Issuu

MAY 2022

Embedded payments are becoming mandatory Embedded financial services and payments enhance the customer experience and have become a necessity to win in the digital economy. The Nordics are ahead of the game. p.14

p.08

Nordic Innovation Global Scale p.20

Strongholds of the Nordics p.26

Welcome to the Corporate Metaverse

The greatest Fintech event in the Nordics Join Nordic Fintech Week 2022 and take part in unlocking the future of finance.

LARS BONDE

KAIDI RUUSALEPP

JESPER NIELSEN

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER AT TRYG

CEO AND FOUNDER AT FUNDERBEAM

CEO AT BEC

CHRISTINE LOFT HUNDERUP CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER AT VELLIV

TIMM JEPPESEN CEO & CO-FOUNDER AT RISIKA

September 27th and 28th, TAP.1 Copenhagen. nfweek.com

1.200 Attendees | +50 Sessions Embedded Finance

Ethical Finance

Financial services everywhere! The ability to embed financial services across all industries is unleashing an avalanche of innovation benefiting businesses and financial institutions and customers. In this track we will cover the latest trends in embedding payments, lending, insurance, and wealth in unlikely places and we will hear from some of the foremost proponents oof this exciting trend.

The collective consciousness of Nordic investors has reached a tipping point whereby healthy returns are no longer enough. As investors seek to do good with their money, the demand for transparency and tightening regulation presents a new opportunity for Fintech to take centre stage and address aa new set of social, environmental and governance concerns.

KIM FUGLSANG KRISTOFFERSEN HEAD OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS AT MOBILEPAY

ELIN BÄCKLUND CTO AT ARK KAPITAL FORBES 30 UNDER 30

KARINA ROTHOFF BRIX COUNTRY MANAGER FOR DENMARK AT FIRI

Brought to you by

LIV FREIHOW

SANDRA RO

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT NBX

CEO OF THE GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN BUSINESS COUNCIL

+100 Speakers | +30 Partners Democratization of Finance

The Future of Finance

Technology is bringing services, previously available only to a small minority of customers, closer to the mass market than ever before. In this track we will explore how wealth management, investment, venture capital and private equity services are being democratized through technology, making it easier than ever before for customers to get on the wealth management ladder.

It’s hard to keep up with the extraordinary explosion of innovation which is why in this track we bring you the latest in payments, insurance, regulation , decentralized finance, cryptocurrecies, and metaverse economies. This is a must for anyone wanting to stay ahead of the curve and anticipate how the developments of today will impact our lives tomorrow.

Nordic Fintech Magazine Who we are

What we do

What we talk about

We are a team of media and fintech devotees, who bring you the boldest ideas from visionary fintech entrepreneurs and financial services innovators, straight from the Nordics.

We grow your understanding of financial service innovation, without the jargon that separates the industry from its customers.

We care about the big trends reshaping finance and people’s lives. Are you after thought leadership on web3.0, embedded finance, sustainability, incumbent reinvention, wealth democratization, impact and the future of finance? YES! This magazine is for you.

Thank you to all fintech heroes contributing to this magazine!

Editor in Chief: Chris Crespo Journalists: Simone Okkels and Marria Qibtia Sikandar Nagra Layout: Vratislav Pecka Frontpage: Fredrik Neumann, Country Manager - Nordics & Germany, Worldpay Solutions Exclusive partner:

Published by Nordic Fintech Magazine Contact: Stian Faber, Head of Partnerships stian@nordicfintechmagazine.com

5 Content

06 07

Nordic Fintech By The Numbers Editorial: A Distinct Nordic Brand Of Innovation The emerging Nordic Fintech ecosystem realizes that Nordic citizens don’t need bank accounts, credit cards or mobile payments, but rather practical solutions that blend in gracefully with their lifestyle, that are available when they need them, and can simply vanish into the background when they don’t.

Nordic Innovation - Global Scale Again, I was asked about the Nordic uniqueness and reason for the ‘unicorn factory’ status when it comes to fintech innovation. All my contacts were genuinely curious about this ‘small great region’ up north that has gained status as a global hotbed for ventures in financial technology.

Visionary Thought Leaders’ take on Nordic Innovation

Financial Services Here, There And Everywhere

Embedded Payments Are Becoming Mandatory Embedded financial services and payments enhance the customer experience and have become a necessity to win in the digital economy. The Nordics are ahead of the game.

18 20

A Glimpse Into The Future Of Fintech Strongholds Of The Nordics The Nordics have a history of digitally-savvy citizens and companies who are willing and able to pick up new technology. The pandemic forced the entire world to do more online and move parts of life into the digital realm that was once done mostly offline; for example shopping, banking and working.

24 26

The Future Of Credit Worthiness Welcome To The Corporate Metaverse The Metaverse, that word that suddenly everybody is talking about, but few really understand, is already reshaping the way we live, work and play - and will continue to do so at a pace and magnitude we have never witnessed before. Yep, even more than the Internet.

Gauging The Impact Of WEB 3.0 On The Nordic Economy

Sustainable Finance And The Role Of Regulation

The Nordics Can Lead Sustainable Finance Globally The Nordic Countries will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. Having a focus on sustainable financing is one of the prerequisites in order to achieve this ambition.That is the Nordic Vision.

Nordic Fintech by the numbers Digital Payments Total Transaction Value by 2022 (BN)

Digital Payment Users by 2026 b (Mill) 8,69

58,36 46,07 29,80

4,08

22,87

Denmark

Sweden

Finland

Norway

Neobanking Expected Growth In 2023 44%

40%

Iceland

Denmark

Finland

Denmark

Sweden

Norway

Alternative Lending Average Transaction Value by 2022 (K) 40%

38%

Sweden

116,60

33%

117,20

111,90

42,72

Iceland

4,93

0,23

0,91 Iceland

4,10

Finland

Norway

39,15

Iceland

Denmark

Sweden

Finland

Norway

Total number of Fintechs per Country 93

Iceland

320

Denmark

472

Sweden 202

Finland 179

Norway

Where are the top 10 Fintechs leading by total funding Lendify

Klarna

$590 million

$3.7 Billion

Mash

Zettle

$332.8 million

$148 million

Dune Analytics

Lunar

$448.4 million

$79.4 million

AlphaSense

Tink

$295.1 million

$308.4 million

Pleo

$428.1 million

Juni Sweden

$75.9 million

Norway

Source: www.statista.com/statistics/1137662/total-funding-of-fintech-companies-in-the-nordic-countries | www.crunchbase.com | www.tracxn.com

Finland

Denmark

7 Editorial

A DiSTINCT NORDIC BRAND OF INNOVATION In the twinkling of an eye Nordic Innovation stands out for its simplicity, elegance and functionality, visible hallmarks in the Nordic fintech solutions that are redefining financial services for the region and the rest of the world.

he 3rd of January 2009 was the most significant date in current finance. This was the mining date of the Genesis block of Bitcoin (BTC). As diehard Bitcoin enthusiasts know, the Genesis block included a hidden message that served both as a timestamp and as statement of intention. The message read: The Times 03/ Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks. The intent was clear, it was time for a new monetary system. One protected from the whims and abuses of corrupt and powerful actors, where a new set of checks and balances would be enforced through networks, code, and cryptography. In the twinkling of an eye, a new era of money and finance began. No one noticed. More importantly no one cared, as most of us were preoccupied with the uncertainty brought about by the financial crisis that preceded and catalyzed the creation of the first cryptocurrency. Central banks took measures to weather the crisis and new preventive regulation was introduced into the system. At the same time, financial institutions increased their reliance on technology, mostly looking for new ways of doing old things. But something was looming. Technologists in all geographies were reimagining finance through new things to do altogether. The very real possibility of redesigning money and consequently finance from scratch was in sight. Oh, how things have changed 13 years later, the industry is unrecognizable. Disruption has created a new paradigm. Today, we get credit cards from big-tech companies, we trust our money to branchless, digital neobanks and we get interest-free credit for deferred payments at the point of sale. We buy financial products through our airline of choice, businesses get immediate advanced payment of their invoices through a widget, and diners

