FinTech Magazine - August 2020

Absa Regional Operations Retail and Business Banking: a digital bank for Africa www.fintechmagazine.com

AUGUST 2020

Building a cloud banking platform

REINVENTING BANKING Conor Fennelly, Founder and CEO, explains how LEVERIS’ innovative, cloud-native platform is reimagining the future of banking

Women in FinTech

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FOREWORD

W

elcome to the August edition

In addition, we also got to speak with

of FinTech magazine.

other tech innovators around the world,

It takes a tremendous amount of

including Absa Group and Atom Bank.

time, dedication and effort for a com-

Elsewhere in the issue, our editorial

pany to perform at the top of its game

team explored some of the most influ-

in the financial services world; it’s a dis-

ential trends affecting FinTech today:

tinction that only a handful achieve, yet

AI, the importance of a digitally-focused

there are some capable of taking it a

workplace culture, the use of virtual

step even further and actually reinvent-

reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)

ing an aspect of the industry.

in payments and look inside the

Conor Fennelly, Founder and CEO of LEVERIS, spoke with us and explained

RegTech revolution.

For our Top 10 this month we pay

how his company accomplished just

tribute to some of the most influential

that: a reimagining of the banking expe-

women in global FinTech. With a range

rience through technology. A highly

of backgrounds, career experience and

experienced tech entrepreneur whose

industry focuses, they are a reminder

resume includes a 20-year stint in

that success in this fascinating industry

Silicon Valley, Fennelly‘s background

takes many forms.

reflects a long-term focus on innovation and deep insight into how to run a high-growth startup. Reflecting on LEVERIS’ mission to correct problems in the banking sector, he says, “it’s not

Enjoy the issue.

Will Girling

so much a case of banks failing their customers, but more a case of technol-

william.girling@bizclikmedia.com

ogy failing banks. The systemic problems facing banks can be addressed almost entirely via technology.” f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

03

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PUBLISHED BY

Owen Martin

Jake Megeary Jordan Hubbard

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Will Girling

Kieran Waite Sam Kemp

James White

EDITORAL DIRECTOR

MARKETING DIRECTOR

Jason Westgate

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Matt High CREATIVE TEAM

Oscar Hathaway Erin Hancox Sophia Forte Sophie-Ann Pinnell

Leigh Manning

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER

Shirin Sadr

Stacy Norman PRESIDENT & CEO

DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Glen White

Evelyn Howat

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

Georgia Allen Daniela Kianickovรก

PROJECT DIRECTORS

Andrew Stubbings fintechmagazine.com

10 26

Payments innovation in the new world

38

BUILDING A RESILIENT, DIGITALLY-FOCUSED WORKFORCE IN BANKING

50 62

64 VR, AR AND THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS

80 Women in FinTech

98 Atom Bank

114 DHL Express South Africa

128 Arab National Bank

142 Absa Group

10

LEVERIS: REINVENTING BANKING THROUGH D I G I TA L TECHNOLOGY WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

JAMES PEPPER

AUGUST 2020

11

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

LEVERIS

Conor Fennelly, LEVERIS founder and CEO, discusses how the company is reinventing banking with its innovative, cloud-native platform

L

EVERIS was born out of a single aim: to use the power of digital technology to build a better banking experience. The

complexity that is inherent in many legacy banking platforms and infrastructure is hindering evolu12

tion in the financial services industry. As a result, according to LEVERIS, those institutions are at a fundamental point of change where, rather than evolve, they must invent to remove the constraints imposed by existing technology.

Since its founding four years ago, the company – which is driven by more than 200 individuals with extensive banking and technology experience – has worked to solve this problem. It has done so by designing and building an innovative, cloud-native platform that is unencumbered by existing systems and enables banks and financial institutions the freedom to offer customers tailored experiences.

LEVERIS is led by CEO and founder Conor Fennelly, a highly experienced tech entrepreneur who, over the course of a career that includes a 20-year stint in Silicon Valley, has founded and led AUGUST 2020

13

2016

Year incorporated

200+

Number of employees

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

LEVERIS

several high-growth internet startups.

Southeast Asia’s largest independent

The company, he says, is built on the

systems, integrations, and technol-

belief that “it’s not so much a case

ogy and software companies, where

of banks failing their customers, but

he worked on bank-to-bank systems

more a case of technology failing

integrations projects. “We used that

banks. The systemic problems fac-

experience to develop a micro-billing

ing banks can be addressed almost

software solution, which acted as a

entirely via technology.”

financial services layer between credit

This approach, says Fennelly, was

cards and gift cards and scaled very

cemented during his previous interac-

well,” he adds. “From there, I’ve also

tions with the financial services sector.

completed several core transforma-

This includes five years running one of

tion projects in the sector and, through

14

AUGUST 2020

15

“ We provide the platform to build what they want, to implement their strategy and achieve their version of success” — Conor Fennelly, Founder & CEO, LEVERIS

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

LEVERIS

16

that experience and over that time, we

resilient, and stood the test of time with

really understood what a banking plat-

no major issues until about five years

form was - all the existing peculiarities,

ago. The rise of fintech really changed

legacy issues and complexities.

things. It started disintermediating, and

“Each time you do an implementa-

showing banks that innovative technol-

tion of that kind, the result is always

ogy can be used to do things faster

suboptimal,” Fennelly continues. “We

and better, to operate in real-time and

reached the stage where we thought:

provide greater value to the customer.”

‘if we had the freedom to do it again,

The latter, Fennelly notes, is becom-

how would we do so differently and

ing increasingly important as a driver

in a way that eradicated all of those

for change. Customers want more

issues?’. Legacy systems have per-

control over their finances, as well

formed well - they’ve been robust and

as the convenience and value-added

AUGUST 2020

service to exercise that control when they choose - this can be provided by the kind of data-focused technology that doesn’t exist in legacy systems.

“There are several key issues,” Fennelly explains. “In some respects, it’s not so much the technology itself as the organisational composition that sets everything in silos - you have deposits,

“ Banking isn’t radical, it just has to be better” — Conor Fennelly, Founder & CEO, LEVERIS

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Conor Fennelly

Title: Founder & CEO

17

Company: Leveris

Industry: Financial services Location: Dublin, Ireland Conor’s career has been defined by an ability to identify and solve practical problems by developing innovative digital solutions and delivering them at scale. His modus operandi is low profile, high impact.

Various ventures, including Nomad Software Solutions and eoBuy, have taken him from Ireland to Silicon Valley, South East Asia and many places in between.

Technologies he has conceived and built have been licenced and deployed by governments and Fortune 500 companies in areas such as systems integration, bank transformation, mobile phone networks and digital music distribution.

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

LEVERIS

“ We set out to build a next-generation full services retail bank and part of that was really about considering what the bank of 2030 looked like.”

— Conor Fennelly, Founder & CEO, LEVERIS

18

AUGUST 2020

checking or current accounts, access control and so on, and they all have their own databases, which can equate to anything from 500 to 1,000 subsystems. The holy grail of banking is to have one single view of the customer, but that doesn’t really work as the fundamental data model in legacy systems isn’t established to deliver that from the beginning.

“Similarly, existing technology is typically product oriented rather than being customer centric,” he adds.

“Any new system has to be entirely focused on the customer - everything you do, irrespective of the service should accrue in one area and that data is then used across everything.”

Fennelly also points to the high CapEx required to run a legacy system as a result of their complexity, adding that they are precarious to maintain and difficult to change due to their being non-homogenous. On the latter he explains “even the simplest of things can be overly complex; there are multiple vendors in a bank’s world and software written in different languages so that any change has to be coordinated through this complexity.” f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

19

LEVERIS

LEVERIS offers an alternative to these issues. The company has built a system from the ground up, using state-of-the-art, best-in-class technology that is service driven and changes the way that businesses deliver financial products. The LEVERIS platform is a cloud-native, real-time, non-legacy core banking system that is modular, flexible and secure. It leverages big data to streamline operations for banks and lenders, and increase their revenue, uses process automation to 20

reduce the need to manual intervention and is configurable to each customer’s specific requirements.

“Everything is automated end-toend and completed in real-time,” says Fennelly, “which are the major things in terms of how this changes the way in which banks operate. We set out to build a next-generation full services retail bank, and part of that was really about considering what the bank of 2030 looked like. We realised about a year into the build that, while we could build the technology stack, we couldn’t implement all the features on that stack unless we had a clear idea of what that bank looked like. From a customer AUGUST 2020

ANNOUNCEMENT

The LEVERIS platform is now live in the Dutch market, where it’s executing loans and servicing millions of euros for three clients of major financial services firm, Link Group.

The platform has helped deliver a 70% reduction in average application to drawdown, enabled the onboarding of additional lenders to the platform in less than four weeks and delivered a significant reduction in operational costs for Link Group.

perspective, that’s all about advocacy and building an effective transactional relationship through the greater use of data, for example. Banks haven’t always architected customer data in a way that’s useful, but that data has a massive residual value for customers.”

LEVERIS creates a single view of the customer by mapping all data to a unique customer ID. This gives a complete picture of the customer across the bank’s entire platform and allows the building of a personalised picture of the customer and their journey, thus enabling the building of an enhanced customer experience. The LEVERIS platform has a single customer view, is quick to market, has open APIs and connects the dots across a wide f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

21

LEVERIS

variety of data types, categories and systems; it is also scalable as their clients’ companies grow.

“Many bankers are acutely aware of what they want from their technology stack, they’re just missing the product to do it - they’re constrained by the tech,” says Fennelly. “The interesting thing is that we don’t have a revelation about how these changes are translated in the front end, the fundamental pivot points that will make the difference are actually quite subtle. Take 22

the heart of the bank, the current or savings account. It’s an idea that’s set in stone and that the consumers

“ It’s not so much a case of banks failing their customers, but more a case of technology failing banks” — Conor Fennelly, Founder & CEO, LEVERIS AUGUST 2020

23

understand, but we have the notion of

about removing that complexity and

an ‘account’ with a set of attributes that

providing a technology that allows the

the bank can scale as it chooses.

building of any unique set of services

“The idea is that, if you look at bank-

for a consumer based on a very lim-

ing infrastructure of yesterday against

ited number of products in the back

that of the future, then you’ll see histor-

end. Adding a new card, a new per-

ically that banks have built thousands

son to the account or so on doesn’t

- even tens of thousands - of products,

increase the product complexity in

because any change or variation in

our world, and that’s a real revolution

things like different accounts has to be

in financial services. There’s no major

manufactured as a ‘new’ product,” he

technology required, it’s how you

continues. “The core of a transforma-

pose the pieces and, really, it’s about

tion and a platform like LEVERIS is

how far your imagination goes.” f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

LEVERIS

Currently, the LEVERIS platform is available for banks, lenders and loan servicers. For the former, the system is delivered market ready and preintegrated with the essential banking services required to launch and run a modern digital bank. “Take a typical legacy bank that has a number of branches as an example,” says Fennelly. “We can operate our platform completely independently as an additional branch in the

24

“ There’s no major technology required, it’s how you pose the pieces and, really, it’s about how far your imagination goes.”

