Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with James Winter

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Ghela Boskovich

Fintechs are not the same as banks, so we should not compare them as such. They have different cultures and specific ends with the services they provide - what ties them together is their significance to the end-customer. 
Joining us at the FF Salon, we have Ghela Boskovich, the Regional Director and Head of Europe at the Financial Data and Technology Association. Boskovich shreds the idealistic pedestal the fintech industry has been perched on for the past few years and lays bare the real purpose of fintech and why they should exist. 
“Fintech will never be bank-ified. There will be fintechs that have scaled up, and gotten to a particular level where they need to decide what they are,” she explains. “They are not the rebellious, edgy, bleeding-edge thing, but they become part of the institutional landscape” 
Banks and fintechs are distinct, but they must work in tandem with each other to better support the current needs of consumers. Global events such as famine, climate change and recessions will have a catastrophic financial impact on the most vulnerable people, who already have poor access to financial services. There are limits to the power of the fintech industry, but scale-ups prioritising financial education and health could be a step in the right direction in navigating people during this time. 
Fintech is by no means a magic solution to the world's ills, but Boskovich maintains that the industry shows its strengths by sticking to what it is best at. 
On what she expects for the future: “ I would like to see, personally, truly open banking. I would like to see unfettered data access across the board, so that you have a choice as to where your data goes, to get the services that you need.”

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Dharmesh Mistry

For the CEO of resident handover platform AskHomey, Dharmesh Mistry, if you’re going into fintech, you’ve got to go big. The pace of innovation is moving rapidly and the fintechs thrive, be it Square or Stripe, are the ones that experiment in high-risk markets and aren’t afraid to tackle the biggest problems in the financial economy. 
One big problem looming over us is homeownership. “A lot of people have poor access to finance, they don’t have the ability to buy their own home.” In this segment of the FF Salon, Mistry makes a case for new tech and its essential use in future home buying and mortgage financing. 
“With 10,000 data points in AskHomey, we can start to generate income for people, but also save them time and money when managing their home.”
In one app, AskHomey is able to consolidate and digitise all the documents tied to a customers house or flat, whether it be their lease, energy bills, or their metre readings. This one-top shop approach is a lifesaver for buyers of all steps on the property ladder as their paperwork is on hand, at all times. 
And for the current cost of living crisis, a water-tight resource around housing is a lifesaver for an insecure resident.

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Christiana Imafidon

In 2008, the elusive persona Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin whitepaper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, since the creation of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies has changed the payments game forever. Now, everyone wants in. 
We are joined by blockchain innovator Christiana Imafidon for this FF Salon, author and Education Ambassador for the Government Blockchain Association, who takes us on a deep dive into the blockchain and why it’s the key component of modern fintech. 
“The catalyst was seeing Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter launch Square, the payments company. And I thought, hold on, these are Silicon Valley heavyweights, entering into financial services, this is ripe for disruption, what's going on?”
Blockchain technology is integral to the infrastructure and protection of crypto and digital payments. Through the hackathons Imafidon participated in which specialised in digital identity and customer authentication, it was clear that blockchain is where all these components are represented. 
The secrecy around Nakamoto’s identity is thus illustrative of what blockchain technology enables, anonymity of identity and freedom of movement in digital finance. 
“I wonder whether or not they will reveal their true identity?” ponders Imafidon. The question is, does it really matter?

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Michael Hogan

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
 
Michael Hogan brings to MonetaGo three decades of banking experience - a company that provides the first-ever global solution to duplicate financing fraud in trade finance, and is the world’s foremost provider of such technology to prevent both domestic and cross-border duplicate financing. 
 
‘Five trillion dollars worth a year is lost in the US, based on the global numbers. The global part is about 100 trillion. International part is about a quarter of that. The domestic side, UK and US, is worth about 75 trillion. 5% of that is taken. Three trillion of the GDP of the UK is lost through fraud every year’. 
 
Fraud in trade finance is a pervasive, global problem that costs companies billions every year. But luckily with the likes of Michael on the case, the technology being developed is an innovative way of tackling it. Duplicate financing is a large fraud challenge, and is one of the key focuses that MonetaGo is addressing at scale. Aside from the impact that this has on the trade finance gap, large-scale fraud has also exposed certain vulnerabilities within the finance space, including the need for better tools and systems to detect and tackle trade finance fraud. 
 
‘‘The bank has to open its doors, and allow anybody that’s got the right access credentials to take that information and data and move it around, aggregate it, put it in nice fancy apps etc, and provide more value added service for the customer”. 
 
Whilst avoiding a previous perm and going for a new ‘Fintech’ style haircut from our top stylist Andrew, Michael Hogan outlines some of the examples of how his previous banking experience informs his position at MonetaGo and how their sustainability policy works as an indirect cause for good. 

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Miroslava Betinova

If Griffin was a haircut, it would be a mullet from the 80s. 
 
