Fintech Files: Insights on TECH by BCG Platinion
BCG Platinion
In Season 5 of Fintech Files, our three hosts are traveling across the global fintech landscape, uncovering the most exciting stories from the world’s leading innovation hubs. From embedded payments to crypto, from financial inclusion to the future of millennial finance, they’re diving into the breakthroughs, bold ideas, and unexpected questions defining what comes next.
We’ll be talking to founders and experts behind some of the brightest minds in the industry, exploring how financial technology is becoming ever more invisible, intelligent, and impactful. As financial services touch every aspect of our lives, the opportunity to transform the way the world moves money has never been greater.
About Fintech Files:
Join us on Fintech Files from BCG Platinion as we explore the cutting-edge trends disrupting Fintech today. From NeoBanks to cryptocurrency, we delve into the dynamic landscape of financial technology through insightful conversations with global disruptors. We’ll uncover the most groundbreaking trends shaping the future of Fintech and examine their impact on the financial world. We focus on real-world examples, making financial technology relatable and accessible to both Fintech enthusiasts and professionals alike: https://www.bcgplatinion.com/insights/fintech-files-insights-on-tech-by-bcg-platinion
Hosted by Annika Melchert, a Principal currently based at BCG Platinion in the Middle East, and Nora Hocke, a Principal currently based at BCG Platinion in Sydney, our hosts bring expertise in tech transformations, platform architecture, and digital innovation. Annika and Nora work with Fintechs and incumbent banks, and together they offer unique insights into the evolving financial landscape, drawing on their wealth of experience with leading organizations. Bianca Lopes is an entrepreneur and economist from Brazil with a background in digital identity and biometrics. Having supported over 40 financial institutions and eight governments, Bianca’s work reshapes technology, reimagines identity, and drives innovation.
We’ll be talking to founders and experts behind some of the brightest minds in the industry, exploring how financial technology is becoming ever more invisible, intelligent, and impactful. As financial services touch every aspect of our lives, the opportunity to transform the way the world moves money has never been greater.
About Fintech Files:
Join us on Fintech Files from BCG Platinion as we explore the cutting-edge trends disrupting Fintech today. From NeoBanks to cryptocurrency, we delve into the dynamic landscape of financial technology through insightful conversations with global disruptors. We’ll uncover the most groundbreaking trends shaping the future of Fintech and examine their impact on the financial world. We focus on real-world examples, making financial technology relatable and accessible to both Fintech enthusiasts and professionals alike: https://www.bcgplatinion.com/insights/fintech-files-insights-on-tech-by-bcg-platinion
Hosted by Annika Melchert, a Principal currently based at BCG Platinion in the Middle East, and Nora Hocke, a Principal currently based at BCG Platinion in Sydney, our hosts bring expertise in tech transformations, platform architecture, and digital innovation. Annika and Nora work with Fintechs and incumbent banks, and together they offer unique insights into the evolving financial landscape, drawing on their wealth of experience with leading organizations. Bianca Lopes is an entrepreneur and economist from Brazil with a background in digital identity and biometrics. Having supported over 40 financial institutions and eight governments, Bianca’s work reshapes technology, reimagines identity, and drives innovation.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 8, 2021 • 41min
“Why Banking and Flawless Customer Experience Are Not Contrary to Each Other ” With Thomas Fuss (CTO) and Elliott Haralambous (Global Strategic Partnerships and Alliances Lead) from Backbase
While flawless customer experience seems to be more naturally aligned with new-grown Fintechs rather than incumbent banks, some solutions venture to bridge the gap between complex infrastructures and modern user-centric processes.
Join Annika and Nora in this episode with Thomas Fuss and Elliott Haralambous from Backbase, the frontrunner in the digital banking engagement platform space, on how to introduce modern customer journeys on top of legacy technology to fuel the ambition in architecting banking around the customers.
Nov 24, 2021 • 29min
“How to Build a Bank from Scratch” with Thomas Hilgendorff, CEO and Co-Founder of Yapeal
Personalized IBANs, biweekly feature releases, a special banking license just for Fintechs, a custom-developed core banking system, 100% cloud-native—what sounds like the future for most incumbent banks is already a reality for Yapeal, the rising star in the Swiss fintech market.
Join Annika and Nora on their talk with Thomas Hilgendorff, CEO and Co-Founder of Yapeal, about his story of how a group of 12 experienced bankers ventured to join the international competition of challenger banks. At Yapeal, they rethink what customer-centric banking can look like in the digital world of the future.
Nov 3, 2021 • 36min
„How to be at the Forefront of Innovation in the Institutional Crypto Space” – With Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Finoa
When talking about the crypto market, there are similarities to the traditional finance one. However, it is barely a “the winner takes it all” market, which provides opportunities for everyone to grow. Nevertheless, ten years in the future, crypto native players will have outperformed traditional banks. Therefore trust is required for Fintechs such as Finoa, a regulated Digital Asset Platform for institutional investors, to scale and capture incumbents’ market share by building a relationship with the customers to provide professional services as a regulated financial institution. But how to target such an ambivalent and ambitious goal?
