Open Banking Expo Unplugged: Recent Episodes
Open Banking Expo
Open Banking Expo Unplugged is a series of easy listening podcasts brought to you by the team behind Open Banking Expo Magazine. Digital knows no boundaries, with each episode winging its way to you on all things Open Banking, Open Finance and broader digital transformation within financial services from across the globe.Unplugged will bring you one-on-one interviews and carefully curated industry panels with thought leaders and digital disruptors working hard to bring about change in the digital financial services market.
GFT’s Mauricio Deutsch, senior vice president, banking and capital markets Canada and Nadia de Villa, vice president, client innovation solutions join Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss the challenges in adopting Open Banking, including monetisation, customer trust and partnering. Mauricio and Nadia explain how GFT has worked with Brazil’s central bank, and consider some of the lessons learned from Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. They also reveal key findings from GFT’s 2024 Global Banking Disruption Index and, crucially, what these reveal about Canadians’ loyalty to their banks.
Brigit Carroll, policy lead, North America at Wise, returns to Open Banking Expo Unplugged to discuss the key announcements on consumer-driven banking from Finance Canada’s Budget 2024. She explains the importance of interoperability between Canada’s technical standard and the US, and reveals how expanding the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s remit will help to ensure continued momentum in the ecosystem. Finally, Brigit discusses the latest update from Payments Canada on Real-Time Rail.
Ozone API’s co-chief executive officer Huw Davies and newly-appointed chair Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia join Ellie Duncan on Open Banking Expo Unplugged to discuss the global state of the Open Banking and Open Finance movement, from Latin America, to MENA and the UK. In light of Ozone API’s recent funding round, they reveal its plans for expansion into North America, and beyond, and Dame Jayne-Anne talks about her recent appointment as chair.
Open Banking Expo’s head of content Ellie Duncan is joined on this episode by Stephen Wright, head of regulation and standards, at NatWest’s Bank of APIs, and his colleague, business architect Nisha Rajasingham, as well as Nilixa Devlukia, chair of the Open Finance Association. The guests consider what is required for the UK to make the move from Open Banking to Open Finance, and what might be causing progress to stall. They also discuss Europe’s payment services regulation, and the outcomes from CFIT’s Open Finance Coalition.
Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Brigit Carroll, policy lead, North America at Wise, to hear about the latest real-time payments developments in Canada. Brigit discusses the recent changes to the Payments Act, as well as what the ecosystem might expect from the Department of Finance’s Budget 2024 when it comes to RTR and Open Banking. She also explains how Canadian consumers and businesses can benefit from payments modernisation.
In this episode, Andrew Boyajian, vice president of product for payments and CX at Tink, identifies the three key milestones for European payments this year, starting with the main opportunities and challenges that European instant payment regulation is set to bring. Andrew also tells Ellie Duncan how the European Digital Identity Regulation, or eIDAS 2.0, will revolutionise payments. Do these regulations, together with the SEPA Payment Account Access (SPAA) scheme, herald an era of European payments harmonisation?
Stephen Winyard, director at Salt Edge, joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss how Open Banking can address some of the challenges and pain points faced by the igaming industry. He explains the applications and use cases for Open Banking in this industry, including micro-transactions, duty of care, and fraud prevention. Stephen also reveals where there might be some untapped partnership potential.
Radha Suvarna, chief growth and product officer at Finastra joins Ellie Duncan to discuss the key findings from the Financial Services State of the Nation Survey 2023. He explains what the survey reveals about how AI is being deployed for greatest effect in financial services and banking, and why respondents are so excited about the pace of change across the industry. Radha also talks about Open Finance and its collaborative potential.
Joe Garner, who led the independent Future of Payments Review published alongside the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in November last year, tells Ellie Duncan about some of the key recommendations. The former chief executive officer of Nationwide also explains how the UK can remain at the forefront of Open Banking, why it needs to, and the threat from Brazil.
Sara Costantini, managing director UK and Ireland at CRIF, tells Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan about the findings from its latest ‘Banking on Banks’ report. She explains how Europeans feel about their finances compared to a year ago, and reveals which customer demographics are the most willing to share their financial data.
Ezechi Britton, chief executive officer of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) joins Ellie Duncan, head of editorial and broadcast at Open Banking Expo, on the podcast. He explains why CFIT is the right organisation to drive forward Open Finance in the UK, and the initial outcomes from its Open Finance Coalition. Ezechi also reveals how the coalition structure works and why it is so important to recognise regional innovation and fintech representation.
Small business accounting platform Xero recently partnered with Crezco to help UK small businesses manage cash flow. Crezco’s chief executive officer and founder Ralph Rogge, and partnerships director David Schilperoort, joined Leigh O’Neill, EGM, money at Xero on the podcast. They discussed how the partnership uses Open Banking to provide a better user experience for small businesses when paying bills and invoices. What will SMEs be prioritising in the economic environment in 2024?
Siamac Rezaiezadeh, vice president of product marketing and insights at GoCardless, joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to reveal the key themes and trends set to define Open Banking payments in 2024. He considers what is on the horizon for payments partnerships, fraud prevention, and variable recurring payments. Siamac also takes stock of the progress made in 2023, as Open Banking payments took off and GoCardless reached its own milestones.
