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Banking on Air

Banking on Air

By Vacuumlabs

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast hosted by Helene Panzarino and Marcel Klimo covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to fintech community, In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of technology, digital banking, payments, while sharing the expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for incumbents, community banks, and fintechs.
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#18 Fintech and innovation with Nektarios Liolios (The Future Farm)

Banking on AirNov 11, 2020

00:00
24:29
#39 Squeeze more from your money with Harsh Chhatrapati (GALGAL)

#39 Squeeze more from your money with Harsh Chhatrapati (GALGAL)

Vacuumlabs has partnered with Galgal, an Indian startup, to develop a modern money management app that aims at helping Indian youth to better monitor and save their money. The co-founder and CEO of Galgal, Harsh Chhatrapati talks in detail about the journey that he embarked on in 2017 and how Galgal was born.

Nov 09, 202240:33
#38 Fintech trends with Marcel Klimo (Vacuumlabs)

#38 Fintech trends with Marcel Klimo (Vacuumlabs)

What are the top fintech trends according to our podcast moderator, Marcel Klimo? It is definitely personal identity, embedded finance & privacy! What is so interesting about these topics and what clients did we work with? Check our latest episode to learn more!

Sep 01, 202112:29
#37 Simplifying banking with Maurice Iwunze & Gregoire Lecomte (SympliFi)

#37 Simplifying banking with Maurice Iwunze & Gregoire Lecomte (SympliFi)

Underbanked communities in countries such as Nigeria daily suffer from limited access to internet banking, high transaction fees and obstacles to get support from their family members that work all around the globe. Based on the personal experience, SympliFi found a very smart solution how to avoid these pains and provide support to local people to get loans. Listen to our latest episode with creators of the company and find out how they simplified banking!

Aug 18, 202126:49
#36 Open banking with Simon Lyons (Open Banking)

#36 Open banking with Simon Lyons (Open Banking)

Simon Lyons, Head of Ecosystem Engagement at the Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) recently sat down with us to talk about the revolution occurring right now in banking! 

Aug 04, 202141:14
#35 Embedded finance with Nick Heller (tomato pay) and Kevin Sefton (untied)

#35 Embedded finance with Nick Heller (tomato pay) and Kevin Sefton (untied)

Fintech has a new target in its sights: routine business admin. Many businesses continue to spend significant amounts of time on recurring tasks that, until now, have required interactions with financial institutions. We sat down with Nick Heller, CEO of tomato pay, and Kevin Sefton, co-founder of untied, to talk about how Fintech is offering businesses dramatic time-saving opportunities = embedded finance.

Jul 21, 202133:16
#34 Decentralised finance & NFTs with David Stancel (Fumbi)

#34 Decentralised finance & NFTs with David Stancel (Fumbi)

The third episode of our crypto series with David Stancel, our cryptocurrency expert and CTO at Fumbi, is here! The first episode focused on basic crypto terms & explanation of how it works; the second episode was about Ethereum and smart contracts. The third episode - as always, moderated by our host Helene Panzarino - brings the topic of decentralised finance and NFTs!

Jun 30, 202121:43
#33 Ethereum & smart contracts with David Stancel (Fumbi)

#33 Ethereum & smart contracts with David Stancel (Fumbi)

Or why smart contracts aren’t so smart! After a basic introduction to the crypto world and an explanation of its most-used terms, we are here again for a second crypto episode! David Stancel, our cryptocurrency expert here at Vacuumlabs, and CTO at Fumbi, returned to join Banking on Air host Helene Panzarino. This time, they focused on smart contracts, Ethereum, and platform interoperability.

Jun 16, 202122:53
#32 Yoroi and future of blockchain with Vicente Almonacid (EMURGO)

#32 Yoroi and future of blockchain with Vicente Almonacid (EMURGO)

From a passion project to a secure crypto wallet with 170k+ downloads! Yoroi light wallet is a result of the cooperation between EMURGO and Vacuumlabs, and we are really proud of the product. But what is Yoroi exactly? And what does it mean to work on blockchain projects like this? And what is the future of this industry? Marcel Klimo, host at Banking on Air, welcomed Vicente Almonacid, R&D Engineer at EMURGO and discussed all of these topics!

May 26, 202125:28
#31 How to build a digital bank in 18 months with Deniz Güven (Mox)

#31 How to build a digital bank in 18 months with Deniz Güven (Mox)

Would you believe it's possible to release a digital bank within 18 months? Hard to imagine, right? Well, Mox in Hong Kong managed to do it. What is more, they did it mostly from home because of the pandemic! Our podcast host, Marcel Klimo, had a pleasure to welcome Deniz Güven, CEO of Mox, in our latest episode of Banking on Air. Deniz not only shared the story of how Mox was created but also gave valuable insights on their new operating model with which they are successfully getting their market share in Hong Kong.

