AI is no longer a chatbot. It is an agent that can move data and make decisions.

In this in-studio conversation, Leo Arzumanyan, Matthew Luciani, and Jeremy Stock cut through the hype and get practical about using AI in payments. We start where risk lives: privacy, closed versus open loops, and how to keep sensitive underwriting logic and merchant data inside your walls. Then we map the real use cases operators are deploying now: CRM ingestion, sales intelligence, document checks, and dispute workflows that turn noisy inputs into usable signals.

You will hear a clear-eyed view of model choice and control. Free models are fine for quick searches. Paid models and tuned agents belong in underwriting, portfolio analytics, and customer operations. The team explains how to set boundaries, why hallucinations happen, and how to keep an agent from freelancing outside your rules. We also tackle the organizational impact: which entry-level tasks will change, why experts must stay in the loop, and how to write ethical and operational guidelines that keep you compliant while you scale.

What you will take back to your team
•A simple governance plan: closed data loop, role-based access, red-team tests, and an incident path when an agent is wrong
•A deployment map: CRM ingestion, underwriting triage, post-payment risk checks, and dispute assembly with human review
•A safety checklist: consent and privacy prompts, model provenance, logging and evidence retention for audits and insurers
•A portfolio lens: use AI to raise approval rates, shorten dispute cycles, and find at-risk MIDs before attrition hits
Bottom line: adopt with intent. Train models on your domain, keep experts in the loop, and instrument every step so AI reduces risk instead of adding it.

Wondering where AI truly helps—and where it quietly raises the stakes? We dig into the real-world shift from chatbots to agentic AI and map the line between useful automation and unacceptable risk across payments, legal, and healthcare. From CRM workflows and underwriting logic to privileged communications and HIPAA concerns, we share practical guardrails to protect client data, trade secrets, and your competitive edge without slowing down innovation.

We compare leading models—GPT, Gemini, Claude, and Grok—through the lens of enterprise needs: reasoning quality, context windows, customization, and the difference between free tiers and paid, closed-loop deployments. We unpack why “paid is safer” isn’t just about accuracy; it’s about governance, logging, and the ability to constrain learning on sensitive inputs. You’ll hear concrete examples of how poorly scoped prompts and thin domain knowledge can produce confident, wrong outputs, including a contract that looked fine until expert review revealed major gaps.

The conversation also tackles a hard question: who should set the limits? We weigh user-driven controls against platform-imposed restrictions on legal and medical advice, arguing for transparent refusal reasons and identity-based access where appropriate. Ethics are lagging the tech, so we outline a practical playbook: define your AI usage policy, set role-based permissions, preflight prompts with boundaries, label unverified outputs, and route high-impact decisions to human experts. The near-term future of work will favor professionals who pair deep subject knowledge with strong model orchestration skills.


**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincidence.**

PEP Links:
https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2176695

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Banks don’t close accounts for sport; they close accounts when risk stories don’t add up.

James Huber, managing partner of Global Legal Law Firm, sits down with Adam Carlson from SOAR Payments (https://na2.hubs.ly/H033tL00) to unpack what “high risk” really means in 2026, why peptides became the latest MATCH magnet, and how card‑brand programs like VAMP are changing sponsor bank behavior. If you’ve ever dealt with a surprise PayFac shutdown, frozen funds, or a sudden document request, this conversation gives you the playbook to steady the ship and scale with confidence.

We examine how high-risk really works today, from peptide crackdowns and MATCH removals to VAMP’s tighter bank thresholds. Adam shares SOAR’s white‑glove approach, stronger underwriting, and the role of relationships and transparency in keeping merchants processing.

