Danny Levy: [00:00:00] Hey, I'm Danny Levy and you're listening to Digital Transformation and Leadership. This is the show where we go behind the scenes with today's top business leaders to understand how they're digitally transforming their company. My guest, kicking off season four is Monica Malara, a product leader and women advocate who has spent the last decade building great product in the FinTech space.

She believes in financial safety for all and that the future of FinTech is to make FinTech more human. Monica moved to Malaysia as part of Big Pays founding team to help launch and grow what is now one of the fastest growing neobank. In Southeast Asia with 1.37 million transacting users prior to Big Pay, she steadily progressed from junior analysts in big brands like Visa and Bartley Card to being one of the first joiners in UK Challenger Tandem Bank.

Monica helped build the digital bank from scratch and worked with tandem c e o. On strategic [00:01:00] initiatives and board management, she sits on the board of Payed Education and Payments, and she's recognized as Singapore's Fintech's 65, product leaders and women in FinTech. Monica is also a podcaster and hosts a Purpose-driven FinTech podcast. And mentors, young professionals. My interview with Monica is coming up next.

Monica, welcome to Digital Transformation and

Monica Millares: Leadership. Hi Danny. It's my pleasure being here. Thank you so much for the invite.

Danny Levy: Yeah, my pleasure as well. So glad you could, you could join me for, what is the first episode of season four? After I, after I took four months off the podcast. The first time since I started it in, in 2020, but good reason started a new role at Money 2020, and.

And that's how we got connected as well. So really good to have you on to, to kickstart season four, and I know it's gonna be a fantastic episode.

Monica Millares: Thank you. I'm honored to be the first guest of the season.

Danny Levy: So, um, just before we start, [00:02:00] Monica, could you quickly introduce yourself and, and what it is you're doing with Big Pay?

Monica Millares: Yes. So I am Monica Mijares. I'm originally from Mexico, but by now I'm like a global citizen. Uh, so I lived in the UK for nine years. Then I've been in Asia for almost six years. Mm-hmm. And for the past seven or so years, I've crafted myself, um, entrepreneurial career building neobank from scratch. So I was one of the first joiners in Tandem Bank in the UK when FinTech was just getting started.

Okay. And that was like the foundation of my FinTech career. And then a few years later, this opportunity came up to move to Malaysia and build one of the very first digital banks called Neo Banks in the region. So I've been with Big Pay since the very, very beginning. Uh, my expertise is product. So I, I consider myself like the mom, the mom of like, I build a product from scratch.

So that has been my role since the very beginning, like [00:03:00] talking to customers, understanding the market, growing the team, hiring the team. Um, so it's been a journey because it started from launching the company mm-hmm. To now being one of the top five players in the country. So now we're the big guys. So it's super, super cool.

Danny Levy: And how have you found that shift between being one of the first people on the ground and now the business is growing? Uh, it, it takes a bit of a change in mindset, isn't it? Is that It is. The company does get more

Monica Millares: established. It is. And I love it because like when you start the company, you're very hands-on.

I'm still very hands-on, but it's like very rough, uh, start to be, you don't have any resources. You don't know what you're doing, and you properly don't have a team, so you're doing everything and anything. And then over time I always say like, oh, this company changes every six to nine months. I feel like I'm in another company.

Yeah, because the, the pace at which we're growing is super fast. So right now, like the product team are [00:04:00] like all the teams. We have grown now, we're about 200 people by now. And then the how we interact with each other, and now we need to put more best practices in place. Like, let's say right now I'm working on the product playbook so that we ensure that it's.

Not just how two or three people do one discipline really well, but how do we embed that across the organization so that everyone can grow, uh, and do like great, great work in the organization. So it changes, it changes all the time. And I think that's one of the most exciting things from, for being in a company for such a long time from scratch to to like big player.

And definitely it's a mindset shift. Always need to adapt. Adapt, learn, adapt. Yes. And have resilience. Resilience

Danny Levy: you have to. Yeah. You have to. Yeah. Every day can throw something new at you. And you've gotta have that growth mindset, right? If you want to keep moving forward. I'm always interested in Monica because product, when I hear like head of product or I'm in product, um, it can [00:05:00] mean different things sometimes in different companies.

I just wondered a, a big pay, like what does an average day look like for you and, and what are kind of your key responsibilities?

Monica Millares: There's no average day for me, so you're right. Yeah. Like product can mean so many different things for different people. For some people, product means we're building an app.

For me, product means we need to, we are serving our customers. Mm-hmm. So we are solving customer problems. We need to understand that we're customers and then go and build. Something, a solution for them taking their context and their lives into account. We're not building an app. We're building a solution for customers.

