Fintech Age Autumn 2016

Future Finance Cyber Security Digital innovators

Paul Heybourne

Head of Innovation, Aviva

London Hangouts

Aviva,Barclays, BlackRock, Hargreaves Lansdown, IG & Zopa

Presents

FINTECH BEYOND DISRUPTION City Hall, London 08.12.16 18.30 A new platform creating discussions between leaders in Fintech around the key trends shaping the industry.

Featuring an expert panel and Q&A with Fintech entrepreneurs and innovators.

See what’s next in the Fintech Revolution.

Eric Mouilleron CEO & Founder Bankable

Deborah Keay CMO Starling Bank

Katrin Herrling CEO & Co-Founder Funding Xchange

Marco Barlassina EDITOR IN CHIEF Fintech Age & iFinance

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Fintech Age Autumn 2016 Editor

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What’s Next for Finance The world is undergoing a digital revolution which is catalysing change within all industries, including finance. Before consumers valued and sought security above all, turning to established institutions for all their financial needs. Nowadays, with the recent banking crisis, consumers have lost trust in traditional providers and are looking for alternatives.

Meanwhile a new form of democracy is arising from this digital evolution. Companies are now being valued by online users in a bottom-up manner. We’ve entered the era of the gig economy and of crowdwisdom. A crowd that is composed by millennials but not only. In fact, parents are getting just as hooked on social media and mobile apps as the younger generation.

This new wave of customers also seeks greater engagement and direct dialogue with service providers. The internet empowers them to build relationships with businesses and to better inform their purchasing decisions.

Google determines the reputation and positioning of all companies. TripAdvisor ranks all the providers in the tourism industry. Soon the generation of digital natives will decide who deserves to be at the top for financial services too. Blue Financial Communication and iFinance Media are playing an active role in this development through their initiatives.

Publishing House iFinance Media LTD 41 Corsham Street Wework Old Street London N1 6DR www.fintechage.com Editor Denis Masetti masetti@bluefinancialcommunication.com Editorial Director Alessandro Rossi rossi@bluefinancialcommunication.com EDitor In Chief Marco Barlassina barlassina@bluefinancialcommunication.com Editorial Team AnaĂŻs Borri borri@bluefinancialcommunication.com Federico Morgantini morgantini@bluefinancialcommunication.com Rajeevan Ratnasingham ratnasingham@bluefinancialcommunication.com Contributors Emma Snow Matilda Keyes Designer Rajeevan Ratnasingham ratnasingham@bluefinancialcommunication.com Advertisement Manager Michele Gamba gamba@bluefinancialcommunication.com

For the incumbents regaining trust and building their digital reputation is a pressing issue. The new media are forcing them to completely rethink their communication and engagement strategies. In order to survive, they must earn back the respect and trust of the people within the digital space.

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Future Finance T

he rise of fintech start-ups has startled awake the old giants of finance. The past five years have seen more progress in financial technology than even before. Far from watching idly, incumbents have sped up their own digital transformation. While they initially saw the rise of fintechs as a threat, incumbents now support this trend by creating partnerships with disruptive newcomers and by setting up innovation teams and start-up accelerators. This has motivated incumbents to offer their services online through modern websites, desktop platforms and mobile apps. Moreover, many traditional providers have updated their branding and message to become more relatable and millennial friendly. Still, their digital performance is not growing nearly as fast as

by AnaĂŻs Borri

that of fintech start-ups. This is mainly because of legacy issues and bureaucratic hurdles that slow down the application of innovation. The particular demographic on the boards of financial giants compared to agile newcomers might also be part of the problem. Start-ups often complain about the fact that traditional providers are advantaged in terms of customer acquisition and trust. Yet, banks and other big players still suffer from a trust deficit derived from the 2008 crisis. Now we see more and more evidence that suggests finance is getting more transparent, modern and customercentric. That is why we have selected some of the most prominent figures of the traditional financial industry which are leading the way to a bright new digital future.

Digital Activist Paul Heybourne Paul Heybourne is the Head of Innovation at the giant insurance broker Aviva and he’s one of the key opinion leaders in European insurtech. He has been a loyal employee for more than ten years and a major actor for change in the company.

