On the second day of FinovateFall 2016, fintechs continued to wow attendees with bright, dazzling new finovations. Attendees from #banks, credit unions, and other #fintech companies saw 31 demos of #technology that has applications across the financial sphere, from financial data analysis to mobile payments to trading. The three dominatingRead More
Bank Innovation
A. #FinTech – its older than your great great grandma
“Financial #technology” or “FinTech” is often seen today as a new phenomenon. However, the interlinkage of finance and technology has evolved over three distinct eras. FinTech 1.0, from 1866 to 1987, was the first period of financial globalization supported by technological infrastructure such as transatlantic transmission cables, SWIFT interbank transaction communications, ATMs, Credit cards etc. This was followed by FinTech 2.0 from 1987-2008, during which financial services firms, just like most other traditional industries, increasingly digitized their processes. Internet usage spread across the world and all industries, including banking, came online during this period. Since 2008 a new era of FinTech has emerged that is defined not by the financial products or services delivered but by who delivers them. The key difference in this era of FinTech 3.0 is that many of these innovations are led by start-ups.
However, it is not right to think of FinTech only as a start-up phenomenon. FinTech now refers to a rapidly growing industry representing between US$12 billion and US$197 billion in investment as of 2014, depending on whether one considers independent start-ups (FinTech 3.0) or traditional financial institutions (FinTech 2.0). McKinsey’s proprietary Panorama FinTech Database tracks the launch of new FinTech companies – i.e., start-ups and other companies that use technology to conduct the fundamental functions provided by financial services, impacting how consumers store, save, borrow, invest, move, pay and protect money. In April 2015, this database included approximately 800 FinTech startups globally; now that number stands at more than 2,000.
B. Its an #Evolution, not a revolution… but there is something different this time
One key feature of the FinTech 3.0 era is the unbundling of financial services. FinTech start-ups are cherry picking specific segments of financial products and consumers segments to design their offerings. At a high level, these can be categorized as –
i. Debt Funding Platforms– online platforms that help small businesses and entrepreneurs to get loans. These can be crowd funding platforms or credit marketplaces using institutional money of various types. Some examples are – Lending Club, OnDeck, GroupLend, Kiva, Capital Float, Neogrowth, Indifi, LeningKart etc.
ii. Equity Funding Platforms– online platforms for crowd-sourcing of equity investments in start-ups and early stage businesses. E.g. – Fundersclub, Globevestor
iii. Wealth Management Platforms– technology driven solutions for automated wealth management recommendations. E.g. – Wealthfront, Betterment, Intelligent Portfolios
iv. Payment Processing solutions– products for simplifying and/or automating various steps of the payment / cash flow value chains. E.g. – Currency Cloud, Square, Tipalti, Flint, Check, Zipmark, Stripe , Astropay, WePay
v. Others – various other kinds of solutions like personal finance tracking and fraud monitoring (e.g. BillGuard ), virtual banking (e.g. BankingUp), alternate Credit rating services (using big data, social profiling etc)
And then there is the whole ecosystem of virtual currencies / digital wallets and the platforms built around them. Each one these categories has a world of depth in its own right.
C. FinTech 3.0 is driven by some big changes in the market
Banking has historically been one of the sectors that are most resistant to new start-up driven #disruption. Since the first mortgage was issued in England in the 11th century, #banks have built robust businesses with multiple moats: ubiquitous distribution through branches, unique expertise such as credit underwriting underpinned both by data and judgment, even the special status of being regulated institutions that supply credit, and have sovereign insurance for their liabilities (deposits). Moreover, consumer inertia in financial services has traditionally been high. Consumers have generally been slow to change financial services providers.
The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 was a watershed moment and is part of the reason why FinTech is now such hot area of growth. The key factors driving this rapid growth of FinTech start-ups right are –
1. Demand side
i. Loss of trust in banks – One big reason why banks continued to hold a monopoly over financial services was because consumers put a large trust premium on established banks while entrusting them with their money. However the 2008 banking crises caused by reckless actions of bankers made consumers loose that trust. People are now willing to trust non-bank entities with their money decisions. A 2015 survey reported that American trust levels in technology firms handling their finances is not only on the rise, but actually exceeds the confidence placed in banks. For example, the level of trust Americans have in CitiBank is 37%, whilst trust in Amazon and Google respectively reaches 71% and 64%. Digital entrepreneurs are viewed as more trustworthy champions of consumer interest as compared to over-paid bankers who are perceived to be manipulating the system to make fat profits.
