Rebank: Fintech Analysis

We've got a great episode today with Tom Blomfield (@t_blom), co-founder and CEO of Monzo (@monzo), a new, digital-only challenger bank in the UK. Monzo is seeking to fundamentally change the way banking is done and challenge a lot of assumptions about the way people want to interact with their money. Tom is a serial entrepreneur, he founded an e-commerce platform for students called boso.com while he was in college and later launched GoCardless, a B2B payments company that raised funding from the likes of Accel, Balderton and Passion Capital and went through Y Combinator in 2011. In 2013, Tom and his GoCardless (@GoCardless) co-founders were named among the top 5 entrepreneurs by the European Commission. Tom got involved in the digital, challenger bank space in the UK relatively early, at the bank now known as Starling before moving on to found Monzo which plans to launch in early 2017. Monzo has generated a phenomenal following and has a live beta with thousands of active users and an extremely long waiting list. As a special treat for Rebank listeners and a profound thank you for your support through our first 17 episodes, Tom is offering up a Monzo card giving immediate access to the highly sought after beta for one lucky listener. To participate, send an email with your name and the title of your favorite Rebank episode so far to rebank@bankingthefuture.com. We'll draw a winner at 5pm GMT on Friday, December 9th, so get your submissions in. As always, connect with us on Twitter @rebankpodcast or with Will directly @will_beeson. If you like the show, subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher or one of the numerous other platforms where we're distributed. Thanks, and enjoy today's episode with Tom Blomfield.

Brett King (@brettking) is a bestselling author and was voted Innovator of the Year for 2012 by American Banker. Since 2010 Brett has released 5 Global Bestselling books, including Bank 2.0, Branch Today – Gone Tomorrow, Bank 3.0, Breaking Banks and his latest Augmented. His books have topped bestseller charts for banking in 18 countries and have been translated into 9 languages. A global thought leader in financial services and customer experience, Brett publishes regularly in his role as industry advisor on Huffington Post, Internet Evolution, and Finextra. He has recently been featured on Fox News, Bloomberg TV, BBC, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and The Economist. As if that weren't enough, Brett is the founder and CEO of Moven (@getMoven), one of the first mobile-only banking apps, which was described by Wired, Forbes and the New York Times as a "bank of the future."

David Robson leads IBM's Watson business in the European financial services sector. Perhaps the world's most recognizable AI system (after HAL 9000), IBM's Watson is live across multiple industries and is using artificial intelligence to solve hard, real world problems. For the uninitiated: Watson is a cognitive computer that can read, understand, reason and engage with humans in support of a broad range of knowledge workers including medicine, banking and insurance. David has been working with Watson for two years, advising banks and insurance companies on how to deploy cognitive technology within their operations. For more on Watson, follow them on Twitter @ibmwatson or visit www.ibm.com/watson.

Brian Roemmele is the consummate Renaissance man. He is a scientist, researcher, analyst, connector, thinker and doer. More than anything, I've found Brian to be an observer of the world, asking questions and following his seemingly infinite curiosity to the root of an astounding variety of issues. Over the long, winding arc of his career, Brian has built and run payments and tech businesses, worked in media, including the promotion of top musicians, and explored a variety of other subjects along the way. Brian actively shares his findings and observations across fora like Medium, Quora, Twitter and his own podcast, Around the Coin. Brian is one of the most prolific producers of top quality analytical content I've ever encountered. I would highly encourage everyone to follow Brian and actively consume the information he puts out.

Devie Mohan is a prominent fintech writer, speaker and commentator. Devie is the co-founder and CEO of Burnmark, a fintech research company established in partnership with Berlin-based FinLeap. She is also a market strategist and UK coordinator with FinLeap. Throughout the course of her career, Devie has helped numerous banks, startups, innovation groups and investors understand the trends in fintech, helping them set their corporate, marketing and investment strategies. She is an adamant proponent of a fintech ecosystem in which banks and startups collaborate to drive innovation. Devie is featured on several fintech influencer lists, including the CityAM FinTech Powerlist and the SWIFT-Innotribe Power Women in FinTech list, to name just two.

