The Free Toaster | Carlos Caro | Substack

OnePay Launches (Credit) Builder Card

Plus Lending Club’s $2.67B in Originations, Aven's Bitcoin-Backed Card, Bright Money’s AI Loan Assistant, and Amex’s Agentic Commerce Push.

Apr 29

Latest News

OnePay Launches (Credit) Builder Card

Plus Lending Club’s $2.67B in Originations, Aven's Bitcoin-Backed Card, Bright Money’s AI Loan Assistant, and Amex’s Agentic Commerce Push.

Apr 29

OpenAI Doubles Down: Hiro Finance Marks Second Fintech Buy in Six Months

LendingClub rebrands, Ally and BoA share earnings, and Mission Lane Applies for a Bank Charter

Apr 22

Wells Fargo Books 631,000 New Credit Card Accounts

Plus, JPMorgan Chase and Citi report earnings, JetBlue’s new travel perks, and Atlas’s $420 million pivot to the ultrawealthy.

Apr 15

Experian Expands “No Ding Decline” Feature to Personal Loans

Plus: FICO’s 1,500% fee hike, Cash App’s new P2P installment plans, and why the CFPB is narrowing its antidiscrimination focus.

Apr 8

Latest Episodes

19:13

News Pod #15 - OpenAI Acquires Hiro Finance

Watch now (19 mins) | Carlos and Nick expand on the headline story from this week’s Newsletter.

Apr 24 • Carlos Caro

11:19

News Pod #14 - Wells Fargo Books 631,000 New Credit Card Accounts in Q1 2026 - How Did They Do It?

Watch now (11 mins) | Carlos and Nick try to make sense of Wells Fargo's 60% YOY increase in new credit card customer bookings.

Apr 17 • Carlos Caro

1:08:43

E047 - Eliminating Friction in the Lending Funnel, with Rachael Olson, Former Head Of Product Strategy at Discover

Watch now (69 mins) | Rachael Olson spent years running product strategy on Discover's $6 billion personal loan business, and she joins the show to walk…

Apr 15 • Carlos Caro

51:28

E046 - Affiliate Marketing For Deposit Accounts - With Alana Levine, CRO at Fintel Connect

Listen now (51 mins) | Deposits aren't loans.

Apr 4 • Carlos Caro

Deep Dives

Media Arbitrage vs. Brand Arbitrage

The bigger lesson behind the recent SEO disruption

Oct 23, 2025 • Carlos Caro

5 Insights From SVB's The Future Of Fintech Report

And what it means for Fintech Lenders

Oct 21, 2025 • Carlos Caro

The SEO Apocalypse Has Arrived

With data from NerdWallet, Hubspot, CG.com and many others

Aug 21, 2025 • Carlos Caro

The AI Finfluencers Are Coming

The next billion dollar distribution channel for lenders

Aug 11, 2025 • Carlos Caro

Editorial

What I Learned At The First Free Toaster Curated Table Event

We met in NYC and spent 3+ hours talking about direct mail

Apr 22 • Carlos Caro

The 7 Traits Your Next VP of Partnerships MUST Have

And the exact interview questions to ask to vet candidates.

Jan 27 • Carlos Caro

Scared Money In Affiliate Marketing

How to avoid this trap in 2026 and beyond

Dec 8, 2025 • Carlos Caro

Inside a 450,000 Square Foot Direct Mail Machine

Notes from my visit to ICS's production facility outside of Philadelphia

Nov 21, 2025 • Carlos Caro

Recent posts

News Pod #15 - OpenAI Acquires Hiro Finance

Watch now (19 mins) | Carlos and Nick expand on the headline story from this week’s Newsletter.

Apr 24 • Carlos Caro

19:13

OpenAI Doubles Down: Hiro Finance Marks Second Fintech Buy in Six Months

LendingClub rebrands, Ally and BoA share earnings, and Mission Lane Applies for a Bank Charter

Apr 22

What I Learned At The First Free Toaster Curated Table Event

We met in NYC and spent 3+ hours talking about direct mail

Apr 22 • Carlos Caro

News Pod #14 - Wells Fargo Books 631,000 New Credit Card Accounts in Q1 2026 - How Did They Do It?

Watch now (11 mins) | Carlos and Nick try to make sense of Wells Fargo's 60% YOY increase in new credit card customer bookings.

Apr 17 • Carlos Caro

11:19

Wells Fargo Books 631,000 New Credit Card Accounts

Plus, JPMorgan Chase and Citi report earnings, JetBlue’s new travel perks, and Atlas’s $420 million pivot to the ultrawealthy.

Apr 15

E047 - Eliminating Friction in the Lending Funnel, with Rachael Olson, Former Head Of Product Strategy at Discover

Watch now (69 mins) | Rachael Olson spent years running product strategy on Discover's $6 billion personal loan business, and she joins the show to walk…

Apr 15 • Carlos Caro

1:08:43

The Free Toaster

The Free Toaster

Curated news, insights, and interviews for fintech marketers, delivered in less than 7 minutes per week.

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