Jeff Shea, Co-Founder & CEO of Under | Episode 392

Leaders In Payments

Meet Jeff Shea, the co-founder and CEO of Under who's revolutionizing how payments companies onboard merchants. Drawing from over two decades in payments and fintech, Jeff has created a digital account opening platform that's solving one of the industry's most persistent challenges.
Under helps payments companies streamline merchant onboarding through integrated identity verification, automated risk assessments, and simplified application collection. Serving over 100 payments organizations across the United States, the company primarily works with wholesale ISOs, payment facilitators, payment processors, and software companies that monetize payments. Jeff explains that their platform bridges the gap between disjointed point solutions that many companies currently cobble together, creating a seamless experience from lead generation through merchant approval.
The conversation takes a fascinating turn when Jeff discusses the future of payments and underwriting. He predicts continued growth in embedded and verticalized payments as more software platforms own their payment stacks. Looking further ahead, he believes payments will become increasingly commoditized, with differentiation coming from how platforms manage identity, trust, decisioning, and merchant experience. Most compellingly, Jeff references a McKinsey report predicting that traditional underwriting will disappear within a decade, replaced by artificial intelligence, deep learning, and machine learning. These technologies promise faster approvals for legitimate merchants while more effectively identifying problematic applicants.
Ready to transform your merchant onboarding process? Discover how Under can help you approve the right merchants faster while reducing risk at under.io.

Chapters

1. Introduction to Jeff Shea (00:00:00)

2. Under's Digital Onboarding Platform (00:01:03)

3. Building vs. Buying Onboarding Solutions (00:04:33)

4. Future of Payments and AI (00:08:40)

5. Jeff's Career Journey and Advice (00:14:43)