Who’s adopting FinTech…..
FinTech has been a buzz topic for some time now and it’s clearly become a hugely powerful financial services movement. The second wave of FinTech which is very much the collaboration phase, whereby banks and institutions are collaborating and acquiring FinTech companies means that banks have surrendered to the technology avalanche and understand that it’s evolve or die.

A fascinating recent acquisition for me was BlackRock the largest fund manager in the world taking a sizeable stake in Scalable capital — What’s more fascinating about it is that they didn’t take a 100% stake and fully acquire the business which they have previous for, in my opinion, the larger institutions have absolutely realised that it’s not the tech but the people behind the tech that are the golden goose.
In this article I’ve been studying EY’s 2017 FinTech adoption Index and the results are absolutely amazing.
FinTech adoption is growing rapidly all over the world, but it’s in the emerging countries that it’s increasing at the fastest rate. According to a report just released by Ernst & Young, the EY FinTech Adoption Index 2017, where the consultancy firm surveyed more than 22,000 people from 20 different markets, the Chinese market has one of the highest FinTech adoption rates, with 69% of the respondents saying that they were adopting FinTech.

India, second in the rankings with a 52% adoption rate, followed by the UK and Brazil, with 42% and 40% respectively. The average adoption rate, defined by those using at least two FinTech services, is 33% for the twenty markets taken in consideration and 46% if we consider just the emerging markets, where tech literacy is high but the diffusion of financial services is still limited.
All in all, the survey finds that the initial mass adoption of FinTech has been achieved in most markets with evidence of increasing awareness, with 84% of customers now aware of the existence of FinTech services, against the 62% of 2015.
It’s incredible that there now seems to be a huge surge of FinTech investment into “emerging new world” markets. The graphic below is great to see what’s happening where. With the moves that President Macron is now making with FinTech investment and also a FinTech Visa — A direct scrap with London, I expect to see France grow at a rapid rate over the next 12 months.

So how has FinTech changed…?
The financial technology industry is reaching a new development stage, FinTech firms that are continuing to expand their offerings and new players, including major financial institutions and established tech firms are joining the market. The effort of policymakers to improve the regulatory frameworks is facilitating the boom of new services. In term of popularity among the different categories, are money transfer and payments that top the list, while it’s InsurTech which is experiencing the most significant growth.

By looking at the type of users, unsurprisingly the younger consumer segment, those in the range between 25 and 34 years old have a 48% average adoption, highlighting that those with the higher rate, despite having an increasing need for financial services lack a strong relationship with the traditional players.
Since 2015 there has been a huge spike in money transfers and payments, an absolutely giant industry. There are now Blockchain offerings such as Abra making a lot of noise, also the banking and payments for the unbanked will continue to gather speed.
In summary, FinTech moves fast — it’s ever evolving. My money would be on a huge spike in savings and investments by 2018 as the banks and fund managers all aim to offer or acquire a FinTech investment offering.
Exciting times indeed!
Phillip Nunn — CEO of The Blackmore Group

In 2012 I founded The Blackmore Group with several of my long term business Partners and Directors. We decided that the traditional wealth and investment management industry was in a phase of disruption and we wanted to approach the investment methodology differently. We do this in two ways, firstly by blending traditional asset management philosophies with innovation and secondly by predominantly investing in asset backed investments which we believe is a great strategy for medium and longer term capital growth.
“In 2015 I was introduced to something called “FinTech”
Which when I first heard the word I assumed it was something to do with surf boards and not finance.
Fast forward to now and It’s become more of an obsession than a career choice. I genuinely believe that FinTech and now potentially more so, Blockchain are the catalyst for the 4th Industrial revolution and will empower the next generation to have wealth, more choice, and most importantly to protect it.
I’m a regular speaker on the FinTech circuit and my USP is not what FinTech and Blockchain are but what it actually means to the man on the street.
It’s time now for a new era of financial services. People no longer accept and trust the traditional channels and it’s created a huge disconnect. Currently only the wealthy have access to proper and comprehensive financial advice and empowerment and I’m working tirelessly to change that.
“My goal is to empower an entire generation, Millennials. And to innovate the way younger generations understand and in turn make much more effective lifestyle and financial decisions and ultimately prosper in later life.” — Phillip Nunn.
