2019’s Leading Fintech Companies to Watch

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2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

2019 | Volume-9 | Issue-11

EDITOR’S DESK

F

rom the last two decades, we have observed tremendous advancements in the field of internet and wireless technology. Internet is becoming more faster and reliable with continuous innovations and improvements. In addition to that, mobile phones and similar gadgets are becoming more smarter and convenient to use that is making people more gadget-friendly.

Every month we are getting some new features or technologies in the smartphones and gadgets from the top OEM’s. Introduction of IoT (Internet of Things) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are adding the next level of convenience to human lives.

Nearly, many of our daily tasks are accomplished online by using smartphones or other gadgets.

The popularity and usefulness of newer technologies made every industry in the market to follow the technological boom. The financial industry also adopted the same trend well before and today nearly all of the financial services are available online through websites as well as mobile apps. To provide these advanced disrupting financial services, Financial Technology (FinTech) has come into existence.

FinTech: Futurizing the Way of Financial Services

FinTech includes financial services such as mobile payments, fund transfers, loan allocation, asset management, insurance, trading, crowdfunding and many more. Nearly all leading banks and financial institutions have introduced their mobile apps. So, every financial transaction is possible on the fingertips of the customer. The FinTech also includes cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which

has been fulfilling changing needs of the global financial world with their accurate, secure, transparent, and decentralized operations.

The reach of FinTech is not limited to the financial services only, but it has been deeply penetrated in every sector of businesses. Every business is having some direct or indirect link with FinTech.

Remarkably, the FinTech industry is growing very fast with its simple and convenient solutions.

The role of FinTech in businesses or institutions is impossible to eliminate. So, this greatness of Fintech industry has made us go for the issue; 2019’s Leading Fintech Companies to Watch. In this issue, we have highlighted some companies whose efforts for innovations in FinTech and exclusive offerings must be praised.

After doing in-depth research, we have enlisted some of the best companies who responsibly transforming human life as well as businesses with their future-ready FinTech products. Business Finance Depot: Providing Financing for the Franchise, Fitness and the Campground Industries, Caserta: The Data and Analytics Consulting Firm, Cazana: Providing Vehicle data, Valuations and Audience for the Future of Mobility, Nubank: Making Financial Life Simple, Smart Lenders Asset Management: Providing Secured and Sophisticated Access to Online Marketplace Lending Investments, and tritra: Enabling a Better Performance for Self-directed Investors.

While going through our magazine, you must not miss out the masterly written articles by our in-house editors such as FinTech: The NextGen Technology and FinTech: Changing the Face of Financial Services across the Globe from the Editor’s Pick. A new FinTech hub is emerging in Europe, and Blockchain in Business from the View of some of the Successful Leaders.

Hope this edition of ours will create a mark on your mind.

So, Happy Reading!

CXO STANDPOINTS

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LEADER'S OPINION Blockchain in Business

MAESTRO’S VIEW A new FinTech hub is emerging in Europe

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ARTICLES

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EDITOR’S DESK FinTech: Changing the Face of Financial Services across the Globe

CHALK TALK FinTech The NextGen Technology

BUSINESS FINANCE DEPOT Providing Financing for the Franchise, Fitness and the Campground Industries

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CASERTA The Data and Analytics Consulting Firm

12 CAZANA Providing Vehicle data, Valuations and Audience for the Future of Mobility

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NUBANK Making Financial Life Simple

32 TRITRA Enabling a Better Performance for Self-directed Investors

26 SMART LENDERS ASSET MANAGEMENT Providing Secured and Sophisticated Access to Online Marketplace Lending Investments

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Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Anish Miller Managing Editor Suhel Mashayak Contributing Editors Upama, Ryan Visualiser David King Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Art & Design Assistant Asha Bange Co-designer Paul Belin Art & Picture Editor Deepanjali Jena Business Development Manager Sherin Rodricks Marketing Manager Jennifer Winget Business Development Executives Sophie, Brad, Sapna Sales Executives Alice, Judy, Anna Technical Head Jacob Smile Assistant Technical Head Amar Sawant Technical Consultants Pratiksha, Aditya, David Digital Marketing Manager Alina Sege Assistant Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale SME-SMO Executives Gemson, Uma, Manoj Research Analyst Eric Smith Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

September, 2019 Corporate Ofď€ ce Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

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CASERTA THE DATA AND ANALYTICS CONSULTING FIRM

C

aserta is a data and analytics consulting firm that helps business and IT leaders transform their organizations by and through their data. Dedication to solving clients’ toughest data challenges with the fastest time-to-value is a hallmark of the firm.

Caserta was founded by Joe Caserta in 2001 with the mission of solving tough data challenges and helping organizations achieve their business goals through data and analytics. Over a span of nearly two decades, Caserta progressed naturally and quite seamlessly from transaction systems to dimensional data warehousing, big data analytics, and innovative and advanced data analytics applications.

Today, the company is fully invested in all of these paradigms and has assembled a stellar team of strategists and technologists who perpetually push the existing status quo to take data intelligence to the next level.

About the Founder Joe Caserta was born and raised in NYC. His education in Database Application Development and Design took place at Columbia University in New York. He has about 30 years of experience creating data solutions. Joe started off in 1986 trying to get data out of transaction systems, and in 1996, discovered dimensional data modelling and data warehousing. In 2001, Joe founded his own company to work in the area of data warehousing, business intelligence and data analytics. In 2004, he co-authored “The Data Warehouse ETL Toolkit”, an industry bestseller which went on to become the standard for preparing data integration for analytics. In 2009, Joe discovered “big data” and modern data engineering technologies.

