The Idle Billions

Every company that moves money sits on a pause, and this book is the first I have read that treats that pause as a balance sheet instead of a technical detail. Giannetto and Ablowitz show why the companies that earned it will win when real-time rails wipe out everyone who merely inherited it. Read it before your processor does.

When Shopify decided to launch its own payment system, we assembled an A-Team of industry experts to assist in its design. Todd Ablowitz co-led this effort, and his expertise helped deliver what is today a global solution that has processed over a trillion dollars of GPV.

The future belongs to companies that understand not only how money moves, but where it pauses. In The Idle Billions, Giannetto and Ablowitz reveal how payments, embedded finance, loyalty, and float can transform ordinary transactions into enduring customer relationships and sustainable growth. A compelling roadmap for leaders seeking to unlock hidden value while building trust in an increasingly digital economy.

I co-founded the first neobank, then built infrastructure platforms to help companies embed real financial products. What I never had was language for the thing we were all reaching for. The Idle Billions supplies it: the Proximity Principle names an advantage every platform builder has felt, and the book is honest that the same advantage can be used well or badly.

Having led two of the country’s largest merchant-acquiring businesses, I have watched the balance of power shift from large institutions to those closest to the customer. The Idle Billions explains why that shift happened—and what too many companies still misunderstand about trust, loyalty, and customer relationships. This is an important read for every leader who wants to remain relevant in the future of payments.

Having spent decades driving mobile payments through NFC, I learned that proximity to the customer is about much more than being physically close—it is about a trusted, personalized connection that can deliver relevant value based on who you are, where you are, and what interests you, anytime and anywhere. The Idle Billions takes that principle further, showing how embedding financial capabilities into relevant, trusted customer relationships can create lasting customer and enterprise value. Business leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors should pay close attention.

I ran embedded finance before we had a name for it. The Sears Card and the H&R Block Emerald Card weren’t just loyalty perks—they were proof that proximity to the customer quite often beats the product purchase itself. The Idle Billions turns that decades-old instinct into a discipline. If you’re looking to transform your customer transactions into durable, compounding long-term revenue and relationships, this is your playbook.

I’ve spent five years advising software companies that can quote their payments revenue to the dollar and can’t tell you how that number was derived, whether it’s correct, or what they’re leaving on the table. The Idle Billions hands that control back to the operator, and Chapter Four’s money map is where it begins. If money moves through your product, read it before your next planning cycle.

Years spent acquiring and integrating businesses have taught me that what works at one scale doesn’t always hold up at the next. Giannetto and Ablowitz capture that reality powerfully, reminding leaders that growth requires us to continually examine the decisions and practices we choose to carry forward. If you are building, buying, or scaling a business, read this book and bring that same level of intention to what comes next.

The Idle Billions makes a complicated financial ecosystem easier to understand and navigate and asks leaders to look beyond the economics alone. The strongest strategies connect revenue opportunity with product, customer experience, and adoption. The question isn’t only, “How much can we make?” It’s “What can we make better?”