The Blockchain: An Experiment in Governance Without Power
Cryptocurrencies aren’t just an #experiment in monetary theory, but also a radical experiment in decentralized #governance, says Ariel Deschapell.
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The Blockchain: An Experiment in Governance Without Power
Cryptocurrencies aren’t just an #experiment in monetary theory, but also a radical experiment in decentralized #governance, says Ariel Deschapell.
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WEF Report Addresses How Blockchain Can Reshape Financial Services
#Blockchain #technology, also known as distributed ledger technology, has attracted the interest of the #financial #services ecosystem – and their money.
Over the past three years, the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that some US$ 1.4 billion have been invested into blockchain technology with companies having filled over 2,500 patents during that same period of time.
Over 90 corporations have joined blockchain consortia and 80% of #banks say they would initiate blockchain projects by 2017.
Image via http://www3.weforum.org/
As blockchain has become a buzzword in the financial services industry, WEF has conducted a 12-month research to better understand the implication and potential of blockchain technology in the sector.
In a new report titled “The future of financial infrastructure: An ambitious look at how blockchain can #reshape financial services,” WEF details its six key findings:Blockchain technology has great potential to drive simplicity and efficiency through entirely new financial services infrastructure and processes.
For instance, it can reduce and even eliminate manual efforts required to perform reconciliation and resolve disputes. It can also enable real-time monitoring of financial activity between regulators and regulated entities, reduce counterparty risk, enable asset provenance and full transaction history, and disintermediate third parties that support transaction verification and validation thus accelerating settlement.
Distributed ledger technology should be viewed as one of the many technologies that will transform the foundation of next-generation financial services infrastructure. It should be seen as &8220;part of a toolbox&8221; that includes biometrics, cloud computing, cognitive computing, among other emerging technologies.
Image via http://www3.weforum.org/
Blockchain technology can be used in many different areas with each use case leveraging the technology in different ways.
For instance, in trade finance, blockchain enables real-time multi-party tracking and management of letters of credit, as well as faster automated settlement. For global payments, it allows for near real-time point-to-point transfer of funds between financial institutions, removing friction and accelerating settlement. For automated compliance, blockchain technology provides faster and more accurate reporting.
Blockchain technology can be used for digital identity, &8220;a critical enabler to broaden applications to new verticals,&8221; as well as digital fiat currencies.
A fully digital system for storing and transferring identity attributes, when directly integrated into a distributed financial infrastructure, can provide faster and accurate anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-client (KYC) processes, as well as seamless customer onboarding.
Distributed fiat currencies issued by central banks, when employed within a distributed financial infrastructure, can eliminate the need for an inefficient bridge between cash and a new financial infrastructure.
The most impactful blockchain applications will require collaboration between all key stakeholders in the financial services ecosystem, including incumbents, innovators and regulators. This will require balancing competing interests, significant time and investment to replace existing financial infrastructure, as well as changing existing regulations, standards of practices and creating new legal and liability frameworks.
Image via http://www3.weforum.org/
New financial services infrastructure built on blockchain technology will redraw processes and &8220;call into question orthodoxies that are foundational to today’s business models.&8221; This includes question the need for individual books of record through immutable and distributed record-keeping, challenge existing competitive advantage models that leverage information asymmetry, allowing for on-demand and immediate monitoring and reducing the need to trust and rely on counterparties.
That said, there are still a number of questions that need to be answered in order to move forward. These include assessing blockchain’s feasibility, quantify benefits and analyzing implementation details.
