The Mind of the CEO

The deconstruction of value chains in finance is happening across all regions, where fintechs are either challenging the status quo of their industry or lowering the barriers to entry for players in other industries to bring their capabilities to bear. This trend is resulting in exciting “mashups” that are opening new service opportunities for customer and rebalancing the competitive landscape.

With broad dissatisfaction with existing financial services in the 70s% as reported by various surveys, we wanted to find out what the CEOs of some of the companies that are reshaping finance are doing to challenge their domains in favour of simpler, better and more adequate customer offerings.

Christian Visti Larsen, CEO & Co-Founder at NewBanking (Denmark)

Most industries will be affected by the future financial regulation and the boundaries between the financial sector and other industries will be challenged. It is not a surprise that most financial services are digital today - but the increasing digitalization and legal requirements, force companies to map all data that travels with the financial services. This puts high pressure on companies, who then need to ask more from their customers. At the same time, end users naturally place high demands on the exchange of data, both in terms of security, safety and usability. NewBanking believes in integration of platforms to exceed those expectations, ensuring high conversion, and low operating/development costs. By doing this, the end users get what they need, and the companies succeed in their KYC processes.

Karin Nemec, CEO & Co-founder of Grünfin (Estonia)

There’s a very common misconception of the boundaries between business and the ever more urgent need for doing good. Most people think it’s either you do good for the planet or you make a good profit. I believe that’s not true. Enter purpose-driven fintech! The key premise behind the concept is that publicly listed, large corporations hold one of the strongest levers for improving on key sustainability issues at a global scale: their own business practices. What purpose-driven investors can now do through fintechs like Grünfin is to make sure their personal values and priorities are put into action in the business practices of their portfolio companies. So there’s an opportunity here to actively do good while still profiting from the above-average returns that sustainable companies yield in long term.

Haukur Skúlason, CEO & Co-founder of indó (Iceland)

When coming up with the idea to create a new bank, the biggest challenge (and the most fun) was to approach every challenge and decision with a simple mindset; “Since we are doing this from scratch, how can we radically rethink the products, services and infrastructure?”

It might not sound like much, but in reality, when you approach a new company with complete freedom from how incumbents are doing things (which usually is a result of IT legacy problems, political infighting and limited view of how the whole venture ties together), amazing things happen. One of the key problems in banking, I think, is the inherent tendency for bankers to elevate their own importance and they are somehow more important or better than others. The truth is banking is not complicated nor anything special. Banks exist for the customer and they are supposed to listen to their customers and adapt to their wishes and needs, not the other way around. With this simple view in mind, we have created indó, which is intended to be the least powerful bank in the world, but with the most powerful customers.”

Greta Monstavice, CEO & Co-founder of Katalista Ventures (Lithuania)

Fintech has the power to be an enormous force for good. Nimble internet startups can fill the gaps in consumer demand left behind by traditional banks. Customers from underserved minority groups have been largely ignored by big financial institutions, whereas fintech startups have proved capable of serving them. For example, SumUp, a global fintech headquartered in London, believes in the power of entrepreneurs to create massive value and focuses specifically on empowering the micro and nano segment with their service. At Katalista Ventures, we continue to support and nurture fintech startups because of their capability to solve the world’s grand challenges.

While many fintech startups create a positive social impact, many forget that their carbon footprints are still hefty. At Katalista Ventures we take a holistic approach and focus on the Triple Top Line – creating a positive impact on People, Planet, and Profit. We work together with startups and encourage them to look for ways not only to reduce their negative impact but also to innovate and bring on a positive impact.

Hendrik Roosna , CEO & Founder of Fairown (Estonia)

The Greatest Value Is Created When Two Industries Collide. Today, success comes down to innovation that runs through a company’s DNA. As industry borders are vaguer than ever, the key is connecting the dots in a new way.

When we think of the biggest consumer-oriented innovations, we think of Amazon or Spotify. Amazon combined retail with the internet and created a new standard for shopping - an e-commerce marketplace. Spotify turned the industry around by making music available online. CDs will never become mainstream again, and most consumers won’t go back to the way it was.

The same logic applies to Fairown. We believe that the greatest value manifests when two industries collide. That’s why we combine products with financial services to create value that cannot be unseen for consumers, banks, brands, and retailers alike.

We enable consumers to use products as services for monthly subscription and renew these at predetermined times. We take back old products, and make sure they don’t end up in landfills, but are refurbished and reused or recycled. Consumers will never have to struggle with getting rid of old products, and businesses get new recurring income streams and loyal customers. That’s how we redefine traditional consumption and consumer financing by fuelling a new industry - products as a service.