Fintech News Issue #186 October 4th, 2018

Many organizations are overwhelmed by the scope of change required to become a "digital bank." Instead of being stuck in neutral, here are some ideas that can be implemented relatively easily, increasing revenue, decreasing costs and improving the customer experience.

Elevator pitches matter. Most sales opportunities emerge in real life situations, not on stage with your five minutes plus Q&A secured. It is important to be able to describe what game your company is playing in, what problem it solves, who it is for and how it is different, in broad strokes and few sentences.

Venture capital funding for fintech startups has ballooned over the past several years, rising from $1.9 billion in 2010 to $27.5 billion in 2017. While some fintech trends like lending and mobile payment wallets have fizzled out, others are on the upswing.

Unconference setting allows minds & hearts to open up regarding new ideas, Satoshi United is not just a conference, its a celebration.

Regtech is a £50 Billion per year opportunity, and that is just in the UK. That is due to the hundreds of millions of pages in regulatory texts that firms have to deal with, to be compliant. It is critical that firms equip themselves with technology solutions that will help them navigate through the complex world of regulation.

The combination of new marketing technologies and the ability to access and leverage real-time data allows financial marketers the opportunity to create personalization — at scale — for each individual at the right time, and with the right message.

The days are over when banks and credit unions could compete on product or price. Today, the best way to differentiate a brand is through hyper-personalized financial recommendations and marketing driven by data and advanced decision tools.

First GDPR fines coming this year is just the start, says data protection supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli

Global technology services, digital transformation and consultancy firm Capgemini has launched its inaugural World Insurtech Report, which finds that across the board, insurers see insurtech as a major catalyst for widespread, disruptive innovation throughout the industry.

Fintech is technology used in the financial services industry, insurtech is technology used in a subset of that industry, insurance. And yet while one is typically considered fascinating, worthy of pages of mainstream media coverage, mention of the other is often greeted with eye-rolling outside of specialist circles.

About 15 miles north and 36 years ago, I got my MBA at Northwestern with an emphasis in finance and economics. I was trained using traditional economics and blindly accepted that I was a logical human, working to maximize my utility and properly assess risk. I would never think of following the herd. In short, I bought into the fact that I was a rational human being. Today, I ask myself "how could I have been so stupid?"

BBVA has launched a match-making platform that helps fintech startups get in touch with business units at the Spanish bank that might benefit from their products and services.

Nearly a year after German fintech startup N26 announced that it would launch its service in the U.K., the company is launching in the U.K. N26 is already quite popular in the Eurozone, with more than 1.5 million customers. In this new market, it will face tough competition from existing players, such as Revolut, Monzo, Starling and many others.

Have you ever delved into the comments section on a post by a favorite self-help guru, author or actor only to notice that she never responds to or acknowledges comments from her followers? That, in fact, the only interaction that this social media personality has with fans is through content that is posted and then left to die a slow death from lack of interest?