— Conor Fennelly, Founder & CEO, LEVERIS

AUGUST 2020

infrastructure, which lets our customers ‘plug LEVERIS in’ their world seamlessly as a starting point. Over time, we can then work on tactical strategic decisions of which legacy systems to take out and to migrate across to our platform. It becomes a natural evolution that leads to a greatly improved digital direction.”

Since it was established, LEVERIS has focused on developing a platform that can transform banking. Little has changed since that original vision was developed, Fennelly explains, but the business is now focused on going to market. “Banking isn’t radical, it just has to be better,” he states. “And it also has to be capable of incremental, organic improvement. We’ve a blank platform that is given to every client, it’s up to those banks how they use our configuration interfaces to build the products they want - we don’t give them the technology to succeed, we provide the platform to build what they want, to implement their strategy and achieve their version of success.”

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

25

FINTECH

26

Payments innovation in the new world WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH

AUGUST 2020

27

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

FINTECH

Airwallex VP of Global Banking, James Butland, discusses COVID-19, innovation in payments technology and the future of fintech

D

isruption and change underpin the rise of the fintech sector. Whether innovative, cutting-edge technologies or new,

digital-first business models, success in fintech and the broader financial services industry relies in no small part on navigating this disruption. It may be why the fintech sector has been keenly watched during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

28

Like all industries, fintech has faced its challenges – 22% of UK fintech jobs being at risk, according to one report, for example – but with many fintechs demonstrating their ability to be agile and flexible enough to diversify and actively engage in combating COVID, there has been great interest in how the sector will transition through the pandemic.

James Butland, VP of Global Banking at international payments provider Airwallex, is no stranger to change. Butland has been active in the financial services industry since 2007, working for both incumbents (including during the 2008 financial crisis) and, more latterly, fintechs. Prior to joining Airwallex, he headed up European Banking at Transferwise, managing and expanding the company’s existing European banking network and scaling up product development.

AUGUST 2020

James Butland,VP of Global Banking, Airwallex 29

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

FINTECH

“ We’ve actually seen a huge rise in companies going digital and looking at new ways of making savings and improving efficiency” — James Butland, VP of Global Banking, Airwallex

a part of a fintech in that sense is that you’re really building a brand from the ground up – your mission is to really

Such breadth of experience has provided Butland with valuable

that are still using incumbents and

insight across the financial services

say to them ‘what do you want and

value chain. “As you’d expect, the working environment at incumbents 30

find those customers or organisations

and fintechs is very different,” he explains. “On the one hand you have a very structured and quite formal environment that has been in place for 10 or 15 years, whereas at a fintech you’re often starting from the very early stages, running on a continuous cycle of product development and innovation. When I joined TransferWise it was still a relatively young fintech, and the same goes for Airwallex, which I joined around three years ago with the aim of building out the global banking network and infrastructure and growing the European footprint.

The exciting prospect about being AUGUST 2020

how can we build a product that is

tailoring your product and approach to

10 times better than that which you’re

the region you work in; we sell in China,

already using?’.”

for example, but that’s very different

With Airwallex, Butland is based

from the product we offer in Europe.

in the UK, albeit responsible for expand-

If you look at payments, I think the UK

ing the company’s footprint into

is at the forefront in terms of regula-

Europe. He is, understandably, a

tion and market conditions, but I spend

strong proponent of the UK’s position

a lot of time with the Airwallex team

in the financial services and payments

in Asia Pacific, where they’re leading

industry. “Fintech isn’t a global, one-

the way in terms of on the ground pay-

size-fits-all industry – it’s all about

ments and moving money. In China, of course, there’s the development of super apps and other technologies, so every region is very different and that dictates how you operate.”

Regardless of region, technology has been the key driver of change in every sub-sector of financial services.

In payments in particular, Airwallex has developed tech-driven infrastructure that enables low-cost, high-speed and transparent international collections and payments via API. “We approached the problem in a very different way to incumbents that have a bricks-and-mortar presence, instead as a ‘software layer’ across the globe that can connect all banks and locations into one unified whole. What we offer is a complete platform that f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

31

FINTECH

Airwallex - Your passport to global business CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:17

32 other services can be added to, so you

use of digital payments and financial

can do foreign exchange FX), collect

services tools. “We’ve a large pres-

money in different countries, create

ence in Shanghai, so we were aware

debit cards and pay for goods, accept

of the potential implications earlier than

funds and more. We don’t deal with

some organisations and we pivoted

cash, it’s all digital and done over the

very quickly to be able to manage any

web through our API technology.”

possible disruption. Many of the areas

Of course, that shift to digital has

that we support, such as travel or edu-

only increased for all businesses – and

cation, have naturally been impacted

consumers – as a result of the global

quite badly, but there has been a sig-

COVID-19 pandemic. Airwallex has

nificant increase in ecommerce that

proved robust despite the challenges

means we’ve been quite resilient.

placed on it from COVID, says Butland,

“In terms of the wider shift to digital,

and the broader shift to remote work-

I think that’s been happening for a

ing and isolation has increased the

while but COVID will certainly increase

AUGUST 2020

“ We approached the problem in a very different way to incumbents that have a bricks-and-mortar presence” — James Butland, VP of Global Banking, Airwallex

date and raising $160mn in Series D funding. Butland explains: “The round was completed at the height of COVID,

it,” he continues. “People haven’t

which was of course a challenging

been using high street banks or

time, but it demonstrates that the

shops, so there is a real migration to

fundamentals of our business haven’t

managing finances virtually, and the

really changed, we were still serving

pace we’ve seen it change is incred-

our core markets and our customers

ible. Businesses still need to use

were still using the platform so we

payments services, and to manage

were able to show investors that we

payments internationally, so our sec-

were a resilient business. If you look

tor specifically actually looks very

at fintech investment at the moment,

healthy – we’ve actually seen a huge

deals are still happening, but there’s

rise in companies going digital and

definitely questions over what that

looking at new ways of making savings

recovery will look like.”

and improving efficiency.” To aid this, Butland adds, Airwallex waived FX fees for three months for its customers from March, which proved a timely intervention.

The economic landscape has undoubtedly proved challenging. However, despite this, Airwallex has continued its growth strategy including the closing of its largest investment round to f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

33

FINTECH

34

“ Fintech isn’t a global, one-size-fits-all industry – it’s all about tailoring your product and approach to the region you work in” — James Butland, VP of Global Banking, Airwallex

AUGUST 2020

35

For Airwallex, the investment will

collect funds locally in different coun-

predominantly be used for the organi-

tries. Before we launched this product,

sation’s expansion into Europe that

if you wanted to launch a new business

Butland will lead. “The challenge for

in the US, or any other country, you’d

Europe is really around how to sell

have to have a presence there. With us,

your product to individual countries

you can provide some simple details

and markets,” he explains. “We’re

and start a business on the same day,

really trying to focus on not just what

so we’re always looking at how we can

our customers need now, but what

improve the business and payments

they may need in the future. For exam-

landscape for people and improve

ple, one big focus is on the ability to

our offering around the world. Our f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

FINTECH

36

“ Everything is going to change, even beyond financial services to how we as a society consume digital technology more broadly” — James Butland, VP of Global Banking, Airwallex

AUGUST 2020

entire purpose is to help people to run a business online, seamlessly, from anywhere in the world. This absolutely fits into the new, post-COVID world and that increasing digitisation we discussed, so it’s exciting that we’re helping to build that new world.”

That new world, Butland believes, will see the continued growth of fintech within financial services. “The current situation is only going to accelerate the move to a digital world as all of the things that, traditionally, we did in person will be carried out online. The longer that fintech are around, particularly digital banks like Monzo or Revolut, the greater the trust will be in them from consumers and I can see, over the next five years or so, another wave of fintech banks and services, and insurtechs, coming into the market as that proposition strengthens. It’s only getting started now, but everything is going to change beyond financial services to how we as a society consume digital technology more broadly.”

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

37

BANKING

38

AUGUST 2020

BUILDING A RESILIENT, DIGITALLY-FOCUSED WORKFORCE IN BANKING WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

39

BANKING

Using insights from McKinsey and Deloitte, we explore the challenges of change in the digital, post-COVID-19 culture of banking

A

t the very beginning of 2020, no-one could have predicted the ways in

which the COVID-19 pandemic has initiated a global shift in societal,

economic and business norms. As old opera-

tional paradigms are discarded or reimag40

ined in order to adjust to the ‘new normal’, the banking sector has been presented with an opportunity to accelerate any nascent plans to reshape its workforce structure to a truly modern standard. Although the initial impact of the virus left no time for banks to brace for the immediate effects, current market conditions suggest that those who embrace the latitude and spirit of innovation now required to bring the situation under control will benefit greatly; those who do not are likely to reap failure.

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING In its article ‘Shaping and safeguarding the banking workforce after COVID-19’, McKinsey highlights that one of the primary AUGUST 2020

41

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

Driving insurers

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changes to organisational structures

ahead of the crisis,” said the report.

will have to be an ever-closer relation-

Accordingly, bank HR departments will

ship between Human Resources (HR)

be able to enact on-a-dime decisions

departments and Board Executives.

on everything from entire buildings

Since the unpredictability of the virus

to individual workers.

makes rigid decision-making ineffec-

This ultimately comes down to

tive at best and potentially hazardous

establishing a system which ensures a

at worst, banks will need to ensure

higher degree of employee wellbeing.

a harmonious collaboration between

Whatever initiatives promoting mental

the two for the foreseeable future.

and physical health existed previ-

“HR should be a strategic partner in

ously will need to be accelerated and

the ‘nerve centre’ crisis-response

intensified to ensure staff are coping

team (which nearly all financial institu-

under the pressure. In fact, McKinsey’s

tions established weeks ago) and also

report suggests that this might even

any ‘plan-ahead team’ working to get

be taken one step further, with some

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

43

BANKING

“banks [...] considering extending

working. Deloitte opines in its arti-

support beyond individual employ-

cle ‘Shaping the adaptive financial

ees to the full ecosystem, including

services organisation of the future’

employees’ families and contrac-

that digital transformation strategies,

tors in the workforce.” This kind of

many of which will have accelerated

decision-making, in combination with

because of COVID-19’s restrictions

greater transparency and taking

of physical workforces, will come to

a balanced perspective on remote

define the modern financial spaces’

vs office working, will ease anxiety

ways of working. Old roles will either

amongst staff, promote a positive

be augmented or replaced by new

and caring image for the bank itself

ones which require a more innovative

and contribute to the overall effort

cultural mindset and entrepreneurial

of restarting the economy.

spirit from each member. “They will

44

focus on higher-value-added work,

WAYS OF WORKING

augmented with intelligent technolo-

More than simply restructuring how

gies, often with a heavy emphasis on

banks monitor and look after their

skills and competencies such as data

staff, the fundamental day-to-day

science and the customer experience,”

operations of a financial institution

says Deloitte. Indeed, the financial

will need to adjust to a new way of

sector may be seeing an end to siloed job functions and making a bold move towards cross-team fluidity; projectbased organisational models will require workers to be multi-taskers for a number of goals relating to different skillsets. Banks at the forefront of this workplace revolution will need to consider how to practically reskill existing staff and reevaluate hiring policies for future ones.

AUGUST 2020

D I D YO U K N OW?

