Fintech Garden

Igor Tomych & Dumitru Condrea

Fintech Garden is a weekly podcast hosted by industry experts. Each episode dives into the latest in finance, banking, technology, and payments.

  1. Why your next banker will be an AI, with Brett King | FG Podcast 157

    1 day ago

    Why your next banker will be an AI, with Brett King | FG Podcast 157

    Meet Brett King — futurist, four-time bestselling author of the Bank series (2.0 through 4.0, with Bank 5.0 coming in November), founder of Moven, and host of Breaking Banks, the longest-running and most-listened-to fintech podcast in the world. Brett was named #1 on Fintech Magazine's Fintech Influencer list this year; Fintech Garden host Igor Tomych came in at #9 on the same list. Brett also co-founded LumaBrush AI, an AI-powered smart toothbrush with an intraoral camera for at-home oral health monitoring, and recently published Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow, a new edition of his thesis on the disappearing bank branch. In this episode, the conversation looks ten years forward. The challenger bank revolution is largely over — the top 20 retail fintechs now have 4.1 billion customers between them, up 200% in five years, while the top 20 traditional retail banks grew just 3% in the same period. The next shift, Brett argues, is bigger: the banking app itself disappears. The primary interface to financial services becomes a personal AI. Products dissolve into contextual utility. Trust migrates from brand to utility. And by the 2040s, the role of money in its current form starts to decline. Timestamps: 01:27 – The challenger bank revolution: 4.1B customers and 200% growth 03:51 – Why digital banks won: CAC under $1, UX, and onboarding in minutes 06:48 – The next interface: your personal AI replaces the banking app 10:18 – Will OpenAI inherit the customer relationship from Apple and Google? 12:14 – Bank 1.0 through 5.0: Brett's framework for banking evolution 15:53 – Will we hit human-level AI in the next ten years? 20:42 – The payments future: real-time rails, stablecoins, and CBDCs 24:17 – Why trust has moved from brand to utility 27:30 – Data control as the next foundational layer 28:57 – Bank 5.0 (November) and LumaBrush AI The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, founder of Novafin. All conversations revolve around the world of fintech, movers and shakers, and how decisions are made. Make sure to tune in to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to how the world of finance is evolving before our eyes. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts and guest: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Brett King https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettking/

    31 min
  2. cVRP explained: open banking's challenge to cards and direct debit, with David Parker

    25 May

    cVRP explained: open banking's challenge to cards and direct debit, with David Parker

    Meet David Parker, founder and CEO of Polymath Consulting, Lead Ambassador to The Payments Association, co-founder of Konsentus, and one of the most active commentators on UK and global payments. With 20 years working across cards, e-money, prepaid, and emerging payments — and a reputation for asking the questions employed panelists are not allowed to ask — David brings a sharp, operator-level view of where open banking and recurring payments are actually heading. In this episode, the focus is on cVRP — Commercial Variable Recurring Payments — the UK scheme designed to compete with both card-on-file and direct debit. David walks through Phase 1 and Phase 2 economics, why utilities and charities are leading adoption, how cVRP's user controls structurally beat card-on-file, the integration reality for merchants, the open debate about which merchants count as "safe," and what's happening globally with Pix, Wero, and the next wave of alternative payments. CBDC: What you need you know? | Fintech Garden Podcast 155: https://youtu.be/H1MSjbLdlZ4 Why merchant leaders ignore 90% of fintech trends, with David Parker | FG Podcast x MPE 2026: https://youtu.be/XPebDDKS8ys Timestamps: 01:37 – From promise to performance: where cVRP sits today 06:22 – Push vs pull: why card networks didn't build these controls 07:55 – What merchants gain in Phase 1 13:00 – Customer experience: consent management inside the banking app 15:28 – Why utilities care: AIS pre-checks fix the broken 25% of direct debits 19:15 – Phase 2 and the "who counts as safe" debate 23:00 – Global view: Pix, Wero, and concentration vs fragmentation 24:36 – Why stablecoins remain a B2B story The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, founder of Novafin. All conversations revolve around the world of fintech, movers and shakers, and how decisions are made. Make sure to tune in to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to how the world of finance is evolving before our eyes. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our host: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/

