Focus on Fintech Episode 1: What is FinTech?

The FinTech industry is gaining momentum in disrupting the financial services industry. Artificial intelligence on the other side has been around for some time and has been used by Big Tech companies to establish themselves in their respective industries. To gain a competitive edge FinTechs are increasingly leveraging AI based models.

Join this webinar to get an overview and discussion of FinTechs using different AI technologies.

As we move into 2021, fintechs are getting stronger. However, developing a modern scalable architecture and solution in the cloud still poses a problem. We will discuss new approaches for leveraging data and how to build a modern data platform and solution.

Join us as we discuss:
-How to be data driven in your fintech?
-Top 3 areas to consider when thinking about data
-What strategies do you use to think about data in your business?
-Principles of new architecture thinking for data

Speakers:
Alpesh Doshi, Founder, Fintricity
Daniel Pass, CTO, Perenna

Digital Transformation and the opportunities to use data in Analytics and Machine Learning are growing exponentially, but so too are the business and financial risks in Data Privacy. The increasing number of privacy incidents and data breaches are destroying brands and customer trust, and we will discuss how business prioritization can be benefit from a finance-based data risk assessment (FinDRA).

More than 60 countries have introduced privacy laws and by 2023, 65% of the world’s population will have its personal information covered under modern privacy regulations. We will discuss use cases in financial services that are finding a balance between new technology impact, regulatory compliance, and commercial business opportunity. Several privacy-preserving and privacy-enhanced techniques can provide practical security for data in use and data sharing, but none universally cover all use cases. We will discuss what tools can we use mitigate business risks caused by security threats, data residency and privacy issues. We will discuss how technologies like pseudonymization, anonymization, tokenization, encryption, masking and privacy preservation in analytics and business intelligence are used in Analytics and Machine Learning.

Organizations are increasingly concerned about data security in processing personal information in external environments, such as the cloud; and information sharing. Data is spreading across hybrid IT infrastructure on-premises and multi-cloud services and we will discuss how to enforce consistent and holistic data security and privacy policies. Increasing numbers of data security, privacy and identity access management products are in use, but they do not integrate, do not share common policies, and we will discuss use cases in financial services of different techniques to protect and manage data security and privacy.

Join to discover:
- Trials, POC’s and full-deployments of blockchain technology in real corporate business processes
- Examples outlining the benefits of implementing blockchain technology
- How start-ups, businesses, and individuals can apply these trends in their organization

In 2020, the importance of privacy to consumers increased as the pandemic drove digital engagements, according to Deloitte. The media drives awareness of security breaches, making consumers hesitant to share personal data unless incentivized. When they do, they are at risk because data privacy policies are not comprehensive at some financial institutions. Communications regulations are followed, but they often lack personalization and transparency. Data treatment is also an issue, as employees often contribute to security breaches.

New digital banks offer more transparency and a more modern customer experience, so consumers leave traditional banks. How can more financial services institutions create data privacy policies that keep their customers safe & reduce churn?

Join this webinar to understand:
The importance of a data security policy for financial institutions
How to obtain and handle external data effectively.
How to manage internal data effectively.
How to reduce the frequency and impact of employee-created breaches

Speakers:
Rob Clyde, Chair - Board of Directors, ISACA
Carol Nolan Drake, Founder & President/CEO, Carlow Consulting LLC
Jamie Wells, Director of Solutions Consulting, Tealium
Ulf Mattsson, Chief Security Strategist, Protegrity

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way that consumers shop and buy, and especially how they pay. Some payment trends that were underway prior to the pandemic, like Buy Online/Pickup In-Store and contactless/touchless payments accelerated, while in-store retail essentially shut down in many categories. Others, like QR code payments have emerged in markets that have been chip card bastions for years.

As nations get back on their feet post-vaccination, some of the trends that emerged in 2020 will continue while some payment activities will revert to pre-COVID-19 behaviors, or possibly disappear altogether. What will the payments space look like post-Pandemic? This webinar will identify the payment trends that have emerged, the trends that will continue as the pandemic abates, and trends that will slip into oblivion in the future.

