Fintech Daydreaming

Epizody

• That's a wrap on Season 13 | Nordic Fintech Highlights Summer 2026 02.07.2026 46min

  Your favorite fintech nerd hosts Pål Krogdahl and Ville Sointu are joined by Janne Salminen from Helsinki Fintech Farm to close out the season before heading off to their summer holidays. We skipped the standard news roundup this time to reflect on the season, make some bold predictions, and let Pål shamelessly plug his upcoming book.Here’s what the guys daydreamed about in our season finale:🤖 The Robots Are Paying: "Professor" Ville breaks down Nordea’s massive milestone with Mastercard: executing the first real, live agentic card payment transaction in the Nordics.🏥 The Ultimate Book Launch: Pål’s new book on progressive modernization, Rip Out the Core, drops in July. Join the launch event on August 13th at Maria 01 - a former hospital, which is beautifully ironic for an event about performing surgery on legacy core systems! (Check the links below for the registration link to snag a free copy!)🏆 **Season Highlights:**The trio looks back at their absolute favorite moments, giving flowers to Aleksi Grym for his masterclass on the Digital Euro vs. Stablecoins (you know how much Ville and Pål love those) and exploring the Vipps MobilePay interoperability journey with Baard Slaattelid.🌍 Tech Sovereignty: A deep dive into why European institutions have to obsess over AI and payments independence before the "excrement hits the fan".💻 Ransomware Ramblings: We wrap things up with a genuinely terrible IT joke from Janne, which naturally leads to a completely unhinged tangent about Pål’s home server being held hostage by Bitcoin hackers.Have a fantastic, relaxing summer, and we’ll see you right back here for Season 14! (Like, subscribing, and leaving a 5-star review is basically implied at this point).Links mentioned in the episode:Sign up for “Rip out the core” book launch: https://www.lyyti.fi/reg/Rip_Out_the_Core_Book_Launch_0627Read Mobey Forum’s latest report “Payment is not just a Payment”: https://mobeyforum.org/payment-value-chain-mobey.htmlEpisode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Legacy, Drones and Banking with Erik Åkesson 18.06.2026 49min

  We finally did it. We recorded an episode about legacy and somehow ended up discussing drones, artillery, aviation safety culture, and why bankers apparently don’t need pockets in their suits.In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, we’re joined by Erik Åkesson to unpack one of the most overused and misunderstood words in banking: legacy.Is it the root of all evil?Or is it actually the thing keeping the whole system standing?Erik brings a refreshingly broad perspective (and about 20 years of banking experience) to the table, drawing parallels from:Military strategy (yes, really)Aviation and safety cultureAnd the everyday reality of running a bank with systems older than some of its employeesWe explore:Why “legacy” isn’t just bad code, but the situation you’re in because of your historyHow banks might be underinvesting in understanding their current state (while overinvesting in PowerPoint futures)Whether AI is actually solving legacy problems… or just becoming the latest shiny objectAnd why improving your existing systems by 3% might matter more than launching the next flashy use caseNaturally, things got slightly heated towards the end as we debated what matters more:👉 defining the target state👉 or truly understanding where you are today(No clear winner. Just strong opinions. As usual.)Also:We recorded this before summerYou’re listening to it nowAnd we still don’t know how that keeps happening🎧 If you’ve ever worked in banking, fintech or tried to modernize anything without breaking everything this one’s for you.💬 Let us know: is legacy your biggest constraint or your biggest advantageEpisode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Live from the Nordic Fintech Summit | Nordic Fintech Highlights May 2026 04.06.2026 41min

