Money Travels

Money Travels Podcast Season 3, Episode 12

For migrant workers sending remittances back home, cross-border payments can be slow, complex and expensive. It was this challenge Ambar Sur set out to solve when he left his telecom background and co-founded Terrapay in 2014. Inspired by telecom’s seamless global connectivity, Ambar set about building a robust network to enable instant, low-cost digital transactions, helping workers move m...

As CEO at Paysend, Ben Chisell is revolutionising how money moves across borders. In this episode, we talk with Ben about his personal journey, his passion for improving financial inclusion, and the challenges faced by millions when it comes to sending and receiving money. We explore the inefficiencies in traditional systems, the impact of new technologies, and how Paysend’s secret recipe for settling international payments could s...

With so many people struggling to manage their finances effectively, the financial services industry is steadily shifting its focus from increasing financial inclusion to improving financial health. For more than two decades, Jennifer Tescher has been pursuing this cause with the Financial Health Network, with the aim of ensuring a fair shake for the “little guy.” Now, with the emergence of agentic AI and open banking, Jennifer is ...

As the former Chief Architect of the SWIFT network, which is still used to handle $4 trillion in daily transfers, Kosta Peric helped to transform the global financial landscape. Now at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kosta is helping to increase financial inclusion across the globe, building scalable, interoperable payments infrastructure to give unbanked populations access to secure financial services for the first time. In...

The mobile revolution of the 2000s didn’t just redefine the way we communicate, it fueled innovation, redefined industries, and transformed our lives in ways few could have predicted. Working in mobile at the time, Checkout.com CMO Rory O’Neill sensed a similar transformation was about to grip the payments industry – and made it his mission to become a part of it. In this episode, we speak to Rory about his journey from mobile tech...

Back in 2011, Colin and Samir's decision to build a YouTube business creating Lacrosse videos seemed risky, baffling friends and family alike. But by building a loyal community and learning to monetize their content, they soon turned their passion into a thriving business, selling their Lacrosse Network in 2014. Their journey wasn’t without hurdles. Financial uncertainty gave way to creative doubts. All the while, Colin and Sam...

Since WWII, America’s two-week pay cycle has seen ordinary workers having to wait for their paycheque to pay their bills, put food on the table, and cover any expenses. With anywhere from 30-77% of Americans living paycheque to paycheque, this antiquated model has seen many go into debt, with others struggling to maintain healthy finances. Earned wage access has changed all that. Now, workers can access the money they have already ...

In Asia’s fragmented payments landscape, cross-border trade can be challenging for small businesses. As CEO of the Emerging Payments Association Asia, Camilla Bullock is on a mission to change that. Using what she calls “the network effect”, Camilla brings together regulators, thought leaders, and innovators to find solutions to enable seamless cross-border payments and empower small businesses to trade more freely. In today’s epis...

In March 2020, as the world braced for a global pandemic, Jaco Veldsman gave up his comfortable career in finance to go it alone with the launch of Paytron, the cross-border payments platform. Three years later, Paytron’s mission to transform global payments for its customers was turbo-charged with the company’s acquisition by global payments powerhouse OFX. Now Global Head of Non-FX Revenue at OFX, today’s guest Jaco shares his mo...

With its unique approach to public-private partnership and obsessive focus on innovation, Singapore has established itself as a global fintech hub. Helping to drive that innovation is Varun Mittal, whose work as founder of Fintech Nation, has given him extraordinary insight into the country’s fintech sector and how it is shaping the future of global finance. In this episode, Varun shares his experiences as an innovator, along with ...

In the highly diverse economies of South East Asia, Singapore stands out as an economic powerhouse. This success has paved the way for the explosive growth of the country’s fintech sector, with a combination of Singapore’s unique history and central government initiatives helping to make it the world’s fourth most innovative economy. Instrumental in driving that growth is today’s guest Reuben Lim, whose work as CEO of the Singapore...

Money Travels Podcast Season 3, Episode 1

In 2007, the release of the first iPhone helped trigger a major shift in what customers expect from the finance industry. Established banks quickly found their traditional model was no longer working – and that other companies were better placed to give customers what they wanted.

At the vanguard of these changes, today’s guest JP Nicols helped pull his established bank from the centre to the...

Welcome to the final episode of Money Travels season 2. Small and mid-size businesses are among the main drivers of employment growth and change, especially in parts of the world that involve developing countries. There, their economies are mainly powered by SMBs, and SMBs are often the catalysts for innovation. So, what are their unique needs in the money movement space, and how is Visa Direct meeting those needs? In this episode ...

In this episode, we explore the state of the gaming industry and where it's headed by talking to Brad Foxhoven, CEO of EverGame Media, and Matt Story, VP  @Visa  Global Brand Partnerships & Advocacy. This conversation gets into how creators are engaging in the online gaming space and how online gaming platforms are providing opportunities for individuals to turn their gaming efforts into viable side hustles and even core busine...

Timing when to exchange money from one currency to another is something we've probably all experienced. Domestic payments are getting faster and cheaper in many countries. The challenge now is to link those systems together and make cross-border payments as fast and as seamless as the best domestic systems to meet customer expectations for fast money movement no matter where it's being sent. So how does this infrastructure impact c...

In this episode we explore the creator economy which continues to grow rapidly. This growth represents an opportunity for money movement businesses, but it also presents some unique challenges. To take us into this rapidly evolving landscape, we'll talk to Eric Wei and Will Kim co-founders at Karat Financial, a bank built for the creator economy. We'll also hear from Brian McMullin, head of product and customer experience at SamCar...

Welcome to Money Travels, presented by Visa. Years into the FinTech revolution, many people still struggle with money management and learning how to use all these new tools at their fingertips and with money going digital in many instances, how do we teach our kids who really benefit from a tangible environment, financial literacy? In this episode, we're going to explore some ways to bridge the gap in knowledge for kids and adults ...

In this episode we explore the explosion of the online platforms for gaming, and the challenges and opportunities that they present for money movement. From dealing with evolving regulations to the vast differences and payout amounts, and the critical importance of speed, the online gaming space is a hotbed of innovation and growth. To explore this space, we're going to talk to Warren Tristram from Nuvei, a payments powerhouse, Mic...