IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

 IBS Intelligence hosted the awards ceremony for the 1st Global FinTech Innovation Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, on 22 November 2019. The Awards were created to honour and promote excellence and success in the implementation of FinTech solutions. Ahead of the presentations, Robin Amlôt sat with V Ramkumar, Senior Partner, Cedar Management Consulting International, chair of the Awards Panel, to discuss how the winners of the 1st Global FinTech Innovation Awards were actually chosen. 

 SunTec Business Solutions aims to help banks and digital and communication service providers increase customer engagement and product innovation. Robin Amlôt spoke to Madhur Jain of Suntec about the growth prospects for Banking as a Service (BaaS). With consumers becoming used to being able to buy everything online, financial products will be no different. 

 Consumers want more access and control over finances. In an interview with FinTech Reporter Sunniva Kolostyak at the Open Banking Exo in London on 13 November 2019, OpenWrk’s Olly Betts discussed how Open Banking works as an enabler to support real people in structuring their finances and its importance for global economies, as well as its accompanying difficulties around compliance, customer retention and scaling. 

 The cloud is just someone else’s computer! Speaking to IBS Intelligence at the Open Banking Expo in London on 13 November 2019, Eleni Coldrey addressed security concerns and the growing pains of open banking. As the financial services sector increases digitisation and digitalisation, it is increasingly relying on external digital business ecosystems for the growth of interconnection bandwith. FinTech, cybersecurity, data compliance and new competitive ecosystems are converging. Global interconnection and data centre group Equinix is forecasting interconnection bandwith to show 66% CAGR through to 2022. 

 OpenPayd offers international enterprise payments and banking services through a modular platform. A single API integration into the platform enables businesses to customise their payments and banking modules. Iana Dimitrova has extensive experience in FinTech and payments. Robin Amlôt spoke to her about her views on the current state of access to banking and payments services for businesses globally and the future evolution of banking and payments solutions. 

 Bradbury’s role at Fujitsu UK includes understanding the deployment and impact potential of new business models and technologies across the financial services marketplace, including insurance and all forms of banking. Early in October 2019, Barclays announced that from January 2020, its UK customers would no longer be able to pay in or withdraw cash over the counter in the nation’s Post Offices. Some 2.2 million people in the UK still rely on cash – particularly those in rural areas with poorer connectivity and fewer ATM options. In a discussion that covers a range of topics including tech adoption policies and open banking, Robin Amlôt began by asking Ian Bradbury for his thoughts on Barclays’ move. 

 The third P20 Global Payments Conference was held in London on 3 October 2019. This invitation-only meeting, with attendance capped at 200 convenes top business leaders, government officials and regulators to discuss the future of the global payments industry. Dunn & Bradstreet were among the event’s sponsors. Robin Amlôt asked the firm’s Head of Product & Strategy, Chris Laws what he expected from P20. 

Duncan Sandys is Executive Director, P20. At this year’s P20 conference, held in London on 3 October 2019, the focus was on fraud and cybersecurity. Sandys said, “The risk of cyber-attacks keeps the leaders of the global payments industry awake at night. Cashless payments are growing globally and a systemic attack on payments infrastructure would have immediate, devastating and far-reaching consequences for governments, businesses and the public. The industry has a responsibility to collaborate and work hand in hand with government and regulators to develop and maintain an industry wide response, protocol and plan.” Sandys explains the purpose behind the establishment of the P20.

Cristina Soviany, Founder of the Belgian FinTech firm, Features Analytics, speaks to Robin Amlôt at SIBOS 2019 in London. The firm has developed two platform-based AI solutions to combat financial crime.

 Announced at SIBOS 2019, Equiniti Business Payment Services (formerly EQGlobal), the international payments division of Equiniti Group, has partnered with SWIFT, the global provider of secure financial messaging services, to offer faster payments and real time tracking and notifications. Robin, Amlot,  Managing Editor of IBS Journal spoke to Mark Churley, Managing Director of Equiniti Business Payment Services about the deal.