Fintech Garden Podcast

Fintech Garden
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Welcome to the Fintech Garden Podcast—conversations with founders, investors, and industry experts shaping the future of financial technology. Explore emerging trends, practical insights, and the ideas transforming finance. Discover more fintech insights, events, and resources at https://fintech.garden

  1. 6d ago ·  Video

    Euro Stablecoin: Built by Europeans for Europe, with Jan-Oliver Sell, Qivalis| FG Podcast 175

    99.8% of stablecoin transactions today run in US dollars. Jan-Oliver Sell, CEO of Qivalis, a euro stablecoin project backed by a growing consortium of European banks, joins Igor Tomych to explain why that gap matters and what it will take to close it. They cover the difference between the ECB's retail digital euro and the electronic money token Qivalis is building, why MiCA regulation finally gave banks the confidence to get involved, why liquidity, not technology, is the real bottleneck, and why Jan-Oliver sees Europe's dependence on dollar stablecoins as a genuine dollarization risk if it isn't addressed. Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Digital euro is not crypto. It is digital cash, with Rainer Olt | Fintech Garden Podcast 145: https://youtu.be/nF3zZ1BCVMo Timestamps: 00:55 – What is the digital euro, and how Qivalis differs from the ECB's version 03:10 – Why now: how MiCA opened the door for bank-issued stablecoins 05:36 – The gap: 99.8% of stablecoins are dollars, yet 25% of activity starts in Europe 06:13 – Why Qivalis was founded, and the three-year path to launch 08:52 – The goal: putting a liquid euro in every builder's hands 10:01 – Why the euro is uniquely positioned to compete with the dollar 11:56 – Europe's push for monetary autonomy 14:15 – Learning from Stripe's Bridge acquisition and the US stablecoin race 17:33 – Europe's monetary stack: retail digital euro, wholesale CBDC, and stablecoins 20:18 – Debunking the myth that stablecoins are anonymous 23:27 – Is Asia catching up on stablecoin adoption? 25:42 – The real risk: dollarization of Europe's financial system 28:49 – Where the euro stands by 2030 Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Nazar Gecha, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Nazar Gecha Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    Euro Stablecoin: Built by Europeans for Europe, with Jan-Oliver Sell, Qivalis| FG Podcast 175

  2. Sep 22 ·  Video

    GCC Is Not One Market, with Omar El Gammal | Fintech Garden Podcast 174

    Omar El Gammal, EVP of Global Business Development at Paymob, has spearheaded payment expansion across four GCC territories—securing regulatory approvals in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman, where Paymob made history as the first foreign fintech fully licensed by the Central Bank of Oman. He joins Igor Tomych to dissect regional expansion strategy and the reality of cross-border execution: 🌱The Monolith Myth: Why approaching the GCC as a single, homogeneous market is a foundational misstep for founders. 🌱Regulatory Divergence: The practical differences between navigating licensing in the UAE versus Saudi Arabia. 🌱Direct Market Intelligence: Why founders who bypass high-fee advisors to gather boots-on-the-ground insights save both substantial capital and execution time. Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Timestamps: 01:38 – Why "GCC" is not one market 04:47 – Where should founders launch first? 06:25 – Saudi Arabia's licensing evolution: TSP to retail payment services 09:23 – Why regulators are allies, not just gatekeepers 10:57 – The underserved markets outside Riyadh, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai 12:21 – Paymob's compliance playbook across UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Oman 15:13 – Why hands-on market experience beats hiring a consultant 16:51 – What's coming next: open finance, crypto, and pay-by-bank 19:24 – Open banking vs. open finance, explained simply 20:15 – Will new BNPL regulation constrain the region's most valuable fintech category? 21:34 – What Omar would do differently starting over Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Arsen Harin, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Arsen Harin Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    GCC Is Not One Market, with Omar El Gammal | Fintech Garden Podcast 174

  3. Sep 16 ·  Video

    Becoming AI-Led: Lessons from a Payments Company's AI Journey, with Ahu Chhapgar | FG Pod 173

    In July, 64% of all the code shipped by Paysafe's engineering org was AI-generated. Ahu Chhapgar, CTO at Paysafe with prior leadership roles at PayPal, Mastercard, and Citi, joins Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea to unpack what "AI transformation" actually means once you get past the pitch-deck version of the phrase. They cover where AI has genuinely sped up software delivery, why code review became the new bottleneck once AI output scaled up, why the biggest obstacle to AI adoption is people, not technology, and why fintech has to treat AI risk completely differently from a company just building a website or a CRM. Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Watch our previous episode about AI Brain: https://youtu.be/p2X4XYY91tQ Timestamps: 01:20 – What "AI transformation" actually means 06:34 – Where AI delivers real value, and where it hasn't 09:00 – Will certain engineering roles vanish because of AI? 14:07 – Why AI transformation succeeds or fails on people, not tech 16:04 – "The person who knows how to use AI will replace you" 18:37 – Security lessons from before the AI era 21:52 – Why AI risk in fintech is different from a website or CRM 23:05 – Separating low-risk from high-risk AI use cases 29:13 – What Ahu wishes he'd known at the start of AI transformation Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Arsen Harin, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Arsen Harin Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    Becoming AI-Led: Lessons from a Payments Company's AI Journey, with Ahu Chhapgar | FG Pod 173

