Rebank: Fintech Analysis

Lex Sokolin started a roboadvisor way back in 2009, which was eventually sold to AdvisorEngine. As a result of that experience, and the strategy and advisory work he's done since, Lex has unique insight into the evolution of the digital investments space, one of the fastest moving areas of fintech today. If you enjoy today's episode, please leave us a review on iTunes. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Lex Sokolin.

SME banking is a particular interest of mine, as long-time listeners know. We've covered it from a number of angles on Rebank, including challenger banking with OakNorth, digital lending with iwoca and Spotcap, payments with GoCardless and support services with Xero, to name a few. If one area of fintech has been getting increasing interest lately, it's SME banking, and it's about time. Last week, Pool A of the RBS Capability & Innovation Fund was allocated, with massive cash grants going to winners Metro Bank, Starling and ClearBank to enhance existing business current account offerings. The cash injections are sure to shake up competition in the space. Today, we're joined by Richard Davies to talk through recent developments and the broader trajectory of the space. Richard runs business banking and sits on the Executive Committee at TSB, the UK's 7th largest bank. If you enjoy today's episode, please take 30 seconds to leave us a review on iTunes. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Richard Davies.

Rishi Khosla is co-founder and CEO of OakNorth, one of the world's best funded and fastest growing fintechs. We've had OakNorth on the podcast a few times before. In the past, I've generally referred to OakNorth as a challenger bank, which they were, but the company has developed beyond that description. From its savings & lending origins, OakNorth has evolved into a world-class technology platform with a banking license, recently backed by investors, including SoftBank, to the tune of $440m, the largest ever fintech investment in Europe. Prior to starting OakNorth, Rishi and his business partner Joel Perlman founded and sold Copal Amba, an outsourced financial research company acquired by Moodys. It's energizing talking to great entrepreneurs like Rishi. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and I hope you do too. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Rishi Khosla.

Adam Dodds is the Founder & CEO of Freetrade, a free stock trading app and part of the trend toward intuitive, low cost retail investment solutions. This is an interesting discussion around providing value to customers, and what that means, especially in complex industries like investments. This episode feels less like a stand alone conversation and more like another instalment in an ongoing exploration of how technology can be used to optimize retail investor behavior, decision making and ultimately long term outcomes. Please share your thoughts on the subject with us on Twitter @rebankpodcast. If you have ideas for who else we should be engaging with to investigate this theme, please let us know. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Adam Dodds.

Nicolas Colin is co-founder of The Family, a European tech incubator with a different approach than most. Their mission is the educate, support and connect entrepreneurs in ways that build great global companies. The Family describes itself a platform that unites entrepreneurs across Europe in Paris, London and Berlin, with a mission to build a startup continent that is diverse, dynamic and open. Their goals is doable, but not easy, which makes them similar to the early stage companies they work with. Europe has traditionally been and remains less conducive to successful tech startups than other parts of the world, be it due to political priorities, tax systems, employment laws, capital availability or a number of other factors. Nicolas is a thinker, advocate and reformer. He is one of the most thoughtful and prolific writers I've interacted with, publishing a weekly newsletter and regular articles in the mainstream press, Forbes and on Medium. He's also the author of Hedge: A Greater Safety Net for the Entrepreneurial Age, a book on the inadequacy of traditional social safely nets for the modern age and ideas for how to reengineer them. If you're listening to this right now, I'm curious to get your thoughts on the points Nicolas and I make. Let us know on Twitter @rebankpodcast. If you enjoy today's episode, please take 30 seconds to leave us a review on iTunes. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Nicolas Colin.

