A standard line you hear from fintech promoters is that innovative digital technologies can liberate the world by bringing financial services to the financially excluded.
Yet, as we’ve noted on numerous occasions, there’s something disingenuous about this claim.“
Source: ftalphaville.ft.com
Last week, I tried to put on (electronic) paper what I thought would be the main game-changer for finance in the next 10 years and was delighted to receive very insightful comments from many people.
In a few words, I thought that traditional finance was not monetizing data in the way that other companies like Google or Credit Karma were doing, and that data monetization would significantly impact business models in finance. Some people agreed, some argued that banks were already monetizing data – just not in the same way as Google -, some thought that it was rubbish! Fair enough, it’s hard to know what the future will be, and we’re all guessing…
I was also absolutely delighted when Izabella Kaminska from FT Alphaville quoted my piece in her article “When financial inclusion stands for financial intrusion“. (I am a big fan of hers, and her healthy skepticism about ‘technological progress’). I wouldn’t do her much justice by paraphrasing her thoughts, so I encourage you to read her excellent piece. It reminds us that there is much to be learnt from history, especially when we think about data privacy rights.
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