Small and medium-sized businesses are the lifeblood of many economies, with more than 5 million SMBs in the UK, and 99 million in the US. In the last decade, the combined effects of globalisation removing cross-border barriers, plus innovation and rapid digital change, have set the stage for SMBs to thrive in the global digital economy. Yet, there’s a feeling that the market continues to be underserved within financial services. Why? In this episode of Payments Innovation, Piers Marais, Chief...

2023 was an explosive year for Generative AI. The mainstream emergence of tools like Chat GPT generated a huge amount of excitement and hype. In the wake of this, 93% of fintechs believe that generative AI is poised to revolutionise the fintech and financial services sector. But how much of the hype has materialised into real impact? Artificial Intelligence has long been a transformational force in finance, helping to boost efficiency, improve security and handle the vast amounts of data that...

Cyberattacks are on the increase, with bad actors proliferating around the world. By the end of 2023, according to Cybercrime magazine, hackers will have caused $8 trillion in global damages. In 2022, Moody’s listed banks as being at high risk of attack, and Fintech is also in the firing line.  Financial firms hold extremely sensitive data on millions of customers, and vulnerabilities can be exploited for lucrative ransoms. Fintech is meant to be the ‘tech-savvy’ cousin of traditional...

What does Black History Month mean to you? It could be a time to recognise the achievements of the Black community, to draw attention to ongoing problems with racism, or an opportunity to stand as an ally of Black friends and colleagues. October is Black History Month in the UK, and this year, under the theme of “Saluting Our Sisters”, the event celebrates the critical role that Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change, and building communities.  In this Special Edition of...

Visa acquired Currencycloud in 2021. Now, leveraging the expertise from both companies, it has launched a Cross-Border Payment Solutions. With a suite of modular building blocks that can be easily integrated with a company’s existing technology infrastructure, it enables a range of capabilities, including the ability to spend in, and send payments to, more than 180 countries and territories. For this special episode of Payments Innovation, host Piers Marais talks to Ryan Felipe - General...

In 2022, the US Federal Reserve announced that it had been developing a “wholesale” central bank digital currency (CBDC), designed to speed up transfers between banks around the world. The aim of the new network would be “to reduce settlement risk in cross-border, cross-currency transactions.” But there are questions around the introduction of CBDCs, with some observers wondering how much value these initiatives will actually bring to end users and whether they pose serious privacy...

Super-apps have made a big splash in Asia over the past decade. Chinese giant WeChat, with one billion active monthly users, has millions of mini apps that run inside the platform, eliminating the need for separate apps to shop, find restaurants, or check train times. But can super-apps work in the West? X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk has promised to launch an “everything app” that combines chat with financial services — and he’s not alone among Western entrepreneurs wanting to tap into...

Since it burst onto the scene in the mid-2010s, Fintech has revolutionised the way we save, borrow, and transfer money, and become a shining light of British industry. But recent news headlines have shown that maturing as a sector can be a challenging road. Can Fintech continue its impressive trajectory? And what are the strengths it needs to play on in order to maintain its impact as it settles into the mainstream business landscape? This week, host Piers Marais is joined by Head of Fintech...

As one stat after another shows how much venture capital funding is drying up, the most striking figure of all may have got lost in the noise: last year, female-owned companies received just 2.1% of the total capital invested in all startups in the US. This week, host Cara Hayward is joined by Ruth Foxe Blader, CIO of Anthemis Group and Elizabeth Davis, Principal of the Female Innovators Lab Fund at Anthemis Group, to try and get to the bottom of this dispiriting percentage. They discuss the...

For nearly three years China pursued a zero-Covid pandemic containment strategy. One of the strictest in the world, the policy mandated tight lockdowns and kept foreign visitors away.  The reopening of China’s borders has been one the biggest economic stories of 2023. The country is projected to be responsible for nearly 35% of global growth this year, thanks to an uptick in consumption and shifting consumer behaviour. But for businesses both inside and outside China, what are the...

As a sector, Fintech has taken an investment hit, with global funding falling by a third in 2022. It’s a situation that’s leading to a radical reinvention of the way companies approach business planning, with a more strategic evaluation of the market playing a critical role. For years, venture capitalists were telling companies that they needed to grow as quickly as possible — to win market share, and only then worry about how they would actually make money. That formula has been turned on...

Remittances to developing countries reached $626 billion last year. But with 25% of funds saved or invested, remittances are not just supporting families but transforming economies.   This week, host James Teodorini is joined by Camilla Bullock, CEO and co-founder of the Emerging Payments Association Asia, and Artak Melkonyan, Senior Advisor on Equity, Financing and Funds at the United Nations Development Programme Sustainable Finance Hub. They discuss how remittances are fuelling...