And if I put myself on, on the other side, not on the customer side, but the company side, I am not building an app and I'm listening by the time I tell the ceo, Hey, we are ready to release this feature. That doesn't mean the app is ready. That means the whole company is ready. Therefore, product also plays a [00:06:00] role in leading the company, the other teams to say, Hey, is marketing ready?

Are the operations teams ready? Fraud, compliance, legal, every single part of the organization needs to be ready to launch. It's not just. Launching an app. Yeah. It is end to end. And of course, like reporting, um, finance, profitability, like it's properly end to end. So it is very exciting to be in product at

Danny Levy: this time.

Very exciting, changing mindsets and, and winning hearts. So everyone's ready to, ready to go by this time? Yes. I,

Monica Millares: I, I think, I think you, you put it the right way. Yeah. It's like, It's not only about the thinking and the process and the work, but it's the hearts. And I think that's one of the things I love about big pay.

Like we have a very big heart. Yeah. We all love what we do. So that's reflected in the day to day. Like I love the team and uh, I think it's because of that, because we, we put our hearts into what I, we do.

Danny Levy: I [00:07:00] love the way you put it. Got a really cool topic to unpack today, but before we get into it, um, I wanted to ask you an icebreaker question, uh, and since it's season four, um, I'm changing up a little bit for this series and, and we're gonna be doing a, a series of rapid, rapid fire icebreaker questions.

Five to be exact. So, Are you ready?

Monica Millares: I'm ready. Okay. Nervous but ready. Drum roll.

Danny Levy: Here we go. Monica, what is your strongest skill?

Monica Millares: Oh, I'm a people's person. I bring the best out of people. I get them excited about what we do. I get excited about what we do. Nice.

Danny Levy: And that's it. How, how would your friends describe you?

Monica Millares: Uh, energetic, kind with a big heart and a lot of light.

Danny Levy: I'm sensing a pattern here. Um, have you ever met one of your heroes?

Monica Millares: Plenty. Thank you. Uh, so I had a, I had a face in life that I was huge into interpersonal development. Mm-hmm. [00:08:00] So I went to a lot of conferences. I went to a lot of seminars and in each of them kind of like, I was like, oh, Simon, C, oh my God.

I'm seeing someone Sinek. I spoke with someone Sinek, he's signed my book. You know, like I had many of those moments, but I think over the years, and this is going to sound cliche, but I think my two heroes that I did not meet because of a book mm-hmm. Is two heroes that they were my bosses. Okay. My two ex bosses in tandem, Ricky, Nick, they, over the years, they kind of played that figure of a hero because they trained me basically.

So it's much more than I met a hero from a book, but it's like these two people in my life became so influential that it's like I respectful. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Danny Levy: But that when, when you get a a boss like that, it really can change your whole trajectory in life, can't it? It does. Yeah. It does. It does. Yeah. I've had the same, has a, has a book ever changed your life?[00:09:00]

Monica Millares: Yes. I think it's not just one book, so I have a story for you. Okay. Like, when I moved from the UK to Malaysia, you know, I'm packing and everything. Mm-hmm. My friend was like, are you really taking your books? I had like a hundred or 150 books in, in my room, and I was like, my answer was like, they are my friends.

Yeah. It's like they are coming with me. So yeah. I, I like studying, I like learning, so. I cannot tell you like these one book changed my life. It's more of all of these books became my friends over the years and I love them all. Yes,

Danny Levy: really like that. It that it's an investment, isn't it? Making time to read.

Yes. Not the other way around. Um, what is the best place you've ever traveled to as a, as a global citizen?

Monica Millares: Many, of course. Mm-hmm. And within Asia there's plenty. But the one that stole my heart is Laos. Okay. There's, there's a, there's a little [00:10:00] village called La Prang. Mm-hmm. And there's a magic to it. I don't know.

It's, it's a, it's not that touristy jet. It's by the Ung River. It's like very virgin. But at the same time, like that, in that trip I did, I spent a day with the elephants. Okay. In a sanctuary in the jungle. This is not like the, the very touristy, uh, sanctuary. Mm-hmm. It was more like freestyle. So basically I went checking with the other funds.

Like I, I spent a day hanging out with them and that was up. Absolutely awesome. Like one of the best life experiences.

Danny Levy: Amazing. Wonderful. Wonderful. I've only, I've only spent about 45 minutes in Laos when I did the, the golden Triangle in Thailand. Yes. Sounds like I need to, you need to go back time. Yeah.

