At Daily #Fintech we have been monitoring #cash for various reasons. The more Fintech factors relate to watching digital currency trends, digital wallets and the potential of a cashless economy; and the more traditional Finance reasons, relate to income yielding options and flows towards public investment vehicles. The latter onesRead More
Bank Innovation
F10, the #Fintech Incubator and #Accelerator, is delighted to announce that out of the 167 Startup companies that applied to F10’s Prototype to Product (P2) #program 10 #Startups have been chosen to join.
The P2 Program allows teams with a thrilling prototype to participate in the product development program where they produce a minimal viable product and subsequently incorporate their startup. These 10 startups will now become part of F10’s roster and will be accompanied and supported in their endeavor to bring their ideas to the market.
Earlier this month, F10 announced to the world that the FinTech Incubator and Accelerator had reorganized itself in the form of an association with the aim of bringing innovation to the finance and insurance sectors of Switzerland and Europe.
The F10 association includes the well-known members Julius Bär, Switzerland’s leading private banking group, and PwC Switzerland; who together with SIX form the foundation upon which the Fintech Incubator and Accelerator is built.
Twice a year, F10 offers a six-month “Prototype to Product (P2)” program which assists yearly up to 20 selected, promising teams/startups to transition their prototype into a sellable product. The teams gain access to the working space at F10 in Zurich. Coaches from the F10 team, as well as external mentors, will be allocated to each team to support them and ensure that they achieve their milestones. The first batch begins in November 2016 and ends in April 2017.
Throughout the six-month period, the teams will attend lessons and workshops grouped into five units: Vision, Team & Strategy; Business, Product & #Technology; Marketing & Sales; Legal & Regulations and Demo Day & Graduation. Coaches and mentors will be present to ensure that the teams are on the right track.
The program can be partially completed online/off-site with only certain dates requiring actual on-site presence. F10 will cover travel expenses with a 15’000 CHF reimbursement for each team upon achieving their determined milestones.
By the end of the program, teams/startups will have gained in-depth experience of all aspects of the financial industry and top level contact to big financial players, they will have access to the F10 association members’ global network of #banks and benefit from SIX services, regulators, angel investors and venture capitalists. Participation is free and F10 does not take equity in the Startups.
The 10 Startups that have been chosen to participate in the next P2 Program are:
Air
A P2P ecosystem which is completely decentralized by eliminating centralized servers to insure that no one cloud computing company has access to the users’ data and information.
APIAX
Generating better access to compliance regulations by providing easily integrated public programming interfaces (APIs) that facilitate access to always up-to-date and verified compliance rules.
Biz Gees
#Blockchain Technology customised for philanthropic P2P lending with a focus on micro loans for micro businesses in refugee camps.
Enterprise Bot
Focussing on an automated customer support system for banks that is able to understand and act upon customer queries and is easily integrated into existing infrastructure.
Futurae
Creating fast, simple and hands-off two-factor user authentication for online applications that require additional security by pairing mobile devices with computers in the vicinity of each other.
Lendity
Providing investors with a streamlined system to access tailored loans from multiple P2P loan platforms around the world.
SONECT
Creating virtual ATMs where users can withdraw cash from any shop that joins the program at over 50% cheaper than the current ATM withdrawal costs.
Traderion
Profiling and training of trading professionals using gamified simulators and machine-learning algorithms.
Vesgoo
Designers of the ThematicCloud, a platform which will facilitate thematic investment processes by combining technology and research to produce customizable and sustainable thematic investment vehicles.
WealthInitiative
Creating a platform to allow wealth management institutions to recognize and exploit synergies amongst their clients, and in a further step amongst their peers.
This article first appeared on F10
The post F10 Selects 10 Fintech Startups For The -Swiss Accelerator Program appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Die von der Glarner Kantonalbank (GLKB) im September lancierte Kreditfabrik #gewinnt mit Pax Versicherung einen #weiteren namhaften #Kunden. Die Laufzeiten für Festhypotheken weitet die GLKB mit ihrem #Hypomat.ch auf 20 Jahre aus.
Die kürzlich von der GLKB ins Leben gerufene Kreditfabrik übernimmt die Verarbeitung und Verwaltung von Hypotheken für die Pax Versicherung. Nach der Migros-Pensionskasse gewinnt die #Glarner #Kantonalbank damit bereits einen zweiten namhaften Kunden für ihr neues Serviceangebot.