Of the financial services companies it surveyed, Deloitte found the following statistic with regard to workforce restructuring: • 3 5% have a strong positive opinion that an adaptive, multitalented workforce will ensure an organisation’s success.

• 84% of HR and business leaders believe that facilitating

performance across the workforce, including contractors, employees and third-parties, overall company performance can be improved.

• 60% of senior executives intend to make job opportunities more flexible, enable greater autonomy and facilitate greater collaboration between teams.

45

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

BANKING

46 work-from-home options, both onshore and globally, for less sensitive work.

Some are also introducing a variety McKinsey concurs with this prioritisa-

of workforce options, from staggered

tion on flexibility; the most successful

shifts to a different mix of full and part-

bank managers, it claims, will be those

time positions to work schedules set up

who maintain enough agility to react to

according to daily demand.�

changes in the financial or regulatory

Another factor in the reskilling process

situation with bold decisiveness. How

will also be determining how customer

workers actually conduct their daily busi-

expectations, requirements or priori-

ness (i.e. from home or in the office) will

ties have altered since the pandemic.

be important: both have their benefits

McKinsey suggests that microskilling,

and drawbacks, yet proper utilisation

upskilling, reskilling, reinforced account-

of both simultaneously will be crucial

ability and a particular emphasis on high-

to maintaining business continuity.

quality interactions will be important to

For instance, “many are leveraging

consider. Regarding the latter, the usage

AUGUST 2020

“ The banking sector has been presented with an opportunity to accelerate any nascent plans to reshape its workforce structure to a truly modern standard� be workplace targets, particularly the of video conferencing software and

time-scales for their accomplishment.

developing visual dashboards to help

Whilst monthly targets were once rea-

communicate a single source of truth

sonable, they may no longer reflect the

could help achieve this aim.

mercurial conditions and soon become

Style up as a sub headIn line with

obsolete due to revised objectives. A

a restructured workforce, manage-

better approach could be smaller short-

ment may find that it too needs to adjust

term goals which factor in the required

in order to fit the new normal. One of

level of corporate agility. In any eventu-

the first things that will require care-

ality, bank managers will need to estab-

ful reevaluation, posits McKinseys, will

lish clear communications across the

Understanding the economic shock of the Covid-19 crisis CLICK TO WATCH

|

4:17

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

47

BANKING

organisation, seek broader consensus prior to implementing new strategies and find appropriate ways to maintain company morale through well-placed incentives. “Leaders must play a central role in determining how successful their organisations are at adjusting to the immediate fallout of the COVID19 crisis. The uncertainty and longterm nature of the COVID-19 crisis will likely trigger further unanticipated workforce transformations that will reshape aspects of the future of 48

workforces with permanent effects,” McKinsey states.

A more fundamental cultural shift DELO I T T E Human ingenuity + technology = innovation checklist:

• Explore new paradigms for the existing workforce structure.

• Pay attention to tech developments and use what’s available to anticipate the future.

• Grant employees the latitude and responsibility to explore moving outside the boundaries of their role.

• Ensure that the active workplace strategy is properly aligned with the organisation’s overall vision.

• T reat reskilling and workforce development as a resource.

• Take the opportunity to realign corporate culture with new workforce strategies.

AUGUST 2020

•E stablish clear risk and governance boundaries to reinforce responsibility and regulatory adherence. resources, tools and insights.”

“ HR should be a strategic partner in the ‘nerve centre’ crisis-response team and also any ‘plan-ahead team’ working to get ahead of the crisis” — McKinsey

form within the next three years, this appears to be a trend which is gaining near-total acceptance in the sector. In fact, Deloitte’s survey found that 68%

might be the further integration of

of workers already believe that AI’s

human and machine capabilities,

widespread adoption will yield positive

for instance artificial intelligence

results. Therefore, it is all the more

(AI). Although sometimes intimidat-

crucial to establish what mundane

ing because of preconceived notions

tasks can be automated in order to

of ‘replacing’ workers, intelligent

allow the timely reskilling of work-

automation combined with human

ers in more qualitative roles. “HR [...]

creativity, innovation and empathy

should look at how it can harness

can yield significant levels of effi-

talent strategy, reskilling, leadership

ciency for financial service providers;

development and process redesign

Deloitte cites evidence that “AI has the

to help the organisation drive optimal

potential to boost labour productiv-

results from investment in AI,” Deloitte

ity by up to 40% by 2035”. With the

says. “A siloed approach to automa-

same survey also claiming that 76%

tion will impact the workforce strat-

of financial institutions are planning to

egy and fragment the organisation

introduce smart automation in some

and culture.” f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

49

INSURTECH

50

Inside the RegTech Revolution WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2020

HARRY MENE AR

51

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

INSURTECH

Powered by AI, Machine Learning and NLP, and driven by increasingly complex regulatory environments, the RegTech industry is rapidly reaching maturity

T

hroughout the global finance industry, enterprises are facing an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

Issues of compliance, risk manage-

ment and reporting have always been a chal-

lenge to overcome in this sector. However, the explosion of technology-driven financial 52

solutions in the last decade has created complications in this space faster than they could be solved.

The fintech revolution has accelerated the pace of change in the finance sector dramatically. The industry is becoming faster, more agile, and more efficient than ever; new services, increasing connectivity, and deeper penetration of digital solutions across every global market is disrupting verticals like never before. Given the speed of these changes, the global regulatory framework has also fractalized, increasing in complexity faster than enterprises can adapt.

Between 2008 and 2016, there was a 500% increase in regulatory changes in developed markets. Today, it’s estimated AUGUST 2020

53

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that a new regulatory update is made

the new wave of regulatory technol-

every seven minutes. In addition to the

ogy solutions is an essential step.

blinding new pace of the regulatory

Since 2015, the RegTech industry

environment, oversight organisations

has grown out of virtually nothing to

are increasingly clamping down on

become one of the most dynamic

infractions. During the 2019 fiscal

financial verticals in the world. By

year, the United States Securities and

2027, global RegTech spending is

Exchange Commission filed 2,754 new

expected to exceed US$21.7bn and,

enforcement actions (including 95

according to a 2018 report by Medici,

against public companies) – the high-

“an end-to-end RegTech implementa-

est number in over a decade. The risks

tion promises 634% in ROI realisable

of non-compliance are skyrocketing

over a three-year period.” In short, the

almost as fast as the difficulty curve

potential benefits are staggering. This

of remaining compliant.

month, FinTech explores the emerging

If enterprises are to avoid the

RegTech industry, and some of the

disruption that accidental regulatory

key companies driving this global

breaches can incur, then harnessing

financial evolution.

“ An end-to-end RegTech implementation promises 634% in ROI realisable over a three-year period” — Medici

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

55

INSURTECH

WHAT IS REGTECH?

as a half-measure that failed to hold

In much the same way that fintech

accountable the executives respon-

refers to the application of cutting

sible for the crash – nevertheless had

edge digital solutions to the finance

the effect of catalysing a much stricter

sector, RegTech is the result of

regulatory environment. Since 2008,

applying technologies like artificial

US banks have been fined more than

intelligence (AI), machine learning

$243bn for regulatory breaches, a

(ML), natural language processing

figure that amounts to a de facto 8%

(NLP) and blockchain to the regulatory

tax on every enterprise in the financial

sector in order to keep up with the

sector. In fact, at large financial institu-

accelerating challenges of regulatory

tions, the cost of managing these new

compliance.

regulatory and compliance-based

RegTech’s origins lie in the fallout 56

risks can amount to an average of

from the global financial crisis of 2008.

$10,000 per employee. In addition

The Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform

to Dodd Frank, regulatory structures

and Consumer Protection act ushered

like GDPR and FINRA have imposed

in an era of financial regulation that

further regulatory overlays on compa-

stood in stark contrast to the pre-

nies, resulting in more and more fines

crisis period of financial de-regulation.

for breaches. In order to combat those

The act – while criticised by some

losses, financial institutions began harnessing cutting edge technologies to navigate this new regulatory jungle.

In a report released earlier this year, global consultancy and accounting firm Deloitte asserted that, “RegTech promises to disrupt the regulatory landscape by providing technologically advanced solutions to the ever increasing demands of compliance within the financial industry.” RegTech

AUGUST 2020

57 companies – of which there are about

doubling in value over the course of

340 in operation today, according to

the year.

Deloitte – provide solutions to a vari-

The RegTech space is – much like

ety of problems. These can broadly

actual outer space – in a constant

be broken down into: regulatory

state of rapid expansion. New start-

reporting, risk management, identity

ups and larger scale enterprises are

management and control, compliance,

constantly entering the market as it

and transaction monitoring. RegTech’s

approaches maturity. “RegTech is no

use of AI and ML means that compa-

longer just for early adopters. We’re

nies using RegTech can increasingly

starting to see the actual, tangible ben-

automate processes like due diligence,

efit these technologies can provide,”

data management and analysis.

said Brian Clark, CEO of RegTech firm

According to a recent report, 2018

Ascent, earlier this year. Here, FinTech

was the largest ever year of invest-

takes a look at one of the leading

ment in RegTech, with deals attract-

companies from each of the industry’s

ing $4.5bn globally and more than

subcategories. f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

INSURTECH

58

REGULATORY REPORTING – SHIELD

specific needs of its customers’ com-

Based in Tel Aviv (and with offices in

pliance teams; a correlated sequential

London and Copenhagen), Shield was

view of trading events with fast, com-

founded as part of the 2018 RegTech

prehensive and interactive timeline

boom, and specialises in reducing

reporting in an intuitive front-end.

compliance risks through intelligent, automated reporting. The company’s compliance platform utilises NLP and AI to automate and orchestrate the complete communications compliance life cycle, mitigate risk and make surveillance efficient and ROI driven.

It launched version 2.0 of its platform in 2018, which built upon its significant offering to aggregate and analyse more data sources and deliver a new interrogation engine to meet the AUGUST 2020

"We believe that firms need to take a strategic approach in dealing with

“ Firms need to take a strategic approach in dealing with recordkeeping and best execution regulation in a holistic way” — Shiran Weitzman, Co-Founder and CEO, Shield

record-keeping and best execution

RISK MANAGEMENT – CORLYTICS

regulation in a holistic way…” com-

With firms around the world facing

mented Shiran Weitzman, Co-Founder

up to 250 regulatory alerts on a daily

and CEO of Shield. "[Shield V2.0] goes

basis, companies are in desperate

well beyond the current box-ticking

need of relevant data and insights.

most firms employ when archiving

“Demand for regulatory risk support

eComms data in discrete silos, which

is at an all time high,” said John Byrne,

presents a huge problem when trading

CEO of Corlytics in 2017. “The top 20

events need to be reconstructed."

banks paid out over $9 billion dollars

Shield was one of the winners of

in fines in 2016 alone. Regulation is not

Deloitte’s first RegTech Challenge.

slowing and is providing a constant challenge to financially regulated firms and for the regulators themselves.”

Established in 2013, Corlytics is a Dublin-based RegTech firm and

How to sign up to Corlytics RED CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:58

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

59

INSURTECH

“ RegTech promises to disrupt the regulatory landscape by providing technologically advanced solutions to the ever increasing demands of compliance within the financial industry”

including the top spot at the 2019 Deloitte RegTech Challenge. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Corlytics has released Corlytics RED, an open access regulatory monitoring solution to allow companies to keep pace with evolving regulations relating to the crisis.