May 12, 202131:10
#30 Blockchain in everyday life with Nicolas Arqueros (EMURGO)

#30 Blockchain in everyday life with Nicolas Arqueros (EMURGO)

Is blockchain technology only for technology-savvy people? Or can it be applied to everyday life? And if so, how? In our latest Banking on Air episode, Marcel Klimo had a chance to talk to Nicolas Arqueros from EMURGO, a core solutions provider to the Cardano ecosystem. As Nicolas knows this third generation of blockchain very well, he shared his thoughts on the future use of blockchain technology.

Apr 28, 202123:33
#29 Introduction to crypto with David Stancel (Fumbi)

#29 Introduction to crypto with David Stancel (Fumbi)

Crypto and blockchain - how many people really know what these terms truly mean? We decided to bring experts together to shed some light on these topics in a series of crypto-related episodes.  Listen in as host Helene Panzarino is joined by David Stencel — cryptocurrency expert and CTO at Fumbi — and learn everything you need to know about these buzzwords!

Apr 14, 202136:25
#28 True digital transformation with Travers Clarke-Walker (Thought Machine)

#28 True digital transformation with Travers Clarke-Walker (Thought Machine)

What does true digital transformation mean for banks? For an organization as complex as a bank, there is a lot to consider: picking the right technology stack, making the migration to the cloud, picking the right technical partners, and so much more. Most banks jump in without even fully grasping the key decisions and their consequences, but that’s about to change: listen in as host Helene Panzarino is joined by Travers Clarke-Walker — CMO of Thought Machine — and learn everything about banks going digital.

Mar 24, 202132:16
#27 Art in digital banking with Mark Warrick (Cauldron)
Mar 10, 202140:27
#26 Leveraging opportunities within banks with Nikolai Hack (Nucoro)
Feb 24, 202126:38
#25 SMB acceleration in the US with Anthony Strike (SteadiPay)

#25 SMB acceleration in the US with Anthony Strike (SteadiPay)

What’s the best way to now effectively offer digital services to the US SMB market to deliver the banking tools to really help them grow their businesses? Being underbanked is something we’d more readily associate with developing nations rather than the US, yet underbanking is prevalent in the United States too. In the US, most small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) do indeed have access to a basic bank account, they can deposit and withdraw cash, but on many levels this market segment still remains ‘underbanked’ as sophisticated service provision by digital providers has focused on acquiring either very large corporations as customers or mass-market retail. In our Banking on Air podcast we look at how to extend that high personal touch to digital banking to serve a wider network of SMBs and really offer them the support and tools they need to succeed.

In this episode of ‘Banking on Air’, host Helene Panzarino is joined by Michael Callas, Chief Strategy Officer of Vacuumlabs and our guest Anthony Strike, CEO of US-based SteadiPay.

SteadiPay is focused on small and medium-sized businesses and helps them track, forecast and manage cash flow whilst earning the best interest rates on their cash holdings through a bank-agnostic sweep account. SteadiPay initially launched as an app to help individual customers manage credit card spending but developed its offering to fill the gap in the market for the underserved SMB segment. In our show, Anthony talks us through how he grew and developed his business and how SteadiPay honed in on the sweet spot for this market without falling into the trap of becoming too niche.

Anthony realized that many small business owners were struggling with the complexities of their cash flow management. It was then that Anthony hit a few roadblocks as he realized that many of the tech companies he was looking to help actually build his new product didn’t in fact have the capability to do so or the ability to build any kind of differentiated offering. SteadiPay knew it could rely on Vacuumlabs and has partnered with us to build the key technical elements it wanted. SteadiPay now offers a cash dashboard for SMBs to track and forecast cash, a ‘cash optimiser’, a bank-agnostic sweep account to secure better money market rates for customers’ cash holdings.

Learn more from our podcast about what SteadiPay will be bringing in to support the banking needs of small and medium-sized businesses, freeing these entrepreneurs up to focus on what they themselves do best.

Find out more about Anthony via his LinkedIn profile.

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by Vacuumlabs – and we’re sharing our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for professionals, community banks, and fintechs.  We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we invite you to join us and our guests over the coming weeks and months.

And don't forget to subscribe!

Feb 10, 202132:50
#24 Launching a new bank with Jeremy Takle (Pennyworth)

#24 Launching a new bank with Jeremy Takle (Pennyworth)

Is it easier to set up and grow a new bank within a major financial institution, or is it better to be unencumbered and create a neobank free of those ties? You might well think that large established banks offer a welcoming space for neobanks, providing appropriate expertise and essential technology. But the reality is that being part of a major financial institution could well hold you back...

In this episode, ‘Banking on Air’ host Helene Panzarino talks to Jeremy Takle, co-founder and CEO of start-up bank, Pennyworth.

With many years of experience at Barclays behind him, Jeremy is extremely well placed to talk about this business. And, according to Jeremy, it’s actually easier to set up a new bank outside a major financial institution than it is to grow a new one from within.

Having the banking license already in place, meeting the capital adequacy requirements, and immediate access to full infrastructure is certainly a huge help for start-up neobanks. However, being the new kid in a major organization means having a big parent with a siloed structure. It’s also about how resources get shared, projects are approved, and convincing board level management of the market proposition. Having experience in a big bank brings both advantages and disadvantages in terms of skillsets. Product management and product ownership skills are more prevalent in start-ups than mega corporations with thousands of employees. But if you really know what your customers need, setting up as an independent bank is potentially a mega opportunity. Hence, Jeremy decided to step away from Barclays and co-found his own start-up bank Pennyworth.

Find out more about Jeremy via his LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremytakle/

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by Vacuumlabs – and we’re sharing our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for professionals, community banks, and fintechs.  We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we invite you to join us and our guests over the coming weeks and months.

And don't forget to subscribe!

Jan 13, 202132:57
#23 Payment processing with Joanne Dewar (GPS)

#23 Payment processing with Joanne Dewar (GPS)

Processing digital payments is a complex operation: it only takes a few seconds yet there’s some powerful technology involved. How does it all work?

Our latest podcast episode with Joanne Dewar, CEO of Global Processing Services (GPS), takes us ‘behind the scenes’ for a look into the world of digital payments processing. With high-profile customers such as financial super-app Revolut, UK digital bank Starling, and digital card issuer Curve, GPS has established itself as a market leader thanks to its secure, scalable and highly flexible platform.

The company now works with over 40 issuing banks globally and operates programmes for more than 180+ clients in 60 countries using over 150 currencies. Whether you’re a startup or a big bank like RBS, GPS prides itself on establishing long-term partnerships with clients so that they are best placed to succeed in their chosen market.

Joanne is also a fervent champion of financial inclusion. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a sharp increase in the number of cashless payments, yet there are segments of society that are still 100% reliant on cash. Financial inclusion will need to improve as digital payments are increasingly becoming an inevitable part of our future.

Check out the latest episode of our Banking on Air  podcast hosted by Helene Panzarino to find out more about GPS and their clients, and how we can begin to broaden financial inclusion.

Connect with Joanne Dewar on LinkedIn https://uk.linkedin.com/in/joannedewar

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by Vacuumlabs – and we’re sharing our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for professionals, community banks, and fintechs. We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we invite you to join us and our guests over the coming weeks and months.

Dec 15, 202028:56
#22 Value of data with Colin Payne (Capgemini)

#22 Value of data with Colin Payne (Capgemini)

Do banks know how to maximize value from their clients’ data and at the same time make a positive difference to the customer experience? There’s certainly no shortage of data: Where customers shop, where they travel, their hobbies, even their favorite foods. By transforming insights from this data and successfully channelling these into banking services targeted to serve the needs of a specific community, banks are now able to deliver timely, well-conceived niche products.

Listen to our podcast with Colin Payne, VP of Capgemini Invent who shares some of his vast experience and thoughts on digital banking. Focusing on ‘beyond banking’ and ‘inventive banking’, Colin believes that the future lies in community banking. And the key to making this happen is data. Bank customers want their banking services to be painless and truly invisible. First and foremost, these products and services should always address their needs. By harnessing client data, banks can now serve customers in a more powerful way, surprise them on the upside by delivering what they didn’t yet know they needed. And it’s all about relationships: humanizing banking means truly knowing a specific community or group of clients and being able to build strong relationships with them and deliver real value to their lives.

To hear more of Colin’s thoughts on inventive banking, data insights and community banking, listen to our podcast!

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by Vacuumlabs – and we’re sharing our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for professionals, community banks, and fintechs. We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we invite you to join us and our guests over the coming weeks and months.

Dec 09, 202038:13
#21 Digital transformation with Martin McCann (Trade Ledger)

#21 Digital transformation with Martin McCann (Trade Ledger)

Digital transformation is now integral to the banking industry and no incumbent can simply afford to ignore this. Yet delivering digital services takes a lot more effective planning and specialist expertise than appears at first sight.

Download our podcast with Martin McCann, CEO and Co-Founder of Trade Ledger, a leading player in lendtech. Trade Ledger has developed a sophisticated credit rating platform for loans to SMEs that automates the entire loan approval process. Together with Martin we explore the obstacles facing banks seeking to achieve digital transformation, and find out why their approaches often fail to deliver.