Chris Crespo, Head of Content, Nordic Fintech Magazine invest in their favorite stocks through food delivery apps. Most astonishingly, what started back in January 2009, as a fringe attempt to tokenize value without the monopoly of the state, has grown into the biggest innovation in modern finance. Today there are 10,363 active cryptocurrencies in circulation with new ones spawning weekly. Each of the top 5 having a market cap of over $50 billion with Bitcoin and Ethereum having a combined market cap of $1,2 trillion. More than 300 million people own cryptocurrency, approximately 13% of those in Europe alone, and an estimate 18,000 businesses already accept them as a form of payment. As with any movement the ones who stand to lose the most are the most resistant to change. Nevertheless, after going through the various stages of grief: Denial: “Pff, Bitcoin Schmitcoin, Anger: Ban them! Ban them all! Bargaining: Let’s assemble a taskforce, and Acceptance: “Dear customers! Come see our new

crypto products”, the traditional financial system is catching on. It wasn’t easy though, it took stark shifts in customer behavior, enormous pressure from customer expectations, and a multiyear global pandemic to “persuade” observers watching it all unfold from the fence. A distinct Nordic brand of innovation In 2016, Denmark became my 7th “Home country” in 20 years. As a newcomer to the region, a few things immediately stood out. An unfaltering trust in public institutions, a high level of digitalization, and a rather progressivist approach to social policy. However, none was more salient than the distinct Nordic brand of innovation, palpable everywhere, from driverless public transport to state issued digital IDs, share-economy startups, and new-Nordic cuisine. But after seeing and experiencing innovation in various parts of the world, I concluded that Nordic Innovation’s strength lies not in its volume. Developing countries,

with their many ailments, can reveal just as much, if not more of it. But Nordic innovation is different. Nordic innovation seeks to perfect. It aims to find elegant solutions that solve problems with charm, subtlety, and finesse. It’s been said that sometimes simplicity and elegance are indistinguishable from each other. That, is Nordic Innovation. The Nordics’ staggering ratio of 1 unicorn per million inhabitants, second only to Silicon Valley, and the fact that with only 4% of the European population, it generates 10% more billion dollar exits than the rest of Europe combined1 is a testament to the conviction with which Nordic founders approach entrepreneurship. Nordic entrepreneurship is unmistakable. Its hallmarks of functional minimalism and aesthetic are stamped in their vision of new financial services that are open, free flowing, invisible and crafted to serve the needs of its users. The emerging Nordic Fintech ecosystem realizes that Nordic citizens don’t need bank accounts, credit cards or mobile payments, but rather practical solutions that blend in gracefully with their lifestyle, that are available when they need them, and can simply vanish into the background when they don’t. This to me, is the power of Nordic Fintech and why the world is turning to this small but mightily innovative region for solutions. In this issue we celebrate the boldness, vision, and simplicity with which Nordic Fintech has owned the task of reimagining finance. Leveraging the best technological advances and bringing them to serve the needs of its users. The future of Nordic and Global Finance is supercharged with promise and excitement. With new opportunities for cross industry co-creation of fairer, simpler, and more competitive alternatives for users of financial services, in the Nordics and beyond. 1. A guide to Nordic Innovation: Europe’s Unicorn Factory 2021

Nordic Innovation - Global Scale I am often asked the question of “why are the Nordics so special?”. And that is quickly followed up by another one. “For a small region of 27 million people, you do turn out quite a lot of fintech unicorns. How come?”

T Thomas Krogh Jensen CEO, Copenhagen Fintech

his article is written on the plane home from yet another visit to the financial capital of the world, London, visiting some of the world’s biggest banks for the first time since the global pandemic made us all work from home and rapidly accelerated the use of Zoom, Google Hangouts and Microsoft Teams. Again, I was asked about the Nordic uniqueness and reason for the ‘unicorn factory’ status when it comes to fintech innovation. All my contacts were genuinely curious about this ‘small great region’ up north that has gained status as a global hotbed for ventures in financial technology. So, let’s explore some of the reasons why financial innovators should explore and learn from what is going on in the Nordic countries. Most digital countries The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) summarises indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the prog-

ress of EU countries. The top 3 countries in 2022. Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Most innovative countries The Global Innovation Index 2021 captures the innovation ecosystem performance of 132 economies. In top 10 you will find Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Most sustainable countries The 2020 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 180 countries across 32 performance indicators. Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway are all in top 10. The Sustainable Development Report 2021 presents the SDG Index and Dashboards for all UN member states. The top 3 countries are Finland, Sweden and Denmark. One more? The Global Sustainability Competitiveness Index confirms that the Nordics are the leading region in sustainability. Leading in ‘Open Banking’ Coincidence that Visa bought open banking startup Tink from Sweden and

Mastercard acquired Aiia from Denmark? I think not. In general, the banks in the Nordic region are open (driven by regulation) and many of them are actively perusing partnerships with fintech startups. From the 2021 Mastercard report on ‘The Future of Open Banking in Europe” you can read that, ”From a pan-European perspective, the regional regulatory regimes in the Nordic countries seem to be slightly more advanced regarding Open Banking ecosystems and digital payment services than the domestic approaches of other countries”

The Nordic countries combine a vibrant competitive landscape of banks, payments specialists, and start-up companies with a long tradition of cooperation and collaboration.

Leading in E-government The 11th edition of the UN E-Government Survey in 2020 ranks Denmark, Sweden and Finland as top performers (those in the highest rating class of the very high EGDI group). A digital financial infrastructure that fuels innovation The Nordic countries have been at the vanguard of innovation in digital, mobile, and instant payments for decades. The Nordic countries combine a vibrant competitive landscape of banks, payments specialists,

and start-up companies with a long tradition of cooperation and collaboration. Nordic Human Centered Design Approach The final element is the Nordic design tradition that dates to the furniture and architecture sectors in the 1950s and 1960s that focused on human-centered design and problem solving. The formula of combining our highly digitized infrastructure and digital adoption and our focus on sustainability and human-centered design solutions is a

very interesting cocktail for regional and global financial institutions. If you made it so far to read this, congrats. Now you know what makes the Nordics one of the most interesting regions when it comes to fintech. Next step is to go explore the ecosystem, connect with the many inspiring founders, entrepreneurs, industry experts etc. And as always, the Copenhagen Fintech team are here to help you do exactly that. Explore, connect, and partner. Elevating and scaling New Nordic Innovation since 2016.

Nordic Innovation is taking frontstage as the region continues to produce a streak of winning fintechs and unicorns that are redefining financial services across Northern Europe and the rest of the world. We asked some of the most visionary thought leaders in fintech, what, in their view, makes Nordic innovation special.

Trust is the number one currency in today’s fintech ecosystem. The Nordics bring values to the table that set the standard for what customers need next in the world of fintech: Authentic commitment to trust, activation of sustainability, and distinction as a responsible orchestrator of innovation.

Andrea Kates, Partner at Suma Ventures

bring a perspective as a tech leader who lives in Silicon Valley and works with global players in fintech. As the global forces started to shift the center of gravity from traditional banking credit,

insurance, and payment companies toward fintech leaders, the world of financial services started to optimize for new skills that are inherently part of the Nordic DNA.

TRUST IS THE CENTRAL CURRENCY...

he Nordic region represents a set of values that addresses today’s central currency in Fintech: Trust. From a strictly transactional perspective, everyone can be a fintech company now. Payments are embedded into services; tech companies and retailers have entered the payments world. He who earns the trust of the cus-

tomer through a consistent set of values earns permission to transact. The Nordic region has been home to companies like Danish company Lunar, which has earned the trust of the gaming community and Dreams, a Swedish neobank that has earned the trust of small investors by creating an engaged community.

SUSTAINABILITY NEEDS ACTIVATION...