— Deloitte 60

ligence. The company’s service uses

IDENTITY MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL – VADIS TECHNOLOGIES

powerful data analytics to identify

In a world where partner ecosys-

high priority regulatory themes and

tems are becoming increasingly

taxonomy to extract relevant intel-

interconnected, and XaaS business

ligence to rate the risk of regulatory

models make different verticals even

concerns. The company’s analytics

more intertwined, access to valu-

are powered by NLP and AI-based

able, trustworthy data is an essential

text analysis technology, which

component of risk management.

allows it to assemble disparate

Vadis Technologies is one of the

regulatory information into defined

early pioneers of big data analytics,

categories using 160 different data

and business intelligence. Founded

points that are then mapped to

in 2003, the Brussels-based firm

their sources.

offers its clients a data-as-a-service

a world leader in regulatory risk intel-

As of 2020, Corlytics has raised

approach, using human analysts and

more than $27mn in funding and

AI to harvest and enrich complex

received a number of awards,

business data on more than 300mn

AUGUST 2020

Vadis Technologies Purpose CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:00

61 companies to offer risk scoring and 360° third party monitoring.

With headquarters in San Francisco and Cambridge, England, Darktrace is one of the world’s leading AI companies, and the creator of its proprietary Autonomous Response Technology. Its AI is modeled on the human immune system and won first

COMPLIANCE – DARKTRACE

place at the 2019 Fortress Cyber

Compliance is by far the largest

Security Awards. Compliance with

subcategory of RegTech companies,

regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and

with about three times as many as

the DFS Cyber Security Regulations

any other field. This comes as no

adds another dimension to the exten-

surprise, since compliance is the very

sive list of challenges facing security

basic core competency of any regu-

teams. Thanks to its ability to identify

latory enterprise.

and contain threats in seconds, aid f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

INSURTECH

62

STAT I ST I CS

● The cost of compliance across all banks from 2014 to 2016 averaged approximately 7.0% of their noninterest expenses ● I n the first three quarters of 2019, investment in the RegTech space grew by 103%

AUGUST 2020

●R egTech is on the verge of separating from FinTech and becoming its own industry ● RegTech Market size in 2019: $5.3bn ● RegTech Market CAGR: 19.5%

“ RegTech is no longer just for early adopters.

We’re starting to see the actual, tangible benefit these technologies can provide” — Brian Clark, CEO, Ascent

its customers a SaaS platform that monitors transactions and financial behaviour to better detect fraud,

in the investigation of attacks, and pro-

money laundering and other finan-

vide complete visibility of digital activity

cial crimes.

across the business, Darktrace’s AI

In March of this year, IdentityMind

enables organisations across all sec-

was acquired by identity verification

tors to comply with industry-specific

solutions provider Acuant. "As digital

and international regulations – without

transactions continue to see mas-

purchasing additional tools.

sive growth, understanding who's on the other end of the transaction is key to reducing fraud, managing risk and complying with regulations," said Trace Fooshee, Senior Analyst with Aite Group. "This evolution of

TRANSACTION MONITORING – IDENTITYMIND

the Acuant Trusted Identity Platform

Fintech compliance regulation

in the dynamic market for identity

frameworks like Know Your Customer

orchestration platforms."

with IdentityMind positions them well

(KYC) have dramatically increased the onus placed on companies to pursue greater transparency within both their operations and customer bases. Founded in 2013, Palo Altobased startup IdentityMind offers f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

63

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

64

AUGUST 2020

VR, AR AND THE FUTURE OF PAYMENTS WRITTEN BY

HARRY MENE AR

65

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

FinTech Magazine explores the challenges, trends and companies dominating VR and AR adoption in the payments industry

A

longside flying Deloreans and robot butlers on roller skates, few things evoke a sense of the futuristic more

than virtual reality (VR).

Artists, authors and philosophers have been grappling with the themes of “unreal worlds”

66

that we might inhabit, mostly indistinguishable from our own, for millennia: just look at the allegory of Plato’s Cave – its inhabitants living their whole lives convinced the shadows they see encompass the entirety of their reality. In the last century, science fiction has often speculated on the role that virtual realities might play in our societies, from Laurence Manning’s 1933 serial The Man Who Awoke all the way up to probably our biggest modern touchstone for VR: The Matrix. Obviously, in much the same way that robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) haven’t led to our destruction by terminators and replicants, and experiments with gene editing haven’t led to any dinosaur outbreaks (that we know of), VR seems equally unlikely to trap us all in pixelated prisons any time soon.

AUGUST 2020

67

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

Establish trust remotely.

Jumio uses informed AI to deliver identity verification as it should be.

Streamline eKYC Catch more fraud Convert customers faster

jumio.com

69

As a technology, VR – and with

case you needed a more familiar

it augmented reality (AR) – is still in

reference point). By 2024, that fig-

its relative infancy. It’s seen widest

ure is predicted to increase to more

adoption in the gaming and electronic

than $44.7bn (placing it somewhere

entertainment verticals, but industries

between Paraguay and Cameroon).

around the world are quickly catching

That’s a CAGR of more than 33%:

on to the fact that bringing customers

a staggering figure in an industry of

and employees into virtual spaces

that size. In short, VR and AR are set

is poised to have a profound impact

to be economically disruptive trends

on the way they work, play and spend

on par with Blockchain and potentially

their money.

even AI adoption.

In 2018, the VR market was worth

Although VR and AR are still in their

about US$7.9bn (which is roughly

relatively early stages, the technolo-

equal to the GDP of Tajikistan, in

gies’ applications are already gaining f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

“ In the 2020s, we will get breakthrough AR glasses that will redefine our relationship with technology” — Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook traction in the fintech payments space.

70

From more immersive forms of ecommerce to in-store experiences, the disruptive potential is significant.

However, there are also signs that the

more immersive experience, the

integration of payments into VR and

technology also foreshadows a trend

AR experiences has the potential to

towards increased immersion in the

encounter similar problems to other

payments space. In this age of instant

experiential technologies like 3D films.

gratification, the ability to integrate the

Overcoming these challenges will

payment process into the customer

shape the relationship between fin-

experience as unobtrusively as pos-

tech payments and VR over the com-

sible is a huge potential driver of value.

ing decade.

In January, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerburg made a post exploring his

THE PLATFORM OF THE FUTURE

predictions for technology throughout

In much the same way that VR is

the coming decade. He noted that

being harnessed by the gaming and

“The ability to be ‘present’ anywhere”

entertainment markets to create

has the potential to massively impact

AUGUST 2020

71

the way we work and solve societal

he notes. “While I expect phones

issues. It’s not like he doesn’t have skin

to still be our primary devices

in the game, of course, as Facebook

through most of this decade, at

purchased VR trailblazer Oculus in

some point in the 2020s, we will get

2014 for $2bn. Zuckerburg clearly

breakthrough AR glasses that will

sees VR and AR as the next phase of

redefine our relationship with tech-

our interaction with the digital world.

nology”. As ecommerce continues

“The technology platform of the 2010s

to grow, and the fintech industry

was the mobile phone. The platform of

continues to digitalise the finance

the 2000s before that was about the

sector with unprecedented speed

web, and the 1990s was the desktop

and scale, the potential for VR and

computer. Each computing platform

AR to shape the way we interact

becomes more ubiquitously acces-

with the payments process becomes

sible and natural for us to interact with,”

even clearer. f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

Mastercard and Swarovski launch virtual reality shopping experience CLICK TO WATCH

|

0:57

72

THE VIRTUAL SHOWROOM

to wall art. The app then presented

One of the biggest applications of VR

users with information on the items

to ecommerce and retail to take off

and allowed them to make purchases

so far has been the creation of virtual

then and there using Mastercard’s

showrooms. Back in 2017, Mastercard,

MasterPay platform. “This partnership

immersive experience startup YouVisit,

allows consumers a fully immersive

and luxury brand Swarovski collaborated

shopping opportunity to interact with

on a virtual shopping app which allowed

the product and then purchase seam-

customers to virtually explore a stylish

lessly within the experience,” Nadja

model home filled with Swarovski’s

Swarovski, Member of the Executive

decor. Using a VR headset (optionally

Board of Swarovski Crystal, commented.

encrusted with Swarovski diamonds),

“The cutting-edge VR technology allows

customers could navigate from room

consumers to fully realize scale and

to room and, with a gesture, highlight

engage more deeply with design details

everything from decorative candlesticks

before making a purchase.”

AUGUST 2020

In the same year, Visa also launched

frontier of digital commerce," said

one of the first virtual shopping envi-

Sam Shrauger, SVP of Digital Products

ronments, complete with integrated

at Visa. Users could use the app to

payments. Launched at Money 20/20

browse products from LA-based

in Copenhagen, PayScout and Visa’s

clothing retailer Body Language

VR-powered app marked the first

Sportswear, browsing, rotating and

time that customers could shop and

purchasing the items without leav-

purchase physical products within

ing the app. These applications are

an immersive VR experience — and

gaining traction around the world, as

have those products delivered to their

customers flock to features like prod-

homes. "Virtual reality is already one

uct visualisation, virtual fitting rooms,

of the best ways to bring unique and

access to product information and

immersive experiences to life, and

virtual malls.

we've now unlocked VR as the next

While 2016 and 2017 saw a veritable explosion of virtual showrooms

“ Cutting-edge VR technology allows consumers to fully realise scale and engage more deeply with design details before making a purchase

backed by big financials and tech firms, the trend has died down a little in the following years. If you’re looking for an analogy, think about 3D films.

Every few decades (most notably in the 1950s and the 1980s, and then

— Nadja Swarovski, Executive Board Member, Swarovski Crystal f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

73

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

T H E VI RT UAL M ALL

74

Take a one-off VR project like the Mastercard-Swarovski showroom, add scale, and you get the virtual mall: a large, completely digital, environment where customers can browse multiple vendors and explore different goods in the same way they would in a physical retail space. The first virtual mall debuted in Korea in 2017.

Customers in VR headsets could browse a space containing goods from Korean retailers like Lotte Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, E-Mart, LG Electronics, and Lotte Hi-Mart.

While revolutionary, the experience was more of a marketing stunt for a tech event than a lasting establishment.

One of the world’s biggest virtual

AUGUST 2020

malls is operated by Chinese retailer K11, which has stepped up its efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. K11 lets visitors virtually visit 46 brand stores, browse goods along aisles as they would in the actual stores, and then purchase those items for delivery. The mall launched in beta this February and has already reportedly seen 200,000 visitors.

While VR shopping malls haven’t exactly blown brick and mortar retail (or traditional online shopping) out of the water in the last few years, the enforced isolation of the pandemic, along with increasingly seamless payment integrations, has the potential to tip the scales.

again in the 2010s following the suc-

a critical lesson for companies looking

cess of James Cameron’s Avatar) the

to explore VR applications in their ecom-

technology develops to a new level

merce offerings. Experiences need to

of sophistication and, as a result, is

achieve goals of seamless integration

pushed hard at audiences for several

and ease of access if the market wants

years. So far, the response from audi-

to avoid the kind of 30 year hibernations

ences with regard to 3D films is that

that have plagued 3D cinema.

the added immersion of a protruding

However, there is one major factor

spear, or the realistic contouring of

impacting the world right now that could

Gerard Butler’s abs, is a cheap gimmick

spell good news for VR and AR adoption.

at premium prices.

