IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

Robert Hannigan, Chairman, BlueVoyant International BlueVoyant has published Global Insights: Supply Chain Cyber Risk, a study of more than 1500 CIOs, CISOs and Chief Procurement Officers. The results are not entirely comfortable, a combination of large vendor ecosystems and low visibility are increasing third-party cyber risk exponentially. Robert Hannigan, Chairman of BlueVoyant International an...

Now that the markets have settled into some semblance of ‘normal’, Joshua Walsky, the CTO of Broadway Technology – which powers FICC trading at a number of banks – argues that the events of March-June will provide valuable clues into what could be an unpredictable period for bank trading desks. Speaking to Sunniva Kolostyak, Walsky explores issues around outsourcing, remote trading and connectivit...

Yaron Hazan, VP, Regulatory Affairs, ThetaRay The media reaction to the recent leak of the so-called FinCen Files predictably painted banks in a negative light. However, the bottom line is that almost no bank in the world has the visibility needed to monitor cross-border correspondent banking transactions through the entire transaction chain. Yaron Hazan of ThetaRay in conversation with Robin Amlo...

Arun K Arunachalam, Vice President, TCS Financial Solutions, and Head of Product Management, TCS BaNCS & Anand Athani, Head, Technology Strategy and Consulting, TCS Financial Solutions. Robin Amlot of IBS Intelligence talks to Arun K Arunachalam, Vice President, TCS Financial Solutions, and Head of Product Management, TCS BaNCS & Anand Athani, Head, Technology Strategy and Consulting, TCS...

Robin Amlot, Managing Editor at IBS Intelligence talks to Jim Heinzman, EVP Financial Services Solutions, ThetaRay about the growing banking fraud in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion revolves around how banks can protect themselves against the fraudulent transactions and money laundering in the era of COVID-19.   Listen to the complete episode to find out more.

Remote working has put increased pressure on financial traders’ desktops. How can chatbots effectively integrate client data? How can IT services ensure all the various applications on traders’ desktops communicate with each other seamlessly… and how does the implementation of the ‘composable enterprise’ help? James Wooster of Glue42 explains. James Wooster, COO, Glue42

Singapore-based CredoLab secured $7m in a Series A funding round in August 2020. Now the company is expanding into the US and other global markets. Michele Tucci of CredoLab discusses how the company evaluates smartphone and web metadata to create bank-grade digital scorecards. The use of such ‘alternative data’ addresses the problems faced by ‘thin file’ and underbanked customers in access to cre...

New challenger Ziglu has just become a fully authorised Electronic Money Institution under the aegis of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and has launched peer-to-peer payments for all currencies on its app… but not just fiat currencies, crypto as well and, what’s more, is offering up to £50,000 insurance for crypto holdings. Founder and CEO Mark Hipperson has form – he was previously a co-foun...

As the global pandemic is pushing people towards new payments solutions and the US catching on to contactless, San Francisco-based Purewrist is responding by launching a wearable payments bracelet. Suresh Palliparambil, the CEO of Purewrist speaks to Sunniva Kolostyak about the Purewrist GO, issuing co-branded cards, and social responsibility.

It was recently announced that next year a ban on discretionary commission models in auto financing will take effect in the UK. No longer will vehicle retailers and finance providers receive commission linked to the interest rate a customer may pay – a clear incentive to act against customer interests. Robin Amlot of IBS Intelligence discussed what the change in regulations means for the UK motor...

Global markets have been forced to address the threat from the coronavirus crisis, however, not all have approached it in the same way. Mario Shiliashki, CEO of Payments at PayU, speaks to Sunniva Kolostyak about how FinTechs, alongside governments, are driving economic growth and supporting local communities.

Bob Legters is responsible for investment in data and artificial intelligence at Florida-based FIS, one of the world’s largest financial technology firms. Taking account of the ‘democratisation’ of financial planning thanks to developments in AI, he told Robin Amlot of IBS Intelligence that people not using AI-enabled money management tools are seriously missing out.