ii. Expectation of ‘one click’ delivery – In an era where people get simple single click fulfilment of their day to day needs, traditional banking feels way too outdated. The millennial generation is now used to the user experience levels of iTunes for listening to music, Amazon for same day delivery of online shopping, Expedia for global travel bookings, AirBnB for economical international lodging, Uber for inter-city transport, Whatsapp for communication and Tinder for dating. Traditional banking feels way too bulky and outdated in this context. Consumers have no patience for an industry that takes weeks to process mortgage requests and small working capital loans; nor do people accept silently the non-transparent charges for services like cross-border money transfers and investment brokerages etc. There is a strong demand for simple, fast and transparent financial solutions that can be accessed at a click of the mobile phone touch-screen.
2. Supply side
i. Abundance of skilled financial entrepreneurs – As the financial crisis morphed into an economic crisis, large numbers of highly skilled professionals lost their jobs or were now less well compensated. This under-utilized educated workforce found a new industry – FinTech 3.0, in which to apply their skills. These highly skilled individuals were inspired by the success stories of high profile digital start-ups in other industries. There was also the newer generation of highly educated, fresh graduates facing a difficult job market. Their educational background often equipped them with the tools to understand financial markets, and their skills were well adapted for FinTech 3.0 start-ups.
ii. Regulation – after the 2008 financial crises, regulators have become more acceptable to opening up the financial industry to specialized players who serve specific parts of the financial value chain. This can be seen happening both in developed and developing countries. E.g. in the US, the JOBs Act assisted small businesses to by-pass the credit contraction caused by banks’ increased costs and limited capacity to originate loans. The JOBs Act made it possible for start-ups to raise directly the finance to support their business by raising capital in lieu of equity on P2P platforms. UK’s FCA is facilitating innovative FinTech’s through Project Innovate and its ‘Regulatory Sandbox’ that provides these FinTechs to operate in safe spaces to test their models. South Korea is developing a specific regime for online-only banks. In India, the banking regulator recently created two new types of banking licenses that are specially tailored for FinTech companies – The Payments Bank License and The Small Bank License. Similarly Chinese government issued Internet Finance Guidelines in July 2015 to continue growth of FinTech innovation. Similar examples of financial technology innovation friendly regulation can be seen across many developed and developing countries.
iii. Telecom revolution – In many parts of developing world, mobile phone has become ubiquitous. Mobile phone ownership far exceeds formal banking coverage in these countries. E.g. while only 40% of Indians have active formal banking relationships, 80% of Indians have mobile phones. For these unbanked people, the “reputational” factors that provided an edge to banks for offering banking services are not relevant. Mobile based financial services are often the only, and the preferred, means of reaching these populations. For these populations, “banking is essentials, banks are not,” as it was rightly captured by Bill Gates.
D. Banks are not dying – Pioneers get killed, settlers prosper
While the headlines may give the impression that FinTech start-ups are coming to eliminate traditional banks, that may not be the case yet. Unlike startups, banks have had decades to build extensive infrastructures, develop solutions for compliance and regulatory challenges and establish close networks with other financial institutions. Banks also have leverage over startups because someone still needs to hold the world’s money, ensure compliance and so on, and building a mature institution’s full technology stack — or its equivalent — from scratch is expensive, difficult and time-consuming. As can be expected, banks are also investing heavily in financial technology innovations. E.g. approximately one third of Goldman Sachs’ 33,000 staff are engineers – more than LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. Paul Walker, Goldman Sachs’ global technology co-head that they “were competing for talents with start-ups and tech companies”.
FinTech start-ups that are solving superficial problems without strong defendable USPs will run out of steam at some point. As an illustration, why would a small entrepreneur want to take a working capital loan from an independent start-up when his regular bank, where he maintains his savings / current account, implements its own FinTech solutions and offers its customers a loan at similar or lower rate with as user friendly a process as the independent FinTech startup does?
