22 Aug Fintech: A first-hand meeting
An article by Paul van Eijck, Financing Advisor for the Dutch Chamber of Commerce
Not that long ago, I heard about Fintech for the first time. Being an advisor for the Dutch Chamber of Commerce I was unable to figure out what it was exactly about. Thus, I started to read up on the subject. I noticed that many entrepreneurs were still unaware what fintech encompassed, so I decided to reach Don Ginsel, Founder of Holland FinTech.
What is Fintech?
In many service related areas, technology has been increasingly important. We often coin a new term in areas where this is happening, think about cleantech, healthtech, apptech and also Fintech.
So what happens when you shed a new light on the financial services industry using technology? Payments, insurance and lending change but the impact reaches further than that. We need to cross barriers and bring together people with different backgrounds so that we can change the financial supply chain. It’s all about how financial products reach the end customer. Fintech helps us understand what happens behind the scenes and how the new technology changes processes. Fintech is a name attributed to these changing processes. End consumers will notice this change through new players in the market and an increase in the use of digital. As more people from different backgrounds are brought together, sector borders are becoming more fluid. Uber as a company is hard to classify, thus we should stop trying and simply focus on what they do and what they do differently.
What is Holland FinTech about?
Holland FinTech is an industry association for fintech companies which aims at improving opportunities for new players to enter the market of financial services. It’s an intermediary for parties which could potentially work together and provides insights into what is possible worldwide. Holland FinTech operates out of Amsterdam but does not have a specific national focus, which becomes clear as 20% of the 250 companies comes from abroad. With communication and supply chain being digital, it does not matter where a company is located.
What are the current developments and what is needed in the future?
Next to facilitating supply chain, Holland FinTech helps parties with access to regulations, capital and talent; unlocking financial innovation, knowledge and relevant contacts. It would be good to have regulations which are more adapted to new technologies and more similar across the globe so everyone speaks the same language and knows what to do.
What opportunities does fintech offer to SMEs?
In the end competition is always about price and this will increase as more players enter the market. Next to this, competition has also been focussing on the ease of use. This will increase as well with credit applications becoming more automated. Easier for the consumer and cheaper for the provider. These new processes fit pretty well in our Dutch way of doing as we are quite used to doing stuff digitally.
It is already possible to get advised on where to apply for a loan by connecting your bookkeeping and then automatically process the application. This field expands internationally as well. Many entrepreneurs in the Netherlands and elsewhere, have no idea how to handle online sales. Bringing together digital marketing, ecommerce and fintech can give a big boost to these sales.
Are there downsides to this?
Talking privacy, you need to be careful as you share all information. Some developments have not been set in stone yet. It is important to handle all data carefully, knowing how much people value secrecy of their financial data. People start realizing more and more that this secrecy can not be endless and so they create links with financers and other parties to give them access to certain data.
Where to go next for more information?
We organize many events about fintech which can all be found in our event calendar. Apart from events, we provide updates through our weekly newsletter about developments in the fintech sector, global and local.
Original article you can find it here! (Article in Dutch)