Thanks to his Trade Ledger loan approval platform designed for bank use, Martin has gained a wealth of insight into the inner workings of financial institutions and the core obstacles they face. Firstly, many banks often approach digital transformation from the wrong starting point. On top of this, the highly-regulated nature of the banking industry stacks the odds against them. And many banks struggle with legacy systems and still rely on outdated risk models.

Less widely acknowledged is the fact that a failure to grow core competencies in-house can often lead to over-reliance on external consultants.

Listen to the podcast to find out not only where banks go wrong but also how Trade Ledger’s data-driven lending platform can vastly speed up the loans approval process helping banks make better-informed, quicker and better-priced lending decisions – to the extent that Trade Ledger is shortening the lending process from 6 weeks to 4 minutes

Find out more about Martin McCann via his LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mccannmartin/.

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by Vacuumlabs – and we’re sharing our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for professionals, community banks, and fintechs.  We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we invite you to join us and our guests over the coming weeks and months.

Dec 02, 202032:58
#20 Islamic finance with Syed Musheer Ahmed (FinStep Asia)

#20 Islamic finance with Syed Musheer Ahmed (FinStep Asia)

What does the concept ‘Islamic finance’ say to you? Is it solely pegged to a religion from the Arab world? In this episode, we want to shed some light on this fascinating topic, cut through some of the misconceptions, and tell you more about how this well-established, yet very different, banking culture works and what it has to offer.

In our third podcast hosted by Helene Panzarino, she talks to Syed Musheer Ahmed, founder of Finstep Asia and co-founder of Fintech Association of Hong Kong. Musheer shares his vast knowledge of Islamic finance, and explains the core foundations and principles that underpin banking for the Islamic community.

As Musheer highlights, even though Islam originated in the Middle East, it’s now very much a global religion with close to two billion followers all around the world. What‘s more, even though Islamic banks adhere to the core tenets of Islam, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Islamic finance is just for Muslims. The entire world can adopt and benefit from these practices with their strong ethical base: where ‘money’ is seen as a means to exchange goods, and never as a way to generate ‘interest’, and both profit and risk should be shared.

Find out more about Musheer via his LinkedIn profile.

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

This podcast is brought to you by Vacuumlabs – and we’re sharing our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for professionals, community banks, and fintechs.  We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we invite you to join us and our guests over the coming weeks and months.

And don't forget to subscribe!

Nov 25, 202041:14
#19 Deal-breakers for banks with Donald Hawkins (Boulevard)

#19 Deal-breakers for banks with Donald Hawkins (Boulevard)

Why are neobanks born, and what is the key for success in the banking industry? The answers are twofold: fulfilling specific community needs, and focusing on a relationship with customers. Without those, their position on the market is endangered.

Listen to our second podcast installment hosted by Helene Panzarino. With her guest Donald Hawkins, Helene explores the topic of community banks and relationships between banks and clients. Donald, as a founder of the first neobank for black Americans in the US, openly talks about the situation black people are in the US. Facing oppression from a number of angles (educational, financial literacy, employment), Donald wanted to help them. To do so, he discusses how he created Boulevard, a neobank that serves the specific needs of black Americans; and equally, he explains why there cannot be one bank for all minorities.

Another topic discussed by Helene and Donald is the changes in the market – in shifting from physical to virtual ways of communication, banks need to keep up with changes and focusing on establishing and maintaining good relationships with their clients. In short, their focus needs to move from transactions to relationships. Features are not the winning turnpoint anymore. In such a saturated market, not being able to address a younger audience is a one-way ticket to bankruptcy.

Learn more about Donald Hawkins and his career via his LinkedIn profile.

‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

We’re making this series so we can share our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for incumbents, community banks, and fintechs. We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we’ll be sharing our thoughts with you, but also getting your together with our guests.

And don't forget to subscribe!

Nov 18, 202041:08
#18 Fintech and innovation with Nektarios Liolios (The Future Farm)

#18 Fintech and innovation with Nektarios Liolios (The Future Farm)

Fintech and innovation go hand in hand. But how do big financial institutions respond to the need to innovate? Do they get this right? Frustratingly, the answer is often “no.”

Listen to our first podcast installment hosted by Helene Panzarino. Helene is in business conversation with Nektarios Liolios, and he opens up about his thoughts and his wealth of experience of financial innovation in practice based on his time working with the banking sector.

Nektarios was there on the ground when fintech first began garnering momentum and its commercial relevance first came to the fore, and he co-founded the first accelerator program for startups.