&8220;Cost-benefit analyses need to be conducted to determine the financial viability of distributed ledger technology,&8221; the #report says. &8220;Roadmaps need to be developed to achieve market participant collaboration and establish standards; governance models, backed by societal-level discussions, need to be envisioned to support technology accountability; and regulatory, legal and jurisdictional-specific tax frameworks need to be established and well-understood.&8221;
The post WEF Report Addresses How Blockchain Can Reshape Financial Services appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
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Hong Kong’s FinTech ‘Sandbox’: 10 Things You Need to Know
The #Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) this week launched its #FinTech Supervisory #Sandbox (Sandbox) to facilitate the pilot trials of FinTech and other #technology initiatives by #banks before they are launched on a larger scale. This is a positive development for Hong Kong’s FinTech and financial services industries.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the Sandbox:
1. Goal
The HKMA wants to provide a supervisory arrangement that gives greater flexibility to banks to test new initiatives before their formal launch. The goal is to gather real-life data and user feedback in a controlled environment. This can apply to any initiative from biometric authentication and #blockchain to robotics and augmented reality.
2. Benefit
The Sandbox allows a bank to test a new initiative without the need to achieve full compliance with the HKMA’s usual supervisory requirements during the test period (e.g. security-related requirements for electronic banking services).
3. Scope
The Sandbox will be available to Fintech as well as other technology initiatives intended to be launched by banks.
4. Boundaries
The HKMA requires that clear definitions be set-up on the scope and phases (if any) of the trial (e.g., size and types of customers involved, technologies and types of banking services covered), the timing and the termination arrangements.
5. Participants
The Sandbox will allow banks to conduct pilots involving actual banking services and a limited number of participating customers (e.g. staff members, customer focus groups).
6. Customer Protection
Adequate measures need to be put in place to protect customers during the trial. These should generally include a proper process for selecting customers who understand the associated risks and voluntarily want to join the trial, an enhanced complaint handling procedure, a mechanism for timely and fair compensation of customers’ financial losses caused by any failures of the trial, and appropriate arrangements for customers to withdraw from the trial.
7. Risk Management
The HKMA requires that reasonable compensating controls be implemented to address the risks posed by the trial on the bank and customers as well as to mitigate the risks arising from the exemption from full compliance with the supervisory requirements.
8. Active Monitoring
Any trial needs to be subject to close monitoring so that the bank can promptly identify and handle any significant problems or incidents that may arise.
9. Flexibility
The HKMA does not intend to stipulate an exhaustive list of supervisory requirements that may potentially be relaxed within the Sandbox. As this is a new supervisory arrangement, the HKMA will refine the arrangement over time in the light of implementation experience and industry development.
10. Contacting the HKMA
Banks intending to use the Sandbox should get in touch with the HKMA beforehand to discuss the appropriate supervisory flexibility that can be made available to them within the Sandbox.
The HKMA’s announcement of the Sandbox can be found here and the speech by the HKMA’s Chief Executive Norman Chan announcing the Sandbox here.
Feel free to contact me via LinkedIn for any FinTech related matters. For media inquiries or speaking engagement requests, please contact [email protected]
Yours in FinTech,
Henri Arslanian
***Henri Arslanian is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Hong Kong University where he teaches graduate courses on Entrepreneurship in Finance as well as the first FinTech course in Asia. His upcoming book on Entrepreneurship in Finance will be published in late 2016 by Palgrave Macmillan.
A member of the Milken Institute’s Young Leaders Circle, Henri is a regular speaker globally on the topic of FinTech and hedge funds to various audiences, ranging from TEDx to Fortune 500 management teams. He currently sits on a number of other finance, academic, civil society, and FinTech related boards and advisory committees, including the HKSFA FinTech Committee and the Hong Kong FSDC FinTech Project team.
Henri was recently with a FinTech start-up and previously spent many years with UBS Investment Bank in Hong Kong. He started his career as a financial markets and funds lawyer in Canada and Hong Kong.
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Hot Insurance Startup Trov to Launch in the U.S.
#Trov, an innovative #insurance #startup from Australia, will #launch in the United States before the end of 2017, the company said yesterday. The U.S. launch is being made possible by a deal announced yesterday with Munich Re, the German reinsurance provider. Trov (pronounced Trove — officially, there is macron on topRead More
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So Your Fintech Startup Wants to Issue a Payment Card?
