?? Money isn’t Everything pod launches + that checking account comes with a free sausage roll + the corpse as a bank ID

?? Hello out there ??

Happy end of April.

I had a lucky month – the kind of month that makes your world feel bigger.

I went to the Galapagos Islands for adventuring, including yoga and snorkeling over sharks (a deep fear of mine), and I met a bunch of cool, vibrant people who inspired me in new ways. Change is coming. I feel it.?

And, Cornerstone Advisors launched my new fintech pod, Money isn’t Everything, a biweekly show exploring ideas in banking, fintech and financial health. It’s a newer medium for me and I am determined to have all kinds of fun with it (but you already knew that).?The second episode drops this Thursday (May 2) with the man who explained home banking to me, founded Finovate and Fintech Labs UX, Jim Bruene . We talk past and present fintech trends, where he finds creative ideas and how I fell into a fountain. If it sounds interesting to you, subscribe here.

Here’s what I followed in fintech in April.

1. The founder of Digit (who I literally followed): I kicked off Money isn’t Everything by chatting with Ethan Bloch in Scottsdale. He’s bold, blunt and funny and he created something that helped the savings account evolve. In this episode clip, Ethan shares his ambitions of what he still wants fintech to achieve.

Stay for my last question in the full episode, too. His answer is telling.

2. Don’t call it a credit card (except we all are): Klarna, a buy now, pay later provider, is replacing its debit card in the U.S. with another card. This new card has things going for it, including that it doesn’t charge?annual or monthly fees and that consumers can earn 10 percent cash back at some merchants.

BNPL is often viewed as a credit card alternative. This new product shows how the category is blurring. If the debt is not paid in full at the month’s end, it can be paid in time with interest or one can “move a purchase to the next statement with interest,” per Klarna’s press release. It could help change the way the industry views minimum payments.

Plus: To qualify for the card, someone must have used Klarna at least once and repaid the debt.

The product has been available in Europe. Now, U.S. customers can sign up for the waitlist.

3. Move over toaster. This checking account comes with a free sausage roll: Monzo is doing something interesting with subscription pricing: The U.K.-based company offers tiered pricing for its checking account where the premium account includes a free weekly snack at Greggs and discounted train travel. Increasingly, I believe the business model determines the product’s creative path (and whether it has one). We'll see what comes next.

Other things that happened this month:

Mystery box of intriguing links, articles and other stuff that may interest you as it did me.

?? Umm. A big bank CEO pranking her employees? YES, it’s happening. Read up on the way Citi’s CEO Jane Fraser jokes with her staff (WSJ subscription).?

?? One of the bigger bank risks: your board. This essay rightly calls for bringing on more tech-savvier board members (American Banker subscription).

?? Neobank news: Is Aspiration returning to its roots? Read a note from one of the original founders here (good eyes, Alex Johnson ). As Tim Newell writes in the blog: “I'm excited to share that I’ve reached an agreement with Aspiration Partners, to spin off Aspiration's consumer financial services brand into a separate standalone company focused on providing U.S. consumers with innovative climate-friendly financial products.”

?? Important personal finance reminder: The population of people paying for their parents.

?? This news that Andrew Vorster discovered: Umm. A woman went to a branch with a corpse to try to take out a loan at a teller line. As reported: "She held a pen and moved his hand forward to no response."

Let's get where we ain't.

????,

Mary

PS: Meet the blue-footed booby.