Bottomline’s Zhenya Winter, head of global marketing, financial messaging and Edward Ireland, joint head of commercial product management, financial messaging, join Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss the findings of their latest survey. The latest edition of ‘The Future of Competitive Advantage in Banking and Payments’ addresses how financial institutions measure up in meeting customer expectations and in their digital payments modernisation strategy. What are banks’ priorities in the coming 12 months and do these align with corporate customer demands?
Igor Pejic is the author of Big Tech in Finance: How to prevail in the age of Blockchain, digital currencies and Web3. He joins Ellie Duncan to discuss the speed and scale of Big Tech’s entry into finance, with payments as the gateway, and why this inspired his latest book. Igor addresses the need for regulators to create a level playing field for banks and Big Tech as they vie for market share. Finally, he offers his views on the CFPB’s recent proposed new oversight of Big Tech.
Josh Graham, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Airtime Rewards, tells Ellie Duncan how he and co-founder Adam Ward came up with the idea for the UK-based loyalty scheme.
Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan caught up with two of our Women in Open Banking members who were matched in our mentoring scheme to find out what they initially sought from mentoring and what they’ve both gained from the scheme. Surbhi Sharma, senior manager at American Express, reveals how her own experiences of being mentored spurred her on to become a mentor. Meanwhile, Davinia Collins, senior legal counsel at Zepz, explains why the pair have adopted a more informal structure to their mentoring sessions. Davinia and Surbhi also offer some words of encouragement for those considering signing up to the next cohort.
Ellie Duncan is joined on this episode by Olga Karablina, head of payment product development and financial partnerships at Ecommpay and Katharina Luschnik, vice president, head of payments solutions sales at Mastercard Open Banking – Europe. They discuss what businesses need to prioritise in considering which Open Banking payments provider they want to work with, including coverage, functionality and provider types. Olga and Katharina also highlight the pitfalls to avoid along the way.
In this episode, Tom Winterton, head of platform at InvestEngine, tells Ellie Duncan about how its instant payments partnership with TrueLayer came to fruition. He explains how InvestEngine is using variable recurring payments – the “latest iteration” of Open Banking technology – to help clients invest more easily and often, and why payments is a “natural” use case for investing. Finally, he addresses the lack of awareness of Open Banking in the investment industry, and what’s next for InvestEngine.
Saba Shariff, chief strategy, product and innovation officer at Symcor, joins Ellie Duncan to discuss the findings of the 2023 EY Open Banking Study, conducted in partnership with Symcor, which analyses trends in consumer data-sharing preferences. She explains what the research tells us about consumer trust, and SMBs’ motivations to share data.
Liz Crews and Marie Walker from Raidiam, which built and delivered the world’s first trust framework, join Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan on the podcast. They share some of Raidiam’s key learnings, having been involved in the creation of open ecosystems globally, including the key questions and considerations businesses need to address when creating their own data sharing ecosystem. Marie, in her role as open futurist, also reveals the big trends she is witnessing in Open Banking and Open Finance. Liz talks about what is so exciting about the Smart Data movement.
Merve Ferrero, chief strategy officer at UK-based digital bank Zopa, tells Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan about the company’s journey from peer-to-peer lender, to fully licensed bank. She reveals how Zopa has remained resilient in a tough environment, closing a £75 million fundraise earlier this year and making its first acquisition, with a deal to buy DivideBuy. She also reveals whether Zopa is on course to make any further M&A announcements this year.
Leda Glyptis, chief client officer at 10x Banking and author of ‘Bankers Like Us: Dispatches from an industry in transition’ joins Ellie Duncan to discuss what is meant by transformation and why it is a genuine challenge or difficulty to overcome for many banks. She reveals how she made her own transition from penning regular columns, to writing a book – and if there is another title in the works. Finally, Leda explains why regulators are often the instigator of a lot of reform in banking, forcing banks to change and not at their own pace.
David Hooper, VP, Open Banking and payments consulting at CGI, joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss Canada’s Open Banking and payments journey so far. He explains why Canada’s long-awaited Real-Time Rail and Open Finance will cross over eventually and how, when they do, they’ll drive value for Canadian consumers and SMBs. David also reveals why he wants to see dates and timeframes around the implementation of payment initiations and account portability in Canada.
What are the key elements that will enable trust in Canada’s Open Banking framework? In this episode, Symcor's head of new product development and corporate strategy Saba Shariff, along with Sarah Gowdy, VP, client engagement and innovation at Tangerine Bank and Faye Pang, country manager, Canada at Xero, delve into the key measures and standards for creating a trust framework for Open Banking, including data accreditation, liability and customer experience, emphasizing the crucial balance of security and agility that is necessary to foster innovation.
Marion King, chair and trustee of Open Banking Limited (OBL), joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to explain why, following the publication of JROC’s recommendations for the UK’s Open Banking regime, she sees the organisation operating as “a guardian of standards” as it transitions to a new entity or entities. King reveals why she decided to take the role at OBL at a “pivotal point” for Open Banking in the UK and how the organisation will absorb JROC’s roadmap deadlines to 2025. Finally, Marion discusses the potential to unlock more non-sweeping VRP use cases and why Open Banking is not a competition, but why it is about leadership.
Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Allen Bonde, chief marketing officer at TreviPay, to discuss customer experience and digital transformation in global B2B payments. He reveals what ‘good’ looks like at a payments checkout, and the implications of failing to evolve payment options for enterprises. He also talks about TreviPay’s growth plans for the UK market.
The Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee’s (JROC’s) recommendations for the next phase of Open Banking in the UK provide some long-awaited clarity for the ecosystem. Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Tom Burton, director of external affairs and public policy at GoCardless, Stephen Wright, head of regulation and standards at NatWest’s Bank of APIs, and TrueLayer’s head of public policy Jack Wilson to assess what it means for the future of OBIE, and how the industry can meet the most imminent deadlines. How do JROC’s recommendations progress the work already being done on variable recurring payments? Which organisation has overall accountability? What wasn’t covered in the recommendations that they would like to have seen?
Women in Open Banking’s community manager Ellie Duncan is joined by Holly Coventry, VP of international Open Banking payments at American Express and Nichola Johnson-Marshall, co-founder of Working Wonder Consultancy to discuss salary negotiation. They explain how to approach what can often seem like tricky conversations around pay and compensation, particularly for women. Nichola offers her views on what companies should be doing to achieve greater pay equality and the need to be aware of the unconscious bias that may be evident in their own pay policies. Finally, Holly explains why there needs to be a shift in how we think about ‘salary’ and financial packages.
Ruth Wandhofer, industry expert, author and Open Banking Expo advisory board member, joins Ellie Duncan to talk about her new book, ‘Redecentralisation: Building the Digital Financial Ecosystem’, published by Palgrave Macmillan. She explains why she believes the digital economy is not working “with the human at the centre” and why the key argument in her book is whether there is a way for technology and system design to “redecentralise” and hand back control to consumers. Ruth also talks about some of the areas she dives into in her book, including central bank digital currencies, and digital identity.
For more information on the book, or to buy with 20% off, go to link.springer.com and use code PMP2023.
Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Oren Marmur, product lead for payments at Finastra, to discuss a recent piece of research about how global banks are investing in payments technology. He reveals the findings from Finastra’s study with Aite-Novarica Group, and explains why they need to step up investment levels in payments tech to keep up with the pace of innovation. Oren also reveals the global threat banks face from fintechs in the payments space.
Abdi Hersi, senior manager, payments strategy at Wealthsimple, provides an update on the state of Open Banking in Canada, given the ongoing consultation process, and explains why Australia’s implementation is particularly influential. He also tells Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan what needs to happen for consumers to be “at the heart of the system” and why he is focused on “connecting the dots” between Canada’s Real-Time Rail and Open Banking.
GFT’s Mauricio Deutsch, Canada banking and capital markets leader, and Carlos Kazuo, Americas innovation leader outline why the main barriers to implementing Open Banking are different levels of market maturity and the adoption of varying legal and regulatory standards. They tell Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan how North America and Europe, in particular, can overcome these challenges. Mauricio also provides an update on the state of play in Canada, which is awaiting its Open Banking roadmap.
Oliver Prill, chief executive officer of Tide, and Simon Cureton, Funding Options chief executive officer, tell Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan about their plans to merge the two companies. It follows a recent announcement that Tide’s acquisition of Funding Options has been approved by the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. Simon reveals his vision for Tide’s existing credit intermediation business once it has merged with Funding Options, while Oliver explains why the UK marketplace for business finance is such a good fit for Tide and its one-platform ethos. They also discuss the environment for SME borrowing and the trends playing out.
David Brear, co-founder and chief executive officer of 11:FS, talks to Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan about the 11:FS Pulse Report 2023, which identifies the best examples of outstanding product experiences in financial services. David reveals why the sector needs to rethink the customer journey, from a digital perspective, to create a service that makes people better off. He also discusses the rise of super-apps – what it takes to become one, and why they are an “operating system for people’s lives”. Finally, David reveals what excites him the most about the future of fintech and financial services in supporting the “underserved, overcharged and overwhelmed”.
GoCardless director of external affairs and public policy Tom Burton, and Nilixa Devlukia, chair of the Open Finance Association, join Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss what’s next for Open Banking in the UK, as it reaches a number of milestones. Tom and Nilixa reveal some of the key upcoming dates for the ecosystem, and the long-term impact on the UK’s global competitiveness as the industry awaits the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee’s report on driving the agenda forward. They also explain the main areas that TPPs would like to see prioritised by the future entity that will follow the OBIE.
Brenton Charnley, founder and chief executive officer of Open Finance Advisors, tells Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan about why Australia is still early in its Open Banking journey, despite the ambition of the country’s Consumer Data Right (CDR). Brenton also discusses the findings of Open Finance Advisors’ recently published ‘Australian Open Banking Ecosystem Map & Report’, which identifies data reliability and implementation issues in the country.