Die Glarner Kantonalbank weitet über ihre Online-Hypothekenplattform Hypomat.ch das Laufzeitenangebot für Festhypotheken bis 20 Jahre aus. Zudem bietet die GLKB in den langen Laufzeiten ab 11 Jahren eine attraktive Ausstiegsmöglichkeit an. Auf Hypomat.ch neu abgeschlossene Festhypotheken mit Laufzeit zwischen 11 und 20 Jahren können im Falle einer Handänderung unabhängig der Restlaufzeit und des Kapitalbetrags gegen Bezahlung einer Pauschalgebühr von 1’000 Franken zurückbezahlt werden.
The post Hypomat der Glarner Kantonalbank gewinnt weiteren Kunden appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
For a long time, #startups had to #learn how big companies do business #planning. Now the flow is reversing and we see management consulting organizations pitch methodologies to big companies that have come #from the start up world. Now that software is eating the world, big companies seek to understandRead More
Bank Innovation
Swiss Startup Association, Swiss Finance Startups, Venturelab, Business Angels Schweiz und glp nehmen zufrieden zur Kenntnis, dass die #Zürcher #Finanzdirektion von ihrer umstrittenen Steuerpraxis bezüglich Startups wieder abkehrt und zur ursprünglichen, fairen Bewertung von Jungunternehmen zurückfindet.
Gemeinsam hatten sie sich die Intereessensgruppe im laufenden Jahr an vorderster Front für eine adäquate Bewertung und daraus folgenden gerechte Besteuerung von Gründer und Business Angels eingesetzt.
Im Mai 2016 hatte die Finanzdirektion des Kantons Zürich an ihrer Medienkonferenz mitgeteilt, an ihrer neuen Steuerpraxis von Startups festhalten zu wollen. Diese Praxis sah eine Vermögenssteuer von Startup Unternehmern aufgrund von Finanzierungsrunden vor, was die Existenz vieler Gründer ernsthaft gefährdete. Gleichzeitig versprach Regierungsrat Ernst Stocker, dass Startups in Zürich nicht schlechter gestellt sein sollen als in anderen Kantonen.
VentureLab
Mit geeinten Kräften hatten Swiss Startup Association (SSA), Swiss Finance Startups (SFS), Venturelab, Business Angels Schweiz (BAS) und glp daraufhin einen breit abgestützten Aufruf, unterzeichnet von über 80 CEOs, Gründern und Investoren, an Regierungsrat Stocker übergeben und gleichzeitig eine Motion im Kantonsrat für die Aufhebung der unfairen Steuerpraxis eingereicht.
Die Einführung von Vermögenssteuern aufgrund von Finanzierungsrunden ist für Startups nicht tragbar, da sie einen fiktiven Vermögenswert besteuert, der gar nicht realisiert wurde. Sie stellt somit eine Diskriminierung von Jungunternehmen gegenüber KMUs dar, die ihrerseits aufgrund ihres Ertrags- resp. Substanzwert besteuert werden („Praktikermethode“).
Swiss Finance Startups
Aufgrund von parlamentarischen Anfragen und Interpellationen an diverse Kantonsregierungen stellte sich im Laufe des Sommers heraus, dass der Kanton Zürich mit dieser Besteuerungsgrundlage weitgehend alleine da steht und andere Kantone keinen Anlass sehen, sich dieser Praxis anzuschliessen.
Dass sich die Finanzdirektion nun bereit erklärt, von ihrer Steuerpraxis abzusehen und zur Praktikermethode zurückzukehren, ist ein regelrechter Befreiungsschlag für Startups und das ganze Ökosystem. Die Entscheidung schafft Rechtssicherheit für die Zukunft und macht den Standort Zürich für Gründer, Investoren und Mitarbeitende von Startups wieder attraktiv.
Besonders begrüsst SFS, dass der Entscheid mehrere Wochen vor der Jahreswende getroffen fällt, was vielen Startups die Abwanderung in andere Kantone oder ins Ausland ersparen dürfte.
Die Interessensgruppe sieht diesem Entscheid die Grundlage für eine konstruktive Zusammenarbeit mit der Finanzdirektion und das Commitment des Regierungsrats zum Zürcher Innovationsstandort und zum Startup Ökosystem.
