Fintech Insider By 11:fs

In this episode From last week’s magnificent Money20/20 Europe, Jason interviews Rita Liu, Head of Alipay (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), the world’s largest mobile and online payments platform since 2014, and Simon catches up with Edward Budd, Managing Director and Chief Digital Officer of Global Transaction Banking at Deutsche Bank. Rita tells us about the European expansion of Alipay, and the innovations in fintech coming from China and the Asian market; and some of the new, cool initiatives from Ant Financial and Alipay, including carbon saving monitoring, (e.g. paperless payments), resulting in Alipay planting trees once you reach a certain threshold. She also explains Alipay’s ethos in relation to testing and creating new products at scale, and partnerships with retailers to grow Alipay’s use and exposure in Europe. Edward Budd tells Simon about Deutsche Bank’s digital trade opportunities, opening up the market for new clients, and new market segments. Their particular focus currently is o

In this episode: We bring you the highlights from last week’s amazing event at Money20/20 Europe in beautiful Copenhagen. We caught up with some fascinating guests, speakers and interviewees including: Derek White from BBVA speaking to Simon about open platforms, APIs and customer input in development of new products; Jason interviews Andrew and Tac from JCB International; and Bill Gajda, SVP at VISA announcing their partnership with Klarna; and Simon catches up with Bianca Lopes, SVP of BioConnect, about data privacy, online identification and online reputation management. Next up, Simon chats to Aaron Phethean from Temenos about their software, marketplace partnerships and scalability with fintechs and incumbents; followed by Eugene Danilkis the CEO of Mambu, the SaaS banking software provider. David interviews Don Ginsel, the founder of Holland Fintech, ahead of Money20/2o Europe going to Amsterdam next year; and finally Meaghan talks to Lav Odorović, CEO of Penta. Guests: Derek White – Creatin

In this episode We bring you our first ever live podcast, recorded in front of a live audience at Money20/20 Europe, Copenhagen. With all four of our regular hosts, David Brear, Jason Bates, Simon Taylor and Chris Skinner, plus six fantastic guests from the world of fintech and banking (and previous podcasts), they discuss the latest news and stories with additional audience interaction, including: Goldman Sachs’ lending business hitting its first $1bn mark, is this a good thing or is it old news?, the pros and cons of card use and card readers vs smartphone points of sale – as pioneered by Jack Dorsey’s Square; and the merits of Will.i.am as an advisor to Atom Bank and personification of their market sector, which opens up discussion of who other banks would be if they were a pop star. We also hear Starling’s own Megan Cawood on their European expansion and Simon and Ajit lead the audience into a cryptocurrency Q&A explaining the Ethereum “flash crash” and what this means for Ethereum’s future, and c

In this episode David is joined by the multi-talented Jonathan Larsen, who is simultaneously CIO of Ping An, based in Hong Kong and CEO of their Global Voyager Fund. The Global Voyager Fund is a $1billion fund for investment in global fintech, and Jonathan and his team ensure that via this fund they have access to the best innovation around the globe and the best partnerships opportunities. He discusses the impact of financial innovation in China and the enormous opportunities for scalability that China offers, unlike anywhere else. Equally, he tells us about the international opportunities that have arisen from this, reversing the flow of technological advancement from China to the rest of the world whereas previously the flow was going in the opposite direction. The biggest opportunity in China is fintech for healthcare but this is also branching out worldwide with platforms sponsored by the Global Voyager Fund, such as gooddoctor.com the “uber of doctors”. Jonathan also shares with us his visions f

In this episode Simon interviews Ali Niknam, CEO of Bunq, who firstly, tells us all about where the name Bunq came from, what the brand name means and stands for, and how important that is to the company ethos and their overall mantra of being “the bank of the free”. Bunq is a small company with big ambitions for geographic expansion and scalability; Ali tells us that control and ownership is so important to them (they do not outsource their development); and he deliberately chose to run a small team to deliver the best quality products and experience for the end user. It is also part of Bunq’s USP that they take on user feedback when developing their products and are not afraid to experiment, for example they were first bank in the world to try face recognition software. Ali also explains Bunq’s target market and customer demographics, and the Bunq service-orientated business model, in essence: “not making money with money”. Want to know more? Check out Bunq.com, follow them on Twitter, or connect wi