RESPONSIBLE ECOSYSTEM ORCHESTRATORS ARE KEY...

ordics are ahead of the curve in not only talking about sustainability but living it. The last mile in sustainability comes through companies like Solstroem, a Danish company that enables carbon financing, Sweden’s Earthbanc and Normative —all dedicated to incorporating sustainable decisions into financial transactions, seamlessly.

ordic companies have demonstrated their talents in bringing together technology, customers, and complementary players in refreshing and important ways. The technologies at the core of fintech are evolving quickly, giving tech companies an advantage over incumbents in the design and implementation of global currency exchange options, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, innovations. Companies that enable many players to thrive by enabling the use of advanced technologies will win. Examples: Chainalysis’s platform for block-

Transparency Rules Financial transactions are increasingly interconnected on a global basis, and data transparency is the new standard. In today’s market, companies need to stand for fairness versus winner-takeall profit taking. Look at Wise’s stance on “extreme transparency”—and their

chain, Tink’s open banking platform, and Vipps’s seamless mobile payment application. Nordic companies have proven themselves to be fair brokers in emerging markets, opening the door for more widespread participation in saving, credit, investment, flexible transactions, and commerce. Inclusion is the critical factor in truly solving the underlying priorities for a huge population of what has previously been called “the unbanked”—people who were not served by traditional financial institutions. Inspiring companies

emergence as a unicorn—as a driver of their growth. Incumbents that need to reinvent can learn from the leadership priorities of companies like Saxo Bank, whose core commitment to psychological safety creates a Petri dish for broad participation in corporate innovation.

like Dreamplan, Pleo, and Holvi bring platforms, products and services that widen the net of the community that can participate. The Nordics represent core values that are aligned with the principles that drive growth in fintech today. Nordic fintech companies are well positioned to not only serve existing customers with more flexible, transparent, and trustworthy options, but broaden and diversify the community of people who can take advantage of innovative services that are specifically invented to address unmet needs.

Karina Rothoff Brix, Country Manager for Denmark at Firi

he Nordics are first of all very used to the paperless money society. By far most families in the Nordics are using digital payment solutions in their everyday life and therefore the testing of new products is far easier than in other parts of the world.To give an example, the use of the P2P transfer and payment service MobilePay is so widely used in Denmark that people use it to identify unknown phone numbers as well as for

its intended services. Other factors like our educational system, the mutual trust through the Scandinavian borders, in our governments and a collaborative mindset makes shifts and tests easier to implement. Furthermore the size of the regions is an important factor as the Nordic population in total is no more than 30 mill people which is said to enable a closer collaboration between institutions and

the corporate sector. Last but not least is the history of creating tech successes and enabling young university students to create start-ups and test out ideas at an early stage. The ecosystem in the Nordics is well defined and the existence of a local huge tech success creates both a lot of knowledge pools, access to finance and role models.

Tom Holgerson, CEO at Findec- Swedens Fintech Hub

think the Nordics stand out compared to the rest of the world when it comes to the environment and sustainable solutions. Especially Sweden which has the highest number of investments

in green fintech and impact solutions across Europe. I believe this is just the beginning of something that will have a global reach and a significant influence on all of mankind.”

Liv Freihow, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at NBX

here is something about the Nordics that makes it a magic origin for technology and finance. While social platforms have been developed and led from the USA, the Nordic countries are home to some of the leading fintech solutions in the world. As longtime cash-

less societies, Scandis have been quick to develop and adopt new digital financial products. The combination of a booming entrepreneurial ecosystem, small, trust-based markets and a digitally savvy population makes us perfectly situated to take lead in designing and adopting the

Aleksi Grym, Head of Fintech at the Bank of Finland

here are two things that stand out in the Nordics. There is a decades old vibrant tech scene, with great software companies and an atmosphere conducive to new tech-oriented businesses. The Nordics provide a very good environment to start up and test new companies and that setup for entrepreneurship has been there for a long time. In addition to that, the Nordics also have

a very strong financial sector with strong old established banks that are very advanced in terms of digital transformation. We’ve had mobile banking and online banking for years, and the infrastructure that’s underpinning it is very strong. It is therefore a natural development that if you have a strong banking sector and a great tech scene that these two would come together.

new generation of crypto-based services as well. From crypto exchanges, to web 3 gaming, to crypto analytics - some of the main players in crypto are spinning out of the Nordics these days. This attracts both capital and talent to our region - strengthening the ecosystem even further.

Financial Services Here, There and Everywhere: The Embedded future of Finance Opening access to customer data and functionality in banks platforms has given way to an avalanche of innovation as fintechs find new opportunities to create value for financial organizations and their customers. Innovators in this space are only just starting to uncover the huge potential that lies in the access, analysis and transfer of data, revealing patterns that anticipate customer needs and enable, highly personalized, immediate and convenient services. By Chris Crespo

mbedded finance is an evolution of Open banking, the colloquial name given to a concept brought about by an EU directive requiring banks to create digital interfaces to data and functionality in their banking platforms. The aim was simple, make data a shareable asset by enabling it to travel securely between a customer’s bank account and any authorized third party. Yet, the whole concept of openness was a significant departure from a culture of confidentiality, self-sufficiency and tight regulation that has always permeated financial services. Today open banking is a reality on which many companies are building new services, business models and exciting ways of serving customers. With the rails in place, a spike in innovation has led to businesses like retailers, airlines, utilities, and other financial institutions, to integrate financial services like payments, insurance, and even investment into their customer experiences. “It is about increasing business and getting more loyal customers” says Fredrik Neumann, Nordics Country Manager for Worldpay. “If you can offer more value to the customer by adding, not only the

payment part, but lending, insurance, and other financial services into the customer experience you can increase business and create a loyalty component in the experience”, adds Neumann. Embedded finance is a lifestyle The idea of embedding financial services in unlikely places has been a reality for several years in other markets. In Asia where embedded finance has become a lifestyle, users of mobile Super apps can access an entire service ecosystem with a common financial layer that enables them to transact with one another. Back in the Nordics, where no clear Supper app has yet emerged, the trend is developing in a multipronged way. Frontrunners are leveraging the new digital interface infrastructure to develop narrower customer value propositions along several financial services. Embedded Payments The idea behind embedded payments is that it makes little sense to ask customers to repeat a payment protocol every time they want to make an online or mobile purchase. Instead, by embedding the payment process into the purchasing process the whole experience becomes

Fredrik Neumann Country Manager Nordics, Worldpay Solutions

seamless. Through embedded payments, customers need to complete a one time only step, that links their bank account to the merchant. After that, the customer is free to transact with that company without friction. Nordic users are familiar with this form of embedded payments from companies like Wolt, Lime, or Share Now. Once an account is setup and linked to the user’s bank, they can eat, ride or drive and technology takes care of the payment in the background. Embedded level: “Stealth Mode” A more extreme example that made its debut in the US back in 2018 with Amazon Go stores, but that is now available in the Nordics through walk in, walk out stores in Sweden and Finland, lets customers take items from the

The level of digitalisation in the Nordics is sky high, and so is the need for seamless, elegant and flexible embedded solutions. We estimate the potential B2B embedded finance market in the Nordics to reach 30 billion a month, a whopping 360 billion euros a year! Today open banking is a reality on which many companies are building new services, business models and exciting ways of serving customers.

shelves and just walk out of the stores. A clever system of sensors and cameras tracks exactly what the customer takes, and the store’s app makes an automated and invisible payment as soon as the customer leaves the store. A less sophisticated, but still convenient system is already in operation in Denmark through supermarket chain Netto’s Scan and Go app. The app enables customers to self scan their purchases, bag them as they go along and self checkout through their phones when they are done.

est-free credit at the point of sale, with as little effort as using an app to checkout and pay for goods. A very Nordic example comes from Swedish BNPL company Klarna which lets customers split a purchase into several smaller monthly payments or postpone payment by 30 days. Similarly, Danish neobank Lunar offers customers the option to postpone payment of purchases or bills through a retroactive credit solution that deposits money back into the customer’s account for a fixed price.

