Our new series starts with a discussion on physical cards. First up: How long will it be before plastic cards are a thing of the past? Suresh tells Robert that cards are still increasing inspite of mobile phones and wearable technology. Are the schemes already irrelevant with PSD2 and what technology will merchants want to use in the future and how will AI change payments?

Fintech Unplugged

FU S2 Ep1 – Plastic Cards, Schemes and The Hairy Mic

Robert and Suresh welcome the head of the Emerging Payments Association Tony Craddock (TC) who explains what the EPA does and how he sometimes likes to upset its members! Questions from the "Bin of Confusion" include: How can we trust fintechs if we can't trust Facebook? Explain Open Banking in 10 secs? The "Man on the Street" is asked what Open Banking means to him with some varying responses.

FIntech Unplugged

FU S2 Ep2 - With Tony Craddock, EPA & introducing ‘The Man on the Street!

In this episode guest speaker Paul Love Twelves explains what the Open Payments Cloud is, how it works and how this will help Fintech entrepreneurs "test and learn" in a low risk environment before launching.

FU S2 Ep4 - With Paul Love Twelves from Open Payments Cloud

FU Series 1 Bloopers – the best bits by FintechUnplugged

FU S2 Ep6 - Bloopers, The best bits

Fintech Unplugged's first LIVE episode comes from Vendorcom. Fintech heavyweights Robert and Suresh answer questions from the "Bin of Confusion" including: Where is it best in the EU to apply for a licence post brexit?, What is next after NFR for prepaid cards? How will Crypto currencies affect Fintechs, Did you buy Bitcoin? and What is an ICO? We ask the "Man on the Street" about Bitcoin and his view: "...it's a bit like the year, it's here but you can't see it!"

FU S3 Ep1 LIVE - Vendorcom with Paul Rodgers

Fintech Unplugged's second  LIVE episode from the EPA: Robert and Suresh  answer some of their own burning questions: Why is cash on the increase? Their weirdest payment experience?  Do people really understand GDPR? Are card schemes still relevant? And, the reason why the Amazon store is not so environmentally friendly.

FU S3 Ep2 Live - EPA Hot Topic Briefing

Now in its fourth year, the PIF Innovation Day brings together industry leaders, innovators and influencers to explore the convergence of prepaid and FinTech, from the solutions, trends and technology driving innovation in payments to the opportunities and the future for the high-growth prepaid sector.

FU S3 Ep3 LIVE - PIF Innovation Day

Fintech Unplugged's final LIVE podcast comes from the 4th Next Gen Payments Forum 2018. This is a premium gathering for senior executives involved in financial transactions and payments operations.  Suresh took a well-deserved break from Robert in this episode and is joined by Fintech expert Peter Oakes.

Fintech Unplugged 

FU S3 Ep5 LIVE - Next Gen Payments Forum

FU Series 3 Bloopers – the best bits by FintechUnplugged

FU S3 Ep6 - Bloopers, The best bits

Welcome to Fintech Unplugged’s fourth series. In the first episode Robert and Suresh talk with Paul Riseborough from Metro Bank to find out how they differentiate themselves from the traditional banks. Questions from the “Bin of Confusion” include: who is a Metro Bank customer? What innovations are down the line for Metro Bank? And, how can Metro Bank meet the expenses of their branches and remain profitable. We also hear from the “Man on the Street” about what they remember about their last bank branch experience and what might make them switch.

FU S4 Ep1 - With Paul Riseborough from Metro Bank

In this episode, while Robert and Suresh are enjoying their delicious BBQ, we hear from Fintech Unplugged’s budding reporter, Jeff, who is interviewing Shaun Lordan from Volt Bank – Australia’s first challenger bank. They discuss how the UK market compares to the Australian, what Volt Bank can learn from UK challenger banks and how they are going to position themselves in the Australian consumer market.

FU S4 Ep2 - With Shaun Lordan from Volt Bank

KBW’s Sanjay Sakhrani joins Robert and Suresh in a special investor episode of Fintech Unplugged to kick off Series 5! Sanjay is a Senior Fintech Analyst from investment bank KBW, that specialises and focuses on financial services and fintech.

What are investors really looking for in companies? How has the investor landscape changed? What are the best buzzwords to use in a pitch?

If you want to find out more about anything in this episode please get in touch via our LinkedIn account. Happy New Year!

FU S5 Ep1 - Investor Special With Sanjay Sakhrani, KBW

David Parker from Polymath Consultancy joins Robert and Suresh for the 2nd episode of Fintech Unplugged, Series 5. Find out what David's views are on cryptocurrencies and if we should regulate them, what he sees as the latest innovations in crypto and have the card schemes changed their views on this type of currency?

