For over 30 years, Peter Hazlehurst has shaped the fintech landscape, leading teams at Google, Uber, and Nokia. His mission: empower smaller players to compete on equal footing.
Peter’s defining trait is his deep commitment to trust. He views every feature and agreement in a banking app as a reflection of the trust between customers and institutions. This philosophy drives Synctera, the company he leads, which recently secured a $33M Series A. Synctera’s API-first approach has built a robust network and addressed critical gaps, enabling innovative fintech solutions to thrive.
Here are Peter’s strategies for helping smaller players outmaneuver big banks.
The rise of Banking-as-a-Service
Yuriy, co-founder and CEO of Cieden: Hello Peter, thanks for joining. It's a pleasure to have you here. Your work history shows you’re not afraid of tackling large, ambitious, and complex projects. It’s hard to imagine anything bigger than Google Wallet or Uber Money in fintech, especially given the complexity and risk involved if such projects fail. What problems are you working on solving now in the industry?
Peter Hazlehurst, co-founder and CEO of Synctera: Great to meet you too, Yuriy, and thanks for having me on the podcast. At Synctera, we’re working to empower the next 10 Google Wallets or Uber Moneys. By building a platform that simplifies creating fintech products like Uber Money, we unlock the ability for smaller companies without huge payment teams to enter the space.
The best analogy I can give is Stripe. About 10–15 years ago, Patrick and John Collison envisioned making payment acquiring effortless. Back then, you needed partnerships with major providers like Braintree or Adyen. Stripe made it simple to integrate payments, spurring innovation — subscription services thrived, and e-commerce exploded.
Banking is even harder than payments. We’re essentially replicating Stripe’s playbook for banking: making it as easy as possible to integrate banking capabilities into products and services.
Yuriy: Stripe emerged at the perfect time when SaaS and cloud products were booming. Now, with the rise of Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), what’s changed in regulations, technology, or society to create such fertile ground for the industry’s growth?
Peter: Demand for banking products has always existed, but the challenge is explaining their value to small business owners. Take a doctor’s office. They likely bank with a large branch like Chase or Bank of America — not because they love it, but because it works. Meanwhile, they use payment systems like Stripe for online billing, creating a lag between receiving payments and accessing funds.
This delay hurts cash flow. Businesses need working capital to pay inventory, payroll, or bills. Companies like Shopify and Square have shown how providing just-in-time financing — whether for materials, inventory, or equipment — can unlock growth.
Now, industries like e-commerce and vertical SaaS are replicating this model. Businesses are integrating banking features to serve their customers more effectively and profitably.
Banking infrastructure in 20 years
Yuriy: If we fast-forward 20 years, how do you think people will describe this era of banking? Are we still in the “dial-up” phase, or are we transitioning to “broadband”?
Peter: That’s a great question. I’d say we’re in the broadband transition. We’ve moved past the “dial-up” phase—basic card issuance and account management—and are heading toward a future of dynamic money movement.
Picture the stock market before decimalization. Brokers profited from tiny inefficiencies between bid and ask prices. Banking today mirrors that. Processes like repricing loans or refinancing homes take months, when AI and bots could potentially do this daily.
In 20 years, the cost of financial services will be as fluid as water. Physical bank branches might mostly vanish, replaced by community hubs for collaboration and networking. Interestingly, ING tried this decades ago with coffee shop-style branches. The community aspect of banking might make a comeback in a digital-first way.
Removing bottlenecks in banking
Yuriy: Would you say the current trend is about removing bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the financial system to make it more competitive?
Peter: Absolutely. Banking in most countries is dominated by a handful of mega-banks. In the U.S., around 70% of people bank with the top 10 institutions. Smaller community banks struggle to compete because the cost of running a bank is so high.
Companies like ours level the playing field by providing smaller banks with competitive technology. This optimization helps reduce inefficiencies and shifts the focus to brand loyalty and customer engagement.
Optimizing the financial system
Yuriy: Would you say the current trend is about removing bottlenecks and inefficiencies in the financial system to make it more competitive?
Peter: Absolutely. Banking in most countries is dominated by a handful of mega-banks. In the U.S., around 70% of people bank with the top 10 institutions. Smaller community banks struggle to compete because the cost of running a bank is so high.
Companies like ours level the playing field by providing smaller banks with competitive technology. This optimization helps reduce inefficiencies and shifts the focus to brand loyalty and customer engagement.
Banking APIs
Yuriy: This reminds me of network protocols. Big players once tried to create proprietary ecosystems, but the IP protocol and internet eventually won. Could the same happen in banking, with startups outpacing legacy banks by leveraging interconnected APIs?
