Nordic Fintech Magazine’s - The Future of

Bottling the Magic: Making Fintech Applications that Customers Love - Sverrir Hreiðarsson , Head of Fintech at Kvika (Aur)

How do you reach 1/3 of your addressable local market in 7 years?

Aur, the Icelandic peer to peer and online payment solution has managed to do just that with the characteristic mix of elegance, simplicity and powerful functionality that consistently sets Nordic innovation aside. 

One of the most consistent findings that we hear from entrepreneurs and startup founders is that if you want people to adopt your product, you need to make it as simple and frictionless as possible. Aur, which was recently acquired by Reykjavik headquartered Kvika bank has not only captured 1/3 of the Icelandic market with its smooth-as-butter payment experience, but it’s done so leveraging the power of networks, where one in five users are referred by other users.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sverrir Hreiðarsson, Head of Fintech at Kvika to talk about how new payment solutions that are able to offer security, ease of use and convenience to customers, can experience exponential adoption amongst its user base. Learn how Aur has established itself a the go to solution for peer to peer payments via mobile phone number, amongst users and how through the introduction of Buy Now Pay Later services with a twist it continues to delight users who are not only able to gain access to interest free instalment payments, but that can also access better prices on physical stores as consumers avoid paying with credit. This is another great example of Nordic innovation setting new standards of how finance could be done, without riddling customers with complexity.

Building a Global Equity Funding and Trading Platform from Estonia, The Startup Nation - Kaidi Ruusalepp, CEO & Founder of Funderbeam

For many years Estonia has quietly but steadily built a name for itself in the startup world. With its 10 Unicorns, and its astounding 1 unicorn for every 130,000 inhabitants this small but extremely progressive nation is now capturing the attention of the world.  Nordic Fintech Magazine recently traveled to the wonderful capital city of Tallinn to try to puzzle together what makes Estonia the Startup Nation.

And who better to start with in our quest to uncover the ingredients of Estonia’s entrepreneurial concoction than Kaidi Ruusalepp, who is not only CEO and Founder of the Global Equity and Trading Platform Funderbeam, but also President of the Estonian Founders Society and advisor to the President of Estonia Mr. Alar Karis on digital and technology matters.  In this fascinating conversation with Kaidi we talk about her entrepreneurial journey, the unique value proposition that Funderbeam creates with its liquidity market for secondaries, and some of the unique cultural traits and attributes that have propelled Estonia into Startup Stardom. 

Listen to how Estonian success cases like Skype, Playtech and Wise  have combined a duty for nourishment of their ecosystem with investment and global tech sector knowhow to create second and third generations of startups that have chosen Estonia as their base to scale globally. If Estonia has not been in your radar, that’s about to change.

Developing Digital Insurance Products for the Next Generation - Sophie M. Bohr Grøenbæk - CEO & Co-Founder at Undo

What is the best way to solve the problem of hidden fees  in insurance? Simple, get rid of fees altogether. 

Exciting changes are happening in the insurance space. An industry that traditionally has been very analogue and opaque is reinventing itself through digitalisation, creating simpler, more accessible customer experiences and rethinking customers needs when it comes to protecting themselves against risks. 

 

We recently had the chance to sit down with Sophie Bohr Groenbaek , CEO and Cofounder at Undo.  Sophie has a very interesting background. as A Neuro biologist previously working in consulting, and with no prior Insurance experience, she was able to approach the industry with a fresh pair of eyes. In this revealing chat with Sophie we hear about how she and her cofounders built an insurance company from scratch going back to first principles and trying to understand what it was that customers, especially younger ones, were looking for when buying insurance. Their findings resulted in a brand new value proposition that challenged the traditional insurance business model by removing fees, enabling customers to build their own insurance packages and allowing policy holders to change their coverage as their needs changed: when on holiday, when skiing, when cycling or when staying at home. 

