And we’re kicking off the week with new analysis and opinions on fintech with new finance space for 2023, payments, crypto, fintech stocks and more. Dive into the latest fintech insights and have a great start of the week!
Has the euro changeover really caused extra inflation in Croatia? (ECB)
While the euro brings clear benefits for Croatia and its economy, some consumers have expressed concerns about possible additional price increases following the changeover from the national currency to the euro. These fears have a long history in the euro area. Media and parts of the public have often suspected that service providers such as restaurants in particular exploit the opportunity of a currency changeover to raise their prices exorbitantly. This debate about the price effects of changeovers to the euro has taken place in several countries since the entry into circulation of euro banknotes and coins in 2002. The German language even developed a word for this perceived effect: “Teuro” (from “teuer”, which means “expensive” in German). So what is the picture in Croatia two months after it adopted the euro? In a nutshell, there is a mild price effect in the services sector but overall little evidence of a broad-based extraordinary price effect coming on top of the current inflation trend. Read more
Why investment in pricing transformation for reinsurers is more important than ever (Fintech Global)
The complexities reinsurers are facing are greater than ever. hyperexponential (hx) said this presents them with an opportunity to invest in pricing transformations. According to hx, January 2023 presented a unique inflection point for the reinsurance sector. The renewal season was fierce, and an imbalance in the demand and supply of capacity tipped in favour of reinsurers. As such, many were able to reap favourable results after years of sub-par returns. However, the end of 2022 saw the reinsurance market experience the largest capital squeeze ($66bn) since 2008, restricting reinsurers’ abilities to maximise profitability during their peak season. Read more
ChatGPT and generative AI – what does banking have to do with it? (Fintech Futures)
Not a day goes by that we don’t hear something about generative artificial intelligence (AI). Ready or not, the genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back. From digital art and journalism to gaming and marketing tech, every industry is being disrupted. Open AI’s ChatGPT, in particular, stole the limelight after it was revealed that CNET has been experimenting with the tech and publishing articles – some reportedly riddled with errors – written by the bot for months. While generative AI tools might seem to be able to generate human-like responses, there is often no transparency as to how the AI is trained and where the data comes from. Read more
Could the introduction of Gen AI into the cyber world spell danger? (Global Fintech)
In a world where the need to digitalise and as well as the desire to connect online is growing stronger and stronger, the cyber industry plays a vital role in that. While fighting off bad actors and dangerous hackers has long been a key part of cybersecurity, the need for the human touch has decreased since the early days. Now, technology is taking a leading role – none more so than artificial intelligence. A particular area of AI – Generative AI – has the potential to change the world of cybersecurity massively. In a recent article, Forbes remarked that Gen AI tools have the potential to change the way cyber threats are developed and executed. To explain this more bluntly, Forbes said that with the ability to generate human-like text and speech, these models can be used to automate the creation of phishing emails, social engineering attacks, and other types of malicious content. Read more
The Days Are Numbered for Greenwashing in Fintech (The Fintech Times)
Despite a desperate drive to deliver positive, genuinely sustainable outcomes, the greedy act of greenwashing remains an all too prevalent issue in the fintech and wider financial industry. When acting sustainability restores faith in a business’s reputation, bad actors will undoubtedly seek to exploit the accolade to their own benefit; elements of which they are seeing success through the use of greenwashing in the fintech industry. Although sustainability, and particularly environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, have become the industry’s latest rising star, it is not a new issue that companies engage in greenwashing. Read more
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