Come to think about it, a payment card is one of the key touch points (if not the touch point) customers use in their daily lifes to interact with their financial products and services.
Payment card is a commodity product— or at least, it has been one up until recently. In my view, the traditional banking way of thinking about a payment card is of “a payment medium linked to a current/credit/prepaid account or other fund storage medium”.
This paradigm is flipped on its head in the #fintech world. The thinking is different — a card is no more just an subordinate of an account but rather a substantial part of the product itself. In sync with an underlying account; it enables creation of compelling and unique customer use cases and propositions.
It has also probably never been easier and [relatively] cheaper to issue a payment card for non-regulated businesses in Europe.
It is no wonder then that many of the most interesting fintech startups are employing payment cards as a core element of their customer proposition.
Mondo-issued card
Fintech Startups Leveraging Cards in their Propositions
Revolut is a startup that claims to be “the new fair way to instantly send and spend money globally”. With an underlying multicurrency account and obviously a payment card Revolut is seeing some solid traction- $500 million (£342 million) of customer money has been spent or transferred on its cards in just 10 months.
Curve is an example of another card-centered proposition backed by the likes of Seedcamp and Speedinvest. It claims to be “the next generation payment card — a single card built on the MasterCard network that combines all your cards into one. Upload your existing debit and credit cards into the Curve app, and sync them with the Curve card…Curve has created a single, efficient, user focused touchpoint between a user and their money.” [source:Crunchbase]
Pleo, which has recently won best of the show award at Pioneers Festival in Vienna is an example of a card-centered small business proposition. This Copenhagen-based startup is working on a “a company payment card that works for you” —for better management of employee expenses and related back office processes.
Then there are the challenger #banks. A next generation of banks obviously cannot do without offering the traditional plastic card — Berlin-based pan-european Number 26 was one of the first one to roll out their card/account offering; followed by an UK-based challenger Mondo and soon to be followed by others as they roll out their product offerings.
Learnings & Considerations
I have recently worked on conceptualizing a card product with one of the challenger banks — drawing on this experience I came up with couple of high-level considerations I believe are useful to keep in mind before diving into the process of issuing your own card.
Note: The below is aimed at fintech startup people with no payments/card issuing experience rather than experts in the area.
1 Understand the supply chain
Especially if you do not have background is not from cards/payments, the supply chain of a card programme can become quite intimidating. At the very minumum you will be talking to or contracting the following people:
A/ BIN Sponsors
BIN sponsors are companies (usually subsidiaries of banks or banks themselves) who own and sponsor the card’s BIN range (the first 6 digits of a card number which identify the cards’ issuer).These companies are typically granted either e-money or full banking licenses which can be passported to any EEA member country. This authorizes them to hold customers’ funds on your behalf. They will also be principal members of the card schemes (VISA/Mastercard) and manage the relationship with them.
In addition, they will also hold a bunch of other certifications which enables them to take care of the regulatory and compliance work on your behalf.
B/ Processors
Processors are responsible for managing the card account and manage authorisation, settlement and clearing of transactions. This indeed sounds very boring but consider that everything that can be be done with a card — from simply setting a daily limit or changing a PIN number to that cool feature you are thinking about that has never been done before — must be enabled by the processor’s tech platform. Make sure it is a good one.C/ Card Manufacturers
or Card Bureaus. Your card manufacturer will manufacture the cards for you (d’oh); handle the card personalization in accordance with certifications and possibly also handle delivery/fullfilment of the cards directly to your customers.D/ Card Scheme
VISA or Mastercard — easy :).2 Choose your partners wisely
Once you decide to go with a partner changing mid-process will inevitably result in money and time lost and will generally be a major pain for you.
Make sure you have your priorities (time to market, pricing, product capabilities or whatever they happen to be) set and out in the open and select your suppliers and partners accordingly.
