From Roaming Fees to Retention Engine: The Telecom Layer Your Neobank Is Missing

Fristy. To release

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Vince: [: 00:00:00

Monica: You're building something with a twist

telecom meets FinTech

What is the current problem with telecom?

Vince: telecom there was no innovation very rigid

Monica: Why should we then embed telecom in FinTech apps

Vince: Maybe it's something that you don't realize yet because everybody takes it for granted, but from a from a consumer standpoint

Monica: in Southeast Asia you go from. Malaysia to Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, na da da

it's painful, my phone is not that old, but it doesn't support esims and then it's a pain

Vince: once you go out of outside of your country, you go into these limits so all of a sudden you have to pay excessive roaming fees

Monica: it has a cost to use the service but I'm sure it drives other metrics

Vince: one of the biggest points that we look at is what is the percentage in the globe of people that we are connecting

across the globe that allows [: 00:01:00

what do you tell yourself when...

Monica: you mean the mindset of a moment of failure?

Being a founder is the majority of the time about failing and very few times about succeeding. For me it's about like there's a short moment in failing where you

and then after that, it's always about opportunity

vince, pleasure having you in the show.

Vince: Yeah. Pleasure to be here.

Monica: Cool. So you are not building a neobank FinTech infrastructure as such. You're building something different with a twist.

Vince: Yeah. Yeah, definitely.

Monica: Telecom. Telecom meets FinTech space.

Vince: Telecom meets FinTech. Yeah. I like

Monica: that

, very customer focused, uh, [: 00:02:00

And that was very fun. And then, uh, and then we, in the meantime, we were looking at telecom and it was the exact opposite. Uh, there was no innovation very rigid. Uh, so we thought, okay, maybe it's time to, to, with these skills, go into this market and see whether we can, uh, make a similar movement there.

Uh, so that's what we did.

Monica: Cool. So what is the problem? What is the current problem with telecom?

Vince: So the, the current problem with telecom is. Maybe it's something that's, uh, that you don't realize yet because everybody takes it for granted. Uh, but from a from a consumer standpoint, you get a telecom subscription, so you're tied to one single operator and then you travel everywhere across the globe.

ional call, you have no clue [: 00:03:00

Or, or so. So all these, these weird limits. Are there in telecom and people kind of take them? Yeah. As if, as if that's how it should be. That's on the B2C side and on the, and on the business side, if you want to to go away from that. So in multiple countries, integrate with a telecom operator. Every integration takes around nine months.

That is quite similar towards how FinTech was 20 years ago when there was no Argen or no stripe. Yeah. As a company needs to integrate with a, with a payment provider in every country, again, they solve that. Same for banking, you have interchange or, or, or remote fees. Revolut and, and Wise, they solve for that.

Uh, and now it's the, the term for telecom. To, uh, to improve those situations.

Monica: So why should we then embed telecom in FinTech apps like neo brands?

on because we allocate. This [: 00:04:00

So we started developing that ourselves. In the process, we created a base layer of, uh, of connectivity that runs across the globe. Uh, that allows everybody to connect to essential services for free. Once we did that, Uber called us because they were interested into it, and they said, Hey, we would love to be part of that free base layer of connectivity because we are losing revenue from people traveling.

Then not having con connectivity and not being able to book an Uber. So as a result they use other, other things like public transportation or normal cab Uh, so we started working with them on that. And then it went quite quickly. Uh, we moved more into B2B. Uh, we started to collaborate with Grab here in Southeast Asia.

venue about retention, about [: 00:05:00

Monica: Cool. Yeah, because as a traveler. Exactly. It's like, I don't know. In Southeast Asia you go like from. Malaysia to then like Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, na da da. And it's even just like a few years ago, you're like, it's a pain every time that you get to the airport, you know, like you have,

Vince: you have to get a sim and now they solved it by, by selling EIM cards, for example.

But it still requires you to buy a 10 gigabytes in Thailand. And then you go somewhere else and you lose those gigabytes. It doesn't really make sense. It would make much more sense if as a consumer you just have a sim card that always connects towards the best telecom operator, uh, and that you just pay one price across the globe because that is how technically it's possible.

Uh, and that is how we facilitate it with, uh, with Firsty

Used to travel to Southeast [: 00:06:00

It's painful, but then it's like the esims my phone is not that old, but it doesn't support esims and then it's a pain because then I still have to find the work around.

I agree.

Vince: Yeah.

Monica: So how does first two work like properly?

So what we do is we do not necessarily rely on esim technology.

Vince: We believe, like simply that everybody in the globe should be able to have a connection and we see that partners FinTech players and, and right heading partners want to enable that because it improves their user experience as well.

st every operator across the [: 00:07:00

So as a consumer, once you're connected to Firsty you always get the local price. You can keep calling and you can keep having having the same bundle. So you pay a monthly fee just as with your normal operator, but it's not tied towards a single operator. And that system you can use on an EIM if you want, because EIM is just communicating with first, but also on a SIM card or on your left.

Top or whatever. It's just a way to connect towards any operator.

Monica: So at like as a consumer, I'm like, cool, where do I, I'm like, where do I get it? Like, so which fintechs are cool, not cool. It's like, yeah, banks or fintechs have you worked with, but customized can access the solution.

Vince: So I think here, here in Thailand.

The easiest way to get it is via grab, because they provide it. But if you want to do it directly with fintechs, in, uh, Singapore and Malaysia, we do, uh, GX bank and GXS. And EU in, uh, in Belgium. That all provides these type of services. And we have some new bigger neobanks coming up, with the, we can not yet share.

. But I'll share it with you [: 00:08:00

Monica: Nice. So if I put my other. Hat from a commercial perspective, why does it make sense? Because like, if we think as a, as a product team, you will have a huge list in your roadmap and then you need to prioritize. And there's kind of tons of people that are like, oh, this could be cool, this could be cool.

Of course you have your strategy, but many times the prioritization framework is not, not straight. Forward. There's an element of experimentation. There's an element of, oh, that is exactly, that makes commercial sense. That is cool. You have the resources or I don't, but in every, almost every case, commercials is a, is a, an important part.

we can pass it to customers, [: 00:09:00

Vince: Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, so the exact question is how do you prioritize no.

Monica: Which other metrics is it driving?

Vince: So we, what we're actually mainly looking at is, uh, the number of customers that we actually can connect.

Uh, so the objective of the company long term. Is to make sure that everybody across the globe can have a connection, uh, because we believe that that should be a right. Uh, if you have a connection, you're able to connect with your friends and family, but you're also able to get educated as well. Uh, that is why we try to get the root via big players because they already have a very big audience.

Uh, and that is why you have that three base layer, uh, because it allows everybody to get a connection for free. So one of the biggest points that we look at is. Uh, yeah. What is the percentage in the globe of people that we are connecting, uh, besides the normal metrics such as, uh, commercial value, et cetera?

Monica: I like that. Yeah.

Vince: Thank you. Yeah.

ssage that you would like to [: 00:10:00

Vince: Well try it. Yeah, finally that, uh, at first e app, uh, try it out in the Grab app. Try it out via Uber. Uh, I'm curious what you feel about the, the solution and if you have any feedback, feel free you to send it to me.

Monica: Of course. Cool. Yeah. I'll turn it out. Like genuinely. No, it's like I'll try it out. It's like, you're not like here. We're traveling a lot, so it's, uh, it makes sense to try it out.

Vince: Yeah. Awesome.

Monica: Cool. Cool.

Vince: Thank you. It was good to meet you.

Monica: Yeah, likewise. Thank you.

Vince: So one more, uh, the founder journey. I'm always fascinated by the founder journey and the mindset. I always try to be like, oh, the mindset of the founder is, is really important. What I've heard about many founders is you fail, and it may be that it's like you spoke with an investor and you said the wrong thing, or you.

yourself when you messed up [: 00:11:00

Monica: And then you mean the mindset of a moment of failure?

Vince: Yeah.

Monica: So I think you're right. Uh, I think being a founder is, is, uh, the majority of the time about failing and, uh, very few times about succeeding. But I think these are, of course, the moments that, that everybody remembers. For me it's about like there's a short moment in failing where you, uh, where you accept that failure.

It's like, okay this, this happens.

Vince: And then you're like, okay. Yeah.

Monica: And, and then after that, it's always about opportunity. So that failure is there. Okay. How am I gonna make sure that I'll, uh, I'll result into, result this into a win? Uh, and that's, that happens during the failure that happens after the failure, but, but also before the failure.

that always sets you up for [: 00:12:00

Vince: Oh, I like that. Because then it's like you messed up or you had failure not messed up.

That's not the right word.

Monica: Ah. It can be right. Work.

Vince: Yeah.

Monica: Yeah. Sometimes you mess up. Yeah.

Vince: Yeah. Sometimes you messed up that like. Yeah, you have to fight there. Give myself, but then it's like

Monica: it's about moving forward. Moving forward. Yeah. So the, the, the moment that you fail and you, you hit a block and that is, that is the end point for you, then it's actual failure, but the moment that you fail and you are ready to go forward.

Something else, plan B or C or D, then you keep on moving. And I really feel that that's in, in life. So not only in having a startup but also in having a conversation in trying to to, to get somebody, to, to have a, I dunno, go on a date with you to, in, in, in having a play with somebody or whatever.

Uh, being able to keep the movements. Make sure that you keep on going. It sounds very logical, but that is how I look it.

Vince: No, but it's good. It's good. Cool.

Monica: Alright.

Vince: Any other mindset things that have been, like, this one took me out of, uh, the tough times?

Monica: [: 00:13:00

And not only like-minded, but people that's, uh, that are open to you, uh, failing. So I think the, an ego can be a very big stopper of it. A lot of people don't dare to express their failure, uh, which makes it a bit less authentic and also more difficult to cope for with it, for me at least. So I really like to, uh, to share my failures as well, even though it sometimes feels a bit bad.

Of course,

Vince: I know, but I like that. That's a good one. No one has heard that before. It's like, no, but it's. Like, no. Has heard that one before.

Monica: Okay. That's good.

Vince: Thank you.

Monica: Cool. Cool.

Vince: Thank you. It was good to meet you.

Monica: Yeah, likewise. Thank you.