Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS 1050.News: Starling launches UK’s first agentic AI banking, Paymentology’s WhatsApp neobank and Turkey SEPA expansion
Mar 30, 2026
David Sullivan, Starling Bank data director who led its agentic AI work. Cem Güler, DenizBank PMO lead with deep SEPA and cross-border payments experience. Merusha Naidu, Paymentology partnerships head focused on financial inclusion. They discuss Starling’s new agentic AI assistant. They debate Turkey joining SEPA and its practical impacts. They cover Paymentology’s WhatsApp-based neobank for Africa and why conversational banking can boost inclusion.
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Rebuild To Release AI Features Faster
- Ship AI capabilities incrementally and reuse components to shorten delivery cycles from months to weeks.
- David Sullivan says Starling rebuilt its AI infrastructure to roll out new agents in weeks and expand toolsets in days.
Payment Standards Smooth Agentic Payments
- Standardised payment protocols and APIs make agentic payments easier to adopt across providers.
- David Sullivan notes Starling signed Google's agent payments protocol to enable agentic payment capabilities.
Conversational Banking Removes Onboarding Barriers
- Conversational banking on existing messaging platforms can unlock inclusion by removing app download and onboarding friction.
- Merusha Naidu describes ChikwamaPay creating IBAN accounts and instant debit cards entirely through WhatsApp onboarding.