    27 min
  3. CBDC: What you need you know? | Fintech Garden Podcast 155

    18 May

    CBDC: What you need you know? | Fintech Garden Podcast 155

    In this episode of the Fintech Garden Podcast, hosts Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea unpack one of the most important — and most misunderstood — shifts coming to European money: Central Bank Digital Currencies. There is no guest this time. The episode is an explainer designed to give listeners a structured grounding in CBDCs before the topic dominates fintech conversations over the next two to three years. The conversation starts with a simple framing: €100 can already exist in five different forms — cash, retail bank balance, e-money institution balance, stablecoin, and CBDC — and each one operates under a completely different model of custody, regulation, and trust. From there, the hosts cover the wholesale vs retail CBDC distinction, the geopolitical context driving Europe's response to US stablecoin policy, the digital euro timeline, GDPR's role as Europe's differentiator, the implications for Visa and Mastercard, and the engineering challenge of making CBDC work offline. Timestamps: 01:06 – The five forms of €100, explained 04:27 – Five countries with live CBDCs, and the wholesale vs retail split 09:32 – The digital euro: timeline, geopolitics, and the US stablecoin pivot 13:00 – Why CBDC could disrupt Visa and Mastercard 17:07 – The hardest question: how CBDC works offline 19:50 – Device-to-device payments, cryptographic signing, and double-spend prevention 22:41 – The Diners Club parallel and what happens during a blackout The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, founder of Novafin. All conversations revolve around the world of fintech, movers and shakers, and how decisions are made. Make sure to tune in to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to how the world of finance is evolving before our eyes. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/

    24 min
  4. European payments enter execution mode: PSD3, Wero, DORA, with Andréa Toucinho | FG Podcast 154

    11 May

    European payments enter execution mode: PSD3, Wero, DORA, with Andréa Toucinho | FG Podcast 154

    Meet Andréa Toucinho, Director of Studies, Prospective and Training at Partelya Consulting — one of Europe's most established voices on payments and innovative financial services. She is Country Ambassador for France at the European Women Payments Network (EWPN), France Representative of AEFI Spain and AFIP Portugal, and co-author of The PAYTech Book (Wiley, 2020). She publishes an annual whitepaper on European payments and regularly contributes to industry forums on regulation, instant payments, open banking, and European sovereignty. In this episode, Andréa maps where European payments are today: a market moving from accumulated legislation to operational execution, from political ambition to concrete infrastructure. The conversation covers three concurrent evolutions — technology, regulation, and sovereignty — and what each means for banks, fintechs, and operators building in the European ecosystem. Subscribe to the Fintech Garden Newsletter 👉 https://fintech.garden Digital euro is not crypto. It is digital cash, with Rainer Olt | Fintech Garden Podcast 145: https://youtu.be/nF3zZ1BCVMo Timestamps: 01:42 – Where European payments are today: three concurrent evolutions 06:00 – Why collaboration across stakeholders is now structural 11:00 – Beyond cards: instant payments as the "new normal" 14:00 – Wero, EuroPA, and the rise of European wallets 17:00 – SEPA Direct Debit and country-by-country trust differences 22:00 – Country-specific fraud patterns and the role of AI 25:00 – DORA and operational resilience 30:00 – PSD3, open banking harmonization, and the path to open finance 33:00 – Can Europe deliver? Sovereignty as execution The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, founder of Novafin. All conversations revolve around the world of fintech, movers and shakers, and how decisions are made. Make sure to tune in to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to how the world of finance is evolving before our eyes. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts and guest: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Andréa Toucinho https://www.linkedin.com/in/andr%C3%A9a-toucinho-95102597/

    35 min
  5. Why behavioral science is the missing layer in fintech, with Anna Nyvelt & Noemi Molnar | Fintech Garden Podcast 153

    4 May

    Why behavioral science is the missing layer in fintech, with Anna Nyvelt & Noemi Molnar | Fintech Garden Podcast 153

