IBS Intelligence Global FinTech Interviews

Hosted by IBS Intelligence Podcasts | A Cedar Consulting Unit

BusinessInterviews guests

Website RSS feed LinkedIn Facebook Instagram YouTube

Episodes

1032

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Go one-on-one with the innovators, disruptors, leaders, and decision-makers driving change in FinTech and financial services. IBS Intelligence delivers exclusive global interviews that uncover strategies, challenges, and the ideas powering the next wave of financial technology.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 25, 2026Episode 103410 min

EP1034: Where Digital Banking Meets Africa’s Inclusion Gap

Fayza Benayad, Global Partnership Head, Fimple Digital banking provider Fimple is focused on using cloud-native, API-first banking technology to expand financial access for underserved SMEs and NGOs across Africa. Its composable banking architecture, real-time payments, digital onboarding and embedded finance capabilities can help financial institutions deliver more accessible and tailored services. Puja Sharma of IBS Intelligence speaks to Fayza Benayad, Global Partnership Head at Fimple , about the role of digital banking in advancing financial inclusion and how partnerships between banks, FinTechs, NGOs and technology providers can accelerate access across African markets.

August 24, 2026Episode 103312 min

EP1033: A Voice for Inclusive Banking

Pramit Bhargava, Founder of Louie Voice, Clayfin Digital banking provider Clayfin has acquired voice technology platform Louie Voice to strengthen its AI-driven customer experience and accessibility capabilities. The acquisition adds advanced voice AI to Clayfin’s Cognitive Banking platform, enabling customers to interact with banking services and perform transactions using natural voice commands. Puja Sharma of IBS Intelligence speaks to Pramit Bhargava, Founder of Louie Voice at Clayfin , about the rise of voice-first banking, the role of AI in accessible financial services, and how banks can balance automation, security and human interaction.

August 21, 2026Episode 103212 min

EP1032: Channel bans at a four-year high

Rob Mason, Director, Regulatory Intelligence, Global Relay Financial services providers have been reassessing their communications compliance strategies, according to a recent report by Global Relay. The report found that 66% of financial services firms now ban communications channels – the highest percentage in the annual survey’s four-year history and a significant jump from 2025 when the figure was 41%. At the same time, AI adoption continues to accelerate with 54% of firms not currently using AI for compliance or surveillance planning to introduce it within the next 12 months. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence speaks to Rob Mason of Global Relay.

August 21, 2026Episode 103118 min

EP1031: From Automation to AI-Led Banking Decisions

Mohamed Moniem, Vice President – ME Region, nCino, speaks to Puja Sharma about how AI is moving banking from automation to predictive, insight-driven decision-making , covering its impact on lending, customer engagement, risk and banking infrastructure , while highlighting the need for trust and responsible AI adoption.

August 17, 2026Episode 103013 min

EP1030: AI agents and the risks they pose in financial services

Chandra Gnanasambandam, Chief Technology Officer & EVP of Product, SailPoint In the background, data that shows 80% of organisations reporting that AI agents are taking unintended actions left to their own devices. Indeed, agents are mutating irrespective of being denied access to systems. Agents need intent-based authorisation, not policy-based authorisation. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the evolving challenges of managing AI with Chandra Gnanasambandam, CTO of SailPoint.

August 14, 2026Episode 10299 min

EP1029: Cross-border payments out of Africa

Scott Liddle, Co-Founder, Capi Money There is a growing shift to FinTech actors in cross-border payments. Capi Money was established on the belief that this will also happen in Africa. Last year the London-based payments FinTech raised around $18 million in Series A funding. In January, the firm secured an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and, most recently, was granted a licence for cross-border payments in Ivory Coast, the first cross-border payments FinTech in the 8-country UEMOA bloc to receive such authorisation. Scott Liddle, Co-Founder of Capi Money speaks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence.

August 10, 2026Episode 102821 min

EP1028: AI Testing Boosts Trust in BFSI

This interview explores how AI-powered testing frameworks are revolutionising the financial services sector by enhancing regulatory compliance and data sovereignty . It highlights the shift from traditional manual processes to agentic automation , which allows for the creation of testing scripts before software development is even completed. The text emphasises that cybersecurity and functional testing are now merging, requiring organisations to use artificial intelligence to defend against increasingly sophisticated digital threats. Furthermore, the role of Quality Assurance professionals is evolving from routine execution to strategic orchestration and validation , necessitating deeper domain expertise. Ultimately, the source advocates for a human-in-the-loop approach to ensure the accuracy and ethical deployment of these emerging autonomous technologies.

August 10, 2026Episode 102716 min

EP1027: Building a stablecoin-powered Islamic digital bank

This interview explores how Fasset is expanding its global reach through plans to establish a regulated digital Islamic bank in Malaysia under the leadership of Rafiza Ghazali. By leveraging the Labuan financial framework, the company aims to integrate stablecoin technology with traditional Shariah-compliant services such as asset-backed savings and cross-border payments. The discussion highlights Fasset's strategy of using blockchain infrastructure behind the scenes to solve real-world financial fragmentation, its disciplined regulatory approach, and its ambition to scale across multiple international markets over the next five years while building long-term consumer trust through reliable service delivery and practical financial utility.

August 6, 2026Episode 102621 min

EP1026: The future of digital transformation

This interview with Eric Bierry , CEO of SBS, explores how modern banking is shifting away from basic technology toward advanced operational governance and open banking integration. Bierry argues that financial institutions must move beyond viewing compliance as a chore, instead using it as a foundation for innovation and superior data utilization. The text highlights how a composable, SaaS-first architecture allows banks to update their systems incrementally, avoiding the high risks associated with total software overhauls. Strategic partnerships, such as the one with Axway , are presented as essential tools for combining API management with agentic AI to automate complex tasks. Ultimately, the source emphasizes that success in the digital era depends on having a unified data foundation that supports secure, scalable, and intelligent ecosystem connectivity.

August 6, 2026Episode 102523 min

EP1025: From Hype to ROI: Making AI Pay Off

This interview explores the current state of artificial intelligence within the banking sector, highlighting the growing gap between high corporate expectations and practical technological limitations. The source emphasizes that financial institutions must prioritize robust data foundations and "context engineering" over simply adopting popular language models. A strategic framework is proposed for identifying viable use cases , focusing on areas with high repetition and manageable error tolerances. While AI offers significant potential for operational efficiency and employee fatigue reduction, the text warns of critical risks regarding algorithmic bias , a lack of explainability, and high operational costs. Ultimately, the expert advises bank leadership to move beyond superficial hype by focusing on disciplined deployment and long-term skill development for their workforce.