For Heybourne there are three key digital trends to be considered in the insurance industry: engagement through social media, access to information on mobile devices, and the use of data and analytics to understand the customers and fulfil their expectations.

With this in mind, he has developed programs and solutions in line with the customers’ current needs and behaviours. For instance, his team has recently launched the Aviva Drive app which rewards responsible driving behaviour and allows customers to receive discounted premiums.

Furthermore, Heybourne says Aviva has “embraced digital to make processes easier for our brokers, like the launch of our Fast Trade app, Live Chat and providing all our Risk Advisers with tablets to complete site surveys reducing turnaround times.”

According to him, new technologies can help brokers build and strengthen relationships with people and businesses. He believes insurers should use platforms such as social media to communicate more efficiently with potential customers and to tailor products in a way that actually helps them.

His focus is also on creating the best conditions for good ideas to be realized into actual services and delivered to the customers. By running Aviva’s Digital Garage in London and Singapore, he is actively helping new talent to blossom and fostering innovative services to be implemented in a traditional firm.

With his enthusiasm for technology and his drive to change the industry for the greater good, Heybourne is helping Aviva to remain a world leading provider and keep up with the fast changing digital world.

At a Glance Nationality: British Lives in: Norwich Role: Global Digital Innovation Lead at Aviva Awards: Technology Champion of the Year granted by Insurance Times Role Model: Steve Jobs Aspiration: To lead the digital insurance revolution Fun Fact: When he first got his Apple Watch, he didn’t realise it had to be put on silent and it rang at a wedding just as the registrar asked if ‘anyone knows of any lawful impediment...’

HEAVYWEIGHT INNOVATORS The Financial Institutions

Here is a selection of the top financial firms leading in their sector for digital and innovation. Find out the full list of the top 100 digital finance providers in Origami (Autumn 2016).

by Emma Snow

Banking

Since the 2008 crisis, Barclays’ CEO Anthony Jenkins has stirred the ship into the direction of customer engagement through technology. Barclays’ internet and mobile banking services have been brought to a stellar standard thanks to the talented innovation team led by Simon Skinner. Its Innovation Lab has also allowed it to take the lead in the UK for digital banking.

Insurance

This global giant has been leading the way in digital insurance. The platform MyAviva for instance allows users to access and manage all their policies from their desktop, tablet or phone. Aviva is also an active supporter of the growth of fintechs through its collaborations with innovative start-ups, its innovation labs and its fintech hackathons.

Trading

Founded in 1974, IG has become a world leading trading platform for CFDs and spread betting. Present in 15 countries across five continents, it provides access to 10,000 markets.

Although it is ancient compared to most trading fintechs, the company has always kept up with the technological trends, building award winning trading apps for mobile and tablets.

Asset Management

BlackRock is trusted to manage more money than any other investment manager in the world and is leading the way in digital asset management. By acquiring Barclays’ iShares platform in 2009, BlackRock also became a leader for online ETF investment management. Moreover, all its services are backed by a powerful proprietary intelligence platform, Aladdin.

Advisory

Hargreaves Lansdown is a FTSE 100 company with 35 years of experience in investment advisory. Its award-winning website and apps give people access to their investments on the go, along with a wealth of information and tools. It has also created a rich community with diverse portfolios who regularly share on the platform their insights and advice.

Crowdfunding

Although this is a relatively new provider, Zopa is part of the big league as the UK’s top crowdlending platform.

Harnessing the power of big data, it has allowed more than £1.83 billion of peer-to-peer loans to be granted in ten years.

It has also been voted ‘Most Trusted Personal Loan Provider’ in the Moneywise Customer Awards for seven years in a row.

Start-up Wisdom

Words of ADvice from Fintech veterans to the newcomers “Everything is going to take a lot longer than you think so make sure you focus on the right things and keep on being excited about what you are doing. “ Annabel Mekelenkamp COO Digital Risks “I’ve seen people fail by having terrible boards, by taking on investments from the wrong people in the first case. If you’re going to bring a product to the market, if you’re going to be an entrepreneur, especially in financial technology, understand the rules and the lay of the land and be bold.

Don’t take the first cheque that arrives from the first person.

