Matt Jones

Fintech and payments

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

I'm starting a fintech and payments podcast.

The goal is interesting discussions rather than high production quality. Remote recording (self produced).

Looking to talk with those building interesting stuff and get across product, tech, business, and strategy.

Please no PR pitches but open to any recommendations or direct outreach.

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

In the UK you will soon be able to earn only £23k ($30k) over the minimum wage before 40% tax kicks in…

[David Lawrence @d_1awrence]

An increase to £13.20p/h equates to a minimum wage of £27,456, based on a 40 hour week.

Once you factor in employers NI and basic pension contributions, the MINIMUM cost to hire a 21 year old for a company would be £31,461.

This is before you factor in any overarching business costs like office space, laptops, phone, software, training, support staff, vehicles etc.

This is going to be devastating to SME's who cant put together a simple 12 month budget without the goalposts being moved & their margins squeezed.

It'll also be catastrophic to youngsters opportunities because businesses will simply not be able to afford to hire them.

What's also incredible is that anything above £50,270 is seen as 'high earnings' in the UK and is taxed at 40%!

We are governed by financially and economically illiterate morons.

This will not end well.

[Paul Coleman @Paul_B_Coleman]

Britain’s new minimum wage: £27,456 a year.

Higher-rate income tax kicks in at £50,270.

Wage compression the Soviet Union could only have dreamed of.

[Zac Goldsmith @ZacGoldsmith]

Thank God he didn’t apply a Snapchat bugs bunny filter to make fun of a politician

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@tamarawinter @stripepress @_theplaza 1.3 million that’s amazing … sorry I only bought about six of them 😂 (so far)

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@seyitaylor @DeblockApp is cool

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@marek_kriz @yenkel @davidsenra @velez_david Well I knew all of that before the interview

There were a few points where there could have been pushback

Last week Revolut had a big outage but I guess this was filmed before that happened

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@policytensor Well the one thing it is for sure: relative decline in living standards in the West

But our politicians won’t say that — they take as if cost of living crisis is a blip

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@marek_kriz @yenkel @davidsenra @velez_david In what sense was a good interview?

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@StefanFSchubert What about the cultural revolution or Pol Pot’s massacre of the middle class etc

And many other similar examples

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

Of course Brexit did have some damaging economic impacts but to say it was the biggest act of economic self harm that any country has ever committed is wild and clearly wrong.

[BBC Breakfast @BBCBreakfast]

'Leaving the European Union was the biggest act of economic self harm any country has ever committed'

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told #BBCBreakfast Andy Burnham 'is spot on' about having an "honest discussion" ove the prospect of returning to free movement between the UK and European Union

https://t.co/z4T5h3P4hr

[Fintech is Easy @fintechiseasy]

Can stablecoins help fix banking. - by @mttjon https://t.co/XVMCxmyTdS

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

This week on Payments Culture I spoke with Patrick Mollard, CEO and co-founder of Fipto.

Fipto is a Paris-based stablecoin infrastructure company that is working with clients such as TerraPay, Worldline, Ledger, to name just a few.

In our discussion we covered:

- The experience of Patrick, and fellow co-founders Gregoire Andrieu-Guitrancourt and Bertrand Godin, working together at iBanFirst before founding Fipto in 2022

- While Swift and other legacy payment systems still do the job for many payments today stablecoins can provide a clear upgrade where 24/7 settlement is required

- How the retreat of correspondent banks, especially in regions like LATAM, have opened up space for stablecoins to step in (seen in Fipto's partnership with Avenia in Brazil)

- Via Spiko customers of Fipto can now get access to low risk investments directly through the platform without off-ramping to a fiat bank account

- How the EU's MiCA regulation provided regulatory certainty for partnerships in the region and why euro stablecoin initiatives such as Qivalis are being keenly watched

https://t.co/aJdBErDHLq

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

Pub in the original sense hardly exist in London at all — they were literally the downstairs of someone's home. The owner slept upstairs and often had lodgings for guests upstairs too.

These days the pubs which still exist are often owned by beer breweries or other big companies. They've lost the connection to place and community that pubs once had.

However, outside of London pubs with live in landlords (or living nearby) do still exist. But also it's a cost issue. In Wales you can still find places selling a pint for £2 but in London it's more like £7-8.

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

When you drop a new Substack

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

This is really sad Rest of World is one of the most unique publications

Why have they never tried a paywall?

I would pay $10 a month to keep it going and I’m sure many others would too

[Ben Mullin @BenMullin]

News: Rest of World, the nonprofit newsroom focused on the impact of technology outside the West founded by Sophie Schmidt, tells donors in an email it will “cease publishing as a standalone entity” at the end of January.

[Richard Meyer @RichardMeyerDC]

China consumed more coal in the last four years (2022–2025) than the entire world consumed throughout the 19th century.

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@davistrazza Totally agree... So much still to do

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

When you drop a new Substack

[Matt Jones @mttjon]

@mikulaja I'm sure a lot of what big tech does is only compliant by a very very thin margin