Xiaochen Zhang, global head of innovation and go-to-market at AWS, and Erica Salinas, principal technical leader – Web3 at Amazon, join Ellie Duncan on the podcast to explain what has spurred central banks to explore central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and why some central banks have taken the lead. They also address some of the biggest global trends, such as digital assets and the use of blockchain beyond CBDCs, and how public sector FIs are innovating to keep up with these disruptive forces. Finally, Xiaochen and Erica talk about the opportunities for women and girls to make their mark in this area of finance.
Xiaochen Zhang, global head of innovation and go-to-market at AWS, and Erica Salinas, principal technical leader – Web3 at Amazon, join Ellie Duncan on the podcast to explain what has spurred central banks to explore central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and why some central banks have taken the lead. They also address some of the biggest global trends, such as digital assets and the use of blockchain beyond CBDCs, and how public sector FIs are innovating to keep up with these disruptive forces. Finally, Xiaochen and Erica talk about the opportunities for women and girls to make their mark in this area of finance.
In this special episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, Holly Coventry, VP, international Open Banking payments at American Express and Adam Cox, co-founder of Open Banking Expo, explain why they jointly launched the Women in Open Banking initiative and how it will champion women. They are joined by Bankifi CEO Mark Hartley, who has signed up as a Women in Open Banking mentor, to reveal what mentees can expect from the mentoring scheme. Finally, all three tell Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan about the main barriers to entry for women trying to enter Open Banking or move up the ranks.
In this episode, Olga Shikhantsova, a partner at venture capital fund Speedinvest, joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to explain what she looks for in the early-stage fintech startups she backs and how fintechs in Europe and emerging markets can secure funding against a challenging economic backdrop. She also reveals the type of opportunities that the current macroeconomic environment can present and the sectors ripe for disruption by fintechs.
Henk Van Hulle, CEO of the UK’s Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss the fifth anniversary of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which made Open Banking a regulatory requirement in the UK. He talks about the completion of the CMA Roadmap and the implications for the OBIE. He also responds to concerns that the UK will fall behind other countries now the Roadmap has ended and reveals what shape a more equitable funding model might look like for Open Banking.
Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined by Chris Michael, CEO and co-founder of Ozone API, and Huw Davies, chief commercial officer and co-founder of Ozone API, to explain how their industry experience led them to establish the company, along with CTO Freddi Gyara, and why it was the right time to rebrand towards the end of 2022. Chris and Huw also reveal how they came to create the UK's Open Banking Standard and offer up their predictions for how far away the UK is from Open Finance, as its roadmap nears the end. Finally, they reveal what excites them about Open Banking developments beyond the UK's shores, in Europe, Latin America and Canada.
Lili Metodieva, managing director at European payment ecosystem Monneo, tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan how she is helping to build out the company's network of partners and how Open Banking is helping to address some of the biggest challenges facing ecommerce merchants. She also explains what Europe can learn from how other countries have introduced payment networks, such as WeChat Pay in China and Brazil's Pix, and reveals Monneo's growth plans for 2023.
In this special edition of the Open Banking Expo Unplugged podcast, to coincide with the #GivingTuesday social media campaign running throughout November, Ellie Duncan is joined by Kieron James, founder and CEO of Wonderful, who explains how the online giving platform has implemented Open Banking-enabled account-to-account payments to achieve 100% fee-free charitable donations. Sacha Deshmukh, CEO of Amnesty International UK, also joins the episode to reveal the organisation's interest in Wonderful and Open Banking payments to save on card processing fees and administrative costs.
Ellie Duncan is joined by Saba Shariff, head of new product development and corporate strategy at Symcor, Rafael Schur, a partner at EY Latin America South and Mick Smothers, a managing director who serves as principal architect for the Banking and Capital Markets practice within EY’s financial services IT consulting team to discuss how there is a lot to learn from Open Banking experiences around the globe with many geographies in various stages of implementation. From Singapore and Japan, to the EU, UK and Australia, the approach to Open Banking has been varied, each attaining different levels of success. Though Canada has its own unique set of regulatory, industry and constitutional frameworks to consider, valuable information can be gathered from implementations in USA and Brazil that can ultimately help to define and accelerate a ‘made-in-Canada’ model of Open Banking.
On this episode, Ellie Duncan is joined by Ron Morrow, executive director, retail payments supervision at the Bank of Canada to discuss the newest core function to supervise payment service providers and retail payments, the Retail Payment Activity Act. Ron explains what it will mean for PSPs, both in Canada and outside of Canada, and how the central bank has engaged with industry on its supervisory approach. He also discusses how the Act will fit alongside other initiatives, such as Real-Time Rail and Open Banking.
In this episode, Sara Costantini, managing director at CRIF, reveals some of the main findings from its latest research, 'Banking on Banks'. She tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan why UK consumers, in particular, view banks as "a second line of defence" after the government and where banks are falling short in helping consumers amid the cost-of-living crisis. Finally, she discusses what banks across the UK and Europe can learn about how to use Open Banking technology to deliver the right products and services to their customers.
