Fintech Daydreaming

New year, new season, same format. Ville, Janne, and Pål are back with Nordic Fintech Highlights, opening the season by unpacking three stories that quietly say a lot about where Nordic and European fintech are heading. Ville starts with the ECB hiring up for the digital euro project, bringing in market infrastructure specialists to work on rulebooks, rollout planning, and the role of intermediari...

A Full House of Bank CEOs (and One Central Banker) We took Fintech Daydreaming on the road to the Nordic Banking Forum in Helsinki, and somehow ended up interviewing more CEOs in one day than we usually see in a year. In this special episode, Pål, Ville — and Janne, once we caught him mid–event sprint — sat down with: .-Prag Sharma (Citi) on agentic AI, future-of-finance vibes, and why 80–90% of b...

In this episode, Pål and Ville sit down with Rik Coeckelbergs, founder of The Banking Scene and author of Ethos in Banking, for a surprisingly philosophical conversation. Yes, this is the first Fintech Daydreaming episode where we willingly tumble down an Aristotle-themed rabbit hole. Rik’s book dives into how the ancient trio of ethos, pathos, and logos can shape modern banking culture. Tturns ou...

October brought AI hype, digital euro déjà vu, and the shocking return of crypto — which means it was just another totally normal month in Nordic fintech. Pål, Ville, and Janne reunite to unpack the biggest stories from the Helsinki Fintech Farm newsletter. Spoiler: every startup is now an AI company. From automated compliance tools to AI-powered CFOs and even kiosks that buy your old phone via Sw...

This week, Ville and Pål are joined (once again) by Paul Yoo, CEO of Sukaa, who beamed in live from New York to talk about his newest venture — and somehow turned what was supposed to be a fintech chat into a masterclass on why Africa might just leapfrog the rest of us in digital finance. Paul walks us through his new startup’s mission to build a pan-African on-chain payments and lending platform,...

In what might be our most meta episode yet, Pål, Ville, and Janne sat down to unpack the biggest Nordic fintech stories of September — only to realize halfway through that we’d forgotten to hit record. So yes, this episode is technically the sequel to the lost masterpiece that no one will ever hear. Once we finally remembered to press the big red button, things got back on track (mostly). Ville’s...

This year Pål and Ville set up shop in the official backstage of the event venue – meaning our little “studio” has probably seen more rock stars, comedians, and magicians than fintech podcasters. But for two days, it was home to us… and the now famous podcast couch. On that couch we hosted a parade of fintech’s brightest people – founders, authors, bankers, thinkers – all crammed into one room wit...

Forget the usual schedule — Ville and Pål hit the big red button and jumped on the mics less than 24 hours after nine European banks dropped their bombshell: a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin. Fresh off a late flight from Copenhagen (and still running on coffee and questionable airport snacks), we dive straight into the questions everyone’s asking: .- Do we actually need a bank-issued euro stableco...

August in Nordic fintech felt like a Christopher Nolan script: confusing, overlong, occasionally brilliant. Coop Norge’s core banking migration, Visma’s latest acquisitions, and Swedbank buying out Barclays in Entercard all unfolded like plot points you only understand after the credits roll. We argue about whether it was the quietest fintech month of the year, make questionable jokes about beef s...

We’re going to Copenhagen! Fintech Daydreaming is an official podcasting partner of the Nordic Fintech Week, and to kick things off Ville and Pål are joined in this pre-event episode by David Grundy (COO, Copenhagen Fintech) and Marie Louise Roth (Head of Partnerships, Copenhagen Fintech) for a sneak peek at what’s brewing in the Danish capital. We talk key themes, the rise of Copenhagen as a fint...

In this Nordic Fintech Highlights episode, Ville, Pål, and Janne trade beach stories for headlines as we unpack a surprisingly busy July and August. On the menu: Nordic banks snapping up fintechs like they’re on summer sale, Zimpler’s shiny new ID+ passkey (is it the future or just another password we’ll forget?), and Nordea teaming up with Mynt to finally give SMEs the attention they deserve. We...

Season 12 blasts off with Tony McLaughlin – payments visionary, fintech provocateur, and freshly minted CEO of Ubyx. We go deep on stablecoins as the next general-purpose technology, why the legal wrapper matters more than the code, and how the industry’s plumbing – clearing, settlement, trust – will quietly decide the winners. Tony shares why permissionless networks aren’t the enemy of banks, how...

In this laid-back wrap-up to the season, Ville and Pål ditch the guests and go full retrospective—sharing their favorite episodes, personal fintech frustrations, and just how close we are to needing a crank-powered POS terminal.🎙️ Highlights include:🏆 Top guest moments: from Brett King to Sampsa from Alisa Bank (finally!)💸 Is Revolut the fintech iceberg about to sink the Nordic cruise ships?📦 E...

