Strategy

Fintech startups: compete or collaborate with traditional finance?

Consider these two statements : “The party’s over, for the banks at least” (Transferwise) “Today we are announcing an exciting new partnership with Santander UK, …” (Funding Circle) These statements were made by Transferwise and Funding Circle, two very well known Fintech startups. Both were created a few years ago, both are Unicorns (i.e.valued more than(…)

If you can’t beat them, join them: Goldman Sachs enters Fintech.

If you liked “Invest in the Disruptors”, you will love “Disrupt the Disruptors”… Goldman Sachs has been a very active investor in Fintech (and Tech in general), with the latest investment in Circle (Bitcoin), but also CompareAsiaGroup (Comparison website for financial services), Oscar (Challenger Insurance) or Kensho (Data analytics for finance) for example. But what(…)

Banks to compete with Google and Amazon! The empire strikes back?

Google and Amazon the next competitors to banks? This is a recurring theme, which has been debated at length (here and here for example) But banks competing with Google or Amazon, that is, shall we say, more daring… But this is exactly what happened last week, when Santander announced that it will offer cloud storage, therefore(…)

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We both caught the Coronavirus

My wife and I were both ill with the symptoms of COVID-19. While we were ill, we were looking for information about other people’s experience of COVID to understand how our symptoms could evolve. This is our experience, and this blog is written both by Tram Anh and me. The context We live in London, and are co-founders of(…)
How can bankers think like entrepreneurs?

2 weeks ago, I was chairing the stream about “How can banks innovate” at Money 20/20 Singapore. The audience was mainly professionals in banks and Fintech entrepreneurs, and I asked them the following question : “What is the biggest challenge for bank innovation?” What would be your answer ? Have a think then see below how(…)
What will be the most successful bank in a Fintech world?

A few years ago, many banks were not convinced that Fintech* would impact them. Or rather, many banks were convinced that Fintech would NOT impact the industry, because of regulations, customer behaviour, etc. Fast forward to today, and this sentiment has totally shifted. From new challenger banks acquiring 8,000 new customers per day to Alibaba having(…)
How has Fintech transformed finance?

The “Fintech” trend started 5 years ago.* Since then, we’ve heard about new startups, the emergence of tech competitors in finance, and also banks investing in technology. But what has been exactly the impact of technology in finance? Is there a real impact, is it too early to say, or is it just hype? My(…)
Alibaba becomes Top 10 Global Bank

A few years ago, I wrote about the inexorable rise of Google and Amazon in finance. The conclusion from the piece was “if you prefer fast action and major Fintech disruption from tech powerhouses, then forget Amazon, Google or Apple, and watch Alibaba or Tencent…. Ant Financial, the finance arm of Alibaba, is valued $50bn.” This was 2.5 years ago, and(…)
Why SME Banking is a huge untapped market

When I started The Disruptive Group last year, one of my first tasks – like any entrepreneur – was to open a bank account. Being a fervent proponent of Fintech, I looked at the different options available in the UK, including the different Fintech startups. My requirements for the ideal bank? – Easy onboarding. We(…)
What are the skills for Finance 2.0? At the Singapore Fintech Festival

Skills for finance are changing. And this is happening today already: “NAB will make 6,000 job cuts over then next 3 years with its digital banking revamp… NAB is hiring 2,000 people with different capabilities” says Banking Technology. After a very fast paced trip in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Vietnam (more on this later, but(…)