The top Podcasts of 2019, 10-1

Geoff Whitehouse Head of Editorial and Comms
5min read

As 2019 winds down, we’re doing something a little different for this year and reviewing our best and most popular podcast episodes.

Yesterday we ran through the top Podcasts of 2019 from 20 through 11. We had blockchain, the future of insurtech, money and mental health and much, much more. A tough act to follow but we’ve got some absolutely cracking episodes in this list covering everything from regulation and cross-border payments, to fintech controversies and a very special guest appearance.

So let's get on with it.

10: Insurtech Insider - Ep 41: Drone insurance

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Remember when that drone closed Gatwick Airport and caused travel chaos? Did it even exist?

We dug into the burgeoning drone insurance market with specialist firm Flock, including ‘pay as you fly’. Talk then turned to whether drones could replace physical insurance inspections for different industries, liability and calculating risk for airports.

9: Blockchain Insider - Ep 102: Libra: the banks are sh***ing themselves

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Ah Libra! You knew it was coming up, right? How could it not.

This story ran and ran and was covered across both Blockchain Insider and Fintech Insider. We picked this specific episode as it was recorded a week after the initial announcement, with more details to pick through, a whole lot of outrage to discuss and the potential fallout as the US Congress announced a series of hearings to examine the project.

8: Fintech Insider Insights - Ep 314: Strong Customer Authentication

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Have your finance apps been driving you mad? Contactless payments that suddenly require a PIN and even declined payments? It’s all thanks to Strong Customer Authentication (SCA).

This show was recorded a few months before the requirements came into play and major concerns raised about the levels of preparedness were brought sharply into view. Aside from the issues around its introduction, our panel of experts also discussed whether SCA actually encourages innovation or if it's going to grind the development of new technology to a halt.

7: Fintech Insider Insights - Ep 352: The future of cross-border payments

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Amidst all the innovation talk and the focus on UX, the industry doesn’t often take a look at the plumbing. We did.

Alongside SWIFT, HSBC and ClearBank, we took a (very) deep dive into the future of the payments industry and where we are going to see innovation coming from in what has been a fairly stationary industry so far. Could DLT hold the answer? How will consumers benefit from underlying changes to infrastructure?

All that and more in this episode!

6: Fintech Insider Insights - Ep 342: Atom takeover ft. will.i.am.

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In this extra special episode, we were joined by experts from Atom Bank and the wonderful Mr will.i.am. This show had everything.

The discussions ranged from how and why Atom was formed and what being ‘customer centric’ actually means. We then dove into the world of AI, with Will raising his concerns about human bias being reflected in algorithms and why now is a critical time to get AI development and regulation right.

From there, talk moved to the importance of trust and trust as a commodity, the true value of data (which consumers haven’t realised) and why companies should hire a new type of CTO: the Chief Trust Officer.

5: Blockchain Insider - Ep 125: Jamie Bartlett

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You know something has worked its way into the public consciousness when you overhear friends, family and strangers on the train discussing ‘that podcast about the woman who ran away with all the money…’ That podcast is The Missing Cryproqueen and it is the brainchild of Jamie Bartlett.

Following the hugely successful series’ suspenseful finale, we sat down with Jamie to explore the genesis of the podcast, how the blockchain boom fuelled the rise of Ponzi schemes, and a whole lot more. Did he find her? Tune it to find out.

4: Fintech insider News - Ep 295: The Revolut will be advertised

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Nothing quite says Valentine’s Day than a backlash about a fintech ad on London Underground.

If you can’t recall, Revolut ran a series of ads that were, if we’re being polite, poorly executed in both content (it was later revealed the data point was made up) and tone. The backlash caught up one industry commentator, Iona Bain, and we got her in the studio to unpack just what the hell was going on.

This show also happened to include some mega merger news after it emerged that two of the US’ biggest banks merge to become a super bank, as BB&T boughts SunTrust for $28bn.

3: Fintech Insider Insights - Ep 346: Jobs to be Done - The future of product design

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Customers don’t want your bank. Sorry, but it’s true.

How do we know that’s true? Across multiple client projects, we’ve employed the Jobs To Be Done framework to understand what customers need to improve their financial lives and build truly digital services based around that insight.

In this episode, our ‘Job Father’, Ryan Garner, was joined by expert guests to talk about all things JTBD and analyse its impact on design digital propositions, creating powerful end to end customer journeys and why it is the future of product design.

2: Fintech insider Insights - Ep 366: The future of UK fintech

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In case you hadn’t heard (where have you been, exactly?), we did a documentary, 11:YEARS, that examined how the UK rose to global fintech prominence. It looked at the influx of regulation, talent and investment that occurred post-financial crisis.

But what comes next?

We gathered a panel of experts - Eric Van der Kleij, CEO and founder of Frontier network, Ashok Vaswani - Global Head of Consumer Banking & Payments, Barclays; Anne Boden, CEO and Founder of Starling Bank and; Nick Ogden - founder of ClearBank and Worldpay and the father of e-commerce - to discuss.

Recorded live from the Barbican during the 11:YEARS Premiere, they examined, and in a few cases argued, about how the next 11 years will shape up, who potentially wins and who likely loses.

1: Fintech Insider News - Ep 371: Monzo responds to BBC expose

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So here we are: the number one episode!

Released less than a month ago, we picked this one because of the quality of the discussion and also because we had the pleasure of welcoming Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield onto the news show.

Why? Well, because Monzo were hitting the headlines in a big way.

In an exclusive interview, Tom discussed, in depth, the accusations leveled at the bank by a BBC Watchdog episode that centred on freezing and in some cases closing customer accounts. We were delighted that he chose us to tell his side of the story, why not everything is quite as is appears but also the lessons he and the bank have learned. Intriguing listening – you can also watch it here.

And so, that’s that. We’re at the end so all that remains is to say thank you to our Podcast subscribers, the regular listeners in more than 180 countries and everyone who has commented on social media regarding the shows. As you can see and hear, we’ve had a ridiculous year interviewing the best and brightest across fintech and financial services.

2020 promises a whole lot more. But in the meantime, have a wonderful holidays!

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