Interviews with Leaders in Fintech & Web3

Hosted by Work in Fintech

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May 2026

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About the show

Hear from industry leaders about what is fintech and web3, how to get into it and how to make a mark in the fastest growing sector in the world. Work in Fintech Founder Matt Cheung teams up with Founder Members to interview fintech and web3 founders, CEOs and CTOs about what you can do to gain an edge in fintech and web3. Essential listening for any student, young professional or curious person looking to secure a role in fintech, web3, banking or finance. #fintech #web3

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60 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 2851 min

He left a top banking job to build his own bank | Mark Mullen, Co-founder Atom Bank

Today's guest is Mark Mullen, co-founder and CEO of Atom Bank, the UK's first app-based bank and the first digital challenger to win a full UK banking licence. Mark is a self-described accidental banker who read history at university, spent 24 years inside HSBC Group, and ran First Direct, one of the most innovative banks of its era. Then, in his mid-40s, he walked away from a comfortable seat at the top of the industry to build a bank from scratch in the Northeast of England, not London. He has watched telephone banking, internet banking and mobile banking come and go, and now sits inside the AI wave trying to work out what it actually changes and what it does not. This conversation goes past the technology and into the things that endure: trust, people, and why the UK banking sector is still far less disrupted than everyone assumes.In the full episode, we cover:- Why banking was "made to be digitalised", and who wins because of it- How Atom uses Gemini, Claude, and other AI tools in their workflow- Why AI could cut a third of operating costs in three to five years- Why the same banks still dominate UK mortgages a decade on- Why Atom runs a four-day week, and why Mark keeps defending it- The one trait Mark values most when hiring young people- His advice for anyone starting out in the AI eraA masterclass in building for the long term, from someone who has done it without the hype. Worth your time whether you are in fintech or not.Connect with Mark Mullen:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mullen-5330458a Matthew Cheung (Host & Founder Work in Fintech):https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcheung50/Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

May 28, 2026Episode 271 hr 2 min

He backed PayPal and built Tether but will not invest in AI | William Quigley

Today's guest is William Quigley, one of the few venture investors who has operated at the centre of multiple technological inflection points. William was one of the first institutional investors in PayPal, co-founded Tether, the world's first and largest fiat-backed stablecoin, and founded WAX, one of the most active NFT blockchains globally.He saw the consumer internet emerge, watched payments transform, helped shape crypto infrastructure, and now sits at the edge of the AI wave. This is our third conversation with William, and a lot has changed since we last spoke 18 months ago. This time we go beyond the cycles and into the structural future: who owns the rails, how capital actually flows, and where the durable infrastructure is forming beneath the hype.In the full episode, we cover:- Why AI is the opposite of the early internet and early crypto, and why that should worry you- Why the economics of today's AI companies are inverted, and how long they can really last- Why he backed PayPal and built Tether but will not invest a dollar in AI- How VCs boycotting semiconductors for 25 years accidentally created NVIDIA- Why OpenAI and Anthropic may go public and still struggle as public companies- The trillion-dollar currency conversion tax that tokenised money could erase- Why NFTs are not dead, just rebranded, and where the real use cases are growing- The one trait William looks for in every founder and CEO, and why he thinks you are born with it- How young people should position themselves while it is still earlyIf you are a fintech founder, an investor trying to read the AI cycle, or anyone working out where the durable opportunities are forming beneath the hype, this one is worth your time.Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

May 14, 2026Episode 2644 min

How Crypto Will Replace the Banking System in the Next 10 Years | WIF Podcast

Today's guest is Xen Baynham-Herd, Director of Growth at Base and Global Builder Ecosystem lead at Coinbase, working at the centre of where crypto, AI agents, and the future of finance collide.Before Coinbase, Xen spent eight years as a fixed income trader at UBS, where he championed an internal stablecoin project that eventually spun out into Finality, backed by UBS, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and Santander. He then made the leap into crypto, rising to COO at blockchain.com, before stepping off the corporate ladder to work with Balaji Srinivasan on the Network State. He went on to found his own startup, Roam XYZ, which was later acquired by Coinbase.In the full episode, we cover:- Why the UK's financial system is broken and how blockchain actually fixes it- How crypto networks like Base are becoming the closest thing we have to network states today- Why every major bank — JPMorgan, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, UBS — is now quietly moving on-chain- What x402 is and why AI agents are already paying each other on-chain- Why agentic activity will be the primary use of crypto networks within a few years- The highest-leverage opportunities for builders in the next 3 years- The mindset and traits Xen looks for when hiring builders and backing foundersIf you're a fintech founder, a builder thinking about where to place your bets next, or anyone trying to understand how crypto and AI agents are about to reshape the financial system, this one is essential listening.Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