  We are out of the studio, trying our best to look respectable, and recording live in front of a real, breathing audience at the Nordic Fintech Summit right here in Helsinki! If you hear cheering, it’s probably for the free coffee, but we’ll pretend it’s for us.In this special live-stage episode, Pål and Ville manage not to trip over the stage wires while unpacking a massive lineup of regional heavyweights, policy debates, and our usual tech realism.Here is what went down on the main stage:**The Stablecoin Side-Eye: We kick off the show by breaking down the latest news on Qivalis and their recent expansion. If you’ve listened to more than two minutes of this podcast, you already know we aren't exactly waving pom-poms for stablecoins. Naturally, the segment ends with a painfully bad stablecoin joke—because if we have to suffer through the punchline, so do you.**Helsinki: Gateway to the Eurozone: Next, we host a brilliant fireside chat with Tuomas Toivonen (CEO of Holvi) and longtime friend of the pod Monika Liikamaa (Founder & Chair of Liikamaa Invest, and former CEO of Enfuce). Together, we dive deep into why Helsinki is uniquely positioned as the ultimate Nordic gateway to the Eurozone. We even managed to stay on track without getting distracted by the front-row audience.**The Core Modernization Conundrum: Lastly, we sit down with Fabian Klar (Regional Sales Manager at ERI) to tackle the technological future of banking. We look past the standard marketing buzzwords to discuss what the next decade actually means from a data architecture and core modernization perspective. (Spoiler: It involves a lot of hard work and fewer magic bullets than consultants claim).A massive thank you to everyone who showed up early, sat through our ramblings, and clapped at the right times!If you weren't there in person, you can still show us some love: hit subscribe, ring the notification bell, and leave us a glowing 5-star review. If you have notes on our stage presence, please keep them to yourself or find us at the afterparty to complain in person!Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• The Thinner the Table, the Smarter the Bank with Riikka Laine-Tolonen from S-Pankki 21.05.2026 47min

  In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål are joined by Riikka Laine-Tolonen, CEO of S-Pankki: a bank that started from grocery shopping and somehow ended up managing billions.Riikka walks us through the origin story of S-Pankki - born from a retail cooperative, supercharged by the famous S-bonus, and launched just in time for the 2008 financial crisis (great timing, obviously). Fast forward 18 years, and it’s now one of Finland’s fastest-growing banks with 3.4 million customers.We get into:.- Why building a bank on top of a loyalty program actually works.- The reality of being a “challenger” bank… with full regulatory baggage.- The Handelsbanken Finland acquisition and what it unlocked.- And how S-Pankki is quietly moving into wealth management and private bankingWhich raises the obvious question: can a “bonus bank” really win over high-net-worth clients?That leads us into:.- Whether S-Pankki is Finland’s closest thing to a super app.- Why combining banking, retail, and daily life might actually work here (and nowhere else).- And what happens when your future bank might be talking to your AI instead of youAlong the way, we also learn:.- That your importance as a banking customer can be measured by the thickness of the oak table in front of you.- That private banking might be less about fancy offices and more about smart digital advice.- And that worrying about “long answers” is… not a problem on this podcastIf you’ve ever wondered what happens when a loyalty program meets banking ambition, this is the episode for you.Listen now - and don’t forget to check your bonus balance.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• AI Agents, Bank Dinosaurs and Bluetooth Teeth | Nordic Fintech Highlights April 2026 08.05.2026 47min

  Welcome back to another monthly Nordic Fintech Highlights episode of Fintech Daydreaming! In this one, your hosts start off by complaining about what a slow news month it was—only to be immediately corrected by Janne, who points out that April was actually buzzing with funding rounds.Here’s what we covered:The Agentic Economy: Pål highlights SolvaPay, a Swedish fintech that just secured 2.5 million in pre-seed funding to build payment infrastructure for AI agents. As payments shift from humans to machines, we ask the tough liability questions: if your AI agent is tasked to buy 12 eggs but buys 12 chickens instead, whose fault is it?Revolut vs. The Dinosaurs: Janne brings us the news of NoCFO integrating with Revolut Business. Pål gets characteristically bullish, calling this another "nail in the coffin" for traditional Nordic banks, warning that they are entirely too arrogant to notice Revolut slowly chewing away at their market share.Swedbank Pay & Klarna: Ville covers Swedbank Pay adding Klarna's payment options. He attempts to explain why this isn't Swedbank raising the white flag to a competitor, but rather a strategic play to maintain merchant stickiness against global giants.The Bluetooth Battle: Janne delivers a genuinely terrible joke about a payment terminal visiting the dentist because it "blew a tooth". This triggers a historically inaccurate ramble from Ville, forcing Pål to consult ChatGPT mid-episode just to prove that Ericsson and a 10th-century Danish king were involved.Come watch us live on stage at the Nordic Fintech Summit in Helsinki on May 21st, where we will be kicking off the day with a live recording! Also, look out for Pål’s new book on progressive modernisation, Rip Out the Core, dropping in late July.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Tap, Merge, Repeat! with Baard Slaattelid from Vipps MobilePay 23.04.2026 54min

