Banks Are Ripping You Off, Says Affirm CEO Max Levchin

Max Levchin has been a serial entrepreneur for nearly two decades — and over time, he’s realized he’s also a serious one.

Levchin joined Kara Swisher on the latest episode of “Re/code Decode“ to talk about his nearly two decades founding companies such as PayPal, Slide.com, Glow and Affirm. Although Slide.com was focused on social entertainment, he said applying data to more weighty problems like fertility and money lending has been more enriching for him.

“Today, most banks have a fundamental misalignment of incentives with their customers,” Levchin said in reference to his financing startup Affirm. “A tremendous amount of profits come from late fees.”

Vjeran Pavic for Re/code

He also discussed mentoring entrepreneurs, why finance is becoming a hot field for both founders and investors, and the future of Yahoo, from whose board he recently stepped down.

“There are things that are worth destroying because there’s a better version,” Levchin said. “But an iconic Internet brand like Yahoo that still has a billion people who see it every month … I hope there’s a place [for it] in the new world.”

Listen to or download the episode in the player above, or click here to subscribe to “Re/code Decode” on iTunes; you can also find “Re/code Decode” right here on TuneIn.

Peter Kafka will be in this space on Thursday to talk to BuzzFeed’s Shani Hilton. Kara will be back on Monday to talk to Lyft President John Zimmer.

If you like this show, don’t miss our newest podcast: “Too Embarrassed to Ask.” It’s a bigger and better version of Lauren Goode and Kara Swisher’s weekly Q&A segment from “Re/code Decode.” Click here to subscribe to the new show on iTunes right now. And you should also check out “Re/code Replay,” an archive of audio content from our events and interviews by Kara Swisher, Walt Mossberg, Peter Kafka, Ina Fried and more. To subscribe to that, click right here.

You can follow @Recode on Twitter for the latest on upcoming guests.

If you like what we’re doing, please write a review on iTunes — and if you don’t, just tweet-strafe Kara and Peter. You can also suggest guests for the show on Twitter, and we’ll do our best to nab them for a Red Chair interview.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Millions turn to Vox to educate themselves, their family, and their friends about what’s happening in the world around them, and to learn about things that spark their curiosity. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all. Please consider making a one-time contribution to Vox today.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$95/year

$120/year

$250/year

$350/year

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $120/year

Yes, I'll give $120/year

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via