Fintechs are a force for good in the world. Christian Rau of Mastercard discusses purpose-driven innovation, how Mastercard identifies trustworthy fintech players, what traditional banks are ignoring at their own risk, and what trends to look for new innovations in.

Key Takeaways.

• [0:00 ] Denise Johansson puts Christian Rau, Senior Vice President of Crypto and Fintech Enablement Europe at Mastercard, in the hot seat.
• [2:16 ] We all know the brand, but what exactly does Mastercard do?
• [4:11 ] The 9 trends to watch in the payment industry and where fintech can fit in.
• [4:46 ] Innovation rarely comes from traditional banks, fintech partnerships make that magic happen.
• [7:07 ] Christian offers his favorite 2 trends to watch and why: connected finance and unleashing acceptance.
• [9:59 ] In a frictionless, safe, secure, simple transaction world, there is room to ponder conscious consumerism.
• [10:36 ] Helping organisations focus on their core gives them more time to innovate and push forward.
• [13:45 ] Mastercard plays an active role in helping fintechs find partners.
• [16:12 ] Building trust and keeping trust is not something to take lightly, and working with a large player requires you to be on your best game
• [18:46 ] How Mastercard came to be such a big fintech partner and why being an early innovation adopter is key to growth.
• [21:09 ] Enfuce x Mastercard! Increasing advances in technology means you have to partner with knowledgeable, technical actors. 
• [23:29 ] Christian highlights a fundamental theme: easy and simple works.
• [26:07 ] Advances are unpredictable and surprising, stay on your toes!
• [27:12 ] Denise signs out until the next time she puts an industry leader in the hot seat.

People.

• Guest Christian Rau, SVP Crypto and Fintech Enablement Europe at Mastercard, a global payments industry company powering a safe, simple, and secure digital economy benefiting everyone.
• Host Denise Johansson, co-CEO and co-Founder of Enfuce, a female-founded fintech helping drive business growth, solve customer challenges, and extend financial inclusion.

Links.

• Mastercard
• Enfuce

Guest Quotes.

• A lot of the trends are shaped, perpetuated, and driven by fintech. — Christian Rau, Mastercard, InTheHotSeat
• The increasing digitization of consumer-to-merchant commerce, whether it's in-app or mobile, actually determines the consumer journey quite a bit. — Christian Rau, Mastercard, InTheHotSeat
• Generation Z and all these new founders come with a different attitude. They would like to run a profitable business, but for them, it's equally important to do something that contributes to the wider well-being. — Christian Rau, Mastercard, InTheHotSeat
• We are not more relaxed with a FinTech than we would be with a high street bank. — Christian Rau, Mastercard, InTheHotSeat
• Trust is something that takes a lot of time to build, it's very easily lost, and then very difficult to gain back. — Christian Rau, Mastercard, InTheHotSeat
• It always boils down to offering choice and leveraging partnerships and technology to add value to the ecosystem. — Christian Rau, Mastercard, InTheHotSeat

Denise Quotes.

• Fintechs can play a role for the good of the planet. We discuss conscious consumerism with Christian Rau from Mastercard. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat
• The Force is With Fintech! InTheHotSeat episode 4 Christian Rau from Mastercard talks about fintechs as a force for good in the world. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce
• When running a business, you need to understand that you will make mistakes and that you will learn from them. But there is one area where you can't afford a single mistake, and that is compliance. — Denise Johansson, Enfuce, InTheHotSeat