The following article was written by Jens Chrzanowski, Member of the Management Board of Admiral Markets Group AS.
Hello,
Jens Chrzanowski, Admiral Markets
This week, my article will review the Fintech Expo Money20/20, which Admiral Markets joined in Copenhagen this week – 26-28 June 2017. Fintech, Regtech, Blockchain & Bitcoin, payment solutions, mobile developments, and much more – there’s a lot to tell you about!
This will be a brief overview, focusing on my personal impressions – you can find more on the event’s official webpage. So, here are my essentials:
Main Topic of the Expo: The Future of Money. What are the big trends? What are the solutions to our problems (KYC, fast and easy deposits, reputation/trust, etc.)? How to make complicated processes easier?
Let’s discuss KYC (Know Your Customer). Customer onboarding and regulatory compliance were the hottest issues, and many exhibitors presented their solutions. The Face-to-Face identification is one of the highest standards. Video identification and video chat can help cross-border companies solve the problem.
PAPER IS HISTORY according to the KYC service providers I met at the Expo. Video identification, ID scan, meeting different global regulatory requirements, and EASY ONBOARDING are the ultimate goal.
Networking: The networking at the Expo exceeded all expectations. Everybody was sociable, trying to make great new contacts, being highly professional. If you were looking to discuss Fintech solutions as well as the general trends and developments for the next three to five years, this was the place to be!
Also, I was amazed at the amount of the coolest ads, leaflets, and giveaways available at the Expo.
One more thing – the so-called early adopters, people using AirPods and no paper business cards, scanning apps more like.
Bitcoin Bubble? The answer was yes! If you get requests from the people around, your friends asking you how to buy Bitcoins, that is a clear sign of a bubble. But the question with any bubble is whether it will burst, and if yes, when. If the bubble bursts in one or two years, it may still be a good move to invest today. Don’t forget that you can trade and speculate in both ways, long and short…
One thing is the price of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The other thing is the technical issue behind this, which will be the future.
Payment Solutions: I witnessed very interesting and inspiring speeches by Amazon Pay, Stripe, and other big players. The general direction is similar: All payments take too much time and are still complicated enough. If we take any economy, business is done online 5% of the time, whereas offline still accounts for 95%. As a result, we have room for growth, and the answer to how to do this is EASY. Only if we manage to make the payment process easier, just like paying for a newspaper in cash, will we get the big part of the cake. Many suppliers of new, easier solutions were introduced at the Expo.
My bottom-line comment is that there were many solutions presented by different exhibitors, and the nearest future will show which will be adopted by the market. The biggest issue why many potential customers are lost is clear – products and services are too complicated. Only if we manage to simplify them, will we prosper. Luckily, relevant solutions were presented at the Expo.
See you next week!
Do you have feedback, concerns, requests, maybe even compliments? I’d love to hear. Please contact me via: [email protected].
Trading on margin carries a high level of risk, and this article should not be seen as advice or solicitation to buy or sell. It’s written for informational purposes only.