Over three decades, he progressed from transaction systems to dimensional data warehousing to big data analytics to 12

innovative and advanced data analytics applications. These transitions were each natural progressions that made a lot of sense to him.

Highly Flexible to Adopt Technological Advancements Team Caserta always keeps a watch on changing industry needs. They know from experience that as new technologies enter the market, older ones either get updated or become obsolete. Despite this constant state of flux and disruption, one challenge remains constant: the evolution gap between people and technology.

“At Caserta, we already are change agents in the data and analytics industry who bring innovative solutions to our clients in order to transform their businesses. The next step in this industry is teaching people how to embrace this change, even though they inherently resist it. Getting people to change the way they think vis-à-vis technology will usher change in the data and analytics industry.” - Team Caserta.

According to Joe, “I can address the people part of the industry and encourage them to adopt change. It’s a far bigger challenge than simply updating and changing technology, but I think it is one of the most important challenges facing the industry today whose resolution will bring about the biggest change.”

“We combine strategy, technology and data science to help enterprises accelerate the pace of that growth and solve their most complex data challenges with custom-designed solutions that incorporate both established and emerging technologies with the fastest time-to-value,” Joe added.

Extraordinary Strategies from Caserta Joe is hands-on and involved in every engagement, making sure the clients’ needs are met. As a company, Caserta is built around creative thinking and harmonious collaboration | September 2019 |

2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

- Matt Digan, Executive Director of Data Engineering, The New York Times.

‘‘

“Caserta’s considerable experience manifests itself in quick and effective approaches. Their analyses are focused and yield helpful recommendations in a very short span of time. Second, the team’s technical and engineering skills are wide-ranging. Caserta can navigate a variety of technologies quickly with active input from senior leadership. Their guidance and advice are valuable”- Steve Stryker, CTO, Värde Partners

We help business and IT leaders transform their organizations

‘‘

by and through their data

with its clients. Each solution from Caserta is custom-designed, built, and implemented to fit the unique business challenges faced by its clients.

According to Joe, “Every engagement here at Caserta requires us to think creatively and to come up with solutions to difficult challenges, both as individuals and as a team. That’s what makes this work incredibly exciting: coming up with a creative solution that no one else has thought of before is exhilarating.”

Achievements and Recognitions Caserta was recently named a Top IT Services Company for 2019 and a Top B2B Company for 2019 by Clutch.co and recognized in the Top Gartner Market Guide to BI and Advanced Analytics Service Providers and Advanced Analytics Service Providers.

Clients Speak “We were really happy with the way Caserta was able to integrate with our processes and project management, and build out the architecture that they had developed. Caserta spent a lot of time making sure that the handoff between their team and ours was successful when the project was over.”

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“It’s the cost savings, first and foremost. Caserta implemented the right processes and pieces of technology to allow us to be much more iterative and nimbler in how we release changes and add enhancements. Ultimately, we’re far more responsive to our business needs and have better methods. Now, a new analysis, report, or data source only takes days or a week to get plugged in, instead of several months.” – CIO, Fitness Enterprise Future Roadmap of Caserta Team Caserta believes that industry in general has gone through unprecedented disruption over the past several years, and there is much more to come. The most compelling part of the evolution of data is the convergence of analytics and insights with business applications, and the rise of prescriptive and AI analytics. As a company, Caserta looks to the future with each of its solutions, futureproofing its clients’ systems so that they will be able to evolve with changes in technology and in the market.

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A NEW

FinTech

HUB IS EMERGING IN EUROPE

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enerally, when talking about the FinTech sector, we automatically associate the concept with a place; specifically with San Francisco, in the US, and London, in the UK. Without a doubt, they are the two main proponents of FinTech worldwide.

Nonetheless, as was the case in the (first) Industrial Revolution, in very little time the FinTech Revolution has spread to the rest of the world, with new hubs emerging in Europe, where the sector’s major players have set up camp and new start-ups are taking their first steps towards success.

Similarities between the First Industrial Revolution and the First FinTech Revolution In broad terms, the First Industrial Revolution—considered to mark the transition towards the modern model of economic growth—can be characterised by a sharp increase in technological advances, according to a great many historians. Using machines to complete rudimentary tasks led to an increase in productivity and, ultimately, to the creation of a more efficient economic model.

The first FinTech Revolution is more similar to the first Industrial Revolution than it might initially appear.

Times have changed, as have the location and the sector, but at its core, the idea is the same.

During the first Industrial Revolution, many made the shift from artisan workshops to huge factories, and working by hand was replaced by automated work; workers came to see the machine as more of an enemy 16

than an ally—It was a tool that could make work easier, yet it alienated many in the workplace.

In the first FinTech revolution, many working in the banking sector will move from working in branches and offices to working in IT department, thus creating a “brain drain” away from traditional banking and into the FinTech sector. They will need to become specialised and increase their understanding not only of the financial world, but also of technology.

The first channel for the dissemination of Fintech in Europe: The new hubs Various authors, such as Ohkawa, Rosovsky and Abramovitz have described social capability as the set of skills a country or region has that enable it to import or develop technology.

Hubs can be found in very specific locations, forming concentric circles: Those areas that fall within the radius of such a hub experience growth in the FinTech sector, boosting productivity in the region’s financial sector and increasing employment in skilled positions, such as those of mobile app developers or financial experts.