Remember that you need to benchmark not only individual partners but also the whole supply chain (some processors will not work or are not integrated with some BIN sponsors and card manufacturers and vice versa).
3 Understand the costs, their complexity and your business case
Finish reading here.
[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasvysny” connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”Tomas Vysny“] is Co Founder at The Booster Labs.
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FinTech DACH News Rückblick der Woche 36
Fintech.Li präsentiert hier wöchentlich die wichtigsten #News rund um #Fintech in der Schweiz, Liechtenstein, Deutschland und Österreich.
Fintech DACH Top News
Speedinvest, Earlybird und DvH Ventures investieren in Liechtensteiner FinTech Unternehmen
Zwei bekannte VCs investieren Millionen in das Münchner Fintech-Startup Tradico. Das Unternehmen springt als Zwischenhändler ein und finanziert Waren für Firmen. Mehr erfahren
Stephan Rupprecht: Der Fintech-Markt wird sich stark sortieren
Eine der traditionsreichsten deutschen Privatbanken bietet Kunden mit 10’000 Euro Vermögensverwaltung an. Stephan Rupprecht, Partner von Hauck & Aufhäuser, sagt im Interview mit finews.ch, warum. Mehr erfahren
Banken im Umbruch 2016: FinTechs und Banken finden zueinander – die Branche stellt sich neu auf
Es gibt nur wenige Termine, die für Banken ein “muss” sind: Das Event “Banken im Umbruch” (Mittwoch 31.8. und Donnerstag 1.9.) vom Handelsblatt gehört dazu. Es ist nicht nur das Schaulaufen der Bank-Prominenz, sondern es trifft sich das Who-is-Who der Bankenszene. In diesem Jahr war das zentrale Thema erneut “Digitalisierung und FinTech” – diesmal allerdings mit vielen Vertreten der “jungen wilden” FinTechs – und mit vielen Gemeinsamkeiten. Ein Branche stellt sich neu auf. Mehr erfahren
CreditPlus Bank mit Start-up-Atmosphäre: Per iOS-App in nur 15 Minuten zum KonsumentenkreditDer heute noch vielfach übliche Ablauf, einen Konsumentenkredit zu erhalten, ist im digitalen Zeitalter nicht mehr zeitgemäß. Mehr und mehr Kunden empfinden ihn als zu umständlich und zu langwierig. Mit einer vollständig papierlosen Antragsstrecke, elektronischer Signatur und automatisierten Prüflogiken lässt sich die Zeit für den Kunden per iOS_App auf 15 Minuten verkürzen. Mehr erfahren
Banker sollten nicht jedem Modetrend hinterher rennen
Öffentlichkeitswirksam ist Matthias Kröner schon immer gewesen. Mit dem vor kurzem angekündigten Verkauf seiner Fidor Bank an die französische Großbank BPCE hat er es erneut in die Schlagzeilen geschafft. Dem Bank Blog stand er Rede und Antwort zu Hintergründen, möglichen Alternativen sowie der weiteren Strategie. Mehr erfahren
Ehemaliger Paypal-Chef wird VC bei E.Ventures
Der Hamburger Wagniskapitalgeber verstärkt seine Fintech-Expertise: Der ehemalige #DACH-Chef von Paypal wird Investor bei E.Ventures. Mehr erfahren
5 lesenswerte deutsche Fintech-BlogsNeben deutsche-startups.de gibt es noch eine ganze Reihe Magazine und Blogs, die regelmäßig über das Boomthema FinTech berichten. Wir gehen deswegen heute mal in die finanzielle Nische und stellen 5 so richtig lesenswerte deutsche Fintech-Blogs vor. Es lohnt sich garantiert! Mehr erfahren
Zukunft von InsurTech in Deutschland
InsurTechs sorgen momentan mit ihren neuen und modernen Technologien für einen grossen Innovationsschub im Versicherungsgeschäft. Durch die Digitalisierung lassen sich Innovationen entlang der gesamten Wertschöpfungskette finden. Mehr erfahren
Das Crowdinvesting gerät in die Krise
Seit fünf Jahren können sich Kleinsparer per Crowdinvesting an Start-ups beteiligen. Nun gehen Firmen pleite, Anleger werden herausgedrängt. Eine Branche gerät in Erklärungsnot. Mehr erfahren
Spielregeln neu definieren – André M. Bajorat über den Bankathon
Zum Auftakt der Fintech Week Hamburg veranstaltet das Start-up figo den 3. Bankathon – die Anmeldung ist absofort möglich. Wir haben André M. Bajorat von figo einige Fragen zum Hackathon gestellt. Mehr erfahren
4,5 Millionen für Payworks aus MünchenDrei Jahre nach seiner letzten Finanzierung sammelt Payworks die nächste Runde ein. Mit der Millionensumme will das Fintech-Startup weiter expandieren. Mehr erfahren
Urs Rohner: Kopf hoch, Kollegen!