On this episode, Ellie Duncan is joined by Kareem Refaay, managing director for MENA & GCC at The London Institute of Banking & Finance, which aims to promote financial inclusion through delivering bespoke programmes that provide finance qualification in fintech, digital transformation, sustainable finance and financial literacy. Kareem shares more about the work of the Institute, as well as their recent partnership with the Abu Dhabi Global Market Academy to provide solutions that cater to education and training needs of the banking sector in the MENA and GCC regions.
On this episode, Siamac Rezaiezadeh, senior director of product marketing at GoCardless joins Ellie Duncan to discuss the many types of payment fraud, including identity fraud, and the size of the problem in the UK.
Laura Heritage, Open Banking and API leader at API management platform Axway, joined Ellie Duncan on Open Banking Expo Unplugged to explain how the emergence of the "API economy" has driven innovation and fostered new business models around data sharing. She also discusses how the market-driven approach to implementing Open Banking in the US is playing out and how upcoming Open Banking mandates will offer further clarity on how to participate in the Open Banking economy. Finally, she talks about Axway's work with Brazil on its Open Banking implementation to ensure that it didn't become a check-box exercise.
Gabby Macsweeney, head of brand and communications at Codat, tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan about the main findings from its latest report, 'Open for business: the case for a new approach to Open Finance that works for SMBs’. She reveals what the research uncovered about the benefits and limitations of Open Banking for SMBs, including why there needs to be a rethink about the datasets shared through Open Finance for small businesses. Finally, she discusses where she is seeing data being used particularly effectively in products or services for SMBs. Please click here to download the report.
Matt Komorowski, who joined Volt earlier this year as chief revenue officer after a decade at PayPal, tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan about the real-time payments opportunities for both consumers and merchants. He explains why account-to-account payments have gone mainstream so rapidly in Brazil and India, and why the UK needs more clarity from the regulators on the timeline for variable recurring payments in order to encourage commercial use cases.
Mat Mytka, who recently joined FDATA Australia and New Zealand as regional director, tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan about what New Zealand can learn from Australia's CDR implementation as it goes down the same route, and why some of the biggest Australian banks have often perceived CDR as more of a threat than an opportunity. He also reveals what he thinks might accelerate global multi-stakeholder learning on Open Banking and Open Finance in the face of slower-than-expected progress, at times.
Jack Wilson, head of public policy at European Open Banking platform TrueLayer, talks to Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan about the need for the FCA and PSR to ensure the UK's Open Banking progress does not stall once the OBIE's roadmap has ended and how incentives might help. He also explains why communication and transparency from the Joint Regulatory Oversight Committee and the future Open Banking entity in the UK are crucial. Jack also discusses the main recommendations from the Digital Payments Initiative report and why its findings might not result in concrete action.
Mitul Sudra, chief technology officer at Tarabut Gateway, the first regulated Open Banking platform in the UAE, joins Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan to discuss the Open Banking landscape in MENA, and how banks and fintechs are working alongside one another as collaborators, not competitors. Mitul also reveals Tarabut Gateway's expansion plans and its vision for financial wellbeing in the region.
Mark Hartley, CEO of Bankifi, and TSB's head of digital propositions, partnerships and Open Banking Jason Wilkinson-Brown join Ellie Duncan on the podcast to discuss the app they teamed up to launch earlier this year, called Revenu. They explain how it uses Open Banking to help TSB's SME customers collect payments and why creating successful partnerships between banks and fintechs is like matchmaking.
Adedeji Olowe, trustee of Open Banking Nigeria, tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan how far along Nigeria is on its Open Banking implementation journey and why it's been so "easy" to convince the banks that Open Banking is "right for them". He also reveals why Nigeria's central bank has been the most engaged stakeholder.
Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Phillip Mind, director of digital policy and innovation, payments policy team at UK Finance, the collective voice for the banking and finance industry in the UK to explain what initiatives are in place to ensure the UK transitions from Open Banking to Open Finance. Phillip also discusses how UK Finance is working with government to develop a digital identity ecosystem that works for the UK but has a global approach, and the potential of digital currencies.
Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined by Duncan Barrigan, chief product and growth officer at GoCardless, which has been credited by the Open Banking Implementation Entity for taking the first variable recurring payment (VRP). Duncan explains how GoCardless is working with UK bank NatWest on VRPs and its non-sweeping VRP pilot. He also reveals what GoCardless' own research on the current cost-of-living crisis reveals about the value of sweeping use cases for consumers and businesses.
Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined by Jennifer Tramontana, executive director of the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization (CPPO) and Francisco Alvarez-Evangelista, advisor at Aite-Novarica Group, to discuss what is behind the growth of Canada's prepaid market in recent years and the key findings of their joint research.
Francisco and Jennifer also explain how it compares to the prepaid space in the US, as well as how regulation is shaping the market in Canada.
Lena Hackelöer, founder and CEO of Brite Payments, talks to Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan about why she started the business in 2019 and the thriving fintech scene in Stockholm where she's based. Lena also explains why partnerships are so vital in the payments space, including Brite Payments' own partnership with Sofort. Finally, she reveals where the company's geographic expansion plans will take it next.
