AFSA Extra Credit Podcast

In this episode of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast, host Dan Bucherer sits down with the elected presidents of the AFSA Education Foundation EDGE and Leadership Development Programs. Joining the conversation are Roman Roberts and Jasmine Carter from Republic Finance, along with Bobby McLendon from Security Finance. Together, they discuss the professional and personal impacts of the EDGE program at Mercer University and the Executive Leadership Program at UNC Chapel Hill. The guests also share their early experiences with money and highlight the critical role of the free MoneySkill program in classrooms across the country.Learn more about the AFSA Education Foundation programs at www.afsaef.org/leadership and MoneySKILL at www.afsaef.org/moneyskill.

AFSA is tackling AI head on in a few short days at the 2026 Independents Conference & Expo – all of our sessions, committees and networking groups will revolve, even in a tangential way, around AI, how the consumer credit industry can get the most out of this emerging technology and what you need to keep your eye out for.Back in the fall, Dan Bucherer, Senior Director, Member Services & Engagement with AFSA moderated a panel at the Annual Meeting about some of the ways AI is already integrated into lending systems, analyzing unstructured information moving beyond traditional credit metrics, enabling sharper risk assessment and, ultimate a more personalized borrower experience at every stage.The panel included:Elizabeth Blackhall, Senior Compliance Specialist with Husch BlackwellLawrence Buckley, SVP, Business Development, DataOceansTammy Mouta, Product and Growth Lead with Salient AI.While you pack your saddle bags for Frisco or wait in that boarding line, take a listen and refresh yourself on where we stand in the AI space. Then, when you land, get ready for a deep dive on all things AI.Listen to the Extra Credit Podcast wherever you get your podcasts or visit afsaonline.org/podcasts.

In this episode of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast, we're joined by David Ralstin, Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer for Allied Solutions. His role provides governance, accountability, and trusted advisory services for technology risk management and information security controls at Allied.Artificial intelligence has been around as a technology since the 1950's, and its most recent development with generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot have thrust decades of research into the spotlight. Just like any tool, attackers can and have been using GenAI tools to enhance their operations to great effect. But security professionals can also leverage GenAI for their own benefit. The cat and mouse game continues with a new tool. Who will win?Don't forget to follow AFSA on Twitter @AFSA_DC and @AFSA_SGA and on Linkedin. The blog at afsaonline.org is also a great resource for the most up-to-date news.If you've got questions or you'd like to suggest a guest, please shoot us an email at membership@afsamail.org or tweet at us.

AFSA is celebrating Women's History Month with a special Extra Credit Podcast series, Industry Icons, featuring outstanding female leaders in the consumer credit industry. This episode features Darcy Locke, Vice President, Head of Consumer Finance Sales with ACI Worldwide. She chats with Danielle Fagre Arlowe, SVP of AFSA, on how she ended up in the industry, who her influences are, and where she sees the industry in the next decade. ----- Don't forget to follow AFSA on Twitter @AFSA_DC and @AFSA_SGA and on Linkedin. The blog at afsaonline.org is also a great resource for the most up-to-date news. If you've got questions or you'd like to suggest a guest, please shoot us an email at communications@afsamail.org or tweet at us.

In this episode of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast Dan chats with Olivia Moseley, Distrct Manager with Heights Finance and the Year 1 President of AFSAEF's The EDGE program. Olivia shares how valuable the program was to her and highlights some of the key reasons she thinks all AFSA members should consider it a must-attend program for rising industry leaders. Registration for The EDGE and AFSAEF's Leadership Development Program is now open. Head to afsaef.org to learn more and register.

In this episode of the Extra Credit Podcast, we chat with Leigh Fatzinger, CEO with Turbine Labs, a company whose job it is to drink from the firehose of information and distill it down into a fine artesian spring water. AFSA partners with Turbine Labs to provide the daily News You Need as well as provide additional media and sentiment intelligence. Leigh and I chatted about what he and Turbine are seeing in the media landscape, some pain points of common issues and the trouble society continues to have with misinformation. If you want to learn more about Turbine, visit turbinelabs.com. If you fill out the information form and mention you learned about Turbine on the Extra Credit Podcast, you'll get a free book on managing information overload. AFSA hopes you've enjoyed this edition of the Extra Credit Podcast. Don't forget to follow AFSA on Twitter at AFSA underscore DC and on Linkedin – just search for the American Financial Services Association. You can also follow AFSA's SGA Team on Twitter at AFSA_SGA. The blog at afsaonline.org is also a great resource for the most up-to-date news. If you've got questions or you'd like to suggest a guest, please shoot us an email at communications@afsamail.org or tweet at us.

Thanks for listening to the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast. This is the first edition of AFSA's State Regulator Series as Danielle Fagre Arlowe, Senior Vice President and head of the State Government Affairs team speaks with regulators from around the country. We'll make our way through all 50 states getting to know the regulators that are part of our industry. In the inaugural edition, Danielle speaks with Joe Mulberry, Deputy Commissioner with the Wyoming Division of Banking.