Have faith in your idea, keep pushing it. You’ll find the perfect partner. “ Joe Hall MD UK eToro

Discover More Catch up on the full video and find more tips on fintechage.com

“ ” Make your product as simple as possible and make its benefits abundantly clear Patrick FitzGerald Head of Partnerships SalaryFinance

“No matter what you are trying to do in Fintech, no matter how much in denial you are, force yourself through a marathon of all the stuff that’s already out there. Don’t even try before that. “ Duena Blomstrom Fintech Investor and Mentor “Be patient, I can’t say that enough. Be extremely differentiated. Think twice before you launch a company because having money is not enough, having customers is much better. A happy customer is a must. “ Eric Mouilleron CEO & Founder Bankable

Security 2.0 Interview with Cyber Security Expert Shadi Razak

We catch up with Shadi Razak member of the founding team for CyNation and Director of Compliance and Cyber Security.

CyNation is a leading compliance and Cyber Security provider. It aims to help organisations gain better visibility of their cyber risk and compliance in order to help them to improve it as well as create an enterprise-wide cyber security risk culture.

Why is security something companies should think about from the beginning?

Security is quite an important ingredient and business function in any organisation.

Security is actually more of a revenue centre

than a cost centre, like a lot of organisations think at the moment. It’s quite important for them to approach it a little bit differently than we have been preaching for the last 20 years. It’s more interesting to look at it from a risk perspective, as a business risk, more than anything else. Doing that will help the organisation to realise how they can utilise cybersecurity in building and improving their services, their solutions, as well as their internal day-to-day processes.

In this way, organisations can become more resilient and have better chances of being more proactive against any cyber threat or cyber risks that they might face.

How does better security enhance user experience?

Security enhances the user experience for a simple reason: because we are approaching it from risk perspective. Now the user experience is based on actually being happy, satisfied, having a good experience. In other words, avoiding the risk of the users not being happy, their information being compromised, loosing their data, getting their data stolen, or fraud

for example. One of the main issues for us here is to understand why they believe that this is hard to do and try to look at the risks behind it. What are they actually looking for in their user experience? Then how can we authenticate them and allow them to use that system in an easy manner. There’s a lot of options out there that we can utilise.

Technology is an enabler. The main idea is to focus on the process. Identify the risks, what are we trying to achieve and how we can reflect that on our processes and find the technology that is available.

I believe that security is an ingredient of user experience. It’s a component of it as well as being a a vital part of a business’ success or survival.

What is your advice for a Fintech start-up that wants to enter the market?

I would urge them to think about security from a risk perspective. Don’t take it as only about encryption and data security. Implement it from the beginning when you are thinking of starting your organisation.

Think about the risks that are accompanying that process. Try to find the different ways to mitigate these risks and redeem against them. Eventually you will find yourself moving towards a cyber security risk culture in your organisation. It’s important to know what you want, what are the risks and try and find solutions around that. It’s not just about funding, it’s not just about finding clients.

If you are approaching cyber security and adopting it as part of your risk from the early stages you’ll become more attractive to fund raisers and investment. They will see that you have done your homework. You are trying to enhance the user experience. You are taking your business seriously. Also your clients will find you different so you will have more of a competitive advantage opposed to your peers. Hence, I believe that security in an organisation is a revenue centre. It starts as a cost centre, transferred to a cost saving centre, however becoming a revenue centre.

You’re becoming more agile by adapting to the risk.

When the environment changes, your risk changes, you become more proactive. Having said that, it doesn’t mean you’re going to become 100% secure but you will be more likely to avoid big incidents and become the next big news on the front page.

Incorporate security from the early days in your business plan, in your strategy, in your product development.

Even when you are hiring employees: ask them what they know about cyber security and how their misuse of the resources and technologies you are offering, or their roles and responsibilities, affect the business financially and non financially. That will help you establish a successful business.

“If you are approaching cyber security and adopting it as part of your risk from the early stages, you’ll become more attractive to fund raisers” Shadi Razak,

Founding Member & Director of Compliance and Cyber Security, CyNation

British Unicorn Funding Circle

by EMMA Snow

Funding Circle is one of the UK’s few Unicorn companies active in fintech and it is recognised as the world’s leading peer-to-peer lending platform for small businesses. Since its foundation in 2010 it has lent overall $2.5 billion to over 20,000 businesses in Europe and the U.S. Moreover the network of the platform counts more than 54 thousand investors in the UK alone.