Hear about how Sophie’s mind has been attuned to seek for opportunities for new insurance products everywhere as our lives become more complex and we undertake new risks in our digital lives, our investments, and even significant live events. 

This approach to insurance based on flexibility, transparency and fairness will leave you wondering whether your insurer is the best choice for you. 

 

Democratizing Wealth and Making Real Estate Investment Available to All - Jesper Johansen, Managing Director at Kameo Denmark

We have been closely following the democratization of wealth management for some time.  Demand from retail customers for new and more accessible products that allow them to build wealth has exploded in recent years. A number of visionaries have seized the opportunity to create services that enable people to get their foot in the investment ladder and start building wealth. Within this trend we’ve observed the emergence of companies that provide easy and convenient access to stock, crypto investment, crowd-lending and even equity crowdfunding on assets such as real estate and property projects, enabling companies to raise capital and the wider market to participate in their success.

In this engaging conversation with Jesper Johansen, Managing Director at Kameo Denmark, we learn, with an refreshing degree of clarity, how democratization is going against the grain of the traditional finance, creating two sided markets that connect investors and companies looking for capital. Especially those that are unable to raise capital through the traditional financial system. Listen to how Kameo is servicing a new and diverse customer pool including students, and elderly customers all the way to professional investors, removing traditionally high barriers to invest, dramatically reducing capital requirements and creating a community of investors and ambassadors of all ages and backgrounds. All while building transparency into a traditional opaque part of the industry and challenging the existing market with an open approach to investing. 

The Future of Payments, Networks of Networks to connect People and Companies – Philip Konopik Regional Managing Director Nordics & Baltics at Visa

Payments was one of the first areas in Financial services disrupted by digitalisation. In the past 10 years technology has not only changed our relationship with credit, debit and cash, but has also lowered the barriers to entry into the industry, unleashing fierce competition amongst payment companies for customers and merchants. The niche focus of challengers has also accelerated the fragmentation of new modalities of payments in the e-commerce space fundamentally changing the traditional relationship between consumers, merchants and payment providers, but also increasing volumes of fee generating transactions.

Visa has approached these new challenges with a refreshing mindset and collaborative spirit that’s allowed it to turn challenges into opportunities. In this insightful conversation with Philip Konopik, Visa’s Regional Managing Director for Nordics and Baltics, we learn how Visa has chosen to see competitors as potential partners and in doing so has build a network of networks, agnostic to payment rails, that helps its customers succeed in the different markets. In this interview you’ll learn more about Visa’s strategy, how it’s providing new added value services for their customers payments needs, its vision for 2025 and beyond and, how the company is embracing disruption to innovate and support its customers and partners.

The Quest for Net Zero: Standardizing Carbon Emission Tracking & Reporting -Kristian Rönn, Normative

The trend in Financial Services to decarbonize industries with a little nudge from capital flows has been thoroughly embraced by the financial system in the west. As investment funds and assets managers rushed to label their products as "Sustainable" in the hope to capture the attention of investors with a conscience, the ugly face of green washing started to show its true colours. The lack of standards and home grown measuring methods have caused all manner of confusion and ambiguity in the way companies and investors assess the impact of their portfolios.

In this revealing conversation with Kristian Rönn, CEO & Founder at Normative, we hear how the lack of accounting standards for measuring carbon emissions is thwarting the industry's efforts to reward sustainable corporate behaviour in the hope of achieving net zero economies. Listen to how Kristian and his team are working towards establishing reliable accountable methods for tracking and reporting emissions and how they work with clients to help reduce carbon emissions along their value chains.

How changing the Way we pay changes Everything - Natasha de Terán, Co-Author of ”The Pay Off”

"It is in payments, that we all, rich or poor, have an interest in money.” We all have a relationship with money, whether we like it or not, money is a way in which we communicate our wants, preferences, ideals and priorities. However, as pivotal as money is to civilization, we rarely stop to think about the fact that what is so foundational about money is not money in an of itself, but the way in which we move it around.

