Fintech
In profile: Raman Korneu, CEO of myTU
While individuals and businesses across the financial sector continue to innovate at a rapid pace, many still find it difficult to access the services and accounts offered by traditional banks. However, some entities are trying to change this and make financial services more accessible to all.
With this in mind, we spoke with Raman Korneuco-founder and CEO of myYOUthe neobank that uses cloud-only infrastructure and artificial intelligence to make essential financial services easier to access, more secure and more affordable.
Here, Korneu shares his thoughts on the fintech industry, some of the biggest hurdles myTU has overcome, recent successes
Tell us more about your company and its purpose
myTU is a fintech pioneering the use of cloud-only infrastructure and AI to transform consumer banking. It’s not technology for technology’s sake; we’re leveraging these innovations to make essential financial services more accessible, secure and convenient. That’s exactly what we’re all about. Our team aims to reshape banking by harnessing the power of technology to deliver innovative and convenient solutions to our customers.
Our approach is tailored to the needs of underserved markets and customers. Initially, we focused on the travel industry and digital nomads, with the name TravelUnion reflecting that focus. Once COVID hit the travel industry, we successfully pivoted to serve individuals and families with a full-featured mobile banking app that supports accounts, cards and payments in multiple languages. For corporate customers, the focus is on fully digital onboarding, instant SEPA payments and easy integration with accounting systems.
What are some of your recent successes that you would like to highlight?
We are proud to have recently launched our innovative ‘Payments API’, which enables businesses to streamline their finance operations and increase revenue through automated, real-time payment processing and loan management. This solution integrates seamlessly with our customers’ existing systems, enabling them to reduce operational costs and manual errors.
I would like to highlight in particular the advanced security of this solution. We achieved it through custom multi-factor authentication, which integrates multiple ECDSA keys with IP and DNS data verification and uses secure timestamps along with out-of-band two-way communication, ensuring the highest standard of security and compliance.
Additionally, we have successfully integrated artificial intelligence into our operations, achieving significant efficiency gains and maintaining a robust technology infrastructure with a lean IT department.
How did you get into fintech?
I have spent 25 years in the banking industry, holding board of director positions in conventional banks. I have also held advisory roles at Ernst & Young AND PwCworking on over 100 projects for over 50 major banks and corporations, including Merrill Lynch Securities AND Raiffeisen Bank.
While working in banking, I started to see the potential of financial technology and joined a financial technology company as a strategist. This experience, combined with my EMBA at Judge School of Commerce in Cambridge, inspired me to start my own fintech startup. Together with my co-founder Thomas Navickasexpert software architects with over 20 years of experience, we focus on leveraging new technologies to solve industry pain points.
What’s the best thing about working in fintech?
I believe it is an opportunity to drive innovation and have a real impact on people’s lives. That is why we are using our technology and strategy to increase people’s financial inclusion in the digital economy. Instead of chasing large, saturated markets, myTU is focused on becoming a leading digital bank in smaller countries that are often overlooked by traditional banks and Europe’s largest neobanks. We are currently approaching 50,000 customers representing over 100 nationalities, with 40 percent actively engaging on a weekly basis.
What frustrates you most about fintech?
The pace at which incumbents adapt to new technologies and innovations is an area where I would like to see change. While many established banks and financial institutions are making great strides in embracing digital transformation, there is still room for improvement in terms of collaboration and knowledge sharing between incumbents and fintech companies. By working more closely together, we can create a more inclusive and innovative financial ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders.
Another challenge is navigating the regulatory landscape, which is essential to ensuring the stability and integrity of the financial system. While regulations may sometimes appear to be playing catch-up to rapid technological advances, it is critical to recognize the importance of a robust regulatory framework to protect consumer interests and maintain trust in the financial sector.
How have your previous roles influenced your career?
They have given me a deep understanding of industry pain points and the potential of technology to solve them. Holding senior positions in the banking and finance industry has given me extensive exposure to leading banks and companies, providing valuable insights into the challenges they face. These experiences have shaped my vision for myTU and guided our focus on leveraging technology to create innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers.
What was the worst mistake you ever made?
Initially, we built our infrastructure on a third-party banking platform. While this seemed like a quick way to get to market, we quickly realized that it limited our ability to innovate and adapt to our customers’ needs. This experience led us to make the bold decision to develop our own core banking system from scratch, which was a game changer for myTU.
Now, our cost to acquire a customer is less than €10, compared to over €100 for some competitors. What else is that our team decided to build entirely on Google Cloudmaking it one of the first digital banks to run entirely on the public cloud. This allows myTU to remain agile while offering an exceptional user experience.
What does the future hold for your company?
We are focused on expanding our product offerings, including enabling international transactions, introducing travel loans, and enhancing our loyalty system. In particular, we see a big opportunity in “Travel Now, Pay Later” (TNPL) services that allow travelers to book now and spread the cost over multiple installments.
While BNPL giants love Clarify have partnered with a number of OTAs, myTU sees an untapped opportunity with more traditional tour operators and travel agencies. By incorporating TNPL into these operators’ booking flows, we can help them increase sales among budget-conscious consumers.
With the launch of our Payouts API, we expect to drive substantial growth and increase our enterprise customer base in the coming months. With a strong focus on embedded finance, we aim to become the preferred payment method across platforms from niche service providers to larger e-commerce sites. We are also committed to further leveraging AI and automation to drive operational excellence and deliver even more value to our customers.
What will be the next topics of discussion or challenges for your industry as a whole?
The fintech industry is at a critical stage, with several key challenges and opportunities on the horizon. One of the key issues is the need to rethink the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) model as it exists today.
The recent failure of Synapsesa fintech BaaS, highlights vulnerabilities in the often interdependent fintech ecosystem. Similarly, By Monese The shift from a retail banking model to a B2B technology business highlights the difficulty of transforming retail banking into a profitable enterprise.
Fintechs relying on third-party BaaS providers often find themselves in a homogeneous landscape, with difficulty differentiating themselves due to the “heavy” and inflexible technological infrastructure. Regulatory requirements further complicate the situation, with standardized processes that do not adapt to the specific needs of individual fintechs. The main challenge is the lack of differentiation in compliance settings, which become costly to change. I believe that differentiated compliance settings and products are essential to quickly adapt to market dynamics and regulatory changes.
Furthermore, the continued adoption of Artificial intelligence and automation will be a key driver of change, enabling fintech companies to offer their customers more personalized and efficient services.