Money 20/20 Amsterdam Attendee Notes
Part II: Messages From Attendees and Exhibitors
Geographical Expansion
Expansion is a sign of growth and, therefore, remains a timeless topic for all FinTechs. We have talked to some market experts and government agencies attending Money 20/20 to learn more about the opportunities in their markets.
What to consider when entering the Netherlands?
There are many destinations in the EU, but the first expansion spot is reserved for the Netherlands, our gracious hosts for the Money20/20 event. The country has a vibrant FinTech scene; Amsterdam ranks as the number 3 European Startup City, and FinTechs has an 11% market share in the whole market.
“Amsterdam in Business” and “Holland FinTech” are eager to support the companies entering the market; however, since the market has size limitations, there is a pragmatic approach towards foreign companies entering the scene (which we can only support).
Don Ginsel of Holland FinTech urged the FinTechs that would like to enter the market to check whether it is useful for them to be in the market by answering the following questions “Are my customers, investors, or the talents I need in the market?” He adds that the answer should be “yes” to either of the three; otherwise, there will be no drive to make new entrepreneurs come to the market.
Don concluded our talk by saying that the regulator is very thorough about new businesses and models; therefore, a prior check should be required, adding that “once you have got their approval, it is a stamp of approval for the entire Europe.”
Holland Fintech is ready to help newcomers, but do not forget to do your “product-market-fit” homework before packing your bags.
Is Australia too far?
Different continents come with challenges, but the Austrade FinTech team is ready to help with the Australian expansion. Karin van Wesep of Austrade impressed us with her welcoming attitude to the market (and the booth – thank you for complimentary beverages) and her knowledge about the stories and business models of the FinTechs in their portfolio. According to Karin, the Australian regulatory environment is very similar to the UK and can be used as a springboard to the APAC region. Apparently, 60% of the population is already using FinTech solutions, and the consumers can be defined as “early adopters who are interested in lifestyle services.”
The Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) FinTech team already works with prominent names like Railsr, Afterpay, Airwallex, Revolut, GoCardless, and Wise. The FinTech crew is happy to help with opportunities, challenges, and the competitive environment for FinTechs.
What are the particularities of the Polish market?
Poland might not be the first market choice for continental Europe, but it has untapped potential. We learned the fundamentals on the spot from Rafal Tomaszewski of FINTEK.PL. Although starting his talk with the warning that the regulator is still conservative about web3 and crypto products, Rafal mentioned that mobile adoption and digital awareness are high in the market, thanks to the payment silo Blik. He adds that the market is open for foreign FinTechs and that there is a chance to offer “frowned upon” products using foreign licenses as others do.
“Most banks have a good app, but depending on the value proposition, there is a lot of potential in the market,” said Rafal, using Revolut, Twisto, and Klarna as examples of foreign FinTechs accepted in the market.
He will happily answer local market-related questions directly, so don’t be shy!
How can we extend our services to Hong Kong?
The InvestHK team is as excited to greet FinTechs to the region, helping with the planning, set up, launch, and aftercare/expansion topics. According to Paula Kant and Francis Trollope, setting up a company in Hong Kong is easy and inexpensive and even easier with the help of InvestHK. The talk about the “simple, transparent, and stable” tax regime made even us think for a moment.
InvestHK team additionally stressed that there is an intact opportunity in mainland China and Southeast Asia due to the high underbanked/unbanked numbers, which could be accessed via HK. Paula added that HK had been the world’s number 1 IPO market in seven of the last twelve years. Would you like to learn more? Fire up an e-mail right now.
Embedded Finance
While visiting the exhibitor booths, we snapped an exclusive interview with Iana Dimitrova, the CEO of OpenPayd. Based (and licensed) in the UK, OpenPayd is an infrastructure provider of embedded finance, moving money efficiently cross-border through its rails agnostic platform, empowering the digital economy.
OpenPayd works with enterprise customers mainly, claiming to close the whole onboarding process in 48h, depending on the project. After learning more about their product, we asked Iana for her advice for the new players. She stressed the importance of selecting the right partner, adding that “FinServ providers should study the market and ask questions, especially if they are not providing in their core market niche.”
This interview was especially close to our hearts as it brought together two law-trained business converter fempreneurs.
Funding and Venture Capital
Many institutional and private investors were present at the event, scouting new talent and business ideas. Regardless of the economic downturn and the current state of the venture capital market, the news of stealth funding confirmed that hot cash seems to find its way to original ideas and market gap fillers in significant amounts.
FinTech-focused or sector-agnostic, many investors, including Coparion, Octopus, Element Ventures, Plug and Play, Finberg, Lakestar, and Oak, were represented at the event. After meeting Serhat Aydogdu from D4 Ventures, an early-stage tech-driven VC based in London, we have learned that, like many, his fund is "after" crypto solutions that could bring value to the market. He mentioned that he enjoyed the much broader coverage of crypto on this year's schedule, adding, "If crypto is supposed to become mainstream, it is essential to recognize it as an extension of the transformation of financial services, which has been taking place for the last couple of decades."
RegTech
As cybersecurity, remote account openings, and AML protection exposure increase due to the pandemic and the Ukrainian war, RegTech remains under the spotlight. In addition to many panelists highlighting the importance of resilient and efficient RegTech solutions during the crisis, different providers worldwide were exhibiting their solutions, including WebID, IDNOW, and Onfido. When interrogated about their USP, Ferhat Alimci and Robin Teufel from WebID mentioned their new product, which allows the reuse of the identity with one onboarding. In contrast, Carsten Jahn of IDNOW mentioned the strong compliance aspect of their product.
This article is an excerpt of the Money 20/20 2022 report initially published on the Fintech Istanbul blog.