Breaking Banks Asia Pacific

In this second part of our series on cash, cards and digital wallets, we shift our focus to the challenges and opportunities of an entirely digital payments world and look to the innovation happening beyond consumer payments.  We start with the legacy of India's controversial 2016 demonetisation program, explore the role of central banks in cutting back cash, and investigate the future of cross border payments, where things are heating up. Guests: Monica Jasuja, Ambassador, Emerging Payments Association Asia Anthony Thomas, Non-executive Chairman, MoMo; MD, Fintech, Delivery Hero Brad Pragnell, Principal, 34 South 45 North Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School Produced by Charis Palmer and Rachel Williamson, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg, Mahesh Vinayakram and BalloonPlanet.

Debanking is a real problem for fintechs operating in Australia. Local companies and foreign intrants alike are not immune to a 30-minutes-to-midnight text saying "your accounts will be closed from tomorrow".  Stuart Stoyan, founder of Moneyplace and former chair of Fintech Australia, is in no mood for making nice after five years of inaction from governments and regulators and feeling the humiliation himself of being told you can't be trusted with your customers' money, or data.  We discuss who's been broken up with via text and ghosted, the chilling effect on doing business as a fintech in Australia, and Stoyan's views on the real reasons why banks have had to be told by the top finance cop, "don't be dicks".  Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

In Part 1 of this two-part show we explore the resilience of cash for payments. From cards and digital wallets to superapps and digital currency, we ask the experts what’s the killer app to kill cash in Asia, and what would mass uptake of global digital payments mean for financial inclusion in our region. Guests: Anthony Thomas, MoMo Jason Bryce, Cash Welcome Brad Pragnell, 34 South 45 North Monica Jasuja, Emerging Payments Association Asia Produced by Charis Palmer and Rachel Williamson with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Charlie Ryan, Mahesh Vinayakram and BalloonPlanet.

There's a story told by the World Bank that in 2009 more people in the Philippines had a mobile phone than a bank account – despite there still being some 450 rural banks alone in the country. Today, that story might be apocryphal and it also doesn't mean Filipinos don't have incredibly complex financial lives as GCash, employer loans, remittances, cash, and QR payments might all be used for income within a single family.  Netbank cofounder and Philippines banking and fintech investor Gus Poston says organising and simplifying the complicated patchwork of Filipinos' financial realities is one of the biggest fintech opportunities in the country.  Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

Regtech is the unloved tech cousin of the fintech world. It's the one which follows the rules and makes sure everyone else does too. But in an industry where not following the rules leads to some of the most spectacular catastrophes in history, it's no surprise that it's a sector on the rise -- how could it not be when it's the darling of banking regulators?  Deborah Young is the CEO of the RegTech Association, and is responsible for shepherding the different arms of the sector into one direction. She says it's growing at a rate of knots as trust and transparency become catch cries for regulators and consumers alike.

Banks replacing their core banking has been likened to ‘doing brain surgery with a spoon’ and there are plenty of public examples where the surgery partly or completely failed.Is Banking As A Service a new pathway for banks struggling with aging core banking platforms? We speak with Sachin Sharma, chief product and commercial officer at audax, the BAAS spinoff from Standard Chartered Ventures, on why the bank spun out a BAAS service, why he thinks banks should consider it, and the benefits BAAS offers for banks looking to reach a new customer base via embedded finance. Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

A bill to introduce a digital ID is making its way through the Australian Parliament to better protect government-based identities and stem the flow of consumer data from insecure vaults. Bank-based digital identity verifications systems are already operating and international companies are, with government blessings, setting up shop in the country.  But the true question will be can anyone convince sceptical Australians that this isn't the much-feared "national ID"? And will ideas like singling out First Nations people to link their Aboriginality to this ID just allow the same conservatives who tried to torch digital health records do the same with this?  We interview Endava consultant and payments expert David Marsh and ConnectID managing director Andrew Black about the future design of an Australian digital identity system, why interoperability is needed for this not to be a failure, and what is required to convince Australians that this is not the Orwellian dystopia they fear.  Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