Embedded Lending In the past, purchases of larger items, like a fridge or a TV would require credit through a card or an unsecured personal loan. Embedded lending and specifically buy now pay Later (BNPL) give buyers immediate access to short term inter-

A multibillion Euro opportunity Embedded lending can also benefit small and medium businesses. An innovative solution brought to market by Danish embedded lending frontrunner Moneyflow, helps businesses liquidity by making immediate advancements on the payment

Kim Ulf Rehfeld Thoden CEO and Founder, Moneyflow

of their invoices. Moneyflow CEO and Founder Kim Ulf Rehfeld Thoden sees huge potential in the space of embedded services in the Nordics. “The level of digitalisation in the Nordics is sky high, and so is the need for seamless, elegant and flexible embedded solutions. We estimate the potential B2B embedded finance market in the Nordics to reach 30 billion a month, a whopping 360 billion euros a year!” says Rehfeld Thoden. With the various emerging modalities of embedded finance and its yet untapped opportunity for services like insurance, pensions and wealth management, the Nordics are moving one step closer into making financial services ubiquitous, available when needed and invisible when not, but always present.

Kim Ulf Rehfeld Thoden CEO and Founder, Moneyflow

Fredrik Neumann, Country Manager Nordics and Germany, Worldpay Solutions

By Simone Okkels

hen you hail a ride with Uber you probably don’t even think about having cash at hand or taking out your card at the end of the ride to pay the driver anymore. When you want a quick snack and use the McDonald’s app to pay for your fries, you can pick them up in the drive-through on your way back home without worrying about change. And when you go to work in the morning you can pay for your coffee in your Starbucks app and earn rewards while doing so. You might not notice it but embedded payments are getting woven into the fabric of our digital infrastructure everywhere. Embedded payments are the umbrella term for a variety of financial products that are seamlessly integrated into the customer journey when buying a product or a service. Embedded finance lets any company offer financial services Embedded payments are part of the larger financial trend known as embedded finance. It lets any company from retailers to car dealers or energy companies offer payments, insurance, loans, financing or tax services to enhance the customer experience, improve sales and loyalty, and in general add new revenue streams to their business, explains Fredrik Neumann, country manager Nordics, Worldpay from FIS. “Real-time payments have become a necessity. Many countries, companies, and governments are making investments to enable real-time payments. It is a simple concept but requires immense standardisation. But the investment will pay off. Simply put: Real-time payments will enable greater transparency and speed in payments from one party to another. It matters because waiting for your money is stressful and forces companies to take on excess liquidity that could be put to better use,” he says. Two primary drivers of embedded payments There are two primary drivers of embedded finance and thus embedded payments: the spread of digitalization and the desire to enhance control over the customer experience. On top of that, the Covid pandemic sped up the evolution of embedded finance when businesses were forced to make decisions about how to accept payments and retain customers. “Digitalization is the fundamental driver of the need to collaborate to achieve the desired experience. But perhaps more important is that growth is based on a positive customer experience. What is the point of delivering phenomenal

The Nordics are generally known as an innovative region when it comes to mobile, digital and instant payments.

customer service if all is shot when you transfer a customer to a third party whose experience is antiquated? The desire to improve these experiences and make them frictionless is the true driver behind the uptake of embedded financial services,” says Fredrik Neumann. Worldpay discovered in their research, that for every additional page online the customer has to go to ultimately yields a drop off in customers - often to the competitors who have easier onboarding processes. The lesson is to make your payment or insurance process as frictionless as possible and limit what else you offer upon checkout. “Customers expect immediacy from all interactions and service providers

standing what your customer journey is and identifying its pain points,” says Fredrik Neumann.

Simply put: Real-time payments will enable greater transparency and speed in payments from one party to another. Fredrik Neumann, country manager Nordics & Sweden, Worldpay Solutions

these days. The key to embedded finance and business owners is under-

Local Nordic wallets are growing The Nordics are generally known as an innovative region when it comes to mobile, digital and instant payments. In all Nordic countries, debit card transactions represent more than 90 % of card payment transaction volume and at least 80 % of the total value of card payments. Payments in-app are also seeing an increase in the Nordics from ApplePay and GooglePay to local wallets. “Local wallets like MobilePay, Swish and Vipps are seeing tremendous growth these years due to the fact that

The high digitization of Nordic societies has enabled the Nordics to grow a payments ecosystem far greater than its modest market size would support. Tony Bach Christensen Director of Strategic Partnership, Nets Issuer & eSecurity

they have succeeded in creating a frictionless payment experience when shopping online,” says Tony Bach Christensen, Director of Strategic Partnership at Nets Issuer & eSecurity. Nordic consumers are used to contactless payments. Back in 2015, NFC based payments began substituting chip and pin. The widespread early adoption helped prepare the consumers for the tap-and-go experience of mobile wallet payments. Such a simple process was considered a great challenge to consumer fear and distrust when it came to “handle my money matters.” “The most important aspect of embedded payments, and an aspect in which the Nordic solutions and banks gener-

ally excel, is the question of consumer trust and its prerequisite, transparency,” says Tony Bach Christensen citing Nets’ Payments Outlook report 2021. Trust has super-charged the Nordic payments ecosystem When talking about frictionless or “invisible” payments, there is usually a tradeoff between security and anti-fraud measures versus reducing the pain of paying. In the Nordics, each country has a national digital identity solution adopted by banks and governments alike, ideally suited for mobile embedded payment. Thus, Nordic payment solutions including mobile wallets have been able early on to embed the safety aspect into

a smooth user journey supported by increasing thresholds of payments not requiring rigid authentication. “Consumer trust in banks and payment facilitators; like local wallets, Klarna and gift card providers etc., is high, regulation is thorough and widely respected enabling more players to enter this space in the Nordics than perhaps anywhere else in the world. This combined with the high digitization of Nordic societies has enabled the Nordics to grow a payments ecosystem far greater than its modest market size would support. And we are in fact talking about five different markets and not one homogenous market,” says Tony Bach Christensen.

A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF FINTECH Hard as it may be to predict the future, we can gain some foresight by looking at the agendas of fintechs in the region. We asked 4 fintech founders what their top priorities for 2022 were. Here’s a glimpse into what’s coming.

Axel Bruzelius, COO & Founder at Ark Kapital Preparing to help tech companies on a major scale. We recently closed our debt and equity funding, and are helping companies with long-term non-dilutive funding, and cutting edge performance analytics. We are now scaling up on the IT/AI- as well as underwriting side to this at a significantly larger scale.

Settling into our operational model. After starting the year with a hiring spree we are set to scale the team from 12 to 30 FTEs in H1. We have managed to build a dream team of diverse talent across analytics, development and finance, and now its about fine tuning how the different teams work together.

Recruiting for international expansion. We have established a presence in Sweden and Denmark, and are looking for the right people to open up more major European markets for us. We do not want to rush this, instead focusing on finding the right individuals to ensure the full ArK experience from the get go in new markets.

Stine Kalmer Jørgensen, CEO and Founder at Dreamplan Making sure more people know how to optimise their finances - with or without Dreamplan. There is a huge potential and many people are much wealthier than they think.

Focus on the development of our team. We have spent the past months successfully fundraising and we have now gone into execution mode. Execution should be both fun and efficient.

Make our product even better. Our focus on customer feedback takes time and patience but is invaluable in improving our product all the time.

Guðmundur Kristjánsson, CEO & Founder at Lucinity Make money good: Continuing our mission will always be our main priority, working with our partners to make money good, by fighting financial crime.

Be the most loved product in our industry: We will continue to build an AI solution that is a true friend to our users, a solution that helps them unlock behavioral insights to identify risky customers and reduce exposure.

Flourish as a growth company: The recent years have highlighted the importance of culture and the power of people. We will heavily emphasize our staff’s well-being while continuing to rapidly grow the Lucinity family.

Monika Liikamaa, Co-CEO and Co-Founder at Enfuce

Secure funding. The geopolitical situation is challenging.

Take care of our people. Many of us have friends and other close connections to Ukraine and also to Russia. We must make sure that no one feels left alone during these tough times.

Take care of customers. Without customers, we don’t have business.

