Subscribe to the Fintech Garden Newsletter 👉 https://bit.ly/45HPDb8Igor Tomych speaks with Catherine Woneis, VP of Product at Fingerprint, about how device intelligence and AI are used to detect fraud without compromising user privacy. The conversation explores device fingerprinting, browser tampering, VPNs, and intent-based fraud detection, highlighting how signals from browsers and apps help financial institutions identify suspicious activity before and after authentication. They also discuss agentic AI, fraud-as-a-service, social engineering, and why humans remain the weakest link in digital security.Follow us: https://fintech.gardenCheck out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.comConnect with our hosts:Igor Tomych – https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/Dumitru Condrea – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/4nKKiqz

Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea rifle through a series of myths surrounding credit unions in the US. While you may expect a list of comparisons regarding interest rates and availability, our hosts seize the chance to take a deep look at how legacy systems used by such organizations compare to modern systems used by fintechs

The guest, Amber Harsin, Vice President of Credit Unions at Mambu, is not shy to point out the chinks in credit union armors and why they lag behind alternative lending institutions.

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Igor Tomych sits with Domenico Scaffidi, Member of the Bank of England Standard Advisory Panel and CEO of DS Payments, to talk about the state of real-time payments in 2025. The two fintech executives agree that real-time payments have shifted the entire banking industry towards a new trajectory. 

Dome highlights the role European regulators played in placing the EU at the forefront of the real-time payments world. As the host and guest predict the coming year in the industry, they come to an agreement that innovations such as CBDC and stablecoins are direct results of consumers’ need for better security. 

Fintech Garden’s host Igor Tomych connects with Roman von der Höh to talk about revolutionizing withholding tax. Our guests points out the degree at which the current tax system is outdated, needing a true digital transformation.

This conversation puts into perspective how tax systems are becoming increasingly complex due to factors such as overseas investments and the introduction of key regulatory systems. In the meantime, banks are struggling to keep up with the everyday demand of end-to-end tax workflows with lower costs and fewer specialists, to which Roman provides a solution. 

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Fintech Garden’s hosts Igor and Dumitru go head-to-head, debating what compliance actually is, whether it can be offered as a product. As professionals with over 25 years of experience in the industry, they’ve seen all kinds of outcomes from compliance. 

Whether compliance can be sold as a product, or it’s a map that tells how to get from point A to point B, its absence is duellly fielt. Just ask the crypto industry. Listen to our hosts talk about the ‘wild west’ of crypto and how its biggest scandals are pushing people to demand more safety. 

Hosts Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea discuss service, legacy infrastructure, and human-centered design in banking with David M. Brear, Group CEO of 11:FS Holdings. David shares lessons from his fintech career and athletic background to illustrate the importance of discipline, resilience, and leadership in transformation.“The real question is not technology or strategy, it’s culture, leadership, and the people making change happen every day.”What You Will Learn:• Why service matters more than scale in modern banking• How fintechs deliver personalized experiences at mass scale• The challenges of legacy systems and technology debt• Why culture, empowerment, and leadership drive real innovation• How an athletic mindset influences resilience and strategic thinking

Hosts Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea talk with Rukayyat Modupe Kolwole, founder of PaceUP, about how empathy, culture, and AI are reshaping the future of wealth management.

They discuss why traditional finance fails to connect with real human behavior, and how technology can help people make smarter, more confident financial decisions.

This episode explores:

• How emotional intelligence improves financial planning

• Why cultural context matters in fintech design

• AI’s role in democratizing personalized advice

• Balancing empathy and automation in financial products

• What “inclusive wealth management” really looks like

Host Igor Tomych sits down with Rob Lunn, Fintech Product Leader at Fnality, to break down the real capabilities and limits of artificial intelligence in financial treasury, accounting, and FX.

They discuss where AI genuinely improves efficiency, and where legacy systems, data silos, and regulatory complexity still hold it back. From automation to ethics, Rob shares insights drawn from 25 years in global payments and treasury.

This episode explores:

• The difference between AI agents and traditional automation

• The data problem is slowing AI adoption in finance

• The future of developers in the AI era

• The ethical and legal lines AI must not cross

Fintech Garden’s Igor Tomych chats with Michele Mattei, a product owner with Bunq and investor with Syeew, to discuss what makes startups stand out among the competition. Mattei provides a unique perspective on the competitive edges that drive startups' success from a product owner’s perspective, breaking down the processes and technologies that may lead to the next unicorns in the fintech scene.

This episode serves as a genuine guide to up-and-coming fintech startups and their founders. Knowing what steps to take to acquire funding, how to spend funding, and all while navigating common hurdles, such as regulations, can be the deciding factor of a company’s success.

How do you organize everything that matters—your finances, documents, and digital identity—in one secure place?

In this episode, Igor Tomych speaks with Fraser Stewart, founder of Lyfeguard, a fintech platform helping users manage personal information, visualize their financial health, and share critical data securely with family or advisers.

They discuss: 💡 Why managing personal information today is broken

💡 How Lyfeguard bridges personal finance, data storage, and estate planning 💡 Using open banking to connect accounts, loans, and pensions

💡 The evolution from B2C to B2B2C through advisers and legal partners

💡 How privacy, encryption, and access control define user trust

💡 Future plans: AI agents for automated data management

💡 Lessons from building fintech around life’s hardest conversations

📚 Book Recommendations:

• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

• Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine

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