September 2020

Disruptive fintech is our best bet to economic recovery post COVID-19

History has taught us that times of crisis drive demand for technological advancement. Those that leverage innovative technology, to tackle challenges and turn them into opportunities, are often the most successful in helping society to recover. Earlier this year, when the novel coronavirus sparked a global pandemic, physical distancing was enforced around the world to limit the spread of infection. This led to a surge in remote working and a spike in unemployment, sparking technological innovation within a number...

August 2020

Digital Finance New Times, New Challenges, New Opportunities

By Juan Antonio Ketterer Since the end of the great crisis of 2007 – 10 , the financial services industry began a process of accelerating change. New business models based on convergent technological developments are challenging the status quo of a long - established a nd traditional industry. The purpose of this document is to consider the...

Pension tech for dummies

By Carlo Svaluto Moreolo When it comes to technological innovation in pensions the two buzzwords are blockchain and artificial intelligence. Blockchain is potentially a revolutionary technology that could significantly reduce the costs associated with pension administration and custody. Artificial intelligence – or more specifically machine learning tools – also promises to optimise many areas of the industry. They could be used to improve communications with pension fund members or to deliver better investment returns. Considerable investment is required to develop...

Women Are Leading Latin America’s Fintech Revolution

Finance services is an industry that has been particularly male-dominated, with women holding less than 10 percent of senior positions. Despite predictions that the fintech industry could disrupt the gender balance in the traditional finance sector, female leadership in fintech remains low in most of the world. Read also How to Improve Women’s Retirement Savings: Brookings In Latin America, however, women are stepping up as fintech leaders, with five times as many female-founded fintechs as the global average. The Latin...

July 2020

Germany. Siemens to co-operate with Raisin on pensions

Siemens is cooperating with German fintech Raisin on employee pensions. There has long been a political desire in Germany to provide German residents with an accurate overview of their retirement financing, in order to identify the deficiency in people’s pension in a timely fashion. The pension specialist fairr, part of Berlin-based Raisin, developed a digital “retirement cockpit” along these lines, enabling users to easily track their retirement funds and plan accordingly. Now German manufacturing giant Siemens’ pensions company, Siemens...

The Promise of Fintech : Financial Inclusion in the Post COVID-19 Era

By Ratna Sahay, Ulric Eriksson von Allmen, Amina Lahreche, Purva Khera, Sumiko Ogawa, Majid Bazarbash, Kimberly Beaton Technology is changing the landscape of the financial sector, increasing access to financial services in profound ways. These changes have been in motion for several years, affecting nearly all countries in the world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has created new opportunities for digital financial services to accelerate and enhance financial inclusion, amid social distancing and containment measures. At the same time, the...

June 2020

WeBank, Huawei and KPMG Share Insights on Fighting COVID – 19 with FinTech

As part of their efforts to promote fintech solutions in the post-pandemic era, the Financial Services Blockchain Consortium Shenzhen (FISCO), Singapore FinTech Association, FinTech Association of Hong Kong and Shenzhen FinTech Association organized the "Financial Digitalization & Fintech Evolution in the Wake of COVID-19" webinar on June 23. It was the first joint event conducted by FinTech associations in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Singapore. Senior members from WeBank, Huawei and KPMG shared their insights on the trend of financial...

Impact of COVID-19 on the FinTech Industry

In a matter of months, the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed our world. What started as a global standstill is quickly turning into a race to adapt as new data pours in, and we get a better vision of our new reality. With global productivity still in recovery, we are facing an unprecedented economic downturn that will impact the financial stability of individuals and businesses for months and even years to come. Though short-term recovery plans will enable many...

Lawmakers Offer Help to Japanese Banks Battling Fintech Firms

Japanese ruling-party lawmakers are looking to make it easier for banks to expand into different industries, a step that could help traditional lenders push back against tech rivals. The Liberal Democratic Party’s financial policy research panel wants to amend the banking law next year to relax limits on lenders’ lines of business as well as their investments in non-financial firms. The proposal, released last week, didn’t specify which areas banks might be allowed to enter. Japan’s government has been...

Silicon Valley Stories: A sampler of startups, stories, and lessons learned

By Adam Beguelin People think that joining a startup is a surefire way to get rich. The odds are against you, but it does happen. Silicon Valley Stories: A sampler of startups, stories, and lessons learned is about the hits and the misses. It’s about how people handle life in the start-up world. It includes true accounts from inside Inktomi, AOL, Truveo, and a handful of other Silicon Valley startups. As a tenured member of start-up culture, Beguelin...