Finbites #24: Fintech vs. digital banking in Google search trends & some rumors on Revolut
Your curated newsletter on Fintech & digital banking right from the Bucharest fintech heart.
I am starting with a fintech rumor that meanwhile became official. As you know, Revolut was recruiting for different roles in the Bucharest office, including a GM, and a manager with an extensive lending background.
Gabriela Simion, deputy general manager at Intesa Sanpaolo, will be Revolut’s Head of Lending for the Romanian market. She will create a lending proposition for the newly licensed Revolut Bank.
Gabriela has over 20 years of banking experience. Before Revolut, she had many C-level roles in the Romanian banking system, including Deputy General Manager at Intesa SanPaolo Bank, Executive Director at BRD SocGen, or VP credit cards at Citi.
2021 Google search trends in Digital Banking, Payments & Fintech
The Financial Brand dug into Google Trends to see what’s on the minds of consumers, financial executives, and others in the banking space.
This year’s results showed that interest in “fintech” has continued to climb, with a huge spike in 2020-2021. By comparison, relative interest in “digital banking” is lower but still climbing. The most recent steep spike likely reflects, at least in part, the spate of announcements among neo-banks.
The state of NFC payments in Romania
Last week, I reviewed Romania’s NFC payment industry by showing what mobile payment solutions banks & fintechs provide.
But what’s the bigger picture here?
While waiting for Apple Pay and Google Pay, some banks and fintechs developed their own Android digital wallets. Because of this, Google Pay might have a lower adoption rate in Romania.
Banks like ING or Banca Transilvania could nudge users to choose ING Pay or BT Pay, yet this will not be an official strategy.
Also, 8 banks and fintechs offer mobile payment solutions on wearables (Fitbit or Garmin). Though few users demand wearable payments, I think the complete offer is a sign of status in the digital banking rankings.
And having all four global mobile payment solutions (Apple, Google, Garmin & Fitbit) is possible regardless of background. Looking at CEC Bank (a state-owned bank) and Orange Money (a local non-bank financial institution backed by Orange), I could say that where’s a will, there’s a way.
By the way, digital wallets are now the most popular payment method in the world.
New startups in Romania's Fintech Map 🚕
We've started to upgrade Romania's Fintech Map, but I'm happy to introduce just one of the next Fintech stars until we can share the updated report.
Meet MonePOS, by AROBS, the Cluj-Napoca-based startup that offers an mPOS solution for taxicabs. The solution is also suited for accepting payments in other industries, like FMCG, food delivery, or small retailers or couriers.
MonePOS was developed by AROBS Transilvania Software, a Romanian IT firm that delivers software and IT solutions in 14 countries.
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What marketing potential has Clubhouse for financial services brands?
Guest post by Monica Sibisteanu, digital marketer at Monese and Avoteca
TL;DR - It depends on your strategy and what you want to achieve. One thing is for sure - you want to avoid taking a hit on your brand reputation.
Clubhouse conquers Europe's startup ecosystem. That's a fact. All Europe's iPhone owning VCs and founders spend a considerable amount of hours every day audio-chatting about the latest tech news and investment trends. Another fact is that Clubhouse is variously helpful, entertaining — and annoying.
On the other hand, internet history shows us that something new comes up every year or two. And it becomes the thing to do. Two years ago, social media was the thing to do, and you would succeed as long as you had a social media strategy. The year after that, it was mobile. And because every single day the internet becomes so cluttered, each brand needs to figure out what it can uniquely provide; otherwise, it doesn't help. It just creates more clutter. That's the thing with new social platforms as well. Technology is excellent, but sometimes it's being used as a way to obstruct the real question.
The real question could be one of these:
What is the value I offer? How can I provide it? Whom are we trying to serve? And how can we make sure we do it better than somebody else?
When it comes to making brand decisions such as join or not join Clubhouse, it helps to understand what it is not. Unlike most every other social channel, Clubhouse is audio-centric — not text, visual or video. And — like a podcast — ideal if you are multitasking in the background.
Except for his biography, there are no visual images anywhere. Unable to add comment or message. No likes, links, advertisements or personal information to sell to a marketing company. In other words, you are not a product, and you need others online to find you. Compared with most other social media, this is an entirely different social media structure.