Through this marketplace businesses can receive loans from individuals and organisations that are interested in them. This benefits companies as it allows them to access funds faster, in an easy and transparent manner. By connecting businesses directly to the right people, Funding Circle has made it possible to offer rates that are generally cheaper than that of banks. It is also advantageous for investors who can potentially make better returns and diversify their portfolio more easily. In just a few years, Funding Circle has managed to gain the trust of customers and to significantly disrupt the bank lending sector.

At a Glance Founders: Samir Desai, Andrew Mullinger, Alex Tonelli, James Meekings Valuation: $1 billion Total Equity Funding: $273.24 million Main Investors: Blackrock, DST Global, Temasek Holdings Employees: 600 HQ: London Areas Served: Europe and U.S. Fun Fact: In the London office, Funding Circle’s employees often take a break in between meetings to play a game of ping pong or pool.

British ANGEL Saul Klein

by Anaïs Borri

Saul Klein is a serial entrepreneur and dynamic investor with a passion for innovative tech start-ups. Thanks to his many years of experience in big and small technology firms, he has developed a remarkable flair for talent and business potential. For this and more, he is considered a highly influential and regarded figure in the British fintech scene.

Starting his career in the marketing and communication sector, Klein quickly turned to the technology industry working with Microsoft as program manager. He then joined Skype’s original London team as vice president, before expanding his activities to seed investment.

“You could say I was something of an accidental VC,” Klein admitted in a blog post.

His first experience as an investor was with Last.fm and later he joined Index Ventures through which he supported a vast number of start-ups. In 2007, he co-founded the fund Seedcamp to provide even more backing for the start-up community.

Throughout his eight years at Index, Klein never stopped his entrepreneurial endeavours. In 2015, he decided to leave Index Ventures in order to focus on his true passion: starting companies. “It’s a stage of a company’s life cycle that I find incredibly exciting. It’s in my blood and I can’t shake it,” said Klein.

Most recently, he joined his father Robin Klein to set up a new seed fund called LocalGlobe. The father-son VC group has already led successful initiatives in the fintech area, such as the £1.1 million funding round for the online mortgage advisor Trussle. Through their fund they also hope to promote collaborations throughout the European tech scene.

Therefore, even if Klein has redirected his energies into growing his own businesses, he remains an important mentor and financial supporter of the start-up community in the UK and abroad.

At a Glance Nationality: British, South African Education: MA in Literature, Cambridge University Roles: Co-Founder of Tide, Founding Partner at LocalGlobe, Co-Founder of Seedcamp Number of Investments: 41 Fintech Investments: Transferwise, Erply, Prosper Daily, Trussle Twitter Followers: 52.7k Fun Fact: He has said his time at Skype was “exhilarating and exhausting — kind of like sprinting up a mountain”

London Hangouts Where to meet the community

by Emma Snow

In London, the fintech community is a dynamic melting pot of young visionaries, geeky hipsters and financial veterans.

We know many start-ups in this sector are based around the Silicon Roundabout and in Canary Wharf, but where do their leaders hang out? Here is a selection of regular events and places where you will very likely meet this eclectic bunch.

Silicon Drinkabout This gathering is organized every Friday in a different location and it reunites start-up leaders and tech aficionados for a casual evening of networking. The event was born in London in 2011 when Michael Acton Smith gathered a small group of tech friends in a local pub. The events company 3beards then took over to make Silicon Drinkabout what it is today.

Now these meetups have expanded internationally and are organized in 15 cities around the world.

Fintech Tours If you wish to meet the right people but also want to have an educational experience, the Fintech Tours are definitely something to try out. These two-day intensives, organized by Fintech Circle, consist in visits to London’s main accelerators and training sessions for pitching, compliance, funding and more. Admittedly they are a tad pricy but they provide the chance to get very valuable advice and create connections with important fintech players.