While the current situation of exponential growth in FinTech start-ups differs from the earlier dot-com boom, the failure rate for FinTech businesses is still likely to be high. However, FinTechs focused on specific market segments and solving real world consumer problems will break through and build sustainable businesses. They will reshape certain areas of financial services – ultimately becoming far more successful than the scattered and largely sub-scale FinTech winners of the dotcom boom. In five major retail banking businesses – consumer finance, mortgages, lending to small and medium sized enterprises, retail payments and wealth management – from 10% to 40% of bank revenues (depending on the business) could be at risk by 2025. FinTech attackers are likely to force prices lower and cause margin compression.
D. The real disruptors
The FinTech startups best positioned to create lasting disruption in the financial industry will be distinguished by the following six markers:
i. Lower cost of customer acquisition – FinTechs that are able to acquire customers at a lower cost and at a faster speed have major competitive advantage. That may mean developing win-win partnerships with other players in the value chain. E.g. during the dot-com boom, eBay, a commerce ecosystem with plenty of customers, was able to reduce PayPal’s cost of customer acquisition by more than 80%. Today, many business lending FinTech players are partnering with various electronic networks, like e-commerce portals, centralized air-ticketing platforms, credit card transaction processing platforms etc to acquire consumers in bulk. The start-ups that are able to execute such unconventional approaches have a higher chance of sustainable growth.
ii. Lower cost to serve – FinTechs start-ups are providing their services with no or very little physical infrastructure. Online lending platforms conduct most of their processes online in an automated manner. In some cases such online lending platforms have an upto 400 bps advantage over traditional banks in their cost to serve consumers. Similarly, FinTechs in PoS payment processing space are providing innovative solutions that significantly reduce the time and cost for small business owners to set-up electronic payment systems at their premises.
iii. Innovative uses of data – Traditional business and individual credit rating systems seem outdated today. They also lost their credibility during the 2008 financial crises. Many FinTechs are experimenting with alternate credit scoring methods that involve looking at online transaction history, educational backgrounds, social media activity, travel patterns, mobile phone usage and so on. Big data and advanced analytics offer transformative potential to predict “next best actions,” understand customer needs, and deliver financial services via new mechanisms like mobile phones. Credit underwriting in banks often operates with a case law mindset and relies heavily on precedent. In a world where more than 90% of data has been created in the last two years, FinTech data experiments hold promise for new products and services, delivered in new ways.
iv. Segment-specific propositions – The most successful FinTech start-ups will not begin by revolutionizing all of banking or credit. They will cherry pick, with discipline and focus, those customer segments most likely to be receptive to what they offer. Across FinTech, three segments – Millennials, small businesses and the under-banked – are particularly susceptible to this kind of cherry picking. These segments, with their sensitivity to cost, openness to remote delivery and distribution, and large size, offer a major opportunity for FinTech attackers to build and scale sustainable businesses that create value.
v. Leveraging existing infrastructure – Successful FinTech start-ups will embrace “co-opetition” and find ways to engage with the existing ecosystem of established players. E.g. PayPal partners with WellsFargo for merchant acquisition. Some business lending platforms enable banks to participate as credit providers on their platforms. Conversely, some banks partner with P2P lending platforms to provide credit to those borrowers who would otherwise not qualify for banks own credit lines. Some enterprising banks may even realize that running a banking framework might be very lucrative if it is done thoughtfully and cost-effectively. A few could embrace being an infrastructure firm supporting today’s new wave of fintech companies, becoming banking’s equivalent of Amazon Web Services. Others may open up more to startups through their own “App Store,” offering customers startup apps running on their infrastructure.
vi. Managing risk and regulatory stakeholders – FinTech start-ups are flying under the regulatory radar so far. However that may change in the near future. Regulatory tolerance for lapses on issues such as KYC, AML, compliance, and credit-related disparate impact will be low. Experience of microfinance industry in many developing countries the past is a good indicator of the high impact of regulation on an unregulated industry. Those FinTech players that build regulatory capabilities will be much better positioned to succeed than those that do not.
The path to FinTech nirvana will invariably be covered with blood of thousands of wannbe disrupters. But as in nature, so in business – Protein is never wasted when death occurs. Good ideas put into motion by some of the failed start-ups will be picked up by more mature players and taken to their logical conclusion.
The start-ups that play successfully on combinations of the above six dimensions are the start-ups that have the most potential to disrupt the financial sector — something that’s difficult to see in a large infographic of hundreds of FinTech start-ups today.
