Fintech Chatter: Insights From Fintech Leaders

Dexter Cousins is joined by Claire Alexander, founder of  Coach Claire. She's here to share her secrets on how to navigate the fintech job market.  About Claire AlexanderClaire is a Global HR and Tech Talent Executive, Career Coach and ex-Employment Lawyer. She's also the founder of Thinktechstartup, an HR advisory business supporting tech startups turning into tech scaleups. Claire was previously Global Head of talent for Fintech unicorn Zip. About today's showClaire shares her top tips on how to stand out in the job hunt, from engaging with potential employers online to the power of networking. We'll also be breaking down the pros and cons of LinkedIn's 'Open to Work' badges, the role of recruiters, and the art of approaching companies strategically. But that's not all. We're also addressing the tricky path of job applications and interviews. How do you follow-up without annoying recruiters? How do you handle rejection? And, most importantly, how do you determine your worth when evaluating a job offer? With Claire's expert advice, we discuss how understanding your motivations for wanting a job can aid in salary negotiation. This episode is an absolute treasure trove of practical, actionable advice – don't miss out!Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

"Our success is defined by what we decide not to do because there are so many opportunities." - James FosterIt's been two years since James Foster last appeared on Fintech Chatter. And it has been an incredible two years for Ezypay with 50% year on year revenue growth, going from 60-100 people and now operating in 9 countries across APAC.Summary:In this episode, Dexter chats with James about the challenges and opportunities of being a profitable business in the fintech industry. James highlights importance of focusing on solving customer pain points and making money, rather than chasing funding and growth for the sake of it. James also shares insights on the impact of Payto, a real-time account-to-account payment platform, and how Ezypay is leveraging this innovation to improve collection rates and enhance the customer experience. He highlights the need for businesses to adapt and innovate while staying true to their core values and profitability goals.About James Foster and EzypayJames Foster is the CEO of Ezypay, a payment solutions company that specialises in supporting businesses with recurring customer payments. With over 27 years of experience, Ezypay helps merchants optimise collection rates, improve the customer experience, and enhance cash flow. James has led the company through significant growth and profitability, navigating the challenges of the fintech industry while staying focused on solving customer pain points.Follow Ezypay: https://www.ezypay.com/Key Takeaways:Being profitable and solving customer pain points should be the primary focus for businesses, rather than chasing funding and growth.Payto is a game-changer in the payment industry, offering real-time account-to-account payments and improved customer protection.Ezypay's success is attributed to its ability to focus on its niche market, make data-driven decisions, and adapt to the evolving payment landscape.Doing business in Asia requires understanding the unique cultural and regulatory differences in each country, as well as being open to learning from failures and making course corrections.Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