Fintech Tuesday Another very popular meetup is Fintech Tuesday which is obviously held every Tuesday, generally in the area of Old Street. It is a free event which usually starts with a couple of speeches from fintech professionals. This is followed by an open mic session where anyone can give an elevator pitch to the audience and finishes with drinks and networking. These sessions are organized by Luis Carranza, an IoT expert and founder of London Fintech Week.

Espresso Martini Meetups This series of regular events are organized by the Lloyds Banking Group Innovation Lab and are usually in their Moorgate offices at The Atrium. Bringing together panels of experts in different fields, they create a space for very insightful conversations around issues related to financial technology. The panel discussions are also followed by a networking session where the audience can mingle and create useful contacts.

Fintech Open Mic Night With a community of over 10,000 members, NewFinance is one of the biggest professional networks for financial tech.

Also it organizes regular events across the globe. In London, NewFinance holds a monthly Fintech Open Mic Night where start-ups can pitch their ideas and get feedback from the community. These are free and they attract innovators, investors, old players and new players.

Must-Haves & Favourites Here are our top picks of fintech products that you can put your hands on this Christmas.

by Matilda Keyes

Best Book: Platform Revolution This wonderfully insightful book written by Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne and Sangeet Paul Choudary, explores the evolution and impact of the platform business model. Using case studies of digital giants (Facebook, PayPal, Alibaba, Uber), the book gives a comprehensive overview of the strategies used to harness the power of technology and successfully match offer and demand. Morever, it’s a useful guide to create a proprietary platform marketplace.

Best App: Bud

Bud is a great mobile and desktop app which allows you to have all your favourite fintech apps in one place. This aggregator has a beautiful design and very simple navigation, making it easy to access all your digital financial services on the go. Through Bud you can also discover new fintech companies and services. Finally, the makers of Bud have gone all out on their security measures using biometrics, 2 factor authentication and bespoke encryption so you can rest assured your data will be safe.

Best Wearable: bPay Loop This is Barclays’ latest product to join the family of bPay wearables and it is quite brilliant in its simplicity. The bPay Loop is linked to the free bPay app and it allows to make contactless payments of up to £30. After inserting a chip into the Loop, you can simply slide it on a bracelet, a watch or a fitness band and tap it to a terminal to pay. If you can’t afford a smartphone or smartwatch evolved enough to use Apple or Android Pay, this is an incredibly cost effective alternative as it only costs £9.99. Another perk of this product is that you don’t have to be a Barclays or Barclaycard customer to use it, you can link bPay to any Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card. No more fumbling in your bag for your wallet, no more need for ungraceful or expensive wearables, bPay Loop is here to make your life easier.

Best Platform: Salary Finance

Co-founded by ex-Google executive Dan Cobley, Salary Finance is an employee benefit that helps thousands of Brits to repay their debts. The platform offers loans through employers at a fixed rate of 7.9% APR and takes repayments directly from the salary.

This means people can access funds faster without having to worry about sending repayments as they are automatically deducted from the payroll. So whether you are an employee in debt or a conscientious employer, this can be a very useful service to improve your financial well-being.

United States

United Kingdom

The Trump-Effect

Cold Dead Branches

Much like the post-Brexit predictions, the post-Trump-election prognostics do not look great for fintech. As observed by BI Intelligence, the heightened volatility caused by this surprising electoral outcome might cause investors to be more cautious. Moreover, President Trump’s strict immigration policies could be a major hindrance to accessing talent. Considering 51% of the US’ Unicorn start-ups have been founded by immigrants, reducing immigration could also hinder the country’s own economic growth. Finally, Trump’s reluctance to create fintech-specific regulations is likely to make it harder for fintechs to meet compliance standards and grow.

In the past five years, visits in bank branches have decreased of almost 50% in the UK, from 478 to 280 million. In average a branch receives only 71 visits per day, which means it is basically half empty all day. Moreover, according to a report published by Nationwide, out of 6749 branches of Barclays, Santander, HSBC and NatWest, 3200 are unnecessary and could be closed. It’s the rise of internet banking and automatised terminals that is making waiting in line to cash in a cheque a thing of the past. And although this is a positive development for consumers, it will equate to thousands of job losses down the line.

FINTECH WORLD

by Federico Morgantini

South Africa Solar Powered Wealth

FedGroup, an independent financial service provider, has created South Africa’s first environmentally conscious Fintech platform, opening the doors to alternative wealth creation. On the online platform Nebula, people can manage multiple investments as well as access an innovative direct ownership network.

