How to Lend Money to Strangers

I've been busy with the kids' end-of-year activities, with a bit of camping, with a bit of drinking in Belfast, with a bit of planning for a trip to Paris for the Olympics, with a bit of everything except podcast editing 😉 So, to fill the gap until next week, here's a taste of my other show: hAIghtened senses.

From drones scanning the forests of Sweden looking for early signs of pest infestations to artificial noses detecting spoiled milk or the presence of mildew to innovators building businesses on top of this fast-changing tech, our podcast uncovers the innovative ways AI-empowered machines are enhancing our understanding of the world around us.

You can email us at [email protected] or message us on LinkedIn

Images of spruce bark beetle infestations can be sent to [email protected]

Christo and Brendan are both active on LinkedIn and open to all genuine new connections, you can find them at https://www.linkedin.com/in/christo-van-zyl-innovator/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange/ respectively

You can find more of Christo at chaos-out-of-order.com

Brendan's other podcast is www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show

Show art is created with Dall-E, show music is created with suno.ai

Website: https://www.haightenedsenses.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/haightened-senses

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@hAIghtenedsenses

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557906028730

Instagram: @haightened.senses

TikTok: haightened.senses

#Innovation, #Entrepreneurship, #AIRevolution, #BusinessGrowth, #FutureTech, #DisruptiveInnovation, #InnovativeIdeas, #AIInBusiness #machinelearning #tech #hitech

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Adrian Pllay has an unusually deep understanding of some of the world's more interesting markets. We've heard a lot about the US and the UK on this show but today, Adrian takes us off the beaten path: having been based at times in Africa and at times in the Middle East, he now oversees both of those regions as well as a little in-between! We talk about what he's learnt along the way, we get teased with the possibility of a future book, and we hear how Provenir is helping banks, fintechs, and other financial services providers make smarter decisions faster with their AI-Powered Risk Decisioning Platform.

Provenir is online at https://www.provenir.com/ (or jump straight to their excellent resources page for their latest thought leadership)

Adrian is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianpillay/ (and last I saw, he was hiring)

You can seek me out on LinkedIn, too, where I'm open to all genuine new connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - and follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And since you like podcasts, I'm also co-create hAIghtened senses with Christo van Zyl, in which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

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"If my mom asks me what I do, I say I work for a company that helps financial institutions worldwide to make lending simple". Paul Weiss is talking about Simbuka in this quote, a young and passionate software development company, focusing on financial institutions that operate in developing and emerging markets. And since the name Simbuka originates from the Kinyarwanda language, what better location to find Paul than in Kigali.

Simbuka is online at https://www.simbuka.com/ or find and follow them on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/simbuka/)

Paul is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-weiss123/

You can seek me out on LinkedIn, too, where I'm open to all genuine new connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - and follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

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In the last five years, one hundred million Americans have started to monitor their credit reports with TransUnion for the first time. One hundred million. And the same thing is happening all around the world. But just because everyone is doing it, doesn't mean they're doing it for the same reason: some consumers are in a bind and looking for a way back to good credit; some are planning a major loan and want to optimise their options; some want to make sure everything is untouched and as it should be.

So, in their latest global study of the phenomenon, TransUnion set out to see if each of these goals is being helped by the credit self-monitoring, and I'm chatting to Charlie Wise to find out what they learned.

Charlie is Senior Vice President, Research and Consulting at TransUnion and is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-wise-959570/

TransUnion is at https://www.transunion.com/

This particular research is also being discussed here for the US and here for the UK: https://www.transunion.co.uk/lp/consumer-monitoring-motivations

Please seek me out on LinkedIn, too, where I'm open to all genuine new connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - please also follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

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"So as I as I always say, Brendan, India is now the coolest party in town and if you are late, you might not get in!"

The story of Indian fintech is one of almost unimaginable speed and scale, and watching it from the front lines was Kabeer Chaudhary. So I sat down with him to talk about digitising loans and learning from banks and fintechs to deliver a project that works with loss rates that allow you to sleep peacefully at night.

You can find ClickMyLoan at https://clickmyloan.com/ or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/clickmyloan/

You can find Kabeer at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kabeer-chaudhary-18bb7984/

Please seek me out on LinkedIn, too, where I'm open to all genuine new connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - please also follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

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As an industry, we've been using scorecards as objective and comparable measures of credit risk for generations. We've used this experience to get more and more accurate in those models, but there are other uses, too, like maybe an objective and comparable measure of environmental risk...