About the Author
[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/in/rantejsingh” connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”
Rantej Singh“]
Rantej Singh is a creative ‘ideas to execution’ professional who has successfully blended blue chip MNC management career with innovative entrepreneurship for the last 15 years. He has worked with Thomson Reuters, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and ICICI bank in Strategy, Innovation, Product Management and Operations roles, and founded / co-founded two high impact businesses. He currently works with a boutique Swiss management consulting firm specializing in emerging market financial institutions. Rantej is a co-author of ‘Practitioners book on Trade Finance’, the recommended course book at Indian Institute of Banking and Finance.
References –
· http://hollandfintech.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/10/SSRN-id2676553.pdf
· http://www.fintech.finance/news/why-fintech-startups-arent-killing-banks-yet/
· http://techcircle.vccircle.com/2015/12/02/banks-will-provide-tough-competition-to-fintech-startups/
· McKinsey Report – Cutting Through the FinTech Noise: Markers of Success, Imperatives for Banks
· Economist – The fintech revolution (May 9th, 2015 Edition)
#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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 :).
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).
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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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
Maybe Blockchain Really Does Have Magical Powers
Blockchain, 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 erfahren
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 verdrängen
Das 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.
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.
Bank Innovation
Wiener #FinTech cashpresso bietet unabhängigen Dispo – bis zu € 1.500 – direkt am Smartphone
– Kontoeröffnung komplett online, abgeschlossen in 10 #Minuten
&8211; Kreditrahmen frei verfügbar und sofort zur Auszahlung bereit
&8211; VC Fonds Speedinvest, Hansi Hansmann, Runtastic Gründer und Stefan Kalteis investieren
Banking wird immer mobiler. Auf diesen Trend setzen auch die 3 Gründer Daniel Strieder, Michael Handler und Jörg Skornschek vom Wiener FinTech Start-up Credi2. Mit cashpresso bringt das junge Unternehmen einen vom klassischen Bankkonto unabhängigen Dispo auf den Markt.
„In nur 10 Minuten ist das cashpresso Konto vollständig online eröffnet und der Kreditrahmen von € 1.500 bereit zur Auszahlung. Kunden entscheiden selbst, wann und wofür sie das Geld verwenden.“, sagt Daniel Strieder, CEO. Für deutsche und österreichische Staatsbürger ist cashpresso ab sofort zugänglich.
cashpresso Gruender &8211; Daniel Strieder, Michael Handler, Jörg Skornschek
Namhafte Partner an Bord
Mit ihrer Idee konnten die Gründer angesehene Partner für sich gewinnen. Bankpartner mit deutscher Banklizenz ist die Deutsche Handelsbank, ein Vorreiter im E-Commerce Banking. Ermöglicht wurde cashpresso durch eine € 700.000 Seed-Finanzierung von VC Fonds Speedinvest, Hansi Hansmann, den Runtastic Gründern und Stefan Kalteis. „cashpresso überzeugt durch sein starkes Team, das erfahrene Experten aus den Bereichen Online Payments, E-Commerce und Analytics vereint. Das Produkt bietet einen schnellen Disporahmen, online verfügbar zu fairen Konditionen und ergänzt unser hervorragendes FinTech Portfolio perfekt.“, so Speedinvest Partner Stefan Klestil.
Papierlose Anmeldung in 10 Minuten abgeschlossen
Das cashpresso Konto kann sowohl über die Smartphone App für Android und iOS, als auch über das Web-Portal eröffnet werden. Bei der Anmeldung sind Name, Geburtsdatum, Adresse, Nationalität, Handynummer, E-Mail-Adresse und Bankkonto anzugeben. Dank Video-Identifizierung entfällt der Weg in die Filiale. Der Kreditvertrag wird online mittels qualifizierter elektronischer Signatur unterzeichnet. „Mit cashpresso zeigen wir, dass Geld leihen auch schnell und unkompliziert sein kann.“ so Strieder.
Praktische Alternative zum Ratenkredit
Der verfügbare Rahmen kann mehrfach ausgeschöpft werden. So muss nicht für jede Anschaffung ein neuer Kredit beantragt werden. cashpresso zeichnet sich besonders durch die flexible Rückzahlung aus. Eine monatliche Mindestrückzahlung von 3% des tatsächlich ausbezahlten Betrages garantiert die Verringerung der Verbindlichkeiten und ermöglicht geringe Raten.