Through this network customers can buy solar panels installed in local facilities and receive a monthly rental income based on the power generated by the panels. This solar-powered wealth creation is both beneficial for the environment and for the community. It creates bonds between the landlords of sites, the providers of the solar panels and the owners of the panels.

INDIA Towards a Cashless Economy

This November, Modi’s decision to remove Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes with immediate effect has sent shock waves throughout the Indian population. However this move was not so surprising when considered within the context of the past two years.

Indeed, the government has introduced a series of policies, such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana and the Unified Payment Interface. These are aimed at reducing fraud, increasing transparency and improving financial inclusion in the country. This rapid push towards a cashless society as well as the institutionalisation of digital payments are seen as extremely positive signs for Indian fintechs.

Australia AusPost Embraces New Tech

The Australian Post is developing a number of identification solutions that could radically speed up the way Aussies access online financial services, thanks to biometrics and distributed ledger technology. The new digital identity platform relies on touch, screen, voice and the camera functionality of smartphones. In collaboration with Boston Consulting Group Digital Ventures, the Post is also creating a platform powered by blockchain in order to store identity data in a decentralized, transparent and efficient way. This could potentially improve the process of obtaining online services not only for Australians but for the entire postal world.

Upcoming Events Key dates for your calendar

by Rajeevan Ratnasingham

NOV 28

NOV 29 - Dec 01

Scaleup Opportunities in Fintech – London and Beyond

FinTechStage Cannes

The Leadenhall Building London, UK

Palais des Festivals et des Congrès Cannes, France

This year’s event will explore how “scaleup” companies are driving Fintech innovations across the finance sector. The programme will also include the “EIT Digital Challenge” finalist completion, showcasing 8 of the best Digital Finance scaleups from the UK and Europe. With representatives from TheCityUK, IBM, Imperial College, and the Mayor of London’s office, this is a great opportunity to network. Speakers will include Marcus Scott, COO at TheCityUK, Andrei Kirilenko, Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College London, Bharat Bhushan at Industry Technical Leader, IBM Banking and Financial Markets.

Dec 01 What the FinTech?! #4 STARTPLATZ Cologne, Germany

STARTPLATZ is an incubator and hotspot for young founders in Cologne.

On November 29-30th, in collaboration with Comexposium, FinTechStage is running the FinTech stream of the Trustech Conference, in Cannes, in the Palais des Festivals.

Dec 05

TRUSTECH is the global event dedicated to Trust-Based Technologies with plenty of networking opportunities and engaging keynote speakers. It is effectively two events in one: The CARTES Exhibition and the TRUSTECH CONFEX. TRUSTECH will include among other things a selection of start-ups and Fintech companies that will showcase their latest innovations for the payment and identification industries.

instech20/20 The King’s Fund London, UK

instech20/20 is a must attend event in for the Insurance sector. A point of networking and sharing between the top insurance companies and startups.

The event brings together top level Chiefs and innovators working in insurance looking to explore the impact of fintech on the future of insurance.

With Keynotes from Chris Skinner, one of the foremost influencers and writers on fintech, and representatives from leading incumbents and newcomers this is one event not to be missed.

DEC 8th

DEc 6-7

Fintech Beyond Disruption

FinTech Connect Live

City Hall London, UK

Excel London London, United Kingdom

FinTech Connect Live will be returning for a second year. With even more start-ups, scale ups and industry leaders all coming together in one place to help you network and fully immerse yourselves in the energy created by this most exciting of industries.

DEc 7-8 IMpact’16 FinTech/InsurTech Wroclaw, Poland Fintech Age’s first event will be held at the London Mayor’s office in City Hall. Bringing together leading voices from fintech and wider industries, it will be a sounding board to reflect on the turbulent times of the last year and where fintech fits into the future.

2 days and over 100 speakers, Impact FinTech / InsurTech will be the most important event in Central and Eastern Europe for the finance and insurance fields. It will provide a space for real discussions connecting startups, corporations, academics and government representatives with the world’s foremost innovators.