The Bin of Confusion asks what is the difference between a challenger bank and a bank challenger? Where does David see the push of biometrics going in payments? What is the longest sentence he say with the most number of acronyms? And, are legacy banks dragging their feet with open banking?

Series 5

FU S5 Ep2 - with David Parker, Polymath Consulting

Diane Brocklebank from PIF joins Robert and Suresh for episode 5 of Fintech Unplugged, Series 5. Diane talks about how the media can affect the perception of prepaid cards, what PIF do to safeguard the prepaid universe and introduces the new PIF chairman.

FU S5 Ep5 - With Diane Brocklebank, PIF

Fintech Unplugged's latest live episode comes from EPA PAY360 Conference on 17th March. Robert and Suresh take on the 'Bin of Confusion' with Julian Sawyer, Head of Banking Services and COO, Starling Bank. Robert, Suresh and Julian dive deeper into Starling Bank's business model, how Julian defines Fintech and opens the questioning to the live audience.

FU S5 Ep7 - LIVE at PAY360 with Julian Sawyer, Starling Bank

Description: Robert and Suresh are back again after managing to wrangle their way into the Mastercard office and grab Edoardo Volta, who now leads the Fintech and EMI Division, for a chat. Edoardo talks about the new set up at Mastercard, the hottest innovation regions in Europe, what Mastercard have planned for blockchain and much more.

Series 6

FU S6 Ep3 - With Edoardo Volta, Mastercard

After a night out in Amsterdam, Robert and Suresh rush off to Money20/20 stage where they recorded a live recording of Fintech Unplugged with special guests Mark Barnett from Mastercard and Nick Ogden from ClearBank.
In front of a packed audience, Mark and Nick talk about upcoming regulations including SCA and open banking, the dreaded 'B' word, voice authentication methods and much more!

FU S6 Ep4 - Live @ Money20/20 with Mark Barnett & Nick Ogden

Wine tasting and fintech discussions are combined together for a live podcast at Fintech Connect. Robert and Suresh are joined by Soren Mortensen from IBM for a special blockchain focused episode covering:

- The uses of blockchain and the ecosystems you can build
- The public's opinion on blockchain
- Will quantum computing kill blockchain?
- Libra updates

FU S6 Ep6 - LIVE at Fintech Connect with Soren Mortensen from IBM

Dive into these hilarious bloopers from season 6 featuring our guests over the past 6 episodes!

FU S6 Ep7 - Bloopers, The Best Bits

As we build up to the launch of Series 7, we take a look back at some of the questions and answers we've uncovered from the Man On The Street over the past few seasons. From finding about what the public thinks about blockchain to asking if prepaid cards have any negative connotations, we've put together the best questions and answers for your enjoyment!

FU S7 E1 Special Episode - Man On The Street, The Best Bits

Robert and Suresh are off on a trip to South Asia and after a mix up with the seating, the boys bump into Chris Davison and Salim Dhanani from BigPay who were just leaving after visiting Money20/20.

FU S7 Ep2 - with Christopher Davison & Salim Dhanani, BigPay

Welcome to the pilot episode of Fintech Unplugged, ,where Robert and Suresh take on hot topics of the day from the rise of crypto and the emergence of Amazon Pay to the challenges prepaid cards face and much more. The boys also introduce the idea of guests and finding out the public's opinion in certain topics through the 'Man on the street' on future episodes.

FU S1 - Pilot

Robert and Suresh find themselves at a local school and end up bumping into one of the teachers (and former MasterChef contestant), Ketan Makwana, from Enterprise Lab. They then take the opportunity to discuss a range of important FinTech and UK issues surrounding education, the current state of FinTech talent, women in FinTech and much more!

Topics covered:
- How to encourage the next cohort of FinTech and tech entrepreneurs
- What should the FinTech sector do to help develop talent into the industry
- Character types: Introverts and Extroverts
- Why we need to support UK micro-businesses
- Diversity and inclusion in tech industries

FU S7 Ep4 - With Ketan Makwana, Enterprise Lab

As they try to find a hospital for Robert's burnt hand, the boys stumble into Mansion House and manage to navigate through the moving boxes and grab the Lord Mayor of London, Peter Estlin, for a special episode of Fintech Unplugged.

Robert, Suresh and Peter talk about the digital skills gap, entrepreneurship, the internet of things, innovation and much more!