 

In this fascinating conversation with Natasha de Terán, Co-Author of the Book: The Pay Off: How Changing the Way we Pay changes Everything, we get to hear with a unique degree of authority, insight and clarity how the way in which payments are changing is reflective of deep societal shifts, but is also reshaping the way we trust and relate to each other. This is an important conversation that will have you reaching for pen and paper, phone or tablet to capture the depth and relevance of Natasha’s expert knowledge. In this session we covered a lot of ground discussing everything from financial inclusion, new sources of payments revenue, to sanctions , censorship and democracy. This is probably the most interesting piece of content you will listen to today!

Embedded Finance in Banking: Addressing the Multi-trillion USD opportunity -Embedded Finance in Banking: Addressing the Multi-trillion USD opportunity -Erlend Nitter-Hauge DNB

Embedded finance will be everywhere, quite literally. As this new trend sweeps through financial services, it promises to turn every company, inside and outside Financial Services into a Fintech and to turn every business into a new channel to market for financial products.  With the promise of making financial products like payments, loans, insurance and even investment available to consumers as part as other industries customer journeys, Embedded finance has the allure of not only adding a high degree of convenience to customers, but also of generating trillions of USD worth of new value.

In this exciting conversation with Erlend Senior Strategic Partnership Manager at DNB, Norway’s largest bank, we learn more about how incumbent financial organisations can maximize the opportunity presented by embedded finance and how technologies like open banking and open data can bring the industry closer together. Listen to how partnerships plays a pivotal role in DNBs ability to execute its Embedded Finance strategy and how the largest bank in Norway sees the future of this exciting trend playing out in our industry.  

Early in Tech Seedfunding from Iceland, a Mighty Nordic Innovator - Helga Valfells, CoFounder of Crowberry Capital

🇮🇸“We are the geographical midpoint between the Nordics and North America so we combine the go getter attitude of the US and Nordic values“ 👈

Brace yourselves! If you’ve never heard about the mightily innovative fintech scene in Iceland 🇮🇸, that’s about to change.

Because of its geographical position Iceland presents a unique and unequivocal mix of entrepreneurship and creativity, masterfully wielded to disrupt the status quo across all industries. A land that has historically relied on its own ingenuity to develop its industry and economy, Iceland combines the drive and resourcefulness often seen in North America, with Nordic Values such as collaboration and equality, a mix that is resulting in some remarkable innovation across fintech.

In this thought provoking interview with Helga Valfells, CoFounder of Crowberry Capital, the early in tech Icelandic fund that focuses on identifying and investing in nascent tech trends, we hear what makes the Icelandic startup ecosystem unique and how its perfect balance of homegrown capabilities and culture is propelling this small nation into Fintech stardom. In this interview you’ll learn more about the Icelandic Idiosyncrasy, its approach to disruption, equality of opportunity and its exciting trends on the rise. This conversation is bound to get you fired up and ready to change your future travel plans.

Disrupting Debt Funding through Technology - Elin Bäcklund, CTO at ArK Kapital

We are only scraping the surface of what technology can do to completely overhaul industries. Funding for startups has traditionally lacked innovation, but new disruptors in this space are combining the power of data and technology to radically improve precision and transparency in debt funding for companies that are changing the world.

We had a wonderful opportunity to chat to Elin Bäcklund, Forbes 30 under 30 and CTO at ArK Kapital to find out what it is that attracts her about working in tech. In this interview we discuss the enormous possibilities that lay ahead for companies able to mash up strong technology capabilities and deep subject matter expertise, the rewards and challenges of building an AI platform from scratch and the importance of having women and men working alongside in tech teams. Elin also talks about her passion of getting more women into tech roles, and why she recommends women to hold off managerial positions for a while in favour of longer tenures in deep tech. Elin's enthusiasm and conviction will leave you excited about tech and maybe even questioning your career choice.