    Meet Anna Nyvelt and Noemi Molnar, who are the co-founders of BeHive, a company that integrates behavioral science, data, and AI to drive meaningful behavior change. Working with leading financial institutions, BeHive tackles complex challenges at the intersection of human decision-making and technology. As Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees, they are empowering the financial industry to better understand and influence how people engage with money in an increasingly digital world. In this episode, the conversation moves from the foundations of behavioral science to the specific reasons it has become decisive in fintech: digital money is more abstract, payment journeys are more frictionless, and the unconscious drivers behind 35,000 daily decisions now sit at the center of how products convert, retain, and either help or harm their users. Anna and Noemi unpack the perceived value framework, psychographic segmentation in banking, the COM-B model, the Save More Tomorrow program, the Monzo and Revolut case studies, and where embedded finance crosses from elegant design into dark pattern territory. If you build, fund, regulate, or market financial products, this is one of the most practical episodes we've recorded on what behavioral science actually changes inside a product team. Product vs Engineering: The Hidden Bottleneck in Fintech Teams | Fintech Garden Podcast 152: https://youtu.be/iUuqZkRpals Fintechs sell products. Banks absorb responsibility, with Ronel David | Fintech Garden Podcast 148: https://youtu.be/jq6QuFP7Az8 Timestamps: 01:07 – What behavioral science actually is, and why it matters now 05:12 – What traditional product thinking misses 11:27 – Why financial services is uniquely sensitive to behavioral influence 14:48 – Designing for the unconscious: Monzo, Save More Tomorrow, gamification 18:22 – Beyond demographics: the COM-B model and psychographic segmentation 20:59 – The Revolut case: control, perception, and translation 26:41 – Embedded finance and the pain of payment 29:26 – Strategic friction, dark patterns, and the regulatory lag 31:42 – Where product and engineering teams should start 33:19 – Closing thoughts on trust and long-term thinking The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, CEO of Novafin. All conversations revolve around the world of fintech, movers and shakers, and how decisions are made. Make sure to tune in to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to how the world of finance is evolving before our eyes. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Connect with our guests: Anna Nyvelt https://www.linkedin.com/in/annanyvelt/ Noemi Orsolya Molna https://www.linkedin.com/in/noemiorsolyamolnar/

    36 min
  6. Product vs Engineering: The Hidden Bottleneck in Fintech Teams | Fintech Garden Podcast 152

    27 Apr

    Product vs Engineering: The Hidden Bottleneck in Fintech Teams | Fintech Garden Podcast 152

    Subscribe to the Fintech Garden Newsletter. 👉 https://fintech.garden What really slows down fintech products? In this episode of the Fintech Garden Podcast, Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea discuss one of the most common bottlenecks in fintech product development: when teams build without a shared understanding of value, risk, feasibility, and ownership. They break down why engineering without product direction rarely creates a strong business model, why product without engineering cannot turn ideas into working systems, and why compliance is not a side function in fintech — it is part of the product architecture. The conversation covers speed vs quality, who should have veto power, how teams should approve features before development, and why “move fast” can become dangerous when money, regulation, fraud, and customer trust are involved. If you are building a fintech product, managing delivery, or trying to align product, engineering, and compliance teams, this episode gives a practical look at where the real friction starts. Fintechs sell products. Banks absorb responsibility, with Ronel David | Fintech Garden Podcast 148: https://youtu.be/jq6QuFP7Az8 Agentic payments explained: the next fintech shift already started | Fintech Garden Podcast 151 https://youtu.be/ImMCSpvEI9M Timestamps 00:30 – Product vs engineering: where the tension starts 01:04 – What engineering means in digital products 02:50 – What product teams actually own 03:25 – Can engineering work without product? 07:24 – Roles vs responsibilities in fintech teams 10:11 – What defines product success 14:30 – Why compliance cannot be treated as optional 15:33 – What “know your customer” means in practice 20:30 – When speed creates risk 23:50 – A two-stage approval model 27:10 – How to diagnose misalignment inside teams The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, CEO of Novafin. All conversations explore how fintech products are built, how teams make decisions, and what it takes to scale in a regulated market. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/

    30 min
  7. Agentic payments explained: the next fintech shift already started | Fintech Garden Podcast 151

