Helene Panzarino: Reinventing Finance and emerging FinTech business models

On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Helene Panzarino, author of Reinventing Banking and Finance: A Framework to Navigate Global FinTech Innovation, published on Amazon in November 2020. The pair discusses the book and the key insight Helene offers for reinventing the banking business model. KEY TAKEAWAYS We assume banking has always been what it is today. In the early days (1200s Italy) hyper-personalisation was going on for aristocrats and the like, now FinTech is the full circle back to hyper-personalisation but we’re doing it at scale, digitally. The Industrial Revolution had a significant impact on banking, as it did on every other aspect of society and the economy. There’s now mass servicing, which has taken away some of the personalisation and individuality of banking. This intensified through the IT side of banking in the 1950s, when we were able to use technology to store and process more data, as well as to begin offering more products and services to a wider audience. The more recent digital revolution and the internet allowed us to do our banking online, and the smartphone brought that to its apex, so you have a bank in your pocket. In five years’ time, we’ll be able to DIY our own bank and choose between different products and services; this is where FinTech will come into its own. It took banking ages to realise that the threat posed by the insurance industry from outside was greater than the threat from within. Insurance and InsurTechs had a much better collaborative partnership from the get-go, whereas banks and FinTechs were adversaries. FinTechs have now grown up and are aware that they need their parents if they’re going to scale, and they’re working very well collaboratively now, but I applaud the insurance industry for getting there first.  BEST MOMENTS ‘Everyone must now have a global view; no one can stay confined in his/her geographical space.’ ‘The pandemic has shown us the inadequacies of some banks’ desktops, platforms, and apps. Consumers are now using those apps, including the non-digital natives who used to visit banking branches in person and weren’t used to digital engagements.’ ‘If you’ve created a startup bank, you need to remember that you’re operating In a regulated industry and if you ‘colour outside of the lines’ the regulator is going to come down on you. So, make sure to bring in experienced people to your C-Suite or Board.’ ‘Everyone knows how to innovate, but everyone does not know how to execute. You need to be given space and the finances to fail. It needs to be OK and not damaging to your growth path or career prospects if you’re going to fail, too. Acceptance of different growth paths needs to be accepted from the top; if that openness doesn’t permeate from the top down, then nobody’s going to try to grow smartly or differently.’ ABOUT THE GUEST Originally a Commercial Banker, Helene is an experienced FinTech Programme Director, an exited entrepreneur, educator, and author.  Her book ‘Reinventing Banking and Finance: Frameworks to navigate global FinTech innovation’  came out in Sept 2020. Previously, the MD of the global Rainmaking Colab FinTech Programme, a world-first, post-accelerator program for Series A+ FinTechs and Tier 1 financial institutions, Helene was also responsible for the Inaugural Programme of Education and Events for Innovate Finance. She is an Associate Director of the LIBF Digital Banking Centre, the Lead Fellow, and creator of a world-first FinTech Pathway in a Master's in Tech Entrepreneurship Degree for UCL, and co-creator and lead delivery partner on the Imperial College FinTech Executive Education Programme. Her specialist subject areas are Digital Banking and Alternative Finance (SMEs). She is also the CEO of the New Financial Laborator,y enabling community banks and building societies to engage with the global FinTech community.  A regular judge, speaker, and moderator for the banking and FinTech awards and conferences, Helene was a BSI FinTech representative for the UK in Brussels, named on the Computer Weekly 100 Women in Tech Award 2018-19, and on the Innovate Finance Women in FinTech Power List for 2019. You can discover more about Helene's book here > reinventing banking and finance.  ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at [email protected]