You need to go back. Wonderful. Thank, thank you for sharing and, and making it through in one piece those rapid fire questions. Yes. It's not that scary. Yeah. Yeah. Re re really like the [00:11:00] insights. Thank you so much. Thank you. So, um, changing pace, we're gonna get into the, the topic for today. Mm-hmm. Uh, we're talking about the future of FinTech and why that future is human and we've got several points to unpack.

Really, really excited to get into it with you. Um, so just to kick us off, I thought it'd be nice if we could talk, if you could talk about the work you're doing at Big Pay and how the topic today aligns with the impact that it will have in Asia.

Monica Millares: Yeah. So big pay for anyone that doesn't know us. Um, we are a neobank, let's say.

Mm-hmm. And then our mission is to elevate people's lives, right? Yeah. To kind of like take Southeast Asian. It's like people are under financial stress worldwide. So our job is to say, how can we help you? Create the life that you want, one transaction at a time, you know, like from your finances as such. So that's the work we do as an organization.

And of course, this is not the exact paraphrase of, [00:12:00] of the, of the company mission. This is my interpretation as such. Uh, so that's the work that we do. And then I think Big bpay has a very important role in the region. When I decided to move here, like, like you say, like I have a global citizen kind of view.

I came from Mexico, living in the uk, and then when the opportunity came to move to Asia, I was like, oh, actually Mexico and Malaysia are quite similar. Both of them are developing countries, emerging markets, and then they share common traits. And one of the things that I saw in Mexico since growing up, it was like, Hey, there's a lot of inequality, for example, there's a lot of opor and that inequality is bad.

But at the same time today we're like, that is a great opportunity for growth there. There's a lot of unbanked people, underserved people. Yeah. And I saw the same in Asia. So the role of bpay or another FinTech in emerging markets is to [00:13:00] take this population mass, let's say. And then bring them up. Yeah.

Financially speaking, because then when people are financially stable, strong, have better control of their money, then their whole life and the, and the, not just their life, like the life of their families and as such of the community as such. Improves our world. So I think the, the role that we play is way bigger than just financial tools.

It is having real impact in people and then having real impact in society as a result.

Danny Levy: Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Really, really like the way that you put that and, uh, totally agree on the kind of underbanked and underserved, uh, across Southeast Asia. Mm-hmm. Um, and I guess with, with everything that's going on in the world at the moment, um, With the geopolitical, um, events, uh, inflation, is it an all time high, um, [00:14:00] tensions, uh, globally as well?

Um, it seems like everyone's under more and more financial stress. Um, Interested kind of, again, going back to the last point, but also kind of getting your thoughts on this and, and what that means for kind of middle class, but, you know, working class and, and, and everyone in between.

Monica Millares: Yes. So I think when I want to make reference to like two concepts.

Mm-hmm. One is financial inclusion that basically discovers people who are not properly. In the banking system, let's say. Mm-hmm. Actually, V CG Boston Cons Consulting Group and Q E D, they just released, um, report on the future of, of finances such, it's called Reimagining the Future of Finance. Yeah. And basically in the report they say that roughly 80% of the population is either underbanked or unbanked as such.

Yeah, that if [00:15:00] we put that in context, that is like huge. Yeah. Huge. Huge. And then it's like, I think there's two distinctions between underbanked and unbanked. Unbanked is, it's more on financial inclusion, right? Like you do not have access to financial services and wait. For the past many years we've been focusing on that segment.

Okay. However, I think in the past five years or so, the other concept is the unbanked. When the FinTech were starting, let's say in the uk, we were like, Hey, banks are not doing a well, a good job serving our customers, right? Like people are getting all these fees. Um, And that's it. But it was like when FinTech started, that narrative was like FinTech versus banks.

Mm-hmm. To help customers. But over the years, with financial crisis, with pricing, cost of living and everything, it seems like the narrative has even changed even more. Mm-hmm. The unbanked, sorry, the underbanked, [00:16:00] yeah. Is becoming your day to day. Average person, middle class, which that's becoming an issue.

So for example, you and, and, and the impact is I, as a human, I am living under constant stress, financial stress. And then the impact is I am not living my best life. And if we want to evolve as a society, we need to grow people. We need. We need to give them like the space to create, right? Like to live life with dignity, not life with stress.

And it can be as simple as if, if I use like a, a use case, let's say if you are a parent in Southeast Asia mm-hmm. And your, um, little boy got sick, you took him to the hospital. Yeah. And then basically a, probably the insurance didn't pay for everything and now it's like, Hey, did you have that buffer of three to six months [00:17:00] or emergency buffer?