Justin is one of the most ebullient characters of the investing scene in the UK. His new venture is Regionally, a platform that aims to bring together regional business with regional investors, allowing vetted companies access to private capital in the range of £0.5m to £10m. This members’ only online investment service could help play a key role in helping regional UK SMEs to scale up.

National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has chosen to digitally transform its transaction banking business with the Infosys Finacle Cash Management Suite. Zied Jalali of National Bank of Bahrain and Venkat Gosavi of Infosys Finacle spoke with Robin Amlot about the bank’s transformation journey and the decisions behind the choices made.

A recent report about the financial impact of COVID-19 in the US showed 83% of lower to middle income households say that they want to turn to their banks for financial support. SpringFour’s technology provides real-time access to local financial resources that banks’ customer service agents share with their customers. Since the pandemic began, SpringFour has delivered more than 1.6 million referr...

Global Ventures is a Dubai-based, growth-stage venture capital firm. Within its investment portfolio, Global Ventures is looking for Middle East-based FinTechs capable of scaling up both inside and, more importantly, outside the region – one recent example being Cairo-based payments FinTech Paymob. Basil Moftah discussed the VC firm’s aims and ambitions with Robin Amlot.

Originally established in Chicago, Heidrick & Struggles is a global executive search firm. Clare Buxton is a Partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ London office and a member of the global Financial Services Practice. She leads the Consumer Financial Services team in the UK and is part of the global FinTech Practice. Robin Amlot spoke to Clare Buxton about the leadership issues facing neobanks.

Bankmed completed its core transformation programme end July/beginning of August. Fouad Baalbaki, CIO of Bankmed, and V Ramkumar, Senior Partner of Cedar Management Consulting International take Robin Amlot through the process of a remote installation amid the Covid-19 pandemic…

Investigating the economics of the neobanks and the potential threat to their business models from ‘big tech’; FinTech guru Lex Sokolin discusses where the neobanks go from here with Robin Amlot of IBS Intelligence. Can cross-selling create a sustainable business model?

FeedStock is a platform offering solutions for both buy-side and sell-side players in the financial markets. Co-CEO Lucas Wurfbain spoke with Robin Amlot about how AI-driven data analytics can help protect revenue and support productivity through the proper evaluation of human-to-human relationships both within the organisation and with external stakeholders and clients.

Technisys offers Cyberbank – an API-centric, microservices-based digital banking platform. This cloud-native offering is performing strongly in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Technisys expanding staff numbers, winning fresh deals and, as co-founder German Pugliese-Bassi explained to Robin Amlot, sticking to its pre-pandemic business targets.

Already 55% of all money services businesses’ (MSBs) transactions are FinTech-based with 73% of new entities relying on an internet-based model rather than an agent-based model. Christian Spaltenstein, Managing Director, Americas, for AFEX discusses with Robin Amlot how MSBs can and should differentiate themselves and how APIs will change the cash management ecosystem.

The global payment-as-a-service market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.9% to 2027. That presents opportunities. Volante Technologies recently raised $35m in a funding round led by Wavecrest with strategic participation from VISA Ventures, Poste Italiani, Citi Ventures, and BNY Mellon. Volante’ CEO spoke about the funding and the company’s future plans with Robin Amlot.

Italian FinTech Supply@ME offers a platform focused on inventory monetisation, which , the company says, enables a range of manufacturing and trading businesses to improve their working capital position via a “true sale” of the inventory to special purpose vehicles incorporated by Supply@ME that also provides a new asset class to investors.

The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) is a cross-industry financial services body in the UK. Its latest initiative is TISAtech – a new digital marketplace that brings together financial institutions and FinTechs for greater collaboration and innovation. Keith Phillips, CEO of TISAtech outlines the aims and ambitions of TISAtech to Robin Amlot.