On this week's show, we look at payments and use of open banking within the payments Industry. We are joined by Christian Reinheimer, the Head of Payments Strategy at Leo Vegas. Christian shares his experience in the industry and talks about the impact COVID-19 had on online casinos and gaming sector as a whole.

Christian and Lene discuss:

• How has COVID-19 affected the gaming industry?

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About Leo Vegas

LeoVegas '​ passion is "King of Casino"​. LeoVegas is Europes's premier GameTech company and is at the forefront of using state-of-the-art technology for mobile gaming. In 2017 the company passed the threshold for being classified as a unicorn, i.e., a start-up valued at more than USD 1 billion.

A large part of this success can be credited to an extreme product and technology focus coupled with effective and data-driven marketing. Technology development is conducted in Sweden, while operations are based in Malta. LeoVegas offers casino, live casino and sport gaming, and operates two global and scalable brands - LeoVegas and Royal Panda and a local multibrand business in the UK market called Rocket X.

This week we are joined by Rolands Mesters, the CEO and Co-Founder of Nordigen. Nordigen is a global account data analytics platform for building powerful applications, onboarding flows, and customer experiences. 

We touch upon topics like:

• How is Open Banking being used outside the scope of Payments?

Find out more how Nordigen is helping banks, lenders, and fintechs leverage open banking by extracting actionable insights from raw account data.

About Nordigen

We're a global account data analytics company helping banks and lenders improve the speed and accuracy of their credit decisions. We offer the best account-based income verification, transaction categorisation, and behavioural scoring solutions currently available. Nordigen operates across 17 countries, working with global banks and lenders.

On this week's show, we take a look at how has Open Banking impacted the Nordics' payment sphere. We are joined by Kenneth Wagenius, the CTO of Neonomics, who explains how Neonomics is using biometrics and blockchain technology to enable - free real-time instance international payments. Kenneth dives into the cultural differences in the banks across the world and talks about how we are moving into a more consumer-friendly payments landscape.

Join us for a special Open Banking Webinar on the 15th of July at 1 pm CET where we drill into some of the most exciting breakthroughs over the last year and hear from global leaders joining us from all facets of Open Banking. Register here

About Neonomics

Neonomics bridges the gap between compliance and innovation, growing a huge network of banks and FinTechs. Interconnectivity Solution by Neonomics enables secure, seamless and instant inter-bank communication via one API. We make any banks’ API comply with the regulations in a matter of days, affordably and efficiently. Banks connected to our unified API (UAPI) get interconnected with ever-growing network of other banks. Using this broad coverage, they can develop their own data-driven solutions, or deploy the latest innovations to open up new revenue sources. FinTechs get secure and instant access to a large volume of bank account data through one API, scaling their coverage fast.

In this episode, our Open Banking Network is joined by Peter Cornforth, the commercial director of Answer Pay. We talk about Answer Pay's role in the request to pay ecosystem, as well as how this will impact open banking within the country and around the globe. We had the honour to listen to Peter's diverse experience working with Amazon, MPesa, Token and Santander lead us to an interesting discussion into how Open Banking benefits merchants, startups, PSPs and banks differently.

About AnswerPay

In this episode of Open Banking Podcast, we continue to explore the current payments sphere and how has it evolved since the introduction of PSD2. This week we had the honour of hosting Tom Greenwood, the CEO of  VOLT Open Banking.  We get to look at Tom's payments journey so far through his experience at AFEX, Wombat and IFX Payments. Tom's shares his unique perspective on the current state of Open Banking and how VOLT is unlocking the potential of Open Banking payments. Tune in to find out what has happened in the payments industry in the last year and how VOLT is becoming a single aggregation point and gateway to the world of Open Banking.

About VOLT 

VOLT is a next-generation digital money platform that manages bank direct payments in a secure environment, mitigating card fraud. This innovative solution displaces incumbent payment participants through the deployment of state of the art technology; and is enabled by recent Open Banking (PSD2).

