Constellation Digital Partners, Inc.

01/01/2026

Happy New Year from Constellation!
Wishing you a happy, healthy year ahead. We’re looking forward to a great year together. 🎉✨

12/24/2025

Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Wishing you a season filled with joy, warmth, and time well spent with those who matter most. 🎄✨

12/23/2025

🎙️ A Special Holiday Episode of The Fintech Combine

As the year comes to a close, we are sharing a reflective episode of The Fintech Combine, bringing together industry leaders to look back on the lessons learned and ahead to what’s next for credit unions.

This end-of-year conversation explores how collaboration, technology, and innovation continue to shape the future of community-based financial institutions. From growth strategies to evolving member expectations, it’s a thoughtful discussion around driving meaningful change across the credit union ecosystem. If you’re taking time to reflect, plan, and prepare for the year ahead, this episode offers perspective worth hearing.

🎧 Listen or watch the holiday episode of The Fintech Combine 👉 https://loom.ly/ysAVOqA

12/10/2025

🚨 New on The Fintech Combine Podcast 🚨
How AI Is Transforming Risk & Compliance for Credit Unions and Banks

Risk and compliance teams are under more pressure than ever; manual reviews, outdated processes, and increasing regulatory expectations leave little room to breathe.

In the latest episode of The Fintech Combine, Constellation’s Kris Kovacs sits down with Kalyani Ramadurgam, Co-Founder & CEO of Kobalt Labs, to explore how AI is modernizing third-party risk, vendor oversight, contract review, and continuous monitoring, without sacrificing trust or auditability.

In this conversation, you’ll hear about:
🔹 Why back-office compliance remains so manual, and how AI can remove the burden
🔹 How to deploy AI while maintaining traceability, confidence, and regulator-ready reporting
🔹 Why smaller institutions may actually gain an advantage with automation
🔹 Real-world use cases: SOC exception detection, contract gap analysis, and vendor insurance validation
🔹 Why continuous monitoring is quickly becoming table stakes
🔹 The critical questions every credit union and bank should ask before adopting AI

What stands out most is how Kobalt Labs built alongside CROs, CCOs, and risk teams are solving real problems instead of simply adding AI for AI’s sake.

📺 Watch the episode: https://loom.ly/nwFiaXE

🎧 Also available on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, Amazon, and more.

If this resonates, we encourage you to share it with your risk, compliance, or vendor-management teams.

12/03/2025

🎙️ New on The Fintech Combine: Retail Strategy Meets Credit Union Growth with Vertice AI
At Constellation, we’re always exploring how breakthrough ideas from outside the industry can accelerate digital growth for credit unions. This week’s episode of The Fintech Combine does exactly that.

Host sits down with Mitch Rutledge, Co-Founder & CEO of Vertice AI, to unpack how decades of retail analytics and enterprise AI are being transformed into actionable, scalable tools for credit unions and community banks.

If you’re thinking ahead to 2026 planning, and looking for practical ways to do more with the team you already have, this episode brings the inspiration. 📺 Watch the episode: https://loom.ly/xmg83dM

We’d love to hear from you:
Where does AI fit into your credit union’s growth strategy for next year?

11/27/2025

🦃Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving from the Constellation team!🦃
We’re thankful for our partners, our community, and the opportunity to build the future of digital banking together.

11/11/2025

🇺🇸 Today, we honor the bravery and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans.
We proudly salute all who have served and those who continue to protect our freedoms.
Thank you for your service. 💙

11/04/2025

📣Podcast Spotlight: Building Credit by Paying Bills
What if paying your everyday bills could actually build your credit?

This week’s episode of The Fintech Combine Podcast explores that idea with Jonty Hirsowitz, Founder & CEO of Deferit, the fintech behind Pebble. This is a new solution helping consumers strengthen credit history through the bills they already pay. From his start as a corporate lawyer to launching a mission-driven fintech, Jonty shares insights that will resonate with anyone focused on financial inclusion and responsible innovation.

Tune in to learn:
🧭 How Deferit’s non-discretionary “buy now, pay later” model differs from traditional BNPL
🌍 Why solving real-life money challenges builds lasting trust
💡 How Pebble helps consumers with “thin files” access and grow credit

🎧 Listen here → https://loom.ly/GSWiEDA

In this episode of The Fintech Combine, host Kris Kovac sits down with Jonty Hirsowitz, founder and CEO of Deferit, to explore how his latest innovation — Pe...

10/31/2025

👻 No tricks, just treats! Wishing everyone a safe, spooky, and Happy Halloween from the Constellation team! 🎃✨

10/15/2025

NEW EPISODE: Behind the Scenes with The Fintech Combine Podcast

This week, the mic got flipped 🎤 as sat down with producer, Anson Beckler-Jones, the creative force behind 50+ episodes of The Fintech Combine. Together, they unpack what it really takes to build a podcast that connects, and why more credit unions and fintechs are using storytelling to engage, educate, and grow their audiences.

Highlights:
📍 You don’t need perfect gear. Just start recording and refine as you go
📍 Audio quality makes or breaks the episode
📍 Video-first is here to stay (thanks, Riverside!)
📍 Great content still needs strategy; titles, clips, and consistency drive reach

Thinking about launching a podcast for your CU or fintech? This episode is your shortcut past the learning curve.

🎧 Watch or listen here → https://loom.ly/PKcm4BU

👏 Huge thanks to Anson Beckler-Jones for helping bring these stories and voices to life every week.

10/02/2025

🔥 New on The Fintech Combine Podcast. A must-listen for first-time fintech founders!

Cale Johnston, founder of Onsetto (and previously ClickSwitch), shares a real-world masterclass on building, scaling, and starting again.

Key takeaways for founders:
📍 Primacy is about moving money flows (AR/AP/Payroll), not just opening accounts
📍 Fight feature creep—focus protects the core
📍 Value must show up Day 1 or “shelfware” dies
📍 Defensibility comes from infrastructure + deployment, not features alone
📍 Capital strategy matters—align investors with your 5–10 year vision

🎧 Catch the episode here: https://loom.ly/dOWtKBI

09/29/2025

In a world where AI and tech are growing faster than ever, the hands-on approach still resonates with members.

That’s why personalization matters. When credit unions combine technology with a human touch, they deliver more than products. They deliver experiences that fit each member’s life.
⭐️ Building loyalty
⭐️ Deepening relationships
⭐️ Creating the “stickiness” that keeps members choosing you over competitors

At the end of the day, it’s not about more tech. It’s about using technology smarter—so members feel seen, understood, and valued.