​Digital disruption is hitting the financial services and changing the whole retail banking model. Alternative lending models are transforming the banking sector, creating both competitive threats and evolutionary opportunities for financial institutions. According to the 2016 World Retail Banking Report, 96 percent of banking executives agree that the industry is progressing toward a digital banking ecosystem.

The largest retail banking event in Europe 14th Annual Retail Banking Forum in Vienna on 12-13 of October will bring together top-caliber banking peers to discuss the hottest issues, such as fintech startups, transformation of the traditional retail banking model, technological innovation and changing customer demands.

Jouko Ahvenainen, the Executive Chairman of Grow VC Group, will be presenting at the Forum, discussing the hybrid finance models and how the emerging API ecosystems will change the way companies cooperate in finance. The audience will take away new ideas on how to capitalise on technologies which compliment their portfolios and create sustainable methods for continuous innovation.
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More information on the event web site.

​Financial technology adoption has been incredibly fast in the most advanced economies, but it’s a totally different story for what concerns emerging countries, where the penetration of digital finance services is still very low. The good news for those economies, and for those looking to do business there, is that the potential growth is now extraordinary, thanks to the level of smartphone penetration.
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​A new report called Digital Finance For All: Powering Inclusive Growth in Emerging Economies, by McKinsey Global Institute, estimates that with the adoption of digital finance, it is possible to create an additional 95 million jobs and $3.7 trillion in developing economies by 2025.

Currently there are approximately 2 billion people and 200 million businesses in the world that have no access to credit or savings. While only 55% of the adults in emerging countries have a financial account, there are about 80% of those that have a mobile phone, making the provision of financial services now viable which seemed out of reach not so far ago.

McKinney identifies, “a mobile and digital infrastructure, a dynamic business environment for financial services, and digital finance products that meet the needs of individuals and small businesses in ways that are superior to the informal financial tools they use today”, the key points for businesses and governments have to achieve in order to secure the benefits that financial technology could bring, as well to support the substantial transformation happening in finance in the emerging economies.

Finance pioneers are advised, the opportunity with digital finance is remarkable.

Read the whole article on Crowd Valley News.

Grow Advisors (a Grow VC Group company) publishes its daily insight into the world of alternative finance and fintech. Here are some highlights:
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The Global FinTech Eco System

Representatives from across the world argue that their region is the home of Fintech with the best eco-system. It’s claimed that Silicon Valley has the best tech but less finance that New York which has in turn less tech that California. Berlin, Zurich, Paris and Amsterdam argue that they are mainland Europe’s FinTech capital, while Dublin is home to some of the world’s best tech firms Google and Facebook. Deloitte has produced a report which aims to rank the different Hubs across the world. What it illustrates is that fintech is growing everywhere.

Banks will rebuild trust through transparency and Open APIs

Last week I wrote about Wells Fargo’s fraudulent opening of accounts without customer consent. Following the Senate Banking Committee hearing on these charges, the emerging theme for banks to consider is transparency and trust. For a vast majority, banks operate in a black box, in which customers have no knowledge as to how their money is used once deposited. Annual reports lack details of a bank’s operations, banks reveal commercial loan values, but the intricacies are hidden. The credit-worthiness of borrowers and delinquency status of loans are simply unknown. This secrecy has harmful effects, exemplified in the 2008 mortgage crisis and the most recent fraud case at Wells Fargo.

Read more at Grow Advisors Blog.​