Archive - The Free Toaster

Cash App’s “Invisible” $200 Billion Loan Machine

Block’s data-driven lending wins, the $160B battle over rate caps, and OpenAI enters the ad game.

Jan 22

SMBC Ends Jenius Bank’s U.S. Operations

Jenius Bank shuts down as SMBC exits U.S. consumer banking, Fanatics moves into cards, OnePay’s valuation climbs, credit unions adopt AI lending, and…

Jan 14

News Pod #1 - Apple & Chase Cobrand Deal

In the News Pod, The Free Toaster founders - Carlos Caro and Nick Madrid - unpack select stories from the Wednesday news edition of…

Jan 8 • Carlos Caro

10:52

Apple Card’s Next Chapter Starts at JPMorgan

JPMorgan takes over Apple Card as Bilt rolls out Card 2.0, private credit expands into cards and BNPL, and agentic commerce advances.

Jan 7

December 2025

Imprint Raises $150M Series D at $1.2B Valuation, Co-branded Cards Catch On

Imprint hits a $1.2B valuation as Visa and Mastercard scale mobile wallets, Klarna faces IPO pressure, regulators reset the rules, and Amazon pushes…

Dec 31, 2025

E037 - Spinwheel's Network Token with Tomás Campos, CEO at Spinwheel

In this episode, Tomás returns to share what's changed since Spinwheel's $30 million funding round—including a strategic investment from Citi—and gives…

Dec 17, 2025 • Carlos Caro

42:54

Esusu’s Rent Data is Becoming a Hot Credit Signal

Esusu’s $50M raise and Mercury’s consumer banking push lead this week’s issue. Klarna and Stripe push agentic commerce forward as student loan…

Dec 17, 2025

Klarna Targets High Spend Travelers, Socure Builds the BNPL Credit File, and Instacart Lands Inside ChatGPT

Plus Capital One’s Miami Art Week perks for premium cards, BHG and Engine by Gen’s new loan marketplace push, Flex’s 60 million raise for a mid-market…

Dec 10, 2025

Scared Money In Affiliate Marketing

How to avoid this trap in 2026 and beyond

Dec 8, 2025 • Carlos Caro

E036 - Behind The Scenes - Nick Madrid, Co-Founder at The Free Toaster

I sit with my co-founder Nick Madrid to discuss what we've learned in the last year of building this Podcast and Newsletter.

Dec 5, 2025 • Carlos Caro

32:34

NerdWallet Gives Away $100K a Day, Stelrix’s Investment-Backed Credit Card, and PayPal’s AI Checkout

Kraken’s card launch, a softer Beige Book, BNPL scrutiny, Treasury Prime’s AI marketplace, U.S. Bank’s stablecoin tests, a muted Black Friday, and new…

Dec 3, 2025

E035 - Facing Credit: When AI Broke the Marketing Machine (Reposted from Fintech Takes)

I recently sat with Alex Johnson on the Fintech Takes Podcast.

Dec 1, 2025 • Carlos Caro

1:12:58

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