On 12th July our community came together for the launch of FTT DeFi, the one-day show where we explored the key opportunities and challenges in decentralised finance, digital assets and Web3.
During the day, Eddie Robb, Commercial Director at Zumo Enterprise sat down with Manuela Sedvartaite, Innovation Manager at Banco Santander. The two discussed the projects Manuela is working on with Santander, current challenges in cross-border payments, and how blockchain technology offers potential solutions.
With many intermediaries, costs and other complexities, in the past cross-border payments could have taken a number of days to settle. Manuela notes that this is unacceptable in today’s digital world. She and her team have been looking at a number of products built on blockchain as a potential solution to these inefficiencies.
Blockchain could provide a more transparent, faster, and cost-efficient way of sending cross-border payments. As part of PagoNxt, Manuela and the team identified the problem of slow processing times in cross-border payments and are now able to offer instant payments to corporates and SMEs via internet banking.
Although it’s having a great impact on the industry, Manuela highlighted that certain aspects within DeFi need to be improved to encourage wider adoption. A significant focus area should be looking at how to improve the ease of use and user experience in DeFi. Improvements here will educate consumers and encourage them to believe in DeFi products, but also instil that the products are safe from a regulatory perspective.
Listen to the full interview below to hear more about the potential of blockchain in cross-border payments, getting the fundamentals right, and integration into the wider market.
If you missed out on the event on 12th July, join us at the Fintech Talents Festival where we will have six stages in total, one of which is dedicated to all things decentralised finance and digital assets.
