IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

Justin Banon, CEO & Co-Founder, Boson ProtocolEcommerce platforms claim to value customer-centricity when what they are really doing is hoarding data and separating people from the value they create, according to Boson Protocol. The company aims to disrupt ecommerce platforms by tokenising ‘things’ – real-world products and services and commerce data within a liquid digital market, built on DeFi. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Justin Banon, CEO and Co-Founder of Boson Protocol about how the company automates digital to physical redemptions using NFTs encoded with game theory in what it calls decentralised autonomous commerce.

Lalit Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO, Decimal TechnologiesAround the world, economies are dependent on their SME sectors for employment and wealth creation, but SMEs face continued problems in access to credit, especially women entrepreneurs. In India, for example, according to an International Finance Corporation report, more than 70% of the total finance requirement of women entrepreneurs is unmet. AI and machine learning may go some way to helping narrow the credit access gap. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Lalit Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO of Decimal Technologies.

 Stefano Cipollone, Business Development Manager, AurigaBanks are under both political and public pressure to preserve access to cash. ATM pooling could be the solution to them being able to do this in an economical way, overcoming the barrier of operating costs through the sharing of ATM infrastructure by multiple banks. Institutions in Finland, Sweden and Belgium have already adopted ATM pooling. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Stefano Cipollone, Business Development Manager at Auriga about the barriers and success factors in play.

Ben Richmond, Founder & CEO, CUBE   In a new report, Data: Poison or Cure?, global RegTech CUBE explores the potential of data in financial services. While remote working has made compliance more of a challenge, systems are getting smarter. Remember, however, that data outcomes are only as good as the data that you feed into your system! Ben Richmond, Founder and CEO of Cube, speaks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence.  

Russell Starr, Chief Executive Officer, Trillium GoldBitcoin is a hot topic as the moment – is it the way of the future or does its price volatility rule it out as both a currency and an investment? Can we compare ‘digital gold’ and its mining to that old-fashioned yellow metal that gets dug out the ground? Is there room in the investment space for both? Robin Amlôt discusses these and other challenges facing the world’s financial markets with Russell Starr, CEO of Trillium Gold.

Danny Chazonoff, Chief Operating Officer, PaysafePaysafe’s Lost in Transaction report surveyed 8,000 consumers around the world on how the global pandemic has affected their spending habits. Globally, 86% confirmed changes to their behaviours and a majority (59%) also tried using a new payment method for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Danny Chazonoff, COO of Paysafe speaks to Robin Amlôt about the report’s findings and what they mean for the future of commerce. 

Elin Helander, Chief Scientific Officer, DreamsSweden-based Dreams has partnered with Ukrainian commercial bank, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group, allowing the bank to leverage Dreams’ financial wellbeing technology and behavioural science methodology. The deal means UKRSIBBANK’s 2 million customers will have access to a range of functionalities from which they can set and achieve money-saving goals through automated saving features, in addition to nudges and hacks. Elin Helander, Chief Scientific Officer of Dreams speaks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence about why banks have a responsibility for their customers’ financial well-being and the benefits that would accrue if they took that role seriously.

Rick McElroy, Principal Cybersecurity Strategist, VMwareThe disruption caused by the pandemic along with an ‘anywhere’ workforce has resulted in a surge of sophisticated cyberattacks and material breaches. According to VMware’s Global Security Insights Report 2021: Intelligence from the Global Cybersecurity Landscape, 76% of global cybersecurity professionals said attacks had increased due to employees working remotely. Rick McElroy, Principal Cybersecurity Strategist at VMware discusses the threat landscape with Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence.

Vikas Srivastava, Chief Revenue Officer, IntegralIntegral recently surveyed 94 heads of FX trading and senior FX managers, reviewing the global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the FX business. Among the survey’s findings, 28% of respondents said they will operate their FX technology completely in the cloud within the next 5 years, compared to just 2% at present. In distribution channels, 46% confirmed that multi-dealer platforms (MDPs) will see the biggest rise in trading in the next 12 months. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Vikas Srivastava, Chief Revenue Officer, Integral, about the tech trends in FX trading.

Fidelma McGuirk, CEO and Founder, PayslipCovid-related travel restrictions, in-country business continuity requirements and the massive increase in WFH have significantly boosted international hiring and country expansion. However, multinational institutions face a range of payroll pain points, including lack of data standardisation and automation, reporting and analytics, together with potential compliance and employment regulatory issues. Fidelma McGuirk, CEO and Founder of Payslip speaks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence about these challenges in the new normal.