Remarkably, despite the passage of time, many of those regions with “social capability” remain the same. In Europe, for example, we see the rise of a new FinTech hub in Barcelona.

In the first Industrial Revolution, it was the cotton textile industry that brought economic prowess to this historic city, along with the other areas that fall within its | September 2019 |

Maestro’s View

Boris Batine Co-founder & CEO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Boris Batine – Co-founder & CEO at emerging markets fintech company ID Finance. Boris Batine graduated with honors The University of Cambridge in England. He has an extensive investment banking background. Then received MA degree. Boris has a Ph.D. in Economics.

Prior to starting ID Finance with another co-founder Alexander Dunaev in 2012, he held several top-management positions from deputy director of capital market division to vice-president in Deutsche Bank Group in London, Renaissance Capital and Royal Bank of Scotland. Boris is fond of wakeboarding and snowboarding, participates in sport events on marathon race, swimming and triathlons.

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concentric circle, that is to say, the whole Catalonia region.

Before, it was Barcelona’s port that provided a trade advantage; now it is because it offers the possibility of making the leap into Latin America.

During the first third of the 19th century, Barcelona’s industrialisation lacked the raw materials and energy sources that were typical of the first Industrial Revolution.

However, the successful nature of its industrialisation can be explained by two things: Its “social capability” and its advantageous geographical positioning, with a sea port that made it easy to trade with other countries.

Today, many international companies in the FinTech sector see Barcelona as the perfect place to set up shop, earning themselves a share in the Spanish market and preparing themselves for a launch in Latin America, where many major emerging markets are awaiting the arrival of the FinTech revolution.

Conferences relating to FinTech take place in Barcelona, thus providing opportunities for networking, and startup accelerators and investors are constantly landing in the city, looking for the next revolutionary idea that will shape the next steps to be taken within the FinTech sector.

Companies such as ID Finance are meeting needs that have not been met up until now by traditional banking models, making Alternative Finance and innovation their hallmark, with products like MoneyMan and AmmoPay. We moved HQ from Moscow to Barcelona in 2016 due to great potential of the Hispanic part of the world. Thus, basing a Barcelona allows us to stay within the European context and create a springboard for expansion in Latin America at the same time. Which in general has already happened: ID Finance has launched operations in Latam region in late 2016.

The leading players in the first FinTech Revolution 100% FinTech Companies Companies that carry FinTech in their DNA, who have begun their activity through digital media, via a website or an app. They offer innovative products that meet

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previously unmet consumer needs. For each niche in the financial products and services market we now find a FinTech company.

Digitally Native Banks Banks whose activity is entirely online, without any physical branches or offices, who have always carried out their business in this way, and who will continue to do so. Customers can access the banks’ products, and manage direct debits and transfers via the app or website.

One example of a digitally native bank is that of Number26.

Traditional banks who want to make the switch towards digital banking Having seen that “their way of playing the game” is becoming obsolete in this rapidly changing market, these banks want to adopt the successful model employed by digitally native banks, shifting the focus away from their branches—making cuts to the infrastructure and staff—and turning it increasingly towards the digital world. BBVA is one example of a traditional bank that is trying to make the switch to digital banking.

The real battle to hold a share of the market no longer happens on the street by giving face-to-face customer service; it happens through mobile apps and websites, with innovative and competitive products.

It is not a question of loyalty to a financial institution.

Everything revolves around making the right decisions in the interests of the consumers.

About ID Finance ID Finance is a data science, credit scoring and digital finance company that is pioneering fintech innovation in emerging markets with a range of convenient, competitive and transparent loan products available over the internet. Thanks to its operational excellence and advanced IT infrastructure and risk management capabilities, it has a rapidly scaling and increasingly diverse loan portfolio covering Russia, Eastern Europe, Spain and Latin America. The company is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, and employs over 400 staff across offices in Spain, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Poland, and Brazil.

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FinTech Changing the Face of Financial Services across the Globe

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he rise of digital technology has dramatically altered the landscape in the financial-services sector.

FinTech (Financial Technology) is today changing the face of traditional financial services. From lending money, wealth management, asset management or transferring money, FinTech is face-lifting the financial service industry.

Robo advising, crowd funding and digital payments are some of the areas where FinTech has already succeeded to a great extent. Many companies are investing heavily in FinTech to improve productivity & efficiency of varied financial services.

Applications where FinTech is changing the financial services Landscape Robo Advisers: Robo adviser is a sub sector of Fintech arena, which has received much institutional and retail interest across the sectors. Robo Advisers provides valuable financial advice to its customers with minimum to zero human intervention. Mathematical rules and various financial algorithms help robo advisers to give a good piece of advice to its clients. In simpler words, Robo Advisers gives advice for financial planning and personal investments.

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Editor’s Desk

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Robo Advisers services include automated portfolio planning, automatic asset allocation, online risk assessments, account rebalancing etc. Robo advisors allow more people, who otherwise might not be able to invest with confidence or meet account minimums, to enter the market in a passive manner. Traditional wealth management firms charge approx.

1% of AUM (asset under management) or higher for an advise. While Robo advisor is a quite affordable advisory solution for many and this is the reason of its increasing popularity among tech savvy people. It is preferred by younger, digital savvy investors or those who want more privacy and control over their portfolio.

Due to Robo Advisers popularity and growing acceptance among customers, various financial institutions (insurance firm, wealth management firm, asset managers or any other) are taking robo technologies very seriously.

