Lacklustre Banking experiences got you down? Let's change that! Join us for a captivating conversation with Nicole Perry, Global Strategy Director Digital Business Growth at 11:FS Ventures, as she shares her unique approach to digital transformation in the financial sector. With her sharp insights and thought-provoking views, Nicole shares the secret to truly customer-driven, frictionless banking. Get ready to be inspired and learn what it takes to revolutionise the industry and how the power...

The seamlessly unstoppable growth that fintech had enjoyed for years is finally tapering off. We all watched with excitement the rise of neobanks, fintech platforms and crypto exchanges but instinctively we also knew that the level of investment was not sustainable and likely due a reality check. That is not necessarily a bad thing, our industry exists in a delicate balance of trust and stability that enables people to transact, access credit and multiply value so regular adjustments should...

We continue to see a strong move towards enabling investors to be more discerning of where they put their money. Similarly to how health conscious foodies became intent in knowing what was in their food, a new generation of investors are now demanding that funds and investment companies disclose further information on the virtues, or lack of , of the companies in their portfolios. The trend in itself is not new, for decades investors have been able to decide whether to finance companies...

The disruption of Finance has come in waves. Incumbents have moved from confidently ignoring the attempts of fintechs to transform the industry, to fearing death by a thousand cuts, to embracing the innovation and speed to market that many challengers and innovators bring to play. It is now clear, in a way that was not a few short years ago, that the synergies between incumbents and fintech startups are producing amazing win-win-win situations at unprecedented speeds. A company that has...

Prepare to have your mind blown away! This has been the most exciting and lively interview we have done to date. But we have to be honest here, this concept is a little bit hard to grasp, or at least it was for us at first , but don’t let that discourage you , this is one of the most daring and exciting innovations we’ve seen, and the potential application for this idea is huge. In our recent trip to Estonia, we were lucky enough to have a sit down with Merit Valdsalu, CEO and Co-Founder of...

We have to admit it, when it comes to Iceland, we are slightly bias. The country offers some of the most spectacular scenery one could visit as well as some astonishing natural attractions and world class hospitality. It is also home to ingenious down to earth people who have achieved the extraordinary feat of making this mid Atlantic largely uninhabited landmass, a thriving nation with all the infrastructure, industry and services, needed to prosper its 360,000 population. In our recent...

The digitalisation of financial services has excited us all. Even those outside the industry see the benefits of accessing more convenient ways of paying, more immediate access and transfer of money and more intuitive solutions for investment. Yet we seldom think about the darker side of finance, the criminals looming in the dark constantly looking for ways to game the system for fraudulent and illegal purposes, who in many cases, are also benefiting from digitalisation. The transformation...

Retail banking investors usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to investment, missing out on opportunities available to those who understand the finance. With Web3 and the crypto-space, the financial service industry is taking gigantic leaps towards a new financial system. One that is fairer, more accessible and secure. A company that is pioneering the development of this industry through, transparency, simplicity and strong regulation is the Estonian frontrunner Coinmetro. We...

Payments is perhaps the area of finance where we’ve seen the most innovation and the most intense competition. In only a few short years we've gone from chip and pin, to contactless, to mobile payments, to immediate cross boarder payments.  And yet amongst all this innovation and convenience, companies are striving to make the payment process more seamless, immediate, secure and affordable. We recently had the opportunity to speak to Johan Strand,CEO of Swedish Payments frontrunner Zimpler,...

Digital transformation is a difficult undertaking for any organisation. Many incumbents fail in their attempts to change the mindset, behaviour, practices and technology that will help them remain competitive, presenting a market opportunity for companies that can bring speed, technology and agility to service them. Fintechs have seized the opportunity to serve as surrogates for incumbents, helping them modernize their digital experiences and keep up with customer expectations. A company...

At the risk of being simplistic, the credit process of decision, monitoring and collection has remained unchanged for hundreds if not thousands of years. However we are seeing a strong mindset shift in the way banks and other lenders go about issuing credit. Long gone are the days of “all-you-can-eat” infrastructure where credit organisations, resolute to develop their core systems in house, would build them with excess capacity to account for future growth and peak demand. Modular...

Insurance has traditionally been a paper heavy business loaded with regulatory burdens that have made insurers slow in the uptake of transformation. It is no surprise that amongst the disruption of financial services, insuretech solutions have not yet taken centerstage in the way many other fintech innovations have.We sense that’s about to change. We recently had a revealing conversation with Lars Bonde, COO at Tryg, the largest insurance company across the Nordics, to understand how Tryg is...