  In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville and Pål are joined by Baard Slaattelid from Vipps MobilePay - a man who casually drops phrases like “closed-loop wallet,” “payment potato,” and “we accidentally enabled cross-border in five minutes” like it’s just another Tuesday in payments.We start where all great fintech podcasts begin: with bad jokes (courtesy of AI, no less), and a host who may or may not be running on too much travel and too little sleep.Baard takes us through the origin story of Vipps MobilePay featuring real-time competitive panic, strategic acquisitions, and the realization that maybe having three identical payment apps in a region of 27 million people isn’t a long-term strategy. Who knew?From there, we dive into:.- What a “wallet” actually means (spoiler: it’s not just a pretty UI on top of your bank account).- How Vipps MobilePay ended up with 12.5 million users across the Nordics.- The surprisingly brutal reality of merging two platforms (hint: stop doing “fun stuff” for a year).- Why Danes thought that the new app was worse and why that might just be human nature.- The economics of payments (or lack thereof), including why tapping your phone isn’t exactly a goldmine in itselfWe also get into the juicy stuff:.- NFC and the battle with Apple (and how Vipps became the first to break into iPhone tap-to-pay outside Apple Wallet).- Why they’re not trying to convert Apple Pay users but instead going after your mom who still taps plastic.- The subtle art of turning a payments app into something closer to a “lifestyle platform” (super app, but we’re not calling it that… yet)And of course, no Fintech Daydreaming episode would be complete without:.- A deeply philosophical discussion on whether the digital euro is a “solution looking for a problem” or a “problem looking for a solution”.- A buffet of topics we didn’t have time for (interoperability, we’re coming back for you)Oh - and the jokes. They’re bad. Impressively bad. Almost… on brand.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Buy Now, Panic Later, The Embedded B2B Edition | Nordic Fintech Highlights March 2026 10.04.2026 44min

  In this episode of Fintech Daydreaming, Ville, Pål, and Janne are back with another round of Nordic Fintech Highlights—recorded somewhere between back-to-back meetings, holiday travel plans, and at least one log cabin in the Finnish wilderness (buffering included).From there, we dive into what actually happened in Nordic fintech last month:Modest funding rounds, ongoing consolidation, and the quiet realization that scale still wins.And a quick detour into Revolut casually printing profits and eyeing the Nordics like it’s their next hobby.Then we get into the real meat:Ville brings a story that sounds boring… until it isn’t:.- DNB launching Buy Now Pay Later for businesses (yes, really).- 30-second onboarding, AI-powered credit decisions, and the ability to delay payments without paying interest..- Or, as Pål puts it: “a new and exciting way to bankrupt companies”Which leads to a surprisingly deep debate:.- Is BNPL actually useful for SMEs or just consumer debt in a suit?.- Are we solving cash flow problems or just moving them 90 days forward?.- And how this looks suspiciously like trade finance without the blockchain and the hypeJanne then doubles down on SME finance with:.- The rise of accounting platforms turning into neobanks.- Embedded finance quietly eating the value chain.- And the slightly uncomfortable truth that traditional banks are still barely showing upMeanwhile, somewhere in the background:.- French IBANs are powering Finnish businesses.- Local quirks are quietly breaking global fintech expansion strategies.- And Revolut might still have to learn that Finland is… not SwedenFinally, Pål brings it home with:.- Wolt entering the employee benefits game.- Taking on Epassi with zero merchant fees (at least for now).- And proving, once again, that every fintech eventually becomes a payments company and every payments company eventually wants to be everything elseIf you enjoy fintech analysis with a side of sarcasm, mild existential dread about business models, and the occasional log cabin Wi-Fi issue this one’s for you.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• One Does Not Simply... Buy from Fintechs with Markus Niemi-Nikkola, Chief Procurement Officer, Savings Bank 27.03.2026 51min

