Open Banking Expo Unplugged

Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Mike Cascone, vice president, government experience, Americas at Xero and Eric Saumure, principal at Zenbooks ahead of their session at Open Banking Expo Canada 2025. In this episode, they discuss the specific needs of Canada’s small businesses and, in particular, the business banking challenges they face in the current environment. Mike and Eric discuss the potential for Open Banking to address SMBs’ pain points and how to encourage awareness of Open Banking’s benefits among small business owners.

Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Hamish Wood, vice president, customer success at GoCardless and Dave Campbell, operations lead at Tembo, to discuss how UK businesses can benefit from being “early adopters” of new payment technology, such as Open Banking. Dave explains how Open Banking has enabled Tembo to help individuals get onto the property ladder, while Hamish reveals how GoCardless has approached Open Banking innovation with customer experience front and centre. They also talk about the myths and misconceptions that still need to be busted in order to encourage more widespread adoption of Open Banking technology.

Salt Edge’s head of accounts executive Mihail Ceres and chief product officer Ilia Dragan join Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to discuss the transition from an Open Banking to an Open Finance ecosystem. They consider regulation versus market-driven approaches, and what is behind the evolution of Open Finance use cases. They explain the practical applications of Open Finance that demonstrate its untapped potential, and what countries need to know as they make the shift to Open Finance.

In this episode, Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by guests from across the ecosystem to delve into the SEPA Payment Account Access scheme. Ghela Boskovich, head of Europe at FDATA, Louise Beaumont, senior vice president, Open Banking & Open Finance, global industry & policy engagement at Mastercard, Robert Sullivan, Token.io’s public policy and strategy director, and Gijs Boudewijn, general manager at the Dutch Payments Association discuss how its implementation will unlock commercial Open Banking payments and pave the way towards an Open Finance future. They consider what needs to happen to encourage adoption of SPAA and how the success of SPAA will be measured.

Jamie Leach, Open Data strategist at Raidiam, joins Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan to bring listeners up to speed with Open Banking in Australia, where it’s better known as the Consumer Data Right (CDR). She talks about some of the setbacks faced by the CDR and what the Australian government’s recent “reset” means for progress. Jamie reveals the strategies and developments she believes are required to advance CDR, as well as the innovations in Australia that make her excited for the future.

In this episode, Conor Tiernan, VibePay’s head of insights, joins Ellie Duncan to discuss joining the business to build out its new insights platform, VibePay Insights, which uses Open Banking data. Conor explains his own background in financial advice, payments and Open Banking, including most recently at Klarna, where he headed up its Open Banking initiatives. He explains how VibePay is helping businesses and brands to engage with an audience directly by identifying purchasing trends and establishing buying intent – what he refers to as “conversational commerce”. Conor discusses the potential value that this offering can create for brands and their customers. Finally, with VibePay having secured additional funding from existing investors recently, the conversation moves onto the UK fintech sector more generally, and the UK government’s National Payments Vision.

Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Jim Wadsworth and Lauren Jones, who recently joined Raidiam as head of advisory and strategic advisory partner, respectively. They reveal how, in their new roles, they will spearhead a new advisory service, Raidiam Advise, and how this will fit alongside its core business. Lauren reveals why she think Switzerland’s Open Finance approach is one of her favourite implementations and why she’ll be moderating a Fireside Chat on it at Open Banking Expo UK & Europe this October. Finally, they discuss why Raidiam is headline partner of the Open Banking Expo Award 2024 and the importance of recognising the industry innovators.

Ivo Venetziev, co-founder and chief executive officer of Open Banking provider Contiant, joins Ellie Duncan on the podcast to discuss European payment initiatives, such as SEPA Instant and the SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme. He explains how this has helped Europe achieve payments harmonisation. Ivo also highlights some of the pain points that remain for European merchants and consumers alike, including IBAN discrimination and unsettled funds, and where there are opportunities to improve the checkout experience.

Paolo Zaccardi, co-founder and chief executive officer of European Open Banking platform Fabrick, tells Ellie Duncan how Fabrick is helping companies and large corporates to embed financial services in their customer journeys, as embedded finance takes off. He explains what a €40 million fundraise led by Mastercard and other investors means for Fabrick, and reveals the company’s European expansion plans, given its recent acquisition of finAPI. Finally, Paolo discusses the fintech landscape in Southern Europe and what is behind a drop in investment levels.

In this special episode of Open Banking Expo Unplugged for the Women in Open Banking initiative, Ellie Duncan is joined by Pauline Nicol, payments partnerships manager, payments and Open Banking at Tesco Bank, and co-founder and director of the Saorsa Menopause Consultancy. The menopause has gone from being a taboo subject to a talked-about topic, both at home and in the workplace, but it is still widely misunderstood. Pauline explains why she and her colleague set up ‘Hot at Tesco’ and the support it provided to colleagues experiencing menopause symptoms, and why it is vital that employers offer support and guidance to female employees going through the perimenopause and menopause. She also reveals the tools and resources available to women and those who want to support their partners, colleagues and parents going through the menopause.

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.

Open Banking Expo’s Ellie Duncan is joined by Oren Marmur, chief technology officer for the payments business unit 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.