Poland in 2018 under the sign of FinTech

Rate the article

Poland in 2018 under the sign of FinTech.

The Polish Financial Supervision Authority has just launched the Innovation Hub program aimed at supporting the Polish financial services sector operating in the virtual world, i.e. FinTechs.

The economic environment has never been more favorable to the development of this type of services. Powerful resources of IT companies and Polish and European legislative initiatives mean that we are facing a historic opportunity - will we take advantage of it? Robert Strzelecki, vice-president of the TenderHut capital group, which creates innovative applications, will talk about this financial.

Favorable environment

He has the opportunity to develop the FinTech sector influence of appropriate legislation both in Poland, as well as European. – That's why Poland has a chance to become one of the leading European centers fintech. Currently the government is working on the package regulations creating the so-called "Sandbox", i.e. a sandbox that makes it safer for the client, a less restrictive for a start-up to implement on the Polish market fintech products.

Just launched by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority program Innovation Hub is an introduction to further solutions in the field of market regulations.

As part of the program, the PFSA will establish a dialogue with enterprises from the FinTech sector in order to jointly develop future legal and control solutions for the entire industry. - Such initiatives and the involvement of various circles allow us to believe that interesting start-ups developing this branch of the economy will soon appear in our country. - predicts Strzelecki.

The approach to the issue itself is also important European Union. - Planned for half January 2018, the implementation of the PSD2 directive will open access for non-banking companies to bank databases, and, consequently, to information about customers (those who, of course, have consented to it).

From the point of view of creators of fintech solutions, this is a huge convenience because we will be able to work with real ones data and quickly implement innovative products that meet the changing needs of customers – Strzelecki enthusiastically comments.

Poland as a fintech training ground in Europe

Modern banking services and solutions, starting from mobile applications, or contactless payments to online currency exchange offices enabling quick and cashless exchange of money, are becoming more and more popular.

However, it is worth realizing that these solutions adopted and commonly used in Poland are not so popular in other countries. - It is true that Poland is a kind of fintech testing ground, the so-called "launchpad", in which many financial solutions and services are tested.

For example Poles during everyday life shoppers use contactless payments 20 times more often than German citizens.

We found out about this while creating banking mobile applications for our foreign clients, whether in the UK or reaching across the ocean to Latin American countries.

Creating with our clients dany product, we were able to suggest many solutions that worked great in Poland, but at the beginning they were not taken into account by our clients. This is because as a country we have a relatively new ICT infrastructure, we are a large market and as a society we like to test new solutions.

Many solutions proven on our soil are transferred and implemented on other markets. Although some technologies are implemented abroad faster, their mass use is taking place in Poland. And there are more and more of these innovative solutions - says Robert Strzelecki.

FinTech, what is it?

Each new branch of the economy is difficult to define at the beginning. From the point of view of the creator of software enabling the functioning of new financial services, what is the concept of FinTech? - It is indeed a relatively new concept which consists of several types of services.

One of the first that may come to mind are various types of mobile banking applications. But that's not all. Applications enabling you to manage your finances are becoming more and more popular around the world, such as the British U Account. For the needs of our client Ffrees Family Finance Ltd, and the originator of the entire U Account idea, we have created a mobile version of the platform.

We had to deliver a version of the software that had all the functionalities of the U Account platform. To be designed from the level of the mobile application, there were functionalities enabling full budget control by creating accounts with a limit for strictly defined purposes, eg bills, entertainment, "black hour".

The application provides access to full information about expenses, their categories, revenues, etc reports. It is still new in Poland, but an increasingly popular solution in the UK.

Mobile applications are one thing, and what even less obvious solutions do we include in the group of products called FinTech?

– This group certainly includes consulting and insurance solutions that are not yet very popular. Virtual investment advisors, that is computer programs based on artificial intelligence, or more precisely, technology Machine Learning efficiently manage their clients' investment portfolios.

Thanks to this, it is possible to reduce the costs of the service, because it is performed by the machine, and to reduce the level of risk, i.e. to eliminate human error. Another solution that can be classified as financial technologies is biometrics.

This is also still new on our market, but these solutions are gaining great popularity in the world and we will certainly soon use, for example, biometric payment cards. Biometric security is considered the future in secure user identification, fingerprint or iris scanner are just some of the biometrics being developed. forms of security – comments Robert Shooting. However, in addition to software testing, Poland is also its originator and pioneer of financial services solutions.

- That's right, in our country we can talk about the great success of domestic products. We are good at speeding up payment intermediation systems. An excellent example here is the Eliksir system that enables real-time transfers.

We can also observe the dynamic development of Polish online currency exchange offices exchange currencies and auction websites such as Allegro or Cinkciarz.pl – Strzelecki explains. – These Polish successes not surprising, after all we have excellent programmers - he adds.

The potential of Polish programmers

Polish programmers have been among the world's leading IT specialists for years, as evidenced by international rankings such as the prestigious HackerRank. How is their potential used? services sector financial? – In order to develop the financial services sector, it is necessary, among other things, to have adequate facilities.

It is not without reason that FinTech service centers such as London or Berlin encourage programmers to come by creating special acceleration programs for start-ups from this sector. But startups are just one of them elements of this ecosystem. Polish companies IT companies are doing well on international markets by implementing projects in this sector.

We are valued for creativity, reliability and professionalism - I meet with such opinions on a daily basis when implementing fintech projects around the world - says Strzelecki. – Moreover, Polish programmers also carry out independent projects, that have the potential to become global solutions - he adds.

Scaling is essential

What is the basis in any business based on ICT technologies is the possibility of scaling the solution, i.e. quick and easy adaptation of the solution on an international scale. - Scaling is one of the key criteria that will be asked by every investor engaging their funds in a start-up - explains Strzelecki.

– One of such projects is the project developed under the mentoring of the TenderHut Group entitled "The Umbrella Team". The application functioning model they developed is bidirectional direct payment technology mobile based on the banking system. The idea is based on free payment functionality for everyone with a smartphone and bank account, even without mobile services.

That's it makes the technology that is currently being developed scalable, because not every bank has a mobile application, and yet the user can use his account from his phone. Additionally, the system has the option of collecting payment for the goods sold and services.

Simple, intuitive operation without unnecessary multi-level operation registration for starters and compatibility with the current electronic money payment system are features that guarantee a good start on the market. Compliance with currently applicable Polish law is also important opportunity to develop and application globally within the EU – Strzelecki reports.