Financial inclusion is a global issue. In fact, it's probably more global than most of us think. Even in developed markets like the UK, US and Western Europe, there are huge numbers of unbanked people.
Pockit, a UK-based neobank, is addressing that problem in the UK. Launched in 2014 and currently serving 123,000 customers, Pockit is making a profound impact on the lives of a huge number of financially underserved individuals.
Virraj Jatania, Founder and CEO of Pockit, joins us in Episode 21 to talk through the problem they're solving and the strategies they're employing to do so.
We get into the economics of "neobanks," non-bank fintechs that leverage third-party authorizations to offer bank-like products.
Let us know what you think on Twitter @rebankpodcast or @will_beeson.
Connect with us via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or www.bankingthefuture.com to continue the conversation.
We hope you enjoy today's episode.
Episode 19 is a special one. We're celebrating the year-end with a long-overdue dive into some of the key concepts that have found their way across multiple episodes to date.
We've interviewed some of the most noteworthy founders, investors, thinkers and doers in fintech & banking innovation over the past few months. Their insight and analysis will see us well into 2017 and beyond, so we're hunkering down over the holiday break to dig into it in detail.
In Part 1 of our exploration, we break down our conversations with:
Jeff Tijssen (@jefftijssen)
Skylar Lyon (@skyyhigh)
Jason Bates (@jasonbates)
Chris Skinner (@chris_skinner)
Faisal Khan (@babushka99)
Alex Tapscott (@alextapscott)
Slava Solodkiy (@slavasolodkiy)
Michael O'Connor
Duena Blomstrom (@duenablomstrom)
We couldn't be more thankful for the wonderful guests we've had on the show so far.
Word of caution: We dug out some of our earliest episodes, so please bear with us on the audio quality. We were still learning!
Let us know what you think @rebankpodcast @will_beeson.
Brett King (@brettking) is a bestselling author and was voted Innovator of the Year for 2012 by American Banker. Since 2010 Brett has released 5 Global Bestselling books, including Bank 2.0, Branch Today – Gone Tomorrow, Bank 3.0, Breaking Banks and his latest Augmented. His books have topped bestseller charts for banking in 18 countries and have been translated into 9 languages.
David Robson leads IBM's Watson business in the European financial services sector.
Perhaps the world's most recognizable AI system (after HAL 9000), IBM's Watson is live across multiple industries and is using artificial intelligence to solve hard, real world problems.
For the uninitiated: Watson is a cognitive computer that can read, understand, reason and engage with humans in support of a broad range of knowledge workers including medicine, banking and insurance.
David has been working with Watson for two years, advising banks and insurance companies on how to deploy cognitive technology within their operations.
For more on Watson, follow them on Twitter @ibmwatson or visit www.ibm.com/watson.
Devie Mohan is a prominent fintech writer, speaker and commentator. Devie is the co-founder and CEO of Burnmark, a fintech research company established in partnership with Berlin-based FinLeap. She is also a market strategist and UK coordinator with FinLeap.
Throughout the course of her career, Devie has helped numerous banks, startups, innovation groups and investors understand the trends in fintech, helping them set their corporate, marketing and investment strategies. She is an adamant proponent of a fintech ecosystem in which banks and startups collaborate to drive innovation.
Devie is featured on several fintech influencer lists, including the CityAM FinTech Powerlist and the SWIFT-Innotribe Power Women in FinTech list, to name just two.
Oaknorth is a startup bank in the UK.
Joel Perlman, Oaknorth's co-founder, is a UK-based serial entrepreneur.
After starting his career at McKinsey, Joel eventually left to co-found Copal Partners, a financial research outsourcing company with his business partner, Rishi Khosla. Over a period of 12 years, they grew the business to almost 3,000 people before selling it to Moody's in 2014.
Subsequently, Joel and Rishi founded OakNorth, a new UK bank focused on lending to entrepreneurs and mid-sized growth companies. From an outsider's perspective, OakNorth seems to approach banking in a pragmatic, entrepreneurial way, seeking cost effective, non-traditional ways to deliver value for customers and outcompete incumbent banks.
Formally launched in 2015, OakNorth is to date the only completely new UK bank to break even, doing so in an amazing 11 months.