PCM vol. 3 Issue 9

EXPERT INTERVIEW
Accelerating Digital
Disruption: an Interview
with Gregory Cronie
Gregory Cronie is a Payments and Financial Supply
Chain professional with 20+ years experience in
Finance and Treasury, Financial Supply Chain and
Payments. Last 10 years he worked for companies
like ING Commercial Banking and PayPal. He is a
mentor at Startupbootcampamsterdam for the
Fintech program and also the founder and owner of
2knowlab.
Arapidly changing payments
industry is threatening
incumbent banks’ payments
revenues and customer
ownership. In addition, the revised
Payment Services Directive (PSD2) is
driving European banks to a defining
moment. The directive is set to accelerate
the digital disruption that is reshaping
the financial services industry. However,
this does not only pose challenges but
also opportunities which can be seized.
Therefore, we interviewed Gregory
Cronie, CEO & Founder of 2knowlab, a
niche consultancy that focuses on the
payments, financial supply chain, and
FinTech industry.
PCM: Can you tell us about yourself
and your organisation?
Gregory: I’m a Payments and Financial
Supply Chain professional with 20+ years
experience in Finance and Treasury,
Financial Supply Chain and Payments.
Last 10 years did work for companies like
ING Commercial Banking and PayPal. I’m
a mentor at Startupbootcampamsterdam
for the Fintech program. I’m the founder
and owner of 2knowlab.
2knowlab
2knowlab was founded in December
of 2016. We see ourselves as ‘business
navigators’ that accelerate businesses
based on knowledge sharing, ideation
and gamification. We give expert
guidance with a personal touch based
on a hands-on mentality. Currently
we primarily focus on three domains:
Financial Supply Chain, Online
Payments and Fintech.
PCM: As 2knowlab also focuses on
FinTech, how do you evaluate the
FinTech ecosystem in Europe? How
do you evaluate the position of
Amsterdam (Netherlands) regarding
to FinTech ecosystem in Europe?
Gregory: Although the US is attracting
the largest investments in Fintech and
is also well represented in the list with
the highest valued startups, Europe as
a region is also performing well. On the
one hand one might say that it’s a pity
that the European Fintech ecosystem is
spread over several hubs like London,
Amsterdam, Berlin and Stockholm.
On the other hand this also ensures that
Europe has quite a diverse population
of Fintech startups centered around
different topics. Also the fact that Europe
has multiple Fintech startup hubs gives
startups the possibility to choose the hub
they think is best for them and their idea.
I think Amsterdam is doing a really good
job as a Fintech startup hub. It’s a good
thing that we have established Fintech
companies like Adyen, Backbase and
Payvision that really have a global reach
and set the stage for the new challengers
that recently have been founded or will
be founded in the near future. I’m also
excited by the fact that Amsterdam hosts
a Fintech bank like Bunq.
I do like the underlying principles of
Bunq and am really curious to see how
successful they will be over a longer
period. I also would like to mention that
Startupbootcamp Amsterdam is also a
strong force in creating the right basis
in Amsterdam for Fintech Startups to
be successful. And the way that Holland
Fintech is facilitating the Fintech
ecosystem in different ways is also a
contributing factor to make Amsterdam
a hotspot for Fintech startups.
PCM: PSD2 will have a direct effect
on all EU member states from 13
January 2018. How would you
advise merchants to prepare for this
regulatory hurdle?
Gregory: When talking about PSD2
there are many topics we could focus
on. I would like to call out two things.
13