IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

 Fino Payments Bank is a new kind of bank in India called Payments Bank, a license given out by the Indian banking regulator RBI in 2014 to eleven players. While the model was created to drive financial inclusion with the help of technology, these banks have been facing challenges as they are not allowed to lend.  Mumbai-based Fino is one among the four such banks that have not only survived but also are scaling up. Rishi Gupta, tells IBS Intelligence that while digital bank is the future from a global perspective, India is a different market where assisted banking will dominate. He tells us about the “phygital” (physical and digital) approach of Fino to acquire more customers and merchants besides talking about how open-banking and FinTech partnerships will be the road ahead for Fino. 

 Cashless is coming, so it is said. For some it is already here. Jeremy Nicholds, CEO of mobile payments provider Judopay told Robin Amlôt he is close to celebrating a year ‘cash free’. Nicholds, who has worked for both MasterCard and Visa in his career, has a passion for payment technology. Judopay, using smart native technology, provides payments solutions to clients such as KFC, Young’s, JustPark, iCabbi and Tempcover among others. 

 Lausanne, Switzerland-based SwissBorg is a FinTech company on the Etherium blockchain. The company’s stated aim is to revolutionise asset management solutions with a community-centric approach. It carried out a successful ICO in 2017/18, raising $50 million from 24,000 individual contributors around the world. Alex Fazel, talked to Robin Amlôt about the outlook for developments in cryptocurrencies over the coming 12 months. 

 Crowdfunder.co.uk was founded in 2014 and claims to be UK’s number one rewards-based crowdfunding platform. The funding portal has helped raise more than £100 million for charities, businesses, and community projects. Crowdfunder.co.uk also works with several corporates to distribute grants, including Santander and RBS NatWest. Duncan Parker of crowdfunder.co.uk talked to Robin Amlôt about the site works and how corporates use crowdfunder.co.uk to leverage their philanthropy. 

 Lory Kehoe is also Co-founder of Blockchain Ireland and Adjunct Associate Professor Trinity College Dublin. The ConsenSys Codefi blockchain operating system, built on the Ethereum blockchain aims to optimise business processes and payments through digitising financial instruments and creating decentralised applications. Speaking to Robin Amlôt at London’s FinTech Connect conference, Lory Kehoe offers his thoughts on how blockchain tech has developed over the last five years.

 “Banks are dead, long live the banks,” Suresh Vaghjiani of Tribe Payments once said. The card payments platform’s CEO and Co-Founder met up with Sunniva Kolostyak at FinTech Connect in London to discuss how start-ups and challenger banks have different innovation techniques and why legacy institutions are struggling to keep up, as well as how regulation made London the FinTech capital of the world. 

 To simply implement this new regime, using current toolsets, poses a risk to firms falling short to the requirements of the SM&CR regime, Saeed Patel of KRM22 says. In this podcast, Patel discusses the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR or SMCR) with IBS Intelligence Reporter Sunniva Kolostyak.The UK regime, which is being extended to almost 50,000 organisations, will come into effect on 9 December, and Patel suggests affected companies should go through the following checklist for compliance:SM&CR checklistDefine your firm type: limited scope, core, enhancedBrief board-level and other senior executives likely to be subjected to SM&CRCreate implementation plan including activities, timelines, resourcing requirements, dependencies and available technology solutionsIdentify which senior managers will have prescribed responsibilities and prepare responsibility statementsIdentify individuals performing certified functions who will require certification by the firmEnsure employment contracts, management structures and job specifications reflect current responsibilitiesNotify the FCA of any changes to certified individuals with prescribed responsibilities and submit senior manager’s FCA applications for approvalUpdate internal appraisal and recruitment processes to include Fit and Proper assessments and appropriate background checksEnsure handbook policy and procedures comply with regulationsRaise company SM&CR awareness through training and company-wide roll out 

 iBanFirst is a Belgium-based global financial services firm offering cross-border payment solutions. Founder Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier was previously Head of Western Europe at Saxo Bank following eight years as President and CEO of Saxo Banque France. Prior to this he founded cambiste.com, France’s first licensed forex broker, and worked as a forex trader at Calyon UK. Robin Amlôt spoke to Pierre-Antoine about the firm’s services, the business opportunity presented by BREXIT and the future prospects for FinTech in B2B banking. 

 Cashless payments are sweeping the scene, enabling consumers to shop more easily, quickly, and conveniently – in fact, by 2026 it’s predicted that cash will be used for just 21% of all UK payments. However, business in the ‘unattended market’ poses a challenge. Robin Amlôt talks to Lee Jones of Ingenico about the move to cashless payments and what it means for hardware as well as software. 

 With the death of the high street, banks are closing their branches and becoming increasingly digital. At the RBR Branch Transformation conference in London, Sunniva Kolostyak spoke to Mark Aldred from Auriga about how the software company supports banks in changing how their branch estates operate. Different technologies, such as AI and machine learning could drive optimisation, but the banks must also protect their bricks and mortar assets and retain loyalty.