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Inspiration | Business Models
December 3, 2025

Why Credit Is the Next Big Battleground for Digital Banks


In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by David B. Shipper, a Strategic Advisor for Retail Banking and Payments at Datos Insights, and Rob Macmillan, the Group Product Manager for Credit at Paymentology. Together, they discuss how digital banks and fintechs are redefining credit, from instant approvals and hyper-personalization to embedded lending and next-gen infrastructure.

What You’ll Learn:
  • How to recognize why legacy systems are the primary barrier to credit innovation
  • Why consumer expectations have shifted from ‘approval in 7 days’ to ‘instant approval with 3-4 data points’
  • The critical difference between data access and real-time data decisioning
  • How to design credit products that drive customer loyalty beyond rewards
  • Why credit-building applications are redefining credit for emerging markets and first-time borrowers
  • How PayCredit enables rapid market testing, global localization, and continuous product evolution
David B. Shipper is a Strategic Advisor for Retail Banking and Payments at Datos Insights, bringing two decades of banking industry expertise in product management and credit innovation. With a vast background in analyzing consumer lending behavior across traditional cards, BNPL, installments, and emerging credit models, David has directly witnessed the transformation of credit from legacy constraints to modern customer expectations. His research at Datos Insights reveals critical insights into how neobanks and challenger banks are reshaping consumer preferences for simplified, instant credit decisions.

Rob Macmillan is the Group Product Manager for Credit at Paymentology, spearheading the development of modern credit infrastructure solutions designed for the next generation of digital financial services. With expertise in building flexible, configurable credit platforms that address the limitations of legacy systems, Rob has been instrumental in creating PayCredit, a modern credit ledger that enables rapid innovation, personalization, and compliance across global markets.

 

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