In case you missed out on the June episodes of the Voice of FinTech podcast, here is the monthly summary! You can listen to all the episodes on the Episodes pages of this website or when you subscribe to your favorite podcast apps under Subscribe.

Accelerate your hiring with Playter Pay

Jamie Beaumont is a founder of Playter, creator of hire now, pay later service for SMEs using recruitment agencies. Jamie spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about the need for SME financing focused on hiring through recruitment agencies.

Here is what they talked about:

Jamie's back story and why he decided to start your own company
What were your very first steps when starting Playter
Playter Pay, the world’s first hiring accelerator. What is it?
Why do SMEs need recruiters? Isn’t using recruitment agencies a question of cost rather than the timing of cash flow?
Target customers
Business model
Geographic focus
Jamie's views on the key pain points for candidates and employers, its solutions and how has it changed in the last five years?
Where is Playter on its journey now and plans for the future
Best way to reach out

Africa Series with Stacey Japhta: Building digital businesses with Basalt

Stacey Japhta, Head of Strategic FinTech Partnerships at Talent in the cloud, emerging markets FinTech executive search firm and host of Talking success podcast, talks to Wayne Zwiers, founder of Basalt. Basalt is a global Fintech studio focusing on designing and developing digital banking and insurance solutions for the future, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Basalt co-creates solutions for our clients, turning ideas into profits. Partnering with clients as "one team" to build new products and processes using an ever-changing and improving tech stack that utilizes modern architectures (such as domain-driven design, micro-services patterns) and cloud computing.

Basalt's proficiencies include:

Core banking technologies
Integration + now API (open banking)
Customer Interface Solutions

Wayne discusses all things FinTech, important attributes to look for in your leadership team, and the difference between the traditional model and the new model of VCs in Africa.

FinTech meets MusicTech: Classical and jazz music streaming with Vialma

Guillaume Descottes, founder and CEO of Vialma, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about how a dedicated classical and jazz streaming platform helps clients discover such music and improve artists' economics.

Here is what they covered:

Guillaume's backstory
Motivation to start his own business
What is Vialma? A problem solver or a delight for customers?
Very first steps to get going
Why do we need a dedicated classical or jazz music streaming service?
Target customers - demographics and more
Business model
Favorite composer and piece of classical music? Beethoven, for example, Violin concerto.
Where is Vialma on its journey in terms of product development, geographic reach, funding, hiring?
Key milestones ahead of Vialma
Best way to reach out

Thank you, Rebecca Gibergues, Daniel Mika and the Swiss Finance + Technology Association (SFTA) for making it happen!

Instant access to Finance with Seedstars World Competition Winner: Finology, a digital broker from Malaysia

Jared Lim, the co-founder of Finology, spoke to Wani Baumgartner, guest co-host and Finance and Life Sciences recruiter, and Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about making access to financial products instant and effortless.

Here is what they covered:

Jared's backstory and serial entrepreneurship journey in Malaysia
Finology: how does it work? Problem definition.
What is Finology's unique advantage? How are they different from other digital brokers in Asia?
Business model
Target customers
The journey so far and milestones ahead
Lessons learned for potential entrepreneurs thinking of starting their own business
Finology is the Seedstars World Competition 2020/21 winner! What does this award mean to Finology?
Favorite business book: Built to last by Jim Collins
Best way to reach out

Financial services combating climate change - MSCI

Oliver Marchand is Global Head of ESG Research & Models at MSCI and founder of Carbon Delta (now part of MSCI). Oliver spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about how to provide portfolio managers with insights to assess climate change impacts on the businesses they invest in.

Here is what they talked about:

Oliver's backstory: from computer sciences to asset management and meteorology
Motivation to start his own business
What is Carbon Delta? What is the problem you are solving?
What were your very first steps in starting Carbon Delta?
Why have you created Carbon Delta in particular?
Target customers
Business model
Scaling up
The rationale for sale: Oliver's role post-sale and the set-up within MSCI
How can Financial Services help combat climate change?
Plans and ambitions ahead
Where can interested parties reach you?

The future of Open Banking in the US with Duncan Barrigan, Chief Product and Growth Officer at GoCardless

David Yakobovitch spoke to Duncan Barrigan, Chief Product and Growth Officer at GoCardless about Open Banking in the US, innovation in payments and the FinTech megatrends.

Here is what they covered:

1) Brief introduction of GoCardless

A potted history of the last 10 years
Growth in the US
GoCardless’ recent open banking feature-Instant Bank Pay, a new open banking feature directly integrated into its global payment platform

2) a) Payments landscape discussion of the US, UK/Europe

Recurring payments and the subscription-based economy

2) b) Open Banking in the UK and what that means for the US

Open Banking discussions are heating up in the US-but are we ready?
What will we need to make it successful?

