Episode 6: Programmable Finance in Action: Case Studies That Signal the Future

In this episode of The Smart Money Stack, Rameez Ali breaks down three powerful case studies that demonstrate how programmable finance is transitioning from theory to reality.

• Trafigura: How a commodities giant cut payment processing time by 72% through programmable workflows

• Visa and BBVA: Piloting tokenized deposits and programmable compliance through Visa’s Tokenized Asset Platform

• Stripe: Expanding stablecoin accounts to 100+ countries and scaling stablecoin payments after its Bridge acquisition

Beyond the headlines, Rameez introduces two simple frameworks for analyzing developments in programmable finance:

1. The Layers – Infrastructure, Platforms, Applications

2. The Lenses – Efficiency, Resilience, Scalability

Together, they offer a way to understand not just what companies are doing today, but how these moves shape the financial system of tomorrow.

📖 Inspired by Rameez’s book Programmable Finance: The Future of Money in a Tokenized World, this episode helps listeners see programmable finance as the new operating system for money.

• (00:03) - Introduction to Programmable Finance
• (01:56) - Beyond Commodities: Universal Applications
• (03:20) - Visa's Role in Programmable Payments
• (04:22) - Stripe and the Rise of Stablecoins
• (05:23) - Connecting the Case Studies to Programmable Finance
• (07:33) - The Future of Payments and Finance