finleap Insights September 2020
Dear finleap friends,
As organizations, we are always thinking of what comes next – innovative technologies and business models. These are all aspects that we can influence in a way by hiring the best talent and cooperating with partners. However, a major step of defining the future is to get a deeper understanding of the next generation that will soon make up most of the consumers. So, let’s take a look into the future together.
This is surely not the first time that you have heard of GenZ, as plenty has been said about this group of people, born between 1995 and 2010. Although you may find many articles calling this generation lazy and entitled, what many organizations fail to realize is that if they want to stay relevant in the next decades, they need to understand this generation and develop products and services that meet their needs.
GenZ are used to constantly interacting with platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp or TikTok, which currently have record numbers of user engagement. When designing user flows, interaction and design, both challenger and incumbent players need to adapt to this generation’s new, high standards for digital apps.
There’s no doubt about it, understanding GenZ and how to tailor to their wants and needs will become imperative for fintech players looking to remain relevant in the long-term. We’ve gathered our insights and research into this topic in our recent report which is available to download here.
Let’s make sure fintech and insurtech play a significant role in the life of GenZ, together.
Best,
Ramin
finleap starts with its new Corporate Venture Building and Innovation Team: finleap forward
The former Wirecard Innovation team has joined finleap. The team, named finleap forward, focuses on corporate venture building and innovation.
Headed by Jörn Leogrande, the team will focus on corporate innovation, ideation and prototyping with corporate clients. finleap forward will support corporate clients to maintain their competitiveness by exploring new business opportunities and jointly change the landscape of innovation in finance.
Read more in Reuters.
finleap connect wins its first customer for its risk management product
finleap connect has signed its first customer for its new Backstage product – the Allgemeine Beamten Bank (ABK). The Backstage product aims to reshape risk management with the use of Regtech.
“We decided for Backstage, because the solution by far best reflects the business requirements,” says ABK Bank. Furthermore, ABK pointed out that, “…Backstage pursues an integrated approach in order to use dependencies between second line functions within a bank…” and that, “…further essential tasks can be taken over by Backstage through a high degree of automation. As a result, the solution not only fulfills the regulatory requirements with little effort, but also obtains additional control impulses that can be used by management.”
Interested in finleap connect’s Backstage product or any of their other solutions? Click here to find out more about their offering, or reach out to the team directly.
Penta wins the Diamond Star Digital Banking Award at the Handelsblatt Banking Summit
The digital platform for business banking, Penta, won the Diamond Star Digital Banking Award in the category of fintech at this year’s Handelsblatt Banking Summit. Congratulations to the team at Penta for winning this prestigious honor which is awarded to innovative, digital projects in the banking industry!
Also at the banking summit, Penta CPO Lukas Zörner took part in an intense debate with Uwe Fröhlich, Chairman of the Board of DZ Bank, about the future of corporate banking. During the debate, Lukas addressed the growing concern from traditional banks about the regulatory environment surrounding fintech companies and the increased demand for digitalization in the financial services industry: “We need to make sure that we really think digitally and don’t just digitize processes.”
Missed this year’s summit? Check out Handelsblatt’s recap.
Why Solarisbank built its own core banking system
2020 has surely been a busy year for Banking-as-a-Service platform Solarisbank. Next to announcing major partnerships with B2Mobility, Vivid Money, Otto and American Express, as well as a EUR 60 million series C funding round, Solarisbank has also launched its own core banking system. Solarisbank Head of Product Architecture, Tristan Holl, shared his insights into the ideation and thought processes behind migrating from their old, partially outsourced infrastructure to their new, in-house solution. Find out what this means for Solarisbank’s customers and partners in their full blog post here or read Finanz-Szene’s take on the process (in German) here.
ELEMENT extends its Series A funding round by a further €10 million bringing total funding to €39 million
White-label insurance factory ELEMENT has extended its Series A funding round by €10 million, with new investor Global Brain Corporation joining the ranks of investors finleap, SBI Investment and VZB, bringing its total Series A funding to €39 million.
Read more in FinanceFWD (in German) here.
The new era of digital debt collection – Interview with PAIR Finance CSO Christian Zingel
A new era of debt collection is here to stay. Christian Zingel, Chief Sales Officer of PAIR Finance, explains the roles of artificial intelligence, big data and behavioral research play in making digital debt collection more customer-focused in his article for Gemeinsam Digital. Read the full article (in German) here.
Link Tips
Want to find out more about finleap and its ecosystem, we recommend the following links:
Dr. Birte Sewing, COO in the FinanceFWD podcast on current developments in the finleap ecosystem.
finleap connect CRO Cornelia Schwertner guest column in Der Bank Blog (German)
Elinvar COO Paul Walsh’s take on working in fintech in Berlin
Our Founder and CEO, Ramin Niroumand, shared his view on how the finance industry will move forward in the wake of the Wirecard scandal in his most recent article for Capital Magazin (German).
Handelsblatt interview with finleap connect CRO Cornelia Schwertner and other industry experts for the first anniversary and the status of implementation of PSD2 (German).
