IBS Intelligence Podcasts

Tony Craddock, Director General, The Payments AssociationA report by The Payments Association suggests that FinTechs are increasingly focussed on ethical and sustainable growth. New paradigms such as ethical and sustainable growth (ESG) and stakeholder capitalism mean that FinTechs are seeking to strike a balance between profits and sustainability. The report, Sustainability Superheroes: a how-to guide to ESG for FinTechs, highlights the rules of business are changing, with data showing that the industry is making significant progress towards embracing sustainable practices and ethical goals. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Tony Craddock, Director General of The Payments Association.

Layla White, Founder, Tech Passport, & Isabel Pitt, Head of Core Services, Zopa BankIt is perhaps inevitable that the process of bringing a bank and FinTech to work together can be a slow one. But there are ways of making it run more smoothly and speedily. Robin Amlôt speaks to Isabel Pitt, Head of Core Services at Zopa Bank and Layla White (pictured), Founder of Tech Passport, a new suppliers’ marketplace, about how the collaborative process may be made quicker and easier for banks, suppliers and startups.

Stefano Vaccino, Founder & CEO, Yapily Over the last 12 months, open banking maturity has soared across Europe, according to new research published in Yapily’s annual European Open Banking League Table. The UK is leading the way for the second year running, with now 6 million active open banking users, as per the latest statistics from the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE). Yapily’s Founder & CEO, Stefano Vaccino, expands on the findings’ relevance in conversation with IBSi’s Reporter Gaia Lamperti.

Pat Bermingham, CEO, AdflexStraight-through-processing (STP) is buyer-initiated, removing the processing burden from the supplier and allowing prompt reconciliation of transactions and greater control over cash flow, not to mention added security and process efficiency. These advantages are being thrown into stark focus at present, given the current unsettled global economy and offer benefits to all businesses but perhaps especially to SMEs, providing an automated and frictionless process to accept and send payments, thereby engendering better business relationships and faster growth. Pat Bermingham, CEO of Adflex, discussed STP with Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence.

Ed Adshead-Grant, Board Advisor - Fintech & Payments, Bottomline TechnologiesThe payments industry is starting to recover from Covid-19, with 48% of businesses looking to continue making international payments in 2022 and beyond. About 18% of businesses are now accepting BNPL as a payment method while 62% of them are starting to show interest in CBDCs.  These are just some of the latest findings from Bottomline Technologies’ seventh annual Business Payments Barometer of 1600 financial decisions makers in the UK and US. Ed Adshead-Grant, Board Advisor - Fintech & Payment, discusses the report’s key findings and the implications that these have for the industry at large. 

Omar Mansur, Enterprise Lead – Global Projects, Codebase Technologies & Adrian Desouza, Senior Consultant, Cedar Management Consulting InternationalThe twin challenges of digital literacy and financial literacy come under the spotlight in this discussion about how technology vendors, financial institutions and regulators need to work together. A concerted effort is needed to drive financial inclusion and ensure that consumers and businesses are able to set and achieve their financial goals. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the issues with Omar Mansur, Enterprise Lead – Global Projects of Codebase Technologies (pictured) and Adrian Desouza, Senior Consultant with Cedar Management Consulting International.

James Butland, Vice President of Financial Services, AirwallexEstablishing an ecommerce platform is one step forward for a business. Gaining the ability to accept local payments in a global marketplace opens even greater prospects for growth, allowing companies to do business around the world, in the markets that your customers want to use and giving them familiar ways in which to pay for your goods and services. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the opportunities with James Butland of Airwallex.

Bhairav Trivedi, CEO, Crown Agents BankCrown Agents Bank was originally established by the British Crown and has been providing banking services from its London base since 1833. Mostly operating in developing markets including Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Asia Pacific, the bank is now on a journey pursuing considerable digital transformation to streamline operations. CEO Bhairav Trivedi spoke to IBSi’s Reporter Gaia Lamperti about the expansion of its technology offering to deliver traditional banking services more efficiently and meet the needs of those who have struggled to access financial services.

Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, CEO, iBanFirstBelgium-based payment institution iBanFirst announced the takeover of UK FX provider Cornhill International Payments late in June. The acquisition builds on iBanFirst’s long-term funding partnership with private equity firm Marlin Equity Partners and represented an opportunity for the financial services provider to expand its international footprint and extend its European PSP licence to the UK. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the deal with iBanFirst CEO Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier.

Marc Hauser, Head of Europe, F10 This year, the global metaverse market is expected to rise to $47.48 billion and, according to research from Gartner, a quarter of people will most likely spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse by 2026. Marc Hauser, Head of F10 Europe, discusses how the rise of the metaverse will shape the future of financial services, from the legacy banks to the FinTech start-ups, by shifting organisational structures, changing the nature of customer interactions, and creating innovative business models.