15 - Payments isn’t just tech. Rob Darby, IDT Finance on 20 years in fintech

Twenty years ago, fintech looked completely different.

Before smartphones, instant payments and digital wallets, payments relied on cheques, manual reconciliation and physical currency.

Rob Darby from IDT Finance joins tell.talks to discuss how the industry evolved from prepaid cards into modern fintech, why consumer expectations changed everything, and why strong foundations still matter in an industry obsessed with speed.

We also discuss:

• how the payments landscape changed after the iPhone
• why disruption alone isn’t enough
• the importance of timing in fintech
• how partnerships create longevity
• and what 20 years in payments teaches you about building sustainable businesses

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hi, welcome to Tel Talks, where we speak to the people shaping today's digital economy. Rob Darby has been in the financial services ecosystem for nearly 25 years and has been heavily involved in the evolution of prepaid into FinTech. He heads up the commercial function at IDT Finance and is also a qualified member of the Chartered Management Institute. Welcome to Tel Talks, Rob. Thank you. Rob, this year marks 20 years of IDT Finance, which is a huge milestone in an industry that often feels very young. If we go back to the beginning, what did the payments and fintech landscape look like when IDT finance first entered the market? And where did the company originally sit within that ecosystem?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

So I think I suppose when you when you look back at it, the uh the industry is unrecognizable now to how it was 20 years ago. And and when I when I was thinking about this uh the other day, you know, the reality is that when IDT Finance uh got its license originally, iPhones weren't even around. So IDT Finance got their original banking license in 2006, and the iPhone launched in the UK on the 29th of June 2007. Wow. So, you know, we'd already had our license for a year, and suppose the the digitalization of the payment landscape has changed everything since then. So uh a a real different look and feel to 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

What's something about the industry today that would have been completely unrecognizable when you started? What what are the some of the biggest shifts you've seen over this time?

SPEAKER_00 1:48

So I I I think it is that digitalization uh and it's how smartphones and tech innovators have changed that that landscape. Let me give you, I suppose, uh an example. Um so before coming into payments, uh all those 25 years ago, um I worked in travel for uh about 12 years. So I worked overseas for uh a tour company called AirTores Holidays. Now they were based in Lancashire, and the closest airport to them was Manchester. So when uh I worked overseas, every time there was a Manchester flight come in, we'd go to the luggage carousel afterwards, and there'd be a cardboard box going around the luggage carousel, which we'd collect, and inside that cardboard box were checks that we then used to trot around and take to the hoteliers to pay for their previous month's customers who'd been there. Now, think about that today. Uh I IDT Finance uh as an example, we support online travel agents who are making virtual car payments, digital payments to um to hoteliers, to airlines within seconds.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

So, I mean, how long would that have taken for the check to be manual to create it in the first place, to then ship it, for you to collect it, to send it in, and then for it to be processed. And that must have taken ages. Yeah, it it did, and and that whole process has changed. After 20 years in uh in in payments and fintechs, what's one lesson the industry has learned or perhaps still needs to learn?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

For me, on that, in some ways, it's that strong foundations rather than speed are the way to go. You know, we um fintech has always you know been going through periods of of growth, and sometimes there is the the feeling that it's it's launched quickly, it's scale quickly. Um and and that's worked for for some businesses, but I think from the the 2025 years that that that I've been in payments now, it's that uh payments isn't just the tech, you know, it's regulated, it carries responsibility, and having um uh the fundamentals in place and getting those right and having the right partnerships in place really does make a difference in in creating longevity within products. And I think that's something that you know it it's not always about speed.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah, that's totally fair. Take us back, um where where did IDT finance actually sit in the ecosystem back then and and what what problem were you were you born to solve?

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah, yeah. So um I I IDT Finance um was actually uh born to solve a problem for its parent company. So um IDT Finance is part of IDT Corporation, which is a uh New York stock exchange listed business that has uh over a billion in revenues annually. And when uh IDT Finance was born and when the license was applied for, that was about solving a problem for the perent company because uh we had a prepaid card product at the time for the uh underbanked and in the US called Prime, and they wanted to expand into Europe and they wanted to expand into the UK with that product. So um they created an issuer, they went out and got their own license for that issuing business. Um, and uh so IDT started as a business that was uh direct to consumers. Um we were, if not the first, one of the first to launch um an instant issue prepaid card in the UK. Um and you know, direct to consumer was our model at that time. Now things have obviously changed now, and the the work that we do is more about working alongside partners and facilitating others to create car programs or wallet programs. So uh it it's different now, but yeah, that that was where where we came from.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Wow. Imagine having the ability just to do you know what? I'll I'll just I'll just create my own bank. Exactly, exactly. So you you've seen multiple cycles in this industry. How how has that shaped the way you make decisions today compared to earlier in your career?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Trends come and go, markets change, so it it's it's about trying to develop that that long-term viability of one of a product but two of a relationships and partnerships, and and that's what's what's key. You know, when you look at IDT finance, some of our longer-term partners and big partners have been with us since 2011. And, you know, we look to see what we can do with them, how we can grow with them, and growth is is the key thing for us in that.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

FinTech um is often associated with disruption and new entrants, but there's also huge value in experience and stability. From your perspective, what's what's been overhyped and what's actually mattered?

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Sometimes the the uh disruption is is overhyped, but maybe disruption when it's uh a standalone idea. And I think the importance is uh getting the balance right between um innovation, disruption, but also a strong foundation in place to to deliver long-term products. So I I think in some ways disruption, um, for disruption's sake, it is is overhyped.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

I think there's a it is a timing element as well, right? The consumers got to be got to want it, but also got to be ready for it. And sometimes things are great ideas, but they they might just be a little bit too early. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Exactly as you say, for the consumer it's got to be the right time, and the industry has got to be solving a problem. So so you asked about why IDT finance, you know, was born, what problem are we solving? That the disruptors have to be solving a problem and it does have to be at the right time.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Yeah, totally. At a certain point, IDT Finance made the decision to go beyond issuing and establish a bank, a real bank. What what drove that decision?

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Yeah, so the funny thing about this is IDT Finance has been had a banking license uh since its inception. So since 2006, the the license that that we've actually held it is a full banking license in Gibraltar. What basically happened was obviously Brexit came along and there was a need for the business to to take a look at, you know, what does the future look like? What does our what should our strategy be? And um there was a clear gap in the the Gibraltar market that was uh noted uh around uh uh business-friendly banking. So just bank was born and we are focusing on delivering um personal and quick onboarding for businesses in Gibraltar. That license allows us to work in Gibraltar and the UK, and we're able to now offer um businesses in Gibraltar, the uh operational accounts, safeguarding accounts, uh a business debit card, and it it's really uh it's really taken off in Gibraltar. So that's uh it's uh good news for us on that, and we'll look to expand that at some point into the UK market uh as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

Amazing. Finally, if if you could pass the mic to someone else in FinTech who you think has an interesting perspective on the industry, who who would who would that be?

SPEAKER_00 10:03

I would consider our chairman, the chairman of IDT Finance. So uh Jeffrey Roschwager. Um and the reason for that is it he's been in well with IDT Corporation for decades. Um IDT Corporation as a whole as well brings along uh an entrepreneurial spirit that I think is really interesting to understand, and that's in telecoms, in retail point of sale, but also in financial services. And that view is financial services in the US, in Africa, and in the UK and Europe. So a very different perspective sometimes of someone like me who's who's worked primarily in the UK and and Europe. And uh as as well as that, you know, with IDT Corp in the US, we're looking at stablecoin now and and that side of things. So I I think he has a a a different view on things, and that and that might be an interesting look.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Do it do I mean we can't cover the cost for him to fly over here for us. But but we we we do we do occasionally serve good coffee. Okay, good. Um well that look that's a wrap on this episode of Tell Talks. Big thanks to you, Rob, for for coming and joining us today. Uh thank you for listening and stay tuned for some more conversations.