April 29, 2026Episode 2544 min

GPT-5.5, Codex & AGI: Inside AI Adoption at the World's Biggest Banks | WIF Podcast

Today's guest is Matt Weaver, Head of Solutions Engineering for EMEA at OpenAI, working directly with some of the biggest names in financial services including Revolut, Alicabank, and BBVA.Before OpenAI, Matt spent four years at a pre-ChatGPT AI company helping banks extract data from documents using traditional machine learning.When ChatGPT burst onto the scene and disrupted everything he was working on, he knew there was only one place he needed to be, and he was fortunate enough to get the call from OpenAI, where he's spent the last two years building out the Solutions Engineering team across EMEA from the ground up.In the full episode, we cover:How AI has moved from pilots to production inside major financial institutionsWhat GPT-5.5 can do that the models couldn't six months agoThe highest ROI use cases in financial services right nowHow OpenAI helps banks navigate regulation, compliance, and data residencyWhat AI agents actually are, and how long they can now run without human inputWhy entry-level employees are outperforming tenured colleagues with AI toolsHow to go use ChatGPT to it best of powerIf you're in fintech, working inside a financial institution, or trying to understand how AI is actually being deployed at scale, this one is essential listening.Connect with Matt Weaver:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrmattweaver/Matthew Cheung (Host & Founder Work in Fintech):https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcheung50/Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

April 25, 2026Episode 2440 min

How Jeeves Scaled Fintech to 25 Countries | CEO Dileep Thazhmon Interview

Today's guest is Dileep Thazhmon, Founder & CEO of Jeeves, one of the fastest-scaling fintechs to come out of Y Combinator (YC S20)Before Jeeves, Dileep built PowerInbox (later Jeeng) to $40M in revenue and a ~$100M exit. While running PowerInbox, Dileep ran headfirst into the chaos of cross-border payments, multiple cards, multiple bank accounts, different payment rails in every country, making his CFO's life a daily reconciliation nightmare.After his exit, he set out to solve that exact problem and founded Jeeves. Today it's valued at over $2B, operates in 25 countries, and powers global spend for thousands of companies.In the full episode, we cover:- His early years and the unlikely path that led him into fintech- How the idea for Jeeves came directly out of his own pain as a founder- Why B2B fintech is a completely different game from B2C - His experience going through Y Combinator - What it's like having Ben Horowitz and a16z as investor- The fintech opportunities he's most excited about right now- His hiring philosophy- The one piece of advice he'd give young graduatesIf you're in fintech, building a company, or curious how global fintech actually gets built, this one's worth your time.Connect with Dileep Thazhmon:X: https://x.com/thazhmonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thazhmon/Matthew Cheung (Host & Founder Work in Fintech):https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcheung50/ Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

April 7, 2026Episode 2348 min

Inside Revolut’s $670M Plan to Take Over the Indian Payment Market

Today's guest is Paroma Chatterjee, CEO of Revolut India, leading one of the world's most valuable fintechs into one of the world's most complex markets.Paroma has built her career at the intersection of ambition and execution, and there's no better proof of that than what Revolut India has become: a 3,600-person operation in a country where Revolut was virtually unknown just a few years ago.In this episode, we dive into:- Paroma's early career and what shaped her leadership style- Revolut's big ambitions in India, and what the product actually looks like on the ground- Why it took so long to launch in India, and what finally changed- The real moats that make Revolut different- How the Indian fintech industry has evolved, and where it's headed- What the culture inside Revolut is actually like- Her hiring philosophy and what she looks for in people- Opportunities in the age of AI for young professionals If you're working in fintech, thinking about joining a high-growth global company, or just want to understand what it takes to scale a business in India, this one is worth your time.Follow Paroma Chatterjee on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paroma-chatterjee-503193/Matthew Cheung (Host & Founder Work in Fintech): https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcheung50 Work in Fintech Socials: - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-global/ - X: https://x.com/WorkinFintech- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/work_in_fintech/Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