2020 was a standout year for the digital banking and payments industry, with the total transaction value projected of payments to reach $4.9 trillion. Consolidation was also widespread, with 63 acquisitions worth a total of $158, according to data by S&P Global. Big Tech continued to pose a threat in the fintech space, with Whatsapp beginning to offer payments in India and Google Pay adding support at 89 new banks. This competitiveness will not slow down, as the fintech industry grows by a projected 400 by 2025, according to Statistia. How can digital and legacy banks alike compete?

Join us as we discuss:
The strategic implications of acquisitions in 2020
How fintechs can stay competitive in 2021
What fintechs can learn from Big Tech

Speakers:
Jennifer Lee, Principal, Edison Partners (Moderator)
Michael Hobbs, Founder, Reputable Consulting
Alex Mashinsky, CEO, Celsius
Ian Kerr, Director of Business Development, Episode Six
Kevin Johnson, SVP of Payments Solutions, IR

The tide has truly turned. Banks are adopting the cloud faster than ever before, and materialising real value for their customers. Once considered a distant ambition, cloud technology has firmly proven itself to be the enterprise-grade infrastructure of choice for the most ambitious and successful technology companies in the world. Now, the banks are taking advantage of the cloud.

What does this spell for the future of banking at large? And how are customers seeing the value day-to-day? Travers Clarke-Walker, Chief Marketing Officer at Thought Machine explores the specific characteristics of cloud native core banking, how banks around the world are leveraging modern technology and explores variants of future banking models, products and services.

During the past 200 years, payment terms among businesses have not changed much. The King is a bank letter of credit, which is very secure and avoids the buyer form canceling the order, however, it has several downs as it is very bureaucratic, slow, and expensive; the same happens with credit insurance, payment in advance, escrow systems or credit card, have some pros and cons which are bigger now with covid.
We see a potential market for blockchain payment systems that give trust and fairness to the buyer and for the seller at the same time avoiding fraud.

You will find out about a disrupted solution that solves most of the cons of the mentioned traditional systems, B2B Pay, which allows buyers and sellers to use a trust, fast, and cheap blockchain payment system.

What is the Future of Money? Understanding Facebooks new issues with digital currencies, Bitcoin, Central Bank Digital Currencies and How they could affect usages and what should be Consumer Protection in this evolving environment.

Speakers:
Meirav Harel, COO, IQONIQ
Nilixa Devlukia, Founder, Payments Solved
Dr Estelle Brack, Founder, KIRALIT

DevOps moves quickly, having visibility and the resources to move with it becomes a challenge. FinTech companies need to capitalize on the frameworks and technologies available to gain insight into what is happening with their application and cloud environments. Join Aaron for a discussion on how to see what’s happening, and keep it in compliance with various best practices and frameworks.

We can be so preoccupied looking for incoming threats and attacks, we forget to lock the back door - or don’t even know of the door’s existence.
When the bigger picture of your attack surface is incomplete, how can you tell what is most at risk? What should you secure first?

Eward will explain how your organisation’s Digital Footprint holds the answers to most security risks, helping you keep your brand, employees, and customers cybersecure. All this information is already available. You only need to change your perspective and start looking from the outside-in.

Discover what kind of assets, systems, threats, and activity work together to create your Digital Footprint.
Understand why automation is the most important aspect of brand protection.
Learn how to leverage your company data differently, solving business risks with security tools.

By looking at your own data first, you’ll be able to spot and repair that leak in the ship. Prevent the bad guys from abusing a weak spot, and sail even faster.

A look at how the mighty tech firms are targeting the traditional financial sector, bringing their user friendly tech solutions to change the way we manage our finances, earn rewards and make payments. A powerful combination of:

Nudge Economics is helping to change how we interact with finances; faster and cheaper payment solutions. A range of new types of investments backed not by tangible assets such as real estate, equities, bonds, commodities but by intangible assets such as IP, Data, Loyalty rewards, Software
Disintermediation - of brokers, clearing houses, agents, market makers etc.

Increased levels of customer service - 24/7 trading using mobile devices, more frequent income payments based on the number of hours an asset such as a property, equity or bond has been owned.