Oaknorth is a startup bank in the UK. Joel Perlman, Oaknorth's co-founder, is a UK-based serial entrepreneur. After starting his career at McKinsey, Joel eventually left to co-found Copal Partners, a financial research outsourcing company with his business partner, Rishi Khosla. Over a period of 12 years, they grew the business to almost 3,000 people before selling it to Moody's in 2014. Subsequently, Joel and Rishi founded OakNorth, a new UK bank focused on lending to entrepreneurs and mid-sized growth companies. From an outsider's perspective, OakNorth seems to approach banking in a pragmatic, entrepreneurial way, seeking cost effective, non-traditional ways to deliver value for customers and outcompete incumbent banks. Formally launched in 2015, OakNorth is to date the only completely new UK bank to break even, doing so in an amazing 11 months.

Chris Gledhill is the #1 fintech influencer globally and regularly speaks and writes about fintech, banking and the future of financial services. Chris was lead mobile architect and led the disruptive innovation labs at Lloyds Banking Group before founding Secco (@seccoaura), a next generation "bank." Chris has expertise spanning a wide range of disruptive technologies including Blockchain, AI, APIs, Big Data, Deep Learning, Virtual Reality, Crypto Currencies, Biometrics, Mobile & Wearables. Chris is a regular blogger and his twitter feed (@cgledhill) has become a 'must follow' for anyone in the industry looking to keep up to date with the latest fintech developments around the world.

APIs and banking as a platform will revolutionize banking. This week we've got a special two part edition, with two guests who represent arguably the future of banking and financial services technology. Martin Häring is the Chief Marketing Officer of Misys (www.misys.com), a global core banking provider that recently opened its systems to third party development, in yet another sign that the industry is moving toward an API-connected, platform model. I think Misys is doing revolutionary work, and it's good to see an established organization–a stalwart of global banking systems–taking the lead with such an innovative move. I think it's reflective of the way fintech is going, the way banking is going, the way financial services is going, and the way technology is going more broadly. We've also got Myles Stephenson, CEO of Modulr (www.modulrfinance.com), a UK fintech building out a robust, plug-and-play payments platform to support corporates and fintechs looking to gain more efficient access to payment systems in the UK, above and beyond what's offered by the banks. Myles has a really interesting take on where the industry is going in terms of systems architecture and platformification. I think the two guests, the two interviews, support each other nicely and really reinforce this broad based push toward wholly new systems architecture. As always, tweet at us @rebankpodcast and tweet at me directly @will_beeson to share your thoughts and continue the conversation.

Duena Blomstrom is an independent digital banking consultant, entrepreneur, VC, speaker and, in her words, "uncomfortably opinionated blogger." For the past 18 years, Duena has worked across Telco and Finance on strategy and consulting for sales and marketing, including a 5-year stint as Head of Sales and Marketing for Meniga. During her time at Meniga, the company went from being a tiny Icelandic start-up to a market leader in customer engagement. Duena works at the intersection of technology and behavioral science. She's passionate about helping banks transition from thinking product set to thinking customer needs. She's a regular guest on blogs and podcasts including Breaking Banks, and we're lucky to have her with us today.

Michael O'Connor is a fintech & banking advisor and investor with extensive experience analyzing, structuring and investing in banking and financial services deals. Before going independent earlier this year, Michael was a portfolio manager looking at credit and banking transactions for Arrowgrass Capital Partners, a prominent, London-based, financial services-focused alternative investment fund. Prior to Arrowgrass, Michael was a founding partner at Portman Capital Partners, where he advised UKFI and HM Treasury on alternative disposal strategies for UK government-owned banking assets. Michael has also worked in various senior roles at GLG Partners, Polygon Investment Partners, Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro. Michael is a superbly sharp, thoughtful guy with keen insight into where banking and fintech are going and why.