• redefining high risk and why more online merchants qualify
• peptide merchants as current MATCH targets and why
• pitfalls of instant approvals and PayFac shutdowns
• how white‑glove underwriting prevents fires
• using tech to spot altered bank statements
• VAMP thresholds, fines and stricter diligence
• portfolio balance, consolidation and agent economics
• mapping flow of funds and who holds fraud risk
• practical steps to keep accounts open long term
• book preview: High Risk Merchant Accounts 101
• relationships, knowledge and transparency as core edges
• how to contact SOAR Payments

We trace Adam’s path from online lead generation to building a boutique ISO that thrives on white‑glove underwriting and clear communication. He explains how SOAR vets applications, uses tech to catch altered bank statements, and positions complex merchants with acquiring banks that actually understand their model. We get candid about agent games, portfolio balancing, and the uncomfortable truth that acquiring is effectively an unsecured line of credit—so when chargebacks spike, scrutiny follows. You’ll learn why low‑risk volume is gold, how consolidation may accelerate, and which signals risk teams watch when they decide to ask questions or pull the plug.

Most importantly, we lay out practical steps to keep your account open: align your website and product catalog with your application, document fulfillment and refunds, clean up descriptors and customer service lines, and call your partner before adding sensitive SKUs. For peptide sellers and other regulated‑ish niches, context and transparency can be the difference between a compliant path and a permanent shutdown. Adam also previews his upcoming book, High Risk Merchant Accounts 101, aimed at helping founders navigate approvals, enhanced underwriting, and long‑term stability.

If payments feel like a black box, consider this your field guide. Subscribe for more expert conversations, share this episode with a founder who needs a steadier setup, and leave a review to tell us which risk topic you want us to tackle next.

**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincidence.**

PEP Links:

https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2176695

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm

Visit our guests DealHub 360 here: https://na2.hubs.ly/H030plB0

Tired of chasing documents and updates across spreadsheets, inboxes, and shared drives? We bring together the creators of DealHub 360, Deepika Shahani and Paul Manley, to show how a centralized loan origination portal helps ISOs, lenders, and equipment vendors move faster, stay compliant, and reduce risk without adding headcount. Paul Manley shares two decades of payments and architecture experience—from ACH roots to international builds—while Topeka Shahani connects the dots from equipment finance to a platform purpose-built for modern lending.

We introduce DealHub 360, an AI-powered loan origination portal built to replace spreadsheets and scattered emails with a single workflow for ISOs, lenders, and equipment suppliers. We talk risk, compliance, and how a pilot client helped cut processing time by 50% while setting the roadmap for CRM, servicing, and payments.

• origins in payments, ACH, and equipment finance
• why spreadsheets break at scale for lenders and ISOs
• pilot-driven design with Brad and measurable time savings
• financing beyond equipment: rentals, subscriptions, MCA, SBA
• risk tiers, automation for small tickets, human review for larger
• state-level compliance controls and configurable notices
• AI screening, data gathering, and future RAG agents
• out-of-the-box features, no lock-in, easy onboarding
• security model with roles, encryption, and audit readiness
• roadmap to CRM, collections, and payments under one roof

We dig into the real bottlenecks: fragmented data, slow underwriting handoffs, and state-by-state rules that derail momentum. You’ll hear how a meticulous pilot client helped shape features that matter in the field, from eSign and credit pulls to notifications that keep agents and merchants on track. The result is a measurable impact: application processing time cut by half and a cleaner path to scale. We also unpack the shift from traditional leasing to rentals, subscriptions, SBA, and MCA, and why small-ticket automation paired with human review for mid-range deals strikes the right balance between speed and safety.

AI plays a targeted role here. Today, the platform screens businesses and personal guarantors, pulling from public sources and surfacing insights an underwriter can act on. Tomorrow, retrieval-augmented search and action-oriented agents will help teams find similar cases, summarize financials, and propose next steps—always with a human in the loop. Security and governance stay front and center: role-based access, field-level permissions, encryption, audit readiness, and a roadmap that adds CRM, collections, ACH, and payments for a true one-stop shop.

If you’re ready to replace manual chaos with a system that adapts to your programs and compliance rules, this conversation shows what’s working now and what’s next. Subscribe, share with a teammate who lives in spreadsheets, and leave a review with the one feature you wish your lending workflow had.

**Matters discussed are all opinions and do not constitute legal advice. All events or likeness to real people and events is a coincidence.**

PEP Links:

https://www.globallegallawfirm.com/podcasts/

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2176695

A payments podcast of Global Legal Law Firm