Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS
Episode 1009: News – How the AWS outage rocked fintech
Release Date: October 27, 2025
Host: David Barton-Grimley (11:FS)
Panelists:
- Ian Morin (Head of Payments, Tink)
- Marusha Naidu (Global Head of Partnerships, Paymentology)
- Pablo Vergara (Co-CEO, Belvo)
Episode Overview
This episode dives into the wide-reaching effects of the recent AWS cloud outage, examining its risk for financial services and fintechs globally. The panel explores resilience strategies, the importance of transparent communication during outages, and industry dependencies on cloud providers. Additional stories include Splitwise and Tink’s new “pay by bank” expansion in Europe, Paymentology’s launch of its flexible credit platform, and Revolut’s achievement of a banking license in Mexico. The speakers provide candid insights from their own companies, shaping a timely and revealing discussion on operational resilience, the evolution of open banking, and fintech expansion strategies.
Panel Introductions & Opening (00:00–06:11)
- David Barton-Grimley welcomes listeners and introduces the week’s panel, highlighting their recent experiences at London’s Open Banking Expo and fintech debates.
- Ian Morin (Tink): Shared insights from Expo, emphasizing ongoing conversations around the growth and resilience of open banking payments.
- Marusha Naidu (Paymentology): Describes her role curating partnerships for Paymentology, a global issuer processor spanning multiple regions, and shares excitement about hosting Paymentology’s new “Issuer Academy” podcast.
- Pablo Vergara (Belvo): Updates on Belvo’s growth as an open finance leader in Latin America, focusing on the recent direct debit report in Mexico and the accelerating trend in account-to-account payments regionally.
Key Discussion Points & Deep Dives
1. The AWS Outage: Can Cloud-Based Fintech Survive? (06:11–15:52)
Context: A major AWS outage caused disruptions for millions, including top UK banks and worldwide platforms. The incident renewed focus on cloud concentration risk and the need for robust resiliency plans.
Main Insights
- All panelists’ organizations avoided direct disruption, but saw widespread industry impact.
- Marusha (10:12):
“It’s about making sure we don’t have a concentration risk. What we do is we create resilience by having a multi-cloud provider structure...there will always be an incident, it’s really about how quickly we adapt.”
- Ian (11:04):
“Consumers are getting more used to it...There’s a responsibility on us all to build in that resilience and work with our technology providers, regulators and everything, really, to make sure that we’ve got the most resilience we can.”
- Pablo (12:31):
“It shows how important it is from a customer communications perspective...If you’re banking with two institutions and one sends you a push notification right away, they’re going to build more trust than the other brand.”
- Noted a paradox: Despite the outage, AWS’s stock price rose, reflecting perhaps confidence in their response or a “we just accept this now” mindset.
Notable Quote
- Marusha (14:03):
“People don’t remember how long the outage lasted. It was about how it was managed ... It actually promoted confidence in [our CTO] that if there is ever a problem, AWS is going to be there front and center, supporting us.”
Timestamps
- Outage news and initial reactions: 06:11–11:04
- Importance of customer communications: 11:04–12:31
- Market reaction (AWS share price): 12:31–14:54
- Real-time services vs. acceptance of downtimes: 14:54–15:52
Memorable Moment:
A replay from a past episode with Monzo CTO Matt Pfeiffer explained Monzo’s approach to resilience by building “Monzo Stand In,” a platform designed to independently keep services up during catastrophic failures.
"The customer won’t even notice ... That’s what the primary platform does." — Matt Pfeiffer (15:52–18:01)
2. Splitwise & Tink: Making “Pay by Bank” the Norm in Europe (18:01–29:56)
Story: Splitwise extends Tink’s “pay by bank” functionality to France, Germany, and Austria, building on significant UK adoption.
Discussion Highlights
- Ian (19:20):
“Every now and again you get customers come along where the whole office goes, I want us to solve this problem. I love the app, don’t like this bit of it. We all use it.”
- Explains Splitwise’s expense-sharing model and the impact of in-app payment integration on user behavior.
- Behavioral changes: Sharp uptick in account checks and payments after UK campaign—a real indicator of latent user demand.
- Pablo (22:13): In LatAm, open banking/finance has moved from data-driven credit and lending towards recurring, variable payments. Brazil’s PIX is highlighted as a global standard.
- Marusha (25:16):
“Account-to-account is complementary to cards...It’s about bringing together different types of innovation and payment instruments to really answer that—how do we help them live better each day?”
- Discussion shifts to the nuanced branding challenge for “open banking" (often called “pay by bank” in the user journey).
Key Quotes
- Ian (27:21):
“If you have an account funding or top up flow and you’re not using pay by bank, you’re probably behind the curve today.”
- David (29:56):
“At the Open Banking Expo...almost no one was referring to it as open banking—but as pay by bank. In some ways that’s better...but also leaves branding challenges.”
Timestamps
- Splitwise/Tink story & campaign response: 18:01–21:57
- Global open banking growth (Mexico, Brazil): 21:57–26:42
- Complementarity of payment methods, user experience: 26:42–29:56
3. Paymentology’s “PayCredit” – A Cloud-Native Credit Platform (32:48–43:49)
Story: Paymentology launches “PayCredit,” targeting digital banks and fintechs with a modular, cloud-first credit ledger and issuing system.
Main Insights
- Marusha (32:48):
“We didn’t take a debit card platform and try to retrofit it...We really said, we want this to be the most configurable credit card platform where customers can gradually grow...”
- Reduction in time-to-market—from 12 months to 3-6 months for new credit products.
- Data and real-time capability are central: Mexico will be the first live market.
- Ian (37:10): Laments enduring legacy thinking, but sees open banking data as a game-changer for dynamic, real-time credit assessment.
- Marusha (38:59): Focus on inclusion and financial literacy; using simple products like BNPL to build credit histories especially in underserved markets.
- Pablo (40:45): Emphasizes the need for alternative data, particularly in LatAm, to “make the invisible visible” and build credit profiles in cash-heavy, underbanked societies.
Key Quotes
- Ian (37:10):
“We do see open banking data used today in lending decisions. Is it everything it could be? No, it’s not...We have access to and the ability to look at the data today and create dynamic lending decisions.”
- Pablo (43:49):
“If you don’t have a way of making the invisible visible, it’s not going to work for you...The models are only as good as the data that powers them, right?”
Timestamps
- PayCredit explained; speed of launches: 32:48–36:46
- Implications for legacy systems/real-time credit: 36:46–40:35
- Financial inclusion and alternative data: 40:35–43:49
4. Revolut’s Mexico Banking License: Strategic Leap (43:49–50:01)
Story: Revolut receives a full banking license in Mexico, aiming to tap into a $63.3B cross-border remittance market amid continued delays for a UK license.
Discussion
- Pablo (45:18): Offers firsthand history as a former Revoluter—Mexico has long been on their roadmap, presenting a massive, underbanked market with high primacy for digital-first solutions.
- Notes the regulatory environment in Mexico:
“By no means...the regulator in Mexico is particularly friendly, especially if you compare them to Brazil...But in the case of Mexico, they just set up properly...and they got it.”
- Brazil is considered more pro-innovation compared to the more cautious Mexican regulators.
Timestamps
- Revolut’s expansion and Mexico’s market context: 43:49–47:55
- Regulatory experience; significance of Revolut’s license: 47:55–50:01
5. Quickfire News: Zilch & Plaid, and “Fintech Halloween” (52:58–end)
Zilch & Plaid Partnership
- Zilch to integrate open banking with Plaid for “pay by bank” repayments—mirroring prior episode themes of growing A2A payments in the UK.
- Zilch plans to launch “Zilch Pay,” a one-click checkout experience.
Fintech Halloween: “Which Money Startup Would You Resurrect?” (52:58–57:45)
- Panelists share their picks of defunct fintechs they’d “bring back from the dead”:
- Ian: Zing travel app (“worked really well,” but not viable).
- Marusha: Early digital banks like Simple—timing was the issue, not the product.
- Pablo: Mint.com (“I still haven’t found a PFM app quite like Mint.”)
Timestamps
- Zilch/Plaid integration news: 52:58–54:46
- Fintech Halloween segment: 54:46–57:45
Notable & Memorable Quotes
- Marusha Naidu (10:12):
"We create resilience by having a multi-cloud provider structure...there will always be an incident, it’s really about how quickly we adapt." - Pablo Vergara (12:31):
"If you’re banking with two institutions and one sends you a push notification right away...they’re going to build more trust." - Ian Morin (19:20):
"Every now and again you get customers come along where the whole office goes, I want us to solve this problem. I love the app, don’t like this bit of it." - Matt Pfeiffer (Monzo CTO, 15:52):
"Occasionally things go wrong...the system is distributed, it's resilient. So the customer won't even notice..." - Marusha (38:59):
"Let’s build financial literacy. Let’s help customers to create credit histories so that they can gradually move up..." - Pablo (43:49):
"If you don’t have a way of making the invisible visible, it’s not going to work for you. The models are only as good as the data that powers them."
Summary Table of Key Segments & Timestamps
| Topic | Start | Key Voices | Key Points/Quotes | |-------------------------------------------|---------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AWS Outage & Resilience | 06:11 | Ian, Marusha, Pablo | “Always going to be outages...it's how quickly we adapt” (Marusha, 10:12) | | Open Banking Growth (Splitwise/Tink/LatAm)| 18:01 | Ian, Pablo, Marusha | “If you have a top up flow and not using pay by bank, you’re probably behind the curve” (Ian, 27:21)| | Paymentology “PayCredit” Launch | 32:48 | Marusha, Ian, Pablo | “We didn’t take a debit card platform and try to retrofit it” (Marusha, 32:48) | | Revolut’s Mexico License | 43:49 | Pablo | “Mexico...very ripe for innovation...the opportunity is just so big” (Pablo, 45:18) | | Quick News: Zilch/Plaid; Halloween | 52:58 | Ian, Marusha, Pablo | “If you did get banks like Zingers or Simple come back, they might do really, really well” (Marusha, 55:09) |
Episode Tone and Style
- The tone is collegial, frank, with playful banter, particularly in the Halloween finish.
- Technical details are made accessible—explanations and real-world examples root the conversation.
- Speakers are open about industry challenges but optimistic about digital resilience, inclusion, and the future of fintech.
Useful For…
- Fintech professionals wanting real-world lessons on operational risk.
- Product managers and digital bankers tracking the latest A2A, open banking, and credit trends.
- Anyone curious about how fintechs respond to “black swan” events and evolving markets globally.
Find the Guests
- Tink (Ian Morin): tink.com, LinkedIn
- Paymentology (Marusha Naidu): paymentology.com, Issuer Academy Podcast, LinkedIn
- Belvo (Pablo Vergara): belvo.com, LinkedIn
- Host (David Barton-Grimley): LinkedIn (@davidbg), 11fs.com
For source links, see 11:FS show notes. Connect with Fintech Insider on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok.