Episode 12

full
Published on:

8th Aug 2023

Innovation despite all odds. Growing a Lending SaaS FinTech during times of war | Svitlanka Sergiichuk Romaniuk, CEO & Co-founder, Neofin

My guest today is Svitlanka Sergiichuk Romaniuk, CEO & Co-founder at Neofin, a Lending SaaS FinTech. We had a ton of fun recording, we talk about how no code solutions are empowering companies to launch lending propositions faster.

Neofin started years ago in Ukraine, so we explore their founding story and their journey of losing all their Ukrainian bank customers one by one in a matter of days at the start of the war. They then had to make a very difficult decision to stop or adapt and continue. It is deep and inspiring.

Today Neofin has customers across the world, including the US, so we go deeper on the how to go about market expansion, specially in the US. And finally, Neofin has multiple awards, so Svitlanka shares with us her secrets to success, strength and perseverance.

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Let’s dive into it!

👉 You can find Svitlanka here

👉 And you can find Monica here:


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In this episode we cover:


(0:00:00) Full-scale war starts, and banks in Ukraine close their credit business

(0:01:10) Neofin decides to scale internationally to survive

(0:01:59) How no-code solutions empower faster lending propositions

(0:08:37) Neofin's customer promise: launch lending business 4x faster with zero delivery risk

(0:15:18) Neofin's founding story and journey through the war in Ukraine

(0:19:16) Neofin expands to Canada and the US

(0:28:33) Neofin simplifies the complex lending process with no-code solutions

(0:32:51) Neofin's advantages: optimal for institutions without technical teams, ease and flexibility

(0:37:10) Challenges of market expansion: regulatory landscape, local data, cultural differences

(0:46:08) Improve collaboration between FinTechs and financial institutions


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Production and marketing by Monica Millares. For inquiries about collabs, sponsoring the podcast or creating or editing your podcast email fintechwithmoni@gmail.com


Disclaimer: This episode does not constitute professional nor financial advice and does not represent the opinion nor views of my current, past or future employers. The guest has agreed to record and release our conversation for the use of this podcast and promotion in social media.

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About the Podcast

Purpose Driven FinTech
Building products with impact
Welcome to Purpose Driven FinTech!

I'm your host, Monica Millares - Product Leader and fellow FinTecher.

These days, with the rising cost of living, financial stress among customers, loss of trust in banks, speculation of crypto, and uncertainty, we're facing unprecedented challenges. But there is hope. We as FinTechers have the power to make a positive impact.

Our products, the how we do product, and our people can make a difference on customers’ financial lives - and as a result, in the quality of their lives.

However, more than ever Founders, CEOs, Leadership teams and all FinTechers have a ton of pressure to build solutions that actually solve customer problems, that people want, that are differentiated And profitable

Yes that's you and me too!

That's why I've created this podcast!

I speak with Founders, Product Leaders, VCs, and industry experts to uncover their stories, challenges, and lessons learnt in building products with impact.

You'll get to hear real-life conversations, and you’ll walk away with practical questions, frameworks and insights that you can apply to your own FinTech products. So, are you ready to make a bigger difference in FinTech?

Let's come together and discover how Purpose, Product, and People can help us create a future of better financial wellbeing while building sustainable and profitable FinTechs.

Follow me on LinkedIn, TikTok, and  YouTube to stay connected and be part of the conversation.

Cheers to making better FinTech and making FinTech better!

Love, Moni 

About your host

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Monica Millares

Monica advocates for financial safety for all. She is the Product Principal at BigPay, where she leads Product and Design. As part of the founding team, Monica led building BigPay’s product from zero to one, to multi product line, and international expansion. Her leadership shaped the culture and ways of working to grow from startup to scaleup. BigPay has over 1.4 million customers, and has presence in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Monica has almost 20 years’ experience in Financial Services. Prior to BigPay, she was one of the first joiners in UK’s challenger Tandem Bank, where she focused on building credit cards from scratch. Previously she worked in leading Financial Services brands like Visa, Barclays, and a Mexican Development Bank.

She sits on the Board of PayEd, and is recognised as Singapore’s #Fintech65 Product Leaders and Women in FinTech. She’s been multiple times speaker at the prestigious conference Money2020 and shared stage with JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Konsentus, and Money2020’s Rise Up. Her commitment to innovation and financial inclusion resonates in her podcast “Purpose Driven FinTech” where she explores how FinTech’s can have 10x more impact.

Monica has a background in Engineering and a Master’s Degree on Analysis, Design, and Management of Information Systems from the London School of Economics.