A Philosopher. A Soldier. A New Vision for Lending.

“There was a sense of responsibility. These were people we had served with.”
-Jay Long

When the U.S. began evacuating tens of thousands of Afghan allies in 2021, Jay Long and Alex McLeod were watching closely. For Jay, it was a personal mission. He had served in Afghanistan, worked alongside Afghan partners during his military deployments, and felt a deep responsibility as the U.S. withdrew. For Alex, who had spent years working on social impact ventures focused on inclusion and upskilling, it was a humanitarian one. But neither expected that those events would lead to the launch of a FinTech company aimed at reshaping how small businesses access capital.

That company is Parlay Finance, and it was born from a simple but frustrating realization: many of the Afghan women resettling in the U.S. were incredibly capable, entrepreneurial, and completely shut out from the financial system. No credit footprint. No paperwork. No bank would lend to them, even if they were ready to build.

So Jay and Alex started asking questions. What does it really take to qualify for a loan? Why is the process so manual, repetitive, and opaque, especially for small-dollar business loans? And what if technology could change that, not by replacing bankers, but by equipping them?

“We live in this really interesting time where technology is redefining the limits of the possible.”
-Alex McLeod

The answer became Parlay: an AI-powered Loan Intelligence System that streamlines qualification, automates verification, and helps lenders say yes faster, without cutting corners on risk. It’s tech that doesn’t just speed things up. It makes decisions smarter, more human, and more scalable.

And here’s the twist: nearly the entire Parlay founding team are military veterans or spouses. For them, service isn’t a buzzword. It’s a daily lens. “I think there are a lot of different ways to serve the country. And right now we think this is one of the most important ways we can help,” Jay said.

Still, getting Parlay off the ground wasn’t easy. The co-founders went full-time in January 2023, right before Silicon Valley Bank collapsed and the banking world re-centered on deposits over lending. The headwinds were real. But so was the mission. And those constraints sharpened their focus.

They talked to hundreds of lenders. Learned the language. Asked not just what they liked, but why they wouldn’t buy. That kind of feedback loop turned Parlay into a system that listens, adapts, and evolves. One that doesn’t try to replace the human judgment of lenders, but learns from it.

“Our success is going to be tied to how quickly we can learn,” Jay said in the episode. That insight speaks to the heart of Parlay’s culture, and its future.

For community banks like Locality, that’s good news. It means more ways to serve local companies. More yeses. More time for relationships. And less time chasing documents and checkboxes.

Jay and Alex didn’t set out to build a FinTech company. They set out to solve a real-world problem. The company just happened to be the best way to do that.

Closing Thought: Sometimes the most effective innovations don’t come from industry insiders. They come from people with a deep sense of mission, a different lens on the problem, and the grit to keep asking better questions.

From the Lightning Round⚡

Favorite Book

• Alex: “I’ve got two: The Master and Margarita is my fiction one. And then The Confident Mind by Nate Zinsser is the nonfiction one.”
• Jay: “I’d say a book that had disproportionate influence was Plato’s Republic.”

Favorite Podcast

• Alex: “We went through a period of listening to Freakonomics, which I love.”
• Jay’s been diving into corporate finance and accounting podcasts lately, and gave a thoughtful mention to West Point’s Irregular Warfare Podcast, which a friend of his curates.

Someone They Admire

• Alex: “Jill Castilla (CEO, Citizens Bank of Edmond). She’s out there fighting just like (Locality).”
• Jay: “In the spirit of banking: Alexander Hamilton.”

New Skill They’re Learning

• Alex: “Learning how to delegate while scaling, which basically involves breaking and recreating systems with some frequency.”

  Jay: “Candidly… business. Corporate finance, building B2B marketing systems. It’s been humbling to dive into what does it take to build a great business from the ground up.”

Fun Fact

• Alex plays in a band called The Entreprenerds, a group made up of fellow startup founders.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Locality Bank makes no warranty, express or implied, nor assumes any legal liability or any responsibility for the accuracy, correctness, completeness, or any actions taken based on the information provided. Loan programs, terms, and requirements are subject to change. Deposit accounts are subject to account opening requirements. Always consult a qualified professional for specific guidance related to your situation.