Fintech: Under the Hood

Allica Bank CEO, Richard Davies: Relationship banking, AI powered efficiencies, success metrics, and global expansion

Richard Davies is the CEO of Allica Bank [http://allica.bank], ranked the fastest growing UK Fintech by Deloitte in successive years, and it’s a bank built specifically to serve established SMEs, a segment that has long been underserved by both traditional banks and many fintech challengers. In a market where much of fintech focused on consumers, Allica took a different path combining modern technology with relationship banking to build a profitable, fast-growing bank designed around the real operational needs of businesses. Richard is a seasoned fintech and FS leader with experience in senior roles at Barclays and HSBC, as well as exec roles at Oaknorth and Revolut so has experienced both the challenges of trying to bank ESMEs as a traditional provider, as well as seeing how some fintechs overlook the sector. In the full episode with Richard, we get into Allica’s product stack, their mission, the different ways in which AI is transforming how they do things, the importance of relationship banking, as well as: * Learnings from those senior roles at traditional banks and challenger fintechs * The Kriya acquisition and how Richard and the team approaches build vs buy to fill gaps in their product stack * How AI saved Allica millions in unnecessary consultancy fees * The interest gap and the “9 billion pounds of interest being missed out on each year by SMEs” * Where and how AI is being applied to their product-dev lifecycle and lending journeys * Richard’s North Star metric for AllicaThe true impact of SME Lending and Banking services * European expansion and testing the US watersHow they are using AI to scale (and reference to the great blog they released recently [https://www.allica.bank/blog/scaling-ai-at-allica]) * …and so much more. This episode is for you if you…: * You want insights directly from a fintech CEO about geographic expansion, product, research and metrics * Want to learn how AI is being applied practically beyond the fluff and theory * Want to learn more about the underserved group of ESMEs that support the economy and practical ways fintechs can to contribute to GDP That's a wrap on this first series. If you enjoyed this season, make sure you're subscribed to get the next series directly to your inbox and on your favourite podcast app. Oh and if you enjoyed this episode, give it 5 stars, drop a review, and share it with a fintech friend ☺️

Plaid CTO, Will Robinson: Shaping the future of financial infrastructure, Plaid’s north star metrics, efficient innovation flywheels, and AI

If you’ve used a fintech app in the last decade, whether it’s for payments, investing, lending, budgeting, or embedded finance, there’s a good chance Plaid [https://plaid.com/en-gb/] was working quietly in the background. It’s the connective tissue between banks, fintechs, and consumers, powering account connectivity, identity, risk, payments, and the broader open finance ecosystem. Will Robinson, the CTO of Plaid, has been at the forefront of financial data innovation. With a background in tech giants like Google and startups like Coinbase, Will brings a wealth of experience to Plaid, where he leads the engineering vision for one of the most important financial data networks in the world that connects thousands of financial institutions to thousands of fintech applications, managing massive volumes of sensitive financial data, while balancing reliability, security, privacy, and performance at scale. In this episode with Will, we get into Plaid’s architecture, how the platform has evolved beyond aggregation, how they think about data quality and intelligence, how AI is reshaping financial infrastructure, as well as: * The 2008 crash sparking curiosity in how FS works and how to make it better * Low-coupling, High-Cohesion computer science principles and their importance to fintech * Why brownfield development is a lot harder than greenfield dev * What the Plaid x Perplexity partnership means for consumers, hobbyists, and innovators * The tech metrics Will obsesses over and that are key to Plaid continuing to scale * The now staple AI question which touches on their new transaction and behavioural models, the importance of their MCP server, and how Will thinks about Agents using Plaid’s data and services * …and so much more. This episode is for you if you…: * You’re curious about a CTO’s journey to a world renowned fintech * Want to understand how a fintech CTO thinks about metrics * Want to learn about how Plaid is using AI and how it thinks about the future If you enjoyed this episode, give it 5 stars, drop a review, and share it with a fintech friend ☺️

