Monese on stage at the Paris Fintech Forum

The future of fintechs, building trust among consumers, the clever use of data and more

A few weeks ago, our Founder & CEO Norris stopped by the Paris Fintech Forum, one of the largest fintech events in Europe. Norris was a panellist on two key discussion groups: ‘Neo bank reloaded’ and ‘US/Europe: cross eyes on fintech launch & scale’.

There were some great takeaways from these two panels so we thought we’d share some of the highlights from these discussions.

Challengers vs incumbents

How can challengers compete with traditional banks?

There was a consensus among the panellists that challengers aren’t necessarily competing with incumbents. Challengers are rather for “life moments” versus traditional banks. This rings true for Monese. We’re filling a space that traditional banks haven’t yet: that moment when you move countries or when you’re transacting across borders. Or that moment when you need a bank account to get your salary deposited but don’t meet all the prerequisites that traditional banks require of you.

In fact, fintechs and traditional banks are learning to work together, helping one another to provide certain services. It’s a fantastic collaboration of agility and expertise and scale. There’s no better example of this than our partnership with Romania’s Libra Internet Bank for our newly launched RON accounts. Partnering with Libra has allowed us to serve the fundamental needs of consumers — such as depositing salaries or making instant local transfers — while offering a fast, simple and intuitive mobile account. It’s a great case of how legacy banks and fintechs can work together to provide better solutions for consumers.

What’s the most important thing for challengers to focus on?

Challengers need to focus on building trust. “Neo banks have to work to win the trust that was lost with consumers,” said Jason Bates, cofounder of 11:FS, referring to the 2008 global financial crisis. Norris chimed in explaining that this was something Monese has from its customers, as many deposit their salaries with us.

What about profitability?

In a post-WeWork era, revenue and profitability is the big concern on people’s minds. Norris explained that players in our field are expected to reach profitability in the next couple of years. With this new focus, challengers will be more sustainable in the long run. Those who’ve figured out, or are in the midst of cracking, the profitability issue will undoubtedly stand the test of time.

US/Europe: cross eyes on fintech launch and scale

Can there be a trillion-dollar fintech?

While there was no conclusive or definite answer to this question, there was still a lot of optimism around the potential of the fintech sector. There was a definite agreement that the space is growing in value. Tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple were recognised as threats to the industry as it exists. Still, a valid point was made that their data handling will be heavily scrutinised, which may hinder their progress in the long term.

Discussing data

Speaking of data, Norris commented that the clever use of data would allow companies like Monese to create innovations around credit and redefine how customer data is processed, as Monese has done with KYC. All this will allow underserved consumers access to lending products.

During a different panel discussion, CPO of Mastercard Michael Miebach also spoke on transaction data and how it can be used as a tool for sustainable spending. In a world where transactions can be given a green score, consumers could suddenly have the power to make eco-friendly choices at all purchasing points in their life.

Executive Director at Sustainable Digital Finance Alliance Marianne Haahr noted that the SME lending sector is already rapidly implementing these sorts of novelties. Organisations are no longer solely being assessed on their credit score or history, but on their environmentally-friendly and sustainable business practices too. For example, a coffee shop will be given points for using recycled cups instead of plastic.

As CEO Matthew Oppenheimer of Remitly put it, the fintechs that will truly achieve success and large valuations are the ones solving the largest problems. This holds true for Monese, and it shows. We started on a mission to help new arrivals in a country access financial services. How can we be with them in the long run for other big life moments, and help them solve and overcome their most significant issues and challenges? It’s these solutions that’ll fundamentally change a consumer’s life. They aren’t cosmetic or temporary but rather long term. This will determine the future of businesses like ours.

This article was written by Sophie Cairns, Marketing Manager at Monese.