Hello, I'm
Nicholas Payne
CTO, Lendesca
AI for lending that has to be defended years after the close.
Nicholas Payne is a St. Louis-based fintech CTO. He is Chief Technology Officer at Lendesca, where he leads an AI-native loan origination platform for government-guaranteed lending (SBA and USDA). His career includes building lending infrastructure used by Fortune 500 institutions. He holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems and Finance from Saint Louis University, Magna Cum Laude.
Experience
Lendesca
Chief Technology Officer, May 2025 – Present
VP, Technology & Lending Innovation, June 2024 – May 2025
AI-native originating lender service provider for government-guaranteed
lending, including SBA and USDA programs.
I lead technology for Lendesca’s AI-native loan origination platform, spanning product architecture, engineering leadership, and the systems that support SBA and USDA lending.
Credit Workbench
Co-Founder & CTO, 2022 – 2024
SaaS platform focused on simplifying and securing the business credit
lifecycle, helping finance organizations streamline the customer-to-cash cycle.
I led the technical work to bring the product to life, with hands-on ownership of architecture, infrastructure, and engineering.
- Wireframes and requirements
- Product roadmap collaboration
- Infrastructure and architecture oversight
- Technical team leadership
- Vendor selection and management
Everest Horology Products
Chief Information Officer, 2020 - 2022
Creator of straps and accessories in the high-end Swiss watch market.
Innovative, Direct-to-Consumer brand with a devoted social following.
This brand and this experience ignited my love for the DTC world. It was fascinating to immerse myself into the full ecosystem available to Shopify and other online brands.
My primary focus was the implementation of smart automation and best-of-breed e-commerce tools to improve the customer experience without additional headcount, all while growing top line revenue.
A full globalization of logistics and fulfillment enabled us to service and further expand our overseas customer base. Our toolset enabled us to reach customers in their language and using their currency. We established a smart global shipping network to drastically reduce cost and improve customer experience.
Financial Network, Inc.
Chief Technology Officer, 2016 - 2020
Director, Products & Technology, 2013 - 2016
Director, Operations, 2009 - 2013
Project Manager, 2007 - 2009
Leading provider of Loan Origination Software for over 30 years.
A respected innovator in a broad range of custom and off-the-shelf solutions for many of the nation's largest banks and non-bank lenders.
With 20 years of history prior to my arrival, FNI had already established itself as a go-to source for fully-custom credit solutions with a particular focus on speed-to-market. Clients included Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Sallie Mae, Navient, and UMB.
The first half of my tenure focused on operational improvements in areas that included Quality Assurance, Production Support Operations, and Release Management.
Subsequent to those improvements, FNI executed a successful pivot to a product-based company. My efforts led design and creation of our flagship products Blueprint and Decision Core. This pivot required using the incredibly talented team at FNI to rethink and modernize all layers of the technology stack.
Mythos Consulting
President, 2004 – 2024
Custom software development practice dedicated to helping small and mid-sized businesses grow.
Developer of functional solutions including marketing websites, e-commerce
experiences, and custom ERP platforms. Deep expertise in many languages and frameworks including
Wordpress, Shopify, Codeigniter, Laravel, and Vue.
Alongside later executive roles, Mythos Consulting was a hands-on development practice.
From 2004 I worked with small and mid-sized businesses on custom business solutions and B2B/DTC websites.
Education
Saint Louis University
B.S. Management Information Systems and Finance, Magna Cum Laude
Press / Mentions
Yahoo Finance · GlobeNewswire
As SBA Lending Concentrates, Lendesca Gives Every Lender a Way Back In
MarketMinute · GlobeNewswire
As SBA Lending Concentrates, Lendesca Gives Every Lender a Way Back In
Malone Telegram · GlobeNewswire
As SBA Lending Concentrates, Lendesca Gives Every Lender a Way Back In
Technology Interests
AI
Agile
Mentoring
System Design
Javascript
Laravel
Node.js
PHP
Vue
Shopify
Wordpress
Codeigniter
Let's Connect
I am a St. Louis-based Chief Technology Officer at Lendesca.
I welcome the opportunity to connect. Please feel free to reach out via email or LinkedIn below.