Digitaliztaion of businesses has made things more convenient for consumers but has come with its own set of new challenges. Problems arising from the “non-phisical” nature of many new businesses has led to instances of fraud, crime and other illegal activities perpetrated by organizations that hide behind the relative anonymity of the digital world. Enter Vespia, the regtech company from Estonia proposing an innovative solution to keep businesses in check. We recently had a fascinating...

Hyperpersonalisation is a well documented benefit of digitalisation. We can see it everywhere, in the content we consume on social media, in the gadgets we use and even in the clothes we buy online. With advances in data analytics, we can also now also hyperpersonalize the financial products that we buy.  The proverbial “segment of one”, is becoming a reality thanks to companies that are fusing deep analytics, technology and financial capabilities. We recently had a very insightful...

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts Few organisations espouse this idea like the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) the worlds largest group of blockchain experts, working in unison to influence and steer the development of this radically transformative technology.  GBBC is a non for profit Swiss based association that helps with education, advocacy and partnership on blockchain and digital assets. Its members work as educators and connectors with 500 + institutional...

As innovation enters the market there are inevitably kinks to iron out while new solutions reach maturity and enter the mainstream. Today if you want to venture into the world of crytpo you would have to go through an often cumbersome process of setting up your digital wallet and getting it ready to hold and transact with cryptocurrency. Those who can understand the complexity behind the new types of financial services and who can leverage technology to simplify them, are quickly gaining the...

We can often find two types of people; complainers and fixers. The payments space offers plenty of opportunities for the latter and in today’s episode we meet a fixer who saw opportunities to provide better, faster, more cost efficient and innovative payment services to consumers. We recently travelled to Finland to meet one-on-one with one of the co-founders, who is also co-CEO of Enfuce, a payment company that is turning up the dial on payment experiences while seeking to solve global...

Credit worthiness, the intricate set of data, projections and scores that determine an individual or a company’s ability to access debt capital, is an area of finance that we rarely hear about. Yet, while credit worthiness is the gateway that controls the access to financing in all markets, traditional credit assessment models rely on outdated historical data and broad statistical models that convey little insight on an organisation’s true ability to generate revenue and repay debt. We...

Think Insurance is a boring analogue paper heavy business with a static business model and predictably poor customer service? Until recently, so did we, but as it turns out, insuretech is gushing with innovation in all areas or the insurance value chain. In our recent trip to the Norwegian Capital of Oslo we had a surprising encounter with Erik Skaar, CEO and Co-Founder at Tillit. And we say it was surprising because we were stopped cold on our tracks by the astonishing level of innovation...

What happens when you build a country as a Startup? It’s not uncommon to think that cutting edge innovation resides in the hands of private enterprise and academia. After all their business models demand that they stay one step ahead of the competition, which has always brought new ideas and inventiveness to play. But what happens when you are able to start from a clean slate, when you have the opportunity to rebuild from scratch and when your ambition transcends the boundaries of a private...

What do you get when you cross a comparison site with a powerful real estate assessment tool and loan calculators? In Iceland🇮🇸, this gets you an award winning platform that is helping people understand the real value of financial products like mortgages, insurance, car loans, saving accounts and debit cards; all while improving companies’ ability to make their products clear, transparent and easily accessible to customers. 💪 In our recent visit to the booming Icelandic Fintech Cluster, we...

To date, we’ve had the privilege of siting down with over 70 dreamers who are bringing to life the financial system of the future. While we have learnt and been excited by every single one of their visions, today’s guest has not only managed to inspire us but it has also amazed us with the sophistication of his thinking and the profound impact of his solution. Meet Fairown, the Estonian fintech that is rethinking the financial model behind the lifecycles of the things we buy, from...

In our attempt to uncover what makes Nordic fintech exceptional, we recently visited Oslo, the modern capital city of Norway. We couldn’t help notice that in spite of it being a market with a limited reach, at least from a B2C perspective, Norway has recently produced a row of remarkable companies that are reshaping how financial services addresses some of the most concerning problems for Nordic societies. With its strong values and open society, as well as a highly digital savvy population,...

Is the end of B******t Banking in sight? This will definitely get you thinking! For year’s we’ve heard from self-important people in expensive suits that while Fintechs have the snazzy innovation and speed to market, banks have the customer’s trust. But do they really? Sure our money is protected by a regulatory requirement that forces banks to guarantee our deposits, so we know that, should something like the crisis of 2008 were to happen again, our money would be safe. Yet according to a...