May 26, 2022

LFP203 – Fintech in Scandinavia/Nordics – Deep Origins and Reasons for Success w/Erik Bennerhult, CEO Naktergal

42 minutes

Scandinavia (Sweden/Norway/Denmark) and the Nordics as a whole (Scandinavia +Finland +Iceland) have massively outperformed most parts of the world in Tech and Fintech when considered compared to the relatively small sizes of the populations. Why is this and where is it all going?

In this episode Erik who was part of cresting the world’s first online mortgage bank in the late 90s, has been a CTO of many leading regional banks and is now founder and CEO of Naktergal discusses not just where the region is placed now in Fintech but the deeper origins of tech success before wrapping up with the outlook for Fintech in the region.

Naktergal offer a range of digital lending platforms for banks and Fintechs as well as modular add-on solutions for the inetivable weak-points in different existing legacy/big-brand tech solutions in banks.

Topics discussed include:

summer in the Swedish archipelago

Crimes of Passion series by Maria Lang set in 1950s Sweden

escape porn on YouTube – Kyles Cabin, Gone with the Wynns, Sailing La Vagabonde

lessons and parallels from round the world catamarans and the tech world in general

building the worlds first online mortgage bank in 1999 0 a world first

differences then and now and mentality needed and generated – both weaknesses therein as well as strengths

being a pioneer versus following on – comparisons of the first round the world pioneers with the ability of average folks these days leveraging improvements in tech to do the same today

the commercial challenges of being well ahead of the market

attitudes even in IT towards early adventures into Fintech

Erik’s background and experience inside banks as a CTO

the shift in ~2004/05 when software development became all about adapting to regulation not to improving consumer offerings

complex mutual history of Norway/Sweden/Denmark

how the Nordics went from great poverty 200 years ago to some of the greatest prosperity today

the key role of tech in this and the creation of tech high schools

the huge number of technology companies whether Volvo or Nokia through to Techs and Fintechs

Skype was founded by a Swede Niklas Zennström

the natural co-operation with the Baltics was set back by the USSR decades

Sweden has the leadership in Fintech in the region

geographic reasons behind the trajectory and the approach to tech

low population density leading to a need for distribution in general

note how key Scandinavian technology companies solve this one way or another Volvo (travel over large distances and very solidly built), Nokia (talk over long distances), Spottily (share music over long distances)

why the UK has been so creative – the role of common law versus continental law

the small size of local markets leading to the need for international expansion at an early stage

the ability to rapidly test on a small market before expansion

the important role of culture and motivation in leading to regional differences – the leveling out of these factors by neoliberalism

the importance of the Swedish banking sector large and local as a platform for the Fintech-ing

key players in regional Fintech – Tink, Klarna, iZettle, Luna, Swish, Vipps

no one common theme amongst these market leaders

Erik’s perspective on future trends

building on the shoulders of giants – every new generation of tech enables the next generation to proceed ever-faster

economic pressures leading to changes in behaviour and investment – not just crises but opportunities

Naktergal’s end-to-end product suites, regional footprint and future plans

an amazingly fast 142 day complete installation of a full banking system

And much more

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By Tony Clark

4.6

88 ratings

May 26, 2022

LFP203 – Fintech in Scandinavia/Nordics – Deep Origins and Reasons for Success w/Erik Bennerhult, CEO Naktergal

42 minutes

Topics discussed include:

summer in the Swedish archipelago