Crowd funding: Funding is a very important aspect of any business. Many great ideas did not turn up into a successful business and many shut down due to lack of funding in challenging times. Fintech provides a platform where customers and investors meet online and share business ideas.

It helps people with big idea’s to get funds quickly and easily from any part of the world. Even if customer & the investor don’t know each other personally, an investor can provide funds for the project, the only thing matters here is a “Good Business Idea”.

The reason crowd funding gaining popularity among both investors and customers is that; a customer can get funding at a much lesser interest rate as compared to traditional financial services and the investor also earns a good profit by giving loans for a good business prospect. All these do not require an interference of any bank. Many good crowd sourcing platforms are gaining popularity and thousands of projects from all over the world are getting funded from it.

Till 2015 itself, the global market of crowd funding had grown up to USD 34.4 Billion.

Digital Payments: Transferring money in and across borders is another area that is being reworked and reframed by Fintech. Today within a minute or half, anyone can transfer or receive money at any given point of time, since service is 24/7 available. Fintech made money transfer a simple and easy task with greater flexibility. Various mobile wallets startups have

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been grown up into giants of payments industry due to wider and growing acceptability of digital wallet.

Global FinTech Funding Reached $36 Billion According to the data collected by the Financial Technology Partners, an investment bank focused on FinTech, in 2016, financial technology companies around the world had raised a total of $36 billion in financing across over 1500 deals.

Payments and E-Commerce enterprises have attracted the maximum financing from investors, accounting for almost 40% of total funds raised by FinTech firms in 2016. In total numbers, Payments and E-Commerce corporations had risen over $13.5 billion, followed by banking category with $9.3 billion in financing and Securities/Cap Markets/Wealth Management firms raised $4.7 billion in 2016.

Technologies which are shaping the FinTech Industry Artificial Intelligence: Insurance industry uses AI to process claims and detect frauds. The banking sector is using chatbots to improve customer service experience. Many firms use AI to model for capital planning as well.

Robotics: Robo advisors is the best example of how robotics playing an important role in shaping future of financial services.

RegTech technology: RegTech stands for “Regulatory technology”. RegTech technology is used in financial service to assist a business for maintaining better compliance and regulation.

Data Analytics: To collect data from varied sources and then process that data to derive some meaningful business insights is data analytics. Organizations use data analytics to understand current consumer behaviors and predict future consumer behavior.

Since 2011, the number of startups in fintech has risen more than 50 percent. According to reports, global FinTech industry grew by 11% in 2016. With new technological advancements (AI, machine learning, big data analytics, and robotics) and a growing population of tech savvy citizens, future of FinTech seems dynamic.

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CAZANA

PROVIDING VEHICLE DATA, VALUATIONS AND AUDIENCE FOR THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY

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oday, we can note that the automotive sector is changing drastically with driverless vehicles, new powertrains, a shift from ownership to access and radical taxation changes. In order, to compete in this fastchanging environment, a better understanding of vehicles and the new automotive consumer is needed.

Cazana provides automotive insights for the future of vehicle ownership. Using big data and predictive analytics, Cazana analyses millions of automotive transactions daily to assess the value and risk associated with every vehicle on the road.

Cazana’s systems are used by manufacturers, finance companies, dealerships and insurers globally. Companies use Cazana’s data to provide vehicles to the modern automotive consumer who wants to access, not own vehicles.

The Driving Force of Cazana Tom Wood is the CEO of Cazana. Tom hails from a business and innovation background having led technology teams within investment banking and pharmaceutical sectors and founded and sold companies in the marketing technology space. Tom has always had a passion for cars and considers himself very lucky to work on his hobby every day.

“We’ve gathered a team of experts from the automotive industry, data science, valuation science and technology fields. We use cutting-edge real-time technology to our advantage meaning we never have to edit data or make subjective assumptions. Together we deliver consumers and clients the most accurate, current view of the vehicle marketplace,” asserts Tom.

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Cazana for Businesses Cazana’s Valuations and vehicle data are used by businesses to better understand the value and condition of the vehicles they work with. Cazana’s tools help motor insurers, lenders, manufacturers, auction houses and traders better understand the risk on their books, reduce fraud and work more effectively with vehicle assets.

Cazana’s Distinct Way of Delivering Solutions and Products In a competitive automotive market, it is more important than ever to use data to drive informed business decisions on stocking, pricing and risk. Cazana’s automotive solutions, powered by its unique valuation and history data help businesses work with vehicles in a more informed manner ultimately driving increased profitability and lower risk.

Cazana has exposed their vehicle data to businesses to help them make better decisions when working with vehicles.

The products from Cazana allow businesses to quickly connect and integrate Cazana data to reduce risk, increase profits and gather advanced automotive market intelligence.

AI Solutions from Cazana Cazana’s tools are built around science and data, as opposed to editing. The company’s new approach is to collect vehicle data 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a team of data scientists and machine learning experts constantly building new models that interpret what the retail market is doing.

The entire process is automated, with a team of specialists working to translate, rather than edit the information, for market consumption.

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2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

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Cazana’s data is updated daily to reflect current market conditions.

This dynamic pricing approach helps retailers respond to the

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market quickly and maximise profit

Cazana Companion is one of its SaaS products built by the trade for the trade and values cars, vans and motorbikes in real-time with incredible accuracy. You simply enter a VRM and Companion will tell you precisely what that vehicle is worth right now as well how much to buy and sell it for. It also tells you how long it’ll take to sell and team Cazana calls this “Days to sale”. This is calculated using a clever data science model that uses Cazana’s vast database of historical data to predict how long it will take each vehicle to sell. The tool also gives you a mileage estimate using clever data science that looks at all of Cazana’s historical advert data and MOT data and can give a mileage estimate for each vehicle.