Kunden bestimmen selbst den Tag der monatlichen Fälligkeit und die Ratenhöhe über die Mindestrate hinaus. Änderungen an diesen Einstellungen sind jederzeit kostenlos möglich. Einmalzahlungen und die Rückzahlung des Gesamtbetrages sind ebenfalls immer und ohne Mehrkosten möglich.
Faire Kosten, transparent kommuniziert
Laufende Kosten oder verstecke Gebühren gibt es bei cashpresso nicht. Der effektive Jahreszins in Höhe von 9,99% fällt nur für ausbezahlte Beträge an. Die ersten 30 Tage sind komplett zinsfrei. Das ermöglicht eine 0% Finanzierung bei kurzfristigen Engpässen und bietet die Möglichkeit, cashpresso gratis auszuprobieren.
Gekündigt werden kann jederzeit per Knopfdruck. „Mit cashpresso bringen wir ein faires und transparentes Produkt auf den Markt. Einen Kredit zu bekommen ist langwierig und kompliziert – genau dieses alte Bild wollen wir aus den Köpfen der Menschen verdrängen.“ so die Vision des Geschäftsführers Daniel Strieder.
Featured Image: Per Smartphone-App zum Schnell-Kredit. © cashpresso
The post Ccashpresso startet: in 10 Minuten zum Dispo-Kredit appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, #traditional banks across Europe suffered heavy losses. Regulators have had to intervene to harden their financial requirements. As capital became a rare commodity, many #banks have had to restrict their lending activity or offer less attractive conditions to their borrower clients. SMEs, typically companies with less than €50m of turnover, have been most penalized. In France this year, SMEs represent a highly significant 99.8% of all companies, and 46% of GDP. Their contribution to employment is even more significant. They are widely considered as engines of growth. Whether they are in the service or industrial sectors, expanding companies need financing. Their growing success often translates in rising working capital requirements and receivables financing. Not long ago, many of these businesses would have naturally gone to their banks to fill these funding and investment needs. Today, their banks have to turn down a certain number of those credit requests.
This context has favoured the rise of alternate forms of financing. Many innovative new ventures have been created to offer non-banking financing solutions. These new players do not suffer from the banks’ capital constraints because most of them do not warehouse risks like traditional banks do. Indeed, their business model consists of connecting those in need of financing with investors or savers willing to take on these risks. A new wave of financial disintermediation has emerged.
The digital revolution has enabled this disintermediation wave. It allows new entrants to promptly and economically access vast numbers of prospective clients via the internet, bypassing traditional branch networks. Furthermore, information #technology has also allowed these new “#fintech” ventures to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers without having a historical relationship with them. By using existing market data, they are able to model credit risks at light speed and provide their clients with instant responses. On the other side, they have made the best use of the risk dispersion techniques that securitization allows.
Much is said about fintechs entirely replacing traditional banks in many areas of financial services. While there is indeed some healthy competition between the two, there are also significant cooperation opportunities. Traditional banks have large numbers of SME clients which, for many good reasons, are happy to maintain a one-stop shopping relationship with their bank. On the other hand, fintech companies have, with great effectiveness, developed niche services but do not expect to be their clients’ only financial service provider. Therefore, cooperation is an obvious next step. Let’s take the example of factoring. A traditional bank may find it advantageous to direct its customers to an alternative form of financing rather than developing its own. Such a platform can operate on an open-architecture basis, providing customized services to the clients of its bank partners. The bank may also invest in the securitization funds managed by its fintech partner.
Fintech startups do not aim at reinventing the wheel. They aspire to identify sources of efficiency and scale, and adapt them to today’s collaborative era. With regards to factoring, the new online model places the focus on customer experience, providing a faster, more accessible and cheaper form of financing. Flexibility is key and many modes of collaboration between banks and fintech are possible.
It is not surprising that an increasing number of banks are faced with the decision of whether to build their own online lending platforms in-house or whether to collaborate with the disruptive technology firms. The cooperation rationale is so compelling that a number of leading banks have already embarked in promising partnerships with fintech startups, whilst giving them space to succeed.
JP Morgan, for instance, has teamed up with OnDeck, allowing them to speed up the process of providing loans to its 4 million small-business customers at a drastically faster pace than otherwise. The alliance of JP Morgan’s relationships and lending experience with OnDeck’s technology platform enables them to offer almost real-time approvals and next-day funding. Santander has done the same whilst partnering with Funding Circle and then Kabbage.