Token CEO Todd Clyde and new chief product officer Charles Damen join Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan to discuss the widespread adoption of Open Banking-enabled payments in Europe, as well as the headwinds and tailwinds facing the region, such as fragmentation. Todd reveals more about how Token plans to use its recent $40 million Series C funding round to scale the business. Finally, Charles reveals his reasons for joining the company and his vision as CPO.
Saba Shariff, Head of new Product Development and Corporate Strategy at Symcor, joins Ellie Duncan from Open Banking Expo, to discuss the dual requirements of efficiency and scalability in establishing a uniquely Canadian Open Banking model. While trust and security are table stakes for adoption, creation of market-wide efficiencies and effective scaling will constitute sustainable success.
In this episode, Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan talks to Becky Danks, head of product at Comma, and Brightpay's marketing manager Rachel Quinn about how Open Banking is transforming payroll services, bringing much-needed flexibility and innovation to what has been an outdated process. Becky also reveals Comma's future plans beyond payroll services, while Rachel offers her predictions about the future of payroll in the UK.
In this episode, Tink's VP of payments and platforms Tom Pope tells Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan why variable recurring payments (VRPs) are the most significant development in Open Banking to date, and explains what both merchants and consumers stand to gain from VRPs. He also predicts when VRPs will reach mass adoption levels in the UK.
Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined by Saba Shariff, Head of new Product Development & Corporate Strategy at Symcor, to discuss the adoption of Open Banking in Canada, and why trust, security and privacy are so critical to its success. Shariff also reveals some of the risks and opportunities as the country presses ahead with the creation of its 'made-in-Canada' Open Banking regime. Can the industry wait for the rules to be written? Or can it help to lead the adoption and facilitation of Open Banking?
This year's Open Banking Expo Awards are open for entries until 14 April. Co-chairs of the Awards judging panel Dr Ruth Wandhofer, CEO of Leximar and chair of the PSR Panel, and David Parker, CEO of Polymath Consulting, tell Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan what they look for in an award-winning entry and their top tips when it comes to presenting the criteria in each category. They explain why they are excited about the three new categories this year and which aspect of being an Awards judge they enjoy the most.
In this episode, Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined by Simon Redfern, CEO of Tesobe and founder of the Open Bank Project, Gavin Starks, founder of IcebreakerOne.org and co-chair of the Open Banking Standard, and Steve Williams, research group leader at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany, for a discussion about what financial institutions are already doing and what more they can do to tackle climate change. What do we mean when we use the term ‘sustainable finance’? How has Open Banking paved the way for the collection of net zero data?
Oliver Prill, CEO of business banking platform Tide, joins Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan on the podcast to talk about its Open Access proposition which launched towards the end of 2021 and how the industry has come to realise that mass bank account switching by SMEs was never going to happen at scale. He also explains how Open Banking has been able to introduce much-needed competition into the SME banking market in the UK, as well as Tide's plans for the Indian SME market.
In this episode of Unplugged, TrueLayer's senior product manager Matt Parish tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan about the opportunities for fintechs and banks from the Competition and Markets Authority's decision last year to mandate VRPs for sweeping. Recorded before the CMA pushed back the deadline for the implementation of VRPs to July 2022, from January, he explains what benefits businesses and consumers are likely to reap, and what the UK needs to do to make its mark in open payments.
Adi Ben-Ari founded Applied Blockchain in 2015 and in this episode of Unplugged, he tells Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan what set him off on the path to exploring the Open Banking opportunities in blockchain, including the first privacy-preserving open banking solution. He explains more about the emergence of non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs, and what that might mean for the industry, as well as what needs to happen for consumers to overcome their nervousness about data sharing.
Volt co-founder and newly-appointed chief operating officer Steffen Vollert joined Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan in this episode of the Unplugged podcast to discuss fraud, and specifically, why SCA and real-time clearing has not eliminated fraud as some thought it would. He explains what data banks and TPPs require to enable better fraud prevention decisions and the ongoing impact of fraud on merchants.
Fabian Lehner, a consultant at the Business Engineering Institute St. Gallen in Switzerland, the coordinator and partner of OpenBankingProject.ch, joins Open Banking Expo head of content Ellie Duncan, to reveal all about the initiative which has defined the first internationally scalable open API in the country. He explains Swiss consumers' attitudes to data sharing and the banking industry, and why this might account for slower Open Banking adoption than in other European countries. Fabian also offers his views on which fintech and bank collaborations have produced positive results in Switzerland.
In this episode, Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan is joined by Ghela Boskovich, head of Europe at the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA), to explain how FDATA ensures that the voice of European fintechs is well represented and why it's important for the lobbying group's members to have a "fair and competitive" playing field so that they can fulfil the mandate of PSD2. She also discusses what needs to happen in the UK to ensure the momentum continues once the OBIE's roadmap comes to an end, and why "coordination and collaboration" is so crucial in thinking about the next phase of Open Banking to Open Finance.
In this episode, Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined by Kenny Tsang, managing director at PingPong Payments, to discuss the cross-border payment pain points that the company helps retailers overcome. He also revealed how the firm differentiates itself in the highly competitive payments space, the profile of the 'typical' PingPong customer and which other markets the unicorn has its eye on.
