystem design now define who wins in modern lending. Essentially, the conversation serves as a highlight on what gaps fintechs are filling, left behind by traditional banks.