Adopting advanced technologies Cazana is fully operational within the UK automotive market, with clients across various sectors such as vehicle manufacturers, dealers and leading motor insurers.

Last year, the company secured the seal of approval from the Financial Ombudsman who now use Cazana’s data to help settle crucial insurance disputes along with many top UK insurers.

Cazana recently announced its new partnership with Experian PLC. Experian will be the exclusive provider of Cazana data to the financial services and banking sectors for the next five years.

The company has also enjoyed some industry recognition/accolades in the form of winning awards for innovation from the Car Finance Awards and International Asset Finance Awards.

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NUBANK MAKING FINANCIAL LIFE SIMPLE

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ubank is the largest independent digital bank in the world. Its first product, launched in 2014, is a nofee credit card that is fully managed by a mobile app. More than 35 million people have requested the product since launch, and the company has passed the 13 million customer mark. In 2017, Nubank launched its proprietary loyalty rewards program (Nubank Rewards), as well as a digital account (NuConta) that is already used by 10 million people. This year, the company began testing its personal loan service and took its first steps in international expansion, opening offices in Mexico and Argentina. To date, Nubank has raised around US$ 820 million in seven equity investment rounds from TCV, Sequoia Capital, Kaszek Ventures, Tiger Global Management, QED, Founders Fund, DST Global, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, Thrive Capital and Tencent. Recently, Nubank was elected as the most innovative company in Latin America and ranked no. 36 on Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies ranking.

Inception Story Nubank was founded in May 2013 by the Colombian David Vélez, who was joined by the American Edward Wible and the Brazilian Cristina Junqueira. The operation started on April 2014, with a beta version released for friends and family and public launch happened in September 2014.

Nubank launched its first product in 2014, is a no-fee credit card that is fully managed by a mobile app. The company has over 13 million users. The company is continuously expanding its the product range to digital savings accounts, personal loans, and recently, a digital business account for SMEs. This year, the company took its first steps in international expansion, opening offices in Mexico and Argentina.

About the Team David Vélez is the Founder and CEO of Nubank, a Brazilian financial technology company. Before founding Nubank in 2013, David was a Partner at Sequoia Capital in charge of the firm’s Latin American investments. Before Sequoia, David worked in investment banking and growth

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equity at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and General Atlantic. David has a BS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Cristina Junqueira is the co-founder at Nubank. She started her career in Strategic Consulting at BCG (Boston Consulting Group). Prior to Nubank, she worked for many years at Itaú Unibanco dealing with Product and Marketing for the bank’s consumer loan and credit card businesses.

Cristina holds an Engineering Bachelor degree and a Master degree from Universidade de São Paulo (USP), and also an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Cristina was nominated one of the most powerful women in Brazil by Forbes Magazine in 2016 and 2017, and in 2016 she also received an award from Claudia, the most important female-focused award in Latin America, in the Business category.

Edward Wible is Nubank’s co-founder and CTO, responsible for the company’s technology development and infrastructure. Wible is an American who started his career in consulting at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and in his over 10 years’ experience he specialized in investments focused on US tech companies. He graduated in Computer Science from Princeton University, with an MBA from Insead.

Challenges Faced while Expansion Largest challenges have been around systems as Nubank initially built to be a one-country bank. When team Nubank decided to go internationally, they had to repurpose a lot of their infrastructure to make it international. They set themselves to build entirely local autonomous teams. So recruiting, onboarding, and finding the best type of governance that allows for significant autonomy and speed have required some iterations.

Regulations Never Becomes Barriers in the Growth of Nubank It has been surprisingly positive for Nubank. The countries

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2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

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NuConta gives you better returns than a savings account and our credit

‘‘

card is

annuity-free.

where Nubank is currently operating, regulators see the importance of reducing entry barriers to increasing competition. Therefore, conversations have been very constructive. That does not mean though that regulation has become easy: even in Brazil, where today Nubank stands the 6th largest financial institution in the country, it had to wait for three years to finally get the banking license.

Nubank has a strong Policy team that works closely with policymakers and regulators from diverse levels of government in the countries where the company operates. As Nubank becomes more and more a player that’s bringing disruption to the industry, it gains the ability to positively influence policy towards a direction of more competition, lower fees, and more alternatives for both banked and unbanked consumers.

Extraordinary Working Style From the beginning only Nubank has created a unique corporate culture that values the customer and puts them in the center of everything that company does. Nubank wants its customers to have the best experience possible when

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using its services. This Nubank culture is today company’s biggest competitive advantage.

“We are organized in tribes and squads. Hence we operate with shallow levels of hierarchy. That provides us with agility, a critical success factor for us to continually challenge conventional beliefs. It also makes us hungrier to challenge the status quo.

We say we are looking for people with heads ‘full of questions, and not full of answers’. Also, our purpose as a company is not limited to ‘increase net profit by 10% this year’, and improve the lives of tens of millions of people.

Instead, our culture is all about fighting complexity and empowering people with their finances,” asserts David.

Future Roadmap of Nubank Nubank is continuously seeking opportunities to expand access to more and more people to relevant and uncomplicated financial services. The more natural movement for the company is to explore possibilities in Latin America. However, at the moment, the focus remains in Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.