Sun’s out, fines out! In this sizzling episode of Fintech Daydreaming and Helsinki Fintech Farm Nordic Fintech Highlights, Ville, Janne, and Pål serve up a refreshing mix of Nordic fintech news—with a splash of sarcasm and a shot of hydration advice.💳 Enfuce declares war on fraud with its bold Fortitude Pledge to eliminate financial crime. The gang debates whether 100% fraud prevention is ambitio...

This week, Fintech Daydreaming goes live from the heart of Helsinki for a special episode recorded at the 2025 Nordic Fintech Summit! With espresso (and later some beers) in hand and mics at the ready, Pål and Ville roamed the event to capture the freshest insights, boldest predictions, and too many slightly questionable karaoke references. We caught up with:• Janne Salminen, CEO of Helsinki Finte...

Nordic Fintech Highlights is back with Pål, Ville & JanneHold onto your wallets — it’s another round of Fintech Daydreaming’s Nordic Fintech Highlights! This month, the crew dives into:💸 Froda’s fresh funding round – Pål kicks things off with Froda’s impressive new investment and what it means for the embedded finance scene in the Nordics. Is Froda quietly becoming the Stripe of SME lending?...

In this highly anticipated episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål sit down with Sampsa Laine, CEO of Alisa Bank, to uncover the story behind one of Finland’s most interesting digital banks. From its fintech roots to securing a full banking license, Alisa Bank has been on quite the journey—and Sampsa takes us behind the scenes. We dig into:🏦 How Alisa Bank came to be and how it balances fin...

April's here, the snow is (mostly) gone, and the fintech news is blooming — sort of. In this episode, your favourite fintech trio Ville, Pål, and Janne return with a fresh batch of Nordic headlines, greetings from the Baltic Fintech Days, hot takes, and at least one minor existential crisis. Here’s what went down:Ville got us started with some light apocalyptic vibes, as we unpacked Sweden’s R...

This one’s special! We joined forces with none other than Breaking Banks for a crossover episode featuring the legendary Brett King alongside Pål and Ville. In true fireside chat style, we dove deep into the biggest shifts shaping fintech today and what’s coming next. Topics? Oh, we covered it all, including but definitely not limited to:🔥 The Nordic fintech scene — what are the big names from th...

We can pay for everything digitally, so why are we still walking away with crumpled paper receipts? In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Pål and Ville sit down with Chris Moore, Director of International Business at ReceiptHero, to discuss the journey of bringing receipts into the digital age. Chris walks us through the challenges of transforming an underserved market, the practicalities of mak...

February may be short, but Nordic fintech didn’t hold back! In this Fintech Daydreaming episode, Pål, Ville, and Janne sit down for another round of Nordic Fintech Highlights. As always, we covered the biggest fintech news—but not before Janne cracked a joke so bad it nearly derailed the entire recording. (We survived… barely.)Here’s what we tackled this time:🚀 Lunar’s big BaaS bet – Pål took a d...

Hot Takes, Cool Guests & The Best Kind of Fintech Mayhem For this special episode, we packed our mics, grabbed some strong coffee, and took Fintech Daydreaming on the road to Stockholm Fintech Week! 🎤🚀 Amidst the fintech frenzy, Pål and Ville caught up with some of the sharpest minds in the industry for rapid-fire chats, bold predictions, and a few fintech hot takes. Our all-star lineup incl...

We’re kicking off this episode of Fintech Daydreaming with something special—welcoming our new editor and producer, Femi Apanishile, to the team! 🎉 But after the celebrations, it’s straight back to business with another Nordic Fintech Highlights session. This time, things got... heated. Pål, Ville, and Janne dived into the latest fintech news, but the conversation quickly turned into a colorful r...

In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål welcome back the one and only Leda Glyptis, PhD—advisor, speaker, and author of Beyond Resilience and Bankers Like Us. Leda brings her sharp insights and candid humor to the mic as we explore her latest book and the patterns of success (and failure) shaping the fintech industry. From debunking the myth of the "rockstar founder" to ret...

Welcome to 2025 and season 11 of Fintech Daydreaming! We’re back, well-caffeinated, and ready to dive into another year of fintech wonders. To kick things off, Pål, Ville, and Janne put on their trend-spotting hats and take a look at what’s buzzing in the Nordics and beyond. What’s hot? What’s not? And what might just surprise us all in 2025? Of course, it wouldn’t be Fintech Daydreaming without s...