JIM MCCARTHY HAS 25 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN PAYMENTS
THE FINTECH INTERVIEW
What embedded finance clients actually need credit for Thredd’ s fintech clients were already asking for credit before the company could provide it, which meant watching potential business walk away to competitors.“ Our clients have been constrained because we couldn’ t offer that. As you think about the world of embedded finance – enterprises, B2B clients – they want to be able to offer credit to their clients so they can effectively expand the open-to-buy for their customers.”
The use cases start simple: Buy now, pay later, earned wage access and overdraft protection, for example. These work for prepaid clients and neobanks extending into credit. Jim mentions Pockit in the United Kingdom, which serves underserved customers and wants to offer shortterm loans based on deposit patterns.
Then there are commercial banks, the ones that can ' t get what they need from payment processors like FIS or Fiserv. These institutions want to move faster but can ' t on their current platforms.“ They want to get on the front foot with innovation to compete against the tech companies that have come into the space. They can’ t do it on those platforms.”
JIM MCCARTHY HAS 25 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN PAYMENTS
“You can’ t learn on the job with credit”
Jim McCarthy, CEO, Thredd
Banks need more than innovation, though. They need compliance baked in from the start, which is where many processors fail.“ You’ ve got to have compliance and you’ ve got to take the risk out of the equation. You can’ t just be about innovation – you’ ve got to have that focus on doing it in a way that’ s bank grade.”
How agentic commerce changes what processors need to do AI now influences every aspect of how Thredd approaches its business.“ You can’ t be sitting in 2025 and not have a discussion about every aspect of our business without thinking about AI,” Jim says. The immediate applications in back office operations are straightforward enough, with chargebacks, disputes and operational processes all benefiting from AI implementation. But Jim’ s focus extends to the front end of payments, particularly around digital transactions and tokenisation, where infrastructure changes become more complex.
He draws a parallel to 2014, when he worked with now-Mastercard CTO Ed McLaughlin on the launch of Apple Pay.
26 January 2026