Financial services brands can use Clubhouse as a new platform for their employee advocacy strategy or thought leadership. Although there is no clear monetization strategy, financial brands have recently begun to sponsor rooms. Most probably, niche markets will find it easy and inexpensive to support certain rooms - relevant for their business. That can bring their brand to the attention of the brand's targeted audiences.
The Future Banking Meetups make a stop at the digital lending proposition
The fifth Future Banking Meetup will set up a nice and cozy environment for debating digital lending, UX, and e-commerce transformation.
Meet our amazing speakers and join us at the event to ask them questions or jump into the networking arena.
Roxana Cristea, Lending Tribe Lead, ING Romania
Mircea Balica, platform manager, eMAG Payments
Andrei Găman, Commercial VP, Fintech OS
Have you missed the last Future Banking meetups?
Now you can listen to all thee debates on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts. The last one about work from home and HR trends is in English. Tune in! 👇
Romanian fintech Keez helps SMEs get fiscal documents online
Keez, one of the Romanian Fintechs that aims at disrupting the accounting industry, announced new features in their platform that help SMEs streamline their interactions with the Romanian Fiscal Authority (ANAF) by requesting fiscal documents online.
Why does it matter?
However slow, the state's digitization efforts open countless opportunities for tech startups to tap into the public sector intricacies and streamline numerous processes or deliver a better taxpayer experience.
You can read the press release HERE.
Techcelerator launches Scale Match, the first regional matchathon
Techcelerator, the largest accelerator in Romania for technology startups, expands in South-East Europe by launching Scale Match, the first regional matchathon.
But what in the world is a Matchathon? 🤔
A Matchathon is like taking a hackathon to the next level. It is a virtual matchmaking event that brings together innovative startup teams with investors.
This kind of event facilitates synergies, collaboration and can enhance investment readiness.
Accordingly, Scale Match by Techcelerator will give high-tech startups access to strategic partners in the region and investments. The program targets 40 Fintech, eHealth, AI, or SaaS startups from 15 countries.
The applications are open until April 13. Apply HERE.
New podcast series in the open banking space✨
Smart Fintech, one of the Romanian startups aiming to accelerate the open banking engine in Romania, started a podcast series.
The first episode debates the strong customer authentication regulation. Give it a try on YouTube 👇
Maximilian Schausberger from Elevator Ventures on scaling enterprise fintech
Fintech Forum published a cover story on Maximilian Schausberger, the managing director of Elevator Ventures.
He shared some good insights from the VC arm of Raiffeisen Bank, including what does it take to get to Series A today.
Jobs in Fintech & startups
SeedBlink is recruiting for some positions, including an Equity Fundraising Manager
Revolut is still looking for a Communication Manager in Romania
InternetCorp hires a PHP / MySQL programmer in Bucharest (just drop me an email)
Visa is looking for emerging fintech across SEE to help them scale faster 🦄
Visa has launched the third edition of the Visa Innovation Program - the growth platform for fintechs in SEE, that aims to deliver more opportunities for the emerging fintech talent across SEE and help them grow and scale faster.
You can check out the application form and reach out to the Eleven Ventures team for more details.
The Fintech Rap Battle, a brilliant video on April Fools' Day 🤡
Here’s something funny for the fintech aficionados. According to Altfi, the four-minute video is a brilliant tour de force created by Fintech Finance for April 1st, covering everything from Starling and Monzo’s fractured beginnings through to N26’s withdrawal from the UK.
Other worth mentioning Finbites
The ROCA X research team explained what happened in the Romanian startup and investment ecosystem in the last year. Check out their results.
First Bank upgraded its video banking solution so SMEs and freelancers can open 100% online current accounts.
After launching a hybrid digital proposition, Orange Money can now issue credit cards fully digital. Clients could instantly use their virtual cards to pay via mobile payment solutions.
Mike Parsons is ready to rock the Future Banking virtual stage with one of these awesome topics. Make sure you choose the right one for you.
Patria Bank and Qualitance set up a partnership to create new digital experiences for the clients. The bank is working on the remote digital onboarding process.
SeedBlink partners with Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) to facilitate funding and listing of Romanian startups. Considering this agreement, we can see more tech startups on BVB.
Pago users can now pay their utility bills, top-up mobile phones, buy car insurance and travel insurance, and pay local taxes by accessing the app in Romanian, Hungarian, or English.
Octobank, a Prague-based challenger bank dedicated to servicing e-shops and merchants, announced the acquisition of Earlybase, a B2B company specialized in sales and marketing outsourcing.
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