  4. Sep 8 ·  Video

    Banks Are Getting AI Brains, with Igor Tomych & Dumitru Condrea | Fintech Garden Podcast 172

    Digital banks are quietly shifting from "here's your balance" to "here's what's about to happen to your money." Igor Tomych and Dumitru Condrea spend this episode on what they're calling the AI brain: the layer of AI that sits on top of a bank's cash flow and P&L data to predict spending, catch subscriptions before they bill you, and even nudge you toward saving or investing. They break down why this only works if the underlying accounting is clean first, why an "AI assistant" isn't the chatbot most people picture, and why they think fintech right now looks exactly like the dot-com boom of the early 90s, right down to AI agents "knocking on your door" instead of door-to-door salesmen. Why your next banker will be an AI, with Brett King | FG Podcast 157: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ghYX-whCg Are banks becoming irrelevant in the AI era? With Theodora Lau | FG Podcast 158: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT1R0JocB9Q Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Timestaps 01:22 – Digital banks are getting a new AI brain 02:42 – AI transformation: bank-side AI vs. personal finance AI 05:24 – P&L vs. cash flow: the foundation before any AI brain 08:44 – What an AI brain actually is (and why it's not a chatbot) 13:56 – The keyboard-prediction analogy: personal vs. collective patterns 16:40 – How many Americans already use AI for personal finance 20:09 – Will banks, super apps, or ChatGPT own your financial data? 21:12 – Why this feels like the dot-com boom all over again 25:15 – A preview of the coming AI fraud and fake identity problem 27:15 – Where AI brains are already fighting fraud today Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Arsen Harin, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Arsen Harin Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    Banks Are Getting AI Brains, with Igor Tomych & Dumitru Condrea | Fintech Garden Podcast 172

  5. Sep 1 ·  Video

    Is Your Fintech Data Actually Trustworthy? with Yuliia Komaryn | Fintech Garden Podcast 171

    "Real-time dashboards" might be the most misused phrase in fintech. Yuliia Komaryn, Business Analytics Team Lead at DashDevs, joins Igor Tomych to explain why "real time" is a marketing concept, not a technical one, and why the real question isn't how fast your dashboard updates, but how fast your business can react to what it shows. They walk through a real BNPL fraud case caught by proper flagging, why the word "customer" means something different to every team in a company, and why vibe coding a financial system without understanding what's under the hood is a guaranteed way to make every mistake in the book. Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden Timestamps: 01:15 – Why "real time" is a marketing concept, not a technical one 03:04 – The control tower analogy: what happens without real-time dashboards 03:32 – A real BNPL fraud case caught by proper flagging 07:21 – Designing dashboards for BNPL collections and installment tracking 09:30 – Why analysts should design for decisions, not just filters 10:27 – Why "is the data trustworthy" replaced "can we build the dashboard" 12:34 – The "cute puppy" problem: why "customer" means different things to different teams 15:23 – Do data lakes still matter in 2026? 16:48 – The touchscreen vs. knobs analogy for dashboard design 18:21 – Where AI actually helps analytics, and where it doesn't 22:12 – Why vibe coding a financial system is a guaranteed disaster 24:32 – What separates digital banks that scale from those that don't 25:46 – The real purpose of analytics Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Arsen Harin / Nazar Gecha, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Arsen Harin / Nazar Gecha Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    Is Your Fintech Data Actually Trustworthy? with Yuliia Komaryn | Fintech Garden Podcast 171

  6. Aug 25 ·  Video

    Should You Launch a Bank? With Igor Tomych and Arthur Bedel | Connecting the Dots x Fintech Garden

    DashDevs CEO Igor Tomych joins Arthur Bedel, host of Connecting the Dots in FinTech and founder of Monyz, for a deep dive into why everyone is launching a digital bank right now, and why so many are failing fast. Drawing on his years running engineering and CTO functions for digital banks, including one in the UK, Igor breaks down the real difference between a neobank and a digital bank, why the ledger is the most underestimated piece of the stack, why "build versus buy" is the wrong question to start with, and why compliance is the integration that always takes longer than anyone promises. Previous episode with Igor and Arthur: https://youtu.be/YtJ_3u48WXo?si=Fh5Az_-1Quauuqfq Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Timestamps: 00:18 – Igor's background running digital banks as VP of Engineering and CTO 01:04 – Why so many neobanks are failing, and failing fast 03:06 – Digital bank vs. neobank: what's actually the difference 05:40 – Is building a digital bank easier today than five years ago? 09:43 – The number one thing to focus on if building today 11:45 – Why banking is finally catching up to what payments learned about redundancy 14:17 – Build vs. buy, and why "cheap" vendors get expensive later 17:00 – Anatomy of a digital bank: onboarding, ledger, accounts, connectivity 20:20 – Why everyone underestimates the ledger 23:30 – How much of a neobank is actually a bank 27:49 – "Buy now, build later": what it actually means 31:20 – The worst advice Igor's heard in the industry 33:44 – Provocation round and rapid fire Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Arthur Bedel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-bedel/ Connecting the dots: https://www.linkedin.com/company/connecting-the-dots-in-payments/ Monyz: https://www.linkedin.com/company/monyzusa/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden

    Should You Launch a Bank? With Igor Tomych and Arthur Bedel | Connecting the Dots x Fintech Garden

  7. Aug 20 ·  Video

    FINTECH MEETUP EUROPE: behind the scenes with Douglas Mackenzie | Fintech Garden Podcast 169

    Meet Douglas Mackenzie, Head of Content at Fintech Meetup Europe, and a former fintech video journalist who spent close to a decade interviewing bankers and financial institutions. Fintech Meetup ran in Las Vegas for five years before this year's first European edition, landing in Lisbon this October 6-8, with Fintech Garden as podcast partner. Douglas joins Dumitru Condrea to talk through the conference's 15-minute speed-meeting format, why European payment sovereignty and build-versus-buy are the hardest topics on the agenda, why so many self-declared "AI experts" are just repeating what they've heard, and a genuinely unsettling detail one of his speakers shared about deepfakes. If you're part of Fintech Garden community, use code for your ticket: FGAR1 Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ 01:29 – What Douglas does as Head of Content at Fintech Meetup Europe 03:27 – Bringing an American conference format to Lisbon 04:29 – What they kept from Vegas, and what they deliberately changed 05:46 – The hardest topics on the 2026 agenda: sovereignty, regulation, build vs. buy 08:49 – How speakers actually get selected for the stage 11:51 – The "hype killer" session and calling out fake AI experts 15:28 – Fraud, deepfakes, and AI agents that act without being asked 19:25 – Inside the 15-minute speed-meeting format 21:42 – What went wrong if your meetings led nowhere 23:50 – What success actually looks like for this conference Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Nazar Gecha, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Nazar Gecha Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    FINTECH MEETUP EUROPE: behind the scenes with Douglas Mackenzie | Fintech Garden Podcast 169

  8. Aug 18 ·  Video

    What the GENIUS Act Actually Does to Stablecoins | Fintech Garden Podcast 168

    Register for our upcoming webinar 'Stablecoin on/off ramps': https://share.hsforms.com/1ZqNaznFSREiCSuC9Jt36Yw3oc7e In this special hosts-only episode, Dumitru Condrea and Igor Tomych break down the GENIUS Act (the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act), the law that puts federal guardrails around dollar-backed stablecoins for the first time. They cover what actually counts as a "payment stablecoin" under the act, why issuers now have to back coins 1:1 with cash, Treasury bills, and other approved reserves, why foreign-issued stablecoins like USDT face a tougher path into the US market, and why companies like Stripe are already positioning themselves years ahead of the January 2027 compliance deadline. Book your discovery call with Fintech Core team today: https://dashdevs.com/fintech-core/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=qr&utm_campaign=fg_podcast Want to become a guest? Need a consultation from DashDevs or Novafin? Please fill in the form here: https://fintech.garden/about-us/ Why BlackRock actually cares about stablecoins, with David Birch | FG Podcast 162: https://youtu.be/5sznJ-GSJxQ Timestamps: 01:05 – What the GENIUS Act actually is 02:16 – What is a stablecoin, really 03:51 – Why this is horizontal, not vertical, growth for stablecoins 06:43 – Reserve rules: what counts as backing a stablecoin 08:22 – The one-year countdown: what's actually due by when 10:26 – What happens to foreign-issued stablecoins like USDT 12:32 – Why Stripe is already years ahead of the regulation 15:02 – Where the real opportunity is: remittances, payroll, and on-ramps 19:12 – Walking through an actual on-ramp transaction step by step 21:17 – What to watch for before January 2027 Follow us: https://fintech.garden Check out DashDevs: https://dashdevs.com Check out Novafin: https://www.novafin.co/ Connect with our hosts Igor Tomych https://www.linkedin.com/in/igortomych/ Dumitru Condrea https://www.linkedin.com/in/dcondrea/ Subscribe to our newsletter: https://fintech.garden 🎙 Podcast Credits Manager: Olha Koistryk / https://www.linkedin.com/in/olha-koistryk/ Video Editing: Arsen Harin, Olha Koistryk Sound Editing: Arsen Harin Thumbnail Design: Maryna Manoilo / https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-manoylo/ Marketing / Social Media: DashDevs Marketing Team

    What the GENIUS Act Actually Does to Stablecoins | Fintech Garden Podcast 168
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About

Welcome to the Fintech Garden Podcast—conversations with founders, investors, and industry experts shaping the future of financial technology. Explore emerging trends, practical insights, and the ideas transforming finance. Discover more fintech insights, events, and resources at https://fintech.garden

Information

  • Creator
    Fintech Garden
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    79
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Fintech Garden
  • Show Website
    Fintech Garden Podcast