Listen to this episode with Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Finoa, about how to combine being regulated, being trustworthy but still being at the forefront of innovation in the crypto space.
Oct 20, 2021 • 27min
“About Germany’s First Crypto Saving Plans and the Pioneering Role of the Country in the Blockchain Regulation“ with Philipp Beer, Chief Growth Officer at Nuri
Hardly any other neobank is growing as fast as Nuri, formerly named Bitwala. Trying out some roads not taken yet by other mainstream providers. Nuri offers the world's first banking service that combines a full German bank account with access to cryptocurrencies, digital assets and blockchain-based financial services. But what is their secret recipe for success? Listen in to this episode with Nuri’s Chief Growth Officer Philipp Beer where he shares insights about Nuri's crypto saving plans, the pioneering role of Germany in the field of crypto regulation and how to combine technologies as a competitive advantage.
Sep 29, 2021 • 34min
“Payaut’s Tech Stack Transformation Enables Marketplace Payments at Scale” with Simon Hall, CTO of Payaut
In this episode we introduce you to a niche fintech that successfully rides on the platform economy wave: The Amsterdam-based Payaut offers payment services to small and medium sized marketplaces. Listen in to learn from their CTO Simon Hall, former Chief IT Architect at BCG Platinion, what Payaut’s value proposition looks like, why they designed their technology platform the way they did, and how they balance automation and regulation.
Sep 15, 2021 • 41min
“What Incumbent Banks can Learn from Fintechs” with Jürgen Eckel, Ludger Küpper and Boris Stoff (Managing Directors of BCG Digital Ventures and BCG Platinion)
Observing the latest funding rounds and market values, it appears that successful Fintechs are rapidly catching up with incumbent banks. While what we currently observe is just the tip of the iceberg, the rate of change and the rate of growth in the Fintech space is going to continue. How does it affect the banking sector? And what can incumbent banks learn from those Fintechs? Join the latest episode with Jürgen Eckel (Partner and Managing Director, BCG Digital Ventures), Ludger Küpper (Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions Practice Area, BCG Platinion) and Boris Stoff (Managing Director, BCG Platinion) on the discussion on what enables banks to stay at the forefront of driving technology and change fast enough to fulfill both customer and regulatory requirements.
Sep 1, 2021 • 35min
“The Future Is Decentralized” with Peter Grosskopf, Co-Founder/CTO of Stealth Decentralized Finance Company (Part 2)
In our second episode with him, our guest Peter Grosskopf, one of the leading crypto and fintech experts, shares his perspective on how distributed ledger technologies will impact the future of financial services. If you’ve ever looked for a simple explanation for decentralized finance and the blockchain, listen in now and impress your grandma later.
Aug 18, 2021 • 27min
“Why Upvest Considers the Licensing Process as a Chance for Their Full-Stack Investment Offering” with Tobias Auferoth, CFO of Upvest
Full-stack investment offerings with a scope similar to incumbent banks are still rare in the European banking landscape. The German-based fintech Upvest has just positioned themselves in that niche with their "Investment as a service" offering. In parallel, they are just in the process of applying for a full securities trading bank license. Keen to learn how they consider regulation as a chance, and how they've built their cloud-based investment platform? Join Annika and Nora on this episode with Tobias Auferoth, CFO of Upvest, to get to know the process of obtaining a banking license and what advantages this brings to a Fintech.
Aug 5, 2021 • 31min
“How the Latest German Fintech Unicorn Plans to Stay Ahead of Competition” with Dr. Jörg Howein, Chief Product Officer of Solarisbank
Migrating core banking systems is a topic that may give you a headache before you even start getting into it. But what if you already would have been part of it without knowing? Germany’s latest fintech unicorn Solarisbank just demonstrated how to smoothly transition from a monolithic to a self-built modular core without its end customers even noticing. Want to find out how? Listen in to this episode with Dr. Jörg Howein, CPO at Solarisbank, in which he shares about the details and gives you a sneak preview into how Solarisbank plans to stay at the forefront of its clients’ needs.
Jul 22, 2021 • 26min
“Everyone Should Be Able to Fulfill Their Financial Potential” with Jurek Herwig, Co-Founder and CTO of forget.finance
In the race to provide the best and simplest user experience ever, financial services still offer a promising playground for start-ups. Digital finance offerings are more popular than ever—forget.finance is well on the way to becoming one of them. With its ambition to offer a holistic, mobile-based financial coach, they are likely to be one of the most promising fintechs in the German market. Join us as we talk to Jurek Herwig, Co-Founder and CTO, about his vision, the characteristics of a modern banking IT architecture, and his ambitions for the future.