Strongholds of the Nordics Despite, or maybe because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nordic fintech community is growing, innovating and making headlines.

he Nordics have a history of digitally-savvy citizens and companies who are willing and able to pick up new technology. The pandemic forced the entire world to do more online and move parts of life into the digital realm that was once done mostly offline; for example shopping, banking and working. Suddenly, the demand for digital solutions to traditional financial problems was more pressing. Nordic fintech took advantage of the challenges and turned the pandemic into an opportunity for change and to make things better faster. With the Nordic history of trusting in the governments and institutions and trusting each other, the Nordic fintech space has blossomed into a global success story. Of course, there are challenges but in general, this small region of the world lives up to its reputation for innovating for a better world focusing on its citizens and the environment. We have chosen ten remarkable fintechs from the five Nordic countries who have not only survived the pandemic but have shown that it is possible to thrive even through hard times as long as we help each other and support a bigger common goal: a better future for all.

Total number of Fintechs per Country:

Finland Norway

202

179

Iceland

Denmark

320 472

Sweden

ICELAND

Lucinity

Solving FinCrime with Human AI

ompliance professionals are facing ever more complexity and ever more criminal creativity. Despite regulations, only around one per cent of all money laundering cases are detected or recovered. That is where Lucinity comes in. The Icelandic SaaS and AML compliance platform is on a mission to make money good by combining the best of human and artificial intelligence. They call it human AI. Lucinity was founded in 2018 in Reykjavik. The team has experience in bank-

ing, compliance, regulation and data science which they use to tackle money laundering with simple-to-use systems. They believe technology should complement human skills to achieve a great goal: stop the funding of serious crime around the world. With the Lucinity platform, compliance teams can observe and understand customer activity reducing caseloads by up to 50 per cent and increasing capture rates through behavioural detection. The technology

supports and empowers AML analysts to identify risk exposures and suspicious behaviour faster with data-driven decision making. Instead of relying on static rules and self-reported KYC, the continuous behaviour analysis gives a holistic view of the customer’s risk score which is automatically and continuously updated based on the customer’s actual behaviour. Lucinity operates globally with offices in Reykjavik, London and New York.

Autenteq

Omnichannel ID verification

he demand for online ID verification and KYC services has surged in the past few years. As we moved our lives even more into the digital space the need for knowing who you are interacting with and securing your data and crypto has increased. The Icelandic company Autenteq is the world’s leading fully automated eKYC Identity Verification platform. Autenteq was founded in 2015 and has offices in Berlin and Reykjavik. The company set out to create a way to

guarantee identities online. In 2019, they raised five million dollars from Draper Associated and capital300 and today they successfully enable businesses to trust their customers and allow the customers to keep control of their identity. Authenteq developed a simple 3-step process for KYC Identity Verification. In 35 seconds, the AI-powered, fully automated eKYC and identity verification platform can determine if the user is who they say they are. First, the user scans their government-is-

sued ID. Then they take a selfie where the so-called Liveness Check determines if a genuine person is taking the photo in real-time. Lastly, a government-grade facial recognition is used to match the selfie photo and the ID. The fast and seamless onboarding has reduced dropout rates and increased conversion rates making it easier to get access to online services with an extra layer of safety like as example telehealth, medical records, crypto, investment and payments.

very rich but with the downturn in 2018, many people lost money. Couple that with GDPR and the New Money Laundering Act. But the team working day and night pushed through and Firi got a Norwegian bank account, access to BankID services and KYC/AML tools which are integrated into the platform. To Firi, working closely with public organisations and financial institutions is an important part of making cryptocurrency safe, trustworthy and easy to use. Therefore, Firi stores and secures

customer funds in both hot and cold storage. The majority is in cold storage at all times in a multi-signature wallet. Funds invested are insured by Ledger Enterprise Solutions and all accounts registered on Firi must have two-factor authentication. In 2019, Firi registered with the Norwegian Supervisory Authority as a cryptocurrency exchange and custodial solution - the first in Norway. Now, more than 140.000 Norwegians are investing in cryptocurrencies via Firi’s platform.

Neonomics has been authorized by the Norwegian FSA as a licensed payment institution and delivers payment initiation and account information services to a wide range of customers. To them, open banking is all about giving the power of financial services back to the people. Their products and approach reflect their vision of powering the next generation of financial services. By integrating with Neonomics, Fintechs, payment service providers, banks and more can save money with every transaction with all payment features wrapped in the same

API. Account ownership can be instantly verified. Bank data can be accessed and integrated in real-time into any product and credit decisioning is streamlined with categorized transaction data. In April 2022, Banqsoft, a leading provider of digital banking solutions in the Nordics, partnered with Neonomics to expand its payments and data enhancement offerings through open banking. The growing company is headquartered in Oslo and employs more than 100 people with more than 25 nationalities based across Europe.

NORWAY

Firi

A Nordic crypto exchange

iri was started in 2017 when the founders Thuc Tuan Hoang and Øyvind Kvanes saw a need for a local crypto exchange to make cryptocurrencies available to anyone. Today, Firi is the largest service for trading cryptocurrencies in the Nordic region making it possible to buy and sell for example Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano. Starting Norway’s first crypto exchange was not easy. The volatile digital currencies were the talk of the town and had the potential to make people

Neonomics

One API to connect them all

eonomics means “new economy” and that is exactly what this Norwegian fintech aims to achieve. Neonomics connects the movement of transactions and data from more than 2500 banks and 150 million bank customers through one API. In 2017, the company was founded as a direct response to the radical transition from traditional banking into the era of PSD2 and open banking. Neonomics wanted to unify access by creating the most secure and cost-efficient pure PSD2 API platform in the market.

FINLAND

Invesdor

Europe’s crowd investment platform

n 2020, Invesdor reported 25.9 million euros in funding from 6200 individual transactions. The securities crowdfunding platform is a pioneer in the growing space of crowd investment. Invesdor was founded to make it easier to invest in companies they believe in and feel empowered to take their future and assets into their own hands. Invesdor was first launched as a Nordic platform but quickly expanded to large parts of Europe since its founding in 2012. In mid-2019 Invesdor completed a

merger with the Austrian online debt platform Finnest. In 2021 they announced a consolidation with Kapilendo, formerly an Austrian fintech offering digital investment banking to SMEs, under the Invesdor brand. This move made the Invesdor Group one of the largest investment and financing platforms in Europe with offices in Finland, Austria and Germany. Invesdor’s experts seek to carefully choose their investments and only offer rounds they themselves believe in. Through the platform,

SMEs and growth companies have direct access to the European investment market. The platform also helps anyone become an investor in these growth companies that come from more than 70 countries. As investments can be diversified across Europe, investing in growth companies is becoming more attractive. To date, more than 124000 users have collectively invested over 320 million euros in European companies in more than 515 financing rounds.

wanted to be as they say “better, faster, scalable,” but had no money to reach their goals. Another pivotal moment was packaging the product CaaS, Card as a Service. With Card as a Service, FinTechs can start issuing scalable payment cards in weeks and get access to the widest payment portfolio on the market. This enabled them to go big and global. In 2021, Enfuce raised 45 million euros in a Series C investment round led by the international investment company Vitruvian. Enfuce has over 13 million active

card users on its platform and processes close to one billion euros transactions annually. Recently, Enfuce expanded in Germany and France and is one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Europe. Enfuce other key applications include expense management, neobanks, fuel cards, loyalty programmes and corporate and consumer lending. Among Enfuce’s customers are Pleo, St1, Gee Financen, Qred and Rabobank.

Ark Kapital is a precision financing company that wants to empower early-stage technology businesses to grow smarter and faster. Instead of basing their lending on the past, like banks, or basing their lending on the present like the fintech challenges of today, Ark Kapital bases its solutions on what will happen. Ark targets companies that are predicted to grow but who are not yet profitable. They use their ArK Intelligence Machine, an AI-powered plat-

form, to analyse the company and offer a tailored selection of financial and intelligence products. The company gets access to AI insights daily. The aim is to give more power to the people building the companies so they can retain ownership and use data to find the best financing option for their unique situation. ArK Kapital is founded by Spotify’s esVP of Anlytics Henrik Landgren, six-time founder Oliver Hildebrandt, and veteran banker Axel Bruzelius.

