Fintech News Issue #70 June 1st, 2016

We met Maximilian Tayenthal of the rapidly growing mobile banking startup NUMBER26 at the Pioneers Festival 2016 in Vienna and talked to him about the evolution in finance and what it means for their business.

I’m often asked whether banks should be afraid of the threat of fintech. My answer is that most fintech is enhancing what banks do, rather than threatening their core business. I sum this up as “wrappers, replacers and reformers.”

What will the digital future of banking look like? And how do topics like retail and smart data play into it? Find out at the POST /bank Hackathon Roadshow...7 cities, 3 hackathons, 3 meetups, 1 grand final!

Kickoff is soon – in Cologne, June 3rd!

With the adoption of the revised payments directive (PSD2), the European Parliament mandated a revolution in the european payment industry. Under the new regulation, the playing field is finally level for startups in the FinTech space to play a more important role.

As banks, financial services providers and brands predict and plan for the way consumers will manage their money in the future, artificial intelligence (AI) is high on the business development strategy for 2016 and beyond.

Britain’s bankers have not yet convinced the public that they are reformed characters – and if banks do not change their ways, fintech companies will poach their customers, Barclays’ former chairman has warned.

Insurance companies have been leveraging IoT devices to get better insight into their insured clients and differentiate their product offering. This helps lead to more accurately priced premiums, better models for future payouts, and increased customer retention.

Devie Mohan looks at the rise of the newly banked – a group banks should focus on to keep customers and improve the customer experience.

As Europe’s biggest e-commerce market, the UK’s e-money and payment services industries are thriving. But with the EU referendum right around the corner, are things likely to change? Craig James, founder and CEO of Neopay, explores the potential of a Brexit-shaped disruption.

I caught sight of a report by Deloitte over the weekend that says the marketplace lenders like Zopa and Lending Club are no serious threat to banks. This follows the report by Goldman Sachs a year ago, that said 20% of bank lending will move to these platforms over the next decade. Who’s right and who’s wrong? That remains to be seen, but here’s a few highlights from the Deloitte report.