Get in touch: https://volt.io/

In this week's fintech playlist we are entering the realm of DLT and Blockchain technology. We had the pleasure of hosting Ossie Amir,  a multi-disciplinary entrepreneur and founder with a focus on wide-scale systems change, and a penchant for catalysing the growth of innovative technology. Having co-founded companies in artificial intelligence, clean energy storage and fintech, Ossie’s journey into the world of payments and open banking started many years ago with the potential of Web 3. Currently working on his blockchain-powered payments platform, Ossie was able to take us through the blockchain technology inside and out. He hopes his involvement in the industry can help usher in a future where financial institutions support regenerative systems change around the world.

If you are interested in learning more about the payments sphere in New Zeland vision on the payments, make sure to visit: https://www.paymentsnz.co.nz/----more----

About Choice

Choice is a robin hood payments system. Pay with your phone using Choice instead of using your bank card at stores by scanning a ChoiceQR code. Regular merchant transaction fees go to multinational companies, and Choice redirects this fee to a charity of your choice instead. Choice enables a direct bank transfer to the merchant, connecting banking APIs with the physical terminal fleet taking New Zealand's domestic payments systems into the 21st century.

Blockchain infrastructure empowers Choice to transparently track and trace the social impact made by each payment. This infrastructure enables Choice to be globally scalable. Choice is paving the way for an impactful, innovative payments ecosystem built in New Zealand. Pay with purpose.

Learn more about Choice: https://choicetopay.com/

In this episode of the OBN Podcast, we're speaking with Gabriela Vieira, Director of Legal and Operations at PrimeiroPay. PrimeiroPay is a Brazilian PSP that has gone from startup to strong player within the Latam Market. Gabriela dives into the changes that are happening in the local market as a result of COVID-19, including a new regulation that has led to stronger protection of funds for PSPs and Merchants.

We also discuss how Open banking in Brazil is projected to be implemented in the near future, and the top 5 things global merchants should take into consideration when entering the Brazilian market.

About PrimeiroPay

PrimeiroPay is a unique payment service provider in Latin America. Our focus is to provide our merchants with a simple and efficient way to process cross-border payments in the region without the need of a local entity. We are connected to the major acquirers, providing Credit Card Payments as well as local payment methods such as Boleto Bancario. Using PrimeiroPay, your customers can purchase physical and digital goods online without any tax or Foreign Exchange burden as we process all cards locally. With our competitive tax structure, we are able to provide the best available rates in the market. Payments are made in Brazil, safe and secure for our merchants and your customers. Get in touch today and learn more about Primeiropay.

Welcome back to a new fresh Open Banking Episode where we take a deep dive into Open Banking from a German perspective.

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 About Bluecode

Bluecode is a pan-European mobile payment solution for banks and retailers that allows fast, secure, and anonymous payments using mobile devices. With every purchase, Bluecode generates a single-use TAN that is valid for four minutes and displays it on the smartphone screen, triggering an anonymous payment directly from the customer's debit account. The TAN is shown on the smartphone screen both as a blue barcode and numerical code, and works independent of specific transmission technologies: at the register, Bluecode will be scanned, at vending machines, it will be transmitted via Bluetooth, or QR Code when making online purchases. Additionally, Bluecode can be integrated with retailer loyalty rewards programs, facilitating a one-scan payment & loyalty process at the register.

To find out more: visit http://www.bluecode.com

"Consumers don't know open banking, they know the end solution and how it benefits them."

The relationship between fintechs, banks and consumers will start to shift into a new direction. Open banking will fundamentally disrupt the conventional way of how banks manage relationships with their customers, following the momentum and adapting to increasing innovations rather than sticking to the life-long customer base. Whilst the majority of banks have started to adapt to the regulations of Open Banking, some are still against the change and thus choose to ignore the new revolutionising way of payments. With a rise of challenger banks and the further adaptation of traditional banking to the new PSD2 requirements, what does this mean for the consumers? Bhupinder Saini of Openitio talks about how new and old players should focus on usability first.

If you want to join a network of Open Banking enthusiasts and be part of the revolutionising movement that will change the payments sphere, visit our website and subscribe to our newsletter: https://openbanking.world/

Welcome to First Introductory Episode of Open Banking World

If you want to join the global network of FinTech enthusiasts who have a vision for a better world, subscribe to stay up to date on the latest news on Open Banking! 

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