A recent wave of acquisitions is consolidating part of the foreign exchange sector into the hands of a few major players. But who stands to gain the most? In this episode, host Piers Marais talks to Joe Edwards, Managing Director at Capitex FX, about the benefits of consolidation for companies, the perks and problems for the customer, and why the rising cost of compliance may make it hard for smaller startups to keep up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the economic climate rattling businesses and investors alike, holding on to your customers is more important than ever. But how do you cut through the noise of your most vocal customers to understand how the rest are feeling? In this episode, host Piers Marais talks to Saskia de Jong, Director of Customer Success at Avinode Group, and Sergi Albiol, Commercial Director at Lano, about the need for a company-wide approach to building relationships, why the customer isn’t always right, and...

The collapse of FTX and Celsius wiped billions from investors’ portfolios and tarnished the reputation of the entire crypto industry. Could a proper regulatory framework have prevented the crisis?  In this episode, Simon Grunfeld, Head of Web3 at Cogni, talks to host Scott Ernenwein about why regulation is the only path to wider crypto adoption, and why, when it comes to managing your digital assets, the only person you can trust is yourself.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Cross-border payments have traditionally been slow, costly and unpredictable. But as domestic instant payment systems are being stitched together, more money is flowing across borders in real time.  This week, host Piers Marais talks to David Reiss, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Currencycloud, and Leo Lipis, CEO of Lipis Advisors, about emerging real-time payment corridors, the path to global connectivity, and why big banks no longer see Fintechs as the enemy. Hosted on Acast. See...

Despite an explosive rise in innovative payments technologies, legacy infrastructure and institutional inertia pose significant barriers to their global adoption. This week, host Cara Hayward speaks to Dan Roseberry, VP, Global Fintech Partnerships at Visa, and Emily Man, Investor at Redpoint Ventures, about the promise of new payment methods, why progress varies so much from country to country, and what Europe and the US could learn from India and Brazil. Hosted on Acast. See...

Women currently hold just 27% of all tech-related jobs. And while progress has been made in raising the profile of women in Fintech, there is still plenty of work to be done.  In this episode, host Cara Hayward celebrates International Women’s Day with Currencycloud colleagues Fumbi Banjoko and Sarah Martin, as they discuss their own journeys in Fintech, why women’s progress varies so much from region to region, and how all-female networking is helping more women to break through the glass...

For decades, payments systems in the US barely changed. Suddenly, innovations such as FedNow, real-time payments and blockchain are shaking up the legacy infrastructure.  In this episode, host Scott Ernenwein speaks to Astra co-founder and CEO Gil Akos about what these developments mean for payments providers, and why the need for a robust payments platform is greater than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Korean won has been a restricted currency since the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98. Now, though, regulatory changes are putting the won on the verge of internationalization. In today’s episode, host Anthony Man and J Young Lee, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at SentBe, explore the historical context of this development, when and how it might happen, and why it is getting economists so excited. Also, find out just what’s driving the explosive rise of Korean cross-border payment...

The foreign exchange landscape has changed beyond recognition since Rahim Harji founded FX platform Datasoft Group. Rahim and host Scott Ernenwein examine how Datasoft has helped traditional brokers evolve to survive - and why crypto and blockchain might just spell the future for cross-border payments. And finally, with Rahim’s two brothers also running highly successful foreign-exchange companies, find out just what dinnertime is really like for the Harji family!

On today’s show, Scott Ernenwein caught up with Ankur Patel, Founder & Head of Data at Glean AI, the intelligent bill payments solution that gives finance teams visibility and clarity into their vendor spend. What we talked about: Improving customer experience with machine learning and automation The importance of capturing burn rate amidst our current economic climate How visibility into vendor spend provides transparency for investors The future of Fintech and new revenue...

Vauban are making investing in private markets as easy as ordering a book on Amazon. On today’s show, Alex Barr caught up with Aric Oslerne, COO of Vauban from Carta,, the investment platform on a mission to democratize private investment, and unlock trillions in capital worldwide. What we talked about: How technology is speeding up the investment process The impact of Covid on VC globally The best mindset for a successful startup launch Vauban’s exciting recent acquisition by US-based...

For many, investing is seen as the preserve of the wealthy or financially savvy. Thanks to Mary Agbesanwa, Fintech Growth Lead at Seccl championing the transformative power of technology and how it can be used to democratize investing, more people are accessing the financial markets and making educated, informed investment decisions In the latest episode of Payments Innovation, we discussed: The role of embedded investing in democratizing the investment space Millennials and Gen-Zers...