Enfuce

Issue cards in no time

nfuce is challenging the stereotypical picture of banking. Lead by two female co-CEOs, Enfuce is a cloud-based financial service provider that specializes in next-level card issuing and payment processing services. Monika Liikamaa and Denise Johansson founded Enfuce in 2016 together with three other co-founders. They set out to rebuild payments from the ground up. One of the pivotal decisions that came from their brainstorming was to build their business on public cloud. They

SWEDEN

Ark Kapital

Empowering future successes

Nordic early-stage startup has positioned itself as a strong competitor in an emerging field, the field of precision financing. Precision finance, like precision medicine, seeks to customize financial interventions based on the individual company’s or investor’s situation and context. At end of March 2022, Stockholm-based Ark Kapital raised 165 million euros in Seed Founding. It is quite the round given the fact that Ark Kapital was only just launched in November 2021.

Dreams

Emotion powered neobanking

motions are a powerful driver of human behaviour. But often fintech and emotions are not two words closely associated. But the Swedish Neobank Dreams taps directly into our human emotions to motivate positive action and behaviour change. Dreams was founded in 2013 and developed a consumer-based app that nudges users to live more sustainably through smart investments, income tracking, debt payment, improved savings and financial coaching. Dreams

is co-created with leading scientists in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioural economics to boost customer engagement and financial wellbeing. In 2019, Dreams launched as a cloud-native B2B platform. To survive in the digital and global competitive attention economy, banks must prioritise financial wellbeing for their customers. Dreams functions as an embedded, personalized CX layer that frames and enhances the existing digital financial products. The platform delivers a

360-degree view of customers’ dreams, actions and behaviours. It combines rich data with transactional and open banking data which provides personalised experienced and cross-sell recommendations. Customers can set and achieve financial goals within debt management, saving and investment. Dreams call it effective engagement banking. Two out of three users report feeling less stressed after two months with Dreams and have in general 2000 euros extra in saving per year.

ence. The human expertise is supported by the Risika platform that leverages machine learning to help companies predict paying and non-paying customers. 80 per cent of debtor-loss comes from existing customers. Risika provides live company data and real-time market overviews to make informed decisions and identify profitable customers. This helps B2B companies save money by avoiding losses and automating manual processes. With the help of the machine learning platform, it gets easier to

focus on healthy customers and profitable relationships and avoid wasting time on unprofitable leads. Risika not only sells a SaaS product. The company also developed an API integration. The REST API provides accurate and understandable business insights to help companies make profitable decisions based on data they can trust and thereby minimizing financial risk. In December 2021, the company announced a 35 million Danish kroner investment led by Seed Capital.

help the end-users through partnerships with banks. Subaio wants to simplify the complex and in line with that vision they offer three main services: Overview, cancel a subscription and get notified. All three can be integrated into the bank’s interface in a seamless white label setup. The API-based setup lets you view all your subscriptions and recurring payments in one overview that can even predict upcoming payments based on your payment history. If you want to cancel a subscription you don’t even

have to worry about which email you signed up with. You mark it, sign a power of attorney and the system does the rest. If a subscription changes, Subaio notifies you. It also notifies you unknowingly signed up for a subscription trap and will monitor cancelled subscriptions to make sure there are no surprise payments. Every day, Subaio’s AI monitors more than one billion payments to spot subscriptions. In 2021, Subaio raised 30 million Danish kroner from Global Paycheck Ventures.

DENMARK

Risika

Predict paying customers

isika is a Danish risk management startup that set out to change the way we think about credit rating agencies. They combine real human relationship building and machine learning to create trust and understanding. Risika was founded in 2017 by a team with experience in banking, accounting and statistics who were passionate about changing the status quo of financial risk management. The team quickly grew to also encompass specialists in auditing, sales, data and computer sci-

Subaio

Subscription management

t all began at a hackathon in 2016. One of the founders of Subaio found an odd payment on his family’s monthly bank statement. It was a forgotten subscription to an online newspaper he had used only once. Subscriptions can easily hide in everyday stress and long financial statements, so Subaio was born to help customers save money with subscription management. Subaio is based in Aalborg and Copenhagen in Denmark. Subaio is built by bank engineers for bank engineers to

The Future of Credit Worthiness Historically credit worthiness has been determined on a set of discretionary and sometimes nebulous criteria that help lenders determine the risk of a borrower defaulting on a loan. These models have traditionally been based on statistics that make general assumptions about borrowers. Data openness and advances in analytics are enabling fintech companies to devise more sophisticated and accurate methods to assess an individual or a business credit worthiness, creating greater transparency for lenders and borrowers alike. By Chris Crespo

ou are being judged. Whether you like it or not, if you use financial products, you are regularly judged and scored by agencies and financial institutions on a set of discretionary criteria that defines whether you or your business is deemed worthy of financial services like a line of credit, a mortgage, or a personal loan. Credit worthiness is typically assessed on five areas of financial activity: 1. Length of credit history 2. Amount of new credit available through credit cards or other financial products 3. Different types of credit owned, for example personal loans, car loans or mortgages 4. Past consistency in meeting payment obligations 5. Previous use of available credit The idea behind a system that judges our credit worthiness is that our past financial behaviour is the best predictor of how we are likely to behave in the future, and this helps banks and other organizations, determine how much risk people, businesses and governments represent as a trading partner or a debt-

or. However, credit worthiness models are outmoded, based on gross generalizations and not entirely accurate. A perfect storm for disruption.

ments on credit worthiness, reducing the incidence of non-performing loans, and helping customers make the right choices on their use of financial products.

It’s all in the data Fintech companies have been able to deploy their technological prowess to develop new digital business models that run on data. It is the extraction, crunching and transfer of data that give Fintechs and edge and enable them to create delightfully seamless experiences for customers. But within the data are often hidden patterns of behavior that reveal much about an individual or a business purchasing habits, preferences and relationships to other businesses and institutions. By combining multiple sources of data, Fintech companies are now able to identify broader patterns that more accurately predict our likelihood to honor our financial commitments. How long we’ve been with our mobile phone provider, how often we’ve been late on paying our bills and whether we overindulge in pizza at the end of the month are all likely to show up in our bank’s data. When aggregated into a higher fidelity score, banks and other financial organizations can make better judge-

Good for lenders and borrowers Danish fintech Subaio was founded in 2016 with the aim to empower bank customers to identify and manage recurrent payments. An unidentified charge in the founder’s bank statement, led him and his founding team to develop an entire solution optimized to easily find and cancel recurring payments originating from unwanted subscriptions. What Subaio have come to realize is that by finding the recurring payment data, they are also able to document exactly how much money a customer earns and spends, shedding more light into how much a customer should be able to get in a credit line. “By building a credit worthiness assessment on the actual transactions, instead of statistics, which is what has been done historically, banks can give loans to people who have the ability to pay them back” says Soren Nielsen, COO at Subaio, “and that also goes for buy-now-pay-later companies, leasing companies, consumer finance companies and others” he adds.

Kim Lundberg Country Manager, Ark Denmark

By building a credit worthiness assessment on the actual transactions, instead of statistics, which is what has been done historically, banks can give loans to people who have the ability to pay them back. Soren Nielsen, COO at Subaio

Transparency is the new currency of trust Banks and consumers are not the only ones benefiting from this trend, high growth technology startups are ripping the benefits from new credit worthiness data-based assessment models too. Swedish financial startup Ark Kapital is an intersection between a lending business and a data business that provides loans to technology companies with high growth potential. To assess the potential growth path and profitability of these companies, Ark plugs into their raw data and bring it into their loan assessment. That information is also made available to the companies through a live dashboard, that provides 24/7 transparency of the analysis and trends that Ark looks into. “As a lender you ask for a business plan, and the complete financial model. We do that as well, but on top of that we collect data from the startups software services to see how they acquire customers, how their customers behave and engage. All that additional data provides us with another picture for us to have comfort in making long term loans which is what we do” says Kim Lundberg, Country Manager at Ark Denmark. Only the beginning It’s fair to say that fintechs have only just started to scratch the surface of what’s possible to do with customer data. As more sophisticated insights and foresight models emerge, the possibility to have highly customized credit assessment models will become a reality. However, companies, regulators and customers will face the increasing challenge of determining, how much data is enough and how far into our personal lives we allow the companies we transact with to go, to deem us worthy of their services.

