C O N N E C T I N G T H E E U R O P E A N F I N T E C H E C O S Y S T E M S F I N T E C H M A T T E R S R O A D S H O W B E R G E N 2 0 1 8 SUMMARY Sponsors:
The very first FINTECHMATTERS Roadshow took place in Bergen, Norway, on May 22nd - 23rd and it has been an great success. The aim of the Roadshow was to connect the national decision makers, drivers and opinion leaders of various European FinTech Ecosystems and share insights about the latest regional trends, initiate international B2B collaborations and of course to network on a personal level. "Together with our local partner FINANCE INNOVATION, we provided an exclusive indepth view into what true innovation looks like across multiple industries. With a considerable small population, Norway is often overlooked when compared to its European counterparts with innovation. The truth is, Bergen taught us better. The Roadshow brought not only leaders in the financial services space, but also academia and government to show how collaboration amongst many partners breeds progress. We were particularly taken with the mindset of the Norwegians towards innovating in a sustainable way and the attitude they take with the impact of macro-level issues. What we really enjoyed about the event was the intimacy that was obtained, given we were a small delegation. It allowed us to openly speak about our challenges, solutions and thoughts on the future." Meaghan Johnson, David Khassidov & Dejan Stojanovic - the organizers of the FINTECHMATTERS Roadshow and FINTECHMATTERS Summit.
FINTECHMATTERS Roadshow in Bergen was full of insights On day one, the industry experts and ecosystem multiplicators from Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and UK have presented their expertise and information about upcoming initiatives. This session took part in the beautiful HQ of Sparebanken Vest in Bergen. The participants included representatives of national FinTech Players from Austria, Switzerland, UK, Denmark and Norway, such as Sparebanken Vest, Sbanken, Monobank, Signicat, DNB, NHH - Norwegian School of Economics, Quantfol.io, Buffer, Innovation Norway, Idfy, Creative Dock, Dealflow, Handcheque, Swiss Fintech Innovations, DiggEcard and Artis Blockchain.
The Keynotes were given by Bent Gjendem, CEO of Monobank, he is a highly experienced entrepreneur and FinTech expert. In 2015 Monobank acquired a full banking license in Norway and became one of the most innovative Challenger Banks in the Nordics. With their unique approach towards cooperation with other FinTechs they have shown us how the financial services industry will develop in near future. The renowned FinTech expert Meaghan Johnson, Partner at FINTECHMATTERS, shared her view and insights about the importance of Exceptional Customer Experiences and how they are already changing the financial services sector on a global level. INDUSTRY INSIGHTS Meaghan Johnson - FINTECHMATTERS led us through the Industry Insights session which included presentations and a panel discussion by Ragnhild Janbu Fresvik - Corporate Executive Vice President at Sparebanken Vest; Christian Askvik Hansen - Strategy and Product Development at Sbanken Peter Kragh Halling - CEO Nordics at Creative Dock; Jan Åge Skaathun - Co-Founder & CSO at Quantfol.io. These innovative companies have shared their approach on how they innovate and co-operate and gave us highly valuable insights on their best practices.
ECOSYSTEM INSIGHTS The Ecosystem Insights presentations were provided by representatives from Switzerland and Norway. Insights about the Swiss ecosystem were shared by Natascha Tummeley Swiss FinTech Innovations SFTI. Atle Sivertsen - Finance Innovation and Gøril Selvik Innovation Norway have shared insights about the Norwegian ecosystem and the latest initiatives with the audience by mapping the unique national and regional strengths and dynamics. Meaghan Johnson - FINTECHMATTERS has provided a FinTech Around the World Tour through to highlight the unique solutions being developed from Panama to Australia.
INNOVATORS INSIGHTS On day two, true innovators from Norway and Austria have presented their innovative solutions and their visions for the financial services sector. This session took part in the Norwegian School of Economics - NHH. IDFY, represented by the CTO Rune Synnevåg, offers user-friendly solutions for digitizing and streamlining costly manual processes and has large and small customers in over 20 different industries. The core products are digital identification and signature services. https://www.idfy.io/ DEALFLOW, represented by the COO Ole B. Larsen, is the first digital platform in Norway connecting entrepreneurs, growth companies and capital. The goal of Dealflow is to be the country's most effective junction box between companies that need funding and people who want to become co-owners in exciting businesses. https://dealflow.no/ ARTIS.ECO, represented by the co-founder & brand ambassador Bernhard Wladkowski, claims that they are the first blockchain designed to enable sustainability, starting with one-click payment and subscriptions. https://artis.eco
SIGNICAT, represented by the Partner Manager Anders Ljunqvist, is a company that is specialized in cross border cloud based identity services and digital signatures. Signicat makes it simple to offer login, identification and electronic signatures, and supports different levels of authentication for web and mobile. Signicat provides the preferred solutions for many major players in the banking, finance, insurance and etrade industries, such as TrustBuddy, Bank Santander, SEB Group, Konica Minolta and Gassco. Signicat has previously won the international Identity Deployment of the Year Award (IDDY-Award) in US. https://www.signicat.com/ HANDCHEQUE, represented by the CEO Khaled Asef, is a startup that is building a touchscreen card, in which you can merge your various bank cards, loyalty cards and more. They offer a one single device that combines all your payment & loyalty cards and claim to simplify our wallets in the future. https://handcheque.com/en/ DIGGECARD, represented by their CEO Olav Balandin, is focused on digital giftcards on a global basis. DiggEcard is a Gift Card As A Service solution, bridging the gap between the gift card industry and the mobile space. https://diggecard.com/
BUSINESS NETWORKING The networking part of the Roadshow provided a unique opportunity for the participants to meet each other and to connect on a personal level. FINTECHMATTERS has become more than just an event - it s a vital international network of experts in this field. Therefore, we welcome and encourage those who are interested in the future of FinTech, to get in touch with us and to join the FINTECHMATTERS network.
FINTECHMATTERS is an International FinTech Innovation Network which connects innovators, financial institutions, investors, decision-makers and multiplicators of the European FinTech Ecosystems. Our annual Summit in Vienna is the premium event to discover business opportunities and discuss trends in the global financial services industry. Be part of this international network that will determine the future of innovation in the financial services industry. David Khassidov - CEO FINTECHMATTERS. Finance Innovation is a Norwegian association and innovation cluster of banks, financial companies, insurance companies, tech companies and educational and research institutions working on the financial services and solutions of tomorrow. The cluster has set ambitious goals on innovation, growth and value creation, and aim to increase export of Norwegian fintech to international and global markets. Our project builds on regional business cluster dynamics, has a national scope and a global ambition. Atle Sivertsen - CEO Finance Innovation.