  In this episode, Pål and Ville sit down with Markus Niemi-Nikkola, Chief Procurement Officer at Savings Bank and quickly realise that procurement might be one of the most misunderstood (and critical) functions in banking.What starts as a conversation about sourcing and vendor management turns into a deeper look at how banks actually get things done behind the scenes: from navigating legacy systems and regulatory expectations to balancing cost, control, and innovation without breaking everything in the process.Markus shares:.- Why procurement in banking is far more strategic than most people think.- How vendor ecosystems shape what banks can (and can’t) build.- The real-world tension between innovation ambitions and procurement realities.- Why “just buy the best solution” is rarely that simple.- Why AI bots are not going to handle all sides of procurement anytime soon (if ever) in banking.Naturally, Pål and Ville do their part by poking at the usual pressure points of speed vs control, build vs buy, and whether procurement is enabling innovation or politely slowing it down for everyone’s safety.Somewhere along the way, it becomes clear that while fintech loves to talk about disruption, someone still has to sign the contracts, manage the risks, and make sure the whole thing doesn’t collapse under its own enthusiasm.As it turns out, procurement isn’t boring; it’s a fascinating topic hiding in plain sight.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• AI Everywhere, AML Under the Microscope & Banking That Delivers (Literally) | Nordic Fintech Highlights February 2026 13.03.2026 43min

  Another month, another set of headlines quietly orbiting the same big question:Where does AI actually change the game and where does it just sit on top of old problems?In this Nordic Fintech Highlights episode, Ville, Pål and Janne connect three very different stories through a familiar thread: automation is moving fast, but reality is still catching up.On the agenda:Janne: Lunar x Wolt.Banking perks meet delivery platforms as Lunar partners with Wolt across the Nordics. Beneath the lifestyle angle sits a bigger question: when financial services blend into daily apps, who owns the customer relationship and what happens when AI starts orchestrating those ecosystems behind the scenesPål: Swedbank AML probe.Sweden’s FSA takes a closer look at Swedbank’s AML compliance, reminding everyone that while AI promises smarter monitoring and better detection, financial crime still evolves faster than most dashboards. Regulation remains stubbornly human, even as the tooling gets smarter.Ville: Basware’s AI agents.Enterprise finance steps into the age of autonomous assistance, as Basware introduces AI agents into procurement and financial workflows. The discussion turns to what happens when machines stop just analysing data and start taking action and whether back-office functions are quietly becoming the most AI-disrupted part of finance.Along the way, we touch on AI as infrastructure rather than headline feature, the tension between automation and accountability, and the growing sense that fintech’s next battleground may be operational intelligence rather than customer-facing flash.Smart systems, messy reality: business as usual in fintech.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• APIs, Grit and the Finnish Founder Mindset with Joonas Tomperi from Enable Banking 27.02.2026 59min

  In this episode, Pål and Ville sit down with Joonas Tomperi, CEO and co-founder of Enable Banking — and quickly realise this is less about APIs and more about mindset.Yes, we talk open banking. Yes, PSD2 makes an appearance. But the real story is what it takes to build a fintech in a heavily regulated industry when half the market says “you’re too late” and the other half says “nothing works yet.”Joonas shares:.- Why starting a fintech at 35 (not 22) was a strength, not a weakness.- What it’s like launching into PSD2 when the APIs technically exist… but not really.- How to turn regulatory slowness and pandemic chaos into competitive advantage.- Why Enable Banking chose product over consulting — even when cash flow would have been easier the other way.- The uncomfortable truth about fundraising: it’s basically advanced dating, but with more spreadsheetsWe also get into founder psychology — risk vs opportunity, when to bring in stronger operators, and why the best CEOs are willing to replace themselves if it’s right for the company.And in true Nordic fashion, we ask the big question:Why doesn’t Finland have five fintech Nokias yet?Along the way, there’s flu, pirate eye patches, 90s bank servers covered in dust, and a gentle reminder that connecting to “thousands of APIs” is slightly harder than plugging in a phone charger abroad.If you care about open banking, founder grit, or building something meaningful in a market that moves slower than your pitch deck suggests — this one’s for you.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Klarna Moves Money, Lunar Loads the War Chest, Loomis Rewires the POS | Nordic Fintech Highlights January 2026 13.02.2026 42min

