When does a fintech become what they set out to disrupt? Is it when they start offering bank-like products? Get a banking licence? Is it when they go all-in and buy an actual bank? In this episode we ask whether this is good, bad, or something else for competition. The Asian Banker founder Emmanuel Daniel says fintechs struggle to maintain their innovative edge when they get sucked into the bid to become a bank, while Wise’s Surendra Chaplot believes you can be bank-like and still forge a path that is sensitive to customer needs. 

This episode was produced by Rachel Williamson and Charis Palmer, with music credits to BalloonPlanet.