Unchain Fintech Festival took place in Oradea between 13 and 14 July, setting the regional trends for the most vibrant industry

Unchain Fintech Festival, which shaped the fintech landscape of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and set the industry trends, took place in Oradea last week, between 13 and 14 July. The pilot version has reunited over 300 participants from over 20 countries, such as banking and finance experts fields, representatives of central and commercial banks in the CEE region, technology enthusiasts, startups and investors, making it the landmark event for the CEE fintech ecosystem.

The Unchain Fintech Festival stage has reunited over 70 speakers and investors, representatives of the entire fintech ecosystem, from entrepreneurs to members of accelerators, regional and European associations, institutional and legislative partners. They provided insight into the future of fintech and the banking industry, which addresses current issues, such as regulatory frameworks, central bank digital currencies, innovative payment systems, digital assets and blockchain technology.

“Although it marked a premiere in the industry, the event proved to be a great success and participants have already started ordering calendars for next year’s edition. We are happy to have succeeded in bringing together experts and enthusiasts in the industry, as well as creating an event which combined business networks with a relaxed atmosphere and leisure and travel activities“, declared Alexandra Pollack, co-founder and CEO of the Unchain Fintech Festival.

Unchain guests expressed their opinion on the financial system, considering that it is the banks that should start cooperating with fintech, rather than the other way around and that they should operate more as technology companies.

– Speed ​​is the key word in innovation, and banks can not always keep up with the fintech speed. But not having the time or resources is never an excuse, as long as it is outsourcing option”, mentioned Szymon Stacczak, Head of CEE Visa Consulting & Analytics.

According to experts, speed and partnership mark the fintech game and the relationship between Industry players should rely on trust, the most important “currency” that banks offer to the economy.

“All money is good money in good times. In bad times, you find the true value of money and end up pay attention to public money institutions, and this is what we need to offer: digital cash. Central banks, innovators and fintech companies must speak the same language. Now they all want to be on the safe side, but from two different perspectives that need a common denominator and unification of goals “adds Linardo Martinčević, adviser to the governor’s office and FinTech coordinator of the Croatian National Bank.

EU bodies are trying to create a common field so that instead of twenty-seven markets having only one, facilitate growth and reduce costs.

«EU states agreed to create vertical blockchain sandboxes and legislation in the field of AI – supplies AI sandboxes in all EU states. We aim to provide a cross-border framework so that different fintech companies can use the shared experience as they enter a new market. “said Maria Staszkiewicz, President of the European Digital Finance Association.

In the meantime, the Romanian authorities are trying to lay the foundations for good cooperation ecosystem, in terms of payment.

– We do not work alone – we have not only partnerships with other banks and service providers, but we also use and share the knowledge with our international counterparts, European banks and players. We aim for Romanians all over the world to have immediate access to and transfer money as they wish »continued Tudor-Tim Ionescu, Strategy Consultant at the National Bank of Romania.

In parallel with the main stage, there were also startup pitches and 1to1 tutorials for fintech & blockchain startups looking for support and funding. After several pre-election rounds before the event, 24 startups from 15 countries appeared before the jury during the festival. Seven of them went on to the final: Acounto from Hungary, BoneX from Bulgaria, INKI.TECH from Romania, SLS Solutions from Poland, Torus from Lithuania, Welthee from Romania and FilmChain, winner start up from the UK with Romanian founders.

The festival was not the only premiere last week in Oradea, but also the launch of The Flavor of Fintech book. The author, Harlan Cockburn, has interviewed several industry players from 14 different country to build an overview of the fintech industry at the moment.

Unchain Fintech Festival would not have been possible without the support of innovative fintech pioneers such as Visa, the event’s main partner, along with Google Cloud CEE and Elrond as Technology Partners, Raiffeisen Bank and Banca Transilvania as Platinum Partners, Alpha Bank Romania, Dentons and Ripple as gold partners. The event was organized at the local level by Visit Oradea and Make IT in Oradea.