March 23, 2026Episode 2236 min

How Richard Davies Built Allica Bank into the UK's Fastest Growing Fintech

Today's guest is Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, the fastest growing company in the UK from 2020 to 2024, built specifically to serve the small and medium sized businesses that traditional banks consistently overlook.Richard has spent his career across some of the most influential names in banking and fintech — from Barclays and HSBC to being employee number one at Oak North, and Group COO at Revolut when it scaled from 5 to 15 million customers.In this episode, we get into:- What makes Allica Bank special and why he left Revolut to build it - The real reasons behind Allica Bank’s rapid growth - How Allica Bank serves one-third of the economy ignored by big banks - The future of traditional banks — branches, consolidation, and what comes next - The biggest trends and opportunities in fintech over the next 5 to 10 years - How leading digital banks are using AI right now - Richard’s hiring philosophy and what he looks for in people - The future of Allica Bank If you're building in fintech, banking, or thinking about your next career move, this one is worth your time.Richard's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-davies-1323b2 Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

March 9, 2026Episode 2145 min

Charlotte Crosswell – Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq & The Future of FinTech

From a small village to the heart of global financial markets.On our Women’s Day special, we host Charlotte Crosswell, Board Member at the London Stock Exchange.Charlotte’s journey is an inspiration for many girls and women who want to build a career in fintech and financial services.From humble beginnings in a small village to the global financial stage, she has held leadership roles at the London Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, Innovate Finance, and CFIT.She was also among the few women on the trading floor in the 1990s, building her career in an industry that was still largely male-dominated.In this episode, Matthew Cheung, founder of Work in Fintech, sits down with Charlotte to unpack:✅ Her journey from a small village to senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq, and the London Stock Exchange✅ How fintech and technology are transforming financial services✅ Why data ownership will define the future of financial markets✅ The importance of innovation and continuous learning in a rapidly changing industry✅ Practical advice for young professionals entering the industryComing just after International Women’s Day, Charlotte also shares her thoughts on the progress women have made in fintech and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.Whether you’re interested in fintech, financial markets, or building a career in the industry, this episode offers valuable insights into leadership, innovation, and navigating one of the fastest-evolving sectors in the world.Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

February 23, 2026Episode 2022 min

After 3 Startup Exits, Here’s What He’s Betting on in FinTech | Sheel Mohnot GP at BTV

Today’s guest on the show is Sheel Mohnot, Co-founder and General Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, a San Francisco based seed-stage fund focused on fintech, with investments in companies like Ramp, Mercury, and Unit.In this episode, host Matthew Chung, founder of Work in Fintech, sits down with Sheel to unpack:✅ His journey from founder to venture capitalist✅ What truly separates exceptional founders from the rest✅ The role of luck and timing in startup success✅ How AI is reshaping fintech and venture capital✅ The next big opportunities emerging in fintech✅ Practical advice for young entrepreneurs navigating risk, learning, and growthWhether you’re an aspiring founder, investor, or operator, this episode offers an honest look at building in fintech, spotting opportunity early, and what it really takes to win in today’s startup ecosystem.Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

February 10, 2026Episode 1952 min

Inside seedcamp Playbook for Finding Billion Dollar Startups | Carlos Eduardo Espinal

Today’s guest on the show is Carlos Espinal, Managing Partner at Seedcamp, one of Europe’s leading seed-stage venture capital funds, with early investments in companies like Wise, Revolut, and UiPath.In this episode, host Matthew Chung, founder of Work in Fintech, sits down with Carlos Espinal to unpack:✅ Carlos early career & how he got into venture capital✅ How Seedcamp spots billion-dollar founders before anyone else✅ The key traits that separate exceptional founders from everyone else✅ How the venture capital landscape has evolved✅ The biggest opportunities in tech right now✅ Practical advice for young entrepreneursWhether you’re an aspiring founder, investor, or someone looking to break into venture capital, this episode offers a candid look at how careers evolve, how great companies are built, and what it really takes to succeed in the startup ecosystem.Important Linkshttps://cee.medium.com/how-venture-adapts-when-trust-erodes-41568a2deb33Check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list to hear more about opportunities in fintech and web3.Follow our socials Linkedin, Twitter, Youtubehttps://workinfintech.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/work-in-fintech-globalhttps://www.twitter.com/workinfintechhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdS4bYoCXaHVgfVm6syUrDw

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Interviews with Leaders in Fintech &amp; Web3