The Open Banking era is upon us. Banks are trying to implement it, Payment Processors are trying to facilitate it, and Central Banks and Policymakers are trying to regulate it. After PSD2 was introduced, Banks all over the world are in a race to introduce some form of Open Banking and be labeled as “Open Banking Ready.”

Payment Processors are coming up with innovative methods to stay in the payment loop without being left out. Central Banks are now faced with the daunting task of standardizing the Open Banking approach for a specific country or region and are thinking of novel ways to do so. All these developments lead to new opportunities for FinTech Enablers and Solution Providers across the globe.

Join in as we discuss:
- What is Open Banking?
- How Open Banking can be applied by Banks, Payment Processors, and Central Banks?
- Some use cases and real-world examples of how Open Banking is being implemented
- What to expect in 2021 in the Open Banking space
- Opportunities for Solution Providers

Are we prepared for the new disruptive era of the financial system? The current financial system is fissure, because ancestral doctrines held by few with lack of ethical evolution, social resistance and own benefits. Is it necessary investing in technology and money in this exhausted system? Or is preferable investing in technological and digital disruption for a new horizon of light, identified as Newance.

Join this session as we discuss:

 Fact and Figures Overview
 Polarization Model and Process
o Financial Services
o Private + Centrals Banks
o Customers + Money Flow
o Technology + Digital Structure
 Newance Model and Process
o Progressive Services
o Digital Ecosystem Flow
o Customers Value Added
o Technology + Digital Transformation
o Benefits + Independence
 Newance in disruptive progress
o Mapping of Maturation and Risk Levels
o Technology + Digital Requirements (ROI)
o System Execution + Propagation
o Results and Expectations

While Fintech services and platforms become more and more prevalent in our day-to-day life, seems like other relevant business platforms on the digital sphere are watching the newcomers as APIs to be consumed only, not as a relevant component of the product or service lifecycle these incumbent platforms provide for their customer base. However, fintech platforms represent a huge opportunity for these mature digital platforms to gain insight into other opportunities that were not visible when you stop seeing what happens before, during and after a customer pays for the order using a banking or fintech platform:

Increased sales from customers that, with a much-needed credit line, could be placing a bigger order
Increased brand fidelity if smaller, more frequent transactions are brought together to recognize repeat business, even if the customer did not claim the transactions
New revenue streams coming from fees generated by insurance policies, credit card reference or invoice factoring created as part of day-to-day business
Better value for customers when larger orders can be placed on behalf of a pool of customers that bid together for discounted prices on volume.

There are only a few examples of the opportunities that established digital and brick-and-mortar players are letting pass for not understanding that the main advantage that fintech companies bring to the table is the ability to see a problem or an opportunity from a clean-slate perspective; as well as the agility to design and implement for specific businesses and models. A revenue-sharing model between fintech and established layers for the benefits of customized, advanced analytics would be the model to think outside of the brick-and-mortar box.

We’re in the midst of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) revolution. DeFi is smart contract implementation of financial processes like
lending, collateralization, asset management, etc,. From the first week of August 2020, the total value locked in DeFi jumped by a
staggering 85%, from $4.2bn on August 3rd to $7.8bn on August 30th, which has created quite a market buzz. This enthusiasm is
well-founded: blockchain technology has proven that it can streamline and even transform the world of finance in exciting ways, and
there have certainly been some big winners in this space. But, as dynamic as this community may be, it remains unregulated and
immature, and that means that there are also some really big losers, with six documented smart-contract hacks having taken place
in the first 6 months of 2020, for example.

Working closely with regulators from the US to Singapore and Australia to Kenya, Securrency understands the need for automated
compliance processes among legacy financial services providers to seamlessly facilitate entrance into the market. Through its
distributed identity, compliance framework, and state-of-the-art infrastructure, Securrency is providing transparency to strengthen
investor confidence and offer regulators increased oversight of market activity. Enhancing capital formation and stimulating global
liquidity, Securrency is opening up a world of possibility.

In this session, we will discover;

What is DeFi and what are its innovations?

What are the main DeFi models and where do their markets lie?

Where is DeFi going and how big can it get?

How can we limit DeFi’s use for nefarious activities and protect users/ investors from hacks, scams and technology risk?

Is there an opportunity for corporations and financial institutions to get involved?