2024 is shaping up as the Year of the e-CNY, but can China be trusted with a global reserve CBDC? Our last guest Richard Holden says no. Cashless author Richard Turrin offers a full-throated reply, saying the rise of the digital Yuan is a lack of trust in the US dollar and how the US uses its power.  We also discuss how formalised data markets will change how fintechs obtain and use data, and how 2024 will be the year when Chinese fintech products and services will continue their slow global expansion.  Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

Host Charis Palmer sits down with economist Richard Holden to chat about his new book: Money in the 21st Century and why he believes the US Fed needs to get going with a 'Fedcoin', and the global economics of #crypto #cbdcs #mobilemoney and #cheapmoney and how we'll all transact in our future cashless world. Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

The hosts and producers of Breaking Banks Asia and Breaking Banks Europe get together to swap stories at the world's biggest fintech event. Plus interviews on the sidelines with DigiFT founder and former Citibank China Deputy CEO Henry Zhang, and Lito Viullanueva, Founding Chairman of the Fintech Alliance of the Philippines and Chief Innovation & Inclusion Officer at RCBC. Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

He’s the CEO of one of the world’s biggest banks, but has never been afraid of disrupting the mother ship with digital contenders. In Singapore recently for the fintech festival, we caught up with Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters for a wide-ranging conversation on why he’s such a fan of fintechs, the bank’s support for digital assets, where AI is helping financial services firms, including his, and why he’s been spending so much time in China of late. Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

Trust in banks in some markets in the Asia Pacific is at an all time low - so you’d think that would give fintechs and neobanks a red hot chance at stealing main bank customers - think again! In this episode we explore the nuance of trust in digital banking, the relationship between good tech and trust, and why gaining trust takes more than being always-on. In this panel show, we hear from Airwallex's new GM for Australia and New Zealand, Luke Latham, and RegTech Association Executive Director Jo Mikleus, who also sits on the boards of CorticAI and Yondr Money. This show is brought to you in partnership with Airwallex. Produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

India is putting the legal building blocks in place that will create real domestic carbon markets, and it is opening the door for fintechs to begin playing a significant role in fixing the country’s environmental problems. But while the PayUs of India — the country’s largest payments provider — are getting on board by offering offsets at the point of sale, we were interested in companies and ideas that went further. The kind that could, using a mixture of interesting business models and Web3 technology, upend how banking is done. And not just in India.  In this episode we speak to MyPlan8 cofounders Nidhi Mehra and Koushik Sur, Offset Farm cofounder Saurabh Saraf, and fintech powerhouse and new Director of the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA), Smita Aggarwal.  This episode was produced by Charis Palmer and Rachel Williamson, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Mahesh Vinayakram, BOOM Library and Raz Burg Selected research:  - The Myth of Mobilising Private Finance for Climate Action and Pivoting to Scale - How technology is transforming green finance: blockchain credit bonds break new ground - Developing carbon trading markets in Southeast Asia - Time To Promote Climate Fintech For Individuals - India’s ambitions and possibilities of becoming a global green leader - India’s Carbon Credit Policy and the Greenwashing Conundrum  - Transitioning to Net Zero, the India Fintech story

The Australian government is in the middle of a review of AI use, fielding submissions in response to a paper it put out in June on government mechanisms to ensure AI is developed and used safely and responsibly.    While many of Australia's Asian neighbours have taken a light touch approach to regulating AI, all eyes are currently on the EU, with EU governments aiming to reach agreement on the new AI Act. Meanwhile, Australia's big banks have asked for a carve out from any new requirements, pointing to the reams of existing regulation they are already beholden to.  In this episode we consider the opportunities and risks AI offers banks and fintechs, and how they're navigating these. We hear from Rob Nicholls, law professor at the University of NSW on a proposal to require banks to be more transparent in the way they're using AI.  We also hear from Linda Staniewicz, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for the Emerging Payments Association Asia on what banks need to do to make AI work ethically and commercially in their businesses. This episode was produced by Charis Palmer and Rachel Williamson, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Yehezkel Raz, Rex Banner. Raz Burg

