Cross River CEO named CEO of American Fintech Council

The American Fintech Council named Phil Goldfeder as executive director, a role the head of Cross River will start in March, the trade group’s announced Wednesday.

Goldfeder, who replaces former Financial Health Network CEO Garry Reeder, joins the association after serving five years as senior vice president of global public affairs at Fort Lee, New Jersey-based Cross River Bank.

Prior to joining the fintech-focused bank, Goldfeder spent time in the public sector, serving in the New York State Assembly and as a senior advisor to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Fintech is paving the way for the future of financial services and the US Fintech Council is setting the standard to distinguish the responsible companies and industry experts who are focused on consumer protection, transparency, compliance and regulatory modernization,” Goldfeder said in a statement. “My entire career has been dedicated to public service, and this new role will allow me to work alongside diverse and innovative companies that empower consumers by creating critical access to financial services.”

Goldfeder will lead the trade group during a crucial time in the fintech space, as non-bank entities come under increased scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers, from their involvement in COVID relief programs to their partnerships with banks.

During Goldfeder’s time at Cross River, the bank was heavily involved in the Paycheck Protection Program. The bank, which partnered with a number of fintech firms including Bluevine, Divvy, Gusto, Intuit, Veem and Kabbage, was the sixth largest PPP lender, having facilitated 288,932 loans worth nearly $6.6 billion, according to the SBA.

Goldfeder attributed the bank’s prolific involvement in OPS to its ability to operate as a technology company, rather than a traditional bank.

“Cross River fuses the expertise of a bank with the innovative offerings of a technology company every single day, and OPS was just an extension of that,” he told Banking Dive in 2020.

However, the bank’s PPP activity has come under scrutiny in recent months.

SBA announced in December that Cross River was among several banks it investigated, following a scathing House report that claimed some fintechs involved in PPPs had lax anti-fraud standards.

However, Goldfeder said the report “actually lauded the work of responsible banks like Cross River.”

“Cross River responded to Congress’ call to help small businesses survive the pandemic, and now we count on the SBA to do the right thing and distinguish between those who really helped during the pandemic and those who did not do enough to deter and identify fraud, ” Goldfeder told American banker in December.

Goldfeder takes the helm at AFC as several other key fintech developments are likely to play out this year.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is in the middle make rules around consumers’ rights to access and share their financial information with third-party fintechs.

Meanwhile, have SBA evaluates whether it should open the small business lending flagship to more non-bank lenders.