Three shifts in fintech [Tel Aviv]
The Fintech-Aviv annual summit kicked off a week of high-energy events that brought leaders of finance, regulation and technology from around the world. More than 800 professionals filled the Barclays Rise floors in Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv, on Sunday, February 9. Strong content and solid networking were the hallmarks of the day.
New on the Horizon
I was honored to judge Fintech-Aviv’s startup competition alongside fellow judges Piotr Widacki, Robby Hilkowitz, and Nir Netzer. Nine competitors from Israel, Europe and North America competed for free All-Access passes to LendIt Fintech USA 2020, which takes place this year in New York on May 13-14. After spirited debate, the judges granted blue ribbons to three companies: bsurance of Austria, which uses parametric data to provide better a insurance product; TeleMessage of USA, which provides fully-compliant text messaging to financial institutions; and Facetrom of Israel, which uses facial feature analysis for risk assessment (yes, you heard that right). Each of companies — and more — were well-deserving to stand in the winners circle. Other noteworthy competitors included JustWallet, Brandefender, Fincom, Stratyfy, Robin and BeeEye. Special thanks to Nir and Tal Sharon of Equitech for inviting me to participate.

Of Regulation and Dystopia
Three Trends in Fintech
- We are making the move from The Great Unbundling to re-bundling financial services. Apparently there are only two ways to make money: unbundle and do one niche better, or rebundle and make it easier to do all the things.
- In the future, everyone becomes a fintech. At LendIt Fintech we call this embedded finance, and it plays a starring role in our content agendas at each of our major conferences.
- Behavioral science is more noticeably penetrating financial services, and is helping consumers to make better financial choices.
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