This isn’t to say that VR and AR in

THE COVID FACTOR

retail is a cheap gimmick by any means.

At a time when customers’ access to

However, audience fatigue over paying

physical retail locations is increasingly

more for a less refined experience is

restricted by factors like COVID-19,

Obsess – virtual stores for the latest trends CLICK TO WATCH

|

1:41

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75

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

“ The only thing missing for their widespread adoption was an impetus to meet and shop in virtual worlds. That impetus has come with the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown” 76

— Nikhil Joshi, Co-founder, Digital Jalebi the ability for VR to give consumers

these immersive platforms. These tech-

access to the facsimile of physical

nologies are affordable and readily avail-

spaces has huge potential for brands

able. Even after the lockdown ends,

looking to curate and present novel

the behavioural change it instigated will

experiences. “The COVID-19 pandemic

last considerably longer if not forever.”

has turned the world upside down. Yet

Joshi believes that this is the right

the virus has initiated perhaps the first

moment to scale AR and VR usage

stage of a good behavioural change.

dramatically. “AR, VR, and mixed reality

The lockdown in place today is unprec-

aren’t science fiction; they are fully devel-

edented, yet its timing is fortuitous,”

oped technologies that are as reliable as

commented Nikhil Joshi, Co-founder at

laptops and smartphones. The only thing

AR/VR specialists, Digital Jalebi. “Work

missing for their widespread adoption

in technologies like AR/VR/MR allows

was an impetus to meet and shop in vir-

people to shop, talk, and socialize using

tual worlds. That impetus has come with

AUGUST 2020

77

the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing

as the car or the cell phone. However,

lockdown.” However, if VR and AR are

examples of companies actually pushing

going to operate as successful stand-ins

AR and VR together with payments and

for physical experiences – and compete

towards the mainstream seem to be get-

with traditional shopping experiences –

ting rarer. Mastercard is using VR and AR

then the integration of payments into the

as more of an educational tool for their

process is going to be essential.

customers to learn about its other services. The VR retail launch that received

SOLVING THE VR PAYMENTS PARADOX

the most attention in the last year is yet

Going into the future, a baffling contra-

another high-end fashion stunt. The

diction still exists: VR and AR are unques-

potential is undeniably there, but the

tionably on the rise, and all predictions

creation of things like showrooms and

point towards the technology becoming

online shopping malls – and their subse-

as important a part of our daily lives

quent lacklustre impact on ecommerce f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

PAY M E N T S O L U T I O N S

“ Virtual reality is already one of the best ways to bring unique and immersive experiences to life and we've now unlocked VR as the next frontier of digital commerce” — Sam Shrauger, SVP, Digital Products, Visa

78

AUGUST 2020

trends – suggests a mentality of trying to make the horse drive the cart. Creating VR applications to drive payment functions doesn’t resonate with customers.

There’s another way, however, which has more potential of normalising VR and AR payments: applying payments to VR and AR experiences that already exist. As mentioned earlier, the earliest adopters and biggest sources of revenue for VR technology have been in the gaming and entertainment space.

Consider again the size of the VR market in 2019: $7.9bn, according to Markets and Markets (about 1.01 Tajikistans per fiscal year in case you were struggling).

According Fortune Business Insights, in 2019, the VR in Gaming market accounted for just over $5.1bn. Even accounting for discrepancies between sources, that’s a huge portion of the existing VR market. The global video game industry generates more than $120bn every year (which puts us in Kuwait territory). A potential key to successfully growing the payments space using VR and AR is to target applications in the industry that most widely uses it: electronic entertainment.

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

79

T O P 10

80

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81

Women in FinTech In no particular order, FinTech Magazine explores the careers of 10 highly influential women in the finance sector WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

T O P 10

Capital Conversation Episode 58: Starling Bank CEO and founder Anne Boden CLICK TO WATCH

82

10

|

22:36

Anne Boden

Hailing from Swansea, Anne Boden is the founder of Starling Bank, one of the foremost digital banks in the world and a genuine fintech innovator. Following the completion of a degree in Chemistry and Computer Science, Boden began her career in finance with positions at Lloyds, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS. Her efforts in digital banking started in 2014 with the creation of ‘Possible Financial Services’, which was subsequently rebranded to the familiar Starling Bank in 2016. That same year, the company gained its UK banking license. Now regarded by some as a revolutionary breakthrough in online banking services, Boden continues to hold a 25% share in the company and received an MBE for her services to fintech in 2019.

CEO and Founder

Starling Bank

Position

Company

AUGUST 2020

President Position

Money20/20 Company

09

83

Tracey Davies

President of Money20/20, one of the world’s leading fintech events, Davies holds over 25 years of experience across the media, digital and event management sectors. Speaking with her in December 2019 at Money20/20’s Las Vegas event, Davies gave us an insight into how financial services are changing and the work she’s doing to encourage it: “There’s been a definite shift over the past few years that has seen the sector move away from ‘shiny and new’ technology – which, in this industry, we all love – to thinking about fintech for social good and how technology and financial services can impact lives for the better,” Davies explained. Further to this point, she is also the founder of Rise Up, an accelerator programme aimed at aspiring women who want a career in finance. f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

Better Business Decisions FICO powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 2.6 billion payment cards from fraud, to helping people get credit, to ensuring that millions of airplanes and rental cars are in the right place at the right time.

LEARN MORE

Š 2019 Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved.

CONTACT US

08

Kahina Van Dyke

An established leader in the fintech sector, Kahina Van Dyke has held positions at some of the most prestigious financial services companies around - Ripple, Mastercard and Citi - as well as other corporate luminaries like Facebook and Time Inc. Currently working at Standard Chartered, Van Dyke said, upon her appointment, “It is a privilege to be joining [...] a rich legacy and a truly unique global footprint. We will deepen and expand our leverage of digital technology and data analytics to deliver real economic impact to clients and communities around the world.” Amongst her accolades are: being ranked amongst the ‘Top 25 Women in Financial Technology’ and the ‘Blockchain 100’.

Disruptive forces in financial technology CLICK TO WATCH

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Global Head Digital Channels & Data Analytics Position

Standard Chartered Company f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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T O P 10

Head of Emerging Fintech Position

VISA Company

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07

Carla Ghosn

The Head of Emerging Fintech at Visa since 2015, Carla Ghosn has a skillset which combines IT, sales and finance across several companies, including CipherCloud and Salesforce. Earning a BSc from Southern Methodist University in Computer Engineering and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, Ghosn’s position as a leader in fintech is the result of years of hard work, talent and determination. “I have a passion for fintech, payments, and innovation. I enjoy leading strategic initiatives, partner engagement, transforming business models and I have a strong interest in advising startups and mentorship,” she says on her LinkedIn.

AUGUST 2020

Citi: Women in Technology: Carey Kolaja, Citi Fintech CLICK TO WATCH

06

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4:38

President & COO

Carey Kolaja

Position

Au10TIX Company

A recent interviewee of our new FinTech Magazine podcast, Carey O’Connor Kolaja believes that great leadership in the modern market can be summed up as being about “vision, ambition, mobilisation and motivation”. Truly influential within fintech and possessing over 25 years of experience, including leadership roles at Fortune 500 entities, she has been instrumental in the adoption of cutting-edge tech through commercial strategies to meet international and domestic market needs.

Educated at Indiana University Bloomington and Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Kolaja enjoyed a 12-year tenure at PayPal (rising to VP of Global Consumer Products) before leaving in 2015 to work at Citi as Global Chief Product Officer, eventually leaving that role in 2019 to start work at ID authentication software company Au10TIX. f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

87

From Inspiration

to Innovation

To know more, visit us at www.capgemini.com.au/insurance or email us at capgemini.marketing.au@capgemini.com

05

Kathryn Petralia

An American entrepreneur of distinction, Kathryn Petralia was ranked 98th by Forbes in its 2017 ‘Most Powerful Women in the World’ list.

The Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Kabbage in 2008, Petralia’s career has been shaped by technology, payments and e-commerce. Earning a BA degree in English Literature from Furman University (1986-1992), she became involved in the alternative lending market in the late 90s and launched/co-launched several startups, including Worthknowing.com which was eventually sold to CompuCredit 89

and TransUnion.

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Position

Kabbage Company

By Web Summit - SD5_7895, CC BY 2.0 f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

T O P 10

Co-Founder Position

Nubank Company

90

04

Cristina Junqueira

One of the co-founders of Nubank, the largest fintech currently operating in South America with over 20 million customers, Cristina Junqueira has proven her expertise in finding the best ways to combine finance and technology. Holding a BSc and MSc from the University of Sao Paulo (2000 to 2006) and an MBA from Northwestern University (2007 to 2008), Junqueira developed her skills at high-profile companies such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Boston Consulting Group and ItaĂş Unibanco before co-launching Nubank in 2013.

AUGUST 2020

Senator Position

World Business Angels Investment Forum Company

91

03

Anna Maj

A bona fide fintech leader, Anna Maj has spent her career teaching others how to get the most from digital/online financial services, as well as remaining a staunch advocate for inclusion, diversity and fairness within the sector. With a degree in Cultural Anthropology, an MBA and a PhD in Finance and Financial Management Services, the full list of Maj’s achievements can be difficult to sum up succinctly. Suffice it to say that she has authored two books (The PAYTECH Book and The AI Book), been recognised as one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Financial Technology, has gathered over 20 years of banking and payments experience and has held leadership positions at Citibank, PwC, PayTel, mBank and more. f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

E M E A | A P A C | | APAC N O R T H | A EMEA MERICA AMERICAS FIND OUT MORE

FIND OUT MORE

T O P 10

What’s Your Rate? | Marcus by Goldman Sachs® CLICK TO WATCH

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AUGUST 2020

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02

Sarrah Cherhabil Following the completion of her BEng degree in Electronic Engineering at the University of Central Lancashire, Sarrah Cherhabil has forged an enviable career which includes positions at some of the biggest names in finance or tech. Starting as an intern at IBM followed by an Analyst role at Atos and an Associate post at JP Morgan Chase, Cherhabil is now Vice President of Marcus, a subdivision of Goldman Sachs that offers customers straightforward savings accounts, best-in-class customer service and convenient digital solutions. With so much accomplished in such a short amount of time, Cherhabil is sure to be a key player in the future fintech sector.

VP at Marcus Position

Goldman Sach Company

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

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T O P 10

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AUGUST 2020

Judith Erwin

01

Judith Erwin exemplifies the innovative spirit which makes the fintech sector so exciting. Currently the CEO of Grasshopper, the US’ first digital commercial bank, her latest post is the most recent in a series of endeavours revolving around tech-focused financial services.

Educated at Oregon State University and with more than 30 years of experience in commercial banking, Erwin was a founder of Square 1 Bank, a venture banking enterprise started in 2005 and eventually sold to Pacific Western Bank in 2015. Showing clear enthusiasm and dedication to fintech, she then became the Chief Operating Officer at New York-based company PEX for a short time, before finally settling into her current role in late 2016.