  January may have looked quiet on the surface, but the Nordic fintech engine was very much running.In this Nordic Fintech Highlights episode, Ville, Pål and Janne unpack what actually mattered beneath the seasonal slowdown — where peer-to-peer payments, SME banking, and the future of merchant acquiring all collide in very Nordic ways.On the agenda:.- Klarna goes P2P. From BNPL to bank to sending money between friends, Klarna steps into an already crowded wallet space — starting closed-loop, with bigger ambitions ahead. We dig into ecosystems, cross-border logic, and why P2P always ends up being about much more than just P2P..- Lunar raises €46m and doubles down on SMEs. Fresh capital, sharper focus on business banking, and Moonrise as a platform play. Underserved SMEs return to the spotlight — this time backed by a proper war chest..- Loomis Pay and Android POS. Cash heritage meets programmable terminals as Loomis pushes deeper into digital acquiring. We explore why open POS platforms matter, how new payment rails complicate acquiring, and why instant payments still give merchants plenty of operational headaches.Naturally, the conversation takes a few familiar side roads: embedded finance, platform economics, gig workers, AI agents as future bank customers — and a shared realization that merchant acquiring has become one of the most quietly complicated parts of fintech.A calm start to the year, a surprisingly busy news cycle, and just enough skepticism to keep everyone honest.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Stablecoins, CBDCs, and Finland’s 1990s Warning Shot with Aleksi Grym 30.01.2026 53min

  We’re back in central-bank territory with Aleksi Grym from the Bank of Finland, and once again manage to turn a perfectly sensible conversation into a deep dive on money, payments, and why nothing in this space is ever as straightforward as it sounds.Starting with what central banks actually do (spoiler: more than just printing money), we move into crypto, stablecoins, and why most of their real-world impact still happens inside the crypto ecosystem (or is it.a casino?) itself. Aleksi calmly explains why hype is cheap, plumbing is hard, and payments tend to break in very predictable ways.Naturally, we end up talking about the digital euro — not as a shiny new payment rail, but as a long-term infrastructure project. Less “instant innovation,” more “who controls the rails, and should Europe care?” Along the way, Finland’s 1990s Avant card makes a comeback, proving that many of today’s “new” problems have already been tried once — just with worse UX.We also touch on:.- Why merchant acceptance matters more than speed.- Why prefunding sounds logical until users meet it.- And why most people won’t care about payment sovereignty… until they suddenly have toIn short: the kind of episode where you learn something useful and still laugh a little at how we keep learning the same lessons over and over again.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Welcome 2026 with Nordic Fintech Highlights | Nordic Fintech Highlights December 2025 16.01.2026 45min

  New year, new season, same format. Ville, Janne, and Pål are back with Nordic Fintech Highlights, opening the season by unpacking three stories that quietly say a lot about where Nordic and European fintech are heading.Ville starts with the ECB hiring up for the digital euro project, bringing in market infrastructure specialists to work on rulebooks, rollout planning, and the role of intermediaries. The takeaway: less theory, more plumbing — and another sign that the digital euro continues to move forward in the background - but at what cost?Janne follows with NOBA Bank Group’s acquisition of DBT Capital, strengthening its position in digital SME lending. The discussion focuses on scale, technology, and why acquiring a ready-made lending platform can be a faster and more predictable path than building everything in-house.Pål rounds things off with Enfuce’s expansion into Belgium and Luxembourg together with Monizze, which sparks a broader discussion about employee benefit cards, open-loop versus closed-loop systems, and why this model feels very familiar in a Nordic context. Parallels are quickly drawn to ePassi and other closed-loop benefit platforms, raising questions about distribution, user experience, and whether closed ecosystems still have an edge when regulation and interoperability keep pushing everything toward open networks.As always, the conversation is grounded in practical experience, dry (or is it just bad?) Nordic humour, and a shared sense that fintech progress is usually more evolutionary than revolutionary.A calm, thoughtful start to the season — and your regular reminder that the same payment ideas tend to come back, just with slightly different logos.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Live from Nordic Banking Forum 2025 19.12.2025 1h 4min

