Analysis
Explore in-depth fintech analysis covering industry trends, technological shifts, market developments, and company strategies. Fintech Review delivers thoughtful commentary on the ideas, forces, and innovations shaping the future of financial services.
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Worried If It Is The Right Time To Invest?
You’ve probably wondered about it at some point in your life. Probably even just now. Who has not asked themselves: “Why should I invest?”. It’s not a philosophical question but rather a very logical one. Everybody should think about it, a bit seriously, or not when considering what to do with earnings or savings that…
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Women in Fintech: Where are We Now?
Fintech is changing financial services for the better. That is the mantra. Or at least, it is supposed to… That is what everybody was and is still expecting. The fintech wave, that great innovation movement that notably happened after the financial crisis of 2008 is built on many promises. One of its strongest promises, though,…
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The Current State of Crypto within the U.S. Hispanics Community
Guest post by Ola, which is enabling Hispanics to grow their wealth by investing, saving, and learning. 2021 was the year of crypto adoption globally with 41% of current crypto owners purchased crypto for the first time. But, does this trend hold across all population segments? While crypto has been affected by the recent market…
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Do Fintechs Have to Be Profitable?
Do fintechs have to be profitable? Yes and no. That’s it, end of the article. Thank you very much and see you later. If only. It would be easy in life if it was just about saying “yes but no“, wouldn’t it? Or answering every question with “maybe“. However, as most things, it is not…
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Top Trends in Fintech in 2022
It is this time of the year. You know when it is mostly gloomy, cold and grey. Great time, isn’t it? Not everywhere, obviously. There are a lucky few that are enjoying some fantastic weather somewhere right now, summer-like vibes. Guilty as charged. But most importantly, it is the time of the yearly predictions. Defining…
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2021 Retrospective
Before making any wild predictions for the new year, because obviously one has to make predictions about the fintech industry in 2022, one has to reckon with his past predictions. It is a healthy process that most people do not want to go through. Even though it is quite necessary. Firstly, because most predictions tend…
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The True Democratisation of Wealth Management
Have we reached the stage of true democratisation of finance? Or, better yet, of wealth management? In case you have missed it, the digital broker Robinhood just did a big IPO. Big as in it gave the company an initial market capitalisation of $32 billion. Everybody was expecting it, but that’s not pocket change. At…
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10 Startups Showcase at UK-Ukraine FinTech Summit
​On July 15, 2021 Sigma Software together with the Embassy of Ukraine in the UK, TheCityUK, and the London Stock Exchange held the first UK-Ukraine Fintech Summit. The main objective was to inform a British audience about the potential of the Ukrainian fintech industry. As well as finding common ground for future partnerships. Government representatives,…
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Inflation: Should You Actually Care?
As you might expect, the short answer is yes… but there is obviously a longer explanation. You should care about inflation as an individual, and same goes if you are a business. And notably a fintech one. There is a lot that is being said about inflation these days, with a certain degree of truth.…
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Having a great fintech idea doesn’t matter…
That’s not a click-bait headline. Maybe just a little to get your attention. But it’s true: having a great idea doesn’t matter so much in the business world. Even though, actually, it is a bit more nuanced. Having an idea indeed matters, but much less than its execution. What that really means is that you…
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The UK Fintech Landscape
The UK fintech scene is truly thriving. There are a few big fintech hubs around the world… and obviously London is on the list. It has been a major financial centre for quite some time now. That actually predates the modern financial system. And you could very much argue that it even predates the United…
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Credit Suisse, Time For Some Real Digital Transformation?
In case you have missed it, Credit Suisse recently lost a lot of money on a bet that turned sour. Actually, on several bets that happened to all go in the wrong direction, at roughly the same time. What is really going on at the Swiss bank? Isn’t an old incumbent bank inherently good at…
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Business Economics: Traditional Banks vs Neobanks
Maths do not lie. That’s not a new song by Shakira. Maybe you are not a big fan of numbers, but they tend to be truthful. To a certain extent. If you have done a bit of financial modelling, you know that it all comes down to the assumptions… Nonetheless, crunching the numbers is usually…
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Cybersecurity: Should Fintechs Care?
As the fintech industry matures, it starts to worry about the same things as the big old banks. The focus is slowly shifting away from building the coolest customer-facing apps to address more ‘boring‘ problems. Nonetheless, crucial in financial services. Things like regulatory compliance, with or without the help of RegTech. Or cybersecurity, and notably…
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Kodak Moment in Financial Services
Business leaders want to avoid their Kodak moment. That is true for the executive teams of traditional financial institutions. Actually, of any established company. A Kodak moment used to signify “an occasion suitable for memorializing with a photograph“. How cute. And that is how big Kodak was. Now it means missing an industry shift in…
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Back to Basics: What is a Bank?
Maybe that sounds like a silly question to ask. You know what a bank is, you use their products and services almost every day. Most people have a bank account. Unfortunately not everybody. Nonetheless, it’s probably worth breaking it down for a minute. If you want to understand what fintechs are trying to disrupt, it’s…
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What’s Going On With Fintech Startup Exits?
All the SPAC activity around fintechs is kind of normal. If you have not followed this new craze, here is a good recap from CB Insights. The huge amount of money going into fintechs needed an exit of some sort. When VCs give you some cash to build a business, they expect a return. As…
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ESG and Fintech: A Perfect Match Made in Heaven?
It’s not just Greta. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria are increasingly important in the business world. ESG is therefore more and more important in fintech. If you want to be cynical, that’s because it is more and more important for these businesses’ customers. So you need to adapt to continue to sell your stuff.…
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Big Tech in Financial Services
Beware, Big Tech is here to eat your lunch. That is today’s equivalent for the financial services industry of the great communist threat during the Cold War. What’s behind “Big Tech” then? Usually, we mean FAMGA: Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon. Some people instead look at FAANG: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google. Or…
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Hedge Funds, Reddit and GameStop: is Fintech Democratizing Finance?
Quite a fascinating story that unfolded over the past weeks. A finance drama from films like the Big Short. David vs Goliath in the trading world with a “Rich against poor” vibe. An amazing saga to start 2021. Here is a quick recap if you have not followed. Which is particularly hard since everybody is…