Yet Nektarios tells us that he recently stepped back from this industry. What prompted his decision? He says he found it too frustrating to stand by and watch big institutions take the wrong approach to innovation: with their teams so often knowing what they should be doing, but not following through with the action required to implement an effective program. Innovation needs an effective strategy behind it – and the right approach. Established banks didn’t want to accept this framework needed to be in place for innovation to happen.

Learn more about Nektarios Liolios’ journey in fintech via his LinkedIn profile.

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‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

We’re making this series so we can share our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for incumbents, community banks, and fintechs. We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we’ll be sharing our thoughts with you, but also getting your together with our guests.

And don't forget to subscribe!

Nov 11, 202024:29
#17 Responsible banking with Mathias Wikstrom and Johan Pihl (Doconomy)

#17 Responsible banking with Mathias Wikstrom and Johan Pihl (Doconomy)

Solving environmental issues with Doconomy financial service tools? Yes!

Listen to this episode where Mathias Wikstrom (CEO) and Johan Pihl (Founder and Head of Innovation) at Doconomy discuss how they brought to market a credit card that enables its users to behave more sustainably.

Finding an intersection between banking services and decreasing CO2 emissions might seem impossible at the first sight; But Mathias and Johan decided to pull these threads together and in turn, create a new market. Doconomy not only puts a limit on customers’ credit cards using CO2 emissions to make their purchases more conscious – but they also created the 2030 Calculator, a resource that allows anyone to assess the environmental impact of their purchases.

It’s an incredible journey – and one that involved some unexpected steps to help them to reach their long-term goal: a more sustainable planet for everyone.

Find out more about Doconomy at https://doconomy.com or get in touch with Mathias and Johan through LinkedIn.

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‘Banking on Air’ is the official Vacuumlabs podcast covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. In this podcast, we are looking under the hood of the changing face of tech: the acceleration in all things digital, the impact of regulation (and disruption), the need for genuine collaboration – and the specter of competitors old and new as it plays out in fintech and financial services around the world.

We’re making this series so we can share our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for incumbents, community banks, and fintechs. We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we’ll be sharing our thoughts with you, but also getting your together with our guests.

This episode was hosted by Marcel Klimo from Vacuumlabs. Listen to the original podcast episode on Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, or here:

And don't forget to subscribe!

Nov 04, 202023:47
#16 Banking on Air introduction w/ Helene Panzarino & Marcel Klimo

#16 Banking on Air introduction w/ Helene Panzarino & Marcel Klimo

Banking on Air is here! A new podcast concept, brought to you by Helene Panzarino & Marcel Klimo from Vacuumlabs, is covering the challenges, opportunities, perspectives and opinions that matter to you and to our community. We’re making this series so we can share our experience and expertise in creating solutions for the digital journey for incumbents, community banks, and fintechs. We believe that the future is in communities when it comes to digital transformation in financial services, and we’ll be sharing our thoughts with you, but also getting your together with our guests. Talk to you soon!

Nov 03, 202002:04
#15 Identity verification with Peter Murray (W2 Global Data)
Sep 23, 202010:19
#14 Acceptance of payments with Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya (ZUP SoftPOS)

#14 Acceptance of payments with Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya (ZUP SoftPOS)

In this  episode of Banking in Air, we talk with Jaijit Bhattacharya from Zerone Microsystem about the Indian payment card market and how his mobile POS is empowering millions of merchants to now accepts payments in a country, which nearly doubled the total number of cards in just a few months.

Here is a quick rundown of the episode:

  • 1:36 ZUP POS introduction
  • 2:11 How merchants use the POS
  • 2:42 POS penetration in India
  • 3:27 Is this just for low income mechants?
  • 4:05 Changes after government helped introduce millions of cards into the market
  • 5:50 Why they are not supporting iPhone as a design decision
  • 6:45 Whitelabel SDK for software developers
  • 7:34 How to get started with ZUP SoftPOS

Useful links from episode:

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Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya is a noted expert in Societal Transformation leveraging technology. He is CEO of the cutting edge Fintech startup, Zerone Microsystems Pvt. Ltd and also Honarary President of Centre for Digital Economy Policy Research. He is former Head, Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India, World Economic Forum and the former Head and Partner, Economics and Policy Practice, KPMG. He is recipient of the prestigious APJ Abdul Kalam Award for innovation in governance. Dr. Bhattacharya is in the of Board of IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and is member of Governing Senate of IIIT Raipur, Member of Expert Committee for Ease of Doing Business legislation of Government of India, co-chair of Expert Committee on Skill Development for Deity, Government of India and Convener for Economic Standards for Smart Cities, BIS, Government of India. He also led KPMG’s contribution to the report on Ranking of States on Ease of Doing Business by DIPP. Dr. Bhattacharya also worked on the restructuring of the Indian Airforce as part of the Shekatkar Committee report. He has earlier worked in senior roles in Accenture, IBM, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and HP. He has been responsible for the creation of the next generation of solutions for governments, based on open standards. Dr. Bhattacharya advises governments on policy and e-governance strategies. He has conducted trainings for ADB institute in Tokyo and has helped World Bank develop curriculum for their e-Leadership program. He is deeply involved in Technology Policy making for the Indian Army and has coined the term “Technological Sovereignty”, based on which he runs a National Conclave on Technological Sovereignty for the Indian Army and Centre for Land Warfare Studies. He also delivers invited lectures at INSEAD Singapore campus, IIT Roorkee and at IIM Calcutta. Dr. Bhattacharya has developed business models and strategies for leading companies in the IT, media and computer hardware industries. He has numerous research papers to his credit in leading journals and conferences. He has authored five books on e-Governance, including being the co-author of the first book on e-Governance in India, ‘Government On-line – Opportunities and Challenges’.

Email: jbh@zup.cash

Google Play (India Only): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zup.merchant

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Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.

Sep 16, 202010:17
#13 Biometric payment cards with Angela Davies (Thames Technology)
Sep 10, 202013:16
#12 Challenger banking in Australia with Dom Pym (Up Bank)

#12 Challenger banking in Australia with Dom Pym (Up Bank)

In this episode, we interview Dom Pym, co-founder of Up Bank about the open banking landscape in Australia, the launch of their banking API and how their focus on being a contrarian technology company has helped them bring features to market in record speed to become Australia’s first next-gen digital bank.

Here is just a small taste of how different Dom’s thinking is in the fintech product design industry and how they have managed to build something very unique:

“We actually take a contrary view: How does it feel when you sign up for Up? Does it feel easy or does it feel hard? If you got 20 clicks or a hundred clicks, it doesn't matter. I can reduce the clicks from 20 to 10 or five or one by putting all the fields on one screen, but it's a horrible experience and it makes you feel awful. So we take the opposite approach, this contrary approach, where we have an atomic design method, where we only ever asked the customer for one thing on a screen.”

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

  • 02:45 Partnering with Bendigo Bank to start Up
  • 08:51 Open Banking in Australia
  • 11:54 Over a 1000 people used Up API in first week
  • 14:57 How they managed to launch Open Banking API so quickly by being a technology company first
  • 24:20 Integrating with Transferwise to prevent complexity with SWIFT
  • 25:51 What they would have done differently
  • 27:49 Will Up turn into a superapp?
  • 36:51 What’s the secret sauce? How are you so fast to market with great features?
  • 45:42 Why they chose such a bold brand design
  • 55:56 Find out how you can get your hands on a Up account and card

Useful links:

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Dom Pym has been involved in numerous start-ups and large scale Information Technology projects since the 90's, in Australia and overseas. Currently he is working on Up, Australia’s first next-gen digital bank, built from the ground up to help you spend wisely and save effortlessly.

Dominic is also a co-founder of Ferocia, an extraordinary technology team re-imagining Internet banking (launched in 2014 with Bendigo Bank), Pin Payments (Australia’s first all-in-one online payments platform) and Clear Interactive (acquired in 2009 by NZX, operators of the New Zealand Stock Exchange and electricity markets).

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War stories episodes in Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.

Sep 02, 202058:57
#11 Fintech Vietnam with Brano Vargic (Home Credit Vietnam)

#11 Fintech Vietnam with Brano Vargic (Home Credit Vietnam)

In this episode, Brano Vargic talks with Marcel about the fintech scene in Southeast Asia, hypergrowth of the local market and gives tips on how to get started in the region as a company coming in from Europe or the Americas. Brano is currently the COO of Home Credit Vietnam, a quick loan, financing and credit card company originally from the CEE, which expanded into Southeast Asia.

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

  • 01:00 Moving from HR into banking and fintech
  • 02:37 What surprised in you in Vietnam?
  • 04:17 Business model for Home Credit in the region
  • 07:16 How the massive size of the local market is different from European scale
  • 11:42 Innovation is not coming from Europe!
  • 13:25 Popular fintechs in the region
  • 15:53 Importance of gamification and play
  • 19:06 Moving to online support center and chat to keep up with demand
  • 24:10 Tips for fintechs coming to Vietnam
  • 25:43 Story about local sandwich stand using mobile payments

Useful links from episode:

