FinanceMalta newly-appointed chairman, Rudolph Psaila, addressed the successful FinTech Junction two-day event held recently in Berlin, Germany.
During the event, FinanceMalta had a stand which attracted significant attention and many have requested information on Malta’s FinTech and Blockchain strategy.
FinTech Junction, organised by People & Computers, is in its fourth edition and the Berlin event brought together over 2,000 Fintech leaders from around the world to discuss the latest technologies and challenges which the financial services industry is currently facing.
The agenda covered various themes and topics, including banking and personal finance, payments, retail and ecommerce, insurtech, cybersecurity and privacy, regulation and innovation.
Mr Psaila took part in a panel discussion with the theme ‘The Future of Finance: What the Next Decade will Look Like’, which featured, among others, Yoni Assia, CEO and co-founder of eToro.
Other members of the panel included James Henry, head of sales and partnerships, SumUp and Stefan Heilmann, CEO of IEG – Investment Banking Group.
The panel session was moderated by Ben Robinson, co-founder, Aperture and former chief strategy and marketing officer of Temenos.
Mr Psaila said: “Banks are facing several challenges nowadays, in particular those posed by ‘Fintech disruptors’ who are ‘attacking’ some elements of the profitable businesses of the banks and offer it at a cheaper and potentially more efficient way.”
He spoke about the digital-related challenges that banks are facing nowadays, in particular on the banks’ ability to keep up and invest in technological advancements on a holistic basis, in order to enable them to improve customer experience, increase transparency and be more competitive.
It is probable that banking groups will redefine themselves and while they might cease providing certain services, they will instead focus on developing enhanced products better suited to their clients, he said.
“Banks should nowadays embrace technology, focus on innovation and accept disruption which is inevitable in the digital world,” Mr Psaila said.
This year, FinanceMalta will be participating in several FinTech related events.