In this episode, Nucleus Commercial Finance CEO Chirag Shah tells Ellie Duncan, head of content at Open Banking Expo, why there is no such thing as 'alternative' lending to SMEs and that it should be considered mainstream lending. He also explains how Open Banking has helped to simplify the user journey, as well as the business' own investment in technology and why the future of lending to small businesses will look like a more subscription-based model.
Anton Langbroek, general manager of DACH at Mambu joins Ellie Duncan in this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged to discuss the Open Banking challenges that are unique to Germany, Austria and Switzerland and how these are being overcome. He also reveals what Mambu is doing to educate consumers on the benefits of Open Banking, and why Mambu's plans for the DACH region are all about 'collaborating instead of competing'.
Open Banking Expo's Ellie Duncan is joined on the podcast by Experian's Shobana Balasundaram, director of global DA, and Ed Heal, product director, software to discuss the value of cloud for financial institutions, given its ability to solve for customer-specific and operational challenges across both large banks and mid-sized firms. They also reveal the use cases for cloud, how these differ regionally and how firms can build a business case for cloud.
In this episode, Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan is joined by Bent Winkel, Nordics general manager at Mambu, who reveals why the Nordic region is one of the 'first movers' in Europe when it comes to Open Banking and why he believes there are only 'opportunities' and not 'challenges' for the region to address. He also discusses what Mambu's plans are for the Nordics, which it has identified as a strategic region.
In this episode of the Unplugged series, Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan is joined by Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance who explains what her plans are for the organisation since taking the helm earlier this year. She also reveals how "unparalleled" government and regulatory support has contributed towards a thriving fintech marketplace in the UK and what the industry could stand to learn from the US's attitude to risk appetite. Janine also talks about Innovate Finance's 'Women in Fintech' programme and the opportunity it presents to increase the number of women working in the space.
In this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, head of content Ellie Duncan speaks to Paul Lloyd, co-founder and chief marketing officer of fintech Snoop, to find out how the app uses Open Banking data to help households save money. Paul also reveals what prompted him and the other co-founders, all of whom had previously worked at Virgin Money, to come up with the idea for Snoop and then turn that into a reality. Finally, Paul talks about Snoop's recent Open Banking Expo award wins.
Andréa Toucinho, director of Partelya Consulting, joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan for this episode of Unplugged in which she reveals the main findings from a recent Open Banking white paper and how she’d like to see the industry use the conclusions of that research to create a framework for Open Finance. Toucinho also reveals Europe’s diverse but collaborative approaches to Open Banking and payments, with a closer look at France’s ‘progressive’ Open Banking journey.
Bud CEO Ed Maslaveckas joins Ellie Duncan in this week’s episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged to explain how he came up with the idea for the fintech Open Banking platform back in 2015. Ed also discusses a string of recent partnerships including Minna Technologies and First Direct, which pioneers the way firms interact with their customers, as well as the next stages of Open Finance in the UK.
In this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, digital innovation lead at Equifax Canada Yassir Jiwan joins Ellie Duncan to set the scene for Open Banking in Canada, given that the Canadian Advisory Committee on Open Banking recently set out its recommendations for implementation. Jiwan also discusses an issue that he believes is important and often left out of conversations about Open Banking, and that’s how the consumer will ultimately benefit its adoption. He reveals the consumer use cases that could prove an ‘easy win’ for Canada’s banks and fintechs.
Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Experian’s Sam Kerr, director of software innovation, and Laurie Schnidman, global VP of Saas product, for a discussion around the need to design user experiences that correspond with rapidly changing customer experiences, and what this might look like as part of a new or existing customer journey. They also talk about some of the complexities that sit behind the seamless decisions and what can be learned from the fintechs.
Yapily CEO Stefano Vaccino joins Ellie Duncan in this week’s episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged to explain how he came up with the idea for the Open Banking infrastructure provider back in 2017. Stefano also discusses the recent partnership with Comma to enable bulk payments for SMEs and why, until now, these have been the reserve of larger firms. He also discusses what it is he looks for in a partnership.
Monika Liikamaa is one of the co-founders and CEO of Nordic fintech Enfuce and in this episode she tells Open Banking Expo’s head of content Ellie Duncan about where and why it all started. She also explains more about the sustainability aspect of the business and its recent partnership with Bud to bring its carbon product to the UK. Monika also reveals what it takes to secure funding, having received backing from Chinese tech giant Tencent.
In this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, head of content Ellie Duncan talks to Sara Costantini, director of global fintech CRIF, about the company's longer term growth plans, following the acceleration of Open Banking adoption during the pandemic. She also discusses the prospect of Open Finance overtaking Open Banking and why 'data is gold'. Finally, Costantini predicts how financial institutions will be using data five years from now.
Open Banking Expo’s head of content Ellie Duncan is joined by Leon Muis, chief business officer at Yolt Technology Services, to discuss innovation in payments, and whether regulation and governance has been able to keep apace. Leon also explains more about its Cashflow Analyser tool, as well as what the company’s next milestone is and how it plans to get there.