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BLOCKCHAIN in BUSINESS lockchain for most is a cryptic term never heard of before, or at best associated with tech types. But this lack of awareness of blockchain is in no way an indicator of the lack of importance of this technology.

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economy is facilitated by companies like AirBnB. However, ultimately you could cut out this middle man and enable peer-to-peer payments, decentralising the process and opening the sharing economy up further.

One only need look at the history of the internet to see writing off something we can’t understand while in its nascence could be to miss out on huge potential. Indeed ‘the internet’ had a similar aura of mystique around it when first created, yet swiftly became the facilitator of many of the functions in our lives, we now can’t imagine being without- from emails and web browsing to online shopping; music streaming and social media.

Perhaps, though, the most notable benefit of blockchain to date is the creation of cryptocurrencies, powered by this underlying technology. Currently, there are over 1,000 cryptocurrencies which have been created, with Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, and Dash being some of the most famous.

Blockchain for businesses holds the same potential as the internet did in its infancy.

But what is it? Put simply, blockchain allows digital information to be shared between parties without the need for a middle man to hold that data. Think of it as an open, distributed ledger. Blockchain was originally created to power the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, facilitating Bitcoin payments. So in a sense, blockchain is to Bitcoin what the internet is to emails – a facilitating technology.

There are a number of benefits of blockchain technology that could be applied to businesses across sectors.

First, blockchain technology enables transactions to be done more securely, with less risk of data leakage. As there is no centralised version of information shared from person A to person B, it is more difficult for a hacker to access the information being shared.

Second, information can be shared in a more efficient manner. Smart contracts are already in use. For example, you could pay out a derivative at a required point by using automated blockchain technology.

Lastly, the sharing economy – which is already becoming increasingly embedded in our day-to-day lives – can be furthered by blockchain technology. Currently, the sharing

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Focusing on Bitcoin, as the biggest by market capitalisation, this cryptocurrency benefits from direct transactions made without the need for a middle man. The currency can be exchanged between any individual in any country, removing foreign exchange risk and complications of exchange rates when making global transactions. The currency is also not linked to any central government with control to print more or less money as required. So Bitcoin is inherently protected from inflation. Look at countries like Venezuela where the economy is crashing and inflation is wreaking havoc. Their government is currently looking to Bitcoin to see how the digital cryptocurrency could help them.

For businesses then, which of course centre around payments, cryptocurrencies may be one of the most tangible, notable benefits deriving from blockchain technology. And we believe they’re here to stay.

So are businesses making the most of this technology?

It is fairly well-known and expected that the banking industry is looking closely at blockchain, both through cryptocurrencies and other uses. However, the benefits are not limited to the financial services sector. For example, shipping giant Maersk recently ran a trial with IBM using blockchain to track containers across the world.

But for blockchain to find its way into more organisations, we need external support. If we look at lifecycles of any

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Leader’s Opinion

About the Author Yoni Assia is the Founder and CEO of eToro, the world’s largest social investment network. He has shown an interest in finance and computer science since his youth and so decided to merge his passions. It was this very passion along with the social revolution, which lead to the founding and development of eToro’s investment network, where users connect, share, trade and invest in the world’s financial markets. It’s this young CEO’s vision to disrupt the old banking industry and replace it with a new online transparent and a social financial system for the benefit for everyone.

Yoni Assia Founder & CEO eToro

technology, whether they be as large as The Internet itself, or more localised such as Databases, CRM software or VoIP, support from external consultants, or companies which can implement and support was critical. It is only when this level of support is available to companies that adoption rates really increase, for any technology.

It is undeniable that some businesses are already benefitting from blockchain technology. However, we are some way off from blockchain reaching its full potential. Blockchain has the potential to entirely reshape the way we approach day to day transactions, and most notably banking. Yet those very businesses who look set to most benefits from blockchain technology have incumbent systems that would need to be transformed to enable blockchain to be fully adapted.

This could take time.

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SMART LENDERS ASSET MANAGEMENT PROVIDING SECURED AND SOPHISTICATED ACCESS TO ONLINE MARKETPLACE LENDING INVESTMENTS

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mart Lenders AM is an asset management company that proposes an algorithmic approach to investing in loans issued by online lending platforms such as Lending Club or Prosper. It manages funds (a Luxembourg SIF SICAV currently) that invest in consumer and small business loans that are selected through online lending platforms. The company offers a turn-key investment product for investors wanting to get access to the attractive returns offered by online lending, with an increased safety, large diversification and an optimal allocation.

Containers, Life Settlements, Loans, and Private Equity.

Cumulative investments amount to €200m. Having started investing privately in Marketplace Lending two years before, Erich launched Smart Lenders AM in 2014 to offer access to this investment opportunity to European investors.

Erich has a unique mix of experience combining trading and investments in complex financial instruments and illiquid assets, as well as innovative and opportunistic ideas.

He federated a diverse team of talented individuals around Smart Lenders AM to effectively tackle today’s quickly moving investment world.