CEO Position

Grasshopper Company

f i nte c hma ga z i n e. com

97

Transforming banking by building on the cloud WRITTEN BY

WILLIAM SMITH 98

AUGUST 2020

PRODUCED BY

JUSTIN BRAND

99

f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

ATOM BANK

Rana Bhattacharya, CTO, Atom bank, guides us through the benefits of being a challenger, the response to COVID-19 and the company’s upcoming launch of its new banking platform

L

aunched in 2016, Atom bank was the first UK bank built exclusively for mobile, with the intention of never hav-

ing any physical branches. Its approach has won it significant plaudits, including a position in 100

Tech Nation’s Future Fifty, alongside being the number one rated UK bank on consumer review site Trustpilot.

The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Rana Bhattacharya, is clear that part of the reason for its success is its smaller team and challenger culture. “We get a lot done with not a lot of people,” he says. “There’s a level of bureaucracy that’s removed, meaning you can make decisions quickly. And by virtue of that, small teams can accomplish brilliant outcomes and create changes and deploy them to production on the same day. As a digital native you have to embrace change. Whereas in some of the traditional banks, with the governance models and the people that have been there for a long time, it’s much harder for change to happen.”

AUGUST 2020

101

Rana Bhattacharya, CTO, Atom bank f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

ATOM BANK

“ Everyone just got on with it and made it work, and you can only do that if you already have the capability and the culture to make those things happen” — Rana Bhattacharya, CTO, Atom bank 102

Atom launched with marketleading Fixed Saver accounts and secured business lending for SMEs. It followed with mortgages in December 2016 and since then has taken £1.8bn in deposits and lent over £2.4bn to small businesses and homeowners. “We exist to create better outcomes for our customers,” says Bhattacharya. “We’re leveraging technologies to automate more and provide a first-class service to them. And by not having the baggage that some of the more traditional

AUGUST 2020

Welcome to Atom bank CLICK TO WATCH

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0:10

103 banks have, we can create material

and put Atom and our customers

savings to pass on to our customers.”

in control. For a bank that’s building

The bank is undergoing a techno-

itself for long-term sustainability

logical transformation, launching a

and delivering true customer value,

brand new banking platform more

investment in the right technology

in step with how the market has

is key.”

developed. “Cloud hosting of banking

“We’re heavily using DevOps, so

software wasn’t an option when Atom

IT4IT,” he says. “Historically if you

was authorised,” says Bhattacharya.

imagine an on-premise environment,

“As a business committed to taking

especially with a third party model, it

advantage of the very best systems to

can take up to 42 weeks, if you’re lucky,

run our bank, and with investors who

to commission a new instance. Now, on

are right behind our commitment to

the cloud using DevOps, we can stand

technology, we are adopting systems

up an instance of the bank on the cloud

that are built specifically for the cloud

in under a week. That gives you a lot f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

“Working with Thought Machine has been revolutionary. The Vault platform is quick and agile.

Its unique features enable us to bring new experiences to banking with velocity, all the while keeping quality high and costs low.�

Rana Bhattacharya, CTO Atom bank

Request a demo

Powering Atom bank to reinvent banking

The revolutionary power of the cloud The world’s largest technology brands - Netflix, Spotify, Google - all operate exclusively on the cloud. Yet it’s a universal truth that the banking industry has been held back by legacy technology stifling innovation, and at huge costs. While banks accept that a move towards modern, cloud native systems is necessary, fullscale banking transformation can be daunting. Meanwhile, the next wave of challenger banks are able to start afresh and build their bank in the cloud.

The benefits of a Vault engine At Thought Machine, we created a product to power any bank. Our product is Vault, a cloud native, core banking engine. Vault was built by former senior Google engineers, and can be configured to run any type of bank and launch any type of product. Vault’s unique features enable banks to transmit their vision into the hands of the customers, while taking full advantage of the cloud.

Innovation Vault’s hyper-configurable platform enables banks to reinvent customer experience as new features and interfaces can be designed and rolled out quickly and with more agility. Banks powered by Vault are ‘always up’, even during product launches.

Security Vault’s technology is designed to provide security through all levels of the infrastructure.

If a server in the cloud malfunctions, another server is spun up to absorb the functions, ensuring that the bank doesn’t have to go offline. Meanwhile, data is encrypted creating superior analytics as banks can capture, store and view data to identify unusual behaviour.

Automation Vault operates a highly automated DevOps environment – nearly everything traditionally done with manual intervention in a traditional data centre can be performed automatically.

This means banks can regain control of their workflows, while keeping costs low.

Partnering with Atom bank Atom bank chose Vault to power its bank as they wanted a platform that would enable them to keep innovating at pace, just as they did when they brought biometrics to UK banking. Since partnering with Thought Machine last year, Atom bank has been leveraging Vault’s cuttingedge technology to streamline their workflows and bring new products to market with speed.

Our teams will be working together to launch products designed with unique features to bring unseen experiences to the banking industry.

ATOM BANK

106

of capability by virtue of not being

offer us a managed service that we’ll

hamstrung by the number of environ-

be plugging into, but everything that

ments. The cost model is different

we manage and change ourselves

because effectively you can spin

will be hosted on the cloud. We’re

up an environment and once you’ve

effectively building a state-of-the-art

used it, you can kill it (treating envi-

bank hosted on Google Cloud.”

ronments as cattle, versus pets).”

The Atom banking machine is what

The company is also leveraging emerging technologies for such

Bhattacharya calls the new cloud-

things as enterprise decision-mak-

based infrastructure and associated

ing, including pricing and financial

software components. “The majority

forecasting. “We’ve built an in-house

of the estate is being moved onto

machine learning model to inject

Google Cloud Platform. We’ll still

some insights into that. From an

have a number of third parties who

operations perspective, we use

AUGUST 2020

machine learning to support activi-

traffic by default alongside not trust-

ties like credit risk scoring, instant

ing the device. We always look to

pricing quotes for business banking,

leverage a zero-trust model, which is

and anti money-laundering identifi-

important as a bank,” Bhattacharya

cation and prevention.”

reiterates. “We have a continuous

For a bank, security is paramount,

security testing cycle using third

and Atom’s cybersecurity protection is

parties to give us more information

comprehensive. It utilises encryption,

about security threats from their

access control, vulnerability manage-

perspectives. Our security is strict,

ment, firewalling, DDoS scrubbing

it’s very tight and we clearly classify

amongst other security controls to

data as part of managing it, as well

protect its customers’ data.

as from a security perspective.”

“We look at the full stack in terms of protection the app, has encrypted

The technology Atom uses is in service of providing a better

E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :

Rana Bhattacharya Title: Chief Technology Officer Company: Atom bank Industry: Financial Services Location: Durham Recognised by Computing as one of the top 250 IT Leaders in 2019, and a member of the Executive Committee at Atom since April 2017, responsible for IT, Change and Programme Management. Rana has experience in large-scale systems development and delivery success for major players in the finance sector. Before joining Atom, Rana held roles such as Chief Architect at Nationwide Building Society and Senior Manager for Architecture and Delivery at Accenture. f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

107

How does Atom bank make digital identity journeys fast, safe, and seamless?

Since 2014, Daon has partnered with Atom in pioneering biometric banking in the UK, leading the way as the first app-only bank and the first to use face and voice biometrics for account login. With best-in-class biometrics and biometric liveness through Daon’s IdentityX® platform at its core, Atom delivers a fast, safe, and seamless experience to all users, everywhere, independent of their personal device’s features or limitations. From account creation to authentication, customers are in control of their own digital identity journeys with the least friction and the most security. It’s no wonder Atom is the UK’s most trusted bank according to Trustpilot.

1 billion+ 100 million+ 160+ 150+ 100+ 20+

identities we’ve been chosen to secure authentications performed each day groundbreaking biometric technology patents major financial institutions using our technology biometric algorithms we’ve road tested from 75+ vendors years as the most trusted name in biometric identity assurance

The World’s Most Trusted Identity Journeys • www.daon.com

“ I’m proud of Atom and proud of my team to have been able to get us to where we are now” — Rana Bhattacharya, CTO, Atom bank

away from using Unity for our mobile apps, which is more of a gaming platform, rebuilding it on native technology, running faster with a new UX. And that’s been quite well received.

There’s still some improvements to make, but on iOS, we now have an app store rating of 4.6.”

Google is a significant partner for Atom, with their relationship serving as a model for how Bhattacharya

customer experience, both directly

approaches suppliers and partners.

and indirectly. “We’re transform-

“Google not only provides us with

ing, not just from a technology

infrastructure but elements of data

perspective, but also by taking on

and other capabili-

more internal accountability,” says

ties. For us, it was

Bhattacharya. “We’re insourcing

quite an impor-

more, meaning that Atom can make

tant decision to

key changes across its IT estate

choose a cloud

without external resource require-

vendor.

ment enabling a greater pace of change. And this is the power behind Atom’s banking machine which fuses technology, people as well as data to provide benefits to our customers.”

Other customer-centric achievements include the resolution of 97% of support tickets within SLA, and the improvement of its apps. “In December of last year, we moved f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

109

ATOM BANK

110

AUGUST 2020

As we moved to the cloud, we wanted a partner, not a supplier, someone to engage with us as an entity, work with and help us. We felt having a partner - a real partner - was 50% of the transformation, someone on your side to help you succeed. And that’s what we found in Google.” Atom has found other partners to boost capability in other areas, as Bhattacharya explains: “Thought Machine has a pivotal role to play within our transformation. We’re looking to run Thought Machine as a cloud native, smart contractbased core banking platform on Google. What that will allow us to do is basically define any type of product we could imagine - and do this in house. As part of our launch in 2016, we partnered with DAON and pioneered the use of biometrics in the UK banking industry and led the way with face and voice biometrics as core credentials to log-in to your bank. As a team we continue to make improvements because we’re committed to exceptional customer experiences.” f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

111

ATOM BANK

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is putting a strain on business worldwide, uprooting long-established ways of doing business.

Bhattacharya emphasises the need for understanding during these difficult times, saying: “You have to put more emphasis on bilateral and team communications, as well as wellness. In terms of my team and colleagues, the current pandemic has brought a different perspective on life and the need to ensure, yes 112

you get the work done, but also that people are well and healthy both physically and mentally.”

“ By not having the baggage that some of the more traditional banks have, we can create some material savings to pass on to our customers” — Rana Bhattacharya, CTO, Atom bank

Bhattacharya credits the company’s resilience to its employees.

“I think it’s a testament to the folks in our team. We implemented home working very rapidly - before the official lockdown came into place.

In terms of our security and the networks team, within a two to three week period, they got all of our employees working from home successfully, including the contact centre. I don’t think we would be able to support and service our

AUGUST 2020

113

customers the way we have been

with a small number of people and

able to, if we hadn’t had that inherent

a comparatively small budget is sig-

capability in the bank. Everyone just

nificant. I’m proud of Atom and proud

got on with it and made it work, and

of my team to have been able to get

you can only do that if you already

us to where we are now, closing off a

have the capability and the culture to

few items to get us ready to go live.”

make those things happen.”

