Learning expedition Fintech : Explore the future of the finance industry
New technologies and digital behaviours are transforming financial services to become more convenient, efficient and inclusive than ever before. The banking sector is threatened by the growing appetite of tech giants, their agility and their large user base, while digital only mobile banks are seducing more and more Millennials and the new generation. An innovation mindset and a transformation vision are key for the financial sector to survive in a VUCA world.
Where to organise a learning expedition on the topic of Fintech ?
Being a recognized financial hub with more than 200 banks, Singapore has seen a massive growth of its Fintech sector as well, rising from 18 startups in 2015 to more than 1500 in 7 years.
The government has committed $160 million dollars over 5 years to support the development of the Fintech scene, such as the creation of a Fintech regulatory sandbox for experimentation and many other measures to achieve its dream of a cashless society. The cultural proximity of Singapore with China, where the financial sector has been completely transformed by the two tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, has also contributed to boosting innovation amid major banks. Singapore hosts the innovation labs of DBS, UOB, OCBC, Paypal or VISA, a 100% Fintech coworking space and the world’s largest Fintech event (Singapore FinTech Festival). DBS is considered as one of the most innovative banks in the world, and was the first to create a digital-only bank in India. Singapore is also pioneering a shift towards an open-API architecture.
Being the place where banking business was created, London has long been considered as the financial technology capital of the world. With the world’s largest financial services sector, an exploding tech industry, a close access to capital, prime global positioning, and a diverse talent pool, London shows the world what a fintech hub should look like.
Over a third of European venture capital funding goes to London fintech startups, and the city has even beaten New York luring the largest amount of fundraising deals for fintech companies over the past few years. It is therefore not surprising that some of the world’s largest fintech companies have set up shop there, including Funding Circle and TransferWise, both valued at over $1 billion. The government has supported innovation in the sector with, for example, Project Innovate in 2014 which settled a regulatory sandbox providing a testing ground for fintech startups and the FinTech Alliance, launched in 2019, to bring together the strengths of the UK’s fintech ecosystem in one easily accessible digital marketplace.
London is therefore home to a flood of new banking challengers which have gained popularity by offering customers little more than an app and debit card. The so-called “challenger bank” model has helped upstarts draw in millions of users, with Revolut having hit over 30 million users and Monzo hitting 7.4 million in 2023. To compete in this rapidly changing environment, traditional banks have undertaken major transformations over the past few years.
