Finovate Europe 2018: First thoughts at half-time

FINOVATE EUROPE 2018: Day two of four is finished - two days of high-speed pitches for new FinTech ideas – mostly apps – and it‘s time now to muse over my first impressions ... what I saw that was new (or not), and how Finovate compares to other, similar events in Europe.

First off: the logistics of the event.

Finovate is fantastically organized, and the new location (London Excel) is a perfect venue.

But there is always a but.

Small things that would further optimize the ?user experience“ ... for one, we‘re NOT deaf. Money 20/20 does the same - blast your ears away... why? And the constantly repeated advertising (for other Finovate events worldwide, presentation of the sponsors) ... so often, that everyone hit the mental mute button. The host is a charming, witty and eloquent speaker, who did his job very well ... but he reminded me of watching the Home Shopping Channel – Less would be more. But again: I‘m nit-picking.

Next: the new (and not-so-new) stuff.

Most common trend: Wealth Management. Despite the fact that the world has more debt than wealth, (too) many startups focused on investment. One really hit the spot: the example character was horribly wealthy and wanted to know if she could afford a new 400‘000 GBP yacht. A yacht? Hello??

For what percentage of the world population is this product even slightly relevant? I didn‘t actually tally, and regret not having done this, but it felt like a 5:1 ratio of apps-for-the-excruciatingly-wealthy versus apps-for-everyday-people-with-everyday-problems.

Most practical trend: really intelligent bill splitting. Intuitive. Really useful. Came all the way from Singapore. Why does that not surprise me? Content was excellent, but too little bling and show, so it had no chance of ?winning“ ... but my love of Asian FinTech ideas is a different story. 

Most tiring trend: Alexa. She was active in many demos - and rarely did she act as she should. I personally do not like the idea of Amazon invading every aspect of my life. With a mixture of awe and horror, I am waiting for the day that Alexa replaces a visit to the proctologist ... there is really very, very little that Alexa does not know if consumers do not actively curb her nosiness. AI is fantastic, but RoboAdvisors that are NOT named Alexa and that have a different voice almost instantly make me feel more at ease. 

Lastly, the hard stuff... the things my brain cannot stop wondering about after day two.

The structure of the event is a rapid succession of very short pitches (max. 7 minutes, no slides allowed, only live demos) from some pretty creative FinTech startups (one has been proudly starting up for over ten years now). Strength of this method? All presentations are straightforward, to-the-point: precise and concise.

But there is always a but. And this time, there are two ... and they‘re BIG.

The speed of the presentations enables the people onstage to claim anything, and, at best, you can attempt to rebute their claims in a one-on-one during the breaks. The rest of the audience never hears that, for example, many claims for functionalities available are (a) not yet really available and (b) flat out illegal in Europe... Kudos to the 3-4 presenters who clearly stated their product was MiFiD-conform ... but nobody dared mention GSPR or NISD. 

The other problem has little or nothing to do with Finovate, but the event underscores the issue.

In the FinTech world, the most common factor used to compare and qualify a start-up is the amount of money it can raise. ICO. The numbers are printed per presenting company ... right at the top, smack under the company name. 

And, since investors are sheep following the herd towards any hype that blinks, this has nothing to do with the quality, the useability, or the future demand of a product. Am I the only person left who remembers how the dot com bubble began, and how the bubble burst? Am I the only person left who remembers how the US real estate bubble caused a global economic crisis from which the world is STILL recovering?

I wish they would be forced to not publicize this information, just like they are forced to stay under seven minutes, and forced to show demo and not show slides... Level playing field, only the product counts, not the ?bling factor“, the bells and whistles, the smoke and mirrors ..