Token CEO Todd Clyde joins Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan in this episode to explain the role that Open Banking is playing in helping account-to-account payments move away from being seen as an alternative payment method and the potential reach these payments could have. He also discusses some of the highlights from Token's 2021 so far, including its partnership with BNP Paribas and authorisation by BaFin. Todd reveals some of the challenges behind opening a new office in Berlin during the pandemic.
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, trustee of the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), speaks to Ellie Duncan for Open Banking Expo Unplugged about what there is left to deliver now that the OBIE has reached the final implementation stages of the roadmap for Open Banking in the UK. He also reveals what a successor organisation might look like and whether he will be involved, as well as what the UK needs to do to ensure Open Finance doesn’t become a lost opportunity.
In this episode of Unplugged, Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan talks to Rob Hale, chief digital officer at Regional Australia Bank about Australia's Consumer Data Right - what it is and how the rules around CDR are evolving. Rob discusses where Regional Australia Bank is on its own Open Banking journey and why it has been so transparent in sharing its experiences with other banks. Finally, Rob addresses consumer knowledge of Open Banking and attitudes to data sharing in the country.
In this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, head of content Ellie Duncan speaks to Michelle Beyo, a board member of the Open Banking Initiative Canada, and CEO and founder of Finavator, to find out why the country is playing catch-up when it comes to Open Banking and what the implications are if the initiative is delayed any further. Michelle also reveals her own experiences of starting a business and where the idea for Finavator came from.
In this episode, Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan talks to entrepreneur and impact investor Nathan Kinch about consumer trust in Open Banking and data sharing, and how seriously firms should be taking data ethics as the industry moves to open finance. He also discusses Australia's Consumer Data Right and his work with Regional Australia Bank.
In this episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged, head of content Ellie Duncan talks to Freddy Kelly, chief executive of Credit Kudos, about how the firm is challenging the credit reference space, his growth plans for the business and what he looks for in a strategic partnership. Kelly also reveals some of the crucial lessons he's learned from starting up and growing a fintech business, and discusses access to credit for younger borrowers, following the findings of the latest Credit Kudos Borrowing Index.
Open Banking Expo welcomes Plaid's European policy lead Dan Morgan to the Unplugged podcast. He spoke to Ellie Duncan, head of content at Open Banking Expo, about Plaid's growth plans following its recent fundraising, why it's so important for consumers to have power over their financial data, and why the Kalifa Review could have gone further. Dan also discusses what regulators need to consider when it comes to Open Finance governance and how the UK's fintech ecosystem has fared following Brexit.
Episode 8 welcomes Myles Stephenson, CEO of payment-as-a-service platform Modulr as he joins Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan to discuss the Bank of England’s roadmap for the development of fintech and payments services in the UK, as set out at UK Fintech Week in April. He also shares where the idea for Modulr came from, as well as his own experience in the payments space and his tips for leading a fintech.
Episode 7 welcomes Edoardo Moreni, co-founder and CEO of money management app Emma as he joins Open Banking Expo's head of content Ellie Duncan to discuss where the idea for the app came from and what he means by wanting consumers to live "financially fulfilling lives". Moreni also reveals the company's expansion plans in terms of new products and his experience of entering the US and Canadian markets. Following a successful seed funding round last year, Moreni also explains what it takes to be a fintech entrepreneur.
Open Banking Expo caught up with CEO & Founder of Open Banking Expo’s inaugural ‘Life’s a Pitch’ winner, Harjit Moore of Freeze Debt. Harjit and the team are ripping up the rule book when it comes to debt advice here in the UK and on this episode we discuss their recent campaign; ‘Debt Isn’t a Dirty Word’ and the implications this narrative has on society, moving towards a cashless society, Harjit’s continual lobbying to government for regulation of IVA’s (Individual Voluntary Arrangements) and the continual surge in BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) activity.
In this episode Open Banking Expo explores the world of Open Finance and what the future may hold specifically for the Insurance space. The episode was recorded shortly after the Kalifa Fintech review came to market and here we discuss the impact this could have in the short and long term goals and objectives for Open Finance adoption. We also highlight the recent work being undertaken by Tech Nation on the impending commissioned Open Finance report of which will highlight the key opportunities for Insure-techs in this new world of Open Finance.
Episode 4 welcomes RBC’s digital products lead, Rami Thabet as he joins Abhishek Sinha Open Banking and Blockchain Leader, EY Canada and Parna Sabet-Stephenson, Partner, Gowling WLG as they discuss the geographies that have implemented Open Banking to...
Episode 3 of Open Banking Expo Unplugged focuses on the year ahead when it comes to the growth in Open Banking Payments, the shift towards Open Finance and progress made in both the ecosystem and broader adoption levels. We also dive into the recent...
Join Abhishek Sinha, Open Banking and Blockchain Leader, EY Canada and Kirsten Tisdale, Managing Partner, Government and Public Sector, EY Canada as they revisit the results of their recent Consumer Directed Finance survey with guest, Senator Colin...
Abhishek Sinha of EY Canada and Ben Harrison of Portag3 Ventures dissect the data sharing conundrum in Canada. Specifically, they review the results of the recent consumer survey conducted by EY Canada on which customer profiles are more likely to share...