BVNK Co-founder & CBO, Chris Harmse: Banking to blockchain, stablecoin utility, the stable spending gap, and the future of money

Stablecoins are often talked about as the future of money, but very few companies are actually building the infrastructure that makes them usable, scalable, and relevant for real businesses today. BVNK [http://bvnk.com/] is one of those companies. In a world where cross-border payments are slow, expensive, and stitched together by legacy rails, BVNK is building the stablecoin-powered financial infrastructure that connects traditional finance with digital asset rails enabling businesses to send, receive, store, convert, earn and spend value globally, in real time. In this episode, I speak with Chris Harmse, Co-founder and CBO at BVNK who sits right at the intersection of product, strategy, and go-to-market for one of the most important infrastructure plays in modern fintech, where we cover: * Chris’ journey into payments and stablecoin infrastructure * Obtaining a strong foundations in payments from his years on a FX trading desk * Stablecoin use cases, including payroll, marketplace payouts * The partnership with Visa Direct * The role of card issuing in stablecoin adoption * The significant spending gap in stablecoin usage * Interesting insights from BVNK’s latest Stablecoin Utility Report [https://bvnk.com/utility] * Key Insights on Blockchain Payments and Compliance * …and so much more. This episode is for you if you…: * Are curious about a fintech leader’s journey into stablecoin * Want to learn about the big unsung use cases * Are interested in learning more about the importance of stablecoin infrastructure * Want to hear from a leader building the future of money If you enjoyed this episode, give it 5 stars, drop a review, and share it with a fintech friend.☺️

Lean Technologies CPO, Tewfik Cassis: Innovating in the Middle East, AI in the product-dev lifecycle, and the importance of full-stack infrastructure

Over the past few years the Middle East has been a hotbed of innovation with fintech at the heart of strategy in the UAE and Saudi. Lean Technologies [https://www.leantech.me/]is a key player in the enablement of innovation in the region and in this episode, I get to speak to someone who has firsthand experience of innovating in the region. In this episode, I speak with Tewfik Cassis, CPO at Lean who spearheads product innovation and strategy for Lean where we cover: * Tewfik’s journey from product marketeer to CPO via roles at Rain and Monzo * The important skills from product marketing he still uses today * Regulation and the importance of continuous dialogue with risk, reg and compliance * The importance of full-stack infrastructure to innovation (especially in a fast growth environment) * Lean’s product evolution going well beyond Open Banking * How a product leader uses AI in the product-dev lifecycle * The value of stablecoin in the Middle East * …and so much more. This episode is for you if you…: * Want to learn from a former Monzonaut currently building the future of financial infrastructure in the middle-east * Are interested in product leader’s journey into Fintech * Want to learn more about the uniqueness of building a fintech in the UAE or Saudi * Are in an Open Banking or infrastructure organisation and want to hear from a leader going beyond data and payment initiation If you enjoyed this episode, give it 5 stars, drop a review, and share it with a fintech friend.☺️

Checkout.com CPO, Meron Colbeci: Invisible Payments, Agentic Commerce, and Globalising Products

Payment Services Providers are the invisible force that allow us to safely purchase goods & services online and in-person. Checkout.com [http://checkout.com] who process 10s of billions of these payments monthly has embraced this ‘invisible force’ tag head on. In this episode, I speak to Meron Colbeci, CPO at Checkout.com, former PayPal’er, and a supremely experienced fintech product leader where we cover: * Meron’s Rockstar background and journey to Checkout.com, including experience at PayPal and his experience as key part of Facebook’s Project Libra * An explainer of Checkout.com’s product stack * The difference between building a consumer app vs a B2B product * The power of a network powered product * How a fintech globalises their product * Agentic Commerce and Checkout’s key role in enablement * …and so much more. This episode is for you if you: * Are curious about how fintechs globalise their products * Are interested in an experienced product leader’s journey into Fintech * Want to learn more about Checkout.com’s product stack and why their new products matter for consumers and merchants