Fintech and opportunities in Greece and Cyprus!
article by Georgios Karamanolis, Co-founder & CTO/CIO Crowdpolicy EL-CY, Greek version here
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What is fintech?
Fintech is a new industry that develops technology solutions, e-services and digital products in order to make financial services and daily transactions more accessible, user-friendly and efficient.
Fintech directly affects not only the banking sector but other sectors as well such as insurance, trade, retail, and, in general, all the transactions that may occur on Bank2Customer, B2B, Bank2business, C2C (or P2P) level. Throughout this environment, we support the creation of communities and development of business models in fintech by new teams!
Read more about the fintech industry, technology and business opportunities as well as upcoming opportunities in Greece and Cyprus .. :)
The main drivers of change
The need for better, more efficient, personalized and cheaper services alongside the challenge for banks to continuously improve their services and create new products. New players worldwide change the situation (Google pay, apple wallet, alipay). Another important reason that drives developments is the use of disruptive technologies (e.g. AI, blockchain, IoT etc.), new communication channels, open APIs as well as the new development frameworks that we have at our disposal. In addition, it is the support for running business models around fintech at government level. Along with the regulatory nature, the general attitude observed is particularly conducive to the development of fintech entrepreneurship. (e.g. UK, Australia). In Europe, the relevant directives (PSD1 — and, in particular, PSD2) introduce “new players” in the marketplace that can offer financial services of the traditional banking sector. The European Directive PSD1 created a framework for the operation of payment and electronic money institutions.
PSD2 introduces open banking APIs as well as PISPs (Payment Initiation Service providers) and AISPs (Account Information Service Providers).
Last but not least, the opportunity to democratize financial services can enable other sectors and target groups to have access to them and use them, e.g. millennials or unbanked.
Significant technology and business trends in fintech
- Innovative payment models, front end payment systems — wallets, new funding instruments in the form of cards or loyalty mechanisms — cashback models.
- Finance management (Business Financial managers / Personal finance management — PFMs) — Expenses monitoring & budget management systems.
- Crowdfunding. Participatory funding — Alternative decentralized funding models either for business crowdfunding (bonds — shares) or social crowdfunding such as http://act4greece.gr/
- Integrated payment, pricing and financial procedure support solutions for small and medium-sized businesses in various sectors of the economy
- P2P Lending, Peer-to-peer lending
- Money transfer and FX services
- Asset tokenisation with the use of blockchain — DLT technologies
- Development of solutions for the insurance industry (insurtech), p2p aggregators, marketplaces, Fraud detection using AI
Business interest
Below you can find some of the fintech business features that can be combined with each other..
- Development of agile solutions and front end omni channel services for Banks / the Financial sector in the context of partnerships and strategies for their digital transformation (fintech IT solutions) by using open banking APIs
- Business Process Support Services (KYC, Customer Onboarding, Data Analysis etc.)
- Co-operation with Banks to provide solutions for end customers using the shared revenue model concept for co-branded products
- Development of solutions for market segments based on the added value services concept and transaction and / or subscription fees (e.g. wallets, operation of new PISP AISP schemes within the framework of the European directive PSD2)
- Provision of software as a service fintech services and subscription models as fintech startup focusing on technology (payment, wealth management, lending, crowdfunding, capital market, and insurance fintech companies)
It is worth mentioning that fundraising for fintech startups reached $20 billion in the second quarter of 2018!
BOC HACKATHON #FINTECH 2.0 by the Bank of Cyprus
Bank of Cyprus will hold boc hackathon #fintech 2.0, the 2nd marathon for the development of applications on innovative technologies in the field of financial transactions (Fintech) on 26, 27 and 28 October 2018 at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation in Nicosia.
We invite developers, analysts, designers, communication, marketing and customer service executives, business consultants, professionals, executives from the financial sector, students and anyone interested, to participate in boc hackathon #fintech 2.0 and, thus, actively contribute to the development of applications that promote innovative youth entrepreneurship and the development of services and applications in the field of #fintech.
boc hackathon #fintech 2.0 aims to bring together teams of developers and startups over a weekend so that they can create innovative solutions in the field of fintech and turn them into MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) which can then be transformed into fully functional applications.
Register now! http://bochackathon.com/
Be finnovative 3.0 and Crowdhackathon fintech 3.0 of the National Bank of Greece
Start getting ready for Crowdhackathon #fintech 3.0 and the third cycle of the business acceleration program #fintech be finnovative now!
National Bank of Greece in collaboration with the technology and innovation company Crowdpolicy and with the support of important technology companies and organizations of the ecosystem is holding for the third year in a row Crowdhackathon #fintech 3.0 and the business acceleration program be finnovative innovation lab.
Both are addressed to students, professionals, business executives and, in general, anyone wishing to develop their #fintech application, idea or methodology and turn it into a sustainable business model with a view to succeeding in the Greek market and then other markets as well.
Start getting ready and register here http://befinnovative.com/el/thes-na-kaneis-ti-super-fintech-idea-soy-na-fthasei-psila/
Find out more:
- http://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fintech.asp
- Five Really Interesting Innovations And Products In Global FinTech, https://www.forbes.com/sites/montymunford/2018/08/24/five-really-interesting-innovations-and-products-in-global-fintech/#5c58869b38e4
- Co-operation models for fintech companies and banks https://medium.com/@a_hatami/bank-fintech-collaborations-how-big-banks-plan-to-stand-up-to-the-big-tech-challenge-24eea57db095
- Fintech: Ecosystem, business models, investment decisions, and challenges https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681317301246
Crowdpolicy for fintech
- Banking Innovation http://crowdpolicy.com/solutions/solutions-for-banks/
