132: Basiq | Damir Cuca

In episode 132 of Fintech Chatter Dexter Cousins is joined by Damir Cuca, Founder and CEO of Basiq.

Basiq provides businesses with all the tools to seamlessly acquire and use Open Banking data in a CDR-compliant way.

Damir chats to Dexter about why he is upbeat and optimistic for the Fintech sector in 2023.

Make sure to check out the full podcast where Damir shares his approach to bringing on major investors including Plaid, NAB Ventures, Salesforce and Visa.

And if you are new to the show make sure to follow us and leave a review, it really helps others discover the show and support great founders like Damir 🙏 😀

About Basiq

At Basiq, our vision is Making Finance Easy. Finance is complex and it can be hard for consumers to make informed financial decisions. We see a world where consumers are empowered to make smarter financial decisions and to engage with their finances in new and unique ways.

Basiq enables this by providing an Open Finance API platform for businesses to build innovative financial solutions. The platform facilitates the relationship between fintechs and consumers by enabling access to consented financial data and executing smart data-driven payments.

Chapters

0:00 Intro

2:40 About Basiq

4:33 Open Banking and the payments opportunity

5:58 The current state of CDR and Open Banking

10:51 The origins of Basiq

14:58 Running a successful Fintech prudently

18:23 Thriving in a downturn

24:59 3 forces impacting Australian Fintech in 2023

29:25 How to win investors like Salesforce, Plaid, Visa,

31:17 Supporting the Aussie fintech startup ecosystem

34:53 Is Sydney's Northern Beaches Australia's Silicon valley?

36:17 Attracting the right talent

40:57 How to get in touch

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Thriday Capital Raise

Thriday Capital Raise - Fintech News 29th September 2022

Dexter brings an exclusive podcast interview with Michael Nuciforo, CEO of Thriday after they announced a $6m pre-series A round through NAB Ventures.

Thriday is one of the Fintech’s to watch in 2023 as they aim to take on Fintech OG Xero in the small business accounting space. https://www.thriday.com.au/

In other capital raising news, our friends at Shaype raised $33m in a Series C round fronted by Regal Funds Management.

The raise will support overseas expansion. 

Dexter chats to Mendoza Ventures Scott Heyes about North American expansion. Scott is an Aussie living in Boston helping Aussie Fintech land and expand in North America.

You can connect with Scott https://mendoza-ventures.com/

How you can support Fintech Chatter.

Follow on your podcast player and leave a five-star review

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About Tier One People

Founded by Dexter Cousins in 2016, Tier One People is on a mission to help Australia become the world leader in Fintech innovation.

Connect on Linkedin - https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help hiring tier-one people contact us

126: Liam Millward, Instant

In episode 126 of Fintech Chatter Dexter is joined by Liam Millward, CEO and Co-Founder of Instant.

About Liam Millward

At the time of recording, Liam was only 18 years old, the youngest ever guest on Fintech Chatter.

Dexter chats to Liam about his experiences as a Fintech founder still in his teens and the challenges he has faced in building a Fintech with no experience or network.

It's a fascinating and frank conversation with a truly talented and driven founder. Liam show's that age is just an attitude.

About Instant

Instant's mission is to build the future of a frictionless economy, transforming billions of complex checkouts, into 1-tap shopping experiences globally.

They create a world where the experience of checkout is effortless, anywhere and everywhere across the internet.

Instant has raised over $2.2m in venture capital, as one of Australia’s biggest pre-seed funding rounds known to date, led by Blackbird, alongside TEN13, Reinventure, Larry Diamond and more.

How you can support Fintech Chatter.

Follow on your podcast player and leave a five-star review

Apple: Scroll to the bottom of the page (iphone or ipad only), hit 5 stars and write a review - https://apple.co/3D7NsPt

Spotify:  in the app click 5 stars - https://spoti.fi/3IzSViQ

Subscribe and like on Youtube - https://bit.ly/3tBlRmE

Thanks for your support.

About Tier One People

Founded by Dexter Cousins in 2016, Tier One People is on a mission to help Australia become the world leader in Fintech innovation.

Connect on Linkedin - https://bit.ly/3DsCJBp

Tier One People helps companies like Revolut, TrueLayer and 10x build founding teams for launch in Australia. 

And series A+ / ASX Listed Aussie Fintech like Lendi, Afterpay and 86 400 hire executive talent capable of delivering growth and scale. 

If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help in hiring tier-one people contact us

124: Datamesh, Mark Nagy

Dexter Cousins is joined by Mark Nagy, CEO and Founder of Datamesh for episode 124 of Fintech Chatter.

