Industry leaders defend the future of Fintech at parliamentary summit
London – Tuesday 21 March 2023: The fintech industry will continue to play a crucial role in the UK economy, despite recent challenges such as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse, according to industry bosses.
A panel of fintech experts spoke at the fintech summit in Parliament Street last night, which was hosted by Dean Russell MP for Watford and chaired by Steven George-Hilley of Centropy PR. the sector.
On issues such as regulation, MP Russell said: “If you regulate too soon, you can kill innovation, but if you regulate too late or wrongly, there will be loopholes, this is a big challenge facing the Fintech industry.”
Jay Patel, Head of Product Management at regtech provider Encompass Corporation added: “Regulators have a role to play in our society, but ultimately we need banks to see and interpret these regulations and ensure they are compliant with their customer base. “
Meanwhile, Neh Thaker, co-founder of financial toolset HedgeFlows, said, “7 in 10 SMEs could benefit from international expansion, but the reality is that only 1 in 10 achieve it. SMEs are currently not given the support and tools to effectively break down the barriers to international trade.”
Fintech entrepreneur Fraser Stewart, COO of Lyfeguard addressed the issue of the skills crisis facing the industry. “We need access to education, reskilling and to show clear paths through to Fintech. It is also clear that more needs to be done around diversity, only 2% of Fintech owners are women.”
While Khalid Talukder, co-founder of DKK Partners said: “We work in an industry where we look for efficiency, we automate and lose the human aspect. A chatbot doesn’t want to know what things people have in their wallets that can be commercialized, and they don’t add a personal touch.”
Samni Akinmusire co-founder of ImaliPay said: “Fintech entrepreneurs are usually creative and want to solve real-time problems. Innovation should follow regulation, but it can be complex. What are regulators doing to catch up when innovation falls outside the rules?”
Finally, Xavier De Pauw from kennek said: “Regulation usually goes hand in hand for B2C business models, but in the B2B area there are usually fewer regulations as it is about professionals.”
