The FStech Podcast

On 11 March, Revolut was granted a full UK banking licence after a four-year process. Revolut's cofounder and chief executive, Nik Storonsky, described the decision as the culmination of "a long-term strategic priority". In the short term, the bank has said nothing will change for customers. This raises a key question: if Revolut could already offer lending without a full UK licence, why go throug...

As Global Capability Centres reshape the financial services landscape, one question stands out: how do leading banks balance in-house innovation with strategic partnerships to drive real transformation? In this compelling FStech video podcast, Bouke Hoving, Global CIO Wholesale Banking, ING and Sudip Lahiri, Executive Vice President and Head - Europe & UKI, Financial Services, HCLTech reveal how t...

Early-stage FinTech is entering a new era. Macroeconomic headwinds, rising consumer expectations, and tighter capital markets are reshaping how innovation is funded and how success is defined. For founders and investors alike, navigating this landscape requires a sharper focus on fundamentals, smarter capital deployment, and a deeper understanding of where real opportunity lies. In this FStech pod...

How are leading financial institutions turning regulatory demands into strategic advantage? In this FStech podcast, sponsored by BMC Software, we explore how DataOps and AI are reshaping operational resilience across the sector. Drawing on the new report, "Shaping the future: The strategic role of DataOps and emerging technologies in enhancing operational resilience for modern financial services,...

Trust has always been the cornerstone of banking, but in today's AI-driven landscape, how do financial institutions balance personalisation with privacy whilst maintaining customer confidence? In the second episode of FStech's three-part video podcast series sponsored by HCLTech, Sudip Lahiri, Executive Vice President & Head of Financial Services for Europe & UKI at HCLTech examines the critical r...

In an era where AI promises to reshape banking's fundamental operations, how do institutions separate genuine transformation opportunities from temporary trends? In the first episode of a three-part podcast series sponsored by HCLTech, FStech explores how financial institutions can navigate the transformative potential of Generative AI while building lasting foundations for innovation. In this fir...

Open Banking is changing the payment industry and the adoption of Open Banking is increasing with over 11 million consumers and small businesses using the technology. Retailers are increasingly implementing Open Banking as a payment method offering it alongside more traditional methods. In this FStech podcast Lynsey Hunt, Head of Product at Payit by NatWest, takes a closer look at some of the chal...

The banking sector is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by economic pressures, evolving regulatory demands and the growing need for technological innovation and strategic partnerships to navigate a rapidly changing landscape. To meet these challenges, banks are accelerating their modernisation efforts while ensuring compliance. By adopting innovative strategies, they aim to address oper...

Despite improvements in technology, financial service institutions (FSIs) still need to keep their systems safe from a range of threats including cyber hacks, malware data breaches. With a spate of high-profile outages and cyberattacks, financial services companies need to make sure their systems are as secure as possible and ensure all their employees are on the same page when it comes to remaini...

As financial services increasingly embrace SaaS and cloud-based technologies, they face emerging threats to safeguard sensitive customer data. While comprehensive IT security measures are essential, the active involvement of employees across organisations is pivotal in ensuring the protection of sensitive data. In this insightful discussion, FStech editor Jonathan Easton engages with Rich Vibert,...

Consumers are increasingly aware of their carbon footprint and are making purchasing decisions based on the perceived ethics of firms they deal with. This also applies to their banks, insurance companies and pension firms. The financial services industry cannot escape this demand for greener services and pressure is growing on FSIs to be fully transparent with their data and reporting. Should thei...

Financial services institutions in 2024 face immense pressure to deliver seamless digital banking experiences across all channels. Customer expectations have reached an all-time high, with a recent McKinsey survey revealing that 89 per cent of consumers now engage in mobile banking and demand a consistent experience across physical, web, and app interactions. But while consumers demand excellence,...

In this FStech Podcast, Michael Bratton, Principal Consultant at Riskonnect, joins FStech Editor Jonathan Easton to examine the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) - what it is, its impact on the financial services sector, and what financial institutions should do to ensure their compliance. In an in-depth presentation on the subject, Bratton drills into the details of why the European Commi...

Introduced at the end of July, the Consumer Duty is a game-changing new set of rules and guidance for financial services institutions in the UK, and companies must look to modernise their systems in adherence with it in mind to create the best customer experience possible. Event Driven Architecture (EDA) is a powerful tool that can help firms meet the requirements of the Consumer Duty. EDA is a so...

Join FStech editor Jonathan Easton and Adam McLaughlin, global head of Financial Crime Strategy & AML SME at NICE Actimize and Graham Mackenzie, head of AML at the Law Society of Scotland as they look at the role Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) play in the financial sector, and the challenges they face in complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist finan...

Increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats from malicious actors are targeting financial institutions more and more, while ever-growing regulatory commitments - including the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) introduced earlier this year - are compounding the number of issues which security professionals are having to keep on top of to ensure smooth operations. It is for these reasons that to...

After a long period of low interest rates, we've recently seen unprecedented rises in the Bank of England base rate to levels not seen in more than a decade causing significant concern for consumers which is being compounded by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. While the implications of current economic uncertainties are grabbing headlines for how household finances are being affected, underrepor...

The role of a financial institution's approach to customer experience (CX) is something which should never be underestimated. With the wealth of options available to customers in 2023 - whether they are consumers or enterprise - banks, insurers and other financial institutions need to look for ways that they can stand out from the crowd. The latest State of Customer Experience Europe report from G...

While cyber crimes are a reality that cyber professionals in the financial sector have had to and will continue to live with, bank fraud teams have long been focusing on analysing instances of fraud after they happened. There is however now growing momentum for financial institutions to take a more proactive approach to preventing cyber threats before they can take hold. In this podcast, Dr. Trevo...

There are a number of key challenges facing organisations looking to establish themselves as digital leaders in the financial sector, but fundamentally it boils down to two key factors: technology, and mindset. The first is a question of how FSIs can excel and exploit the opportunities in the market if you don't have the right equipment. The second comes down to a wider shift in approach and attit...

Financial Services organisations are expanding their services and moving an increasing number of vital applications to the cloud. Almost half of FSIs use a multi-cloud strategy, using an average of three cloud providers, and this number is set to rise. At the same time, the regulators want to add a layer of protection. The European Union's incoming Digital Operational Resilience Act, or DORA, aims...

In mid-2021, UK Finance revealed that banking customers in the country lost a record 1.3 billion pounds in 2021 to cyber fraud, arguing that the country is experiencing an 'epidemic of fraud' and that 'collaborative action' is required in order to regain control. Not even the government is insulated from this-it admitted that as much as 4.9 billion pounds of the 47 billion pounds lent by banks to...

The shift to cloud in financial services is now well underway, with large institutions at various stages of their cloud journey in a bid to keep up with the rapid digitization of products and services, and the need to access and leverage data from multiple locations. However, for most firms what they have done so far is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential of cloud to transform bu...

For many financial services institutions (FSIs), data is a critical part of their operations. However, the millions of accrued datapoints that traditional finance institutions hold are only as valuable as they are accessible. For traditional FSIs, accessibility is often a sticking point. All too often, useful data that could be meaningfully deployed is stored in legacy data repositories and is the...

Compliance teams in financial services companies are currently battling a perfect storm of new and complex challenges; a rise in global regulatory action combined with new sanctions on entities and individuals following Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to an exponential increase in workload for employees. Alongside this, employees are also shouldering the burden of staff shortages as financial...