As CEO of Datamesh, Mark Nagy brings over 30 years of experience in payments technology. A proven innovator of new technologies Mark has founded, built and profitably exited three technology companies.

Dexter chats to Mark about the recent partnership between Datamesh and Crypto.com and how the world of crypto, blockchain and payments are converging at a rapid pace. Mark also shares his thoughts on leadership, payments, capital raising and managing a business through economic cycles.

About DataMesh

DataMesh Group is an Australian-based payments technology provider revolutionising the current system used by banks, acquirers, and merchants across the globe.

DataMesh delivers next-generation, fully integrated payment capabilities, through its proprietary EMV-compliant financial switching platform (UnifyTM).

Unify is the world’s most modern and powerful cloud and terrestrial-based financial switching solution available in the market today.

Datamesh has commenced the global rollout of its platform, creating a worldwide, interconnected network of processing capabilities that will be offered as a white-label or SAAS model.

Reach out to Mark on LinkedIn

How you can support Fintech Chatter

Please follow us on your podcast player and leave a five-star review.

Apple: Scroll to the bottom of the page (iphone or ipad only), hit 5 stars and write a review

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Subscribe and like on Youtube

Thanks for your support.

About Tier One People

If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help in hiring tier-one people contact us

122: SelfWealth - Cath Whitaker

In ep 122 Dexter chats to Cath Whitaker, CEO of Selfwealth.

ASX listed Selfwealth runs Australia's most popular low-cost share trading platform.

Based out of Melbourne, Selfwealth is leading the way in stock market investment for everyday Australians.

SelfWealth is one of the very few Fintech's truly competing with Australia's Big Four banks and currently sits 4th in the market in terms of customers.

SelfWealth was taken to a successful IPO in late 2017 and continues to deliver value to shareholders. 

About Cath Whitaker

With a career spanning across the globe, Cath shares her experiences as an international Fintech leader. She shares her insights on

- Managing the delicate balance of keeping shareholders, customers and people happy
- Making the transition from corporate to scaleup CEO
- What Australia can do better to compete on a global scale

Download the SelfWealth app 


A favour to ask

Fintech Chatter is free of sponsors and will always be free content. If you appreciate the interviews please help us promote the show

 "follow" on your podcast player and leave a five-star review on 

Apple scroll to the bottom of the page (iphone or ipad only), hit 5 stars and write a review 

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Subscribe and like on Youtube

Thanks for your support.

About Tier One People

Founded by Dexter Cousins in 2016, Tier One People is on a mission to help Australia become the world leader in Fintech innovation.

Tier One People helps companies like Revolut, TrueLayer and 10x build founding teams for launch in Australia. 

And series A+ / ASX Listed Aussie Fintech like Lendi, Afterpay and 86 400 hire executive talent capable of delivering growth and scale. 

If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help in hiring tier-one people contact us

Australian Fintech Startups

Welcome to your weekly news roundup of Australian Fintech startups.

Dexter and Joanne have an action-packed Fintech News show featuring Australian Fintech companies.

Chloe White from Genesis Block joins us to talk about all things Blockchain (29 min mark) in what was a crazy week for news, even in the never-boring world of Digital Assets. Listen to the extended version of Blockchain News

Charlene Batson talks about the recent management buyout and a positive year of growth at Business Lender, OnDeck. (17.30 min mark)

We kick off the show with Alastair Wilkie CEO of Change Financial. He joins us to talk about their recent capital raise.  (1 min mark)

Other Fintech News

News that Timelio has raised $7.5m underwritten by their 4 main shareholders. 

In addition, Symon Brewis-Weston has joined the company as its CEO following the departure of founders Andrew and Charlotte Petris.

Send and Pexa have joined forces providing faster and cheaper multi-currency settlement services for overseas property transactions.

iSelect has finalised an agreement to sells its insurance and utilities comparison service to its biggest competitor, Compare the Market.

Open Banking pioneers Frollo have announced the end of screen scraping. It’s two years since Frollo made open banking history in Australia by completing the very first data exchange. 

They confirmed that the big four banks had already cut the practice of screen scraping and 50 additional banks will follow suit later this year.

A warning to all those social media Finfluencers offering unlicensed financial advice, ASIC is watching you! 

Million dollar fines and potential jail time has seen the worst offenders go quiet or even delete their online accounts for fear of retribution. 

Applications are now open for the Finder Awards 2022. The closing date for submissions is Friday 2nd September.

Latest Fintech Hires

In the latest people moves - 

MX51 have appointed Jo Newton as its Head of People & Culture.

David Bicknell has departed Airwallex to join Immutable as their new CFO.

Jason Gardner CEO and founder caused shares of Marqueta to fall 24% after the announcement of his departure from the business. 

