The following Tuesday, 14th of March, FINNOSUMMIT will begin with Sam Maule, who will talk about the transformation the financial services in South America are experiencing due to the Fintech revolution. Latin America is already positioning itself as one of the emergent and most disruptive markets in the implementation and development of Fintech entrepreneurship, but it is still necessary to create an ecosystem of support and collaboration that favours the adoption of new innovations.
Along these lines, Sam highlights that “there must be a focus on aligning the banking sector, startups and governmental/regulatory communities in order for them to work together to create and encourage the establishment of a solid and favourable culture towards innovation.” The digitalisation of all the sectors of our society is inevitable, and it is necessary that the region anticipates these new innovations in order to adequately adapt and achieve the necessary technological progress. Do not miss the following interview, where the Fintech expert gives the clues about the digital trends that are about to come.
What are the most notable emerging digital trends in the financial sector globally?
- Open APIs (open banking)
- Partnerships between banking and FinTech
- AI application for banking & data mining
- New operating / engagement platforms (voice, IoT, etc.)
- Financial Inclusion
- Regtech, Insurtech, any other “fill-in-the-blank” tech.
In which way can these trends arrive to Latin America and impact and transform the finance sector in the region?
One of the most important lessons for the region is to anticipate the incoming disruption wave and plan accordingly. Focus on aligning the banking, start-up, and government/regulatory communities to work together to set up and encourage the establishment of a strong, supportive innovation culture. One of the key learning curves I’ve seen across the globe is the slow evolution of each of these areas to realize they are interdependent. Don’t lose valuable time with in-fighting. There isn’t time to waste with this nonsense.
Which socio-cultural Latin American characteristics are favouring the progress of these trends and what opportunities exist for the founding of Fintech entrepreneurships?
One of the distinct advantages of the LATAM market is the extensive influence of “community”. The inherent support system of the local community of friends, acquaintances, businesses, government, etc. isn’t specifically unique to LATAM; however, the region certainly has their own particular approach to this. And I’ve seen several examples of this for example in micro-finance and P2P lending.
I also believe LATAM has the advantage to some degree of leapfrogging legacy technology and processes that can at times burden more “developed” financial markets such as the U.S. and Europe. We’ve seen this take place in different parts of Africa with M-Pesa and other mobile payments / banking solutions and in such diverse markets as the Philippines with lending solutions such as Lendr and Leverage. The ability to move directly to pure mobile solutions that consumers are hungry to adopt is a compelling story for the region.
If we say that the Fintech revolution is already transforming the financial services in the region, which impacts may we see in the following 5 years within the economic sector and regarding financial inclusion?
One of the significant impacts to the economy of different nations will be the digitization of industries (manufacturing, banking, services, etc.). I can’t overstate the radical change we are facing globally due to AI and robotics. While it is true innovation driven by these technology advances will improve the products and services available to a wider and more diverse consumer base; at the same time more and more individuals will be facing massive disruption as traditional jobs are replaced via automation.
What are your expectations regarding FINNOSUMMIT in Bogota?
I’m looking forward to meeting the regions’ key contributors from the tech and FI ecosystem. I find the each region I visit and get to know across the globe faces their own unique challenges and in many cases their own unique solutions. Learning from these and sharing the ideas and solutions implemented in other geographies is what makes my job so much fun.
About Sam Maule
Sam Maule serves as the Head of Digital / FinTech at NTT Data Consulting, Inc. He joined the firm in June 2011 focusing on the Cards & Payments Community of Practice. In this role, Sam provides industry subject matter knowledge and experience to CG’s Financial Services clients in support of projects such as Consumer and Commercial Card portfolio management, emerging payments, Loyalty & Prepaid, and digital/mobile banking. Sam is consistently voted one of the Top 100 Most Influential in FinTech. He is resemblance for FinTech in Social Media, named as one of ‘Bank Innovation’s Coolest Brands 2015’, recognized by LeadTail and BrightIdea study as one of the top ten Twitter accounts that Innovators follow. He worked together with Digital Finance Institute as Chief Inspiration Officer and continuous work on producing radio program and podcast.
