Top 3 Fintech with the Best Educational approach

16 November 2016

Education is key for the long-term success of financial technologies. But do you know who are the actors involved in Fintech Education?

We have seen initiatives over the past months that aim to better educate people to Fintech such as MOOC Fintech created by the ‘Pôle Finance Innovation’, books, the MIT Fintech online courses from the MIT or the Certified Fintech course in the UK organized by ESCP Europe in partnership with Fintech Circle.

But we are amazed at Techfoliance to see the little number of Fintech start-ups that are educating people to their technologies. As a result, we thought that it would make sense to highlight the start-ups that are making tremendous efforts in Fintech Education.

Here is our list of the top 3 Fintech with the best educational approach:

Moo.la

Moo.la is a London-based Fintech that develops a mobile automated wealth management solution. The start-up is not yet available to the public but it has clearly set the tone of its marketing campaign: explain the basics of finance simply, without jargon. It is now very confusing for the end user to manage the Fintech jargon added to specific and complex financial terminologies. So Moo.la came up with a simple and friendly way of approaching finance.

LearnVest

LearnVest is a New York-based Fintech that develops innovative technologies to help make financial planning affordable and accessible. As suggested in its name, LearnVest has built most of its technologies around educating people to the bascis of finance. According to us, LearnVest has created one of the most sophisticated knowledge center on the market with tools, articles, videos and even quizzes made available to everyone.

Werthstein

Werthstein is a Berlin-based Fintech that provides automated wealth management solutions to private investors. The technology is not yet available to the public but the start-up has already created “The Werthstein Insitute”. The Werthstein Institute is comprised of intellectual leaders with long-term experience in Global Banks, Family Offices and Wealth Managers. Four experts come together every month on an online TV panel show. They look through the masses of information, and identify Zeitgeists – investment themes for the future.

#Event – Meetup Paris Trading le Lundi 14 Novembre 2016

Team Europe

10 November 2016

Paris Trading revient le Lundi 14 Novembre 2016 pour une rencontre autour des Analyses & Stratégies sur les marchés financiers.

Paris Trading en deux mots

Le Paris Trading est un cycle de formations et meetups qui vise à rassembler des spécialistes des marchés financiers pour partager des conseils, analyses et stratégies d’investissements.

Lancé en 2015 par les fondateurs de MoneyPush, une FinTech qui veut rendre accessible le trading au plus grand nombre, le Paris Trading compte aujourd’hui plus de 300 membres.

Paris Trading du 14 Novembre – Détails sur l’événement

Les intervenants :

Les trois spécialistes des marchés financiers sont :

Julien Cassel de chez Alvexo,
Pascal Trichet, conseiller en investissement financier,
Benjamin Mauger, professeur de finance en école de commerce et d’ingénieur et qui détient son propre Mutual Fund (500K€) et présentera une stratégie d’investissement.

Informations pratiques :

Rendez-vous le Lundi 14 Novembre à partir de 18h15 dans les locaux de la CCI IDF au 6-8, avenue de la Porte de Champerret, 75017, Paris. Le cocktail networking débutera à 20h45.

Pour vous inscrire, merci de vous rendre sur ce LIEN !

Cette conférence vous est proposée par James Nacass et Julien Hazan respectivement CTO et CEO de la start-up MoneyPush qui développe une plateforme de trading accessible et facile d’utilisation. Disponible en français et en anglais, MoneyPush permet à ce jour d’investir sur le marché des devises, le FOREX.

#CuriosiTech – Discover the 4 Best FinTech of the week: Edebex, Mooncard, Piggo and Spendesk

Team Europe

9 November 2016

Every week, Techfoliance highlights four promising Fintech start-ups in different part of the world in various verticals: lending, payment, investment, etc. In this weekly FinTech mapping we have Edebex, Mooncard, Piggo and Spendesk.

Edebex

Edebex is a Brussels-based FinTech that provides an online marketplace for businesses to sell or buy invoices (receivables). It position itself as one of the best alternative to improve cash-flow and to get a better ROI.

Discover here: https://edebex.com/

Mooncard

Mooncard is a Paris-based FinTech that provides new expense solutions for employees, CEOs, CFOs and entrepreneurs. Algorithms are designed to analyze transactions, collect data and pre-fill expense reports.