There's no doubt Gen Zs will change fintech as we know it, but the ones likely to have the most influence? Kids today in Asia.  Fintech ideas born in Asia are starting to influence trends around the world. That means the almost 1 billion children and young adults who count as Gen Z, and who were born into this exciting melting pot of ideas, are going to shape fintech around the world in ways we can only guess at.  But who are Gen Zs in Asia, and what do they know about money? Their attitudes to life, the world, the universe -- and money -- are already providing pointers as to what banking and financial services might need to look like in the future.  We interviewed three young people, student Eira Shah in Singapore, student and TikToker Nick Mair in Australia, and graduate Zahra Niazi in Pakistan about their views on money, work, social media, climate change and more. Then we brought in economist and author Dr Usman Chohan to tease out what the subtext behind their perspectives might mean. Why are so many young adults hung up on financial stability? Are they telling employers to jump because they don't want to work, or because of an underlying nihilism? Are any of them actually using debt, or is it really millennials padding the stats?  This episode was produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with sound engineering by Kevin Hirshorn. Music credits to Dimitrix, Noam Zaguri, Ran Raiten, Raz Burg, Alex MakeMusic, Jasmine J. Walker, Brianna Tam, Balloon Planet, audio credits to @Parrot.Finance, @calltoleap.

There's a whole movie coming out about the YOLO investing that really messed up some hedge funds and short sellers in 2021. Could we one day expect a movie (we'd even be ok with a made-for-streaming series) about the same kind of you-only-live-once, grassroots take down of… banking?  Dr Usman Chohan says that attitude is already here, with just as many get-rich-quick fireworks that accompanied the Gamestop and AMC phenomenons. You'd know it as crypto. He says the disenchantment that fed the investing trend and the desire for decentralised finance is only just getting started.  This episode was produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with music credits to BalloonPlanet.

When does a fintech become what they set out to disrupt? Is it when they start offering bank-like products? Get a banking licence? Is it when they go all-in and buy an actual bank? In this episode we ask whether this is good, bad, or something else for competition. The Asian Banker founder Emmanuel Daniel says fintechs struggle to maintain their innovative edge when they get sucked into the bid to become a bank, while Wise's Surendra Chaplot believes you can be bank-like and still forge a path that is sensitive to customer needs.  This episode was produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with music credits to BalloonPlanet.

In 2021 Myanmar went through a series of shocks, beginning with a coup d'état in February when the military overthrew the government and ending with a bank run. Brad Jones, the founding CEO of smartphone-based fintech Wave Money, was in the thick of it, working through the Internet ban and supporting staff as well as he could through COVID-19.  With host Rachel Williamson, Brad discusses tips on managing a bank run, what it's like dealing with regulators during the ultimate state of flux, and why he chose Myanmar.

Once again it looks like the digital asset house is burning down, but in Asia the smoke is clearing -- or so believes the Singapore-based digital asset team at Standard Chartered. We talk to the bank's global head of digital assets Rene Michau and the brand new head of digital assets and governance Danielle Szetho about where they see the opportunity for the big regulated banks, and the upstart fintechs, in the Asian crypto sector. This episode was produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with music credits to Raz Burg and BalloonPlanet.

China continues to forge ahead with its central bank digital currency, notching up millions of transactions through giveaways and lottos. But beyond the consumer headlines lies a long-term strategy that could disrupt both banks and international trade.  We speak with two experts, 'Cashless' author Richard Turrin and Singapore Management University professor and China economic law scholar Heng Wang, on what it might mean for banks and the global financial order.