Soren Nielsen COO at Subaio

PHOTO: SynergyXR

Welcome to the Corporate Metaverse: the future of how companies use the Internet The Metaverse, that word that suddenly everybody is talking about, but few really understand, is already reshaping the way we live, work and play - and will continue to do so at a pace and magnitude we have never witnessed before. Yep, even more than the Internet. Opinion piece

ost of us are already familiar with or maybe even active participants in what we consider the Metaverse today. If you have played the popular game Fortnite or tried Pokémon Go then you have “dipped your toe” in the Metaverse – albeit a very early-stage interpretation of what the Metaverse can and will become. And here is why: the Metaverse is the next evolution of how we will communicate. It is the internet – just in 3D. Driven by XR technologies like AR, VR, and MR, the Metaverse provides us with a magical mashup between the physical and digital worlds that empowers us to share, connect, and learn in wonderfully new ways. We are finally able to harness the power of 3D and can now immerse ourselves into virtual worlds and layer digital information onto our physical worlds to

Corey Morris Chief Marketing Officer CMO at SynergyXR

enhance our understanding of our surroundings (this is basically what we know as VR and AR today – both of which are manifestations of the Metaverse). Most of us are already familiar with or maybe even active participants in what we consider the Metaverse today. If you have played the popular game Fortnite or tried Pokémon Go then you’ve “dipped your toe” in the Metaverse – albeit a very early-stage interpretation of what the Metaverse will become. Without getting too technical, let us just say

that the Metaverse – an interconnected world where the physical and digital are weaved together and where anyone, anytime can enter and leave – does not exist yet. The future of work is in the Metaverse This is especially true when it comes to how we work. Here, the Metaverse is also the next evolution. Just think about how much of our work today is Internet-dependent (and how we freak out when our Internet goes down!). Without it, most of us wouldn’t last a day. That’s what most of us probably thought when we were permanently sent home to work back at the start of the Covid-pandemic. But look at how quickly we adapted our work tasks, meetings, and processes to accommodate the change – and think about how much the Internet played a

role in facilitating that. In fact, I think the recent shift to remote working or hybrid work models comes as a blessing in disguise for the transition to the Metaverse. The more employees are exposed to virtual workspaces (e.g., Zoom, Teams, etc.) the easier it will be to move work tasks into virtual, augmented, or mixed realities. This leaves the door wide open for a Corporate Metaverse. The Corporate Metaverse If the Metaverse is the next evolution of how we will communicate, then companies need a different set of rules to guide them. Why? Well, a completely “open” Metaverse is not necessarily what companies want or even need. Instead, they need a collection of virtual experiences tailored to their needs, under their control, and with only those

About the author Corey Morris is the Chief Marketing Officer CMO at SynergyXR, one of the world’s leading XR software developers. He has a degree in Marketing and Corporate Communications from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Before joining SynergyXR, he was a Global Marketing Lead at Airbnb and CMO at Gaest.com. stakeholders who’re explicitly invited. This is what we call the Corporate Metaverse. It’s akin to when companies started building corporate websites almost 30 years ago. Back then, like today, they couldn’t play by the same rules as everyone else. That’s why we at SynergyXR have established Seven Rules of the Corporate Metaverse to help companies better understand how to get started in the Corporate Metaverse. These rules provide the conceptual guardrails business leaders need to know, like for example, that in the Corporate Metaverse you must think about security and privacy in a whole new context. Rome was not built in a day One thing to remember is that the Metaverse (and Corporate Metaverse) will not be built overnight. It will take some time before we begin to see the true power of the Metaverse. And even though we are seeing increased adoption, there is no need for people to fear that their jobs will become Metaversejobs anytime soon. What they will experience, however, is that over the next 3-5 years XR headsets will become as commonplace as laptops and mobile devices. Simply put, the Metaverse and Corporate Metaverse will become a natural part of how we live, work and play in much the same way, as the Internet did 30 years ago.

About SynergyXR SynergyXR is a no-code, cloud platform that lets companies create their own Corporate Metaverse. With SynergyXR, companies can design products, train employees, and offer remote support across all XR devices without having to write a single line of code. Based in Aarhus, Denmark, SynergyXR has been developing award-winning XR solutions for nearly 15 years. Read more about SynergyXR at: www.synergyxr.com

SynergyXR did a scan of the studio when they visited Nordic Fintech Magazine for a video interview.

Gauging the Impact of Web 3.0 on the Nordic Economy Web 3.0 is the third generation of the World Wide Web, and it promises to be the most transformative yet. With its emphasis on decentralization, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data, Web 3.0 can revolutionize how we depend on technology and significantly impact the Nordic economy. By Marria Qiptia Sikandar Nagra

lrich Slothuus, Account Executive at Redis and Web 3.0 Advisor, believes that “Nordic economies can benefit from Web 3.0 since they are one of the world’s most digitalized economies, but this can only happen provided there are robust execution plans for the same.” Let’s understand how exactly will Web 3.0 influence the Nordic economy for the better: Facilitating Trustless Transactions Web 3.0 promises to make transactions seamless, efficient, and secure. “The aspect of instant availability of data would potentially cut costs for Nordic businesses and consumers, besides reducing fraudulent activities,” contends Slothuus. Trustlessness is an essential aspect of blockchain technology. Since Web 3.0 is leveraged on blockchain technology, it will allow trustless transactions to feasibly take place between two parties without a trusted third-party, bank, person, or intermediary. This was not the case with Web 2.0 since you would have to be sure that whoever owned the medium you were employing to transact was not manipulating your communications. A Web 3.0 trustless transaction is as simple as sending Bitcoin directly to another person- not through a wallet or online exchange stored on a centralized server. The blockchain algorithm controls the entire process of initiating and making a transaction, and there is minimal chance of anyone stepping in to disrupt it. Offering Entrepreneurial Opportunities Web 3.0 brings decentralized data, unlike Web 2.0, which primarily stores data in centralized locations. This aspect of Web 3.0 could lead to newer opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation for the Nordics. Since data will no longer be centrally controlled, anyone

Ulrich Slothuus Account Executive, Redis

will be able to create services and applications that tap into this wealth of information. They will learn new business ways, including peer-to-peer marketplaces and micro-payments for digital goods and services. Also, Nordic businesses will be able to use data from individuals’ devices to improve their products and services and tailor the service experiences as per user needs since “you will be in control of your data and who you want to sell your data to, that’s going change the economy as well” says Slothuus. Creating a Circular Economy In particular, the biggest benefactor of the Web 3.0 business model is slated to be the creator economy. For instance, in the existing version of the internet, content creators are often faced with limitations and restrictions on their platforms to share their content. This births several problems such as content demonetization, content censorship, and even the creator’s de-platforming. Like Instagram owns the photos you posted, you might have captured them to post, but now ownership lies with Instagram. At the same time, consumers come to be monetized for their data, even though they are the driving force behind these social platforms and the primary reason content creators exist. With Web 3.0, this dilemma comes to be duly addressed since it grants content creators complete control over their content. Slothuus adds that “with

the onset of Web 3.0, social platforms will not completely disappear; they will have their play in it. But it needs to be understood that your data will be exclusively your data, reaping you greater monetary benefits.” By tapping into the power of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Web 3.0 will allow creators to enjoy numerous monetization opportunities while simultaneously rewarding consumers for their patronage and participation. This births a circular economy that is free from all types of restraints. Promoting Democracy “Web 3.0 will be more about communities; it will be about people getting together,” contends Slothuus. It will enable fractional ownership of assets and experiences, leading to a more efficient allocation of resources and a more equitable distribution of wealth. It is also expected to boost global democracy and promote more transparency and less corruption. With Web 3.0, people will have more opportunities to connect and share information and views. They will be socially responsible

Web 3.0 will be more about communities; it will be about people getting together Ulrich Slothuus, Account Executive at Redis

and increasingly tolerant of different religions, cultures, sexual orientations, and lifestyles. The Road Ahead In 2022 we are at the crossroads of another significant transformation of interaction with the World Wide Web. The Metaverses and VR worlds emerging today are only the tips of the iceberg. With greater autonomy provided to the consumer on their data in today’s dominant world of Big Tech, Web 3.0 is a beacon of hope for what may lie ahead.

