Episode 19

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Published on:

10th Oct 2023

The Role of Open Banking and Open Data in Fostering Financial Inclusion | Lauren Jones, Director Market Development at Open Banking Exchange

Today I speak with Lauren Jones, Director of Market Development at Open Banking Exchange. Lauren is an expert focused on delivering open banking and open finance to central banks, regulators and market infrastructures around the world.

Open Banking Exchange aims to foster innovation, competition and efficiency to increase consumer choice and enhance security for online payments and is globally known for guiding central banks, authorities and regional communities through operational and technical set-up of open banking and open finance ecosystems.

Lauren explains open banking, open data, and open finance in a simple to understand manner and we discussed how Open banking and open finance are a journey - more specifically a journey setting foundations for future innovation. We touch of the role of the regulator, competition, the actual benefits of open banking, and how it fosters financial inclusion.

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Let’s dive into it!

👉 You can find Lauren here

👉 And you can find Monica here:


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We cover:

(0:00:00) Financial inclusion vs. financial access

(0:02:33) Resilience and overcoming challenges

(0:03:40) Viewing failure as a learning opportunity

(0:06:13) Taking initiative and upskilling in career

(0:07:28) Building purpose-driven fintechs with a public good element

(0:08:06) Investing time in understanding and future-proofing fintech

(0:10:09) Developing an industry strategy for the future

(0:10:59) Regulators in the UK and Europe lack a clear vision for the fintech agenda

(0:12:01) The convergence of open banking, real-time payments, identity, and AI is crucial

(0:12:54) The industry should coalesce around a clear direction for the next 20 years

(0:17:50) Open banking, open data, and open finance involve third-party access to customer accounts

(0:19:31) Open banking focuses on transactional accounts, while open finance includes other financial products

(0:20:03) Open data expands beyond financial data to include health, telco, and energy data

(0:21:57) Building open banking ecosystems requires adapting best practices to each market

(0:22:19) Financial inclusion and access vary depending on the market's development level

(0:23:30) Open banking is just one part of a bigger story of financial inclusion

(0:27:57) PSD3 regulation aims to standardize and open up all financial products

(0:30:48) Open finance will drive competition and innovation in the industry

(0:37:45) Open banking is not easily pitched to retail consumers as a positive thing

(0:40:09) Trust may not be the selling point for future generations in financial services.

(0:45:07) Diversity is important at all levels of the financial services industry

(0:49:33) Work with other industries to build inclusive financial products


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Production and marketing by Monica Millares. For inquiries about coaching, 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 (& AI FinTech Innovations)
Building FinTech Products & AI in FinTech 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.