Anytime I find myself thinking how much progress has been made in digital banking over the past 6 or so years, I stop to consider how much further we'll go from here. It feels like so much has happened since the paradigm shift brought about by the iPhone and the global banking crisis of 2008. No one knows that better than Anthony Thomson. Anthony is by any measure one of the most prolific banking innovators of the past decade. Anthony is the Co-Founder and former Chairman of Metro Bank and Founder and former Chairman of Atom Bank. As if that weren't enough, he's now the Co-Founder and Chairman of 86 400, a new digital bank in Australia. Over the course of his career, Anthony has raised close to a $1 billion (and counting) in investment and helped shape the current global banking landscape. What are the most important problems banking and fintech can solve? Are we thinking enough about the deepest customer needs or just iterating within existing financial services verticals? Let us know what you think on Twitter @rebankpodcast. If you enjoy today's episode, please take 30 seconds to leave us a review on iTunes. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Anthony Thomson.

We've seen a slow evolution in fintech from the early days - transitioning from disruptors and disintermediators to partners and platforms. Where do we go from here? Tim Levene is the Founder and CEO of Augmentum, a fintech venture capital firm. Prior to starting Augmentum, Tim worked for Bain, started London restaurant chain Crussh and founded Flutter.com, which merged with Betfair in 2001, at the beginning of the latter's rise to prominence. Augmentum has invested in companies including Zopa, Seedrs, Interactive Investor, Tide, DueDil and more. What's in store for fintech in 2019? Let us know on Twitter @rebankpodcast. If you like today's episode, please take a second to rate us on iTunes. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Tim Levene.

The US could be one of the most lucrative markets for digital banks, but few new entrants have launched there. Why? How ripe is the opportunity, really? Monzo, N26 and Revolut have all stated intentions to launch in the US, though none have yet navigated the regulatory requirements. Colin Walsh is the CEO and co-founder of Varo Money, which is on track to become the first mobile-centric national bank in U.S. history. Prior to founding Varo, Colin spent 25 years in consumer banking at American Express, Lloyds Banking Group and Wells Fargo. How successful will digital banking startups be in US? Let us know on Twitter @rebankpodcast. If you like today's episode, please take 30 seconds to rate us on iTunes and share it with a friend. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Colin Walsh.

Historically characterized by high fees and questionable objectivity, retail investments are going through a transformation as the likes of Robinhood, Betterment, Scalable Capital and others bring compelling digital offerings to market. Richard Theo is the co-founder and CEO of Wealthify, one of the UK's leading roboadvisors. With a background in technology and computer science, Richard started Wealthify in 2014 to take advantage of the then relatively nascent digital investments market. In 2017, Aviva acquired a majority stake in Wealthify to offer its services to their existing customer base. It feels like we've only just started down the path of retail investments transformation. In my personal view, we've made great progress, but we're still miles away from truly revolutionary offerings in the space. Just like in digital banking, there are a handful of players vying for primacy, and it's interesting to watch it unfold. Have a view on this subject? Let us know on Twitter @rebankpodcast, on LinkedIn or on our website www.bankingthefuture.com. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Richard Theo.

Should people outside fintech care about fintech? Today, we're joined by Brad Goodall, serial entrepreneur and founder of Banked, to discuss. Open Banking is hands down one of the most relevant themes in 2018, with legislation taking effect in Europe and the UK and being replicated and expanded in countries like Australia. But so far, we've seen anything but tangible impacts from Open Banking, including products, services and new customer experiences. Why? To start with, banks dragged their feet in terms of implementation, and startups have been unable to deliver cross-platform experiences they imagined. We've also taken a narrow view of what Open Banking means and how it will be leveraged. This is where Brad comes in. Brad brings a richer perspective to Open Banking and sees it as an opportunity for much of banking to shift away from traditional financial services providers and over to consumer brands more relevant to customers. In this conversation, Brad helps us think about how much fintech actually matters to people outside fintech - and whether the industry is getting excited about the right things. Do you have a view? Join the conversation onTwitter, LinkedIn or on our website at bankingthefuture.com. If you like today's episode, please take 30 seconds to rate us on iTunes and share us with a friend. Thank you very much for joining us today. Please welcome, Brad Goodall.