The post Abkehr der Zürcher Finanzdirektion von umstrittener Startup-Steuerpraxis appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
A check on #stock #exchanges before Halloween makes sense. We covered stock exchanges in a two part series in May, with a focus more on #Fintech innovation and naturally, we found #Blockchain parties and concerts all over the planet. These activities continue to spread but today I want to highlightRead More
Bank Innovation
There’s no shortage of interest in #fintech right now — the recent 10,000-plus attendees at last week’s Money20/20 conference proved that &8212; and even though the industry is still not seeing the mega funding rounds it did last year, investors are still finding new fintechs to sink their teeth into. It appears asRead More
Bank Innovation
In the Age of Information, companies that have made #data their business are getting more competitive as they seek to tame the mountains of available data into useful, actionable insights and answers. The #banks have the data. #Fintech startups want it, and argue it is better for #customers, but of course,Read More
Bank Innovation
The #mutual #insurance sector has undergone a modest recovery in recent years, says #Swiss Re’s latest #sigma #report “Mutual insurance in the 21st century: back to the future?” Mutual insurers&8217; share of the overall insurance market increased from 24% of direct premiums written in 2007 to just over 26% in 2014, reversing some of the declines of previous decades. However, the segment faces challenges, including adapting to new risk-based capital requirements and more stringent corporate governance arrangements, which could put some mutuals at a competitive disadvantage.
Further, mutual insurers must embrace technological disruption. Exploiting #digital #technology such as smart analytics and social media should allow mutuals to better serve the interests of their member-owners, while their ownership structure should enable mutuals to keep insurance affordable for some individuals and risks.
The primary purpose of mutual insurers is to provide risk protection coverage for its owner-members, rather than to make profits or provide returns to external shareholders as in the case for stock-based insurers. Over the past few years, cumulative premiums written by mutual insurers have outpaced those of the wider insurance market, with much of the outperformance concentrated during the height of the financial crisis in 2008-09.
&8220;That mutuals&8217; relative premium performance did not reverse once economic growth resumed after the financial crisis, suggests a degree of permanence to the segment&8217;s recovery,&8221; says Kurt Karl, Chief Economist at Swiss Re. &8220;Some mutual groups have expanded internationally in recent years, and new mutuals have been established in a number of markets, another indication of the segment&8217;s renewed popularity.&8221;
However, while mutuals&8217; share of the global insurance market has increased modestly since 2007, it remains well below previous highs. For example, in the life sector, the share of global premiums of life mutuals was 23% in 2014, well below levels of around 66% in the late 1980s and early 1990s before a wave of demutualisations in a number of countries.
New challenges
Mutual insurers face a number of challenges. The most obvious comes from new risk-based capital requirements and tougher corporate governance arrangements introduced by governments and regulators, designed to boost the resilience of individual insurers and curb excessive risk taking. These requirements could put some mutuals, especially smaller ones with a narrow regional or business line focus, at a competitive disadvantage. Larger and better-diversified insurers are in a stronger position to manage the additional operational and funding costs associated with compliance.
Regulators appear alert to the possible unintended consequences of their new rules, and emphasise proportionality in implementing the new prudential (i.e. capital) and governance regimes. There has also been a renewed focus on the range of capital solutions available to mutuals, including legislation in some countries to allow equity-like capital instruments to be issued, such as certificats mutualistes in France. Together with customised reinsurance solutions and alternative risk transfer mechanisms such as insurance-linked securities, this will give mutuals increased financial flexibility to grow their business and compete with other types of insurers.
Embracing digital technology
Digital technology is changing the way that insurance is designed, priced and sold, and is fundamentally re-configuring the competitive landscape in which all insurers operate. Mutual insurers must adapt and upgrade their underwriting and distribution practices if they are to remain relevant in the digital age. There are signs that many are actively embracing such change, but some mutual insurers are lagging behind.
For example, smaller mutual insurers have not yet adopted full online functionality in their business practices, perhaps reflecting their greater attachment to traditional agent/broker distribution. The laggards run the risk of losing out to market participants better placed to harness the new technologies. This is especially true given the growing development of peer-to-peer (P2P) insurance platforms, which enable individuals to share risks among themselves in much the same way that affinity-based mutual insurers do.
The post A Comeback For Mutual Insurance? Swiss Re Report Investigates Six Sigma and Digital Technology appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
It seems as though #fintech-ers are more interested in chatbots than #blockchain these days, but that doesn’t mean distributed ledger #technology has slid out of the spotlight. Blockchain startup #Chain made waves at the recent Money20/20 event when it announced what it’s calling the Chain Core Developer Edition: basically theRead More
Bank Innovation
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