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Brano Vargic is currently COO of Home Credit Vietnam -  is a senior business leader with cross-functional and cross-cultural experiences in finance, fin-tech, banking and strategy consulting, with history of executive roles in HR, Operations, M&A, Digital projects and Business Development in Central Europe and in Asia. He is a Fin-tech and digital transformation enthusiast who “continuously opens digital bank accounts just to learn and evaluate CX as a hobby”. Brano is true believer in job rotations - as he says -  "diversity of my roles in organisations taught me to understand deep interdisciplinary dependencies of different company areas and helped me to shape who i believe I am today as a leader - kind but sharp, emphatic but straightforward, agile but strategic.” Brano has also spent 15 years in academia; he is refereed journal published writer and researcher and has long history of lecturing in various MBA programs in Europe and United States. He is 45, married and has 3 kids :)

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War stories episodes in Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.

Aug 26, 202027:37
#10 Cloud banking with Paul Taylor (Thought Machine)

#10 Cloud banking with Paul Taylor (Thought Machine)

In this episode, we speak about the cloud, banking, and complexity of the system. Switching his career from speech to banking, Paul reveals his insights on establishing a successful company and challenges that need to be overcome.

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

  • 01:00 What is Thought Machine?
  • 5:00 Building Mox bank in Hong Kong
  • 7:20 What was the starting point of Thought Machine?
  • 13:00 How does the complexity of the banking system work?
  • 16:55 How did Paul shift from speech industry to establishing a banking company
  • 21:10 Why shift to cloud banking wasn’t made earlier?
  • 24:50 How is staying at home affecting the way they operate a business?
  • 29:20 Is there something they would do differently?
  • 30:30 How did they come up with the idea to start a gaming division?

Useful links from the episode:

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Paul Taylor founded Thought Machine in 2014 because he wanted to use the same cloud technology he was exposed to while at Google to solve the banking industry’s legacy infrastructure problem. He believed something needed to be done about the way most banking systems were so cumbersome and awkward, not to mention deeply frustrating and practically useless for millions of end-users.

Thought Machine’s core banking engine Vault was born in the spring of 2015 to liberate banks from archaic legacy systems. Will Montgomery wrote the code while Paul acted as a product manager – setting and guiding the overall direction of the system – a role he still plays today.

Prior to Thought Machine, Paul founded two software companies, Rhetorical Systems, and Phonetic Arts, and both were acquired by global software companies, Nuance, and Google. After Phonetic Arts was acquired by Google in 2010, Paul joined Google to lead a team of engineers responsible for launching the pioneering text-to-speech system in 2012. This system still provides the basis for all of Google’s speech output, including driving directions, voice search, and accessibility to machine translation. The system has been installed on more than a billion phones since 2012.

Paul is the published author of Text-To-Speech Synthesis, lecturer in Linguistics at Cambridge University, and director of the Centre for Speech Research at Edinburgh University.

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War stories episodes in Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo

Aug 19, 202035:43
#09 Buy now, pay later with Michal Smida (Twisto)

#09 Buy now, pay later with Michal Smida (Twisto)

In this episode, we talked about Buy now, pay later service which has a big potential in CEE region. Also, Michal shared history and challenges of Twisto as well as his predictions for future.

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

0:45 what is Twisto

4:00 How are they mitigating risk at Twisto?

3:30 how was Twisto name and

7:45 how did they come up with Twisto name & whole business idea

9:15 reasoning behind buy now, pay later service

14:45 benefits of buy now, pay later for customers

16:15 future of buy now, pay later service

19:30  selling NIkita & collaboartion with other companies

21:15 Twisto collaboration with Va cuumlabs

25:00 challenges of first half of 2020

27:00 Fintech in 10 years

33:00  challenges Twisto is facing and goals for the near future


Useful links from episode:

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Michal is the founder and CEO of CEE based FinTech Twisto and a member of Forbes 30 under 30. He lived 11 years abroad in Russia, UK and the US. He began his career in London where he joined Barclays investment bank after graduating from King’s College. When he returned to the Czech Republic in 2013, he founded Twisto – the first “buy now, pay later service” in the CEE region which evolved into daily finance provider partnering with MasterCard and Marqeta. Twisto has more than 120 employees and is backed by leading investors such as ING Ventures, UNIQA Ventures, Velocity Capital, Finch Capital and ENERN.

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War stories episodes in Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.


Aug 12, 202037:53
#08 Hungarian banking opening with Monika Nemeth (Fintech Zone)

#08 Hungarian banking opening with Monika Nemeth (Fintech Zone)

In this episode of Banking in Air, we speak with Monika Nemeth about her transition from the telco sector into finance and payments. The fintech and banking sector is going through a massive opening and renaissance due to open banking regulation like PSD2 and instant payment schemes. This is going to transform business processes and bring completely new players into the market. Monika talks about her experiences in the telco industry and how she now uses it to help fintechs and banks succeed in this new world.