Urs Rohner entwirft in einem Kommentar den Bankkunden der Zukunft. Offenbart sich hier die wahre Denke des Präsidenten der Credit Suisse? Mehr erfahren
Wer wird das N26 der Freelancer und Gründer?
Das Berliner Fintech-Startup Kontist will eine Banking-App für Gründer bauen – und kooperiert dafür mit der Solarisbank. Doch mit dem Plan ist das Startup nicht allein. Mehr erfahren
hub:raum-Gründer geht zum InsurTech-Inkubator: Peter Borchers wird ab 1. Oktober neuer CEO von Allianz X
Die vor Kurzem gegründete Einheit Allianz X erhält mit Peter Borchers ab 1. Oktober 2016 einen neuen CEO. Peter Borchers gehört zu den erfahrensten und anerkanntesten Experten für die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Konzernen und Startups sowie bei Inkubationsaktivitäten von Großunternehmen. Er wechselt von hub:raum/Deutsche Telekom zur Allianz. Mehr erfahren
Frankfurt wird zur Fintech-Stadt
In Bürogemeinschaften, Inkubatoren und Kooperationen entwickeln Gründer in Frankfurt das Werkzeug für die Geldgeschäfte von morgen. Mehr erfahren
Ergo &8211; FinTechs und InsurTechs verursachen keine hohe Widerrufsquote bei Maklerverträgen
Ergo: Machen FinTechs und InsurTechs das „traditionelle“ Maklergeschäft kaputt? Stephan Schinnenburg, Vorstand der Ergo Beratung und Vertrieb AG, kann dies nicht bestätigen. Die Ergo stelle keine hohe Widerrufsquote von Makleraufträgen infolge der neuen Marktakteure fest, sagte Schinnenburg im Interview mit einem Fachmagazin. Mehr erfahren
DKB macht Supermarktkasse zum Geldautomaten
Allen Bankkarten, Kreditkarten und Bezahl-Apps zum Trotz – Bargeld bleibt der Deutschen liebstes Zahlungsmittel. Nachschub bekommen DKB-Kunden ab sofort mit ihrem Smartphone an den Kassen von rund 8.000 Filialen. Mehr erfahren
#BITCOIN / #BLOCKCHAIN News
Maybe Blockchain Really Does Have Magical PowersBlockchain, the #technology behind Bitcoin and other digital currencies, isn’t quite as novel or omnipotent as many have advertised it to be. That doesn’t mean, however, that it can’t do wonders in the world of finance. Mehr erfahren
The Next Phase of the Blockchain is About Business and Innovation
Since 2009, and up to this day, much of the conversation and efforts around the blockchain market have been centered by or framed around the technological aspects of it. Mehr erfahren
10 Deutsche Bitcoin Blogs die man kennen Bei Bitcoin, was sich aus den Begriffen „Bit“ (kleinste Speichereinheit am Computer) und „Coin“ (Münze) zusammensetzt, handelt es sich um eine digitale Währung die elektronisch geschaffen und verwahrt wird. Diese Bitcoins lassen sich an speziellen Börsen kaufen und können verwendet werden, um Online-Zahlungen zu leisten und damit physische Produkte zu erwerben.. Mehr erfahren
Credit Unions create their own R3-like blockchain consortium
In an effort to prove that blockchain technology is not just the preserve of big ticket banking associations, US credit unions have formed a collaborative venture to explore the application of distributed ledgers for member-owned financial cooperatives. Mehr erfahren
Nexussquared und Blockchain Source starten strategische Partnerschaft in der Blockchainberatung