Topics covered:
- The Lord Mayor's role clarified
- The digital skills gap and what we can do to help
- Brexit and how the UK can continue to be a Fintech leader
- Where the city stands on the idea of a cashless society

FU S7 Ep5 - With Peter Estlin, Lord Mayor of London

Robert and Suresh are off to LendIt and bump into the experienced Ali Paterson from Fintech Finance. The boys take a behind the scenes look at Fintech Finance, the lowdown in the payments space and take on questions from the BIN of Confusion all live at LendIt.

Topics covered:
- The rise of Curve
- Glint heading into administration (now exiting)
- How to make Fintech Exciting
- How can Fintech make a greener impact on the world

FU S7 Ep6 - With Ali Paterson LIVE at LendIt

Dive into these hilarious bloopers from season 7 featuring our guests over the past 6 episodes!

FU S7 EP7 - The Best Bits & Bloopers

After a chat about tech companies surviving and dying, Robert and Suresh look towards the future and stumble into the Telefonica accelerator, Wayra. The boys run into Daniel Lesnick, a mentor in residence for Blockchain and AI at Wayra and corner him for a closer look at Blockchain.

Topics Covered:
- Blockchain and it's applications
- Buying Bitcoin in 2014 and the Bitcoin community
- The implications of Libra it's real end goal
- Bad comedy and much more

FU S8 Ep2 - With Daniel Lesnick, Wayra

As Suresh educates Robert about cloud infrastructures and data centres, they happen to run into Neira Jones, Payments Advisor and International Speaker. The boys take the opportunity to talk to Neira about data breaches, cyber security and regulation.

Topics covered:
- Her career as one of the early female professionals in the payments and cyber security industry 
- Data breaches and cyber security in the media
- Where regulation and compliance is heading
- What is dirty data and the opportunties it holds
- Cloud storage, fraud prevention and much more

FU S8 Ep3 - With Neira Jones, Payments Advisor and International Speaker

Please note: This episode was recorded prior to the announcement by N26 that it intends exit the UK market.

In this special episode, Robert and Suresh are LIVE at Fintech Connect 2019 and managed to trick Georgina Smallwood, Chief Product Officer at N26, to talk about payments, the orgins of the N26 name and what the future holds to a jam packed audience.

Topics covered:
- Dispelling the N26 naming myths
- What the future holds for N26
- How and why trust is important for the banking industry, especially for challenger banks
- Product vs Marketing
- And much more

FU S8 Ep4 - LIVE at Fintech Connect with Georgina Smallwood, N26

Robert and Suresh are off to the North West of England to catch a Stone Roses show. However, on their way they end up coming across an even bigger queue. They find out that the queue is made of 100s of students trying to get an appointment to open a bank account. The boys run into Muhammad Asim from Arro Money where he explains more about the situation. 

Topics covered: 
- How Asim started Arro Money and the lessons he's learnt 
- The Fintech industry we are in today 
- The struggles of opening up a bank account 
- An exclusive announcement on Fintech Unplugged from Arro Money

FU S8 Ep5 - With Muhammad Asim, Arro Money

Robert and Suresh are discussing the film Social Network and the history behind the Winklevoss twins. The boys decide to give Julian Sawyer a call to invite him onto Fintech Unplugged.

Julian discusses why his new role with Gemini, the crypto venture back by the Winklevoss twins, makes sense after Starling Bank. Julian reveals whether he has ever purchased anything with crypto currency, discusses stable coin and whether wall street has been ‘asleep at the wheel’ when it comes to crypto currency. We also find out why asking closed questions doesn’t make for good podcast conversation.

FU S8 Ep6 - With Julian Sawyer, Gemini

Scott Abrahams, Group Head Acceptance and Emerging Payments, Mastercard, joins Robert and Suresh to discuss topic including how to spot a bad fintech idea, Facebook’s Libra, the environmental impact of cards, payments in China and advice for entrepreneurs looking to sell their businesses to a major payment scheme for a few billion.

FU S8 Ep7 - Scott Abrahams , Mastercard with MC

Robert and Suresh play host to podcast royalty as David Brear, CEO and co-founder, 11FS, joins them to discuss topics ranging from the origins of the business, his father’s career advice, when the challenger banks might start making any money and how to run a proper podcast.

With David Brear

FU S8 Ep8 - With David Brear, 11:FS

Two of the most respected and outspoken leaders in the payments industry go head to head to answer difficult and controversial questions posed by the ‘BIN of Confusion’. Hear from high-profile guests from established fintech leaders, brand new market entrants and even ‘the man on the street’.

FintechUnplugged

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