Architect behind Smart Lenders AM Smart Lenders AM is founded by Erich Bonnet, he also serves as CIO and CEO of the company. Erich has 33 years of experience in trading, asset management and private investments. Erich started his career in 1986 as a trader of interest rate derivatives at Banque Indosuez and became Head of the interest rates derivatives team. He created Transoptions Finance in 1989, a market making company specialized in derivatives. Transoptions became a leader in several European markets (France, Germany, Spain, UK, etc.) competing with the biggest European banks. In 1998, Erich launched ADI Alternative Investments, a Paris-based alternative asset management company specialized in arbitrage strategies (Convertible Bonds, High Yield and Credit, Merger Arbitrage and Special Situations in particular). ADI has been awarded multiple times and became the largest independent alternative investment manager in Paris with more than 400 institutional clients and up to €6.5bn AUM. The company has been sold between 2005 and 2008 and Erich exited the business in 2009. Prior to founding Smart Lenders AM in 2014, Erich launched a couple of investment vehicles with personal and friends & family money in Distressed Assets, Real Estate,

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Services from Smart Lenders AM that Standalone in the Crowd Smart Lenders AM has developed its own credit scoring and selection models using a blend of statistical, algorithmic and machine learning methods. These models are plugged directly into the platforms’ API and enable to score, select and purchase loans on platforms that allow pick and choose investment, in a matter of milliseconds.

These knowledge and technology enable Smart Lenders AM to be one of the leading actors in Europe to invest in US platforms for the account of European investors.

In June 2018, Smart Lenders AM started a research program in Artificial Intelligence methods applied to credit scoring for European small and medium businesses. This research program started yielding very exciting results and, consequently, Smart Lenders AM has been granted the status of Young Innovative Company by the French Ministry of Education and Research. This status is granted, after a strong study from academics, to young companies that allocate a substantial share of their revenues to fundamental and applied research and make a significant

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2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

company’s investors’ DNA and part of the success of Smart Lenders AM has been to be able to structure suitable products that are able to invest in a new asset class such as marketplace loans in a regulated, cost-efficient and simple way.

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Being aware of the constant evolution and increasingly complex regulation is a key element of Smart Lenders AM’s activity. The company has a dedicated Chief Risk and Compliance Officer and contracted with a specialized thirdparty advisory firm to ensure a constant monitoring of regulations.

We are a data driven company

Leading towards Dynamic Center of a FinTech ecosystem contribution to the state of the art of research.

Benefits for Clients

which focuses on the prime segment of

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the credit curve

Smart Lenders AM brings a very specific and distinctive investment solution to its clients that delivered them high yields (and a consequent strong return), very good diversification with the rest of their portfolio, and a relatively low risk.

The clients also have access to a new asset class and a fast-developing industry, thus giving them exposure to new technologies and know-how that will undoubtedly soon become very beneficial for them.

Successfully Dealing with Increasing Complex Regulations Smart Lenders AM is an asset management firm registered and regulated by the French AMF (the financial markets regulator) and the fund it manages is registered and regulated by the Luxembourg CSSF. Smart Lenders AM also has the AIFM Full-scope status. As such, the company is strongly regulated and monitored by several highly diligent regulators. Regulation is part of the

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As an asset manager, Smart Lenders AM is considered as an institutional investor by the platforms and thus as a client. The technology and the research efforts that the company is conducting in the field of credit scoring give it a technological leadership in the industry, both on the platforms’ side and on the investors side (and among other asset managers). The company aims to take a central role in the development of the European marketplace lending industry by interacting closely with platforms and other investors to bring them to use the highest standards in terms of models, technology, ethics and best practice.

Future Road-map for Smart Lenders AM Smart Lenders AM expects to continue to grow the assets under management of its flagship fund, invested in US consumer and SMB loans principally.

The company will soon launch a new product dedicated to European SMB lending through online lending platforms. In addition to that, the company expects to integrate the first outcomes of its research program into its daily models to improve the performance of the investments.

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Chalk Talk

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| September 2019 |

F

inancial Technology or FinTech is completely transforming the way financial services companies function and how the businesses buy, protect and manage wealth in this FinTech era. In 2016, the greatest challenge for the banking industry is FinTech. FinTech is although the latest trend in this domain, it cannot be said as a new one. In the past, it referred to a group of modest startups offering online lending or retail-payment services.

FinTech has entered the mainstream swiftly. Now, it is not constrained with mere startups. Some prominent FinTech companies include Lending Club, business giants such as Google, Apple, and Samsung. The novel services delivered by such companies comprise Financial Services Applications, which are often more effective and less expensive than the conventional companies.

With the copious services offered, FinTech companies are attracting customers in mass.

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FinTech Advancements in 2016 FinTech firms propound digital financial services and alternative financial instruments via the internet, digital payments including electricity, mobile bill payments etc., cross-border peer-to-peer payments and e-Commerce transactions. Businesses use FinTech for marketplace lending (peer-to-peer platforms) as well as personal loans.

Recently, Robo-advisors are engineered for effective wealth management services. Online Crowdfunding (equity-based) and Venture Financing are the two major services FinTech focus on. Recent statistics accounted the Transaction Value in the FinTech market to mUSD 769,323.4, and the average transaction value per user in the Digital Payments segment sums to USD 2,683.82 in 2016. The transaction peak value globally reached is in the U.S. Financial Growth through FinTech Modern businesses can reap great profits by the effective utilization of the new technology. Apart from spending more money on in-house product development, evaluating third-party technology providers on the basis of what they provide and how well the technology suits the business, software and applications that fit for the business can be integrated into it. Before selecting any solution, an organization must identify its investment themes, evaluate credit card exposure, manage the counterparty risk and so on. Entering into a FinTech pool hassle-free leads the business to the market’s paramount, expanding upon the organization’s core market.

Every organization should widen their institutional expertise to screen pioneering technologies that arrive in the market, in a constant manner. The expertise must include perception into client preferences, the features to integrate new technologies and undo when newer ones arrive and to establish external links with other companies. Many of the well established companies have adapted this technique to amalgamate new technology with their business. They train their employees and mentor properly in order to acquire the necessary skills.