Peter: That’s already happening in countries where central governments enforce unified standards. For instance, India’s UPI system made P2P payments free and mandatory. That enabled rapid adoption by companies like Google and Amazon, leapfrogging legacy systems.
In the U.S., where regulation is decentralized, innovation moves slower. For example, FedNow is competing with Zelle for instant payments. While a market-driven approach fosters innovation, it also slows adoption compared to countries like India or Brazil, where regulators mandate compliance.
Will banks become commodities?
Yuriy: Will banks eventually become commodified, like telecom providers?
Peter: Yes, but with a caveat. Banks excel at managing risk, which is hard to commodify. Their ability to raise funds cheaply and lend or trade them profitably is a core skill.
However, much like Verizon and AT&T, banks will likely compete on brand and ancillary services. Early education and exposure to banking products will also become crucial. For instance, Greenlight introduces financial literacy to kids, and brands that build lifelong relationships will thrive.
Integrating banking features into products
Yuriy: Many people unknowingly work on fintech-adjacent products, like payroll or enterprise management tools. How can they determine if integrating banking features would benefit their product?
Peter: Banking is everywhere, even in non-obvious places. Starbucks, for example, effectively acts as a bank, holding billions in prepaid customer funds.
A good framework is to ask: Do my customers deal with money movement? Could I make their financial operations smoother or faster? If the answer is yes, adding banking features can unlock value.
Minimum viable scale for banking integrations
Yuriy: Realistically, what’s the minimum size for companies to consider integrating banking-as-a-service?
Peter: Right now, the bar is high. We typically work with companies that have $5M in funding, strong teams, and clear compliance strategies. Unfortunately, this excludes many early-stage startups with innovative ideas but limited resources.
In the future, I hope platforms like ours can lower the barrier, enabling smaller players to compete.
Rapid round
Yuriy: Peter, how would you explain to your mom what you're doing for a living?
Peter: I’d tell my mom that we make it possible for people who aren’t banks to act like banks. For example, she goes to Woolworths, the local grocery store in Australia. I make it possible for her to have a wallet at Woolworths, so she can buy groceries without thinking about payments.
Yuriy: What book influenced your product vision the most? Or your business vision?
Peter: One that stands out is Systems Thinking by Dr. Russell Ackhoff, who taught at Wharton. It completely changed how I approach optimization. Instead of focusing on improving one part of a system, I now think about the entire ecosystem and how everything interacts.
I was lucky enough to attend one of his sessions during my MBA. He had a memorable phrase: “Doing the wrong things better isn’t actually good.” It’s a simple yet profound concept. You might become great at optimizing the wrong thing, but that’s not helpful. Even doing the right thing poorly is better than doing the wrong thing well.
Yuriy: What product gave you the best experience ever?
Peter: The PlayStation 3. It brought cutting-edge technology into the home and connected people in ways that went beyond gaming. It introduced music and video integration and proved that long-term vision works.
Sony sold it at a loss—its bill of materials was $700, but they sold it for $499. They knew it would pay off over time. The PlayStation 3 was ahead of its time and a fantastic product.
Yuriy: What part of your job motivates you the most and keeps you enjoying what you're doing?
Peter: It’s simple—the team. I love building great teams and helping them achieve more than they thought possible. We can always create innovative products, but building a strong, cohesive team is by far the most exhilarating and rewarding aspect of my work.
Yuriy: If you could have a dinner party with the most influential person in product design or development, who would it be? Alive or not alive?
Peter: The obvious answer is Steve Jobs. His product design vision was unparalleled.
But if I were to choose someone less obvious, I’d say Bill Gates. He changed the world in so many ways that we don’t always acknowledge or understand.
Yuriy: What's the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your career?
Peter: Making small mistakes isn’t that interesting. Big mistakes, though, are where you learn the most. It means you pushed boundaries and tried something truly bold. Being risk-averse doesn’t get you anywhere.
Yuriy: That’s my favorite quote! I really love it. Thank you, Peter. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss that we missed today?
Peter: No, I really enjoyed our conversation, Yuriy. I hope this resonates with your listeners. If anyone wants to connect, I’m active on LinkedIn and Twitter, or you can email me at synctera.com. It’s super easy to reach me.
Yuriy: Awesome! I think there’s immense potential for collaboration with you, especially for fintech startups. Synctera is at the heart of the ecosystem, and there are thousands of companies that could work with you and find success.