Jason leaves Marqueta after a stellar decade, which has seen the company rise as a global force in payments.

He’ll be staying on as Chairman.

If you have any news or feedback you want to share -  email joanne@tieronepeople.com

Until the next episode, stay safe.

A favour to ask

Fintech Chatter is free of sponsors, our aim is to continue to make this free content. If you ejoy the interviews please help us promote the show:

Hit "follow" on your podcast player and leave a five-star review on 

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Thanks for your support.

Fintech Chatter News is presented by Tier One People, leaders in Fintech executive search 

We help build world-class Fintech Ventures by connecting you with world-class talent

Contact us

121: Stake - Dan Silver

In episode 121 of Fintech Chatter Podcast, Dexter Cousins chats to Dan Silver, COO and co-founder of Stake. 

What is Stake App?

Stake is a share trading app launched in July 2017 by Matt Leibowitz and Dan Silver with the ambition to open up Wall St to the world.

Since launching, Stake has amassed over 450,000 customers across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Brazil by spearheading commission-free brokerage.

The Stake App offers investors access to over 8,000 stocks across the US and ASX markets through a sophisticated and seamless platform.

Stake has grown to 135 staff and is booking $20 million in revenue a year. Stake recently completed its $90 million Series A funding from Tiger Global and DST Global Partners.

Dexter chats to Dan about his experience of giving up a corporate career and launching his own business. Dan shares his lessons on scaling, leadership, resilience, global expansion, bootstrapping and capital raising.

Check out the Stake Platform

Check out jobs at Stake


A favour to ask

Fintech Chatter is free of sponsors and will always be free content. If you appreciate the interviews please help us promote the show by

Tap "follow" on your podcast player and give a five-star review on 

Apple scroll to the bottom of the page (iphone or ipad only), hit 5 stars and write a review 

Spotify  in the app click 5 stars

Subscribing and liking on Youtube

Thanks for your support.

About Tier One People

119: WeMoney Dan Jovevski

In episode 119 of Fintech Chatter Podcast, Dexter Cousins is joined by Dan Jovevski, CEO and founder of WeMoney.

About WeMoney

WeMoney is a social financial wellness platform aimed at helping people achieve their financial goals.

Since starting in 2020 WeMoney has built a strong community of users and has more than 300,000 downloads. And in 2021 WeMoney won the coveted People's Choice Award for Emerging Fintech at the Finnies Awards.

This week they announced an AU$7m capital raise to help scale the business and develop new products.

About Dan Jovevski

Dan is a second-time founder, having founded, scaled and exited his first FinTech - SwitchMyLoan.com.au back in 2016.

Dan shares some of his secrets on building a purpose/community-led Fintech. A little tip, it takes more than just a Discord group 😉

Dexter asks Dan about the experience the second time around and what he has done differently. They also discuss a recent trip to the US and the key differences between launching a FIntech in Aus vs North America.

Download the WeMoney App

A favour to ask

Fintech Chatter is free of sponsors and will always be free content. If you appreciate the interviews please help us promote the show by

Thanks for your support.

About Tier One People

Founded by Dexter Cousins in 2016, Tier One People is on a mission to help Australia become the world leader in Fintech innovation.

Tier One People helps companies like Revolut, TrueLayer and 10x build founding teams for launch in Australia. 

And series A+ / ASX Listed Aussie Fintech like Lendi, Afterpay and 86 400 hire executive talent capable of delivering growth and scale. If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help in hiring tier-one people contact us

118: Tic:Toc - Lisa Virgo

In Episode 118 of Fintech Chatter Dexter Cousins is joined by Lisa Virgo, Chief People Officer at Tic:Toc Homeloans. They talk about the huge benefits of having People and Culture on the founding team.

About Tic:Toc

Tic:Toc, is a platform Fintech company based in Adelaide, South Australia - with a growing presence in Sydney.  Founded in 2015, but launched to the public in July 2017, Tic:Toc offers automated digital home loans to consumers while selling its automation technology to other lending businesses. 

Lisa has been emersed in the journey of Tic:Toc from the early days, from a start-up with 9 employees to scaling the headcount of approximately 130 employees. 

Dexter talks to Lisa about the lessons they have learned along the way, including:

- How P&C delivers the growth strategy for the CEO/Founder
- The importance of values from day one
- How Tic:Toc have managed remote working
- Avoiding the growing pains
- Setting principles around salaries and remuneration
- Attracting great talent when you don't have much money or a recognised brand
- Not using job descriptions
- Getting rid of performance reviews
- Overcoming talent shortages by identifying and developing people with potential

There's some incredible advice in this podcast delivered in a very honest and candid way, which will hopefully resonate with many founders and Fintech leaders.

A favour to ask

Fintech Chatter is free of sponsors and will always be free content. Please help us promote the show by

Thanks for your support.

About Tier One People

Founded by Dexter Cousins in 2016, Tier One People is on a mission to help Australia become the world leader in Fintech innovation.

Tier One People helps companies like Revolut, TrueLayer and 10x build founding teams for launch in Australia. 

And series A+ / ASX Listed Aussie Fintech like Lendi, Afterpay and 86 400 hire executive talent capable of delivering growth and scale. 

If you are building a world-class Fintech venture and need help in hiring tier-one people, you can reach us info@tieronepeople.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dextercousins/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dextercousins 

Website: https://tieronepeople.com 

117: Dom Pym on Up and Euphemia

In Episode 117 of Fintech Chatter podcast, Dexter Cousins is joined by Fintech Leader of the Year, Dom Pym.

Dexter first met Dom Pym in 2018 as Up went into Beta phase - He made the bold claim back then that Dom was the Steve Jobs of Aussie Fintech.

Since then Up has become a world-class digital bank and Dom has had a massive impact on Fintech Down Under. 

As a co-founder of Up and Ferocia Dom has also made successful exits from Pin Payments and Nutmeg.

Ferocia was recently acquired by Bendigo Bank giving Dom and business partner Grant Thomas the dream exit. 

While Dom still is very much involved in UP, he recently announced his family office, Euphemia, which promises to support the next wave of startups. It’s a unique approach and one that puts people and values at the very core of the investment thesis.

In part one Dexter chats to Dom about UP and in Part two they talk about Euphemia's multi-generational strategy. With an ambitious goal to create real change for Australians, addressing climate change, diversity, poverty and social disparity.

About Dom Pym

Dom’s been involved in numerous start-ups and large-scale technology projects since the 1990's, in Australia and overseas.

Dom sits on the board of directors at Fintech Australia, and the advisory Board at Bendigo Bank, and continues to work on Up (up.com.au, Australia’s most successful digital bank, highest rated bank, and most trusted bank). Up’s built to help #Upsiders spend wisely and save effortlessly.

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Fintech Chatter is free of adverts and sponsors and will always be free content. If you appreciate the work we do please help us promote the show by:

Thanks for your support!

About Tier One People

Hnry - Australian Fintech of the Year 2022

Congratulations to James Fuller and the team at Hnry for winning the coveted People's Choice Australian Fintech of the year

You can listen to the Hnry story and CEO and co-founder James Fuller sharing their humble beginnings from an excel spreadsheet.

Another record turnout at the FinTech Australia Awards - The Finnies 2022.

And there were a record number of downloads and votes for the People's Choice category this year. Hnry emerged victorious - less than 100 downloads separated the 8 finalists!

A record year deserved a special occasion and the team at FinTech Australia did not disappoint.

Held at the Forum in Melbourne, the industry turned out in ball gowns and black ties, WOW what a gorgeous bunch the Australian Fintech industry looks!

It was an extremely well-planned event.

This was the biggest Australian Fintech awards yet. The ceremony was super slick which left the whole night for the long-awaited in-person awards. 2019 was the last time the Australian Fintech industry gathered in person for the event.

The awards across all categories were tighter than ever, no company won more than one award. Perhaps most telling about this year's Finnies was the calibre of finalists who didn't win an award.

James says winning People’s Choice reflects the huge amount of work Hnry’s team on both sides of the Tasman has put into making the Australian expansion a success.

“Despite launching in Australia during the pandemic, we’ve quickly become the fastest-growing digital accountancy across both sides of the Tasman. Our growth reflects that the nature of work is changing – people want more flexibility and opportunities to earn independently.
“We’ve been able to offer Australia’s independent earners something new, and it’s obviously hitting the mark – for a New Zealand company to win People’s Choice in Australia is something special,” he says.

The Finnies 2022 Finalists - Emerging Fintech

Emerging Fintech Of The Year

People's Choice Awards 2022

Brought to you by FinTech Australia and Tier One People, People's Choice is the Finnies Award the Fintech community gets to decide.

Now in its 3rd year, the award has quickly become one of the most coveted of the Finnies, as the Fintech community chooses the winner.

Winners are decided by counting unique podcast listens and through a voting system. Previous winners are Cake Equity and WeMoney.

The Finnies, the most prestigious Fintech awards in Australia will be held in Melbourne - 23rd June 2022. The first in-person awards since 2019 is a sold-out event but Tier One People will bring you all of the action through our YouTube channel, make sure to subscribe.

Find out more - Finnies 2022

This Year's Finalists