In this episode We have a whole host of hosts as David, Jason, Simon and Aden are joined by Mariano Belinky and Jamie Campbell for the news. This week in a European-led section of the show the team discuss Swedish giant Klarna getting it’s official banking licence to begin delivering financial services, Spain’s first fully digital bank, European “robo advice”, and the European Central Bank demanding declaration of all cyber security breaches. It’s raining money in Durham as Atom gets a further £30 million investment from the government, and why did Will.i.am became an advisor to Atom – and does it work? Additionally, they also take on the Barclays execs’ fraud charges during the financial crisis in 2008, ahead of their hearing next week; and an equally political story on the other side of the pond: Elizabeth Warren’s attempts to remove 12 Wells Fargo board members. Finally, the guys also discuss whether PayPal are right to dismiss the Apple Pay challenge; and the impact of two thirds of the world’s

In this episode Simon interviews Nathan Bostock, CEO of Santander UK. Nathan explains how Santander is embracing the tech changes facing the banking industry, and the shifting customer behaviours in their interactions with the bank with the help of digital innovation. He also tells us that digital innovation evolves around good customer service so Santander tries maintain “customer-centricity” in all it does, to drive its customer experience forward, and that hiring strong digital talent is so important to them to help them achieve this. Nathan also tells us that the Santander company ethos and mindset is that of a challenger, not an incumbent, so they are always looking for opportunities for innovation that can challenge the status quo, while simultaneously taking customer data security very seriously. One key opportunity for innovation is that of partnership with fintech companies and Nathan explains the success of their partnership with small business lending company, Kabbage. Want to know more?

In this episode: We bring you the highlights from the RFI global banking summit where we were lucky enough to speak to a variety of different guests, on a range of topics. First up, Aden spoke with Louise Beaumont, Co-Chair at Open Bank Working Group, to talk about all things open banking, before he dived into a chat with regular FinTech Insider guest Ghela Boskovich. Later on he chats to Luis Rodriguez, VP Strands Lab and Ricky Knox, founder of Tandem. Later on, Simon Taylor takes the reigns as he chats with Mike Kelly, the Founder of Curl, Jesse McWaters of the World Economic Forum, Charles Green, CEO of RFi Group, the host of the event, and Yarrick, CEO of NBank. Guests: Louise Beaumont – Co chair, Open Bank Working Group Luis Rodriguez, VP Strands Labs Ghela Boskovich Ricky Knox – founder of Tandem Mike Kelly – Founder of Curl Jesse McWaters – Financial Innovation Lead, The World Economic Forum Charles Green – Founder and Group CEO RFi   Enjoying FinTech Insider? Tell a frien

In this episode David is back! He and Aden are joined by regulars Liz and Sarah for the news. This week the team take on The FCA’s cohort 3 and reveals cohort 2 for their sandbox; Amazon flexing it’s financial services muscles; and the “demise of a fintech darling” as Monetise is to be acquired by Fiserv for £70million, when it was previously valued at £2billion. They also ask “what the hell is Zelle?” – the instant transfer app taking the US by storm, a key rival of Venmo, a product of six banks working together with 86million instantly available customers, it looks set to make big waves. The team also tackle Uber upheavals, and the ongoing sexism disputes threatening to tear the company apart,  leaving it currently without a CEO, CTO or COO – is this the beginning of the end for them? Even if it’s not, being the “Uber of banking” may no longer be a thing to aspire to. They also discuss what is the future for the small town bank branches and is honesty the best policy?, as Monzo sends out open commun

In this episode Jason interviews Daphne de Kluis, CEO of commercial banking at ABN AMRO, the Dutch banking giant. Speaking at the Beyond Banking event in Amsterdam, Daphne and Jason discuss the importance of the event to enhance co-creation between partners, external clients, and customers to shape the future of banking and products. She believes in the importance of asking clients for their feedback and what they want from their bank to create more collaborative development that allows ABN AMRO to reach beyond the boundaries of the traditional bank and offer better customer service. They discuss the value of entrepreneurship and ABN AMRO’s ongoing efforts to change the company culture to challenge their employees to think outside the box and work more like entrepreneurs, no small feat in such a giant organisation! Jason also asks her for her views on fintech and challenger banks – does she see them as a threat? They also discuss her thoughts on digitisation in banking – is it almost complete or barely

