Sun’s out, fines out! In this sizzling episode of Fintech Daydreaming and Helsinki Fintech Farm Nordic Fintech Highlights, Ville, Janne, and Pål serve up a refreshing mix of Nordic fintech news—with a splash of sarcasm and a shot of hydration advice.

💳 Enfuce declares war on fraud with its bold Fortitude Pledge to eliminate financial crime. The gang debates whether 100% fraud prevention is ambitious, admirable—or just asking for trouble.

📊 S-Bank + Swiss robo-advisors = potential wealth tech magic? Or just more “index funds for your loyalty points”? We’ll let you decide.

🔌 Offline payments make a comeback, not with retro card swipers (yet), but with serious moves from Nordic central banks to boost resilience before the digital euro shows up… eventually.

Also featuring: marathon-induced dehydration, questionable fintech jokes, and the reminder that yes—cash is still a thing but perhaps not a king anymore. Like, share, hydrate, and subscribe. This is Fintech Daydreaming.

Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville Sointu

Episode produced and edited by Femi Apanishile

This week, Fintech Daydreaming goes live from the heart of Helsinki for a special episode recorded at the 2025 Nordic Fintech Summit! With espresso (and later some beers) in hand and mics at the ready, Pål and Ville roamed the event to capture the freshest insights, boldest predictions, and too many slightly questionable karaoke references. We caught up with:

• Janne Salminen, CEO of Helsinki Fintech Farm and event mastermind, on what makes this year’s summit bigger, better, and even more Nordic.

• Christie H. Kristensen from Danske Bank, on whether open banking is finally living up to the hype.

• Taru Möller from Nordea, who explains how strategy and reality sometimes even get along.

• David Cunningham from Citi, dropping hard truths (and soft predictions) on the future of digital assets.

• Lars Markull, founder of Embedded Finance Review, decoding what “embedded finance” actually means in 2025.

• Kristian Sørensen from IN Groupe, holding up the Mobey Forum banner high and making digital identity sound both exciting and at the same time making us slightly worried that many of our predictions from over ten years ago are becoming reality.

It’s fintech in the field: unfiltered, slightly chaotic, and packed with sharp takes from some of the smartest minds in the industry. Tune in and get a front-row seat—minus the lanyard.

Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville Sointu

Episode produced and edited by Femi Apanishile

Nordic Fintech Highlights is back with Pål, Ville & Janne

Hold onto your wallets — it’s another round of Fintech Daydreaming’s Nordic Fintech Highlights! This month, the crew dives into:

💸 Froda’s fresh funding round – Pål kicks things off with Froda’s impressive new investment and what it means for the embedded finance scene in the Nordics. Is Froda quietly becoming the Stripe of SME lending? Or are we just slapping “embedded” on everything now?

🛍️ Klarna x Clover – Janne breaks down Klarna’s latest move to bring BNPL into U.S. brick-and-mortar stores via Clover’s POS system. Will Americans now split their taco payments into four easy installments? The gang debates Klarna’s global stretch and whether in-store BNPL is genius or just fintech déjà vu.

🎟️ Coachella + BNPL – Ville brings some festival flair with a quirky story: 60% of Coachella 2025 tickets were bought using BNPL — but not through Klarna or Affirm. What’s going on here? Is “Buy Now, Cry Later” the new concert norm?

As always, expect banter, bold takes, and the occasional accidental startup pitch. Warning: contains strong fintech opinions and light Coachella FOMO.

Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville Sointu

Episode produced and edited by Femi Apanishile

In this highly anticipated episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål sit down with Sampsa Laine, CEO of Alisa Bank, to uncover the story behind one of Finland’s most interesting digital banks. From its fintech roots to securing a full banking license, Alisa Bank has been on quite the journey—and Sampsa takes us behind the scenes. We dig into:

🏦 How Alisa Bank came to be and how it balances fintech agility with full banking capabilities

📈 The bank’s sharp focus on SME banking, embedded finance, and banking-as-a-service

🤖 Why going fully digital (without branches!) is a winning strategy in today’s market

🌍 Alisa’s expansion plans—could new markets be on the horizon?

Sampsa also shares insights on navigating regulation, the challenges of running a publicly listed bank, and what’s next for Alisa. Plus, we managed to squeeze in a fintech joke (because traditions matter).

If you’re curious about the future of digital banking and how challenger banks are shaking up the industry, this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville Sointu

Episode produced and edited by Femi Apanishile

April's here, the snow is (mostly) gone, and the fintech news is blooming — sort of. In this episode, your favourite fintech trio Ville, Pål, and Janne return with a fresh batch of Nordic headlines, greetings from the Baltic Fintech Days, hot takes, and at least one minor existential crisis.

Here’s what went down:

Ville got us started with some light apocalyptic vibes, as we unpacked Sweden’s Riksbank prepping for war — seriously. The central bank is testing offline payments and backup systems in case of internet outages or full-on conflict. Political aspects aside, the landscape of offline payments is definitely a fascinating technical and governance dilemma.

Janne brought some much-needed positivity with the news that Raisin has landed in Finland. The savings platform promises better deposit rates and a bit of healthy competition in the local market. But is the Finnish public ready to move their money for a few more basis points? Or will it take free buckets?

Pål closed things out with a look at ReceiptHero’s new B2B partnership with Fennoa. It’s a big step for digital receipts and accounting automation — and a small victory in Pål’s long-standing war on paper. Spoiler: he’s still very much winning.

As always, things went slightly off the rails (looking at you, Janne), but we somehow brought it all back. Tune in for fintech insights, occasional wisdom, and the only podcast where Nordic monetary policy and mushroom hunting might share airtime.

Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville Sointu

Episode produced and edited by Femi Apanishile