  A Full House of Bank CEOs (and One Central Banker)We took Fintech Daydreaming on the road to the Nordic Banking Forum in Helsinki, and somehow ended up interviewing more CEOs in one day than we usually see in a year.In this special episode, Pål, Ville — and Janne, once we caught him mid–event sprint — sat down with:.-Prag Sharma (Citi) on agentic AI, future-of-finance vibes, and why 80–90% of bank data suddenly matters..-Janne Salminen (Helsinki Fintech Farm) pops in for a quick Nordic Fintech Highlights segment and shares the annual event-planner panic cycle with us..- Sampsa Laine (Alisa Bank) on SME banking, partner ecosystems, and why mortgages are still a “not yet.”.-Riikka Laine-Tolonen (S-Bank) on running a bank inside a retail empire, loyalty economics, and scaling to 3.4M customers..-Jarkko Mäensivu (Saldo Bank) on embedded finance, European expansion, and building a lean, credit-focused bank..-Aleksi Grym (Bank of Finland) on fraud in instant payments, CBDCs, and why Finland quietly invented half this stuff in the ’90s (and already shut it all down long time ago). Been there. Got the t-shirt. Wrote an excellent paper about it.With Citi, Alisa, S-Bank, Saldo Bank, and the actual central bank represented — plus Janne’s news segment — this turned into perhaps the most executive-heavy episode we’ve ever recorded.We celebrated:Zero vendor interferenceZero stablecoin panelsA rare concentration of bank CEOs voluntarily talking to usAnd the survival of an entire live recording day with minimal technical disasters (backdrop changes don’t count)And yes, we ended with a fintech dad joke. Naturally.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Aristotle Walks Into a Bank with Rik Coeckelbergs 05.12.2025 44min

  In this episode, Pål and Ville sit down with Rik Coeckelbergs, founder of The Banking Scene and author of Ethos in Banking, for a surprisingly philosophical conversation. Yes, this is the first Fintech Daydreaming episode where we willingly tumble down an Aristotle-themed rabbit hole.Rik’s book dives into how the ancient trio of ethos, pathos, and logos can shape modern banking culture. Tturns out, these aren’t just concepts reserved for toga-wearing philosophers:.- Ethos: Banks need credibility that runs deeper than slogans and “purpose” posters..- Pathos: Customers want to feel understood — not just “KYC’d.”.- Logos: Logic and competence still matter (even if your strategy deck has far too many slides).As Rik unpacks how these pillars can help rebuild trust in the industry, we catch ourselves wondering things like, “Did Aristotle ever have to deal with compliance?” and whether all those countless hours spent in corporate value workshops were really time well spent.Together, we wander into questions such as:.- Can a large bank genuinely live its values without getting lost in the org-chart wilderness?.- Do customers actually want ethical banking, or just fewer fees and fewer headaches?.- And how do you build trust in an industry where most good decisions are the invisible ones?In summary: jokes, tangents, and at least one moment where someone wonders if Aristotle would’ve made a good fintech founder.(Consensus: he would’ve hated the pitch decks.)- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• AI Everywhere, Crypto Creeping Back, & Klarna Being Klarna | Nordic Fintech Highlights October 2025 21.11.2025 42min

  October brought AI hype, digital euro déjà vu, and the shocking return of crypto — which means it was just another totally normal month in Nordic fintech.Pål, Ville, and Janne reunite to unpack the biggest stories from the Helsinki Fintech Farm newsletter. Spoiler: every startup is now an AI company. From automated compliance tools to AI-powered CFOs and even kiosks that buy your old phone via Swish — if it’s got electricity, someone’s calling it AI.Meanwhile, Klarna is back in the headlines with a new subscription model that makes Ville long for more gamified tiers, Pål rant about paying to breathe, and Janne quietly celebrate another strong month for dad jokes. The trio also tackle the ECB’s digital euro saga — now entering its “we promise it’s still happening” phase — and Nordea’s cautious dip into crypto trading, which Ville swears has absolutely nothing to do with his day job.Your biweekly dose of fintech group therapy is here — complete with skepticism, sarcasm, and just enough substance to make it count. In other words: business as usual at Fintech Daydreaming.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Stablecoins, Africa, and a Locked Door with Hyung-Gon Paul Yoo 07.11.2025 52min

  This week, Ville and Pål are joined (once again) by Paul Yoo, CEO of Sukaa, who beamed in live from New York to talk about his newest venture — and somehow turned what was supposed to be a fintech chat into a masterclass on why Africa might just leapfrog the rest of us in digital finance.Paul walks us through his new startup’s mission to build a pan-African on-chain payments and lending platform, explains why the continent’s fragmentation is both the challenge and the opportunity, and delivers a few spicy takes on Europe’s new bank-backed stablecoin. (Spoiler: he’s not impressed.)We revisit old predictions, argue about what “self-settling” really means, and test the limits of how many times stablecoins can be mentioned in one episode before someone needs a lie-down. Somewhere in between, there’s a crypto joke, a Men in Black reference, and a minor real-world subplot involving a locked apartment door.It’s global, geeky, and a little chaotic — just another day at the virtual office of Fintech Daydreaming.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• The One We Forgot to Record (Twice) | Nordic Fintech Highlights September 2025 23.10.2025 46min

  In what might be our most meta episode yet, Pål, Ville, and Janne sat down to unpack the biggest Nordic fintech stories of September — only to realize halfway through that we’d forgotten to hit record. So yes, this episode is technically the sequel to the lost masterpiece that no one will ever hear.Once we finally remembered to press the big red button, things got back on track (mostly). Ville’s voice barely survived another deep dive into stablecoins — a topic now reaching “say it one more time and I scream” levels. Pål compared digital euros and euro stablecoins like a true survivor of SIBOS, and Janne tried to restore order with AI funding rounds, Revolut’s Nordic comeback, and an ePassi expansion story that proves the Finns can scale just fine without the metaverse.There’s even the obligatory terrible fintech joke, a bit of croaky small talk, and an awkward realization that maybe we talk about stablecoins more than our families.All in all: it’s chaotic, it’s geeky, it’s pure Fintech Daydreaming — take two.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl, Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Live in Copenhagen from Nordic Fintech Week 09.10.2025 1h 54min

  This year Pål and Ville set up shop in the official backstage of the event venue – meaning our little “studio” has probably seen more rock stars, comedians, and magicians than fintech podcasters. But for two days, it was home to us… and the now famous podcast couch.On that couch we hosted a parade of fintech’s brightest people – founders, authors, bankers, thinkers – all crammed into one room with us, the noise of the conference bleeding through the walls, and way too little coffee. The result? The longest Fintech Daydreaming episode ever recorded – nearly two hours of conversations, debates, and jokes that we just couldn’t cut down. (Turns out once you get fintech people comfortable on a couch, they don’t want to leave.)Across those two hours, you’ll hear from:.- Thomas Hahn-Petersen (Copenhagen Fintech) on why Copenhagen is buzzing..- Philippe Höij (DFRNT) on shaking up investing..- Jakob Lage Hansen (DoLand) and Ulrik Koefoed Johnsen (Giv Effektivt) on impact and giving..- Kim Norbye (Nexi Group) and Paolo Sironi (IBM) on future rails of finance..- Leda Glyptis with her trademark truth bombs..- Panagiotis Kriaris (Unzer) and Lotta Domonkos (Fimento AB) on payments and platforms..- Daniel Alter (Enfuce), Ronit Ghose (Citi), and Rune Kallehauge (Mastercard) bringing the global view..- Christie H. Kristensen (Danske Bank), Veikko Koski (FinanceKey), and.- Wassa Camara (Copenhagen Fintech) closing out the Nordic perspectives.It’s raw, it’s noisy, it’s almost two hours long – but if you want to get into the buzz of Nordic Fintech Week this does it better than any LinkedIn highlight reel you saw before.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/
• Emergency Episode - Nine Banks, One Stablecoin, Zero Chill 26.09.2025 30min

  Forget the usual schedule — Ville and Pål hit the big red button and jumped on the mics less than 24 hours after nine European banks dropped their bombshell: a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin.Fresh off a late flight from Copenhagen (and still running on coffee and questionable airport snacks), we dive straight into the questions everyone’s asking:.- Do we actually need a bank-issued euro stablecoin?.- Why are Danske and SEB — two banks outside the eurozone — in on the action?.- Is this the next chapter of money… or just a rerun of 19th century wildcat banking with shinier marketing?Expect a crash course in what stablecoins really are, why this joint venture might matter (or not), and plenty of healthy skepticism about timelines, use cases, and whether anyone will actually use these coins outside PowerPoint decks.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on Hello@FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming home page - https://www.FintechDaydreaming.com- Fintech Daydreaming on Twitter - https://twitter.com/FintechDaydream- Fintech Daydreaming on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintech-daydreaming- Pål Krogdahl - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krogdahl/- Ville Sointu - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ville-sointu-54682b/