Yes. No, that makes a big difference. But even if you did, this is like a major expense, right? So of course you're going to look out of after your family, you're getting in debt now to pay the hospital and then month and month for the next six to nine months, you're playing catch up. Mm-hmm. And then the impact that it has on the, let's say the breadwinner Yeah.

Of the family. That is huge. And therefore the impact that it has in the whole family is huge. So I just think that, um, By us doing good financial services. Mm-hmm. We impact society about, like, people are genuinely under financial stress and that's one part. But the other one you have the, for example, the travelers.

Mm-hmm. Let's say Okay. People that are not so tight. Yeah. So it's like, hey, I wanted to travel. You know, it's like I wanted to do all this or, and now I'm [00:18:00] like, oh, I cannot travel that much. Yeah. Or another, Everyone. It's like I wanted to continue my studies, a new professional education. Oh, I wanted to go to money 2020, but now it's, um, or a DIS conference or, you know, like study something else to advance my career and my life.

But with all these increase in the cost of living and salary is not going up, you're like, oh, I cannot, I can, I cannot do that anymore. I need to focus on my day to day, and I feel restricted as such. Hence, FinTech, well, financial institutions, we have a responsibility to help people because there is research across the world that it is not about the amount of money that you make.

Yeah. It is about the how you manage their money. So if we as an industry help people manage their money better, we educate them and of course all the app service tools to help them build habits. [00:19:00] And these habits are built around my personal goals, then we are going to see change. And that's why I say that the feature is human right, because it's not about releasing a feature.

It's not a, it's not about releasing a budgeting app. Like budgeting app exists since I'm a kid. Mm-hmm. It is about, Putting those tools in context of people to help them have behavioral change.

Danny Levy: Thanks for unpacking all of that and talking, talking us through it. Um, I just wanted to ask you a question and, and this can be quite a taboo topic, can't it?

I mean, even as everyone's kind of in the same boat, I guess, with a lot of these pressures and. Under increased kind of financial strain and stress and having to make sacrifices or, um, you know, really getting landed with unexpected bills. You, you gave the hospital example and that can really kind of knock you back, right?

Something like that was to happen in, in terms of your savings and, and quality of life. [00:20:00] But, but, but money is a very personal thing and typically people don't like to talk about it in public or how they're doing, or if they're having to make sacrifice. And you mentioned around the role financial institutions have to play.

I just wondered how do you kind of bridge that gap? How do you get people to, to, I guess, open up about it or, or to make it a priority?

Monica Millares: That's a great question. Um, so there's a lot of, and you is the right word. There's a lot of taboo around money, and then it is taboo because, well, there's a lot of limitings around money as well.

So it's like if you make a lot of money, Oh, you're rich. Yeah. You don't make a lot of money. Then you're like, oh, you're poor. So it's like, oh,

Danny Levy: sometimes some of the people with the biggest houses and the Gucci belts and the, the flash cars actually, they're the ones that are in the most financial distress.

Monica Millares: Exactly. So it's like a thing from, this is not a banking thing, this is a society thing. We have like [00:21:00] this taboo or this view about money. And we do not talk about money, right? Mm-hmm. As, as a, as a community, as a society. So one of the things, it's, for example, and this is very common in, in Southeast Asia, uh, let's say that we go out together and, uh, we pay the bill and we split the bill.

But of course, Someone is going to pay for the bill, right? Yeah. And then this someone pays, and in theory, he or she needs to go back to the friends and ask them to pay them back. Okay? That is something you do not do. Like it is embarrassing to ask your friends for money. So that's a very specific use case and people do it.

So now technology is bridging that gap because then you have the QR code or request money, and then it's like who you removed the awkwardness about money. That's an example on how the taboo reflects in day-to-day life. But the other challenge that I see is given that we do not talk about money mm-hmm.

We do not talk about the struggles of money. [00:22:00] Yeah. And we do not talk about the what's working for me when managing my money either. And then we know we as humans, we are sociable beings and we learn. With stories we learn in groups, we learn by sharing. Mm-hmm. So we are missing out. So everybody has this problem that no one is talking about, and then everyone is trying to figure out on themselves and we're in isolation doing this.

Of course that is hard, but there's a lot of shame around the, the topic of money. People don't want to talk about it publicly. That I'm in debt. Yeah. Or that I'm overspending. Maybe I may not be in debt, but I'm not saving. Or maybe. I, or maybe I am not, I'm not ready for retirement, right? And, and I have all this like, anxiety around the future, about retirement.

It's like, it's very personal. It is.

Danny Levy: And it, it hits you every time. You open your laptop as well, doesn't it? Or your phone. You go on social media and oh, they're doing this and they're doing that, and you are on Instagram and, oh, Dave's traveled to the Maldives and how are [00:23:00] they doing that? And it, it's, Adds that kind of mental stress, doesn't it?

Of trying to keep

Monica Millares: up. Yes. So it's very emotional. Mm-hmm. And, and with emotional, I mean, it's like emotionally charged. Mm-hmm. And usually it's not in a positive way, so it's negatively emotionally charged. So the role of fintechs and the role of financial services, in my opinion, is to start building trust.

Mm-hmm. To start creating a safe space to talk about money so that then people are like, oh, it's okay. Right. Like sometimes, It happens to me. Let's say when I am doing, uh, user research and I dunno, I'm in a group with different people and we start talking about how they manage their money. Yeah. The next time that it's my time, like in Monica's personal life, the next time that I'm managing my money, I'm like, oh, let me try that thing that he said, you know?

And I'm like, oh yeah, I think that's better. Yes, but it's because there I had a safe space to talk about money without judgment. Mm-hmm. And then to learn from each other. [00:24:00] So that's something that I've noticed as I, as I facilitate all these workshops, let's say. Mm-hmm. But then what if we were to take that concept of creating safe spaces for people to talk about money, and it's all about trust.

And psychological safety apply at mass market global level. Yeah. So that we have a change in consciousness so that then people can really talk about money in a free of judgment way. Yeah. Therefore, when we do that mindset change, everything changes. It's not about technology. It's not about product, it's not about tools.

It's about mindset change. It's about humans again. Yeah.

Danny Levy: Do you, do you see, I mean, I guess either face-to-face or over digital platforms, does that exist at the moment? Do you think there are these safe places where people can come together and share openly and honestly and get the best advice? Or is there still, is there still some way to go?

Yes.

Monica Millares: Oh, definitely there is like huge, huge, huge way to go. [00:25:00] But I think as society changes and now we have like the rise of, uh, content creators, the rise of communities as such, I've seen there's, uh, community professional communities, not a TikTok community, like professional communities that are designed to educate people around wellbeing.

Mm-hmm. And then in these communities, whether it does. Is, uh, face-to-face groups or if it's just a WhatsApp group that I'm even part one of those, uh, WhatsApp group. Yeah. You see how people start talking about their goals and their challenges and it's like, Hey, I have problems with my teenage daughter.

You know, and, and, and they open up about the challenges with the teenage daughter and money. And then you have like the rest of the, this, uh, group of women. Mm-hmm. So you have the rest of the women kind of like adding value or, and you're like, oh, that is interesting. Yeah. So I think, but that is like a very small [00:26:00] group.

Let's say it's like 100 people group. Mm-hmm. But if we were to be able to replicate that, That could be awesome. And I think we have, this is like Greenfield. We have not done that.

Danny Levy: Yeah. Worldwide. No. It can be really powerful. I know. Money 2020 has a, a platform called Do Better Together, which is all about, um, women in the workforce within financial services and empowerment and, and how they, um, can get recognized for all the amazing work that they're doing.

And it's something similar. It's a, it's a safe space. It's a private group. They come together and they share case studies and real life examples and have open conversations. And it can be extremely powerful to do that in that kind of environment. But I think there, there is a bit of a gap here, isn't there?

Around, I guess the more kind of personal implications of managing money and, and, and how to best, uh, budget and allocate things and still live your best life. Right? But, but exactly. But being mindful of it and, and being able to talk about it. [00:27:00]

Monica Millares: Yes. And I think the secret, not the secret, the challenge mm-hmm.

For this community is going forward is like, hey, creating them and create that trust. Why do I want to open up to talk about my money? So that's key. But the second challenge is like these communities, they thrive because they are based on a very niche type of person. Yeah, so my persona is different to your persona and then it's uh, and it'll be different how someone from rural Africa talks about their money versus someone in the UK or someone in Japan, or someone in Singapore or Mexico.

Yeah, so that how we do that community building, I think it's not at a, a big bank, global level, not even let's say a CARNA and their community. It has to be very customer driven based on groups that have an identity, that [00:28:00] share something in common. And then we bring financial services to them. Mm-hmm.

Agree. Yeah. Something along those lines. Yeah. This is a very good conversation, by the way. I've never talked about that before. I'm like, oh, this is good.

Danny Levy: Thank you. So I, I, I wanted to bring it back as well, Monica, because you touched on the unbanked and you were saying that it was the underbanked where Big Pay had had its lens kind of.

Targeted on, and, and now the unbanked is, is becoming more important. Um, interested to just maybe go a little bit deeper there on some of the challenges you see with the, the completely underbanked and, and how you kind of move them forward in terms of their upward mobility.

Monica Millares: Hmm. So I am quoting a report from, uh, P C G and based on the World Bank.

Mm-hmm. So there's 1.5 billion adults that are. Unbanked.

Danny Levy: Yeah. Amazing. That's

Monica Millares: huge. Huge, huge. Like huge 1.5 [00:29:00] billion adults are not part of the financial services. Mm-hmm. Industry. So before I go into the solution on how we could do it and bring them on board, I'll go into the future, like imagine a world where these 1.5 billion people did have access to a bank account and they can manage their money and they can save and they have goals and they can achieve them and then they can.

You know, like Yeah. Go to uni or any education. Yeah. And travel and build a business and have credit and you mean,

Danny Levy: you mean all the things we take for granted? Exactly. Yeah.

Monica Millares: These 1.5 billions of unbanked people. Mm-hmm. They're a huge. Opportunity, not business wise. Well they are, but like social capital wise, like we have 1.5 billion people who have not tapped even the basic of their potential.

Mm-hmm. Of all the things that we take for granted. So that is like huge. It has the power to [00:30:00] change the world on its own. If we were to bring them with the rest of the people who are banked. But then the how we do it that the. Billion dollar question. $1 billion question. Yeah. One, 1.5 million. Question times 10.

Yeah. Um, so the billion dollar question is how do we bring the unbanked onboard? I. And I think the answer is collaboration. Okay. There is no way one single institution is going to do this on their own. It's a huge problem because it's not just about giving everyone a bank, right? It's about educating people.

It's about ensuring that. Why, understanding why are they unbanked? What's the root cost? You know, like mm-hmm. Now we have like digital banks, you don't even need to have a bank, a branch in your community to [00:31:00] to bank with us. Yeah. But it's like, what is the root cost? Why? Are there so many people that are unbanked and which other problems do they have?

Is it like, do they live in communities without electricity? Mm-hmm. Water, basic sewage. Do you know, like Yeah.

Danny Levy: Yeah, yeah. They might not be technology, uh, literate as well. Right? They might not know, even know how to, to get onto the internet, use a smartphone and access a digital

Monica Millares: bank. Yeah. I would challenge that because like adoption of mobile phones worldwide is about 80%.

Yeah. Yeah. So it's like they born with iPad phones. Exactly, exactly. Yeah. They do have phones. They do have phones. So, but at the same time, they are unbanked. So we need governments, we need, uh, infrastructure, we need the big banks. We need, uh, education plans. We need fintechs to come together and have, uh, Projects to [00:32:00] designed to solve a very specific problem.

And we've seen this happening. So in Malaysia? Mm-hmm. During Covid, uh, the government, the Ministry of Finance, they did an amazing initiative where they were basically giving, giving funds to the Jews. But what they did is they did it, they distributed the funds through the top five wallets. Okay. Including us.

Right. Uh, and then basically not only we, they were giving money to young people, but they restricted how the money could be used so you could not just go and take it out of the atm, like there were certain categories that you could use or not use the money. And I bring that as a reference point because what it showed was that we had an institution as a ministry of finance, we had the fintechs, we had technology provi.

And all of us were working together on their insane [00:33:00] timelines to bring this solution to life. We had a common goal. Mm-hmm. And I was like, this is really cool. Yeah. This is innovation in action and it's having impact in society. Like what if we were to do this like Bing mm-hmm. Worldwide, you know, like it can be done.

It has been proven that it can be done, but of course you will challenge me like someone listen. They're like, Hey Monica, but that's very expensive. Like, yes. So we need to do the, this is where collaboration comes in because it's not just about bringing them on board, but it's like, we as fintechs, we need to survive, right?

We are, we need to focus on profitability as well. So how do we do all this work such that it's a win, win, win win, win win situation. Mm-hmm. Such that, uh, pure capitalism such that we all make money out of the. As well. Mm-hmm. That the unit economics work, that, [00:34:00] uh, both in the present and in the lifetime value of the customer.

Lifetime value. I'm sure it'll work, but it's like it may not work in the short term. We'll have to test an experiment. So it's like, how do we fund all these, what's the business model behind it? So that's why I say we need to bring the whole industry together to solve this problem and like how we do it.

Again, it's collaboration. Have clear, um, problem statements, understanding what your seed that we're solving for and in a very start to be way. Well, that's the vision. Let's now break the elephant in many slices and then go eat one slice at a time. And each slice we experiment. We have hypotheses, we work together, and that's it.