In this episode of Fintech Chatter I'm joined by ex-Fintech founder now HR tech founder Mark Lewis, CEO and Co-Founder of Crewmojo.As we navigate the choppy waters of remote work and productivity, Mark offers valuable insights. We debate the challenge of managing remote workers, the shift from daily face-to-face interactions to asynchronous communication, and the importance of carving out a clear divide between work and home life. We also ponder the role of leadership in setting clear expectations and helping to grow their teams, the disconnect between high and low performers, and even the potential of a four-day work week.Mark and I explore the evolution of performance management within hybrid work models, and how to build a mutually beneficial relationship in your organisation. We dissect the power dynamics between employers and employees, and discuss how to get work done effectively as if there was no hierarchy. Looking at the design of a flexible work policy, we emphasise the importance of aligning individuals, teams, customers, and company, and how to negotiate in a way that benefits all parties. Join us on this insightful journey, where we rethink traditional work norms and discover new paths to productivity and satisfaction.About Mark LewisMark is a people focused entrepreneur with a passion and curiosity for discovering new approaches to traditional ways. He likes a good challenge and has a need to continually improve himself but he really gets his kicks when he sees the team around him truly succeeding.That's why Mark started Crewmojo, Performance development for the modern workforce. The Crewmojo platform helps leaders engage and motivate  employees with a real-time continuous approach to employee performance.Previously a co-founder of IP Payments which rapidly became the go-to organisation for complex corporate payment solutions. In 2015 IP Payments was successfully acquired by Bambora Group, an entity of Nordic Capital.To find out more about Crewmojo go to: https://www.crewmojo.com/Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Dexter Cousins is joined by Simon Lee of Patona, our newest member of the Fintech Chatter crew, to bring you our new monthly Fintech News show.This month Dexter and Simon discuss:- Parpera and Prospend on the Wise Platform- Revolut launching in NZ- The state of Aussie Fintech funding - Why so many Fintech CEO's are resigningPlus Dexter quizzes Simon on his command of the Aussie language!Join us every month as we discuss the latest news, insights, hiring, firing, capital raises, product launches and more.Brought to you in partnership with Patona - The #1 platform to hire, manage and pay teamsSend us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Looking to leverage AI in your business? Gain valuable insights from Sam Wong, CEO of Curious Thing, as he discusses the transformative power of AI in customer communication and beyond.In this episode of Let's Chat, Dexter chat's to Sam Zheng, CEO and Co-Founder of Curious Thing, an Aussie AI scale up. Sam was also co-founder of Hyper Ana one of Australia's most successful AI startups. With a background in statistics and actuarial work, Sam has extensive experience in the AI field.  Sam and Dexter discuss the current state of AI and its impact on various industries. Sam emphasises the importance of focusing on solving real problems rather than just using AI for the sake of it. Sam also shares his journey as a founder and the challenges he faced transitioning from CTO to CEO. https://curiousthing.io/Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Dan McCarthy, APAC Regional Head for Wise joins Dexter Cousins to share news about the Wise Platform launch.Aussie Fintech startups Parpera and Prospend will be the first Australian fintechs to use Wise’s infrastructure, to create deposit accounts and digital debit cards via their own apps.If you'd like to find out more about the Wise Platform go to - https://platform.wise.com/Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Charlie Short, APAC Head of Growth for Revolut joins dexter to talk about their recent expansion into New Zealand.Charlie also gives an update on Revolut's Australian product roadmap.Their APAC growth plans including India.And their measured approach to growth in the region.Plus Dexter asks if Australia really is the test bay for fintech innovation.You can download the Revolut app - https://www.revolut.com/en-AU/And find out about careers - https://www.revolut.com/en-AU/careers/Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Katrina Donaghy, co-founder of Civic Ledger, joins Dexter Cousins for ep151 of Fintech Chatter. Katrina shares the journey of her company and the role of blockchain technology in solving efficiency problems in government. Katrina emphasises the importance of focusing on the "why" rather than the "what" of blockchain and highlights the potential of tokenisation as the killer app for this technology. Katrina also shares her insights on the challenges and opportunities in the fintech industry and the need for a contextual relationship between technology and society.OverviewIn this episode the conversation centers around the need for trust and governance in water distribution. Civic Ledger help citizens, industries and governments bring transparency, accountability and auditability to transactions and data in real time enabled by blockchain technology.The conversation also touches on the challenges and opportunities of bringing blockchain to the attention of the government, the importance of having a coordinated voice, and the need to focus on solutions rather than problems.Key Takeaways:Blockchain technology can improve transparency and accountability in government by providing a trustless method of transaction verification.Tokenization is the killer app for blockchain technology, as it allows for the digital representation of valuable assets.The adoption of blockchain technology requires a contextual relationship with governance and principles such as access, equity, and democracy.Australia can learn from countries like Vietnam, India, and China, which are embracing blockchain technology and investing in its development.Quotes:"We have to reinvent ourselves all the time, stay on our mission, but really keep on questioning what's our purpose." - Katrina Donaghy"We knew way back then that highly regulated asset classes would be really useful with this tokenisation technology." - Katrina Donaghy"We haven't asked for permission to do this. It's 15 years since Satoshi's White paper. And in 15 years, we've built this entire global economy." - Katrina DonaghyAbout KatrinaThrough Katrina's early years as a sociologist through to her interest in entrepreneurialism, she has extensive experience in public policy and early stage commercialisation. For more than 20 years, Katrina has worked in both public and not for profit sectors with a specific focus on business development, project delivery and revenue diversification with the view to building resilient and sustainable organisations. In Australia, she organises Women in Blockchain events and regularly speaks on the topic of why cities and governments should be exploring blockchain technologies. Katrina's interest in blockchain technologies is driven by her curiousity of its potential for governments to create and facilitate new citizen-at-the-centre markets, organisations and economies of the future.Connect with Katrina - https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrina-donaghy/https://www.civicledger.com/Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Visa's Anthony Jones Discusses Fintech Partnerships and Global Expansion Opportunities.Visa's Head of Digital Partnerships for Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific, Anthony Jones, joins Dexter Cousins on Lets Chat... - a new series where we bring in the experts to discuss key founder challenges.They discuss Visa's role in the fintech ecosystem, the company's focus on digital partnerships, and their support for non-bank financial institutions and scale-up fintechs. They also cover global expansion of fintechs, the challenges they face, and the importance of market fit. Anthony shares insights on Visa's involvement in the crypto space and their interest in digital assets. He emphasizes the need for fintechs to have a strong product-market fit and to consider partnerships and outsourcing to navigate challenging market conditions.About Anthony JonesAs the Head of Digital Partnerships for Visa Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, Anthony and his team focus on Visa’s new-to-market partnerships including neobanks and fintechs, as well as the client co-creation process. Anthony is responsible for leading Visa's strategy on collaborative product design to deliver market-leading payment experiences for clients. As part of this, he works with Visa’s global team to develop the next wave of digital and data-driven payment capabilities.About VisaVisa is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement.Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

To celebrate episode 150 of Fintech Chatter we decided to do something a bit different. In this two part interview Simon Lee from Patona turns the tables and plays host while Dexter answers the questions.In part two:Dexter shares his recruitment tips and the exact process he follows to hire amazing talent.They also talk about the amazing opportunities we have with AI. Dexter also shares his insights on the current economic situation and the opportunities it is presenting to Fintech founders. Plus he shares his tips on the ideas and businesses that will get funded in a downturn. Check out part one:Dexter shares his background from being a failed graphic designer, working in the motorsport industry to recruitment and then launching Tier One People.Simon gets Dexter's views on the latest market developments. And they also discuss the impacts of remote working on careers and business. And Dexter shares his tips on how to build high performance teams.Special Thanks to Simon Lee at Patona for hosting this show.Patona is the #1 Platform to hire, manage and pay remote teams.Patona helps businesses get more done by fast tracking the recruitment, onboarding and contracting of trusted global teams through a single platform.Tier One People is proud to be Patona's first official recruitment partner.Find out more: https://www.patona.com.au/ Send us a textSubscribe Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fintech-leaders-7092732051488980992/Connect on Linkedin: https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp