In this episode of the Connector Podcast recorded at the DFS Digital Finance Summit, host Koen Vanderhoydonk interviews Baiba Rozenberge, the Latvian head of startups at MBH Fintech Lab, the venture arm and incubator of Hungary’s second‑largest bank (MBH Bank). Baiba explains how the Lab is tightly linked with the Hungarian Fintech Association, acting as both investor and innovation hub. The conversation moves through several themes: the balance between natural (human) intelligence and AI in customer service, the impact of AI on jobs and the need for education and training, the ongoing challenges of PSD2/PSD3 and FIDA data‑sharing regulations, and the broader question of data ownership and self‑sovereign identity. Baiba highlights emerging payment innovations—from biometric palm payments in Japan to European payment rings, car‑as‑payment solutions, and the paradox of rising contactless usage alongside a projected doubling of printed plastic cards by 2027. She also discusses generational attitudes, noting that a large share of Gen Z claims they do not want to interact with banks, raising questions about future engagement. Finally, Baiba describes the Lab’s role as an ecosystem builder: investing in startups, pulling innovative solutions into the bank, and running a School of Innovation to educate bank staff and the wider community. The interview ends with an invitation for anyone interested in the Hungarian market or fintech collaboration to reach out.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Cohen van der Huydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets.
Welcome to another podcast here at DFS from Belgian fintech, and with me I've got Baiba. coming from Hungary, and she represents the Fintech Lab in Hungary. So, enlighten us with your magic.
So, yes, my name is Baiba Rozenberge. I'm actually Latvian. I'm the head of startups at MBH Fintech Lab, which is an incubator that belongs to the 2nd largest bank of Hungary, the MBH Bank. And we are one of the VC arms of the bank as well. So, we have so far incubated 44 companies, invested into 39.
Wow.
At this moment, we hold approximately 30 and hope to add a few more this year.
And you have to explain me a little bit because there's also like a fintech association in Hungary. So how does that everything come together?
Yes, the connection is actually quite direct because the chairman of the Hungarian Fintech Association is the CEO of MBH Fintech Lab. And I am also active in the Hungarian Fintech Association. I am the head of international relations there. So technically, the management of MBH Fintech Lab is the management of Hungarian Fintech Association. So we are probably the most active.
Very close together.
Very close together.
Nice. What I liked about our preparations here is that we said, let's talk about what's really happening in the market. Let's talk about the themes that have been sort of defined at DFS here today. And the first thing I would like to just dive into a little bit is around natural intelligence. Maybe why it's a combination between your first name and AI, you being a person and AI being in your name. So how do you see that?
I've never thought about it. That's something what I hear for the first time. So congratulations on your skills.
Stupidity, I think they call it.
No, I mean, this is a topic which circulates quite a lot. And to be honest, I like the perspective that this is the first time when we are actually highlighting and talking about the natural intelligence in the first place and not in the second place, highlighting the AI. And I don't know if you participated in the Singapore FinTech Week.
Oh, I did.
What was your take on that? Because some of the guys came back and said AI is so 2021 that no one is talking about AI anymore. They are talking about quantum computing and things already beyond that because some of the things are already tested and they already know that there are a few things where people don't want to see the AI. Like for example, what is the name? There is a UK bank who said the one thing where they do not use it is when it comes to customer service because people don't want to talk to a chatbot. So they're going to use it in everything else or as an assistant, but the moment you have a problem and you call, you want to reach a person immediately. And I think this is already like a validated situation. So they have this first feedback that people didn't like it. And this is where we build this loyalty towards a bank, because when everything is digitalized, you have no more human interaction. So the trust moment is taken out of these financial services. So the only place you really want to make sure that it's there when it's a customer service situation.
So it brings it very much back to natural intelligence.
Exactly.
Although I must say, I was doing some testing the other day with the digital AI agents.
And?
I was amazed.
Really?
Yeah, yeah. Latencies are back to zero. And amazingly how even the AI agent was joking with me. I was really, really surprised.
So you were on the same level. He knows what your taste in humor is?
Yeah, I guess it was pre-trained to be a little bit funny, but really amazing. So I do think that maybe in the future this will change and if emotion becomes a jack of trades within AI, then maybe you do want to speak to somebody immediately when you're in a situation you want to talk to customer support.
Especially if it might be the case that they might actually understand you better and have better knowledge about you because of all the data which has been fed into it.
Exactly that. And no waiting time on the phone. You call and you get somebody speaking to you. So I don't know where are we going. It's interesting to think and it's also interesting to to sort of look like, what does that mean in terms of talent? How do we have to deal with this as human beings towards this situation? Any views on that side?
Yes, I think the situation is going to be similar like with the computers. You know, when the first ones arrived, everyone had a panic attack that people are going to lose jobs, the machines are going to replace people. And now it's the same with AI, that everyone is worried that AI is going to replace people and so many people are going to lose jobs. But I think that It's actually going to create way more opportunities and a lot of new things are going to come out of it. None of us know, I mean, not none of us, probably some do know what can come out of this and where is it going. But for the vast majority, it's still confusing. So when it comes to the workplace, I think training is probably number one.
Education.
Education, how to use these systems properly, not to feed some sensitive data into it just to make your job easier.
Well, let's go from augmented humanity into augmented finance, because there's a lot of things happening around beyond payments and PSD2, PSD3, FIDA, a lot of that. And I heard that this is something that you're very passionate about.
I am, and vast majority of the fintechs as well, because that opens the doors for so many new services, at least in our heads. So how it's going to work in practice, that is a different thing. Because as we discussed earlier, that we have PSD2 from 2019, and there are still some banks who are not compliant with this particular regulation. So the excitement from the fintech side when they thought that this is the new service we're going to deliver, and we knew that the clients wanted that, so the people were really looking forward to it. But then the technical part was not as easy because the Either the banks could not technically integrate the APIs or they never wanted to share the data. And it turned out last week that there are still banks who rather pay the penalty than have these connections. And then we are talking about FIDAN, we're talking about PSD3, where just the—
Yeah, we're just extending.
Exactly. We are extending something with which we are already struggling, as it turned out. So, from a customer perspective, I think the opportunities are endless. And also for the financial institutions, it should open doors for validating the customer. Because if you can access the data from insurance companies, if you can access the data from my asset management firm, then you know much better. what my financial situation is then besides just my bank account. So, I hope they're going to see this opportunity and we're all going to work on it.
Do you think then this also brings us to a discussion around the ownership of data? Because it's nice to know everything about yourself, but don't we need to get control over that, of that data?
Absolutely. But that is a How can we solve that? Because one thing is who is responsible for keeping it safe, and that is clear, right? The law says who should be responsible in keeping this data here. But when we talk about access and ownership of the data, is there even a way how we can own it? Because I know that the Estonians claim. that they are the only country where the data actually belongs to you.
Self-sovereign data?
Yes, so technically, so if a government or someone would request any information about you, then you are being informed that this organisation requested information or accessed that database, and then you can ask, why do you need this information? But I'm still not sure, at least for me, I still don't consider that an ownership. I just consider that as being informed. what my data was used for. But it doesn't mean that I could have restricted them in using it.
Yeah, you could not revoke.
Exactly. So, when it comes to this, if someone can come up with a solution, that would be mind-blowing.
I think there's some European initiatives ongoing, but let's see what the future brings. Well, the future is all ours, and there's a lot of things happening also in the world of payments. And what do you see as the next steps, the next innovation in payments?
Oh, I have so much to say about this. So, you have been in the Asian market, right? You can see the biometric payments, like in Japan you can pay with the palm. And then we in Europe, we are still talking about devices. So, for example, MBank is a, I think, a Czech bank or Slovak bank, and they are considered the most innovative bank in the region. And the reason is because they are, for example, developing now a payment ring, and they have a collaboration with Škoda, which is fuel as you pay or pay as you fuel. So basically you pay with a car.
Yeah.
So your car is connected, you don't need a credit card anymore. But those are all devices, and right, and then there's Asia where the ATMs are set to face recognition. You can deposit and withdraw money without anything. Like you can walk out of the house naked and have your financial means with you. And I think at this moment we live like in a time when we have these future technologies and we still have the past technologies. And the same goes for clients and not everyone wants it. So we have these old affluent people who do not want to have anything to do with digitalization. And then we have the Gen Z generation who do not want to have anything to do with the bank.
You have to explain that a little bit more.
There is statistics where they interviewed the youngsters and the result was that 82% of all Gen Z doesn't want to have any interaction with the bank at all. So, they do not even want to access the app. And in comparison, those same kids said that they don't want to go to the dentist. So, 75% of them do not want to go to the dentist. So, the result is that They'd rather go to a dentist than to a bank, you know, at this moment. But I had this discussion with, I think, Quorus Global, and they said, yes, the kids do say this, but we don't trust what they are saying because they don't even know what a bank is because they are too young. And the only thing they know is that the money hits their bank account, what the parents transfer them. So the only thing they see is a pop-up on their phone that—
Mm-hmm.
Ping, money arrived. And then they use the phone to pay with it. So, they never open the app, they never pay any bills, they never use a credit card. So, they just see the money came in, money went out.
And I think it's a very fair thing to say. It's only when you start building your house, building your family, retirement, all that kind of stuff that you realize that finance is very important.
So, I assume they should reinterview these guys when they are 18, 19, or 20 years old, what their opinion is. But another thing what I consider really interesting is that also vast majority of the payments now are contactless. So, in Europe, 70-point-something, in Asia, 85-something. But at the same time, we are at the record high of printing credit cards. So, we have never had—
Plastic.
Plastic credit cards. So, and the reason why it is like that, And actually, the the numbers, the projected numbers for 2027 is that it's going to more than double. So at this moment, it's like in Europe, it's 27 point something million cards printed, and they said in 2027, it's going to be 62 million a year. And the reason is because these new fintechs complement their digital wallets with the card, with the with the physical card, and and it's just like mind blowing. So From one side, we move away and we go into this contactless paying, and from the other side, it like boosts the physical object printing. And it's just—
Let's bring in the hand palm from Japan to Europe, right?
Absolutely. And I think then we're also going to have different challenges when it comes to fraud. And I was laughing that, you know, you have to be careful when someone gives you a high five, you know, because if you read from a palm, New risks arise.
Yeah, I would imagine. But I would imagine it's also a multi-factor, not only just the power.
Yes, yes, absolutely.
It's probably different things.
Absolutely.
It was super nice having you here in this conversation. And time flies when you're having fun, especially when you talk about innovation and all the latest stuff. Maybe one last question. Well, you're involved obviously in the FinTech Lab. How does that all translate of all the things that you just mentioned?
We are not only an investor, we are also the innovation arm of the bank. So, we are having the push and pull function in the bank. So, when we see something interesting or something that could solve our problem, we are really trying to bring it in and make it happen.
Mm-hmm.
And also, we play a huge role in educating both the bank employees. We lead the School of Innovation and also the society. So, we have collaborations with universities. Because if we build these fintechs but people don't know how to use it or SMEs don't know how to use it, then, you know, for whom are we building this? So, it's like we're trying to cover the full circle from financing to—
So, you're literally an ecosystem builder?
Exactly.
And you're here in Belgium today. So, who should come to you and how can they reach out to you?
I would say that everyone, because taking into the fact that I also represent the association. So, if there is anyone who is interested in the Hungarian market or in the Hungarian companies, please approach us. If there is a startup who is looking for funding in early stage, who could be a good fit for a financial market, please approach us. And if you simply want to have a chit-chat, About similar topics, please also approach us.
That's very friendly of you. Thank you so much for joining me here in the podcast.
Thank you for having me.
It's a pleasure. And thank you also to the audience. Stay tuned, more news from FinTech World. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye.
Bye-bye.
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