The transformation of the financial sector did not start with generative AI or crypto, but with the need to explain and structure a revolution that was about to arrive. Pablo Blasco, Director of Fintech Spain, strategic consultant with more than 25 years of experience and author of “Fintech Banking”, has spent over a decade observing this evolution up close and helping banks and fintechs navigate it. In The Fintech Podcast, we review with him the waves that have changed banking, the collaboration models that really work, and the capabilities that will shape the next few years.
Pablo Blasco,“The future of banking isn’t about simpler systems, It’s about hiding complexity behind one click; the real revolution is building the infrastructure so people can live their financial lives effortlessly.”
Director of Fintech Spain.
From 37 startups to a consolidated ecosystem
When Pablo decided to create Fintech Spain, the Spanish map barely showed around 37 fintech startups and a clear lack of education about what was going on. The objective of the think tank was precisely to highlight these new business models through events, books, training and projects that brought financial innovation closer to the market, not only to boardrooms.
Since then, the ecosystem has evolved from being perceived as a threat to traditional banking to becoming a space where fintechs, big techs, telcos and even car manufacturers coexist, all eager to offer financial services. This diversity has forced a change in how competition, regulation and, above all, collaboration are understood.
People at the center: lessons from 150+ projects
After working with more than 150 companies, Pablo summarises his learnings in two ideas: people must be at the center and organisations need to balance exploration and exploitation. Without aligned teams capable of “looking outwards”, any innovation initiative slows down and fear of change grows.
He also insists that knowledge today is distributed among many “outsiders” who are not always in formal event or publishing circuits, yet provide key perspectives. To benefit from this, companies must build a strong absorptive capacity: spotting external signals, translating them into opportunities and bringing them into products and processes without losing internal motivation.
From robo-advisors to AI: which waves really matter?
In the interview, Pablo reviews the major waves that have shaped the last decade: robo-advisors, open banking, crypto, blockchain and artificial intelligence. While all of them have contributed, he believes that the combination of AI and new infrastructures (such as blockchain) will have the strongest impact on credit risk, counterparty risk management and operational efficiency.
His view is clear: the financial world is not becoming simpler, it is becoming more complex… but that complexity is hidden behind a single click. The challenge for banks and fintechs is to concentrate the entire value chain in a simple user experience: from payment or financing to data, compliance and advanced analytics.
Technology and Functionality: Integrations Like Bizum and Local IBAN Support
For Pablo, neobanks such as Nubank or Revolut are already full banking players and represent a new way of relating to money. Their advantage is not only in features but in taking the best of traditional banking and radically improving it in automation, experience and value proposition.
One of the key concepts he mentions is the “Amazon with a personal shopper”: users want everything that can be automated to run on its own, but they expect human guidance when facing complex decisions such as long-term saving or taking out a mortgage. Whoever understands this balance between smart self-service and human advice will be better positioned, whether they are an incumbent bank or a fintech.
Bank–fintech collaboration: from window dressing to plug & play
Pablo clearly distinguishes real collaborations from pure window dressing. The models that work are those where innovation is directly linked to clear business goals and to the needs of the business units that will actually use it.
In this context, he highlights the potential of Banking as a Service and plug & play models, which allow companies in sectors such as education or gaming to offer payments, wallets and other financial services without being banks themselves. Examples like Oxxo in Mexico, launching its own fintech to monetise the customer relationship, show how control of the end user becomes the key strategic asset.
Quiet success stories worth watching
Beyond the big names, Pablo mentions several less visible cases that are solving very specific problems: Belvo in open banking for Latin America, Indexa Capital as an automated manager that has grown with prudence and focus, or Fintonic as a pioneer in financial aggregation and optimisation for individuals.
💡Pablo said…
“I’m talking about Spanish startups and some British ones as well that really helped open up the way. Because of course, ‘success’ now, in quotation marks, is relatively comfortable, isn’t it?”
He also points to projects focused on migrant financial inclusion or payment infrastructure, where Spanish fintechs have managed to integrate with large banks as technology partners. Even if they do not always make headlines, these cases prove there is room for profitable, specialised models that are tightly aligned with user needs.
“Fintech Banking”: a holistic guide to the future of finance
The book “Fintech Banking: las finanzas del futuro y el nuevo mundo del dinero” was born from the lack of a truly comprehensive view of the ecosystem in Spanish. Pablo wanted a framework to help engineers, lawyers, economists and finance students alike understand how open banking, open finance, web3, AI and new financial business models fit together.
His goal was to organise the edges of the “fintech polyhedron” and provide a shared language that makes it easier for banks, fintechs, tech companies and regulators to talk to each other. The result is a practical guide that takes the reader from infrastructure to customer experience, always keeping in mind that innovation must be understandable for the end user.
Looking 3–5 years ahead: trends and talent
Looking ahead, Pablo emphasises the role of cognitive AI, decentralisation, Bitcoin as a concept and verifiable digital credentials in the evolution of smart banking. All these trends point towards a scenario where many financial services will be embedded into other digital experiences, far from the traditional branch or banking app.
For talent, his advice to anyone wanting to build a career in fintech is to combine three pillars: a holistic vision of the system, deep understanding of financial products and a real grasp of technology’s impact. On top of that, he adds a good dose of patience to navigate a highly regulated sector where structural changes take time but eventually have very deep effects.
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