The Fintech Talents team, along with our partners at Marqeta, set off on an epic road trip to explore growing European fintech hubs. Three cities in one week – Paris, Stockholm and Berlin – yielded fantastic insight and the opportunity to speak to leading innovators along the way. 

During the Stockholm stop of the Fintech Talents Road Trip, Gunnar Berger, Head of Open Banking at Nordea, talks us through the shift in focus from one era to the next when it comes to innovation in banking.  

Gunnar explains how change in the banking industry tends to come in waves, especially within payments and cash management. His view is that every ten years or so there is a breakthrough. He details examples around the change in banking, specifically around the shift to bringing banking to the home with desktop, then to mobile, and now to any platform the customer prefers It is technology, specifically APIs, that have enabled these changes.  

When asked about fintech innovation, Gunnar touches on the need for industry newcomers to drive revenue. Originally, their innovation was customer focused, but as with anything digital, this was then expected to come for free. We are now seeing a shift to fintech’s targeting corporates, which is leading to new products, solutions and profitable business cases.  

Nordea is the largest financial services group in the Nordic region and one of the biggest banks in Europe. Gunnar has worked at Nordea since 1996 and has been working on their open banking team since its inception in 2016.  

Listen to the full interview below to hear more about Gunnar’s work, who his dream road trip partner would be and where they would be heading. 

Want to hear more about crypto currencies, blockchain the the future of AI?

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