Web 3.0 could lead to new opportunities for entrepreneurship and innovation for the Nordics.

Sustainable Finance and the Role of Regulation Sustainable Finance is top of mind for Nordic investor’s these days, as the most conscientious, seek opportunities to do good with their money. We sat down with Theodor Christensen, Head of Sustainability for the Danish FSA to get an expert grip on the basics, laying a foundation for understanding, sustainability, net zero, regulation, competitiveness, and the role that fintech plays in marrying these ideas to the capital flows behind the things that we buy. By Chris Crespo the financial sector is lack of timely, adequate and reliable data. We don’t have the necessary data streams yet to make effective timely investments. Data collection, aggregation of data, support for the crunching of data, are obvious areas where fintech can play a role. Secondly, the democratization of financial markets also plays a role in helping people understand what they are investing in, which is very helpful, as it strengthens investor’s ability to have a conversation and to decide what they want to invest in.

Theodor, tell us about your role and how sustainability relates to financial services. I head the sustainable finance team in the Danish financial supervisory authority. A lot of regulation, that is coming into force, affects the whole financial sector in Europe, and we wanted to take a broad perspective, looking across the different parts of the financial sector to ensure we work in a harmonized way with this new agenda. We hear a lot about sustainability, but we only get to hear the soundbites in the media. Could you tell us, what is sustainability and why it is important for society? We have to look at the two universally agreed landmark agreements: the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. These two speak fundamentally about people and planet, and form the basis for a more sustainable, just, and safe world. We need to develop a system that lifts people out of poverty and gives them access to services that let them prosper and develop. At the same time, we need an economic model that considers climate change without limiting our ability to prosper as a human race, so we have a planet that is inhabitable for future generations. Any long term sustainable global solution needs to look at the societal impact of the policies that we are developing. We often hear the term “net zero” in relation to sustainability, can you explain to us what “net zero” means? Science tells us that the world is warming in proportion to the level of CO2 emissions on a one-to-one scale. To stabilize global warming, we need to stop emitting CO2. In some sectors, some industrial processes will be very difficult to fully decarbonize in the coming decades. To stabilize the climate

Theodor Christensen, Head of Sustainability for the Danish FSA and stop more CO2 from getting into the atmosphere we also need to take CO2 out of the atmosphere. Net zero basically means that we are taking out as much CO2 from the atmosphere as we’re putting into it. What are some of the most important tools that you have as a regulator to support companies on their sustainability journeys? From January this year the taxonomy regulation went into force. The taxonomy is a scientifically based framework for deciding what are environmentally and climate related sustainable activities. We are supervising how the financial sector aligns to the taxonomy. But it goes beyond the financial sector. The EU taxonomy is a tool to look closely and honestly at how well we are doing. None of the main sectors in today’s world are sustainable to a very large extent, so everything needs to change in the coming decades.

Why do we need sustainability regulation, isn’t most of what we are discussing a matter of civil duty and sound business sense? Most people are aware of these challenges and are adapting their behavior and their consumption patterns. However, it cannot rely soley on individual action, we need systemic change. The term personal carbon footprint was coined by BP Oil back in 2005. BP has been trying to make individuals responsible while at the same time they continue to sell fossil fuels. If you’re an ordinary investor it can be very difficult to figure out what is truly sustainable and what is just marketing. We need to move to a completely different mindset and then we need regulation to tell us what is in and what is out. How can fintech help develop more sustainable business practices? First with the availability and crunching of data. A common problem for

Are you optimistic about the future? I’m a cautious optimist. These are extremely important and hard to solve questions. But change needs to start somewhere. Denmark has a tiny fraction of the global CO2 emissions, but what we do matters. If we can have economic growth and sharply decarbonize our entire economy, including hard to abate sectors, we can be an inspiration for others. The solutions that we find here can be exported and used in other places to leapfrog technologies. The developing world doesn’t need to go through all the technological steps that we did. They don’t need to experiment with windmills, solar, or energy efficiency for 40 years. They can just take the latest technology. Obviously, we need the major economies and most heavy polluters to come around. Europe accounts for only 8-9% of global CO2 emissions. We need the other 90%. Solutions need to scale up and they need to be global but there’s no contradiction between moving at a fast pace in a small country and having global ambitions. Let there be no doubt, there are huge challenges ahead, but if we all come together and work to put our minds to this, we can change the way we live our lives and the way we emit CO2 into the atmosphere. I think it is possible and there’s still hope, absolutely.

The Nordics can lead sustainable finance globally - but investments are needed Sustainable finance plays a key role in achieving net-zero emissions. The social dimension of ESG is becoming more important and if the Nordics want to continue to be at the front we need to invest more in social equality.

By Simone Okkels

he Nordic Countries will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. Having a focus on sustainable financing is one of the prerequisites in order to achieve this ambition. That is the Nordic Vision. Created by Nordic cooperation, the Nordic Vision speaks to what many researchers and organizations have realized in recent years: the financial sector holds enormous power in solving the deepening climate crisis by funnelling private money into carbon-neutral projects, research, and companies. ESG investments do better Even before sustainable finance was the buzzword it is today, it was already on Nordic investors’ radar. “It means there is a better supply of capital for sustainable investments and it also means that measures are being taken in legislature and incentives to invest sustainably,” says Niina Aagaard, Head of Communications for the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Council. Often investments in ESG do better than conventional investments. One factor is that both institutional and industrial investors can manage risk better, which leads to lower capital costs, better returns, and long-term goodwill compared with unsustainable investments portfolios, explains Niina Aagaard. “An organization that works with ESG at all levels is often also prosperous and functional. The ESG also provides a framework for assessing the long-term and financial sustainability of investments, which means that they are often more profitable,” she says. ESG is becoming more comprehensive Standards and regulations for ESG are beginning to emerge; including the EU taxonomy for sustainable investments and for investments that harm biodiversity in sensitive regions. “The ESG is becoming more comprehensive and the social dimension with diversity, gender equality and labour law issues is becoming increasingly important. Access to capital will depend on how organizations can live up to this or not,” says Niina Aagaard. The Nordics can lead by example The Nordic region is further ahead than many other regions in the world in terms of renewable energy, energy conversion and gender equality. However, there is a need to invest significantly in both gender equality, social welfare and the energy transition. There, we can lead by example globally. “A lot is happening when it comes to the green transition. We are already

The ESG provides a framework for assessing the long-term and financial sustainability of investments, which means that they are often more profitable. electrifying the steel and mining industry in the Nordic region. This development will lead to significant emission savings and the same solutions can be implemented on a global level. We work with renewable energy, energy storage, expanding our electricity networks and flexibility. However, we must become better at social equality. Especially with the new geopolitical situation in the world,” says Niina Aagaard.

Sustainable finance in a nutshell: Investment decisions that take into account the environmental, social, and governance factors of an economic activity or project. Harvard Extension School

The Helsinki-based financial institution has been financing green projects since 1990. Their ROI is Return on Impact focusing on growing Nordic green solutions on international markets generating positive environmental or climate-related results.

Stockholm-based Earthbanc has developed a vertically integrated platform that finances and sells carbon credit. They work to support the issuance of green digital bonds on blockchain to remove carbon and support farmers and communities to protect and plant trees.

The digital banking platform helps banks and businesses drive customer engagement, introduce green products, and make ESG strategies more robust.

Niina Aagaard Head of Communications for the Nordic Council

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