Bank-FinTech Effective Association The Bank-FinTech association is an effective way for the banks to enter the FinTech ecosystem, which aids in smooth functioning and positioning them at the very core of the

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industry that redefine payments. FinTech startups are always open to receive support and investment from the banks in order to initiate their business,develope and achieve their targets.

Without any doubt, FinTech brings in-depth technology expertise along with enhanced design speed and manufacture rate. However, bank’s expertise in the ins and outs of the payment systems and choice of services is matchless.

Up-And-Coming FinTech Future Certainly, FinTech is going to have a bright future in 2016 as well as in the upcoming years. FinTech companies assist in instructing consumers to make better financial decisions, protect their assets from frauds, enhanced online shopping experience, encourage investment and much more.

Innovative FinTech companies like Invoice Ninja provides services for helping small business owners get their invoice bills paid faster. And several other companies like Trulioo is seeking new solutions that make financial institutions and businesses integrate with new compliance directives within their transaction processing software.

Wealthfront, Addepar and Robinhood aim at empowering investors by making them feel comfortable and relax enjoying the splendid benefits from FinTech. Firms like LendUp offer customers, that banks usually decline, providing them with lower credit scores access to short term loans without any rollovers or hidden rates and also in low interest rates. Similarly, companies like SoFi are supporting businesses and customers to refinance the existing loans, education loans and mortgages to get better rates, thereby increase financial status. Another FinTech company LendFriend gives opportunity to individuals to borrow and lend money to their friends, family or relatives, or whomsoever they wish.

FinTech innovation has the potential to transform financial service firms. The smart and fast technology has the capability to win the market, whether it is alone or whether they sell into or collaborate with existing providers. The ultimate beneficiary of FinTech is literally the customer.

There is no doubt that FinTech will reign the financial services firm with its utmost powerful services and tactics that lead to supreme successes.

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TRITRA ENABLING A BETTER PERFORMANCE FOR SELF-DIRECTED INVESTORS

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ritra, a fintech company incepted with the goal of helping people to make smarter investment decisions by applying what is researched in the area of behavioural finance theory. Thus tritra does not – like a lot of other fintechs – promise that it is smarter then the market or could predict future developments of the stock market, but it does help investors to keep an interactive investment decision diary and help to learn out of own mistakes and pitfalls.

Architect behind tritra The founder of the company, Christian Rauscher, who already founded some 20 years ago a consulting company for the banking industry admits with a smile: “Well the last 20 years I spent my life to support banks to focus more on emotions, thus I called my company emotion banking, and now my mission is to help people get aware of their feelings and how they influence them in decision making. For instance even until today, I still have very hard times to sell stock, once they are negative. This is called ‘Loss aversion’.

Before I have to admit, that I made a poor investment, I keep the stock until it is completely down and all hope is gone. At the very bottom, I will sell it for some pennies to see it rise afterwards.” In-fact: Christian is not alone. In 2014 1/3 of all portfolios performed negative while S&P rose by 14% annually. This demonstrates how important it is to make smart investment decisions. And the market is growing pushed by banks that have to reduce personnel thus saving costs and leading to less personal advice and increasing fees on advice and transparency in the European market.

Christian is an experienced and successful entrepreneur. He was Associate Professor at University for Business Administration in Vienna and MBA Faculty Member at Danube University Krems. He is also a life long learner and always thirsty for new insights. But when Christian decided to start a fintech company, he realized that he need to learn trillions of new things, starting by language and technology.

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“When I attended Paris fintech conference I really was shocked by technologies that were presented there. But we also have to take into mind, that innovation is not about technology, but about how people change their behavior.

Not everything has to be rocket science – sometimes we just need a reminder – a nudge – to do the right thing. tritra is that sort of friendly nudge,” asserts Christian.

The team tritra about their Journey “For too long we all have lost money in the game of bull and bear. Even if we studied the rules of success, theories of asset allocation or miracles of charting, still our results could be improved. It’s time to focus on the most relevant aspect in trading: YOURSELF. It’s the way we think and decide that ultimately influences our outcome. tritra helps you to gain back control, understand your patterns and thus supports you to reach financial success. We are small group of passionate people that are forward thinking in finding ways to empower and inspire the way people make better financial decision.”

Distinctive Offerings from tritra No robo advisory but kind of smart assistance – For the team tritra it is important that they want to support self deciders and risk takers – they do not want people to become passive, just watching how some algorithms do the asset selection or portfolio assembly. Instead team tritra want people to learn and understand more about their emotions and how they are influenced by them.

Deliver information to the point of decision – so, tritra does not sell any product or does trading but it keeps people connected with their portfolio and their ideas.

Revolutionary in tritra’s approach is: 1. The focus on the investor as an individual influenced by emotions and cognition.

2. On-going support, which has been the missing link in

| September 2019 |

2019'S LEADING

FINTECH COMPANIES TO WATCH

‘‘

tritra is the holistic tool to plan, analyze and improve your

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investment decisions

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investment process. tritra provides the support while the investor is invested and fills the gap between buy and sell point. tritra is decision support system, trading journal, automated feedback, personal evaluation and risk management tool, pro- active knowledge- delivery engine, heads- up display, personal diary and virtual personal trading assistant. In addition to functionality and usefulness, tritra is stylish, fun and easy to use while at the same time it gives the bigger picture of the market. Also, tritra is a smart App, alive and customizable to the individual user.

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