The second European Women in Payments Network (EWPN) Annual Conference & Awards were held in Amsterdam on 15-16 October 2018. Holland FinTech sat in on the second day of the event and garnered some useful insights on how gender intersects with finance, the future of payments, and more.
Keeping the same assets, and a different approach to data
Conny Doorestijn, founding partner at BankiFi, was vocal in an interview with Vincent Everts about her opinion that women should keep their characteristics in business, such as empathy and communication skills, which are great assets.
She also shared insights on the current and future situation of innovation and the payments industry:
“Innovation happens. Regulators should really focus on their task of keeping us safe. They should keep their hands off the innovation and support it. Regarding payments, I think banks should look at the consent. How you get consent is through identity, so identity is the next step we should look at.’’
Doorestijn says the problem with apps trying to digitise the consent process is that they tend to focus on informing users of the legal rules of data sharing. Instead, they should tell the users what they may get in return for sharing their data, resulting in users trusting the app and actually sharing their data with consent.
How to get women into decision-making positions
Sharon Ekstein, chief business operations officer & chief HR officer at Credorax, in an inspiring presentation titled “When Women Lead” remarked that at Credorax, 55% of 244 employees were female, whereas female employees occupied 40% of senior positions. According to her, this was no coincidence, as gender equality was a part of their company culture.
“How can we spark confidence that would take us to more decision-making positions?” she asked the audience, moving to answer with:
“My first advice is to dare. Dare to ask for what you think you deserve. Secondly, make men your allies; show them your abilities, give them a reason to support you. Third, find a mentor. Fourth, for those of you who are already in leadership positions, I invite you to promote gender equality. Lastly, let’s create a working environment that celebrates women’s ability to juggle. Let’s provide flexibility to women.”
She further shared the fact that three out of four of the largest banks in Israel have been built by women. “So, the way I see that, we are at the beginning of an era of change.’’ she added. “Let’s continue and inspire to change, let’s raise confident women leaders.”
In a panel discussion relevant for anyone involved in research activities in fintech, Erin B. Taylor, principal consultant at Canela Consulting and research consultant at Holland FinTech, mentioned that to understand transformation in finance and deploy knowledge, more interdisciplinary and collaborative research is required. “To excel, we need more women in research.’’ she added.
By Asli Seven, Research Analyst
