On this episode, Sabine VdL interviews Helene Panzarino, author of Reinventing banking and finance, A Framework to navigate global FinTech innovation which was published in November 2020 on Amazon. The pair discuss the book and the key insight Helene provides to reinvent the banking business model.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• We assume banking has always been what banking is today. In the early days (1200s Italy) hyper-personalisation was going on for aristocrats and the like, now FinTech is the full circle back to hyper-personalisation but we’re doing it at scale, digitally.
• The industrial revolution had a very big impact on banking, as it did on every other aspect of society and economy. There’s now mass-servicing which took away some of the personalisation and the individuality of banking which intensified through the IT side of banking in the 1950s where we were able to use technology to store and process more data as well as begin to give more products and services to a wider audience. The more recent digital revolution and the internet allowed us to do our banking online and the smartphone brought that to its apex so you have a bank in your pocket.
• In five years’ time, we’ll be able to DIY our own bank and choose between different products and services, this is where FinTech will come into its own.
• It took banking ages to realise that the threat that came from outside, posed by the insurance industry, was greater than the threat coming from inside. Insurance and InsurTechs had a much better collaborative partnership relationship from the get-go, whereas banks and FinTechs were adversaries. FinTechs have now grown up and are aware that they need their parents if they’re going to scale and they’re working very well collaboratively now, but I applaud the insurance industry for getting there first. 

 

BEST MOMENTS

‘Everyone must now have a global view, no one can stay confined in his/her geographical space.’

‘The pandemic has shown us the inadequacies for some banks’ desktops, platforms and apps. Consumers are now using those apps, including the non-digital natives who used to visit banking branches in person and weren’t used to digital engagements.’

‘If you’ve created a startup bank, you need to remember that you’re operating In a regulated industry and if you ‘colour outside of the lines’ the regulator is going to come down on you. So, make sure to bring in experienced people to your C-Suite or Board.’

‘Everyone knows how to innovate, but everyone does not know how to execute. You need to be given space and the finance to fail. It needs to be OK and not damaging to your growth path or career prospects if you’re going to fail too. Acceptance of different growth paths need to be accepted from the top, if that openness doesn’t permeate from the top-down then nobody’s going to try to grow smartly or differently.’

 

ABOUT THE GUEST

Originally a Commercial Banker, Helene is an experienced FinTech Programme Director, exited entrepreneur, educator, and author.  Her book ‘Reinventing Banking and Finance: Frameworks to navigate global FinTech innovation’  came out in Sept 2020, https://www.amazon.in/Reinventing-Banking-Finance-Frameworks-Innovation/dp/1789664098  Previously the MD of the global Rainmaking Colab FinTech Programme, a world-first, post-accelerator program for Series A+ FinTechs and Tier 1 financial institutions, Helene was also responsible for the Inaugural Programme of Education and Events for Innovate Finance. She is an Associate Director of the LIBF Digital Banking Centre, the Lead Fellow, and creator on a world-first FinTech Pathway in a Masters in Tech Entrepreneurship Degree for UCL, and co-creator and lead delivery partner on the Imperial College FinTech Executive Education Programme. Her specialist subject areas are Digital Banking and Alternative Finance (SMEs). She is also the CEO of the New Financial Laboratory enabling community banks and building societies to engage with the global FinTech community.  A regular judge, speaker, and moderator for the banking and FinTech awards and conferences, Helene was a BSI FinTech representative for the UK in Brussels, named on the Computer Weekly 100 Women in Tech Award 2018-19 and on the Innovate Finance Women in FinTech Power List for 2019.

You can discover more about Helene's book here > reinventing banking and finance. 

 

ABOUT THE HOST

Sabine is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur. She is the CEO and Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, a venture lab that accelerates the curation, validation, & commercialization of new tech business models. Sabine is renowned within the insurance sector for building some of the most renowned tech startup accelerators around the world working with over 30 corporate insurers & accelerating over 100 startup ventures. Sabine is the co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, a top 50 Women in Tech, a FinTech and InsurTech Influencer, an investor & multi-award winner. 

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