Why? Because it’s something that everyone notices and no-one forgets. It’s also having a massive resurgence…
 
In this episode of the FF Salon Series, Miroslava Betinova outlines the future plans for Griffin, an API lead bank for Fintech and regulated entities in the UK that’s currently going through the bank authorisation process with PRA and FCA.
 
‘It’s going well, it’s a super tough process, been going on for about 3 years now. It’s incredible what a team of about 40 people managed to achieve in that space of time, lots of dedication, lots of knowledge, we’re getting there and we’re hoping by the second half of next year we’ll be able to enter the UK market as a full licensed bank’. 
 
According to Miroslava, the process is a long and complex procedure that requires a lot of feedback and patience. And with regulators fighting back against crypto, Griffin must make sure to do their homework. Decentralised finance can create innovative ways of delivering and broadening access to financial products and services, but this creates challenges for regulators who recognise the potential benefits. ‘It’s an ongoing university of financial services’.  
 
And is it stressful or exciting? A bit of both as anyone could imagine, but if it’s done for the right reasons it’s worth it. If it looks as if a new bank has a good chance of success, that's when the complicated part begins. 
 
So how do they cope at Griffin when the pressure mounts? Miroslava gives us an insight into the importance of working with friends, how to reward progress, and how emojis are now an essential part of communication.

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Theodora Lau

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Denise Johansson

Enfuce is the forerunner in the fast-moving fintech world, revolutionising payments for fintechs, banks and merchants since day one. But why did Denise Johansson, Co-Founder of the Nordic Fintech company want to rebuild payments from the ground up?
 
 ‘One part is lack of opportunities, wherever in life you are, and the second part is that you see an opportunity, you see a gap in the industry. For us it was exactly those two’. With the same pitches and the same services being thrown around, the opportunity to shake things up was too big to miss. But with Nordic finance being at the forefront of innovation, how does Enfuse keep up with the ever evolving industry? 
 
‘You never know what will come next, but as soon as you start to know, you’re not interested’. 
Visiting the FF Salon, Denise tells us how she wants to enable innovations we haven’t seen yet - and not just for companies in Europe alone. Talking about global Fintech, it’s projected that the whole world will move to the digital space in terms of finance. But which countries are already well ahead? And what can we learn from the global market?  
 
As of now, it’s believed that financial technologies are mostly used in the European Union, especially the Nordic states, where the use of cash has all but disappeared from the economy. But is there still the odd city holding on to the concept of ‘cash is king’, and are they closer to home than we think? Any guesses? 
 
By expanding the industry in developing countries, every citizen of the world will have the opportunity to participate in the global digital economy, driving growth inside and outside those countries. Yet despite its small population and a relatively conservative banking scene, the Nordic region is one of the most dynamic places in the world of financial technology. 
 
As Denise takes us through her game plan, there is no sign of that trend letting up. 

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Ruediger Vogt

When you have the foresight of Ruediger Vogt, the future is extremely bright. With his stance on innovation, sustainability and eco welfare, the Head of Payment 4.0 for Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) has a strong vision for what’s ahead. 
As a company that provides banknote and security printing, smart cards and cash handling systems, Ruediger takes us through how customers of G+D can be part of a growing economic change - from understanding CO2 and water consumption based on their spending, to using cards made from recycled plastic from the ocean. 
How can the future of sustainability be enhanced? That’s a question he’s asking for the near future. But his long term plans reveal something much more metaphysical.
Have you heard of the metaverse? Well it’s about time you did…
Existing corporations such as JP Morgan, HSBC, even Snoop Dogg are all taking steps to expand in this hypothetical iteration of the Internet - from buying real estate to creating virtual holidays ‘abroad’. Pegged to become an $800 billion market by 2024, it’s time to find out what this complex term means.
Many companies that have hopped on board the metaverse bandwagon also envision some sort of new digital economy, where users can create, buy, and sell goods. But if you’re not Snoop Dogg (and we all wish we were) how does an everyday joe get his hand in using the Metaverse for his small business? 

Fintech Finance Podcasts: The FF Salon Pilot with Nina Mohanty

As the daughter of an immigrant family, from the stepping stones of Mastercard, Klarna and Starling Bank, Nina has ambitions to get her own company Bloom Money on the market - and for the right reasons. 
Bloom Money is an ethical fintech company that serves Diaspora communities, providing tools for them so they can build generational wealth. 
‘So much of what we do in financial services, especially with migrant communities is focused on sending money away’. But according to Nina, there’s no reason they can’t build wealth here in the UK as well. Settling in a new country often means new ways of working, socialising and living, and Nina has her sights set on building prosperity. 
‘There’s so many really talented people that work in fintech, and we were all building for the same demographic - and that’s great - but I wanted to build for people that had life circumstances that were different’. The backbone of our society. Invisible people. They should have fintech products too. 
And where did this drive come from? Her parents and their generosity, whose advice has helped her in more ways than one. 
The pressures of being a Co-Founder is nothing new to Nina Mohanty. Whether it be overseeing pension funds or the salaries of her team, to not overstretching what’s possible for a venture backed startup, the Co-Founder of Bloom Money gives her stance on how to keep it together.