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Oliver Hughes is the Head of International Business at TBC Bank, a Central Asian leading bank that’s publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange with a $2Bn current market cap.
Oliver is also a true fintech leader - in the past, he was the CEO of Russia’s Tinkoff Bank, where he built the operations from scratch to become the most profitable digital bank in the world, eventually reaching a market cap of more than $20Bn. He’s been leading in fintech well before anyone was talking about it.
In this episode, we discuss:
Leading Tinkoff Bank for 15 years and becoming the most profitable digital bank worldwide
“It was all about being data-driven way before people were thinking about data driven organizations, long before the word FinTech was coined.”
Oliver led Tinkoff Bank as CEO from 2007 to 2022. At the peak of his tenure, the company was serving 21 million clients, had an annual net revenue of $1Bn, and reached a market cap of $23Bn. Their secret? Capitalizing on Russia's remarkable pool of talent, which includes some of the world's best mathematicians, physicists, engineers, software developers, designers, and data scientists. This diverse and highly skilled workforce enabled Tinkoff to build a robust, data-driven digital banking platform long before the term "fintech" became mainstream. The deep technical expertise allowed the team to leverage advanced data analytics and stay laser-focused on the commercial viability and profitability of each product.
Tinkoff's success can also be significantly attributed to its founder, Oleg Tinkov, a visionary entrepreneur who assembled a formidable team committed to the bank's long-term vision. The organization cultivated a unique "Tinkoff DNA," known for its high energy, selectiveness, and relentless focus on data-driven decision-making. This discipline was crucial in an environment where capital was scarce and expensive, pushing the bank to innovate within strict financial constraints.
Why global fintech investors should be paying attention to Central Asia and Uzbekistan
“You have this full interoperability across the whole system. Genuine open banking, which is great for consumers, but also great for the financial players in the system. This just puts it lightyears ahead of anything else that I've seen, it's quite amazing.”
As Central Asia continues to transform itself, savvy investors are starting to take notice, particularly in fintech and tech. Uzbekistan, in particular, presents a compelling case for why it should be on every global fintech investor's radar. With a population of 37 million that is growing by about a million people each year, the median age in Uzbekistan is currently around 29 and getting even younger. This young, dynamic, and increasingly tech-savvy population is hungry for modern financial solutions.
The country has also seen remarkable economic growth since opening up in 2016, producing GDP annual growth rates of 6-7%. The economic liberalization of the country has fostered a pro-business environment, attracting substantial foreign investment from Middle Eastern nations and major Fortune 500 corporations. This growth trajectory, coupled with a youthful population, has created an ideal market for companies to introduce new, innovative products and services.
Advanced Payment Ecosystem and REAL Open Banking. Uzbekistan's financial and payments infrastructure is remarkably advanced. Unlike many regions where interoperability remains a challenge, Uzbekistan has developed a genuinely open banking system. The country has built a seamless and competitive payments environment that allows consumers to open bank accounts across different banks and link cards from any bank into a single mobile app, enabling easy money transfers, bill payments, and mobile top-ups. This interoperability extends to fintech players as well, with payment aggregators facilitating financial transactions. This integrated, consumer-friendly system is lightyears ahead of many other regions and Oliver is convinced Uzbekistan has all the conditions for fintech innovation to thrive.
A preview of what an AI-powered future of personal banking might look like
“You will have this personal assistant or personal manager that knows you. That's trained on your own data. That will be able to travel with you and help you solve problems elsewhere, which I think is quite fascinating. And I think that's where we are going.”
The future of personal banking lies in AI-powered, dialogue-based financial assistants that far transcend the capabilities of today's mobile banking apps. Unlike the early versions of AI chatbots, the new generation of AI offers seamless and intuitive user experiences. These AI assistants will not only manage your financial tasks but also integrate deeply into your daily life, offering advice and handling chores with personalized precision.
The conversational assistants will also be portable, meaning they won't be confined to a single financial institution. Instead, they'll travel with you across different platforms and services, continuously learning and adapting to your needs. This means you will have a consistent, personalized banking experience, whether you're dealing with your primary bank or other financial service providers. The shift to AI-driven, ubiquitous financial management in your pocket promises to enhance convenience, improve financial well-being, and fundamentally change how we interact with our finances.
Leaving Russia, why most debit-first neobanks have struggled… and a lot more!
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Oliver Hughes, Leader at TBC Bank and ex Tinkoff CEO - Building The Most Profitable Digital Bank in the World, the Future of Personal Banking