We have one slice. This is a long term game. And then we go to the next one and the next one, and we start building and collaborating. Yeah. Apply all the principles of building a startup, but at a world level. Yes. Um,

Danny Levy: you mentioned around, um, [00:35:00] the role FinTech has to play, uh, in, in initiatives like this.

Mm-hmm. I guess just for, for, for fintechs who are listening in and, and there's a difference. There's the big incumbent fintechs and then there's the more nimble fintechs, maybe the newer players, um mm-hmm. That don't quite yet have. The, the, those same levels of funding, how, how, how do you think they need to be thinking about this in terms of the role they have to play

Monica Millares: purpose?

Um, oh, I just recorded a, a podcast episode and it's all about purpose, and I brought, uh, purpose expert to the show. Okay. And basically what he's telling us is we think that we're building this FinTech to solve a problem, and we're differentiating. Ourselves in the world. But if I am a nimble FinTech that's just getting started or an established one and I'm like, Hey, why am I here?

Right? Mm-hmm. Like what's our [00:36:00] purpose? But at the same time, if we go deeper, then basically we need to say what are our capabilities that we have? Be very critical with who we are, what's our identity? What's, what are the capabilities that we have? And what is the unique way in which we're going to solve this problem?

And is this problem worth solving? You know what? We're going to go for all this pain, is the impact that we're going to have, like, you know, like good enough or not, is it worth doing this? So that's the. First thing to think about, it's like, why did you exist? Why are you uniquely placed? Yeah. Yeah. To make a difference.

Yeah.

Danny Levy: You better, you better know that the problem you solve is big enough before you build the company or the product. Exactly. Don't do it the other way around. Exactly.

Monica Millares: Exactly. So that's the starting point. Like have your clear purpose. Mm-hmm. And, and the why you're doing this. But at the same time, you need to be smart.

Yeah. And then, uh, culture, company culture [00:37:00] plays a huge role. So ensure that you are creating an en an environment that it's, that has psychological safety. For everyone to be able to open up and say, Hey dudes, this is not working. Or, Hey, how about we do this? You know, like create that space for everyone to feel heard and that they can contribute and at the same time create as part of culture, create a high performance culture where it's like, hey, the, the thing that I saw in common between the two founders that I work with mm-hmm.

Is that they both had this sense of urgency, right? It's like, Like urgency, because if we don't, and it's in a positive and negative way, right? It's like if we don't deliver this, like we're going to die. Like we will not have investors like we're gone. So there's, and I think that's the exciting bit about startups as well.

Like you have this sense of urgency that you have to do this. You don't have the luxury of a big [00:38:00] bank with a big budget and teams of 30 people working in a project. You have like one or two people. Go do it. Eat the world. Yeah. Like be aggressive in that sense and build that high performance culture tied to purpose.

It's not just go deliver delivery, it's like build that, that ecosystem within the company. Yes. And then number two, do focus on implementing. Best practices slash ways of working that supports that journey. So if you're going to build a FinTech, it's like, hey, it is equally important to have, uh, an amazing product machine.

Mm-hmm. As an amazing tech machine and a legal machine and someone looking after fraud. So every single department is super important, so do focus on how they work together as well. And, and the right word is focus as well. Uh, so it's like they need to contribute, they need to work. Work together. They need to focus on these things that we are working on right now and stop doing [00:39:00] all the distractions.

Focus, focus, focus, focus. And probably that's how you go fast and don't be scared of breaking things. That's why the culture of psychological safety is important. Yes. Like you have to break things and you have to learn as you go. Learn as you go, you figure it out. That's why culture is important, because that culture is a foundation of.

The work that you're doing. Yes. It's not evident, but it's like looking back, it's because of that culture that you can build resilience and high performance and continue to go. Yeah.

Danny Levy: When your foot's hard down on the accelerator, things are gonna break and you have to have that, that good culture, don't you?

That that that's okay as long as you, as long as you've learned from that breakage and

Monica Millares: move Exactly. With confidence. Yeah. It's uh, yeah. No blame culture like this broke. Oh, shoot. We need to fix it rather than Yeah. Oh my God. Who did that? Yeah, it uh, this broke. Oh my God. Okay. What's the impact? Let's [00:40:00] do it.

Danny Levy: Yeah. But that's how you build excellent companies and, and excellent products. Um, Monica really, really enjoyed the conversation with you. With you. Likewise. Thank you. Yes. So, so many amazing points there for the listeners to take away. And, and I've got a four or five pages full of notes here as well, so I'll be reading up on those afterwards Also.

Um, just before we finish, um, just wanted to ask you two final questions Yes. About your career. Um, the first one is, would you be able to share one life or career lesson with the listeners?

