A decade of good times has created a certain complacency, and with the cold winds of winter upon us, businesses desperately need to become more adaptable and resilient to survive long-term, writes Pat Patel, CEO of Elevandi, in an op-ed on finews.asia.
“The times they are changing”. Three months ago, I wrote a piece calling for an urgent step change in the fintech industry to this tune Bob Dylan. For perspective, the modern fintech industry has struggled with macroeconomic issues – from rising interest rates, skyrocketing inflation, industry-wide layoffs and declining consumer confidence. A decade of good times has created a certain complacency, and with the cold winds of winter upon us, businesses desperately need to become more adaptable and resilient for long-term survival.
Now, three months later, and after hosting the largest ever gathering of the fintech community, the industry is beginning to sing a different tune – one that sings of coming together.
Come together, right now, over Fintech
At last year’s “Singapore Fintech Festival” (SFF), we saw this very hymn of collaboration come to fruition, where the community came together to support each other by sharing valuable insights on business resilience and building new relationships.
When all was said and done, we saw a record attendance total of over 62,000 in 115 countries. It was absolutely astonishing given what was happening in the background, with budgets being cut and travel costs rising from the macroeconomic conditions.
Like the start of a bar joke
Instead of society turning inward, we saw an incredible embrace and cross-pollination of ideas by people from all walks of life. There were many discussions about why now is the time to build, and in many cases organizations came together to explore a variety of partnership structures and mergers and acquisitions.
It might seem like the start of a bar joke, but how often do you see a sustainability and education reformer, a major tech company founder and the CEO of a financial regulator walk into a room together? This is the only place I have ever witnessed such an open and diverse dialogue in fintech with business leaders, policy makers and regulators.
And now the work begins
Some may think of SFF as a culmination of the fintech industry, but I believe it is a stepping stone to drive the industry forward. And now it’s time to deliver on the promising conversations and insightful dialogues.
To encapsulate important lessons learned from SFF, we have partnered with some of the world’s leading consulting firms such as McKinsey & Company and Oliver Wyman to release seven post-event reports to the community. These reports include insights such as Web3 and digital assets, banking for business, balancing innovation and regulation, the future of fintech in emerging markets, and how fintech can become more robust.
Most reports have been published and are available to download for free by creating an account on the Elevandi website.
Birth to work milestones
The roundtable dialogues during the event also gave birth to work milestones that would benefit Fintech leaders and companies in the long run. Up to 13 reports from these roundtables will be released to the fintech community in early 2023. These reports outline solutions and steps to tackle complex industry issues that were discussed by public and private sector leaders during the Elevandi Insights Forum at SFF 2022.
Key reports include a focus on building cross-border payment systems, overcoming talent shortages and responsible AI in financial services. Similarly, The Milken Institute and United Nations ESCAP – organizations that focused on problem formulation around sustainable finance – will publish their reports, which will reflect the COP27 goals.
From Rwanda to Switzerland
And further follow-ups will take place in 2023. First, there will be a convening of fintech communities from the global South – Africa, Latin America and Asia – at the “Inclusive Fintech Forum” in Kigali, Rwanda on 20-22. June. There, we will work to advance technology and policy conversations to enable fintech development to be fair, accessible and sustainable for all people in the world.
Immediately after, we head to Zurich, Switzerland for the second edition of the successful “Point Zero Forum” (June 26-28) to promote Web3 and sustainable finance with regulators and policy makers. So 14.-17. On 1 November, the global Fintech community will reunite at the Singapore Fintech Festival – to reflect on the year’s progress and discuss efforts for 2024.
Onwards and upwards
Now, as more organizations begin to see the importance of public-private dialogues in building resilient and adaptable businesses, there is bound to be a stronger demand for open dialogue and collaboration globally.
And we at Elevandi will continue to be at the forefront of making this happen. Since our inception in 2021, we’ve been pushing conversations important to the fintech industry to help global organizations stay on top of current issues. Driving the adoption and growth of fintech globally is in our DNA, and we will continue to raise the bar in 2023 through our various platforms.
Growing financial lifeline
Ultimately, the future of the fintech industry is in our hands. While it is uncertain what the economic and industrial landscape will look like in the coming months and years, coming together will not only help us weather the storms of uncertainty, but also serve as a burgeoning economic lifeline that will see us through to thrive together as a community.
Pat Patel (pictured above) is currently working to build collaborative fintech ecosystems across South Asia, Africa and Europe at a national and industry level. After a period leading the International Fintech Office at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), he led the launch of Elevandi, a company created by MAS to promote an active dialogue between the public and private sectors to drive fintech in the digital the economy. Prior to MAS, he led Money20/20’s growth into Europe, Singapore and China, following stints in the payments and insurance sectors.