Discover here: http://www.mooncard.co/

Piggo

Piggo is a Mexican-based FinTech that provides automated wealth management services. The mobile app allows individuals to define goals such as buying a house or travelling and manage their savings to reach those goals.

Discover here: https://piggo.mx/

Spendesk

Spendesk is a Paris-based FinTech that offers a unique solution to generate corporate cards to manage expenses as a team. Their software gives CFOs a complete control over their company’s spendings and provides employees with an awesome experience when they need to do professional purchases.

Discover here: www.spendesk.com

The 3rd wave of FinTech – Israel as a FinTech Hub

Paul Mandell

8 November 2016

On Wednesday, November 2^nd, nestled in a conference room at Dan Tel Aviv Hotel, entrepreneurs, bank representatives, and FinTech ventures gathered to discuss the future prospects of the banking and finance industry as part of the yearly Bank Innovation Summit.

The summit, to which Techfoliance was a media partner, included three days of discussions on the future of the FinTech industry, along with current trends and the progress that has been made in the past year.

Bank Innovation Conference in Israel

DAY 1:

The summit’s first day included more than 140 one-on-one meetings facilitated by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. FinTech ventures and representatives from global and local banks such as Citibank, Lloyds Banking Group, Leumi, and The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. came to seek Israeli FinTech solutions for implementation and investment purposes.

DAY 2:

The second day consisted of panels comprised of both investors and entrepreneurs addressing the use of chatbots and artificial intelligence, payments and wearables affecting the way commerce will be conducted, corporate banking, and blockchain. With so many perspectives represented on stage, it was surprising how much everyone seemed to agree on one thing – the industry is changing, and banks need to be able to adapt quickly.

AI Chatbots & the Emergence of Cognitive FinTech

In the session titled AI Chatbots & the Emergence of Cognitive FinTech, panelists Howard Lindzon of Social Leverage, Philippe Mauchard of Eggsplore, Jay Reinemann of Propel Venture Partners, Liron Rose of TechStars Tel Aviv, and Ben Savage of Clocktower Technology Ventures addressed the exciting prospects and challenges of integrating automated systems with banking data in order to improve the customer experience and growth prospects.

While most banks employ an automated system, and some may employ a chatbot, it was pointed out that in order for something to truly be AI, it must be self-learning, and thus far, nothing of the sort has been implemented on a large scale. The panel pointed out that such a system, connected to backend data, could revolutionize how a bank does business. By analyzing a customer’s usage and funds data, an AI could actively bring a beneficial sale to the attention of the customer, be it over voice or through a text interface.

But before the industry gets far, it is important to note that it has yet to be discovered if customers would be willing to allow their personal information to be exposed to such automated systems. While the panelists agreed that it is important to disclose to customers that they are interacting with a bot, there were differing opinions as to what degree the bot should emulate a human, and if the bot should be assigned a gender. Additionally, it was pointed out that as with all new technology, with greater sophistication comes the increased threat of security breaches.

It seems that interest in FinTech continues to soar, with FinTech events needing larger venues, covering more in-depth topics, and showcasing even more groundbreaking technologies and disruptive Ideas.

About Fintech-Aviv:

FinTech-Aviv community is one of the world’s largest FinTech communities, operating from Israel and serving as the voice of Israeli FinTech. Next FinTech-Aviv event is going to take place on November 22^nd and will tackle the topic of: ‘FinTech Growth Strategies for Global Markets’. For more details regarding the event, please visit FinTech-Aviv meetup group.

#Mexico – Uber launches its first Debit Card in Latin America, in partnership with Bankaool and Mastercard

Team Europe

4 November 2016

Uber, in partnership with Bankaool, the first Mexican online bank, and Mastercard, the industry leader in electronic payments, announced the launch of Uber Bankaool Debit Card, an innovative solution that offers an alternative way to pay for rides, using a mobile banking app.

Uber Bankaool card, available since October 21st, is the first debit card that the technology company launches in Latin America, offering users who do not have a credit card or whose debit card is not open for ecommerce a new payment method.

According to Francisco Meré, CEO, Bankaool:

“This reflects how Fintechs with an open IT architecture can work together with IT companies, bringing innovative and disruptive solutions to an increasing number of markets.”

