Lead Bank: 2025 CNBC Disruptor 50

Founders: Jacqueline Reses (CEO), Erica Khalili, Homam Maalouf, Ronak Vyas
Release: 2021
Headquarters: Kansas City, Missouri
Funds: $110 million
Rating: n/a
Key Technology: n/a
Industry: Fintech
Previous appearances of Discruptor 50 50 list: 1 (No. 34, 2024)

With more non-banking companies offering financial services, buy now and pay later options with check-out or embedded travel insurance – the line between traditional banks and high-tech companies is blurred. Few banks encapsulate shifts than lead banks.

The Kansas City-based bank, acquired by Jackieless and an investor group in 2021, aims to become a key infrastructure provider for fintech and consumer companies, and incorporates banking capabilities into its products. Today, it is one of the few FDIC insurance banks that offer both consumer banks and full stack as a service platform. The company includes consumer e-commerce fintech. positiveenabling fellow Disruptor Ramp, Flex and Crypto companies to provide everything from branded cards to bank accounts.

Bank transformation reflects Lisos’ experience building financial products from scratch. As a former head of Square Capital, she helped develop the company’s banking division from “first line of code, first policy.” (Res was named on the 2024 CNBC Changemaker list.)

Her experience with squares revealed the gap between the sophisticated fintech frontend and the patchwork infrastructure beneath it.

“One of the issues I saw is that over the past 10-15 years, Fintech has put a beautiful sheen on the front end of its apps to facilitate financial services. And I think we all felt that with the fintech apps we use. But the infrastructure is terrible,” she told CNBC.

That insight shapes the lead bank approach. It offers the latest regulated banking infrastructure that can be expanded. Lead is a fully integrated technology platform with direct regulatory oversight housed in chartered federal insured banks.

Over the past year, the company has leaned deeply towards Crypto. Banks previously hesitated to dig into digital assets, but the pendulum is swinging towards embrace amid the changing regulatory environment. Lead Bank currently positions itself as one of the first chartered banks to provide payment, custody and settlement services to Crypto Companies and seeks to navigate the space.

That pivot coincides with a wider expansion. In 2024, Reed opened an office in New York, expanding its product set, including a wide range of payment options, including card issuance, multi-currency deposit accounts, and international ACH and wire transfers. We also added new tools for risk, compliance and payments.

Leadbank has raised $110 million so far from investors including Ribbit Capital, Khosla Ventures, Cotue Management, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and currently counts around $1.1 billion in assets. Competitors include Cross Riverbank, Celtic Bank, Webbank and more.

As embedded finance continues to blur the line between banks and tech companies, Leads bet that regulated, tech-ready infrastructure will become a long-term differentiator. And, leaning towards crypto ahead of many other banks, leads signal where financial services could in the next level improve.