The Fintech Magazine Issue 17

In this of The Fintech Magazine, From a messenger bank for Gen Zers to a challenger inspired by hip-hop, our look at neobanks of the world in this issue is a refreshing, upbeat change from the news of the past few months.

There’s an urgency and optimism about these newbies – some spun out of more traditional institutions, others born out of pure, entrepreneurial genius, that haven’t been blown off course by the pandemic, and some that have even been boosted by it. Minted’s sooner-than-expected launch as panicked investors raided the world’s bullion is a case in point!

That’s not to ignore the very real struggle some startups and scaleups are experiencing in raising early-stage capital right now – especially in the lendtech sector, as Varengold lays bare on page 86. There is always opportunity in a crisis and, given the likely demand for liquidity as economies get back on track, it’s curious that VCs are shying away.

That economies will recover is not in question – especially if the millions of small businesses that have refused to lay down and die have anything to do with it. Valitor’s recent joint survey, with Visa, of 300 UK SMEs gives us all cause to be positive on page 59, and makes the tale of fintech white knight Save My Local (page 62) all the more heartwarming.

The extraordinary resilience and determination to embrace some frankly scary tech if you’re a small trader who’s got by with not much more than a ledger book and a cash box, demands not only respect, but a united FS response. PSPs, tax and accounting platforms and, of course, the banks, have a role to play here – and perhaps, as Banking Circle suggests on page 73, it’s best achieved by taking a platform approach, with infastructure as a service. The Banking Circle white paper asks if banks are ready for the
rebuild. Well, are you?

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In this edition, we feature… drum roll…

• Andreas Burner, Smartstream
• Stuart Neweym, Coutts & Mark Dabbs, Investec
• David Bailey, Santander
• Andy Renshaw, Feedzai
• Sam Tanskul, Krungsri Bank
• Paula Blazquez Solano, Banco Sabadell
• Gary Delooze, Nationwide Building Society
• Marcus Chambers, VMware
• Pablo Viguera, Belvo
• Jim Marous, The Financial Brand
• Peter-Jan Van De Venn, Mobiquity
• Zac Cohen, Trulioo
• Edwin Chong, Muniy; David Pope, Hooyu & Diane Brocklebank, Prepaid International Forum
• Ron Delnevo, Cash & Card Consultants
• Carl Slabicki, BNY Mellon
• Mark Buitenhek, ING
• Jukka Yliuntinen, G+D
• Ad van der Poel, Bank of America
• Christian Wolf, Raiffeisen Bank International
• Gillian Shaw, RBR
• Abdeslam Alaoui, HPS
• Dr. Christine Bailey, Valitor
• Jack Maddock & Chris Hugo, Save My Local
• Elliot Goykhman, Zelf
• Akash Dowra, Discovery Bank
• Sam O’Connor & Adam Goodall, Coconut
• Eric Garretson, NBKC Bank
• Steve Suarez, Muniy
• Shahid Munir, Minted
• Mehmet Burak Dikmen, Insha
• Alison Harwood, Varengold Bank
• Simon Hardie, Findexable