Money Majlis

Send us a textIn Episode 10 of Money Majlis, the founder CEO of Marcus, the digital bank of Goldman Sachs, is in a scintillating conversation with Suvo Sarkar about the guiding principles for starting a new bank, the clash of cultures between old and new and forging successful partnerships.Will neo-banks upend the traditional banking industry? Why is service quality so poor at banks? Should banks call themselves “technology companies”? Will blockchain rule the banking world of the future?Suvo and Harit, ex-colleagues from their Citibank days, discuss banking, philanthropy, work-life balance, career planning and much more in this very interesting episode that will make you think, reflect and smile.

Send us a textIntroducing Money Majlis XTRA, a once-in-a-while episode that has nothing to do with banking, finance and money, but everything to do with my other passions : music, art, culture, books, films, travel, food and sports. Because life is much much more than just work! In this inaugural episode of Money Majlis XTRA, we meet Sanjoy Roy, the man behind Jaipur Literature Festival, the biggest literary gathering in the world and a worldwide movement now. We explore the origins and the journey of JLF, a Harvard case study, the monetary value of culture, the connection between art and business and how technology is a force for good. In this fascinating episode, listen to Sanjoy Roy explain how art and culture can solve many of the world’s social and economic challenges and why food is such a big unifier.For more on JLF, please log into www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org

Send us a textEpisode 9 of Money Majlis explores the trends in the payment industry in the Middle East & Africa with Nandan Mer, Group CEO of Network International, the largest payment company in the region.With thousands of fintechs entering the industry, are incumbents under margin pressure? Is the merchant-acquirer relationship being redefined? How should the big players turn disruption into long-term advantage? What can we learn from African players? And what does the upcoming merger of Network and Magnati portend for the industry?Suvo Sarkar and Nandan Mer discuss these and other consequential issues for the MENA payment industry while chatting about Japanese business culture and golf handicaps.

Send us a textEpisode 9 of Money Majlis explores the trends in the payment industry in the Middle East & Africa with Nandan Mer, Group CEO of Network International, the largest payment company in the region.With thousands of fintechs entering the industry, are incumbents under margin pressure? Is the merchant-acquirer relationship being redefined? How should the big players turn disruption into long-term advantage? What can we learn from African players? And what does the upcoming merger of Network and Magnati portend for the industry?Suvo Sarkar and Nandan Mer discuss these and other consequential issues for the MENA payment industry while chatting about Japanese business culture and golf handicaps.

Send us a textStart-up mentor P K Gulati lights up Episode 8 of Money Majlis with his wisdom and insights about start-ups and fintechs in the Middle East.In this unmissable episode, Suvo Sarkar and PK discuss topics that range from the state of innovation in the region to the future of fintechs. Is the idea more important or the founder? When should companies pivot? And have legacy banks done enough to leverage fintechs to drive innovation?Join Suvo and PK in an enlightening conversation about the evolution of start-up culture in the region, about how TiE Dubai is mentoring founders to achieve their potential and about what future skills that youngsters should focus on.

Send us a textEpisode 7 of Money Majlis explores the future of cashless banking in UAE with Jan Pilbauer, CEO of Al Etihad Payments.How will Aani, the new national P2P payment system, change the financial landscape of UAE? What will Jaywan, the new domestic card scheme, achieve for merchants and consumers? And can we expect Open Finance to disrupt the established order of the banking industry?Suvo Sarkar discusses all these important topics and more with the executive who is overseeing the transition of UAE into the future era of payments and banking.

Send us a textIn Episode 6 of Money Majlis, Suvo Sarkar is in intimate conversation with Surya Subramanian, the past Group CFO of Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest and Middle East’s most profitable bank, discussing the past and future of banking.Have the fundamentals of banking changed over the past few decades? What performance indicators are important for today’s banks? Will digital banks upend the industry? What is the ideal role of a bank CFO? What are the skills required for a career in banking?Surya and Suvo discuss these and other interesting topics like football and toy trains over a cup of Darjeeling tea.

Send us a textEpisode 5 of Money Majlis features best-selling author and celebrated futurist Brett King in a very exciting conversation with Suvo Sarkar. Together, they explore the future of banking in the coming decades. Will neo-banks upend the banking market? Will wallets take over payments? Does blockchain have a future? Will embedded finance make data privacy irrelevant? Will quantum computing make big banks vulnerable? Brett and Suvo discuss these and other fundamental issues in an hour-long episode that might make you re-think what the future holds for money and banking.

Send us a textIn this episode of Money Majlis, Suvo Sarkar is in conversation with Saeeda Jaffar, Senior Vice President & Group Country Manager – GCC for Visa, talking about the supercharged growth of the payments industry in the region. They explore what competition, if any, that banks can expect from fintechs and big-techs, how the industry is evolving with crypto and AI and what Visa is doing to empower SMEs and women. Is there too much choice in payments today? Are banks doing enough for customer education? Is credit card debt a good thing or a bad thing? Do rich reward points for card transactions come at the expense of needy revolvers? Two industry leaders, Suvo Sarkar and Saeeda Jaffar, discuss these and may other topics in an interesting dialogue rich with facts, figures, insights and personal anecdotes.

Send us a textIn this episode 3 of Money Majlis, Suvo Sarkar focuses on the topic of service excellence in banks, or the lack of it. In an impassioned talk, he analyses the reasons for poor service quality in the banking industry and suggests the best options to address it. In conversation with Suhail bin Tarraf, the group chief operating officer of First Abu Dhabi Bank, Suvo discusses how banks should transform the end-to-end service experience and what FAB is doing to lift its game to wow customers. Listen in to this interesting episode to understand the service strategy of the largest bank in the UAE.