COMMENTARY: LAST WORDS Evolution theory: The new index takes into account a range of factors that impact the genus known as fintech
The taxonomy of fintech
Findexable’s Global Fintech Index is a new way to identify where the industry’s hot and where it’s not. We asked Founder Simon Hardie what makes these rankings different
There are many fintech indices out there, and, while many countries and cities aspire to feature close to the top of them, there is a dollop of scepticism about what it really means to be included in the rankings. The criteria by which they are calculated have never been entirely clear and trying to make sense of them is no easy task. But that’s exactly what Simon Hardie, the founder of Findexable, has done by launching the first interactive Global Fintech Index to rank countries and cities by not one, but multiple indices to determine the healthiest ecosystems. We chatted to him about what it is he hopes to achieve with Findexable, what it offers the industry, and whether it contains some genuine revelations. THE FINTECH MAGAZINE: How would you describe Findexable’s Global Fintech Index and the genesis of the idea? SIMON HARDIE: Our mission is to rank and score fintech innovation, at the city and country level, and then to build out, on top of that, a large global catalogue of fintech companies. We launched some rankings at the end of last year, which was basically the first time anybody had ranked any and all fintech countries/cities where there’s any degree of fintech activity. We used that to raise awareness about what we’re doing, and then built our digital platform, which is a www.fintech.finance
map of fintech companies, that you can zoom in on to see the companies that are based in that location. If you’re a fintech, an association or an accelerator, you can also add yourself to the map. What we’re starting to do is categorise, so that you can look at specific cities or countries and the types of fintech activity that’s going on, such as payments, banking, blockchain, crypto and so on. It’s a big task. There’s a world out there that is not being mapped or tracked, and there’s a lot of exciting innovation happening. We wanted to put that on a map, and make these companies more visible.
Fintech was created to solve difficult problems, global problems. The index can play a role in making sure that happens TFM: How do you foresee the site working when it comes to mapping and cataloguing fintech companies? SH: Much like LinkedIn. We want players to come to us and see the opportunity to add themselves to the map at no cost. My guess is that we will end up with at least 10,000 companies, maybe well beyond that. We
also have a network of close to 50 association and ecosystem partners worldwide that we’re working with directly, on a day-to-day basis, to get more of their local fintech companies to look at the map and add themselves to it. TFM: What have been some of the surprises in terms of the locations and types of companies out there? SH: It’s just the sheer diversity of fintech activity across the world that’s surprising. We have literally had companies from Albania to Zimbabwe adding themselves to the map. One of our key mission statements is to not just make it easier, make it more transparent – democratise the visibility of fintech innovation globally – but also to be an advocate for progressive financial services. My belief is that fintech was created to solve difficult problems, global problems, and the index can play a role in making sure that happens. It’s not just about niche providers taking advantage of fintech, it’s really about enabling entrepreneurship. Clearly, fintech, as an industry, has some work to do, to make fintech firms more diverse, to encourage more women to found fintech companies, to be more ethnically mixed, but it is our view that we can play a role in advocating that, and actually effecting some change in that direction. Issue 17 | TheFintechMagazine
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