IBS Intelligence Podcasts

 iFAST Financial India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based iFAST Corporation Ltd, which is in the race to bag a digital banking licence in Singapore. iFAST is competing with Alipay and 20 other big players for the licence. Hon, speaks with IBS Intelligence, on the rationale behind the company’s plan to go for a digital banking licence and his views on the future of banking. Hon is optimistic of getting the licence in Singapore.iFAST in India is a SEBI Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) and the platform is one of the first to help users invest in mutual funds. 

 Rehan Yar Khan, Partner and Founder of Indian VC fund Orios Venture Partners. The VC, which started with its investments in consumer-facing Internet start-ups such as ride-sharing Unicorn Ola Cabs, the focus is now to invest in the booming Indian FinTech ecosystem. The VC now plans to invest a third of its fund in FinTech start-ups in 2020. Rehan, however, doesn’t follow the herd. He talks to IBS Intelligence about his strategy and thesis for the “Next India or rural India.” Rehan feels India is a different market and that urban consumers behave differently from those in rural areas. Orios has some impressive line-ups in its portfolio for this year! Besides, Rehan is also a writer and speaks to us about his latest book  “Make Your Own Luck”.Let’s listen to this Podcast for more details. 

Time is money! In December 2019 it was revealed by The Times newspaper that access to a back-up communications system had resulted in those paying for a Bank of England audio feed, via a third party, receiving details of the Bank’s news conferences up to eight seconds before those using the video feed. The UK central bank referred the matter to the Financial Conduct Authority and investigations are continuing. The case highlights the importance of time and timing in the financial markets. Simon Kenny of Hoptroff joined Robin Amlôt to discuss the problem and a solution.

 Fino Payments Bank is a new kind of bank in India called Payments Bank, a license given out by the Indian banking regulator RBI in 2014 to eleven players. While the model was created to drive financial inclusion with the help of technology, these banks have been facing challenges as they are not allowed to lend.  Mumbai-based Fino is one among the four such banks that have not only survived but also are scaling up. Rishi Gupta, tells IBS Intelligence that while digital bank is the future from a global perspective, India is a different market where assisted banking will dominate. He tells us about the “phygital” (physical and digital) approach of Fino to acquire more customers and merchants besides talking about how open-banking and FinTech partnerships will be the road ahead for Fino. 

 Cashless is coming, so it is said. For some it is already here. Jeremy Nicholds, CEO of mobile payments provider Judopay told Robin Amlôt he is close to celebrating a year ‘cash free’. Nicholds, who has worked for both MasterCard and Visa in his career, has a passion for payment technology. Judopay, using smart native technology, provides payments solutions to clients such as KFC, Young’s, JustPark, iCabbi and Tempcover among others. 

 Lausanne, Switzerland-based SwissBorg is a FinTech company on the Etherium blockchain. The company’s stated aim is to revolutionise asset management solutions with a community-centric approach. It carried out a successful ICO in 2017/18, raising $50 million from 24,000 individual contributors around the world. Alex Fazel, talked to Robin Amlôt about the outlook for developments in cryptocurrencies over the coming 12 months. 

 Crowdfunder.co.uk was founded in 2014 and claims to be UK’s number one rewards-based crowdfunding platform. The funding portal has helped raise more than £100 million for charities, businesses, and community projects. Crowdfunder.co.uk also works with several corporates to distribute grants, including Santander and RBS NatWest. Duncan Parker of crowdfunder.co.uk talked to Robin Amlôt about the site works and how corporates use crowdfunder.co.uk to leverage their philanthropy. 

 Lory Kehoe is also Co-founder of Blockchain Ireland and Adjunct Associate Professor Trinity College Dublin. The ConsenSys Codefi blockchain operating system, built on the Ethereum blockchain aims to optimise business processes and payments through digitising financial instruments and creating decentralised applications. Speaking to Robin Amlôt at London’s FinTech Connect conference, Lory Kehoe offers his thoughts on how blockchain tech has developed over the last five years.

 “Banks are dead, long live the banks,” Suresh Vaghjiani of Tribe Payments once said. The card payments platform’s CEO and Co-Founder met up with Sunniva Kolostyak at FinTech Connect in London to discuss how start-ups and challenger banks have different innovation techniques and why legacy institutions are struggling to keep up, as well as how regulation made London the FinTech capital of the world. 

 To simply implement this new regime, using current toolsets, poses a risk to firms falling short to the requirements of the SM&CR regime, Saeed Patel of KRM22 says. In this podcast, Patel discusses the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR or SMCR) with IBS Intelligence Reporter Sunniva Kolostyak.The UK regime, which is being extended to almost 50,000 organisations, will come into effect on 9 December, and Patel suggests affected companies should go through the following checklist for compliance:SM&CR checklistDefine your firm type: limited scope, core, enhancedBrief board-level and other senior executives likely to be subjected to SM&CRCreate implementation plan including activities, timelines, resourcing requirements, dependencies and available technology solutionsIdentify which senior managers will have prescribed responsibilities and prepare responsibility statementsIdentify individuals performing certified functions who will require certification by the firmEnsure employment contracts, management structures and job specifications reflect current responsibilitiesNotify the FCA of any changes to certified individuals with prescribed responsibilities and submit senior manager’s FCA applications for approvalUpdate internal appraisal and recruitment processes to include Fit and Proper assessments and appropriate background checksEnsure handbook policy and procedures comply with regulationsRaise company SM&CR awareness through training and company-wide roll out