February may be short, but Nordic fintech didn’t hold back! In this Fintech Daydreaming episode, Pål, Ville, and Janne sit down for another round of Nordic Fintech Highlights. As always, we covered the biggest fintech news—but not before Janne cracked a joke so bad it nearly derailed the entire recording. (We survived… barely.)

Here’s what we tackled this time:
🚀 Lunar’s big BaaS bet – Pål took a deep dive into Lunar’s spin-off Moonrise, a Banking-as-a-Service platform set to shake up the Nordic embedded finance space.
 

💰 Lunar’s lending expansion – Janne continued the Lunar talk with their new SME lending partnership with Froda, unlocking more financing options for businesses.
 

🚗 Klarna goes automotive – Ville explored Klarna’s partnership with FINN, bringing flexible payments to the car subscription market. Because who wouldn’t want a BNPL option for their next ride?

With plenty of fintech insights, strong opinions, and a few moments of near-total chaos, this episode is packed with everything you love about Fintech Daydreaming. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Hot Takes, Cool Guests & The Best Kind of Fintech Mayhem

For this special episode, we packed our mics, grabbed some strong coffee, and took Fintech Daydreaming on the road to Stockholm Fintech Week! 🎤🚀 Amidst the fintech frenzy, Pål and Ville caught up with some of the sharpest minds in the industry for rapid-fire chats, bold predictions, and a few fintech hot takes.

Our all-star lineup included:

Christie H. Kristensen (Danske Bank) – On whether banks and fintechs are actually friends or just frenemies, and what happens with customer experience in all of this?

Chris Skinner (Author, Speaker) – Dropping fintech wisdom like only he can

Baard Slaattelid (VippsMobilePay) – Making the case for why regional digital wallets are more important than ever

Sofi Håkanson (Centiglobe) – Solving cross-border payments so we can perhaps all finally ditch some of those outrageous fees

Chris Crespo (Nordic Fintech Magazine) – Breaking down the Nordic fintech scene like a true insider

From insightful discussions to behind-the-scenes laughs, we had a blast recording this one—now it’s your turn to tune in and enjoy the ride!

We’re kicking off this episode of Fintech Daydreaming with something special—welcoming our new editor and producer, Femi Apanishile, to the team! 🎉 But after the celebrations, it’s straight back to business with another Nordic Fintech Highlights session.

This time, things got... heated. Pål, Ville, and Janne dived into the latest fintech news, but the conversation quickly turned into a colorful rant about crypto. Here’s what made the headlines:

• Janne introduced us to the first MiCA-compliant memecoin from Swan—because apparently, regulatory-approved dog coins are a thing now.
 

• Ville tackled MobilePay’s decision to start charging transaction fees over €400, sparking a discussion on the future of digital payment business models and their sustainability.
 

• Pål dug into Lunar Bank’s move into crypto trading in Norway—cue the skepticism.

With Pål and Ville trying to inject realism to the resurgent crypto hype and Janne still on the fence, this episode delivers strong opinions, probably somewhat divisive insights, and a few fintech hot takes you won’t want to miss. Grab your favorite energy drink and have a listen—it’s a lively one!

In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål welcome back the one and only Leda Glyptis, PhD—advisor, speaker, and author of Beyond Resilience and Bankers Like Us. Leda brings her sharp insights and candid humor to the mic as we explore her latest book and the patterns of success (and failure) shaping the fintech industry.

From debunking the myth of the "rockstar founder" to rethinking Silicon Valley's "build fast and break things" mantra, Leda challenges conventional wisdom with research-backed observations and practical advice. Among callbacks to many former guests of Fintech Daydreaming we discuss the critical importance of product-market fit, why some innovations are just "too early," and how resilience—or sisu, as Finns call it—can be balanced with the need to pivot.

Tune in for a lively, thought-provoking conversation packed with stories, strategies, and plenty of wit. If you’re looking for inspiration and practical takeaways to navigate the world of fintech, look no further.

Welcome to 2025 and season 11 of Fintech Daydreaming! We’re back, well-caffeinated, and ready to dive into another year of fintech wonders. To kick things off, Pål, Ville, and Janne put on their trend-spotting hats and take a look at what’s buzzing in the Nordics and beyond. What’s hot? What’s not? And what might just surprise us all in 2025?

Of course, it wouldn’t be _Fintech Daydreaming_ without some juicy fintech news:

- Pål dives into how Enfuce and Alisa Bank are giving Finnish SMEs the plastic they deserve with a shiny new business credit card.
 

- Janne tackles Lunar Bank’s bold leap into mortgages in Sweden—because who doesn’t want a fintech twist on home loans?
 

- Ville brings us SEB Embedded’s latest play: a co-branded grocery card with Hemköp. Is this the future of shopping? We have questions.

Join us for a fun, insightful, and occasionally witty look at the trends and stories shaping the Nordic fintech scene. Season 11 is here—let’s get dreaming!