Juan Carlos Espinosa, Chief Digital Bank, Business Development and Marketing Officer, mentioned:

“Uber Card can be used to pay at movie theaters, stores or restaurants, as well as ecommerce and mobile apps that accept Mastercard, both in Mexico and internationally, and even to withdraw cash at ATMs” The card is linked to a Bankaool account, which also offers savings and investment products.

Other advantages of the Uber Bankaool card include, free first Uber ride (up to MXN$100 for new users of the app); accepted in physical retailers and ecommerce, Internet Banking and Mobile Bankaool; unlimited Interbank Transfers (SPEI) free of charge, and online access to account balances and statements, as well as monthly refunds of the fee on 2 cash withdrawals at any ATM.

Uber Bankaool debit card requires a monthly deposit of up to MXN$15,000 and is available through Bankaool.com for all Mexican users, and will be coming soon to convenience stores.

About Bankaool:

Bankaool, S.A, Institución de Banca Múltiple, is the first fintech bank in Mexico. Bankaool uses a state-of-the-art IT platform that offers online on-boarding for savings and loans to improve customer experience and convenience. Bankaool was voted Best SME Bank Mexico in 2016 by Capital Finance International magazine.

FlashNews – A step forward for Crowdfunding in Lithuania

Joana Baublyte Kulviete

3 November 2016

Today, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted the Law on Crowdfunding (still to be signed by the president), which will contribute to FinTech industry development in the country.

The Law on Crowdfunding will come into force less than in one month (on 1^st of December 2016), allowing business financing through debt and equity crowdfunding platforms.

Financing Cap via Crowdfunding Platforms

The Law on Crowdfunding does not establish limits to amount of finance raised through crowdfunding platforms. Nevertheless, the higher the financing that is sought, the more obligations that apply to project owners and the operator of the crowdfunding platform (“Operator”). For example, if the total sum of 12-month financing raised through a crowdfunding platform is:

(1) between €100,000 and €5 million, an information document about the project owner and the financial transactions must be made available to potential investors;

(2) €5 million or more, the investment can only be raised through a securities issue.

Moreover, the Law on Crowdfunding sets no investment cap, as the initially-proposed cap of €1,000 per investor within a 12-month period was rejected. However, the Operator is required to execute a suitability test before concluding the particular type of financial transaction for the first time to make sure the type of financial transaction is suitable for the investor. In any case the ultimate decision on the investment is to be made by the investor; the Operator only has an obligation to inform the investor about any risks associated with the respective investment. The suitability test requirement will not apply to informed investors.

Requirements Established for the Operator

An entity seeking to operate a crowdfunding platform must:

(1) have a registered office in Lithuania, unless it has a right to provide intermediation services by executing the freedom of establishment (registering a local branch office) or the freedom to provide services;

(2) comply with certain regulatory requirements established for the Operator (including, capital sufficiency, risk management, governance requirements); and

(3) register with the Bank of Lithuania (a process that will take up to 30 business days upon submission of all required documents).

In cases of investment-based financing, the Operator will be considered to be a financial advisory firm that can provide execution-only services and offer investment-only recommendations related to crowdfunding transactions. The crowdfunding platform operators will only be authorised to offer their services in Lithuania (no passporting). In cases when the crowdfunding platform operator wishes to offer investment services, other than those described above, it must apply for the full-investment firm licence, which can then be passported to other EEA member states.

Operator’s Risk Management

As general rule, to limit the business risk of the Operator:

(1) equity capital of the Operator must be not less than €40,000, or the required equity capital ratio must be equal to 0.2% of the outstanding investments raised on the crowdfunding platform (whichever is higher); or

(2) the Operator must have another type of security (civil liability insurance, guarantee or suretyship issued by a financial institution). The minimum amount of the security required is established by the Law on Crowdfunding.

In cases when the Operator provides other financial services, the capital requirements set for such activities must be adhered to.

With a speedy e-money (payment), institutions’ licensing process, and a helpful regulator (the Bank of Lithuania), the Law on Crowdfunding will inevitably foster the establishment of the FinTech companies in Lithuania.

1...343536...47 Page 35 of 47

INVYO Insights Europe