What does the future hold for start-up companies? With the incumbent industry taking bigger and bigger strides, are we still in an era of disruption or are we moving towards a scene where fintech is the norm?

Deb 12 -13

Featuring chiefs from Bankable, Starling Bank, Funding Xchange and representatives from the start-up community.

Asset Management 2.0 | Euromoney Seminars

Jan 20-26 2017 London Blockchain Week London, UK

Hilton London Tower Bridge London, UK

Asset Management 2.0 brings together the senior decision makers from the world’s leading investment companies to discuss the technology driven future of their industry. Speakers include c-suite representatives from: Vanguard Asset Management, Blackrock, UBS Asset Management, Deutsche Asset Management and JP Morgan Asset Management.

Feb 15-16 2017 Digital Integration in Wealth Management 2017 | verdict.financial London, UK

Shake of the holiday slump and kick of 2017 with an intesive week of hackathons, workshops, conferences and panels this is the ultimate Blockchain and DLT boot camp.

A new event launching in 2017 focussing on the new opporunities presented by innovation in wealth management. How can the industry tackle internal resistance and move towards digital solutions that meet customer expectations and future proof the sector.

Top 10 Fintech Influencers

FINTECH

1

UNRAVELLED

1.Spiros Margaris @SpirosMargaris Margaris is the co-founder of Margaris Advisory, a financial software company based in New York, which brings accountability to investment advice through a proprietary tracking and rating system.

2. Chris Gledhill @cgledhill Gledhill led the disruptive innovation labs at Lloyds Banking Group before becoming CEO and Co-Founder of UK Challenger Bank Secco Aura.

Less than 3% of traditional financial firms in the world have managed to implement innovation in their culture (Source: Capgemini)

3. Eileen Burbidge @eileentso Burbidge is the Chairman of Tech City UK and a founding partner of Passion Capital, a leading early-stage technology VC investment firm in London.

4.Florian Graillot @FGraillot Graillot is an investor at AXA Strategic Ventures with extensive experience in the fintech investment sector. Prior to joining AXA, he worked for The Boston Consulting Group, Affine and Newfund.

The highest levels of fintech usage are seen in China (84.4%) and India (76.9%) (Source: Capgemini)

5.Jim Marous @JimMarous Globally renowned fintech influencer and writer, Marous is a founder and contributor of the Digital Banking Report.

The number of Europeans regularly using a mobile device for payments has tripled since 2015 from 18% to 54% (Source: Visa)

6. Christopher Danvers @kingofpayments Danvers is an expert in payments and credit union movement. He is currently responsible for payments and digital banking functions at American Airlines Federal Credit Union.

7. Oscar A Jofre Jr. @oscarjofre Jofre is the founder and CEO of KoreConX, a platform that allows companies to properly organize, manage, and share corporate information. He is also a fintech advisor for Techquity Canada.

The UK has employed 61,000 people in fintech, making it the second largest employer for this sector in the world after California

8. Oliver Bussmann @obussmann Founder and Managing Partner at Bussmann Advisory, which provides consulting in the areas of digital transformation. Bussmann is also a mentor at the start-up accelerator Level39 9. Sebastien Meunier @sbmeunier Meunier is a strategy consultant in financial innovation and an influential fintech speaker. He is also senior manager and head of digital for Chappuis Halder & Co. 1) source: onalytica

10. David M. Brear @davidbrear Brear is the co-founder and CEO of 11:FS as well as non-executive director of the fintech aggregator Bud. Prior to this he was Global Director of Digital Banking in Gartner.

(Source: Fintech Compliance)

FINTECH JARGON: Bitcoin Mining Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin money isn’t printed but it is discovered. Miners use special software to solve maths problems and are rewarded with bitcoins. Mining ensures fairness while keeping the Bitcoin network stable, safe and secure. Miners compete with each other to authenticate transactions in the blockchain with a digital wax seal called a hash. A hash is created by taking the information in a block of transactions and applying a mathematical formula to it, turning it into a sequence of letters and numbers. Every time someone successfully creates a hash they gain 25 bitcoins, the blockchain is updated, and everyone on the network hears about it.

In Q2 of 2016 overall fintech investments reached $9.4 bn and VC-backed fintech companies raised $2.5 bn (Source: KPMG)

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