3) Development of FinTech globally

UK FinTech as one of the OGs in 'Silicon Roundabout' in London
How the industry is developing globally
Who the major players are in the US/UK

4) Upcoming payment trends for this year and beyond: what trends we see in UK/ Europe vs. the US

Digital payments
Account-to-account payments

5) The best way to reach out and be part of the open banking future

Tech-led customer centricity in the insurance industry with Wefox's co-founder and CFO, Fabian Wesemann

Fabian Wesemann, co-founder and Group CFO at Wefox, spoke to Wani Baumgartner, guest co-host and Finance and Life Sciences recruiter and Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast about using technology to bring the insurance industry to the new level of customer-centricity.

Here is what they covered in more detail:

Fabian's road towards entrepreneurship
What led Fabian to co-found a business? How do Fabian and Julian Teicke complement each other?
What is Wefox? What is the problem that Wefox is solving?
What were your very first steps to get going with Wefox?
Who are the target customers?
How does Wefox make money? How do they think about unit economics and scale?
Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Poland - what's next in terms of international expansion?
What would be the critical piece of advice you would Fabian give to his younger self?
A favorite non-fiction book for aspiring entrepreneurs: The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance
What are the trendy hobbies on the Berlin start-up scene?
Where are you on your entrepreneurial journey after the latest USD 600 m raise (and USD 3bn+ valuation)?
Best way to reach out

In the end, it will be okay, and if it's not okay, it's not the end.
Fabian Wesemann

Voice of FinTech Africa Series: Building trust infrastructure for underserved SMB in Africa with Hilda Moraa from Pezesha

In this episode of the Africa Series, Patrick Awori spoke to Hilda Moraa, founder and CEO of Pezesha; a Kenyan headquartered digital financial marketplace platform that connects quality SMB to working capital from investors on its marketplace.

Hilda is a trailblazer in the Kenyan and African FinTech space. From founding and exiting her FinTech startup in 2015, Weza Tele, she has done it all, rising to both national and international acclaim. She now runs Pezesha, a digital financial ecosystem connecting and empowering the underserved in Africa through financial education, credit assessment and connecting SMB with affordable financing.

Here is what they talked about:

What Pezesha does and the recent developments at Pezesha
Partnerships that Pezesha is currently engaged in or looking to develop to deliver services to customers in your markets
Open banking trends, and environment in Kenya/East Africa, and how is Pezesha positioned to play a leading role in the space
Hilda's and Pezesha's experience as part of the first cohort inducted into and eventually exiting from the Kenya CMA Regulatory sandbox in 2020. Basis/rationale of regulatory sandboxes in accelerating innovation in Africa’s FinTech industry
How has COVID 19 impacted how you normally do business at Pezesha? How do you plan to sustain growth in the “new normal”?
As part of a Kenya Government COVID-19 ICT & Innovations Advisory team appointed in 2020, wider interventions to cushion and support the ICT based economy of Kenya that are currently in play, and what lessons about these efforts so far that other African policymakers could draw from your experience
Opportunities for FinTech actors to enhance the long-term social development of your domicile markets and African communities in general
How can the sustainability impact best be measured?
Key advice for listeners considering a similar career as employees or entrepreneurs: resilience!
Best way to learn more about Hilda/Pezesha and reach out

Digital transformation in the EU with MEP Eva Kaili

Eva A. Kaili spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about digital transformation in the EU and the policy framework that is being created or adapted to facilitate the adoption of digital technologies. Eva Kaili is MEP from Greece, Chair Science & Technology, Chair Centre for Artificial Intelligence and co-founder of the World Future Foundation - very active in shaping European policy regarding digital transformation, blockchain, AI and more.

Here is what they talked about:

Eva, you are Chair Science & Technology, Chair Centre for Artificial Intelligence, co-founder of the World Future Foundation, and MEP – how does it tie altogether?
After your broadcasting career, you entered politics and there you have been focusing on new technologies, science, digitalization and blockchain. What has driven you to this?
How has your life as a politician and speaker changed during the pandemic – what has kept you busy?
Many commentators agree that pandemics have accelerated the digital transformation around the world. Where do you think the private sector or the governments grabbed the opportunity and where is more to be done?
What can the EU do to be more competitive vs. Asia or the US when developing and adopting new technologies?
Cryptocurrencies have experienced extraordinary times recently. How do you see the potential of cryptocurrencies to be used as currencies?
Where are with blockchain utilization in Europe more broadly? Lately, it seems the focus has been on tokenization and digital assets, but blockchain adoption has been more selective elsewhere.
Where do you see the most significant potential for digital assets and tokenization adoption in Europe?
Many people are (somewhat) worried about the rise of AI. What can we do in terms of governance of nascent technologies to benefit from their strengths while addressing the public's concerns?
I know you are a fan of Black Mirror. Do you also have a favorite book related to technology (AI, Blockchain or anything else) that you recommend? The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff and Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations by Thomas L. Friedman
What is ahead of you this year in the European Parliament and your outside activities?
What's the best way to find out more about what you do? Follow Eva on Twitter here or European Parliament Research Service (EPRS app for iPhone or Android)

If you have suggestions for topics or guests on the show or have ideas about how to make this podcast better for you, please e-mail us at info@voiceoffintech.com. Alternatively, you can also leave a voicemail here.

Keep safe!

Sincerely,

Rudolf Falat