JP Morgan and Santander are known to be well-managed and apt to seize opportunities, which further emphasizes the emergence of a trend that we can imagine will flourish. The advantages for both partners in each of these cases are clear: one provides the customers, the other provides the product and service experience whilst risks and revenues are shared. Furthermore, the collaborations enable JP Morgan and Santander to make a real breakthrough in the SME market, which has traditionally been the backyard of local and regional banks.
Similarly, the French start-up Linxo has been very attractive to banks. This company offers an app which aggregates information such as transactions and balances from several accounts to help users manage their budget. Credit Agricole, number one retail bank in France, became one of Linxo’s leading shareholders. This partnership helps supports the rapid growth of Linxo in France and initiates a new phase of international growth. On the other hand, the bank benefits highly from collaborating with Linxo, interested in the data they aggregate. Fortuneo also partnered with Linxo to offer a multi-bank account aggregation tool.
ING, the leading Dutch bank which pioneered direct banking in the 1990s, pays particular attention to technology and disruption, innovation being at the heart of their DNA. Also a shareholder of the fintech Kabbage, they have a commercial agreement to bring Kabagge’s solution to ING’s customers. Both believe that they learn by finding within each other the strength they are lacking. ING puts the emphasis on bringing brand and trust to the fintech, whilst the fintech brings the agility.
The whole fintech sector is still to realize its full potential, but it is clear that it will need coherent action from several parties to reach it. They should aim to become collaborative partners as many have already managed to achieve. It will be together that banks and fintech will revolutionize financial services.
[linkedinbadge URL=”https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fintech-banks-collaboration-made-heaven-cedric-teissier” connections=”off” mode=”icon” liname=”Cedric Teissier“] is CoFounder and CEO at Finexkap
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.
Mit einem gemeinsamen Beratungsangebot kombinieren die beiden Unternehmen künftig ihre einander ergänzenden Kernkompetenzen. Im Rahmen der Zusammenarbeit bringt #Nexussquared seine Erfahrung in der Organisation und Durchführung von Blockchain-Workshops für Geschäftsleitungsmitglieder ein, während Blockchain #Source seine Kompetenz als Berater bei der Entwicklung von konkreten Blockchain-Anwendungen und Prototypen zur Verfügung stellt.
Zudem werden sich die Unternehmen bei der Durchführung von Anlässen zum Thema Blockchain gegenseitig unterstützen, so zum Beispiel bei den monatlich in Zürich stattfindenden Nexussquared Drinkup-Events und Blockchain Meetup-Anlässen sowie bei internationalen Meetups und Auftritten im Rahmen von Blockchain-Konferenzen und -Fachtagungen.
Im Event-Bereich kommt die Zusammenarbeit erstmalig diesen Oktober im Rahmen des Blockchain Meetup Zürich zum Tragen. Nexussquared wird den Anlass mit dem führenden #Bitcoin-Experten Andreas Antonopoulos aus Kalifornien aktiv unterstützen und das Nexussquared-Netzwerk in diesem Monat anstatt zu einem Drinkup zu der Veranstaltung einladen.
Nexussquared-Mitgründer Daniel Gasteiger sagt über die #Partnerschaft: “Mit dieser Zusammenarbeit leisten wir einen Beitrag zur Konsolidierung der Blockchain-Aktivitäten in der Schweiz. Zudem erweitern wir mit Lucas Betschart und Tommy Back unser Netzwerk an Spezialisten. Neben Guido Rudolphi, der uns seit Beginn als technischer Berater zur Seite steht, können wir unseren Kunden ab sofort auch direkten Zugang zur Blockchain-Entwickler-Community in der Schweiz bieten.“
Blockchain Source-Mitgründer Lucas Betschart sagt: &8220;Dank der Partnerschaft mit Nexussquared können wir künftig ein komplettes Paket anbieten: Von der ersten Einführung in die Möglichkeiten von Blockchain bis hin zur fertigen Anwendung. Daniel Gasteigers langjährige Erfahrung im Finanzbereich und sein Gespür für mögliche Blockchain-Anwendungsgebiete ergänzt unsere Kompetenz bei der Umsetzung von auf Blockchain basierenden Prototypen und Produkten perfekt.”
Featured image: Zürich Switzerland, via Wikicommon.
The post Nexussquared und Blockchain Source starten strategische Partnerschaft in der Blockchainberatung appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
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