Team Cake: this is Rudi

Name: Rudi Wynen de Batz		
Role: Business Development Manager Europe - Cake for Banks	
Making Cake since: February 2022
Location: Schoten, Belgium

Tell us about your workspace 

Since Cake doesn’t have an office, my workplace can be just about anywhere. But mostly I just work from home, either in Schoten or in Ibiza. In both places, I live in the midst of nature, which I am very grateful for. On the picture you see me sitting in my garden in Schoten. 

When I meet with clients or partners, I always suggest to meet at my place and then we walk through the woods or along the sea. That has a very soothing effect, the conversations are much more intense and they take on a different dimension. Moreover, it is healthy to walk in nature.

What do you do at Cake?

I am responsible for developing Cake for Banks in Europe. 

We recently welcomed a new investment partner and are fully ready for our European expansion. After a successful first integration of our cashback platform in Argenta’s banking app, we are now engaged in ongoing conversations with other banks in multiple European countries.

Concretely, this means that I am actively approaching banks and trying to convince them of the benefits of the Cake for Banks cashback platform. The nice thing is that we have a very strong pitch there. The integration of Cake cashbacks into an existing banking app allows banks to provide their customers with an additional service that literally pays off for their customers. When they make purchases from Cake’s commercial partners, the cashback discount is immediately and automatically refunded to their account. 

But the bank itself also benefits: customer satisfaction increases and customers interact more with the banking app, which increases loyalty. And in addition, banks generate an additional revenue stream on top of the existing bank accounts through the model where we share with the bank the commission on each cashback transaction.

On top of that, the entire integration of the cashback module is plug and play. The technical integration time is limited to a few weeks and Cake manages the entire cashback offering with the commercial partners. In the meantime, we already have more than 100 commercial partners and the sales team led by Tom is continuously expanding the cashback offering. 

I’ve only just started working at Cake, but I’m already in the thick of it. Davy and I are in daily talks with European banks to discuss the possibilities.

Why Cake and not another company?

I have known Cake since its very beginning. I also invested in the company in the early days as an angel investor because I truly believed in the potential of the product offering. I think Cake really grabbed the momentum with the launch of the European PSD2 regulatory framework. Now that there has been a much greater focus on collaboration with banks since last year, I can now contribute to Cake’s success myself.

I have a background in IT security in the industry, but also specifically within the banking world. So I have quite some experience with collaborations with European banks. I have also regularly participated in conferences organized by Swift which acted as a platform to bring banks and fintechs closer together. I know from experience that an enormous added value can be created when forces are combined. And that is exactly what we want to do with Cake for Banks.

I recently got to know the team during a team event in Limburg. I was struck by how strongly the group is connected, even though there is no office and everyone works remotely. I felt a very strong energy and willingness to work together there. For me, that was the deciding factor to join the Cake team.

What’s your favourite cake?

I swear by the classic of classics: the original rice cake!

Any topping on the Cake?

Some powdered sugar on top of the rice cake will finish it off!