Our January Holland FinTech Meetup was held in partnership with Money 20/20 at the RAI, Amsterdam. Don Ginsel, CEO of Holland FinTech, gave a few words on Holland FinTech‘s 2018 direction. The pitches were from CyNation, Acapture, Privacy Valley and Onegini.
Opening the first 2018 Meetup, Don discussed the evolution of the finance industry; how incumbents are changing from within and how solution providers are bringing new ideas to the table.
The new year at Holland FinTech
At Holland FinTech we think the right way to start the year is to ask: ‘What is possible? What do we want?’ Answers to this question might simplify the spinning vortex of fast-paced innovation that can be fintech. Holland FinTech seeks to provide guidance and support to the Dutch and international fintech ecosystem. Read our 2018 agenda here.
Buzzwords in fintech: what do they mean?
There have been many buzzwords thrown around in recent months. Everything is now ‘tech:’ fintech, insurtech, pensiontech and, interestingly, kittytech. Holland FinTech seeks to give everyone their own space to develop connections within the broad fintech space as well as more specific communities such as insurtech or regtech. While using these labels we stand by the dynamic nature of our friends and are open to changing definitions.
The Pitches:
CyNation
Finn McClain from CyNation opened the pitches. CyNation is a cybersecurity and compliance automation company. McClain said: ‘Without compliance, there is no cybersecurity.’ Working broadly across third party risk management, the focus of the pitch was the GDPR.
Because the GDPR will impact every company working with citizens of the EU, it will have a global impact. Accordingly, CyNation has built CyReg GDPR to help companies get compliant. CyReg GDPR is a Saas assessment and reporting tool. There are free and paid versions with different levels of ongoing compliance management.
McClain faced difficult questions from the audience about timing and the May 25 date to which he responded that the company is ready for the predicted significant demand as the deadline nears.
Acapture
Next was Aldrin Managalabal from Acapture. A data driven omni-channel PSP, Acapture seeks to set a new standard in payments. Acapture facilitates settlement in more than 180 transaction currencies. The product presented was AceProtect.
‘Acapture’s machine learning fraud product makes fraud simple for merchants and payment service providers to build consumer trust while providing an easy, seamless experience.’
Privacy Valley
Third pitch from Helena Verhagen from Privacy Valley was a little different from normal. Having already pitched their Saas security and compliance products for the GDPR, Verhagen instead asked the audience for help with a white paper. The white paper asks: ‘How do the PSD2 and the GDPR come together? How can we reconcile them?’
Privacy Valley is seeking industry insights to build the white paper from the bottom up. Accordingly, they wish to collect the concerns of the market. These will then be presented to the Commission. A question from the audience asked if the Commission should be providing this guidance. Verhagen pragmatically answered that guidance for reconciliation of regulation is needed wherever it comes from. She also mentioned gladly that Dutch regulators are starting to provide such guidance.
Privacy Valley last year experienced significant growth in revenue and content and expanded operations to Belgium, France and Germany. The 2018 horizon is set on Italy and the UK.
Onegini
The last pitch was from Onegini’s Mathijs Brand. The full consumer identity and access management (CIAM) solution from Onegini is equipped with mobile engagement. The program’s goal is to improve login and registration experiences for users. GDPR Compliance checks ensure the KYC on-boarding experience is as frictionless as possible.
By Grace Appleford, Research Analyst at Holland FinTech.
