BANKING TECHNOLOGY
Backing to Advance Matthijs Eijpe Regional Vice President EMEA at Backbase, the Amsterdam based global fintech company, sat down with MEA Finance to talk about their recent growth equity funding of 120 million euros, what this says about them and the future of banking and their plans for operating in a region that provides a fertile landscape for banking technology, yet comes with the industry competition that such conditions foster
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oes the growth equity funding of 120 million euros raised from motive partners represent an endorsement of your engagement banking strategy?
Yes, I think it does. It is a testament that we, at least to our view, are definitely on the right track. I think our investment over the last few years has been fully on this engagement banking vision. So basically, a platform model which we believe is to be the only viable business model for any bank. So, I think it’s a testament that together with Motive Partners, we can only put more body weight into the long-term vision we have as a company.
Motive Partners are a FinTech specialist private equity firm. So, what might their investment with Backbase be saying about the future of banking? I think that it showcases that if
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Banking and Finance news in the MEA market
you have the right focus, the right vision, that there’s still a lot of opportunity momentum and that banks also need to fortify their technology with the right partner in order to be still relevant for their, let’s say, target audience. Because they’re being attacked via different means, large tech and NEO banks, so with the Backbase platform, they will be enabled to also compete in that digital space. So, I think it’s a testament that banks are definitely there for the long term and that they are getting equipped to fight those battles.
Do the demographics of the Middle East provide a more accepting or betters u i te d e nv i ro n m e nt fo r p l a t fo r m - b a s e d engagement banking activities than other regions? I think it does because the Matthijs Eijpe, Regional Vice President EMEA, Backbase
