Live from Nordic Banking Forum 2025

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 [email protected] 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/

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 [email protected] 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/

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 [email protected] 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/

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 [email protected] 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/

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 [email protected] 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/

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 [email protected] 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/

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 [email protected] 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/

August in Nordic fintech felt like a Christopher Nolan script: confusing, overlong, occasionally brilliant. Coop Norge’s core banking migration, Visma’s latest acquisitions, and Swedbank buying out Barclays in Entercard all unfolded like plot points you only understand after the credits roll.We argue about whether it was the quietest fintech month of the year, make questionable jokes about beef stroganoff, and somehow get lost in a time loop about Copenhagen.And here’s the twist: read this description backwards and it still makes sense.Because in August, Nordic fintech really did move forward and backward at the same time — and no one was entirely sure what just happened.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville Sointu & Janne SalminenEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on [email protected] 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/

We’re going to Copenhagen! Fintech Daydreaming is an official podcasting partner of the Nordic Fintech Week, and to kick things off Ville and Pål are joined in this pre-event episode by David Grundy (COO, Copenhagen Fintech) and Marie Louise Roth (Head of Partnerships, Copenhagen Fintech) for a sneak peek at what’s brewing in the Danish capital. We talk key themes, the rise of Copenhagen as a fintech hotspot, and why Nordic Fintech Week is no longer just a local gathering but a global fintech magnet.Expect behind-the-scenes stories, some honest chat about what it really takes to pull off an event of this scale, and a preview of the big debates coming up — from regulation to AI to the ever-slippery concept of “partnership.”A lively warm-up for the main event — with the usual Fintech Daydreaming mix of curiosity and (somewhat) questionable humor.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on [email protected] 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/

In this Nordic Fintech Highlights episode, Ville, Pål, and Janne trade beach stories for headlines as we unpack a surprisingly busy July and August. On the menu: Nordic banks snapping up fintechs like they’re on summer sale, Zimpler’s shiny new ID+ passkey (is it the future or just another password we’ll forget?), and Nordea teaming up with Mynt to finally give SMEs the attention they deserve.We wrestle with whether banks are genuinely innovating or just panic-buying talent, what Sweden’s latest investment platform deal really signals, and how identity and payments keep crashing each other’s parties.And of course, there’s the obligatory bad joke — which, let’s be honest, might actually be funnier than some of our analysis.Episode hosted by Pål Krogdahl & Ville SointuEpisode produced and edited by Fintech Daydreaming- Email us on [email protected] 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/