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

  • 01:00 Introduction and background in the telco industry
  • 3:33 Transmitting from telco to payments industry and fntech
  • 5:45 Fintech is going through the same liberalization telco did a decade ago
  • 7:20 Instant payments and 5-seconds transfer rule in Hungarian market
  • 12:15 How instant payments and open banking will transform SME business
  • 14:30 Growth of Hungarian Fintech scene
  • 17:40 Tips for fintechs which want to work with corporates
  • 22:00 Projects Monika is really proud of creating
  • 27:15 What Monika would put on a billboard in her hometown

Useful links from episode:

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After working at Magyar Telekom where she was responsible for regulatory issues and managed several business development projects for 20 years, Monika Nemeth joined the Ministry of Development for a short period of time. At the Ministry she created the development strategy of the telecommunication sector in cooperation with the market players. In 2015, she moved to fintech and co-founded FinTech Group, where she is focusing more on the new regulatory topics in fintech and also on organizing FinTechShow and PayTechShow.

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War stories episodes in Banking in Air explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.

Aug 05, 202029:03
#07 Investing and banking with Sheel Mohnot (Better Tomorrow Ventures)
May 13, 202024:13
 #06 Startups in the fintech industry with Mary Alcantara (MKB Fintechlab)

#06 Startups in the fintech industry with Mary Alcantara (MKB Fintechlab)

Mary Alcantara is the Deputy Managing Director of MKB Fintechlab, Hungary's first fintech innovation lab and design competence center owned by MKB Bank. At Fintechlab, Mary leads the innovation team, brokers bank partnerships with startups and scaleups, and coordinates events and educational programming. She is passionate about open innovation, building ecosystems, and helping banks create superior experiences for their customers.

Mary has been a key player in the Hungarian startup ecosystem for the last 7 years. She is a founding partner of tandemLEAP, a business management company with offices in Budapest and New York City. She has consulted and mentored for many of Budapest's leading incubation and accelerator programs, including the Hungarian government's INPUT Program, and is a founding member of the Hungarian Business Angel Network. Mary received a Bachelor's Degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Central European University.

In this episode, we speak about startup environment in the fintech industry. Mary shares her vast experiences of working with young companies, what she think is the new normal and where is the industry heading.

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

01:07 What is MKB and MKB Fintechlab 06:19 Does lockdown create opportunities for startups? 10:55 How Fintechlab chooses projects to support 15:50 Mary’s startups background before Fintechlab 20:00 Remaining human during breakdown and new normal 24:07 Difference between US and Europe and startups sustainability 36:12 Where is the industry heading now 38:40 What billboard would you put up at your hometown?

You can find Mary Alcantara on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary3collins/

If you want to find out more about Fintechlab:  https://fintechlab.hu/

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Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges while building products in an ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.

May 06, 202040:51
#05 Know your customer with Balazs Vinnai (W.UP)
Apr 29, 202024:05
#04 Embedded payments with Brad van Leeuwen (Cledara)
Apr 22, 202044:30
#03 Future of payments with Nick Kerigan (Barclaycard)

#03 Future of payments with Nick Kerigan (Barclaycard)

Nick Kerigan is a Fintech and Payments industry veteran, most recently at the role Managing Director - Future Payments at Barclaycard. His team has been responsible for designing and developing innovations such as the award-winning Grab+Go and Dine & Dash..

In this episode we talk about the UK fintech ecosystem helping out with the COVID-19 crisis, power of banking-as-a-service, co-branded cards for Batman fans and more. Listen until the end to hear Nick answer the billion dollar question: What is the future of payments and banking?

Here is a rundown of the episode, if you want to jump ahead:

  • 01:50 Why banks like Barclays partner with fintechs
  • 06:20 UK Fintech community helping out with Coronavirus relief
  • 12:05 The power of banking as a service like Railsbank
  • 20:45 Your bank transactions in Excel. Will this work?
  • 26:44 Getting kids and teenagers to use banking
  • 31:50 On getting a Batman card and the future of co-branded card
  • 38:35 What is the future of payments and banking?

You can find Nick Kerigan on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-kerigan

Note: Apologies for the lower audio quality at times.

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Banking in Air podcast explores the lives and journeys of founders and technology leaders as they work to overcome challenges in am ever-changing world. Hosted by Marcel Klimo of Vacuumlabs.



Apr 15, 202052:36
#02 Building up business with Cristina Villa (Cledara)
Apr 01, 202021:60
#01 Challenges of fintech startups with Ivan Muck (ff.next)
Mar 24, 202029:03