Podcasts are one of the most exciting formats to arise from technology in the past few years. They allow you to listen in on conversations with experts and learn things that you couldn't otherwise. It also can give you a glimpse into the world of that person and show you how they think. And their popularity clearly shows that people are interested in this opportunity in many fields, including the fintech scene in Georgia, where Georgia Fintech Academy interviews leaders in the fintech space.
What is the Georgia Fintech Academy?
The Georgia Fintech Academy is a collaboration between fintech companies in Georgia and the University System of Georgia to give students specialized experience for a career in fintech. The academy opened in 2016 and currently offers five classes across Georgia universities and has allowed students to gain experience through internship opportunities.
At the beginning of 2020, the Georgia Fintech Academy started a podcast where they speak with the founders of companies in Georgia. Over the year they had 31 episodes with guests from a wide range of fintech companies. It allows listeners to learn from the insights from fintech leaders across the state, like the Global Head of Inclusion and Diversity of FIS Global. Which is to say, they speak to a lot of great companies and being a part of the podcast is an amazing opportunity. So it's quite exciting that in the first episode of their second season, Tommy and Cameron of Georgia Fintech Academy interviews the one and only founder and CEO of Defynance, Farrukh Siddiqui.
Why Listen to the Podcast?
Like many podcasts, this episode offers a look into Farrukh's mind and his vision of Defynance for the future. Farrukh also talks about his background, how he got into socially responsible finance, and how it led him to start Defynance. He mentions how the student debt crisis has exploded in recent years and Defynance offers an ISA alternative for refinancers to tackle the current outstanding debt.
They go over the benefits of the ISA and how it offers not only downside protection for those who are struggling, but upside protection that prevents those who do well from paying much more than they would with a typical loan. The podcast also goes over our resource marketplace and how that's an added benefit of the Defynance ISA program. The Defynance resource marketplace can help users navigate the professional world and maximize their earning potential. This aligns the goals of Defynance with our refinancers because when they succeed, we succeed.
Next, the podcast goes over the technology involved with Defynance and how we came up with our pricing algorithm, PRAIS. PRAIS allows Defynance to price each income share agreement based on an individuals circumstances and adjusts for risk. It even strays away from traditional credit methods that can harm people's odds of securing financing, like credit score. They also discuss how Defynance makes money through refinancing student loans and servicing the ISA Refinancing Fund.
And it all wraps up with a discussion of how Defynance will get through the future. Farrukh, Tommy, and Cameron discuss how Defynance will evolve in the future and how the current political climate will affect Defynance. Being a part of the podcast was a rewarding experience and we hope that you can gain some great insights by hearing from our founder.
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