Die beiden führenden Schweizer Blockchain-Experten Nexussquared und Blockchain Source arbeiten im Beratungsgeschäft ab sofort eng zusammen und unterstützen sich gegenseitig bei der Durchführung von Veranstaltungen. Mehr erfahren
So kommt das Zuger Bitcoin-Projekt voran
Seit Juli akzeptiert Zug als erste Stadt weltweit Bitcoin als Zahlungsmittel. Wer zahlt in Bitcoin? Und wie viele Transaktionen wurden schon getätigt? cash hat beim Zuger Stadtschreiber nachgefragt. Mehr erfahren
ZKB mit Blockchain-Konsortium wie UBS & Co
Die grösste Schweizer Staatsbank macht bei einem Konsortium mit, das auf die als bahnbrechend geltende Blockchain-Technologie setzt. Damit eifert die Zürcher Kantonalbank der UBS und der Credit Suisse nach. Mehr erfahren
Forschungsprojekt: Blockchain als Basis für ausserbörslich gehandelte Aktien
e Blockchain-Technologie ermöglicht neue Lösungsansätze in der Finanzwelt. Um solche Lösungen zu entwickeln und zu testen, hat sich ein Konsortium formiert, zu welchem auch die Schweizer Unternehmen InCore Bank, Inventx, SIX, Swisscom, ti&m und Zürcher Kantonalbank gehören. Mehr erfahrenÜBERSICHTEN / INFOGRAFIKEN / STUDIEN
Blurred lines: How FinTech is shaping financial services
We estimate within the next 3-5 years, cumulative investment in FinTech globally could well exceed $ 150bn. Mehr erfahren
Neue Studie des SWIFT Institute: Virtuelle Währungen werden Fiatwährungen wohl kaum verdrängenDas SWIFT Institute hat eine neue Studie veröffentlicht, die sich der Frage widmet, ob Bitcoin die Fiatwährungen in der globalen Finanzwelt verdrängen wird. Die Studie mit dem Titel “Virtual currencies: Media of exchange or speculative assets?” Mehr erfahren
Infographic: The 27 Fintech Unicorns, And Where They Were Born
Visual Capitalist‘s infographic visualizes the 27 largest fintech startups worldwide. They look at valuations, cash raised, location, sub-sectors, and much more! Mehr erfahren
6 Fintech Unternehmer in Bilanz Top 100 Banker Liste
6 Fintech Unternehmer haben es doch tatsächlich in die Top 100 Bankers Liste der Bilanz geschafft. Zumindest sind die Fintechis diejenigen welche in der Top 100 Liste ohne Kravatten glänzen. Mehr erfahren
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The post FinTech DACH News Rückblick der Woche 36 appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
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Breaking Banks: New York Fintech Week 2016 [AUDIO]
New #York was rocking the #fintech this #week, from Next Money and BBVA Open Talent to Finovate Fall. Tune in to Brett King and company below to hear the fintech insider perspective.
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Hyperledger to Address International Trade Standards Body
Leading members of the #Hyperledger #blockchain project are scheduled to #address ISITC next week.
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Inside the Zcash Audit: Why the Anonymous Blockchain Project Spent $250k on a Trial By Fire
A venture-backed #cryptocurrency with the promise to provide truly #anonymous transactions is scheduled to launch into beta today.
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