I'm sitting down with Daniel Mclean, Client Partner at 4most, a specialist credit analytics firm that became a specialist analytics firm and went on to win awards for its new "green" credit score - an ESG score that can be adapted and utilised across all regions and tailored to a lender's available data, individual portfolios and unique sustainability goals.

You can find Daniel on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-mclean-351278169/ where you can also follow the 4most page https://www.linkedin.com/company/4most/

But for that, you might want to jump straight to their homepage: https://4-most.co.uk/

There's a page dedicated to all their wonderful insights - https://4-most.co.uk/insights/ - but go even if you're just interested int he rebrand!

Please seek me out on LinkedIn, I'm open to all genuine new connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - please also follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting back-to-back live recordings of this podcast in the MoneyPot studio, a glass-walled thing of beauty on the Money20/20 show floor. The second of those was a data-backed dive into the world of frictionless and fair embedded business finance with Rob Straathod, CEO of Liberis - what I think could be one of the best use cases for Open Banking out there.

You can find Liberis at https://www.liberis.com/

You can find Rob on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-straathof-3b56152/ (Liberis are there, too, of course)

Don't leave LinkedIn before reaching out to me - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - and following the show's page.

Money20/20 is the place(s) to be, find out how you can attend the next event here: https://www.money2020.com/

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week I had the pleasure of hosting back-to-back live recordings of this podcast in the MoneyPot studio, a glass-walled thing of beauty on the Money20/20 show floor. The first of those was an inspiring discussion about real-time data in collections with James Hill, CEO of Flexys Debt Management & Collections Software - what I think could be one of the best use cases for Open Banking out there.

Flexys is at home online at https://www.flexys.com/

You can reach out to James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hill-07850167/ (where Flexys are, too)

James' own podcast - Flexys meets... - is available where you're listening to this, or directly at: https://www.flexys.com/resources/podcasts/

But don't leave LinkedIn before reaching out to me - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - and following the show's page.

Money20/20 is the place(s) to be, find out how you can attend the next event here: https://www.money2020.com/

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Five years ago, cash was involved in every fourth POS transaction in China. Today, it is involved in 1 in 14, and in two years, it is expected to be involved in just 1 in 33. The size and speed of that evaporation are undeniably impressive, but the most important lessons will be found by studying neither the size nor the speed at which those cash transactions evaporated but from studying where those transactions went.

In the West, cash transactions became debit card transactions and the big banks saw them all. In China, cash transactions went into the new mobile wallet ecosystems, and as the banks became blind, the Super Apps were born. Fed with transaction data at a scale never seen before, a new type of lender emerged, and in their growth, a thousand lessons might be found.

So in today's episode, I'm speaking to Richard Turrin, a Shanghai-based fintech, AI, and innovation consultant and best-selling author. We chat about his time with IBM Watson, his move to China, and how what they're doing there might inspire new ideas in the West.

Richard is the author of Cashless: China's Digital Currency Revolution and Innovation Lab Excellence both of which are available on, among other places, Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07PQP33TC

But as you will hear, he is also writing for over 2,000 followers on Substack:https://substack.com/@richturrin

You can find Richard on LinkedIn, and possibly become his 50,000th follower! https://www.linkedin.com/in/turrin/

I am on LinkedIn, too, and open to new genuine connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - please also follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab is by far the largest ride-hailing platform in Southeast Asia, the largest food delivery platform, one of the largest digital payment methods, and now, thanks in part to the work of my guest, Ritwik Ghosh, the largest embedded FinTech lending business. That's an impressive set of achievements, but Ritwick and his co-founder, Sauvik Datta, still saw a gap: while Grab is an important platform for many merchants, it is never their only platform, and so any platform-specific effort to deliver revenue-based financing is doing so with at least one eye off the ball.

So they created Seedflex, a frictionless - and platform agnostic - way for online merchants to stay in control of their business, capital and growth.

Ritwik is on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ghosh-ritwik/

Seedflex are there, too, at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seedflex-tech/

But you may want to jump straight to their homepage at: https://www.seedflex.com/

I am on LinkedIn, too, and open to new genuine connections - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanlegrange - please also follow the show's page while you're there.

Meanwhile, my action-adventure novels are on Amazon, some versions even for free, and my work with ConfirmU and our gamified psychometric scores is discussed at https://confirmu.com/ and on episode 24 of this show https://www.howtolendmoneytostrangers.show/episodes/episode-24

And finally, I'm also co-creating a new podcast called hAIghtened senses which will look at the intersection between human senses and technology, especially AI-powered technology. You can already start to follow it wherever you're listening to this one - there's only a trailer there at the moment, but we've recorded some of the early episodes and it's going to be a fun ride!

Keep well, Brendan

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.