    20 Apr

    Agentic payments explained: the next fintech shift already started | Fintech Garden Podcast 151

    👉 Subscribe to the Fintech Garden Newsletter: https://fintech.garden What if payments no longer required humans in the loop? In this episode, Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea break down one of the most talked-about emerging topics in fintech: agentic payments. This isn’t about AI making suggestions — it’s about systems that can initiate and execute payments autonomously based on rules, goals, and context. From machine-to-machine payments and API monetization to treasury automation and subscription management, agentic payments introduce a new layer of financial infrastructure. We explore how this differs from traditional automation, what’s already happening in the market, and why trust, regulation, and user behavior will define whether this model actually scales. The fintech shift nobody's talking about, with Ezequiel Canestrari | Fintech Garden Podcast 150: https://youtu.be/kd7xZyzdvrI Why merchant leaders ignore 90% of fintech trends, with David Parker | FG Podcast x MPE 2026: https://youtu.be/XPebDDKS8ys Timestamps 00:20 – What are agentic payments? 01:25 – Agency vs automation 04:15 – Machine-to-machine payments explained 07:00 – Agentic vs automated payments 08:00 – What made agentic payments possible 12:03 – SCA and regulatory challenges 14:29 – Can banks support agentic payments? 17:33 – Cost optimization and routing 18:29 – Trust as the main barrier 22:00 – Existing protocols and early players 24:00 – How this market will evolve 26:20 – “Concrete” analogy for payments future The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, founder of Novafin.All conversations explore how fintech products are built, how infrastructure evolves, and where the market is heading next. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/

    37 min
  8. Why fintech is moving from speed to trust, with Ezequiel Canestrari | Fintech Garden Podcast 150

    13 Apr

    Why fintech is moving from speed to trust, with Ezequiel Canestrari | Fintech Garden Podcast 150

    👉 Subscribe to the Fintech Garden Newsletter: https://fintech.garden Meet Ezequiel Canestrari, COO at ClearBank Europe — a clearing and embedded banking platform at the intersection of fintechs, payment rails, and regulation. In this episode, we go beyond the surface of Banking-as-a-Service and embedded banking to unpack what actually drives success in modern fintech infrastructure. From the trade-off between speed and trust to why operational readiness matters more than ever, this conversation explores how fintech has evolved from “build fast” to “build right.” We also dive into how regulation (DORA, SEPA Instant, MiCA) is shaping innovation in Europe, why resilience and uptime are becoming core product features, and how embedded banking changes the relationship between fintechs and banks. If you’re building or scaling fintech products — this is a must-watch. ClearBank is a purpose-built, technology-enabled clearing and embedded banking platform. Through its banking licence and intelligent, robust technology solutions, ClearBank enables its clients to offer real-time payment and innovative banking services to their customers. ClearBank https://clear.bank/ AI systems do not hallucinate. Humans hallucinate, with Tony Fish | Fintech Garden Podcast 146: https://youtu.be/xJTZ2avYiNk Fintechs sell products. Banks absorb responsibility, with Ronel David | Fintech Garden Podcast 148: https://youtu.be/jq6QuFP7Az8 Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro 01:12 – BaaS is more than APIs 03:54 – Why speed is no longer enough 05:19 – Market shift: from growth to stability 07:24 – Operational readiness explained 12:32 – What embedded banking really is 20:54 – The future of embedded finance 24:17 – ‘Trust as the new commodity’ 27:18 – Building with regulation in mind 30:13 – Why regulation enables innovation The Fintech Garden is hosted by Igor Tomych, founder and CEO of DashDevs, and Dumitru Condrea, founder of Novafin. All conversations revolve around the world of fintech, movers and shakers, how decisions are made. Make sure to tune in to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to how the world of finance is evolving before our eyes. Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Connect with our hosts: Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Guest: Ezequiel Canestrari https://www.linkedin.com/in/ecanestrari/

    32 min
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About

Fintech Garden is a weekly podcast hosted by industry experts. Each episode dives into the latest in finance, banking, technology, and payments.

Information

  • Creator
    Igor Tomych & Dumitru Condrea
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Show Website
    Fintech Garden