As Atom comes close to going live with its Banking Machine, Bhattacharya is clear that it has been down to the dedication of his team in challenging and uncertain circumstances. “What we’ve done f i nt e c hma ga z in e. com

114

DHL EXPRESS: DRIVING FINTECH INNOVATION IN AFRICA AUGUST 2020

115

WRITTEN BY

GEORGIA WILSON PRODUCED BY

JUSTIN BRAND

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

DHL EXPRESS SOUTH AFRICA

BUSINESS CHIEF EMEA/FINTECH MAGAZINE LOOKS AT THE FINTECH LANDSCAPE IN SOUTH AFRICA AND HOW DHL IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE INDUSTRY’S INNOVATION ACROSS THE AFRICAN CONTINENT THE HISTORY OF DHL Founded in 1969, by Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom and Robert Lynn, DHL began operating one of the first international door-to-door express delivery services, not long after Neil Armstrong became 116

the first man to step on the moon. The three men’s business idea, ‘altered the global economy’, forming ‘the cornerstone for global operating enterprises’. The founding of DHL represented the creation of the international air express service industry, which rapidly transported documents and cargo papers by plane. In 2002, DHL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post.

STRATEGY 2025: DELIVERING EXCELLENCE IN A DIGITAL WORLD For many years, DHL has been successful in deploying and achieving its business strategies.

Following the end of its ‘Strategy 2020’, the company has established its latest iteration – Strategy 2025: deliver excellence in a digital world.

AUGUST 2020

117

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

DHL EXPRESS SOUTH AFRICA

“ WE NEED NOT REINVENT OURSELVES, WE WILL DIGITALISE OURSELVES” — Frank Appel, CEO, Deutsche Post DHL Group

to embrace the fast-paced world of changing technologies. While DHL continues to innovate within the logistics, supply chain and manufacturing sectors, one area that DHL is delving into is the fintech industry.

With many large organisations in South Africa focused on digitalisation as a strategic goal to ensure sustainable and efficient businesses for the future, DHL is committed to continuous improvements. To navigate the fintech industry in South Africa, organ-

118

“Deutsche Post DHL Group has

isations must therefore understand

never been in better shape. We are

the large focus on digitalisation and

convinced that future growth will come

automation to drive efficiency, accu-

from a consistent focus on our profit-

racy, quality and compliance within

able core logistics businesses – and

the industry.

digitalisation will become the greatest lever,” said Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL Group, “we need not reinvent ourselves. We will digitalise ourselves.”

Accompanying this innovative mindset, are DHL’s innovation centers in Germany, Singapore and America.

At these centres, the company is continuously focused on exploring new concepts, technologies and methodologies in order to allow countries AUGUST 2020

DHL e-commerce: Mall for Africa CLICK TO WATCH

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THE BENEFITS OF FINTECH FOR THE SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY

suppliers may provide discounts such

Innovations in financial services

as cost of capital which can help

technology can bring several benefits

to fund growth and expansion into

to the supply chain, including:

new markets.

1. Extending accounts payable

2. Inventory orders and resupply

Typically, fintechs have relationships

In exchange for using fintechs,

Using fintechs can also provide an

with multiple banks and financial insti-

easier way of reordering inventory

tutions. As a result they can act like a

quicker, reducing manual and sporadic

broker for finance for supply chains,

reorders. Rather than reaching out to

financing the transaction between the

individual suppliers, fintech solutions

buyer and the supplier, allowing more

can allow supply chains to schedule

time to make a payment.

and streamline operations. f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

DHL EXPRESS SOUTH AFRICA

1969

Year founded

HQ

Bonn Germany

760+ 120

Number of employees

AUGUST 2020

121

“ CONSUMERS WILL FINALLY HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE THAT GIVES THEM PEACE OF MIND BY ENSURING THAT THEY ONLY PAY FOR GOODS AFTER THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEM” — Hosam Arab, Co-founder and CEO, Tabby

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

3. Faster payments, consistency

DHL’S FINTECH INNOVATION

and ease for the supplier

Breaking into the fintech space, DHL – in the last few months – has been

Adopting fintech solutions as a sup-

partnering with leading fintech com-

plier allows for quicker and cheaper

panies to provide innovative payment

methods of acquiring payments, as

solutions to its customers.

well as faster reorders allowing for improved scheduling and being more

DHL AND PAYFORT

accessible and visible to buyers.

Towards the end of 2019, DHL

Other benefits for the supply chain

announced a new partnership

industry include finance opportuni-

between DHL Express (North Africa)

ties for equipment and inventory.

and Amazon’s PAYFORT, to provide

Within logistics and supply chain

its customers in the region the abil-

there is a consistent need for inven-

ity to complete shipment solutions

tory and equipment, however the

online and in their local currencies,

procurement process comes with

while protecting them against fraud

challenges. With fintech evolving at a

and other security concerns.

fast pace the procurement process is expected to become easier and more productive.

While buyers and suppliers can benefit from fast and easier payment methods, so can drivers. Fintech solutions can provide the capability for digital check deposits and digital payment transfers to pay drivers.

Finally, supply chains and logistics can benefit from the digitalisation of the manual billing process and invoicing services that fintechs can provide. f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

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DHL EXPRESS SOUTH AFRICA

124

AUGUST 2020

“ THE ERA OF DIGITALISATION AND ECOMMERCE IS ON THE RISE AND IS TRANSFORMING TODAY’S WORLD INTO A CASHLESS SOCIETY” — Ali Thabet, Regional Director-eCommerce MENA, DHL Express

The partnership aligned with PAYFORT’s mission to build robust payment experiences in the MENA region, as well as simplify the process for thousands of customers that trust DHL to deliver their time-sensitive shipments. It covered eight countries including Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE “The era of digitalisation and ecommerce is on the rise and is transforming today’s world into a cashless society. At DHL Express MENA, we provide different online solutions that facilitate shipping and logistics for both businesses and individuals,” f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

125

DHL EXPRESS SOUTH AFRICA

“ CONSUMERS WILL FINALLY HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE THAT GIVES THEM PEACE OF MIND BY ENSURING THAT THEY ONLY PAY FOR GOODS AFTER THEY HAVE RECEIVED THEM” 126

— Hosam Arab, Co-founder and CEO, Tabby

commented Ali Thabet, Regional

of its most recent partnerships in the

Director-eCommerce MENA at DHL

fintech industry, with Dubai-based

Express. “Cashless payments provide

fintech Tabby to provide customers

more security and faster transac-

with an alternative to cash on delivery

tion time for businesses and offer

(COD).

consumers more convenience and

Ecommerce businesses which use

flexibility when sending and or receiv-

DHL’s services can provide customers

ing shipments.”

with Tabby’s ‘Pay Later’ option, allowing customers to checkout without

DHL AND TABBY

providing a credit card when making a

In June 2020, DHL announced one

purchase. “Consumers will finally have

AUGUST 2020

127

an alternative that gives them peace of

proprietary decision engine will help

mind by ensuring that they only pay for

our customers capture business

goods after they have received them,”

opportunities that they may have

commented Hosam Arab, company’s

otherwise lost,” added Geoff Walsh,

co-founder and CEO at Tabby.

UAE Country Manager at DHL Express,

“Our partnership with Tabby demon-

commenting on the occasion.

strates DHL’s continued commitment to delivering value to our e-commerce customers, as they are currently operating in a challenging and volatile business environment. Tabby’s f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

128

ARAB NATIONAL BANK: WHERE EXPERTISE MEETS REPUTATION WRITTEN BY

WILL GIRLING PRODUCED BY

JORDAN HUBBARD

AUGUST 2020

129

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

A R A B N AT I O N A L B A N K

One of the largest banks in the EMEA region, Arab National Bank has created a legacy based on expertise, innovative services and customer trust

F

ounded in 1979, Arab National Bank (ANB) has risen in stature to become one of the top banks in the Middle East region.

Having taken over operations of the pre-existing ‘Arab Bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’, ANB relocated its headquarters to the country’s capi130

tal of Riyadh, with regional offices in Jeddah and Khobar and an established international presence in London, UK. Serving over two million customers via a workforce of 3,770 people in 156 branches, the bank continues to pursue a customer-centric goal which has become enshrined as its corporate motto and mantra: to be “a friend indeed” to its clients.

Not content with merely offering a limited suite of products, ANB prides itself on a comprehensive portfolio of personal, commercial and investment services. Catering to its customers’ daily needs, the bank operates 1,240 ATMs, 18,000 POS terminals and a 24/7 customer service centre. In addition, fully embracing the possibilities of e-banking and online digital facilities, ANB’s customers can manage their money on a laptop, smartphone or via a ‘digital branch’. The bank’s AUGUST 2020

131

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

A R A B N AT I O N A L B A N K

“ The bank continues to pursue a customercentric goal which has become enshrined as its corporate motto and mantra: to be “a friend indeed” to its clients”

accounts can also be connected with Apple Pay and Mada Pay for fast contactless payments, a practical necessity which has taken on particular importance since the COVID-19 pandemic made the handling of physical cash a potential health hazard. For payment transactions outside of Saudi Arabia, ANB offers its TeleMoney Service which has been facilitating long-distance payments since 1992.

Customers can transfer money to 95 global locations, including India,

132

Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt and more.

AUGUST 2020

Saudi National Day at Arab National Bank CLICK TO WATCH

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1:51

133 No less flexible or inclusive with

developing products that are compat-

corporate clients as it is with individu-

ible with the Islamic Shariah Principles

als, ANB is experienced at providing

of banking. Currently offering two such

financial products and services to

services - morabaha and tawarruq - all

large and medium-sized enterprises,

of its new output will be carefully moni-

particularly in the manufacturing, trad-

tored and reviewed by a dedicated

ing and IT sectors. Services include

Committee for compliance.

but aren’t limited to: short, medium and

Receiving widespread industry

long-term loans, bill payments, bonds

praise for the quality of its overall

and letters of credit. Although a large-

performance, ANB continues to excel

scale, international operation, ANB still

through a focused drive that empha-

manages to offer clients a personal

sises strong relationships with

service by assigning each company an

investors and a progressive stance

officer to act as a consistent point of

on implementing the latest financial

contact. The bank is in the process of

services technology. Upon receiving f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

YOUR POINT OF SALE PARTNER LEARN MORE

CONTACT US

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135

“ No less flexible or inclusive with corporate clients as it is with individuals, ANB is experienced at providing financial products and services to large and medium-sized enterprises”

Argaam’s ‘Top Performing Fund’ award for its ‘Al-Arabi Saudi Equity Fund’, Bassam AlMubarak, CEO of ANB Invest (the Group’s investment arm) commented, “We are proud to bring this coveted award home from among all Saudi Equity Funds. The award speaks to the knowledge, expertise and outstanding performance of the Company’s team.”

Additionally, upon ANB’s winning the ‘Best Retail Bank in Saudi Arabia’ category at the 2019 World Finance awards, Dr Robert Eid, Managing f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

A R A B N AT I O N A L B A N K

1979

Year founded

$673mn+ Revenue in US dollars

3,770 136

Number of employees

AUGUST 2020

137

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“ ANB makes it clear that the best banks do not simply focus on growing their own brand, but rather contribute to the economic and social development of the country they operate in”

Director and CEO of Arab National Bank, was said to have “expressed his pride in this achievement, which is a result of the bank’s relentless efforts of investing in cutting edge technology, expanding the digital branch network and developing ADCs to keep pace with the digital transformation in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”

ANB makes it clear that the best banks do not simply focus on growing their own brand, but rather contribute to the economic and social development of the country they operate in.