In this episode Simon and Aden are joined by regulars Ghela and Sarah for the news. This week we discuss all things politics on both sides of the pond, especially THAT Dodd Frank legislation repeal proposed by Trump, that seems to have flown slightly under the radar while we were all looking the other way, watching Comey’s testimony- and what this would mean for banks and their customers if it happens. Also on the table is the UK election result and the potential “Brexit dilemma”: other European fintech hubs could take the talent and budget away from London – will London fight back? They also tackle whether it’s possible for incumbents to ever truly become fintech firms, or will innovation always get bogged down in middle management? On the flipside is Coinbase, who has just achieved unicorn status with their latest valuation – is it a game-changer to have a cryptocurrency firm inducted into unicornland? The team also debate whether it’s a big deal that Apple have announced a peer-to-peer payment serv

In this episode Jason and Simon catch up with ABN AMRO’s Freek de Steenwinkel & Roland Booijen, and Ali Niknam, CEO of Dutch challenger bank, Bunq to discuss traditional banking vs challenger banks and fintech in the Netherlands. Are fintechs competing with incumbents or assisting incumbents? They find out how our guests feel about hackathons, hiring developer talent, APIs and the up-coming PSD2 directive. They also discuss regulations, compliance and new product development, in particular ABN AMRO’s Tikkie – an easy-to-use payment management tool, allowing peer to peer transfers via WhatsApp. Freek, Roland and Ali also give their predictions on the future of the Dutch fintech market as a whole, and its impact on existing banks and financial products. Guests Freek de Steenwinkel – Lead Product owner Tikkie (ABN AMRO) Roland Booijen –  Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation – ABN AMRO Ali Niknam – CEO of Bunq Enjoying FinTech Insider? Tell a friend about us and please leave us a revie

In this episode David interviews Paul Lipman, CEO of Bullguard, the consumer cyber security experts. Following very topical compromises of ransomware around the world, Paul explains how Bullguard are always fighting a constant battle with the “bad guys” to stay ahead of cyber threats to protect their customers across all their devices. We learn how institutions are still too reliant on old software, exposing their vulnerability and that “patching up” fixes are not enough. Paul reminds us that any software can be hacked and that cyber security education across all businesses and industries is paramount as often it’s us humans that let the side down, no matter how secure the internal systems are! Paul also discusses his new product, Dojo by Bullguard, a smart home security solution that is designed to protect all your smart devices in the home from being compromised and inadvertently sharing your data to unwanted third parties; and the Dojo Pebble, a notification device that updates you on the data secur

In this episode In the third of our three part Blockchain Special, Simon and Colin are joined by some very special guests to discuss EEA, ZCash and the potential similarities between blockchain and the rise of cryptocurrencies and the dot-com bubble in the 90s, and asks the question: “Why should we be paying attention?”. They also debate the anonymity of blockchain and user privacy; and centralisation vs decentralisation in blockchain APIs – do we still need the middle man? In the second half they discuss highly topical news stories such as the EU’s pledge to invest in blockchain research and Theresa May’s proposal for greater internet security and access to public data – is she asking for the impossible?  Like what you heard? Look out for Blockchain Insider – a dedicated podcast to all things blockchain, coming soon! Guests Jack Gavigan – COO at Z-Cash (The Zerocoin Electric Coin Company) Alex Batlin – Co-Founder at Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and Global Head of Emerging Business & Technology

In this episode Aden and Simon are joined by regulars Kadhim and Liz for the news. This week we find out if it’s really necessary to use VR in banking; and, as ATMs are dying and costing banks to run, we discuss the pros and cons of hard cash versus digital transactions – and the various reasons why people are still keen on cash. We also myth-bust the theory that consumers are less trusting of robots or AI for banking and money movements than they would be for major surgery; and if it’s true Google can track what you’re buying online and offline via your credit card purchases – and how do we feel about this? Finally, the team debate the importance of big banks and banking regulators beginning to pay attention to fintech, and why Chicago should be a fintech hub, but isn’t. Guests Elizabeth Lumley FinTech commentator & Author of girl-disrupted.com Kadhim Shubber, Reporter at Financial Times News this week Finextra –  BNP Paribas jumps into virtual reality – Link Finextra – Bank of America pr

