Magazine_BEAST_2017_Edition_8_complet

16
#Business | FinTech
FINANCIAL LEADERSHIP
…IN TECH TIMES!
BY ALEXANDRE KEILMANN
Luxembourg is known all over the world for its financial
sector, mostly for being the largest European fund
domicile and the second largest fund center in the world
after the US. The country is also the host for one of the
largest numbers of international banks, listed the first
ever green bond to enter the market and more recently
launched LGX, the world’s leading platform dedicated
exclusively to securities that are 100% green, social
or sustainable. Over the last fifteen years, the country
also has seen the birth and development of hundreds of
ICT companies and tech startups. Inevitably, these two
domains of expertise mixed and merged to witness the
rise of Financial Technologies, or FinTechs, which have
now been transformed into more specific terms such as
InsurTech, FundTech or RegTech. The list goes on and
resulted in the creation of a dynamic ecosystem.
© Shutterstock - SFIO CRACHO
Banks, startups, associations, regulators and the government
of Luxembourg, notably through the Digital Lëtzbuerg or the
Infrachain initiatives, are investing and moving towards the same
direction with the goal of boosting innovation in the finance
sector. In late June, Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna, along
with Nicolas Mackel (CEO of Luxembourg For Finance) and Nasir
Zubairi (CEO of the Luxembourg House of FinTech), promoted
Luxembourg as a FinTech nation in California and stated: «I’m
happy to see that our country is recognized by the Silicon Valley
startups as a top-notch financial center and European FinTech
hub».
Treasury + Tech
«Behind the scene, evolution brings more performance and
capabilities» explains François Masquelier, President of ATEL,
Senior Vice President & Head of Treasury and Enterprise Risk
Management, RTL Group. As a matter of fact, treasurers are
facing all of these evolutions and must take the best out of them
and understand how to use them to better focus on their added
value. «Recipients of all the cash flows of their organizations,
they are particularly well-placed to witness those changes. The
major challenge is to find his way in this jungle of new solutions
and FinTech companies. IT standards are still missing, on
e-payments, for example. It is also to convince top management
of the accuracy and reliability of proposed solutions. Eventually,
IT evolution offers opportunities but requires also some IT
knowledge and resources for implementation» he adds.
The transformation of insurance
When it comes to digital and innovation, OneLife is probably one
of the most active players in the life insurance sector, working
with several startups to develop InsurTech and RegTech solutions.
BEAST MAGAZINE #8
The company is currently working on integrating the digital
signature, a must-needed step to reach its digital objective. Since
2016, this life-assurance specialist has repeatedly performed
digital feats to deliver genuine added value to its partners but
also to its staff in-house. Marc Stevens, its CEO, explains: «The
move towards digital technology is one of our three priorities for
2017. What is at stake, though, is not just technology, but human
beings». According to Christophe Regnault, Digital Marketing
Manager, «OneLife positions itself as a genuine digital-technology
leader in the radically-changing life-assurance profession».
From physical to digital payments
Ghela Boskovich is the Head of FinTech and RegTech Partnerships,
Startupbootcamp Fintech. She shared her expertise and vision
during ICT Spring 2017: «Why are we so attached to the payments
systems that are currently in place? We have to innovate and
to stand out of the legacy system». According to her, there
are diverse perspectives like taking inspiration from emerging
markets or e-commerce giants: «Apps like AliPay combine perfect
integration with commerce, social and… payments. Diversity
matters and we challenge every institution to make a change
and not to be only based on legacy».
Local mobile payments player Digicash Payments lately met with
success and recently joined forces with Payconiq to establish
a Benelux-wide presence of the mobile payments initiative.
«DIGICASH continues to prove that FinTech partnerships are well
and truly a reality today and that Luxembourg’s retail banking
sector is one of the most innovative in Europe» highlighted
Raoul Mulheims, CEO of Digicash. On the partnership with ING,
he added, with Frédéric Kieffer, Head of Retail Banking at ING
Luxembourg: «We are offering ING customers a cardless payment
solution, which is truly innovative, easy to use, 100% secure and
completely free».