Established as one of Saudi Arabia’s

General management of Arab National Bank CLICK TO WATCH

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0:30

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

139

A R A B N AT I O N A L B A N K

140

“ ANB is an organisation based on decades of expertise, a fundamental grasp on the direction that banking is travelling towards and most importantly trust�

premier project financiers, ANB possesses an innate understanding of the local market, its regulations and available opportunities. As such, it is able to offer end-to-end support on every aspect of project finance, from arranging loans to debt syndication and agency services. Other services include credit products, bridge loans, hedging facilities and more, all with the capacity to be fully Shariahcompliant if needed.

AUGUST 2020

141

ANB is an organisation based on

to support its aspirations. As the

decades of expertise, a fundamental

financial services market continues

grasp on the direction that banking

to change in new and unpredict-

is travelling towards and most impor-

able ways, ANB will remain at the

tantly trust. “Our promise is to earn

forefront by applying its persistently

your friendship by being transparent,

high-quality standards to the latest

committed and making sure you are

technology-driven trends, ensuring

always satisfied,� it says on the web-

that its customers receive some of the

site. With a BBB+ S&P rating and net

best banking experiences available,

profit of USD$947mn for 2019 (up

not just in Saudi Arabia but the world.

7.3% on the previous year’s figure), the bank has strong, healthy credentials f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

142

Absa Bank: a digital bank for the African continent

JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY JUSTIN BRAND WRITTEN BY

AUGUST 2020

143

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

A B S A R E G I O N A L O P E R AT I O N S

Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital – Absa Regional Operations, discusses reimagining the future of banking in Africa

N

othing is going to be the same again after COVID-19 releases its grip on the world.

While nobody can predict what the ‘new

normal’ will look like, Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital – Absa Regional Operations, is clear about one 144

thing: the response must be digital. “COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of digital solutions,” says Kumar. “The investment we made over the past few years in the digital transformation of our businesses across the continent enabled us to better respond during this time of crisis. As a modern, future-forward African banking group, a key pillar in our strategy is finding scalable solutions and platforms that continue to meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

Kumar believes that technology will be the driver of this new type of economy. Regional and local trade mechanisms are likely to replace global supply chains, he suggests, and the most successful financial institutions will be those which can promote digital channels most efficiently, making them cheaper to use, cutting or waiving transaction fees and enabling cashless payments and e-commerce.

AUGUST 2020

145

f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

A B S A R E G I O N A L O P E R AT I O N S

“ Instead of the slow march to digital transformation in the payment space, we are going to see many years of change condensed into a few months” — Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital – Absa Regional Operations

conversational AI. Secondly, instead of the slow march to digital transformation in the payment space, we are going to see many years of change

While being realistic about the difficul-

146

condensed into a few months. Thirdly,

ties ahead, Kumar thinks the benefits

our employees must become mentally

of the Big Data and analytics journey

aligned to operate cohesively in a remote

the bank embarked on following the

and alternative working environment;

commencement of its separation from

most if not all organisations in the future

Barclays PLC in 2017 and it’s rebrand-

will need to find alternative solutions to

ing in 2020, stands it in good stead.

accommodate their workforce other

“As we come out into a new world

than physical environments for the next

post-pandemic, we are going to have to

few years. Fourthly, and central to future

accept fundamental shifts in consumer

success is the need for leaner, scalable,

behaviour. From my retail and busi-

low-cost-to-serve business models.”

ness banking perspective, I can see a

Absa Group’s new brand has been

number of positives. Firstly, massive

inspired by the African continent and its

uptake on alternative channels like

people, and the desire to unite under

e-wallet, e-commerce, contactless and

a single purpose – to bring possibility to life. The group’s shared-value approach reflects its ambition to become a purpose-driven financial services organisation creating substantial social impact through core business functions, while also delivering shareholder value.

AUGUST 2020

Get It Done CLICK TO WATCH

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1:00

147 “One of the key pillars of our new

to collaborate with fintechs and startups.

growth strategy is to build a scalable

“As we progress along our digital journey,

digitally-led business,” says Kumar. “Our

we will continue to focus on change that

aspiration is to become an African bank-

brings value to our customers,” Kumar

ing group with global scalability. Our

explains. “And, because we recognise

motto is to ‘Bring Possibilities to Life’

the cultural change that a digital transfor-

and, as a result, pushing digital bounda-

mation entails, we are already taking the

ries to become customer-obsessed is

initiative to empower, engage and make

at the core of our focus.”

our 9,000+ employees in our African

There is a high degree of awareness around the fast changing landscape

regional operations future-ready.

“Very much a part of this process was

at Absa Group and efforts are being

during our rebranding to Absa Bank,

made to accelerate the transformation

we unveiled the artificial intelligence (AI)

journey by opening up the group’s legacy

powered humanoid prototype called

systems through microservices/APIs

Abby – Smart Banking Humanoid in our f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

A B S A R E G I O N A L O P E R AT I O N S

“ I truly believe we can become a customercentric organisation by driving personalised experiences through a combination of data and digital” 148

— Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital – Absa Regional Operations

Mauritius market that allows customers

Kumar is also enthusiastic about the

to self-service their banking transactions

chatbot that now sits on the website

and queries at branches 24/7. It works

and is also available on WhatsApp

on both voice commands and keyboard

Messenger across the African busi-

inputs and uses advanced NLP capabili-

nesses. Powered by deep AI that

ties to understand customer intent and

supports customers through intelligent

respond accordingly. After registration,

conversations, it is capable of doing

it recognises customers through face

most of the things that mobile or internet

recognition and allows them to place

banking can do. This virtual assistant

transactions with a secure PIN set

was developed with the help of US

during the registration process. The

fintech Kasisto and the South African

humanoid also has autonomous navi-

enterprise tech company Blue Turtle.

gation capabilities.”

“We looked at many providers but liked

AUGUST 2020

the Kasisto option because it was a good

been a major disruptor in the payment

fit for what we needed. It is already live in

space between traditional financial

all our markets and will soon have trans-

services providers and disruptors.

actional capabilities – you can tell it to

“They give consumers a fast, secure,

make a payment and the bot will identify/

low-cost method to use, store and send

verify you and complete the transaction.”

money over the internet,” says Kumar.

Another huge step towards becoming

“Our wallet program envisages a banking

a truly digital bank located in the cloud

app that allows customers to open an

is happening right now at Absa with the

account, apply for lending, create sav-

rollout of wallet banking, scheduled to

ings products, pay a bill, and purchase

launch in some markets from August.

airtime amongst other things – all from

Digital wallets or mobile wallets have

their mobile. I am very excited about this 149

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Vimal Kumar Title: Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital

Industry: Finance Services

Location: South Africa

Vimal Kumar is the Chief Executive of Retail and Business Banking, Digital and Customer Experience for the Absa Regional Operations, at Absa Group Limited, overseeing the RBB franchises across nine markets: Zambia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mauritius and the Seychelles. He joined the group as the Head of Lending in 2011, based in its offices in Dubai where he provided strategic leadership direction. He has over 25 years of experience in Retail and Business Banking, including credit cards, consumer loans, retail liabilities and wealth management, having worked in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

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“ We will continue to invest in emergent technologies like AI, ML and IoT wherever they have the potential to improve life for people as well as back office efficiency — Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital – Absa Regional Operations

the future, to be expanded and made more multifunctional.

Since Absa became independent, Kumar has become increasingly

because it’s customer-centric, meet-

convinced that technology is more

ing a need that is felt in all our markets.

effectively and quickly implemented

It helps us deliver banking capability

by involving partners than by building

at a very low cost to segments that

it in-house. “We have an accelerator

are difficult to serve through the

programme where we incubate up to

branch network.”

15 fintechs at any one point. We started

Importantly, it extends financial

working with some of those companies

access, as Kumar explains. “We want

because they were building technologies

to make it easy for new customers to join

specifically to solve customer problems

the financial ecosystem. Wallet banking

in Africa. Our biggest success so far

brings together a couple of cool things.

has been Jumo, which has built mass

One is that it helps us penetrate the

data and analytics, and credit assess-

mobile money ecosystem effectively;

ment capability, working in Africa with

it creates a partnership opportunity with

mobile lending operators over the

other fintechs and with the mobile net-

last eight years. It is very smart, it can

work operators – the kind of partnership

onboard and assess customers, and

that will be so important going forward.

lend to them based on a multivariate

It also helps us onboard customers in a

scorecard that ranks risk.”

non-physical way so they can either use the self-KYC (know your customer) facility or onboard via an agent. They need never come into a branch.” Wallet banking, Kumar says, is an investment in f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

151

A B S A R E G I O N A L O P E R AT I O N S

152 This technology chimes with Kumar’s

that directly links agri-trade activity with

vision to reach new segments of soci-

financial services. The farmer can offer

ety – people who might never come

his or her supply and the buyer can pur-

into a bank branch. Absa is now work-

chase electronically at an agreed price.

ing with Jumo in Zambia, Ghana, and

Since so much of the African economy

very soon Tanzania and Uganda too,

comprises small-scale agribusinesses,

within the mobile money ecosystems

this is a sector Kumar is particularly

there, allowing customers to save and

keen to excel in, and this marketplace

borrow money.

capability is proving very successful.

The innovation accelerator,

Africa’s diaspora is marked by a

WorkinProgress, was founded in 2015

great need for effective and fast remit-

and is based at Cape Town. It provides

tance structures, but aside from large

facilities and support for startups.

money transfer operators, there are

Another highly relevant partner to have

few options, Kumar continued. “We are

come from it is Avenews-GT, an Israeli

evaluating a fintech partnership and

fintech that has digital infrastructure

in parallel have also built an in-house

AUGUST 2020

on their mobile and charge it back to us.”

“ I am very excited about wallet banking because it’s customer-centric, meeting a need that is felt in all our markets” — Vimal Kumar, Chief Executive: Retail & Business Banking, Customer Experience and Digital – Absa Regional Operations

This, he says, will push mobile access, data being an expensive commodity for Africans.

The investment Absa has put into data is now paying off. The bank won the 2019 award for Best Technology Initiative at the Financial Innovation Awards in London for its data analytics platform, which tackles the issue of data availability in banking, especially in emerging markets. “Customer360 (C360) presents data with a lot of visualisation and interactivity. There’s

mobile based remittance solution

gamification and machine learning

called Novo Fx. Again, this is something

capability – again, it puts customers

our customers are really in need of.”

at the heart of our strategy. I truly

Partnerships like these in a targeted

believe we can become a customer-

way reach out to a huge untapped

centric organisation by driving

customer base. In 2016, Absa was

personalised experiences through a

the first bank to offer South African

combination of data and digital. And

customers reverse billing over all big

the employees are as much a part

four networks, allowing the MNOs to

of the journey as the customers are.

charge data costs back to Absa. “I

Digital transformation is only possible

want our customers to never pay for

if we can get our colleagues on the

data either while using the Absa app or

same page,” he concludes.

website. Again, we are in very advances stage of discussions with an exciting technology company to aggregate the data customers use in accessing Absa f in t e c hm a g a z in e . c o m

153

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