In this episode We welcome back Valentin Stalf, CEO of N26 back to the show. Simon spends some time to catch up with Valentin on N26’s growth and how they’ve forged ahead expanding to new countries. Valentin talks about what is needed to be done to enter the UK market. We cover N26’s growing pains related to cyber security, Valentin’s approach to countering it and using bug bounty programs to create a sustained defence. We talk to advantages of digital on boarding and what the future looks like for N26 and open API’s. We then find out what it’s like to be a young CEO and how to stay productive while having the world on your shoulders. You can follow Valentin on Twitter here and learn more about N26 on their website. Enjoying FinTech Insider? Tell a friend about us and please leave us a review on iTunes.   The post Ep258 – Interview: Valentin Stalf, Co-Founder & CEO at N26 appeared first on 11:FS.

In this episode   Part 2 of our Blockchain Special, Simon and Colin with a roster of fascinating guests focus on the recent Consensus conference. We cover what the conference is, who should be attending and where it means to the industry. We give you a crash course on the difference between cryptocurrencies and DLT, what the main impacts ledger technology will have on banks and what is causing the major spikes in crypto currency prices right now. Stay tuned in for our final part next week. Guests Ghela Boskovich Ajit Tripathi, Director, Fintech and Digital Banking at PwC Jeremy Millar, Chief Of Staff at ConsenSys Enjoying FinTech Insider? Tell a friend about us and please leave us a review on iTunes. The post Ep257 – Blockchain Special Part 2: Consensus Recap appeared first on 11:FS. Special Guest: Ghela Boskovich.

In this episode David, Jason and Simon jump into the news accompanied by Richard Davies. This week borderless bank accounts, can your voice be secure and we make Simon talk Apple pay. We also have interviews from Transferwise, Seedrs and Pensionbee to cover their big announcements this week. Guests Richard Davies Global Head of Propositions at HSBC Joe Cross General Manager at Transferwise Jeff Lynn CEO at Seedrs Romina Savova CEO at Pensionbee News this week Techcrunch – TransferWise launches ‘Borderless’ account for businesses, sole traders and freelancers – Link BBC fools HSBC voice recognition security system – Link Apple Pay now supports higher value transactions at most UK contactless tills – Link American Banker – If banks wait for APIs to be mandated, it will be too late – Link British firm Seedrs plans a secondary market for crowd-funded shares – Link afr.com – How Pocketbook went from a Sydney spreadsheet to a fintech with 300,000 users – Link PensionsBee partners

For this very special edition of Fintech Insider Interviews, Simon had the chance to talk to Christopher Giancarlo, Acting Chairman of the CFTC. Christopher walks us through what the CFTC is and how they differ from the SEC. He talks about how the CTFC are trying to foster new innovation through their LabCFTC initiative. LabCFTC is an effort to become an early adopter regulator looking into applications of machine learning, AI, DLT and Blockchain technologies being applied to regulatory challenges. Christopher speaks to Simon about the value of new technology and what an updated regulatory environment could look like going forward. Want more of Christopher? You can follow him on Twitter here. You can find out more about the CFTC on their website. Enjoying FinTech Insider? Tell a friend about us and please leave us a review on iTunes. The post Ep255 – Interview: Christopher Giancarlo, Acting Chairman CFTC appeared first on 11:FS.

In this episode As crypto currency interest and prices reach an all time high Simon and Colin bring you the first of a three part special on Blockchain. We delve into the hurricane of news that surfaced this week talking all time high prices, Bitcoin’s effect on national security and the CFTC’s foray into the blockchain. In our second half tokens and ICO’s are on the table as we explain what exactly an ICO is, what tokens are, what industries are reacting and why you should be paying attention. Keep an eye out for part 2 next week!   Guests Kadhim Shubber, Reporter at Financial Times Euros Evans Enjoying FinTech Insider? Tell a friend about us and please leave us a review on iTunes. The post Ep254 – Blockchain Special Part 1: Tokens appeared first on 11:FS.