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Financial institutions are rethinking loyalty at a critical moment. Credit card spending sits at record highs, but economic uncertainty looms. For banks aiming to stay relevant, loyalty can no longer be an afterthought – it needs to be embedded into every customer experience from the start.

At FIS's Emerald 2025 conference in Orlando, Mladen Vladic, general manager of loyalty services at FIS, sat down to discuss how the loyalty industry is evolving beyond traditional card-based rewards. His central argument: Financial institutions need to shift from chasing share of wallet to capturing share of mind first.


How FIS is helping financial institutions evolve loyalty beyond rewards

Best of - Frustrated middle-class voters are up for grabs, the tiny dogs that can pull 100 times their weight, and unique Christmas traditions around the world.

This Morning with Gordon Deal December 25, 2025

President Trump defends handling of economy, Providence police ask for help identifying person seen near ‘person of interest’ in Brown University case, and how to avoid getting locked out of your digital life.

This Morning with Gordon Deal December 18, 2025

Brown and MIT shooting suspect found dead in New Hampshire, Democrats release more Epstein photos with a promise of more to come, and the best city for Christmas in the US named.

This Morning with Gordon Deal December 19, 2025

Consumers are feeling gloomy about the economy, why Christmas music is more popular than ever, and mystery man pays off layaways for dozens of families. 

This Weekend with Gordon Deal December 20, 2025

Welcome to the Tearsheet Podcast, where we explore financial services together with an eye on technology, innovation, emerging models, and changing expectations. I'm Tearsheet's editor in chief, Zack Miller.

For fintechs, cracking the credit union market is notoriously difficult. It's relationship-based, insular, and requires a fundamentally different approach than banking. Many try and fail. But when done right, it opens up distribution to institutions serving over 140 million Americans. Today I'm joined by Brian Kaas, president and managing director of TruStage Ventures, the corporate VC arm of TruStage—a $5.5 billion annual revenue insurer that works with 92% of credit unions nationwide. 

Since 2016, TruStage Ventures has deployed $400 million across 50 portfolio companies and facilitated over 3,000 partnerships between credit unions and fintechs.

We first spoke with Brian in 2021 when the fund was just gaining traction. Four years later, the portfolio has matured with companies like Ethos, Current, and SmartAsset, and Brian's team has become essential connective tissue between innovative fintechs and credit union distribution. 

We'll dig into what makes credit union partnerships different, why so many fintechs struggle to break in, and why stablecoin solutions have become the number one request Brian's hearing from credit union CEOs.


How TruStage Ventures built connective tissue between fintechs and credit unions

U.S. Coast Guard chasing another tanker involved in shipping Venezuela oil, two lawmakers seek to find Bondi in contempt over Epstein files, and Idaho secret Santa is giving a million dollars to local residents dealing with chaos.

This Morning with Gordon Deal December 22, 2025

President Trump announces new class of U.S. battleships named after himself, Brown University police chief placed on leave after fatal shooting, feds launch investigation, and the items most likely to get you stopped at TSA.

This Morning with Gordon Deal December 23, 2025

On today's Mike Drop, Dom and Gordon discuss USA Today's ranking of the worst Christmas songs.

10 worst Christmas songs, definitively ranked

The U.S. economy keeps powering ahead, Supreme Court blocks National Guard deployment to Chicago, and the true story behind NORAD’S 70-year tracking tradition.

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