ClearBank made history as the UK's first new clearing bank in more than 250 years

In this episode of The Payments Leaders Show, I sat down with Mark Fairless, CEO of ClearBank, to explore how banking infrastructure, embedded finance, real-time payments and digital assets are reshaping the future of financial services.

ClearBank made history as the UK's first new clearing bank in more than 250 years, and over the last decade has become a key enabler of many of the country's fastest-growing fintechs. As fintech businesses have evolved from ambitious startups into major financial institutions, Mark shares how their needs have changed and why scalable, resilient infrastructure has become more important than ever.

The conversation explores why consumers often focus on apps and customer interfaces, while the real innovation happens beneath the surface. Mark explains why infrastructure is the foundation that determines whether financial services can truly deliver speed, reliability and great customer experiences. We discussed:

Why cross-border payments remain too slow and complex

The future of embedded banking and embedded finance

How digital assets, stablecoins and traditional banking could coexist

Why innovation and resilience should not be competing priorities

The impact of AI and agentic payments on the financial ecosystem

ClearBank's role in supporting fintech growth across the UK and Europe What today's banking industry could look like by 2030

A particularly fascinating insight is Mark's belief that money should move as seamlessly as information, video and digital content already do today. As expectations for real-time experiences continue to rise, the financial services industry faces increasing pressure to remove friction from payments both domestically and internationally.

Whether you're a fintech founder, banking executive, payments professional or simply curious about the future of money movement, this episode offers valuable insights into the trends shaping the next decade of financial services. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe and share with your network.