Monica Millares: Yes. Um, comfort zone. Mm-hmm. Comfort zone is the killer. It's not your boss, it's not the economy, it's not the company, it's not your salary.

It's you. It's like you need to get out of your comfort zone and the moment that you feel stuck and you're like, eh, the problem is that you are not growing, you're not stretched, like the energy's like stocking [00:41:00] there. So, and that's because you've been sitting in your comfort zone. You need to actively look for new challenges and that you never know what, where that's going to end.

Probably for you, Danny and I, it's like we were in our comfort zone during Covid, we start to the podcast. Yes. And now we're like, oh, this is. So amazing. Right. I still look back

Danny Levy: on that as being a crazy decision with two small children in the house locked in Exactly. At home. But, uh, why not? And look, look where we are now.

Monica Millares: Yeah. So it's like Exactly. Comfort zone is the killer. So

Danny Levy: I completely agree. It's a be little bit, um, intimidating to be slightly out of your depth, but if you're slightly outta your depth, that's probably the moment where you are learning the most, trying the most new things and, and really pushing yourself forward.

Right, and getting noticed as well. People will take notice of that, won't they, most importantly. Exactly. Yeah. No, excellent advice. Really, really agree that. And lastly, um, And I think probably the most important for, for the listeners out [00:42:00] there, what, what advice would you give for people that are just starting out in the industry?

Monica Millares: Get started. Curious. Yes. Because many people get into analysis paralysis. Mm-hmm. Um, so you don't need to get a job in FinTech to start being part of the FinTech community. Yeah. That's what I mean with get started. Mm-hmm. Um, So there's plenty of discord channels. There's plenty of, you know, like, uh, YouTube podcast newsletters.

Get yourself educated, understand the, the, the problem statements fall in love with the industry. Mm, because. For example, sometimes I interview new joiners. Mm-hmm. And when they, when I ask them, so why do you want to join? Right. Or even like, why FinTech? And the answer is, oh, because that's the future.

Mm-hmm. And I'm like, Hmm. That is not like, I don't see the passion. Right. It's more of a, everybody thinks FinTech [00:43:00] is sexy, which is not, it's complex and we're solving real problems. It's not that it's like sexy and trendy. Yeah. It is like a very important part of the. Of our society as such, like financial lives.

But then if I could be trying to get into FinTech right now, it's, uh, right now there's no barriers to knowledge. There's so much there out there on internet. So it's like embed yourself. In all this knowledge that is out there in the internet, and then start connecting with people in the industry. Go to the events, you know, like, uh, join the discord channels, talk to people, and then eventually, Basically you will start getting a strong understanding about what the industry is about because we are about helping people.

We're not about launching, uh, technology products as such.

Danny Levy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Monica, thank you again for, for coming on digital transformation and leadership [00:44:00] and, and sharing all of your career lessons and, and insights about the future of FinTech and why it's more human, uh, with the audience. Um, how can people get in touch if they, if they want, To connect with you if they want to find out more.

Monica Millares: Thank you, Danny. I am very active on social media. Mm-hmm. So I have a podcast, uh, that is FinTech specific and product specific. So it's, uh, purpose-driven FinTech Building Products with Impact. So you can find a podcast in all the major, um, podcasting channels. Yeah, we'll

Danny Levy: put a link to it in the show notes as well.

Monica Millares: Thank you. I also have a YouTube channel. I have a newsletter, uh, that is a custom. FinTech customers and innovations. So it's a weekly newsletter that I post on LinkedIn, and of course you can find me on LinkedIn and TikTok. Uh, you can also book time with me. I'm very active on the mentoring space, so I do give free mentoring half an hour, uh, whether you're a newbie or you're in the industry, you're in product, [00:45:00] you're a founder, it doesn't matter, like, it's just good to have a chat.

So just go to my LinkedIn page and you'll have, you'll find the link to my calendar so you can just. Book time with me.

Danny Levy: Amazing. It's so generous. I don't know. Thank you. Yeah. You're making me feel bad that I don't have a, a calendar where people can book time with me. But if you, if you want to know more on the industry and, and you want to, uh, get to know Monica more, I highly encourage you to, to get in touch.

So thank you for, for tuning in. Thanks for listening to episode one of our season four, and thank you Monica again for, for coming on the show. Thank you, Lenny.

You've made it to the end of another episode of Digital Transformation and Leadership. If you're enjoying the show, please do leave as a five star rating on Apple Podcasts. No need to leave a written review. Just clicking on the five stars is enough. I'd really appreciate it as it helps the show get found and it helps those listener numbers grow.

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