• Pavle Ljujic, CEO at Pannovate


• 07.04.2020 12:11 pm

An interview with Pavle Ljujic, CEO of Pannovate.

Financial IT: Can you please tell us more about Pannovate and your background?

Pavle Ljujic (PL): Pannovate started as an innovation hub of Paneleven Ltd back in 2012. Paneleven has been in the card business since 1994, and in early 2010’s we were looking at how we can leverage our card experience, payments expertise to futureproof the business, so Pannovate was born.  I have always been fascinated with customer engagement and ensuring products were designed around the customer experience. We created several innovative (and patent pending) Augmented Reality products and “selfie card design” services which used the card design to unlock digital content, however really I turned to fintech around 2015 and Launchpad was born in late 2016.  

Financial IT: What is unique about Pannovate and how does it stand out among other solutions? 

PL: Pannovate are one of the few companies that operates in the front office of banking and payments, in that our products and solutions sit in front of end-users, as opposed to issuers, issuer processors, agency banks etc., that provide the rails. Our products power some of big names, many of which we are not allowed to talk about, and a few we are, such as the digital bank in a box solution Byond. The product took our front-end solution “LaunchPad” and our smart middleware “Syllo” to create a fully integrated solution and we were live in 5 weeks. We identified there were a lot of options when it came to choosing the back office partners, but very few smartly aggregate the ecosystem and produce a tailor made front end, i.e. the interface which actually users feel and touch. We also realised that becoming a challenger in payments/banking, or as we like to call it “bankments”, was not only expensive but time consuming, so ensured that our solutions cut both down and evened the playing field in the process. That is what Pannovate do. Address an issue in the bankments space, and overcome it.

Financial IT: The fintech scene has yet to digest such a drastic impact as the coronavirus crisis – as do most companies worldwide. What are the main challenges facing companies now? Do they pass the "Digital Stress" test?

PL: No, I don’t think they have passed the Digital stress test. Digital companies like ours that have a remote workforce operating in multiple countries, have the infrastructures in place, so they will remain business as usual. For some companies that had remote working as a business continuity plan, they have been hit hard but are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. The main challenge now is creating business partnerships and finding customers in a remote era. How to stand out and make sure you are seen by potential clients.

Financial IT: What is next for Pannovate? 

PL: We have a huge amount to announce in the coming months, from industry firsts to ambitious expansion plans. Launchpad, (our consumer front end solution) is about to be joined with a corporate version, and we continue to evolve ensuring we don’t rest on the products success. We will be launching other innovations to simplify the bankments space and continue to push the customer experience so the next wave of Fintechs will be going to market with even more functionality and capabilities to delight and engage their customers. I am excited about the future and it looks digital.